Don Soundtrack: Care For Jhankaar Beats?

Don: The chase begins Again.: Music Review by Sumeet Borwankar

Isn’t that one of the most awaited movies of this year? OK now, this statement “The Most Awaited Movie of the year” sounds so clichéd especially this year what with so many HUGE movies releasing left right and centre.

Before the release of a movie the other most anticipated release is the movies music. Don is no exception in this category! So, Wassup with the music of Don. Does it live up to the huge expectation? Does the music hold you by the collar and order you to bloody sit at one place and listen to ME? Does it repulse you? What does it do? How does it fair?

Now even before I start reviewing the Music I want to make one thing clear. I am not going to compare it to the original by Kalyanji-Anandji. Sorry, it would be not fair to either parties (K-A or SEL).

The first track as one expected is Main Hoon Don. Opens up to some very catchy background score. It surely holds you by your collar for the first 30 seconds, then 10 seconds in between and then 20 seconds at the end. So, just a total of one minute? Nope!! The song is not for just one minute, it is a 5 min 30 sec one. Yes that is all it did to me, and I am not on Acid. The song reminds one of a lot of other songs. It sounds like a medley of many songs I had heard somewhere, and I am not talking of the classic K-A stuff. Listen to the line “Dushman Jo…” I would stop chewing my fingernails if anyone tells me that line doesn’t remind you of a song in Musafir. All said and done you cannot brush of this song. Makes me day-dream of the stuff Farhan might have done to this to give us a visual beauty. I will not guarantee the same about the Messiah of Loser’s (in reel life) A.K.A Shah Rukh Khan. One more last thing about the song before I move on is… Sounds to me like a narcissist number. Sounds like SRK is trying real hard to grab attention of the viewers a la 1990’s numbers of his.

The second one is the classic Helen number. Yeh Mera Dil.

The song starts with the music that you have heard in the 1980’s and goes on to become the one’s you been hearing in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Slap me and ask how the hell you define Late 90’s and early 2000’s. Me going to grab your balls and tell you MO Fo it’s the era where every galli ka kutta came up with a re-mix with catchy names like… Blazing Bollywood remix, Big B remix and Tumhe chutya bana raha hoon re-mix. Sunidhi chauhan does an amazing vocal performance. SEL you had talent in your hands, then why the hell come up with a Cheesy, Corny and another C (which was religiously used in Omkara) re-mix which would make my Mom say. Band karo.

The most awaited number of the album comes third. Yes Bhaiyya’s and Bhabhi’s it is Khaike Paan Banaraswala. Singer: Udit Narayan/SRK.

I feel bad for Udit. He might have sung better than Kishore da (I know it’s blasphemous) but still people are going to rip him apart. The starting lines are changed a bit and he is talking about eating Halwa and eating Pan. Good until Udit tries to sound like….. Hold your breath… the greatest singer of all time… yes my dear Readers it is BALI BRAHMBHATT. Chalo jaane do, you come to accept it but then SEL doesn’t want to forget that the movie is a Re-Make. So, the Songs have to be Re-Mixed and that too to all the three C categories mentioned above. The Re-mix stops and you hear a strange sound of kikikiki…kiran SRK. Not a bad Job SRK I am impressed. But that “BIT” for some reason reminds me of the song from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (Man Mohini)… Listen to the lines and tell me it doesn’t remind you of Zara Lachak Lachak Zara Thumak Thumak. The accompanying music is bad … sorry I take it back.. very bad but Udit and SRK have done a good job here.

Now is the time for the new age DON. I mean some new songs. SEL gave us some really good original music, and have been doing this for sometime now. They don’t disappoint you with Maurya re. This song doesn’t grow on you. It instantly attacks your head, mind and legs and you start playing that music in your head while peeing, while going in the elevator and even when you are watching Baywatch. A very well sung, composed song. Now most of the Morya songs sound the same. But, this one has more than a striking resemblance to the ganapati song in Vastav. I am not taking away anything from this song. It’s a chart topper.

Now I guess we are in Mauritius. Phoren mulak and in a phoren mulak we need to have some beats. So, what if the beats are inspired by Bappi Lahiri. Enter Aaj Ki Raat.

I have the same problem with SEL all through the album. You are fucking kidding me by giving all that re-mix. Whatever happened to Dil Chahta hain. Trance music is one thing and stupid mixing of synthesizers is another. My complaint is that all the songs sound good, the Dhun is very fine, but why that repelling music behind it. Now, every song reminds me… or should I say takes me back to some old songs, and Aaj ki raat is not different. This has a late 80’s govinda’ish sound to it. Ohh did I forget to tell you that for the first 20 sec’s before the song starts I thought I was listening to Billy Jean by Michael Jackson

How about a re-mix of a re-mix… What the fuck am I talking? Well there is a Main Hoon Don re-mix. The sound playing behind makes wonder if this is the background score for the movie. All the suspense shots. All the fight sequences and all the heroism of SRK.

Don Revisited is an okay lounge or a club mix. I can accept that. It has all the famous Dialogues of Don Like..
Don ko pakadna Mushkil hi nahi na Mumkin Hain.
Don ke Dushmanon ki sabse badi galti yehi hain key who Don ke dushman hain

And SRK sounds so very masterjee giving naseehat than bloody commanding about his image with the cops. Suks!!!!

Don the theme starts with the famous dialogue between Zeenat’s brother and the Don

Kaun?

DON

This got me pumped up. This Theme is one helluva trip. Again I am not talking of Acid. Moms please don’t beat your kids if they start acting like Don when they hear this Theme. Well, I got my butt kicked during my childhood for doing the same. Theme of Don will make you feel Powerful… just listening to it. That is the charisma of Don and that is exactly what SEL has done to this piece of theme.
You get 100/100 in Math paper and fail in English. Whats the bottom Line …. You fail.

PS: This was my first reaction to the songs. There might be some songs which have a “Grow On you” effect. But I still would feel….. YAAR I HAVE DEFINITELY HEARD THIS KABHI YA KAHIN… LEKIN YAAD NAHI KAHAN.

I guess that’s why they christened the word Déjà vu and SEL Understood it the most!

Credits:

• Main Hoon Don By Shaan
• Ye Mera Dil By Sunidhi Chauhan
• Maurya Re By Shankar Mahadevan
• Khaike Paan Banaraswala By Udit Narayan & Shahrukh Khan
• Aaj Ki Raat By Alisha Chinoy, Mahalaxmi & Sonu Nigam