Himesh Reshammiya, the musical mafia of Sufi pop resonates back his Midas touch after a hiatus of six plus months in a pack of 18 impressive soundtracks with added flair of sentimental poetry in the sensitive vocals of lyricist Javed Akhtar. The ambience of poetic excellence mellowed in syrupy romanticism and animated thump of ?pub? culture makes promising news in Vipul Shah?s NAMASTEY LONDON.
The album experiments with poetic intellect of MEHFIL MIX, a new genre that epitomizes the sentiments through rendition in poetic phrases and verses. Reshammiya succeeds in revamping his Sufi pop style and imports the expertise of musical genius of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and RDB (UK based rock group) to make this winning statement in musical fraternity.
Reshammiya?s nasal twang is at its supreme as it moves in tandem with serpentine flow of foot thumping funk and rhythm of disco music in rollicking ?Chakna Chakna?. It has the hysterical burst but the pompous beat-pattern fail to be as infectious as that of ?Jhoom Jhoom? or ?Jhalak Dikhalaja? to promise a chartbuster of the year.
DJ Akbar Sami chills out with boisterously pitched ?dhol? beats and frolicking traditional ?bhangra? beats to make an occasion to remember in ?Chakna Chakna (remix)?. Its complete knock out as it fires all cylinder to fire up floors, so shake a leg to beat the heat.
Shankar Ehsaan Loy composed ?Tanhayee? (DIL CHAHTA HAI) proved great inspiration for ?Tanhaiyyen? (AAP KA SURROR- THE MOVIEE) and the gloomy ambience of the sad and depressing moments shines back with same venom in ?Veeraniyan?. Even the last Akshay-Katrina starrer HUMKO DEEWANA KAR GAYE has similar track ?Bhula Denge Tumko? with good results and this proves to be another sentimental hit.
Javed Akhtar?s sensitive poetic rendition of romantic communion of lovers by referring to natural delights makes subtle prelude to impressively rendered ?Veerraniyan (mehfil mix)?. It may surprise average listeners but the class listeners will treasure for its rich poetic contents.
It?s time to hit floors with bang after soul stirring ?mehfil mix? as mood turns eclectic in loud and pompous ?Veeraniyan (remix)?. It makes itself into cadre of finely paced Reshammiya remixes for the thumping rhythm patterns that works well for discos.
The soul stirring emotions of nostalgic romantic moments scintillates itself into mold of Sufi singing of versatile Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in painfully excruciating melodic work ?Main Jahan Rahoon?. The number promises vocally euphoric moments of ?Jiya Dhadak? (KALYUG) with able voice modulation in classical mode by Krishna as back up vocals.
If the soulful rendition makes heart beats then thought provoking poetry makes soulful cry credible and notable for aggrieved lover sentiments in impressive ?Main Jahan Rahoon (mehfil mix)?. This can also be referred as ?Ghazal? singing heard recently in Jagjit Singh latest album KOI BAAT CHALE. It works on slow musical tempo, classical music rendition and might restricts itself to class listeners.
Sufi pop rocks! It shows its brightest gloss as the pensive vocals of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Krishna melts into grove and impulse of disco beat fillers in vociferous ?Main Jahan Rahoon (remix)?.
Intermission?
Now, Akshay has to win her heart and the rest as they say is history! Of course, Akshay wins!
There are three interesting scenes that stand out. One is when Rishi takes daughter ?groom hopping?. Two is when Akshay lets one English gentleman know, with facts and figures, that India is not just a nation of snake charmers, after this particular gentleman tells Katrina that by trying to Jazz (pun intended) up her name she wants to be accepted as one of them. ?That?s what your ancestors told you,? Akshay tells the poor guy. Just for that scene alone, you want to stand up and salute the director for making you feel proud to be an Indian. It?s not that the facts are unknown, but the way the scene is handled is a joy. And finally the third scene when Upen Patel (Imran Khan) refuses to bend to his English girlfriend?s parents? wish of a name change and a shift in religion.
Performance wise, there is nothing to shout from the rooftop. Katrina has found a good script that goes with her anglicized Hindi. Having said that, one must admit that she is gaining confidence with every role. Akshay, Rishi, Upen and Javed Shaikh as Parvez Khan (Upen?s dad) are good. The surprise pack is the performance of Riteish Deshmukh in a bit role and Upen Patel. This boy is fast proving than he can also act. Music by Himesh Reshammiya is passable.
But for the patriotic moments, the movie is a huge let down.
