Lifeless and ordinary

Sukanya Verma

Engaging.
You could always say that about a Ram Gopal Varma film.

Alas, with Company he makes an exception.

The album comprises six tracks and two theme pieces composed by the Ram Gopal Varma favourite, Sandeep Chowta.

Khallas is a mild attempt at recreating the passion of Kambakht Ishq (Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya). Though Asha Bhosle, Sudesh Bhosle and Sapna Avasthi make for an energetic trio, the track falls flat. The remix version, however, has more spunk thanks to its clamorous beats.

Tumse kitna pyaar hai by Altaf Raja has a brooding feel to it, which grows on you. Raja is amazingly sedate and does justice to the number.

Stereotypical fare next as dholaks and flutes accompany Sonali Vajpayee and Babul Supriyo in Pyar pyar mein. Strictly average.

Souwmya Rao's soft Aankhon mein sounds like a lullaby, but lends itself a sense of deja vu.

With Ganda hai, composer Chowta excercises his vocal chords. One may recall that he had sung the title track of Mast. Here, he puts his powerful baritone to good use as he says Sab ganda hai par dhanda hai yeh [It's dirty, but hey! It's business!].

The Law and order theme faintly resembles the Godfather theme, with momentary lapses into a James Bond soundtrack. But kudos to Chowta who comes up with scintillating stuff as he blends bullet shots and melody to thrilling effect.

The other instrumental -- Malik’s soul sounds like a paler version of the Asoka theme that was created by Chowta too.

Can't get worse than Hum Kisise Kum Nahin

It starts off with promise, only to stumble.

A remake of Analyze This (Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal), Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, boasts of an impressive star cast -- Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai.

But the music by Anu Malik lacks any appeal as it religiously caters to the masses.

The album kicks off with the whimsical Yeh kya ho raha hai. A catchy track by Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik and Anu Malik makes for a good watch too with its hilarious picturisation on Ajay Devgan, Aishwarya and Amitabh Bachchan. The song, in itself, is no great shakes, but the Anu who playbacks for the Big B is great.

Next, Udit Narayan proposes to his ladylove in Hindi film ishtyle with Dulhe Raja. This one is average at best.

After dishing out What is your mobile number in Haseena Maan Jayegi, Sonu Nigam and Anu Malik team up once again with Munna mobile pappu pager. And the song is a stinker.

Anuradha Paudwal and Sonu Nigam croom romatic odes in the insipid O sapne ke saudagar.

The qawwali, Kya kehna has orchestration that reminds one of Anu’s Tu mere dil mein basja (Judwaa). And no matter how hard they try, Anuradha Paudwal and Vinod Rathod can't salvage Main sohni tu mahiwal.

A word from the wise: The music of Hum Kisise Kum Nahin is no great prize.

Na Tum Jaano Na Hum -- The music review

Music director Rajesh Roshan created waves with Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai, a award-winning hit in 2000 that marked the debut of stars Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel.

It boasted of a number of popular hits including the title song, the Lucky Ali number Ek Pal Ka Jeena and Na Tum Jaano Na Hum.

Roshan now helms the soundtrack for Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, starring nephew Hrithik, Saif Ali Khan and Esha Deol.

Arjun Sablok directs the film, making his feature debut. The title is borrowed from the lyrics in a KNPH song.

The film contains eight songs, with Haye ram by Abhijeet and Pamela Jain, being repeated.

The album begins with the Udit Narayan and Jain song Dil Leke. It is lively and certainly the best of the lot, thanks to Narayan. Jain, a relative newcomer, is also quite good.

Kamaal Khan and Sneha Pant are the voices for Jaa sanam, the second track. Though it has a few nice beats, the song just doesn't make an impact. Neither voice is memorable but the music certainly is good.

Haye ram is lively and worth a listen, again the plus being the Roshan score. Abhijeet does a nice job with the slow-paced song.

Tum, sung by Khan, and Aha aha, a playful number by Falguni Pathak, are the other noteworthy melodies.

Though the album has a few decent numbers, it is not nearly as memorable as KNPH.

One sorely misses Lucky Ali and top female vocalists like Alka Yagnik in the album. Instead we are treated to Jain, Pant, Falguni Pathak and Jaspinder Narula.

These singers have made their mark but are certainly not in the class as the Fab Four of Yagnik, Kavita Subramaniam, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle —who are instrumental in selling albums.

Roshan and lyricist Anand Bakshi do a nice job but it is not enough.

The recording label SaReGaMa may be aware of the dire situation. They have added a 'nice price' tab on the front cover to entice customers, which isn't normally seen on films starring big names.

Depending on how critical you are, Na Tum Jaano Na Hum is an average to below-average soundtrack — one that a listener should definitely hear in a store before purchase.