Daawat-e-Ishq: Music Review

  Starring: Parineeti Chopra & Aditya Roy Kapur

Music Composer: Sajid - Wajid

Daawat-e-Ishq, or Feast of Love, is a romance about a young saleswoman, Parineeti Chopra, and Aditya Roy Kapur, a charming young chef who woos her with his spicy kebabs and greasy naan. The music is composed by the Yash Raj banner favorite, Sajid-Wajid, who gave us Ek Tha Tiger, and just like other Yash Chopra films the standards are high for this one. This sweet romance brings in seasoned favorites like, Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, and Javed Ali, who each have dozens of classic romance songs under their belt. Daawat-E-Ishq promises a lot more than it has to offer. 

Daawat-e-Ishq's album kicks off with a classical style qawwali title track that  has already been recently sending waves across Indian cinema. Daawat-e-Ishq ropes in Javed Ali in his comfort zone, utilizing all his vocal capacity with alaps. Tabla combines beautifully with harmonium among other  instruments to add further to the complexity of this song. This song tends to sound a little too much like a title track, as it is very conversational, making it a more situational number. However, as the song progresses, Sunidhi Chauhan jumps in and the pace increases. 3.5/5

Mannat, Daawat-e-Ishq's core song features Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, and Keerthi. The instrumentals are richly done in this song, as the title song. However as rich as these instrumentals are, this song instrumentals are not multilayered, offering variety. Offering a touch of the Middle East, this is a Sonu song entirely, with bits and pieces of Shreya and Keerthi. This song is a little more serious in tone than one what expect from this type of romantic song, but nevertheless is a welcome addition to the soundtrack. 4/5

In the Mannat (reprise) Shreya Ghoshal and Sonu Nigam trade places. She is now the lead singer, and does a great job in Nigam's shoes. Sonu Nigam takes the backseat in this one, however it is still a fantastic song. Depending on your singer preference, either duet is good. They are both equals in vocal talent. 4/5

Sounding like a typical Holi song, Rangreli, brings in lots of traditional Indian instruments, like dhol, alongside brass instruments, and brings in a lot of scraps from the title track into the melody. The drumming is heavy, and Shreya Ghoshal's voice is playful and intertwines well with Wajid's voice. Although this song is a burst of fun, and has excellent use of instrumentals, there is nothing really distinct about this song in the end. 3/5

Shalmali Kholgade enters the Daawat-e-Ishq soundtrack with Shayarana. This female solo is the least intricate of all the songs in this music soundtrack. It is the typically strong female song we have seen from the Yash Raj Camp, like Jazba, though lacking the overall energy. The strange guitar beats, snapping, and Shalmali Kholgade's Western sounding singing when she says the "Shayarana ooo oo " hook, brings in a cheesy inspirational country hook into the song that make it sound very Western and contemporary, making it different from the rest of the soundtrack. 2.5/5

The music gets back on course once again with a rock infused classical song, Jadu Tone Waaliyaan by Shabab Sabri who does an excellent job of classical performance. The electric guitar portions seem to overwhelm the traditional portions, as well as the strange use of a saxophone midway. Not really a harmonious merging of East and West, but not horrible either. 3/5

The Daawat-E-Ishq instrumental is a good background music for the album, but is not something to focus on entirely for listening pleasure. It goes in too many directions to listen to alone. Although, it sounds less complex than the original song, it really doesn't offer anything for the listener to do anything with. 2/5

In the end, the Daawat-E-Ishq soundtrack is not really a feast of love, or a feast of superb music for that matter. It doesn't have horrible songs, but it doesn't really have enough good songs to be considered a remarkable album. For so many skilled singers and products, Daawat-E-Ishq's soundtrack did not live up to the Yash Banner expectations of good music.

My Picks: Mannat, Mannat (reprise), Daawat-e-Ishq

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Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobara: Music Review

Music Composer: Pritam

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha

The first Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai had one of the best soundtracks in recent times. Tracks like, Pee Loon and Tum Jo Aaye Zindagi Mein, are hits in recent memory. With Pritam as the composer and a A-List cast   Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobara/Again/2 soundtrack has a lot to live up to. For a soundtrack with only four songs, let's hope every song makes an impression.

The soundtrack begins with Yeh Tune Kya Kaha featuring Pakistani singer, Javed Bashir. His classical, mature vocals are perfect for this type of number. This song sounds like a good leftover for the first OUATIM and boasts a lot of rich traditional sounds like the tabla and harmonium. This qawaali starts slows and escalates and transforms with rich instrumentals. 4
/5

Tayyab Ali is another qawaali number in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobara, this time with Javed Ali. This is a remake of  seventies song Tayyab Ali from Amar Akbar Anthony's which featured Rishi Kapoor. This song recreates it into a very desi, quirky drunken sounding number with some English, like "Tell me why" and "Beautiful Baby Baby". After the minute the song kicks into full gear, but its gets boring quickly. Can't see anything new offering in this qawaali, compared to the original except for the childish spin it takes, and richer beats. They could have deviated from the original song in a better way. 3/5

Tu Hi Toh Khwahish sounds like an item number from the late seventies/early eighties. Its discoesque theme, mixed with the Middle Eastern beats and Sunidhi Chauhan's rough vocals sounds awkward. This song should have been left in the seventies where it belongs. It sounds like Pritam is trying to do something similar to Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai's Parda Parda, but Chauhan's panting and  interludes that sounds like they jumped out a of a crime thriller make the song sound messy. Too much going on here. Not sure what genre to classify this one. 2/5

Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobara ends with another track with Javed Ali, this time singing with Sahir Ali Bagga. Chungliyaan is our Pee Loon like song. Its the only pure romantic number on the soundtrack. This song is pretty, but it doesn't really show us anything drastically new. Shahir Ali Bagga's voice enhances Javed Ali's well. 3.5/5

In the end only two of the four songs really make an impression. Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobara/Again, doesn't live up to its legacy. It actually fails horribly in comparison to the original Once Upon in Mumbaai's greatness, due to limited volume of four songs. Pritam could have give us more songs, or at least better quality ones.

My Picks: Yeh Tune Kya Kiya, Chungliyaan

Check Out My Other Reviews:
Bajatey Raho: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/07/bajatey-raho-music-review.html
Luv U Soniyo: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/07/luv-u-soniyo-music-review.html
Chennai Express:http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/07/chennai-express-music-review.html
Nasha: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/07/nasha-music-review.html

Bollywood Begum

D-Day: Music Review

Starring: Arjun Rampal, Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Huma Qureshi, Shruti Hassan

Music Directors: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

The Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio is famous for catchy music that is reflective the overall theme of the movie, and  D-Day's music is no exception. D-Day is a Bollywood film that crosses over the border and into Pakistan, when Irrfan Khan is sent to Karachi on a spy mission. After viewing the trailer, it seems what follows is a chaotic, political thriller entangled with romantic trysts. Here we see many of our favorite singers come forward, such as Javed Ali, Shankar Mahadevan, and Sukhwinder Singh.

Mika Singh opens D-Day with the qawwali Duma Dum. This song is a remake of the popular Lal Meri Pat, that we have heard from popular Pakistani artists like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, and Junoon. The instrumentals are rich and distinguish this song , however this song doesn't compare with the other others vocally. It would have fared better if another singer was put behind the mike. A good attempt, but nothing really new. 3/5

Alvida features Loy Mendonsa, Sukhwinder Singh, Nikhil D'Souza and Shruti Hassan herself . This mellow song has mostly delicate vocals and light instrumentals. Hassans' vocals are whispery and ghostly, but she is able to add a nice touch to the song. Singh and D'Souza's voice really takes this song to a higher level and really highlights the song. 4/5

"Exactly how much curry did you get under
your fingernails"

D-Day has another qawwali-esque song called Murshid Ke Holi. Shankar Mahadevan, Javed Ali, and Munawar Masoom voices blend well together with this traditional beats. The instrumentals are also rich here, as they are throughout D-Day. But what really distinguishes this one from any other fantastic qawwali? Nothing really. It runs over seven and a half minutes, and its so repetitive that its difficult to get all the way through. 3.5/5

Rekha Bhardwaj returns in a solo, Ek Khadi. The tabla is very soothing when used in unison with other instruments, but this song isn't really unique in any way. Not much to say about this one. No repeat value. 3/5

D-Day ends with the short track Dhuaan with Siddharth Madhadevan and Rahul Ram's gritty vocals. The orchestra instrumentals give the song a perilous touch of beautiful doom. It almost sounds like a some type of church prayer and chant. There are not many dark Bollywood songs like this, so something like this is very special.  4/5

If you are a die hard Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy or qawwali fan, just take a few of these songs from D-Day and be on your way.

My Picks: Alvida, Dhuaan

Check out My Other Reviews:

Chennai Express:http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/07/chennai-express-music-review.html

Issaq:http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-review-issaq_21.html

Boyss Toh Boyss Hai:http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/07/boyss-toh-boyss-hai-music-review.html 

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