'Dum Maaro Dum' music offers variety (IANS Music Review)

Film: 'Dum Maaro Dum'; Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty; Lyricist: Jaideep Sahni; Singers: Anushka Manchanda, Ash King, Sunidhi Chauhan, Papon, Zubeen Garg, Abhishek Bachchan, Earl, Ayush Phukan and Mohit Chauhan; Rating: ***

Pritam Chakraborty is back on track after the not-so-rocking music in the film 'Thank You'. For 'Dum Maaro Dum', the composer has created both fast- and slow-paced numbers that are enjoyable and hummable.

The film album offers seven tracks.

It begins with the title track 'Mit jaaye gham', which is a revised and re-arranged version of the cult 1971 song 'Dum maaro dum' from the film 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna'.

This version has been sung by Anushka Manchanda and has been made contemporary with new lyrics, rap and additional beats and sound effects.

The song has a neo-age feel and might be a hit on the dance floor, but it somehow lacks the appeal of the original.

Up next is a song 'Te amo', describing a girl and the various facets of her personality.

Crooned by Ash King and Sunidhi Chauhan, the moderately paced track is quite pleasing and hummable and adds a soft touch to the album. It also includes a few English lyrics.

The song has two more versions. One a solo by Sunidhi and the other a reprised version by Mohit Chauhan.

While the solo version is just slightly slower than the original and has a female singer taking the mantle of the song, the reprised version is the most impressive. Even more than the original.

Mohit instills life into the song with his mesmerising vocals and the raw feel of the unplugged song creates an impact.

Then there is 'Jiyein kyun', which is the best song of the film. Sung by Papon, the song starts with no music in the background and the full focus is on the vocals.

After a few seconds in the song, light music seeps in, giving way to a stronger orchestration that then follows. It has a very raw, fresh feel to it with colloquial lyrics.

The guitar riffs later in the song draw interest and engage the listener. On the whole, a super composition and great singing by the vocalist.

Finally, there is 'Thayn thayn', which has none other than actor Abhishek Bachchan behind the mike with ample support from Earl and Ayush Phukan.

Abhishek is mainly rapping in the track. It starts with a dialogue, but soon acquires the hip-hop feel. It is a situational song.

On the whole, Pritam has proved with this album that he has the capability of churning out interesting tracks. A good job done by the composer.

(Ruchika Kher can be contacted at [email protected])