Chennai Express: Music Review

Music Director: Vishal-Shehkar
Starring: Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone

So, after my Chennai Express: First Look Review I have come back to you with my music critique. Vishal-Shehkar has produced soundtracks for recent popular Shahrukh Khan films, so its  not surprising they would be the composers for Chennai Express. Chennai Express' songs, for the most part, are a ride to South India.

Chennai Express unfortunately begins with One Two Three Four sung by Vishal Dadlani and Hamsika Nayr, This song begins with Tamil verses and flows in to Hinglish for the remainder of the song. This song starts well, and is definitely catchy, but when the English verse "One Two Three Four, Get on the Dance Floor" comes in the song gets very odd. Especially when they say booty shake. These immature lyrics could have easily been done before, but there was a reason why no one else tried this. 2.5/5

Chennai Express redeems itself with Chinmayi Sripad and Gopi Sundar in Titli. This romantic duet song begins beautifully with Tamil verses and continues in Hindi with Tamil slicing through. Its ethereal instrumentals almost give it a magical touch. Chinmayi's and Gopi's smooth voices transition well with each other. Titli is reminiscent of Chandni Chowk to China's Tere Naina. Refined and delicate it is winner all the way. Officially obsessed. 5/5

Four! Booty Shake Booty Shake!

Tera Rastaa Chhodoon Na unites Amitabh Bhattacharya and Anusha Mani for a romantic number. This song plays a little on Titli's beats, but its a little fast paced. Bhattacharya sounds uninterested, while Mani excels. This song is purely situational, so it might go well with the film's narrative, but its not good to listen alone. 3/5

Next is Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari  featuring Sunidhi Chauhan, Arjit Singh, and Neeti Mohan. I'm glad to see Arjit Singh-Sunidhi combo.This song is not bad, but it sounds like it should be in a musical. It's cute, and definitely one of the better tracks of the album. Arjit Singh and Sunidhi's voice coincide with Shahrukh and Deepika's. 4/5

The fourth song is Ready Steady Po, primarily featuring Vishal Dadlani and a handful of singers. This song falls into the obscure desirap/electronica/dubstep category. This song is mostly rapped in English and is at the most mildly desi flavored. Its almost like a unbearable second theme for the movie.What were they thinking here? 2/5

"Our soundtrack is disappointing."
"I know. It's sad, isn't it?

SP Balasubramanyam returns to Bollywood with the song Chennai Express. This song starts off horribly, but when Jonita Gandhi's voice comes in it picks up pace a little. I was astonished that this song also had dubstep and a lot of English verses inside. The only good part is the hook "Chenai-ai-ai-ai", and there is nothing more to say. SP's voice has definitely aged. This is supposed to be the theme for the movie, and it's exactly what it is. 2.5/5

Dubstep comes back once again in Titli (Dubstep Version). This song doesn't compare to the original version of Titli, but can work for dubstep listeners, as it ties the major elements of dubstep together with all the right Bollywood elements. 4/5

Chennai Express Mashup is just a deranged swirl of all the songs in the soundtrack with yet another dubstep twist. There is nothing good about this. At moments it gets loud, unbearable and headache inducing. It will most likely be playing as the ending credits are rolling. 1/5

Chennai Express' soundtrack ultimately fails because of its overwhelming use of dubstep and English verses. The soundtrack could have been better if they stuck more to the Indian roots instead of trying to tackle multiple genres. I expect better from Vishal-Shehkar.

My Picks: Titli & Dubstep Version, Kashmir Tu Kanyakumari

Check out my other reviews!

Did you like this soundtrack?
BB

Chennai Express: First Look

Director: Rohit Shetty

Starring: Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone

Shahrukh Khan + Rohit Shetty Comedy= No. So far, it looks very dismal. The director of Chennai Express, Rohit Shetty, has brought us the Golmaal series, the fourth of which is slated to release in 2015, and other disasters like, All the Best and Sunday. So keeping the ridiculous action scenes in mind, imagine Shahrukh Khan doing these stunts. Now, look at the poster above. This is how they want to market Chennai Express, by gathering the largest, scariest South Indian men and having them stand around sunglass wearing Shahrukh Khan and Deepika.

Anyway, lets forget for a moment that Shahrukh Khan is Deepika's elder by about twenty years and focus on Chennai Express itself. From the trailer (link below) it seems like a combination of Jab We Met and Veer Zaara. Shahrukh needs to disperse some ashes so he travels from Mumbai to Rameshwaram to do so. On the train ride, he meets Deepika Padukone,  a spunky South Indian, who annoys him to that point that he falls in love with her. In between we have plenty of Salman Khan-esque fight scenes, lots of South Indian men, and exploding cars. I love Shahrukh Khan, but from what I've seen so far...I can already assume this one isn't going to be good.

On the bright side, I can only hope that the music will be great. Chennai Express marks the return of singer,SP Balasubramanyam, to Bollywood. SP was famous for voicing Salman Khan songs  for films like Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun. We hear snippets on this his voice in the title through the trailer. The music directors behind Chennai Express the super duo, Vishal-Shekhar, but so far I'm not expressed from the song trailer for "One Two Three Four" (below). To put it politely the song is a major fail. "One Two Three Four" is in the form of a low grade item song. The dancing is simple and the song is unintelligent. I'm sure anyone could have thought of the lyrics "One Two Three Four Get on the Dancefloor". I can only hope the other songs are good. High hopes for SP's return.

Chennai Express is quickly sinking boat. Hopefully the music and the plot will be able to compensate for the poor trailers.

What do you think?
BB

Jab Tak Hai Jaan: Film Review

Director: Yash Chopra

Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif

So I finally got around to watching Jab Tak Hai Jaan. I know, I'm really really late...NetFlix just added it to their streaming collection, so if you haven't seen it, you should.

Katrina Kaif and Shahrukh Khan in the song "Saans" from JTHJ

Unfortunately this is the last film that Yash Chopra directed before his death last year. Jab Tak Hai Jaan has magic in parts and is aesthetically gorgeous, just look at the picture of Shahrukh Khan and Katrina Kaif above.

I wish more seasoned actresses were featured in this film. We have the young Anushka Sharma (Akira) who plays the role of a struggling reporter trying to do a story on Shahrukh Khan (Samar). Much like her debut film, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Anuksha Sharma still looks too young for Shahrukh Khan. In Jab Tak Hai Jaan, she comes across as an infatuated, immature teenager. Her character matures slightly in the middle, but its not good enough. Anuskha plays the same bubbly, over the top character that we have seen play in other films, like Ladies V/S Ricky Bahl and Band Baaja Baraat. She is a vital character to push the plot, but I don't buy her chemistry with to Shahrukh Khan for a second.

Does this not look like a father and daughter picture? 

So, when Indian Army bomb diffuser Samar lends Akira his jacket, she coincidentally discovers a diary in his pocket telling the story about Samar's lost love, Katrina Kaif (Meera). The love story between Meera and Samar is illustrated to us in a flashback, after Akira dashes a few curses out and speaks about her one night stand.

The love story between Meera and Samar is cutest thing in the movie, and you can see definite chemistry between Kaif and Khan. Shahrukh Khan is charming as Samar, but it is like all the other roles we have seen him in. After he looses his love he acts like his bitter character from Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, and when he is in love he acts like his character from Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham.

Angry Samar versus Romantic Samar

The flashbacks between Meera and Samar are the best parts of the movie. Meera plays a woman who is already in engaged, so it is interesting how the love story plays out. The parts with Akira and Samar don't really catch the attention much. The movie is definitely longer than it should be, especially when the medical drama parts are added into the mix. 

 Jab Tak Hai Jaan  is not the typical love triangle, because it is so obvious who Samar should end up with in the end. Little pieces of  story line aren't believable. How could a snow shoveler/ waiter, suddenly become the top bomb diffuser in the Indian Army.

Shahrukh calmly walking away from a bomb or JTHJ

Why would he agree to take Akira who is bordering on crazy with him on such an important mission? Why does the church Meera goes to always empty? And of course that whole underground dance scene.

The background score is all right. It is not a stellar as you would expect it to be, coming from A.R Rahman. We have Saans and Heer being the best. Jiya Re is also good if you want an upbeat number. A couple of  Yash's enchanting scenes and beautiful cinematography is all you should expect from Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Hopefully Shahrukh Khan's next film is better. 

Much Love,
BB