sonGeet

{previous edition}

Sssshhh... (aka S4H3) is another Anu Malik venture of self-rediscovery. Teraa meraa dil has the disgusting Nigam dueting leftovers from previous Malik compositions for Refugee and Border with Alka Yagnik. Ishq daa maaraa huaa has Sukhwinder Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan doing the obligatory bhangra/dance-floor bit for the album (rhythm programming embellishes leftovers from Soldier). Add to that some dance-hall-rap of the this-is-cool variety. Sukhwinder does a cool little piece of turnaround taan, which soon gets buried into the regularity of this unending song. This is what I sometimes refer to as the Rolling Stones syndrome (translated: we have this cool riif going and a few cool verses, but we're not sure when to end this song, so we'll keep hammering at the riff). Dhiire dhiire huaa opens with a trademark Anu Malik whistle melody (a mix of previous efforts at adapting themes from The Godfather). Sami launches into the mukha.Daa with characteristic (or clichéd) verve. There are a couple of interesting Pancham-esque variations at the end, but nothing too startling. Alka Yagnik pales before Sami when she joins in. And the melody gets me singing pehalaa pehalaa pyaar from Hum Aapke Hain Koun.... Gaah! The antara tune betray another influence, seen in a stronger form in the title song for Hameshaa [That incidentally became more famous as the SJ-composed trademark Raj Kapoor drone adorning[sic] all his later films, and was ripped off Iosef Ivanovici's "Anniversary Waltz"]. Sapane opens interestingly, although trivially a mix of influences ranging from African music (or The Lion King depending on how mainstream you are), lots of nylon guitar, and then Nigam (Aw Gawd!) launching into a Rahmanesque tune, where the lyrics are as bad as the tune. Alka Yagnik joins in the festivities, and what is this I hear, more Dil Chahta Hai-esque choruses? Shaan does another of his forgettable turns with a badly (howlariously) worded Mohabbat me.n. Another Sonu Nigam song kab meraa haal dil starts off sounding like Doom level music, and then descends into the "I think I've heard this before" space. Take a look at the album cover. Night of the Living Dead, what?