'Yuvvraaj' - music review
The CD booklet for Yuvvraaj says (brace yourself) - :
Imagine a film where: Salman is a dreamy singer...
Katrina is a leading musician...
Zayed grooves to a chaotic disco sound...
Anil Kapoor enjoys only classical music...
Clearly, Subhash Ghai possesses a one of a kind, not to mention
dangerous, imagination. I tried very hard to pull off this impossible
task, but couldn't. I don't know how much success music director
A.R.Rahman and lyricist Gulzar had, but we'll take this album as their
best shot. I've tried wrapping my head around this soundtrack for a
while, but continue to find it a mixed bag. I blame Subhash Ghai - I
think he's finally got to Rahman, whose clever ploy of working at odd
hours kept the Guy out of harm's way during previous collaborations.
This one must have been made in broad daylight, which Ghai channeling
Laxmikant-Pyaarelal. The result is a very confusing medley of styles
and songs, and a subdued Gulzar.
lat uljhi...manamohinii more (Vijay Prakash) is the stand-out.
Rahman has often thrown in western orchestrations for classical
numbers, which coupled with the singer's assured singing, makes this an
excellent song. The contemplative zindagii zindagii (Srinivas)
is so mellow that it is in danger of being disregarded by listeners.
However, it is one of the few songs in the entire album to feature some
Gulzar sparks, and so worth getting on the playlist loop.
For me, the Gulzar-ARR partnership has always been successful when they
have connected on an elemental level of 'sound'. Unlike the
Vishal-Gulzar duo, where the music reinforces word semantics in a snug
fit, Rahman's music reacts best to the onomatopoeia of the great man's
words. In this album, Mastam Mastam (ensemble) achieves this in its
orchestrations and sonorous lyrics. This is in the vein of ooh la la lah
(Minsara Kanavu/Sapnay) and shabbaa shabbaa (Daud), and worked for me.
The recipe of dil ka rishta (ensemble) , though rich in musical themes, is a
throwback to Ghai's
idea of a 'musical' , with every bit of the soundscape painted
mercilessly. shaaNo shaaNo ("Beware Blaaze" alarm) provides a basis for similar
complaints. tu meri dost hai (Benny Dayal) has a simple melody which only
improves when Shreya Ghoshal and Rahman take over in the end, while in tu
muskuraa has Alka Yagnik touching Castafiore-ian scales.
Stay away from mai.n huu.n yuvvraaj (can't imagine Beethoven doing a jig at
finding his name coupled with Herr Salmon) and the shaaNo Remix (to be honest:
didn't bother listening to this. Why do I want to?)
I suppose all this bias is because a wise man once said: always be suspicious
of any film that contains:
1. Salman Khan
2. Zayed Khan
3. Subhash Ghai
4. Blaaze
5. Anyone 'playing' a musical instrument in the proud Bollywood
tradition of torturing it into revealing its octaves by giving it a
good massage
6. Katrina Kaif
7. Any film title with superfluous letters, especially an extra 'v'
http://quatrainman.blogspot.com/2008/11/yuvvraaj-music-review.html
