Music Review: Double Dhamaal

EXPECTATIONS Expectations are kept in check when the music of Double Dhamaal plays on. Reason being that the first in the franchise, Dhamaal, didn’t quite boast of chartbuster tracks with just the title track and to some extent ‘Miss India’ seeing some visibility for itself. Though Indra Kumar was once known for chartbuster songs in his films like Dil, Beta, Raja, Ishq, Mann and Masti, it went downhill with Pyaare Mohan as well as Dhamaal. Now one looks forward to what does composer/lyricist has to offer for Double Dhamaal here.

MUSIC Double Dhamaal opens quite well with ‘Chal Kudie’ which has Mika Singh starting off with a brief rap portion before Anand Raaj Anand gets into action with his trademark Punjabi rendition. Does it work? Of course yes. Even though some may scoff that ‘Chal Kudie’ sounds like a non-film Punjabi pop track, the fact remains that it does quite well for the genre that ‘Double Dhamaal’ belongs to. There is more rap interspersed in the song which makes it a spicy fusion number (arriving again in a ‘remix version’) that should be quite eye catchy as well, courtesy a music video that has been shot for it. Much hyped ‘Oye Oye’ comes next and draws immediate attention as the song has stayed on to be popular despite a couple of decades passing by since it became biggest chartbuster of the year in which it had released. Surprisingly though the song just includes the basic sound of ‘Oye Oye’ and turns out to be an altogether different track otherwise. You are taken aback a little as there was expectation of a lot more from the Tridev number than just the hook of ‘Oye Oye’. Nevertheless, after listening it as well as it’s ‘remix version’ for 3-4 times, it does start settling in and manages to create an identity of its own. Also, a lot needs to be attributed to Sunidhi Chauhan who brings in the right spunk to make this dance number work and help it stand up on its own. Next to come is ‘Jalebi Bai’ which is the much talked about number featuring Mallika Sherawat. Now this is truly the kind of number that has been made to play to the gallery. However surprisingly it doesn’t quite go the whole hog and just turns out to be any other item number that may have been made for a lesser item girl. When it comes to Mallika, there are expectations of something really huge. In comparison even singer Ritu Pathak’s very own ‘Razia’ (Thank You) was far better though it is a different matter that the song didn’t turn out to be the chartbuster that it deserved to be. Now with ‘Jalebi Bai’ not quite managing to sound interesting despite repeated hearing, its fate would entirely depend upon how it has been picturised. Mayur Puri is the guest lyricist for ‘Chill Maro’ which has been sung by Mika. A laidback track which goes in accordance to the lyrics that propagate ‘chilling out’ rather than worrying much about tensions in life, ‘Chill Maro’ sounds like a Pritam number. Having said that, one has to give it to Anand Raaj Anand to make it sound like a contemporary number. An okay number that also appears in a ‘remix version’, ‘Chill Maro’ has its shelf life restricted to the playing time of the film.

OVERALL After trying his luck with Anu Malik (Pyaare Mohan) and Adnan Sami (Dhamaal), Indra Kumar has gone back to his Masti composer Anand Raaj for Double Dhamaal. Results are better though with ‘Chal Kudie’ and ‘Oye Oye’ turning out to be catchy numbers. However, one just feels the need for that one additional big chartbuster that could have made a big difference to the album’s fortunes.

OUR PICK(S) Chal Kudie, Oye Oye