Insan fails to impress. - Music Review

Himesh Reshammiya has turned out to be one of the most prolific music directors this year. His career graph really took off when he received accolades and awards for the music of Tere Naam last year, and since then he hasn’t looked back. This year, Himesh has composed music for quite a few films, like Bardasht, Julie, Tarzan, Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha, Shukriya, Aitraaz, Aabra Ka Dabra, Dil Maange More and more and more....

Insaan is a multi-starrer with Ajay Devgan, Lara Datta, Akshay Kumar, Esha Deol and Tusshar Kapoor. Produced by Keshu Ramsay and directed by K.Subaash, Insaan promises to be a thriller, with chills, thrills and spills galore. The album of Insaan boasts 9 tracks. There seems to be a general paucity of inspiration nowadays, and as has become the practice, many of the songs are repeated, either as instrumental versions, in some other singer’s voice, or as remixes. In effect, its just 5 original songs in the album, and repeats thereafter.

The album opens with the breezy number ‘Chunari Re’ by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik, a love duet with fast beats and a pleasing quality. There are traces of Punjabi pop in the lyrics, and it seems to be a good number for an Indian kind of dance. Lyrics are pretty ordinary, with the usual romantic words thrown in, and if it reminds you of ‘Chunari Chunar’ and some other songs of the past, its not mere coincidence.

Another romantic number, ‘Is Tarah Deewane’ in the voices of Kunal Ganjawala and Sunidhi Chauhan, follows this. Sounding like a ‘hot’ number, the accompaniments are kept simple on drums and violins. In the song, the lovers express their love, and blame the act of falling in love for all the maladies that have befallen them, with words like ‘Yeh sazaa hai tum se dil lagane ki sanam’. (Haven’t you heard this before in the Raja Hindustani number “Socho zara Socho, yeh kya hua hai’? There are traces of the song ‘Bheegi Bheegi raaton mein, Aisi Barsaaton mein’ in this number. Kunal and Sunidhi are excellent on the vocals.

The third song in this album is titled ‘Rabba Mere Rabba’ and is sung by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik. With basic orchestrations on the violin and tabla, this is a slow romantic number, again with lyrics that speak of mental turmoil among the lovers, as a result of falling in love. One can easily envisage open fields, mountains, and a colourful chorus as this song is being enacted. Vocals are good, but the song is pretty ordinary.

Khwahish, by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik is yet another love song, the tunes and beats of which remind one of the Kishore Kumar number ‘Ek Raastha Hai Zindagi, jo tham gaye tho kuch nahin’ from Kaala Pathar. Again, an average song with simple lyrics, and a song that is unlikely to remain in anyone’s memory for long.

And on to the last number ‘Rain Rain’, before the repeats start. Sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, its very much an ‘item’ number type of song. Music is modern, with a distant background chorus. Sunidhi does manage to sound erotic, varying her voice from a low to a high pitch easily. Some time ago, we had ‘On the roof, in the rain’ in the film Masti, and music composers seem to have found ‘Rain’ to be a good idea, to use in fast zippy numbers. The song does hold one’s interest, is quite fresh and energetic, and is likely to appeal to the youngsters, and will be played in the nightclubs and discos for some time to come.

The instrumental version of the song Rabba Mere Rabba, which follows the Rain Rain number, runs for five and a half minutes, and is composed with the help of the keyboard, tablas and violins. Good guitar notes are used as a substitute in place of the voices. This is followed by duet version of Rain Rain, in the voices of Sunidhi Chauhan and Shaan. Both the times, the song starts and ends with the sounds of thunder and of falling rain. Shaan is very good in this version. The lyrics are the same as in the solo version. Both the singers are able to add a tremor to their voices, which gives the impression of shivering in the coldness and the chill of the rain. Shaan is invariably a part of most films albums nowadays, and is improving day by day. Also English words are becoming a standard inclusion in many songs, something that the purists would look down upon.

Rabba Mere Rabba makes yet another appearance in the album (that’s three times in the same soundtrack), and is a sad version of the same song in the voice of Alka Yagnik. Mercifully, it’s short and plays only for just over a minute.

The last entry in this album is an instrumental version of the first song, Chunari Re. Lasting for a full six minutes, its fairly decent.

Overall, this album fails to impress. Chunari Re is the only hummable song, and a song that is likely to grow on you. Rain Rain is a fast spicy item number, and will make it to the dance floor. The music of this album is unlikely to contribute anything measure to the success of the film. If the film does well, it will be due to the efforts of its actors and actress, and on the story, screenplay and direction. One wonders whether with too much work, the duo of Himesh and Sameer is running out of creativity and ideas.

Rating * * (Two stars)

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