Music Review: College Campus

EXPECTATIONS Now where has this one come from? That’s the first reaction that one has on coming across the music album for a film that goes by the name of College Campus. With Atul composing music and a bunch of new lyricists coming together for the five songs in the album, expectations are zilch from College Campus.

MUSIC Thankfully there are some known names when it comes to the singers at least. First is the usual suspect Sunidhi Chauhan who hasn’t quite hesitated in lending her voice to any and every film, be it big or small. She gives her nod of approval to College Campus as well where she goes about crooning ‘Akhiyan Mila Mila Jara’ which is written by Sahil Sultanpuri. A fast moving high-on-beats number that could alternate between being an item number to the kind where the leading lady sings for her guy, ‘Akhiyan Mila Mila Jara’ turns out to be a decent dance track that has a spunk to it, courtesy Sunidhi who seems to be actually enjoying her stint behind the mike. Ditto for new-find Rimi Dhar who croons for another version of the song which is set in the same tune but has different lyrics (on the naughtier side) that go as ‘U R My Love’. It is after a hiatus that one gets to hear Udit Narayan and you immediately feel that the man needs to be heard more often. For the followers of 90s music who have sworn by the music of Nadeem-Shravan, ‘Dum Bhar Na Dum Lenge’ is a quick fodder. Reminding of the kind of songs that were heard in films made by Darshan brothers (Dharmesh and Suneel), this conversational song which seems to be set in a party also brings back Vinod Rathod along with newcomer Manzira. A rather long track that lasts as good as seven minutes, even it’s lyrics by Rakesh Nirala fit into the Sameer mould, hence completing the 90s effect. Remember ‘Dulke Ka Sehra’ from Dhadkan? Well the Darshan-Nadeem-Shravan combo is back in motion all over again for ‘Ishq Mein Ruswai’, a ‘qawalli’. Yet again the song has it’s setting in the 90s and if released a decade ago, it would have made for a good situational number. Written by Kishor Chanchal and Sahil Sultanpuri, the song appears in two versions where Farid Sabri and Manzira are the common singers with Udit Narayan pitching in another version. By the time ‘Tanhai Mein Khamoshi Se’ begins you are sure that either the songs were actually recorded in the 90s or perhaps the makers were sure that they wanted sound from the era gone by and hence consciously worked on creating similar songs for College Campus. A duet by Shaan and Manzira, ‘Tanhai Mein Khamoshi Se’ is a Vishal Tandi written mushy number which is quite harmful in appeal and sails by smoothly. No, it is of course not THE love song that you were hunting for this season but in an album that hardly promised anything to begin with, this one turns out to be passable at the least.

OVERALL College Campus isn’t a superb album by any means. Neither does it break any new grounds nor does it make one believe that it would disappear from the stands in a jiffy. There is good probability that it would go unnoticed by most. However what can’t be denied is the fact that composer Atul doesn’t let go off the chance made available to him and creates a few songs that could have worked had they released during the 90s. For those who want to revisit the nostalgia of the kind of score that was heard a decade and a half ago, this College Campus may just be given a sneak peak.

OUR PICK(S) Akhiyan Mila Mila Jara, Dum Bhar Na Dum Lenge