Melodious banter in 'Hum Tum'

Film: Hum Tum

Music by Jatin-Lalit

Lyrics by Prasoon Joshi

The melodious numbers in "Hum Tum" set off the film's romantic-comedy mood as the bantering songs on gender equations bring a certain freshness to the entire album.

The songs, played in a subdued octave to great effect, are also bound to see the Jatin-Lalit duo's career springing back from a series of setbacks.

After "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" the music directors had been ousted from Karan Johar's camp. But this Yashraj Films venture now has a place in the sun for them.

Shaan and Alka Yagnik have a gala time lending their full-throat to songs about one-upmanship between the sexes. "Ladki kyon" is a mildly enjoyable song of bonding.

Obviously inspired by R.D. Burman's old Lata Mangeshkar-Kishore Kumar ballad "Koi ladki mujhe kal raat sapne mein mili" from "Seeta Aur Geeta", the track shows you can't take Jatin-Lalit too far away from their source of inspiration.

The most interesting interludes in "Ladki kyon" are provided by the film's lead pair Rani Mukherjee and Saif Ali Khan who, unbilled in the credit details, carry on an amusing gender war in the track.

Alka Yagnik, whose claim to the youthful renderings is fast being overtaken by Shreya Ghosal and Sunidhi Chauhan, dominates the album.

Unfortunately, her solo "Gore gore" that is propped up by an unbilled chorus line, and duet "Yaara yaara" with Udit Narayan are little more than contagious knick-knacks, special neither in their composition nor arrangement.

A lot of pace in the film reminds us of the music of Yash Chopra's "Dil To Pagal Hai", not to mention two recent Yash Chopra productions -- "Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai" and Kunal Kohli's directorial undertaking "Mujhse Dosti

Karoge".

This just goes to show that the entire musical packaging of a film from the Yash Chopra house of entertainment is a pooled passion. But here the ear is strictly to the ground reality of the youth market.

Hence, when the album concludes with the catchy but vacuous "U 'n' I" by Rishi Rich, you know you've come a long way from Yash Chopra's illustrious melodies in "Daag", "Kabhi Kabhie" and "Chandni".

The faintly appealing soundtrack of Hum Tum has one melody that we can hold close to our heart. Both Alka Yagnik and Babul Supriyo give their best shot to the title track.

It's a pleasantly syrupy ballad with some master strokes of wording by lyricist Prasoon Joshi, who does a commendable job of lending a lyrical

freshness to the entire album.

But even the title song isn't half the melody that Laxmikant-Pyarelal created for Yash Chopra's "Daag" 30 years ago. The song written by the incomparable Sahir Ludhianvi was "Hum aur tum, tum aur hum, khush hai yun aaj milke..."

"Hum Tum" provides a slight 'khushi' or joy to the listener. It lacks weight but makes up for it with its jaunty gait. Click the Movie button below for more info:
Hum Tum