It's been over a year since the last one… Everyone who experienced the last one can't wait for the next instalment… The time has come… Yes, you've guessed it…. It's another review by Usman! Ok, so joking aside, a year after the last Moviebox Bollywood album, we have the new one, ‘Streets of Bollywood 2'
As I sit enjoying the Moroccan sun, upon the roof terrace of my rented villa. My thoughts turn to my next album assignment. The streets of Marrakech couldn't be further from the streets I'm used to, never mind the streets of Bollywood. But as I'm about to find out, the lure of Bollywood has an attraction that crosses not only continents, but language barriers as well. So where does this album fit into the grand scheme of things? Does it do the genre justice? Or is it just hijacking its popularity as a contemptible means of making sales?
The CD kicks off with ‘Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko' from DDLJ. The music starts sounding something vaguely eastern and then begins with the great paradox. The delicate feminine tones of Lata Mangeshkar are opposed by the harsh vocals of YT. Combining these twos strange is rather strange, almost odd, but the music holds it all together. Ignoring the fact that a large proportion of the track is merely repetition, it still manages to persuade you not to skip, much better than the other version on the album.
Immediately I have a serious issue with the choice of song here, namely Aye Hawa. Unless I'm seriously mistaken, nobody's mum or dad is realistically going to buy this album so why bother with songs that are so old? And even you have one of those dads who still reckons he's cool cos he still has a full head of hair, wears sunglasses and dances at weddings, even he will be put off 1 minute 23 seconds into the song when it is ruined. Ok, so it's not unexpected, it's as inevitable as the hero of the film winning the fight when he is horrendously out-numbered; in this case it's another use of reggae. I don't see how it compliments it at all, so I'm afraid it's a NAHIIIIIII for this song.
Change of tact for the next one and a much-needed injection of tempo in form of Hip Hop mixed in with Kishore Kumars vocals on Apni To. This is token track type Moviebox always have. They use only two lines from the original song repeated in between some hip hop or mc-ing. This fits the formula exactly. Kami K does his usual valiant effort in a bid make the best of a bad situation but despite being similar to the version later in the track, the US version has the edge.
Next up is Metz and Trix who must be fulfilling contractual obligations by doing the one-track appearance on all such albums. Again, lack of lyrics used from the Kumar Sanu classic Dil Mera Dil, but the difference here being the production by Surinder, minimalist though it may be carries the song well. Metz starts the track surprisingly well, albeit in his unmistakable style. As the track progresses the quality decreases with the low point being Trix's quintuplet syllable rap. I'd rather hear Udit Narayan singing a Cheeky Girls song.
Illegal demo provide us with, in my opinion, what this whole album should have been like. Achi Lagti ho, is modern, funky and fresh. Blending the best aspects of a bollywood song with, (this is going to sound so clichéd) a western twist. The beauty lies in the fact that it is so obviously different to the original but still the production is such that the music doesn't seem too mismatched and out of place. This the ‘Shah Rukh Khan' of the album so far.
It's not a coincidence that Hunterz get the most obvious and biggest hit track of all in the album so far. Agar Tum Mil Jao is one of those songs that even if you don't watch Bollywood movies you would have heard. The clever thing is that Hunterz vocal contribution is minimal, and the production input is even less. This is because they realise that people will listen to and appreciate this song regardless. They did a similar thing with ‘Dulhe Ka Sehra' on the last album, where Nusrat Fateh Ali Khans voice was enough to carry the track no matter what they did. On production merit, it's like Bobby Deol in a lycra vest, but as a track to listen to its like Sushmita in a Sari.
Chaha is the first track on the album that is purely a remix of a song, with no vocal additions. The song choice is nice, the production by Inspecta does its job and overall it's a nice remix of a romantic love song.
Kabhi Kabhi is such a track that symbolises Bollywood and was even known by almost every fake watch seller we met. Imagine my dismay when my eardrum has the misfortune of vibrating to produce my auditory sensation relating to the massacre of this song. For someone who understands the soul piercing emotion of the lyrics, trying to increase the tempo is a sin. The additions are about as useful as a snooze button on a smoke alarm. And Bobby Friction put his name to this?
I was waiting to hear a completely cheesy track and ‘Saat Samunder' is exactly that. The format Moviebox used from one album to the next is quite obviously similar, with a mix of recent hits; a couple of classics and a random cheesy track thrown in for good measure. Bhinda Ajhula has mixed this 90's cheese fest and to be fair to him, for the type of track it is, he's captured the mood rather well. I wouldn't have it on repeat while alone in my room crying over a girl I couldn't have because her parents were rich and I wasn't (like in most storylines of the 90's) but its good effort nonetheless
Its Hunterz again, and what do have here? A few months after the phoenix like rebirth of ‘Yeh Mera Dil' and it being brought into the consciousness of a new generation of Bollywood fans by the film DON, they do a version. Hmmm… Now let's ignore the fact that the version in the soundtrack to the new DON is vastly superior. Who am I kidding; you can't help but draw comparisons. The fact that the vocals sound like they have been recorded from a radio located under a tunnel doesn't help the matter. And ironically enough it is those very vocals that keep you interested in the song although the beat does help it along.
Not this song!! Never thought I'd hear this song on an album. The song being ‘Hum tum aik kamre mein band ho.' The lyrics have always been a problem for me, it's a song you would hear and change the channel if you were sat with your parents cos you would feel uncomfortable listening to it. It just has a touch of the perverse to it, it sounds like the song equivalent of what goes through the mind of some guy in a takeaway, as he serves a young lady. Smiling through his moustache and with more oil in his hair than in the kebab he's about to serve. Leave that for a second, the music is all wrong anyway, there's too much going on and it's not matching anything. There's more sound effects here than the horn of Pakistani bus, this is just a complete mess.
Out of the wilderness is Tarli Digital (Remember him?) Let's keep it short and sweet. This is another granddad song that no one wants to hear. The odd fancy mix trick before the chorus doesn't really do it for me, nor does it suit the track.
A surprise waits on the penultimate track, ‘Apni To' US version. The surprise being that on first listen, it sounds exactly like the other version. It is to a large extent but the rap element is stronger in this one, not that Jay-Z will be quaking in his boots, but for this level it is. It just gives the overall song an edge and infiltrates the production much more seamlessly.
Finally is a second version of ‘Ho Gaya Hai.' Its fine until the MC's open their mouths. There's just no rhyme and reason to it, it doesn't entice you into the song at all. Had the song merely not included that element, it's actually not that bad; the music is a non-overbearing positive influence upon the track as a whole and certainly gives it a kick.
To conclude, this is a very western adaptation on the Bollywood genre and the hardcore element would probably not appreciate it at all. Although if you appreciate a wide range of music you will find something in there to keep you interested and the odd Bollywood vocal along the way will certainly help. Not that many floor fillers simply due to the nature of the songs they have chosen. It's hard to shake it to a song in which you're poetically trying to convey your feelings but not every song has to be like that. If you like your Bolly but can't live without your bass either…Buy it. |
