I should have heard the soundtrack of UMH ( U Me aur Hum ) a long time ago, but I just couldn't come out of the self created cobweb comprised of Jodha Akbar songs. Everytime I listen to Jashn e bahara, it still carries the same freshness as it did the first time. And when I hear ARR crooning Khwaja ji I feel like......wait a minute. Isnt this supposed to be a review on UMH ?? damn !!
Three things caught my attention to go for this album. First was this being Ajay's first directorial venture, next being Vishal Bharadwaj , and the third and the most important reason, the darling of millions, Kajol.
Many might disagree with me on this, but I thought No Smoking was a very unique and creative album by Vishal B. One of the very few albums in Bollywood which carried the dark and gloomy atmosphere with it. My respect for Vishal B increased two fold after that album which made me expect more from U me aur hum, even though the subject was a typical love story with issues.
The album kick starts with a peppy and energetic Jee Le. The Spanish touch adds to the fun element. Even in the vocals department the song excels thanks to the apt drunken voice of Adnan and the sweet innocent voice of Shreya. I love the start of the song, which was superbly used in the movie's first promo. Although I have one complaint on the way one line is sung by Adnan...he sings " Jinko jinko bhi, milna hai likha... Ishq mil-ha-yegaa" instead of singing Ishq milwayegaa. I don't know if that was intentional or an excuse for his style of singing. Nevertheless a great number by Vishal B, and a potential chartbuster.
The next song is what makes this album a worthy addition to your music collection. An extremely sweet-sounding, mellifluous, dulcet and euphonious title track. It has the power to even make people who are not in love, fall in love. Beautifully sung by Shreya Ghosal, its gotta be a song very close to heart for Vishal B and so it is for me. The last I remember hearing such a song from him was in the cute comedy movie Chupke Se where he gave the two gems "Kehte Kehte" and "Koi to ho". The prelude to the song with english lyrics perfectly sets the romantic mood and I can already imagine this being shot while Ajay and Kajol are on the cruise and the sun has just set, the sky is painted with yellow and orange colors...The best song of the album.
Exit Shreya and Enter Sunidhi for the next track Saiyaan. Although the lyrics by Munna Dhiman are a bit cheesy and idiotic, I think they'll make more sense in the movie and sound much better, thanks to Kajol. Its an interesting song which starts off in a Jazzy fashion and goes into a catchy song with a slight Punjabi flavor added to it, and then a mix of electric guitar and tabla thrown in. All for a situational number...Pretty cool ha ! Compared to the first two songs, this one's an OK number ( but not bad ) which would appeal more on big screen.
Adnan returns for yet another situation number Phatte. Any Punjabi song is bound to become a hit and also will lighten up the screen. And Ajay knows it very well and hence has incorporated a punjabi song as a theme to display husband-wife duel. Vishal tried to stay away from cliched sounds and rhythms which one has heard time and again in punjabi folk songs, but I guess he too surrendered to the stereotype. Passable song which once again needs a video to elevate itself.
Ohhh no Adnan yet again...is it just me or did anyone else also get tired of listening to Adnan again and again. For some reason I feel Vishal must have composed this song during or after composing for No Smoking. It has some shades of the song Jab Bhi Ciggaret. And wait a minute didn't I hear Sunidhi singing the first line Dil Dhakda hai ?? I don't see her name in the credits though..hmmm...wonder why. Anyways this is a nice steady rhythmic song, kinda off beat or in other words Vishalesque. Lyrics wise I like this song as its a bit funny and witty. One full day I was just mumbling "Joh dil dhakda hai...toh kuch lafda hai" line again and again till my close ones got mad. Finally its an enjoyable song, don't know if it'll stay on forever in minds, but is certainly the third best song of the album.
And the album ends on a very high note with a casual guitar and piano led intro to U Me aur hum rendered by Vishal himself. In some areas he sounds very amateurish, but I think his unique innocent voice really makes this song special and it sounds very easy on ears. The marriage of Munna's poetry and Vishal's music is truly made in heaven sorta. Its quite ironical that to me this is the most brilliant song of the whole album, even though it has minimal instruments and relatively an unprofessional singer. I guess its the sound of real instruments. On the whole a very very very romantic number which sends in a gush of feelings for any lover when he/she listens to it. Now I just want to sleep listening to this song.
Vishal B as we all know always tries to give an off-beat and unconventional album, and he's respected by many for that. And he succeeds in maintaining that stand in U Me aur Hum. Ajay Devgan's job is 33% complete as he's got some classy music for his first directorial venture. The rest is upto him and the acting which also I guess will succeed. So it'll all come down to his direction and how he'll make the movie look nowhere similar to (hopefully) Chalte Chalte or Saathiya. One somehow misses Gulzar saab in this album. Despite the 2 situational tracks U me aur hum is a very likeable album, thanks to the memorable title track ( both versions ), Jee Le and the humorous Dil Dhakda hai. Great going Vishal...
Today I came across this blog which completely caught my attention. All the while our media here kept portraying that we have won the Iraq war, and that all the civilians are happy about the fact that we are there and much more. After reading this blog all my views have changed. I haven't yet finished reading the whole blog, but the first two posts were good enough for me to know that we all are being made fools here believing what the media wants us to believe in.
