Aankhen is music to your ears; Lal Salaam disappoints

Sukanya Verma

It's certainly no classic, yet the music of Aankhen is beaming with vivacity. The film about a heist masterminded by Amitabh Bachchan, also stars Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Sushmita Sen and Bipasha Basu.

The album kicks off with Big B regaling his audience in a philosophical rapper, not much different from his earlier Bhala bura (Aks).

Different or not, AB rocks! The track is followed by the theme of Aankhen that boasts of Sonu Nigam and Remo sprucing up the spirits with their enthusiastic one on one.

Aadesh Shrivastava looks all set to give Sonu Nigam and Babul Supriyo a run for their money as he croons the bouncy Gustakhiyan with much gusto. Giving him able support is the seductive voice of Vasundhara Das.

The album takes a mellow turn with the soothing Kuchh kasme, treading the same path as Na tum jaano na hum (Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai) in the honeyed voices of Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik.

Up next is All the best, which incidentally, was what Aankhen was originally titled. The track is pepped up by live wire Remo's sensational vocal histrionics.

Phatela jeb preaches philosophy, tapori ishtyle. Composed by Jatin Lalit, Aadesh Shrivastava and Nitin Raikar, this catchy ditty also sees the latter two practicing their vocal skills, along with Arun Bakshi.

While Chalka chalka is a typically frivolous piece of music, Nazar pe teri by Kavita Krishnamurthy and Sonu Nigam could easily be described as racy and foot tapping, added to some lively beats. All in all, Aankhen makes a decent buy.

Lal Salaam, once again brings together three legends -- Lata Mangeshkar, Gulzar and Hridaynath Mangeshkar -- after a gap of almost ten years. Their last album together was the superlative Lekin.

The album starts off with Mitwa (Lata Mangeshkar and Roop Kumar Rathod) that, on first listen turns out to be an average piece. However, the track does tend to grow on you after the second or third listen.

Humkara jage, on the other hand, fails to impress despite the various rhythmic movements and Lata Mangeshkar's vocals.

Although the Lata Mangeshkar, Roop Kumar Rathod rendered Beeta mausam starts off well, it drifts into mediocrity half way through. The composition does nothing to enhance the beautiful lyrics.

Jara sa aao na is an attempt to evoke patriotism but fails miserably due to poor rendition (Roop Kumar Rathod and Ravindra Sathe). The meaningful lyrics by Gulzar are lost on you in the process.

The album ends with Tum asha vishwas hamare, the Lata Mangeshkar rendered song from the 1984 film Subah penned by Pandit Narendra Sharma.

With Lal Salaam, Hridayanath Mangeshkar has attempted to blend classical, folk and contemporary music – something like fusion music. However he hasn't really succeeded in his attempt thus making this one a mediocre album.