After numerous instances of 'actors-turned-directors' and
'writers-turned-directors', 2004 is going to be year that will see at least 2
high profile choreographers turn into directors. (Ahmed Khan in Lakeer and Farah
Khan in Main Hoon Na).
Coming back to Ahmed Khan, he brings together macho men Sunny Deol and Sunil
Shetty together (after 'Khel' once again in 'Lakeer') along with John Abraham
and Sohail Khan. Nauheed Cyrusi plays the sole heroine who is the love interest
of both John and Sohail. Produced by Vivek Kumar, 'Lakeer' has lyrics by Mehboob
and music by A. R. Rehman who gave super-dud 'Tehzeeb', last year.
'Nachley' is an addition to the bhangra pop genre. Daler Mehndi and Kunal
Ganjawala make an honest attempt to make the number full of life but somehow the
overall result is not as inspiring as one expects from a Rehman number. Output
is just about average and the routine choreography doesn't help the cause much
either. Surprising, because at the helm of affair is the director Ahmed Khan who
has many well-choreographed songs to his credit. Chances are not very high that
'Nachley' would really make millions 'naach' to it's tunes.
'Shehzade' by Kumal Ganjawala seems to begin where 'Nachley' ends in terms of
overall setup and mood. Like former, even this track is an attempt at being a
fun-filled song full of youthfulness. Sadly, this track also doesn't rise from
being mediocre and is clearly a repetition of several other Rehman youth numbers
in the past.
Follows next is a sober love song 'Paighaam' by Shaan and Kavita Krishnamurthy.
Nope! Even this track is least exciting and just seems to drag on. Mehboob's
lyrics are poetic but certainly not meant for a man on street to sing around.
Music too belongs to one of those 'heard-before' Rehman songs and Shaan's vocals
are so subdued that you have to actually stress yourself to hear what he is
singing.
As in case of most of the recently released albums, Asha ji comes to the rescue
with 'Offho Jalta Hai' where she sings a duet with Sonu Nigam, who thoroughly
seems to be enjoying himself in this track. A sensuous track, it has good rhythm
and should pick up on the popularity chart.
'Rozana' is a youthful campus song by pop group 'Viva'. A song that has western
touch throughout, it may be popular among the college going crowds. At some
points the number does become a bit loud and the vocals shrieky but probably
that was the intent in order to give the song a young look.
'Sadiyaan' is another love song after 'Paighaam' that has indeed some different
music. The song has variations after every line and has a classic feel about it
mainly due to Mehboob's lyrics. A soft track, Hariharan, Udit Narayan and
Mahalaxmi sing it well.
Music of 'Lakeer' is mainly targeted at the college going crowd in the age group
of 18-25 that may want to dance on to the beats of Rehman. Though the musical
team does get successful to some extent, overall the result is not as satisfying
and fulfilling as one expects when a master musician works with a high-profile
choreographer!
