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Om Shanti Om - Music Review
Om Shanti Om’s music is a delight. One of the most elaborate score from the stable of Vishal-Shekhar(V-S). I truly salute their dexterity and courage with this one. I was waiting to write it off as soon as the promos started but I went back to the songs and started liking them. And this has never happened for a V-S score before.
Though there might be two thoughts behind putting this in the year’s top five, it still can be enjoyed as a total bhelpuri full-on masala Bollywood score.
Of all the surprises (shocks rather) popping out of the Mumbai film machinery off late, one of the top contenders would be the monstrously odd Dard-e-Disco(Sukhwinder Singh, Marianne, Nisha, Caralisa). The moment you hear the phrase a wtf reaction comes free along with. The shocking video doesn’t help much either. Javed Akhtar might be criticized to no end by using stuff like dard-e-disco, sanfransisco, chhabees ko, but the song lies in that weird-ass plane of thought where you don’t minding hanging your intellectual shoes. Its pure guilty pleasure and that very fearless execution will make it popular.
Dastaan-e-Om Shanti Om might sound like a cheap imitation of Karz’s theme song on the outset. And I must say it doesn’t show any drastic changes on repeat hearings as well. The start reminds you of that eternal song from QSQT, Akele hain to kya gham hai(the stanza-phir nahi tootegi..). A pure nostalgia trip without much indulgence. It sounds more like a catalog theme than a big song to look up to. You just might lap it up if you love the whole story-within-a-song structure. And considering there is no imprint of the contemporary orchestration whatsoever, it falls easy on the ears. By easy, I do not mean it is soft, it has its L-P soul very much in place, with the crescendo-ensemble build up and heavy choirs. However, this song gets a new life in the piano-ridden theme music, which makes you wonder if a different approach would have made any difference to the tune.
Dhoom Taana(Abhijeet, Shreya Ghoshal) will be single handedly responsible for whatever fame OSO’s music brings in. It is the singular reason to have faith in the composing and arranging abilities of V-S. The good news is the arrangement is so detailed, the song does not sound like someone is trying to do a tribute. It’s very much living in the seventies of Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaj. Later gives away to a RD Burman jhankar, and drums with sax. You can hear the delightfully done Congo beats at the back. It is very visual. You can call it the most fulfilling track of the lot. Shreya Ghoshal scores over Abhijeet in this masti-masala-filled recipe. I guess I am going overboard but that’s what the song will do to you. You can’t help not going back in your mind to the seventies. The visuals will be a challenge (I was thinking of ‘Jai jai shiv shankar’ all the time, may be the stanza’s latter bits are on an exactly similar beat as jai jai, try singing along the old song against teri preet meri preet and you will know what I mean) and I am keenly looking forward to it. Even if you remove all the historical references, the track would strike you in its stand-alone avatar, and that’s thanks to the time spent on its structuring and layout. More power to the composition to its collage-panorama structure, which I guess is done to show a time-sweep of a star’s career on celluloid.
Ajab Si(KK) would be the only quintessential V-S track here, a clear reminiscence of Chaand ki Roshni from Home Delivery, and it’s very much now. And thanks for that, as too much recreation can damage the whole concept of a tribute. Beautifully written and sung by KK, the song attains a full curve towards the stanzas, a simple tune with mild guitars and sparse tapping. I was pretty surprised to see the promos using this song, especially when the expectations around OSO were to hit you with a thud. Only Rahman is famously known to give us slow numbers for starters, a la Kehna hi kya, Dheeme Dheeme or the eternal Ishq Bina.
It might not be justified to bring in Rahman here, but comparisons are bound to be drawn considering he was offered the film but later couldn’t work out because of ownership issues. Anyways, it’s a blessing for V-S and they have put in an impressive line-up if not something comparable to The Maestro.
Deewangi Deewangi(Shaan, Udit Narayan, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Rahul Saxena) is the multi-stellar item number here. It retains the festivity mood of dard-e-disco. I guess on screen it would be a John Johnny Janardhan kind of a fun. What works rather ironically for the song is the done-to-death ‘put your hands in the air and say” routine. You have to hear the song to realize how it works. This is one song where you see a happy marriage of old and new arrangement. The wondrous Urdu punch line (I would refrain from guessing it without cracking it completely) is another case of ‘its so good that I don’t know what it means’ magic.
Main Agar Kahoon(Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal), sadly does not fall in the festivities. Sappily sung by the saccharine king, Sonu Nigam, reminds you of those old music videos on TV, the new year ones. I would rather give it a skip. It might work later considering what happened in the case of other songs could happen here as well, but as of now, it sucks, to put it simply.
Jag Soona Soona Lage(Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Richa Sharma) starts off with the now typical sufi aalaap by Richa Sharma(ni main samajh gayee). You have no two thoughts in your head you will soon hear Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s vocals who is the industry’s current favorite for climactic filmy song situations. It’s the point where the heroine happens to strand the hero in midst of the whole mediocrity, and all walls close in on him. You need a song, you get it. Full on melodrama, a little of Mahesh-Bhatt-Avatar-Gill-Arun-Bakshi road singing, even has those dramatic interludes amidst the static rhythm pattern where you see the whole sequence of the story running back to our currently-dil-toota-hero. Considering Khan’s voice has been used to better effects in recent past (Main Jahaan Rahoon, Bol na halke halke) the song should have been nothing less than brilliant, which sadly it isn’t. A repeat wonder, don’t be surprised if the song rings in your head even at the minutely valid reasons(like a girl turning away from you at the café).
Recommended. If you wrote Vishal-Shekhar of Cash off, listen to this one, its quite literally a reincarnation!
52 Responses to “Om Shanti Om - Music Review”
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Heard dard-e-disco and daastan - OSO and I am 99% sure that film is going to be a complete crap and will work for 4-5 days on hype. I am pretty sure Farah Khan and SRK know their product is extremely weak and are tryign to create hype and publicity by gimmicks ( shirtless SRK, actor assortment ina song ala Naseeb). The two songs mentioned above seem to be extra-ordinarily ordinary. Listen to Karz soundtrack at 320 kbps on klipsch, enjoy and salute LP. cheers.
gimmicks ka to game ho jayega.srk ne kameej khol li hai,ab chhati pitna baki hai.
As this blog is about music review, I am writing this comment, as I was expecting someone would write the music review of Johnny Gaddaar which btw is mindblowing and fantastic. Coming from S-E-L that too getting out of their comfort zone (you all know what I mean) and scoring a masterpiece after a loooooonnnnnnnnngggg time is truly applaudable. All these things put together make me really look forward to watching this flick… and here’s hoping someone will write-up on this one…..
marurama, do send in your article on Johnny Gaddaar’s music review via Projekt iView here:
http://passionforcinema.com/about/#iview
and while on songs, get drunk ( tharra, mausambi, narangi, chivas, JW, whatever you can get) and dance in Pune during Ganesh mahotsav with the crowd with full blast “Ganpati Maurya”from SEL’s Don.” This should be added in the list of top 100 things to do before you die.
omg. The music of this film mediocre. “extra-ordinarily ordinary” indeed. I was so excited with Vishal Shekhar initially but they seem hell bent on giving one popcorn score after the other. Why? :(
@maruramu, we are seeing a landslide of music releases off late, its elating to see so many good film scores coming after a relative bad year of lift-offs and unoriginal works. I have heard Johnny and I love the score. Just a correction, the music is done together by SEL and Daniel George(who has alos done the BGM). I could write reviews on Johnny and Laga Chunari Mein Daag, but would love to see some diverse participation. There is also Khoya Khoya Chand that is coming up, so we are in for a musical treat this time around.
:)
@Tushar…looks like u r still in aag mode. how come u liked it ? its really extra orinarily ordinary!!! still despertaly trying to like any one song fm d album…n only one worked for me n that too 4 rahat’s voice,i guess. some songs will work 4 visual delight only…like the one where they hav gt some 40 heroes or so. otherwise,its big disappointment….farah gt it so damn good in main hoon na!! looks like SLB scored one point here…atlesat the title track of saawariya is catchy. waiting eagerly 4 its music release.
vishal-shekahr going downhill 4 sure…i c u.. tara bum bum…cash n now this. honeymoon travels was only good one. n dastaan-e-oso is so so so karz!!!!!
Point noted, Sirjee. and don’t remind me of AAAAAG!!!:((
Hear the first interlude in Ajab si… it’s so much like the string usage in Jaan-e-mann… Have to say Shirish and Farah have a similar ear to music… and a good one. :)
Forgot to add just a fantastic album… the best from Vishal-Shekhar… Om Shanti Om will be the biggest hit of the year…
Didn’t notice that before, yes the strings intro is a popular operatic motif, often used to establish a dreamy milieu. Loved Ishq Masoom hai. ajnabi shehar, and sau dard hain from Jaanemann. Must say i am not fond of main hoon na, neither film nor music.
Chalo is baat ki khushi hai ki aapko to pasand aaya, Pratim Da :)
Main hoon na music was too loud except Tumhe jo maine dekha… Om Shanti Om has that very classy feel to it in parts and mass appeal in others… Lovely mix… Was disappointed when Rahman couldn’t do OSO but Vishal-Shekhar has more than lived up to expectations… And what words by Vishal…
Aankhon mein teri ajab si ajab si adaein hai…
Dil ko bana de jo patang saasein teri woh hawaein hai…
Great, great visual imageries… AWESOME!
@ Pratim
“Have to say Shirish and Farah have a similar ear to music”
They are married or something isn’t it ?? ….
Yes Pratik… that’s what I meant… they are having a baby now… Not all husband and wife have similar tastes in arts… That’s what I was trying to say…
Ha ha
Arey Pratimda aaj ke toh tumi bapok formae Acho!:d
Ki modhur bhashon Tushar babu! (What honeyed language Tushar Sir!)
@ Tushar
Just wondering, did you just tell Pratim that he’s “in good form today” (just trying to test my Bengali decoding skills).
Asthey asthey sikhchi , sob ee apan doya!
:)
Yes Pratik, you are right.
I didnt like it. Only Ajab si is good but not great. rest are dholakia songs. I would rate Manorama-SFU better than this and Johnny Gaddar much better.
@pratium…ki bolchis…can bet on this that that music will not work. its so average man. songs will only work may be after the film bcz of srk n 40 heroes n all that visual appeal.
main hoon na was loud ? OSO is classy ?:-w:-? nahi samjh me aaya bhai….i think MHN’s chori chori had much much better 70’s mood than OSO’s any of the songs. also, chale jaisi hawayein…tumhe jo maine dekha….the aqwalloi n main hoon na….all were good. OSO m still still listening and trying to like….
Dastan E Om Shanti Om - will be the song of this album. You can visualize this song as, the heroine running down the satires and then falling on the shoulder of the hero. And then dancing around… It is like Jhankar Beats - the drums - and Shaan.
And after that Ajab Si.
Dhoom Tana song makes me laugh. I do not know why. perhaps there is a hidden joke…
Don’t think much of the rest.
@Goonda…its karz re…completly….ek hasina thi…ek dewanna tha…..same same same….
it remind me more of jhankaar beats - their collaboration with shaan.
perhaps i should give those old classic songs a listen (i have not heard those songs for years so don’t remember the tunes of those songs), then i will see the connection between the song and…
jo bhi ho. this song and ajab si are the only two good tracks from the album.
BTW Shirish Kunder/Anu used “Ek Haseena Thi” from Karz more effectively in Jaan.e.mann than Farah/VS..
Guess the song!!!
A blind guess.. Jaane Ke Jaane Na? Ajnabi Se and Saud Dard are the best tracks of the soundtrack, by the way.
PAVAN JHA: In the post about Rekha Bhardwaj, u mentioned about DHOLA MAROO. WHAT’S THAT? a gujarati film?
@Shailesh
no not a gujarati film..
will surely post about it during weekends..
Pavan
@Honhaar Goonda
It was “Humko Maloom Hai”.. Listen The opening parts, Drums, Strings and Salman’s verses “Muhabbato.n me jeene wale”.. and then listen the opening part of “Ek Haseena Thi” (Romio Juliet…) and you know what I mean..
btw “Humko maloom hai” is a beautiful on screen song for me.. and “Sabra se ishq mehroom hai” is one of the finest lyrical lines written by gulzar saab in recent times..
Pavan
[...] Posted by aksfilmi on September 19th, 2007 Link [...]
Shut your eyes and just listen to the music, you will get hooked. Then go see the video and you will be mesmerized. You won
i will give it a try. anyway, i have to listen to those to see the connection between Dastaan E Om Shanti Om..
for me the finest lyrical lines of the album were…
“…ajeeb hai ye zindagi ye zindagi ajeeb hai
ye milti hai bicharti hai bicharke phir se milti hai…”
simple but effective.
i heard the karz soundtrack. i did not find a lot similarties between karz songs and Dastaan-E-Om Shanti OM - this song is a lot sober than the Karz songs. perhaps i need to clear my ears…
and pavan ji, you are absolutely right.
“i think MHN
The makers forgot to provide Pyarelal ji’s name on the covers.. infact anywhere inside the covers his name is missing.. While everyone know he did composed Dhoom Tana specially for the film..
@Tushar
“Dhoom tana is the singular reason to have faith in the composing and arranging abilities of V-S. The good news is the arrangement is so detailed..”
You should know its done by Pyarelal ji not VS.. Its not a mistake but foul play…
Pavan
From what I remember in one of VS interviews, Pyarelalji was only arranger for dhoom tana and not composer and usually arranger name is not given in CD cover (?) but in this case it should have been.
@Pavan, The song ‘Dhoom Taana’ is not composed by Pyarelal.It is composed by VS and arranged by Pyarelal. It is a genuine mistake and VS were surprised not see Parelelal’s name on the cover.
http://www.dnaindia.com/dnaPrint.asp?NewsID=1122342
Srk Frantic with nother piece of article
http://filmikhabar.com/2007/09/17/bachchanistas-swallow-your-pride-and-say-om-shanti-om/
Farah Khan and her brother Sajid Khan always critise other work especially Sajid Khan I dont think they are so telented to make fools of others. Farah had made Main Hoon Na which was stupid masala film. The movie was success just coz of SRK and Sushmita same thing about sajid’s heyy baby which was ordinary movie compare to other movies which sajid had critise. Both this brother and sister are survived coz they are backed by SRK, KJo, Sajid Nadiadwala & other big film maker,other wise they would not successed.
I get very negative vibes from Farah Khan and Sajid Khan. They don’t seem to be like nice human beings. They got lucky to have latched on to a super star. Their true colors came out when Farah talked nonsense about SLB, his mother and also his music launch.
I agree. I’ve never really liked Farah as a person either. Seems like a loud-mouthed bully. Ditto Sajid. Totally agree that they got lucky with SRK/KJo et al. The crap she spews about SLB reeks of jealousy and her disrespectful comments about his mother was below the belt and uncalled for. I guess Farah doesn’t have a mother.
PS: I loved RGV’s potshots at her in ‘Naach’.
I have been reading about this everywhere.
But what was the ‘crap’ that she said about Bhansali’s mother ? Didnt that get reported or what ?
She said something like, “Lily, don’t be silly!” implying at Leela, Sanjay “Leela” Bhansali’s mother! HAHA!
where did she that ? On a TV show ?
She also said that if SLB made Om Shanti Om, he would have named it Ma Shanti Ma!
Even school kids fight on serious topics? Talking about school kids, I remember my childhood, how about a script which is totally about 8 year olds? Not the usual cartoonish kids story but a real, “satya” kind of look with some “serious” issues!
Things which might look silly were pretty serious for us at that time, whether exams, dealing with the school bully, or the back bench guy getting more mileage with the front bench girl…more like a Indian feature version of “The Wonder Years”!
‘maa shanti maa’ thing wasnt really bad but if she also said ‘lilly dont be silly’, that yes is very offensive . btw machar what is this comment about the script about 8 yr olds in response to ??
“maa shanti maa
Tushar,
Dhoom Tana and Ajab si are very good. I thoroughly enjoyed listening them. Dhoom Tana brought back found memories of Jitendra, kaka era
I disagree about the thing that V-S dont have good songs. all the movies they’ve given music for, have one songs that is simply wow.In some albums might b two.As in Pyaar mein kabhi kabhi had Dil se mere and woh pehli baar. In Jhankaar beats there were Suno na and Tu aashiqui hai. For Supari they had Chaha meine chaha. For Stop! they did Meri Kahani. for my brother nikhil they gave LE CHALE. For popkorn khao..they had the up-beat,sunidhi chauhan delivering one of her best songs, Dupatta Beiman re.For karam, they gave Tinka Tinka- the comeback songs for Alisha and Koi aisa Alam. For Shabd, they had Bolo na. For Fight club they had Bolo na tum zara. these are all great songs.I agree some other soundtracks such as Home deliver, i see You, Ek ajneabee and cash dint have any songs to rave about.For OSO they have agreat song in the form of Ajab si.
oh ok im sorry..Fight club was not v-s.
Most of the songs aren’t bad, they or ok, and the last song (Deewanegi.. Dewangi)is the best song and the best scene in this movie.
I think that this song did a big support for the movie to be a super hit and ’cause of Sharukh Khan as he is a superstar. Just all of you imagine if the the hero in this movie was someone else and not SRK, e.g. a newcomer, would this movie be a super hit?? I don’t think so!