Music Review
Love Story 2050

In last few weeks, music stands have seen the arrival of quite a few albums which have Anu Malik credited as a composer. While he has contributed along with other composers for Woodstock Villa, Anu Malik has run the show entirely for Hastey Hastey and Anamika. However, none of them can be termed as a true blue comeback for the man who once upon a time used to deliver countless chartbuster songs.

His last big album was Umrao Jaan but it bit the dust. Now with Love Story 2050 looking at hitting the screens, one can finally see Anu Malik indeed making a big comeback. Big, because creating a soundtrack for a newcomer is always a challenging task. In Bollywood scenario, music has always played an intrinsic role in deciding the future of a future superstar.

Picture this:

- Anand Milind have done it for Aamir Khan (Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak)
- Nadeem Shravan have done it for Shah Rukh Khan (Deewana)
- Ram Laxman has done it for Salman Khan (Maine Pyaar Kiya)
- Rajesh Roshan has done it for Hrithik Roshan (Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai)
- Anu Malik has himself done it for Shahid Kapoor (Ishq Vishk) and Abhishek Bachchan (Refugee)

Have he and Javed Akhtar saab done it now for Harman Baweja? Well, to a good extent, yes! Though it could have been a little better, the soundtrack still has enough fodder to chew upon en route to the release of the film.

'Aa Gaya Hun Mein' is the opening track of the album which actually serves the purpose of announcing the arrival of Harman Baweja. Seemingly a stage number with a rock setting to it, this Kay Kay rendered track has an elaborate music arrangement to it but surprisingly the overall tune turns out to be just about average. Even a much spirited Kay Kay is slightly off the mark here as he sounds a little subdued.

Not a kind of number which you expect at the top of the heap, especially when a star is being created, 'Aa Gaya Hun Mein' has it's major hope now lying in the way it is picturised with Harman's dance moves managing to create some impact.

There was a time when Alisha Chinoy and Anu Malik had parted ways both professionally and personally. However, off late they seem to have sorted out their differences and started coming together more frequently. In Love Story 2050 they do so for a song which goes like 'Hey You Lover Boy, Will You Be My Toy'! Now thankfully the number is for an A-Grade project like this because if only such lyrics were heard in a film starring the likes of a Rakhi Sawant or a Sambhavna Seth or a perhaps in a music video of a Nandini Jumani, audience would have got completely different ideas!

Coming back to 'Lover Boy Will You', instead of being futuristic it in fact has a 80s feel to it. Perhaps Anu Malik does believe that the music of the era gone by would come back in fashion half a century from now and hence decided to create this moderately paced song which comes with a Western format! Yet again, one looks forward to how director Harry Baweja does something on screen for this tune.

Thankfully, one does hear something really refreshing the moment Shaan and Alka Yagnik get together to croon a dipped-in-mush 'Mausam Achanak Ye Badala Kyu'. Now that's a kind of number that really makes one look forward to what's next on store in Love Story 2050. An out and out melodic number which has both Shaan and Alka Yagnik at their romantic best. And yes, even though there are reference points that one can find with 'Kuch To Hua Hai' [Kal Ho Na Ho], one doesn't mind that at all. The best song of the enterprise so far!

It's the rhythm which comes at the very beginning of 'Milo Na Milo' that turns out to be an absolute killer. The sound which is currently being heard in the promos of Love Story 2050, 'Milo Na Milo' is a good mix of Anu Malik's sense of Indian melody amalgamated with Western arrangements. The spirited effort which was missing in Kay Kay's 'Aa Gaya Hun Mein' is compensated by Shaan in the way he goes about rendering 'Milo Na Milo'. Electronic sound is an integral part of the music arrangements here that adds on to the futuristic feel and setting of the song. This dance number has all in it to 'really' announce the arrival of Harman.

Kay Kay returns to the scene again and one sincerely hopes that this time around he cracks it just right. One always has high expectations from the most versatile singer that we have on the singing front today and there are no reasons why 'Meelon Ka Jaisa Tha Fasla' shouldn't turn out to be an interesting composition.

A number about 'distance hardly mattering when it comes to the matter of hearts', it is the sad version of 'Meelonn' which comes first. With Alka Yagnik as his partner, Kay Kay is better here this time around and makes this an overall decent situational track. 'Happy version' of 'Meelon Ka Jaisa Tha Fasla' is double the duration of the sad version and essentially keeps a similar pace. Expect a romantic outing at exotic locations for Priyanka and Harman when the song plays in the movie.

It is time to get back into a peppy mood with 'Sach Kehna Sach Kehna' which turns out to be one of the best songs of the album so far along with 'Milo Na Milo' and 'Mausam Achanak'. A Kunal Ganjawala solo about a man wooing his girl, this rhythmic number is core Bollywood in its appeal and in the process works quite well to have been picturised on a youngster. Kunal is quite effective in the way he keeps the pep factor on throughout with his rendition while Anu Malik too does well in making sure that the urban youth get into a liking for this dance number. Get this song on; it would surely help the sales of the album soar!

Finale of the album happens on a high note with the number 'Jane Kaisi Hai Teri Meri Love Story' coming in both the happy and the sad version. Yet another number which has a core melody feel to it, it has Anu Malik as well as Javed Akhtar saab at their romantic best. Reminding of 'Na Tum Jaano Na Hum' from 'Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai', though strictly in terms of the song's genre and setting, 'Jane Kaisi Hai Teri Meri Love Story' really managed to impress. Shaan sings in a way that he has perfected over the years and delivers what is expected out of him, both in the happy and the sad version, which is a tad slower. A good ending.

It isn't the best of the beginning for Love Story 2050 because neither 'Aa Gaya Hun Mein' nor 'Lover Boy Will You' make you believe that the songs have been composed for a newcomer's launch. However, the moment numbers like 'Mausam Achanak', 'Milo Na Milo', 'Sach Kehna' and 'Jane Kaisi Hai Teri Meri Love Story' follow one after another; you know that the album is only getting better. Makers of Love Story 2050 have done the right thing in bringing on 'Milo Na Milo' as the first song in the film's promotion. It would help if 'Mausam Achanak' and 'Jane Kaisi Hai Teri Meri Love Story' are the next to follow with 'Sach Kehna' being reserved for the final kill around the film's release.