'Aitraaz' music has nothing new to offer

Film: "Aitraaz"; Sony Music; Music by Himesh Reshammiya; Lyrics by Sameer; CD, Rs.145.

The most distinguished aspect of a Subhash Ghai production is the music score. From "Karz" and "Hero" to "Taal", "Pardes" and the under-rated "Yaadein", the songs in a Ghai film define the way Hindi film music moves forward.

Abbas-Mustan's "Aitraaz", though only produced by Ghai, signals a soaring, sometimes scorching, sound quality.

It dips and rises through some skilful recording technique and strong, power-packed voices like Kunal Ganjawala - the guy who sang "Bheege hont" in "Murder" - and the ever-riveting Sunidhi Chuhan. Their song, "I want to make love to you", exudes the scent of erotica without getting out of hand.

But pray, why is Himesh Reshammiya copying bits and pieces of Nadeem-Shravan's "Dil ne yeh kaha hai dil se" ("Dhadkan") in "Aankhen band kar ke"?

Himesh Reshamiyya's music has fallen into a set pattern. The ballads have the two main voices crooning seductively while a skilled voice, which should be at the foreground not the background, eggs on the lovers' laments. The formula sounds frozen in this disappointing album.

Udit Narayan-Alka Yagnik's two ballads "Woh tassavvur" and "Nazar aa raha hai" have nothing new to offer.

The more smouldering tracks like "Aitraaz: I want to make love to you", which comes in three separate versions, try to pump up the passion with lyrics like "Touch me baby, kiss me baby..." But isn't that a little excessive?

Adnan Sami-Sunidhi's "Geela geela" is more breathy than erotic. KK and

Alisha Chinai whip up a more foamy feeling in "Yeh dil tumpe aa gaya". But that's because of the kind of singers they are. Extremely peppy and pulsating. The album gives a fulsome look because many tracks are repeated in remix versions.

But after the last blizzard of beats dies down you feel you've been there, heard it all. Not a great soundtrack, nowhere near Reshammiya's "Tere Naam" last year. But it's as good as what he did for directors Abbas-Mustan's "Humraaz" in 2002.

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Aitraaz