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

Lootera: Music Review

Music Director: Amit Trivedi

Starring: Ranveer Singh & Sonakshi Sinha

So our creative composer Amit Trivedi has released another soundtrack for the Bollywood drama Lootera. So this being a Bengali period movie, we can expect the film to be laden in beautiful classical numbers, reflecting the fifties. It also has to look believable coming from our young stars, Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha's mouths. The music has simplistic, light melodies so this is not our typical Trivedi outing. However, Lootera's music does leave a couple solid numbers behind.

So we begin with Sawar Loon sung by Monali Thakur. This syrupy sweet song is song in a Shreya-style manner and definitely ties in with the fifties feel. There is both classical Indian fifties and classical American fifties blended well together. It sounds very youthful, especially with the bell tinkling sounds in the background. It will definitely work well with Sinha's age. 4/5

Then there is Ankhahee. The piano in this song's backdrop are extremely beautiful when paired with Amitabh Bhattacharya's controlled, soulful voice. He doesn't hit high notes in the song, and keeps it nice a slow. Intermittently there are interludes of gorgeous instrumentals.4/5

Our traditional Bangla number of Lootera is Monta Re is just lovely. It fits with the soundtrack so well but offers something different. This song can be easily seen behind action with the characters, or by a gathering group of people sitting together. There is a light beat in the background, one of them being bells. 4/5

Next in Lootera we have yet another song from Amitabh Bhattacharya called Shikayaten. This is soft rock song with flutes. I could see this in Three Idiots for some reason. Bhattacharya's voice sounds good in this song, but it just sounds a little strained as he attempts to climb to higher notes. The instrumentals and vocals in this song are certainly not light enough for the kind of mood that the movie has established. This song perhaps could be used when Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha are going through some problem. Not my favorite. 3/5

Amit Trivedi comes into the vocal spotlight in Zinda. This song has a rough, rock edge to it. His voice is slow, but it overtaken by strong dramatic instrumentals. In this Lootera song there  total mismatch between vocals and instrumentals. Stands out from the rest of the album in a bad way. 2/5

Just another awkward walk through the forest

Lastly, we have Shilpa Rao and Amitabh Bhattacharya in Manmarziyan. This is mostly Shilpa song's, but Bhattacharya voice slips in between with a haunting quality. The melody on this is light, complete with the sound of bells (ghungroos) that we have been hearing throughout the soundtrack. This song lets Shilpa's strong, deep vocals shine through. However, the slowness of the song could make the listener loose patience. 3.5/5

Lootera is a pretty good soundtrack, but as said earlier is an unusual outing for Trivedi. Most of it is fifties traditional minimalism and its quite beautiful. I would love to see how this all will play out on screen.

My Picks: Ankahee, Monta Re, Sawar Loon

Remember requests are taken! Send a comment out and tell me which Bollywood soundtrack you want to hear about!

Check out my other music reviews:
Issaq: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-review-issaq_21.html
Ghanchakkar: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-reviewsghanchakkar.html
Raanjhanaa: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-reviews-raanjhanaa.html
Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-review-yeh-jawani-hai.html

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