By
Dj Aaqib, Updates
on November 23,11,2007
 Akshay
Kumar has reached a stage where currently Shah Rukh Khan is.
No matter who is his leading lady, no matter which
production house he works with, no matter what the film's
genre is, no matter who directs the film and no matter who
composes for his films - the fact remains that he is
audience's darling and would hit gold in each of his films.
His great run in last few years is a testimony to that!
This is the reason why even with names like Anees Bazmee (No
Entry), Firoz Nadiadwala (Hera Pheri, Phir Hera Pheri), Anil
Kapoor, Firoz Khan, Nana Patekar, Katrina Kaif and Mallika
Sherawat involved, Welcome would go down as an Akshay
Kumar release. With multiple composers like Anand Raaj Anand,
Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid involved, it only promises
to be an added advantage. However, in case of Welcome,
it turns out to be a major disadvantage as the music turns
out to be way below the mark.
The start of
the album is good. Bring out the trumpets and lay down the
red carpet - the celebrations have begun and party is on
with the arrival of title song 'Welcome'. The music
has a distinct David Dhawan touch to it with the title song
of Partner (composed by Sajid-Wajid again) coming closest.
Composed as a Western track with a distinct party feel to
it, 'Welcome' is a high on orchestra number which has
Wajid giving a voiceover and Shaan and Soumya Raoh pairing
up to croon the major part of the song. Even though the
intermediate portions of the number aren't any great shakes
as they turn out to be a routine fare, the music woven
around the opening lines if a killer and ensures that there
is no dull moment.
 It's
fast becoming a trend (a healthy one though) to see one
composer crooning for a fellow composer. Vishal Dadlani has
been doing it for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Anand Raaj Anand has
done it for Pritam, Shankar Mahadevan has done this for
Vishal-Shekhar and others and now he has done it again for
Anand Raaj Anand for the number 'Hoth Rasiley'.
Surprisingly, the song turns out to be very ordinary as it
is excess of sound and fury which kills the impact.
The tune takes numerous twists and turns and a minute into
the song, one tends to loose interest into the proceedings.
Shankar comes along with Anand Raaj Anand and Shreya Ghoshal
to croon this celebration number with an extremely loud
Punjabi celebration setting to it. The only thing which can
save the number from being a total disappointment is it's
picturisation/choreography which may be done in a comic
setting.
With Anand Raaj Anand playing the dual role of a composer as
well as a singer for this song with Shweta Pandit joining
in, 'Tera Sarafa' again belongs completely to the
David Dhawan school of music. Nothing surprising here since
Anees Bazmee has been a script/screenplay writer for
numerous Dhawan movies in the past.
Coming back to the song, 'Tera Sarafa' again follows
an unapologetic 'masti-dhamaal' mode with a focus mainly on
getting foot tapping beats and keeping the heat on for fast
paced proceedings. The USP of the song is Anil Kapoor and
Nana Patekar shaking a leg with Mallika Sherawat, though one
wonders if the song would have gone any further distance if
not for this unique pairing! Ultimately 'Tera Sarafa'
is the kind which is heard today, enjoyed mainly due to
choreography and forgotten the moment film is off the
screens!
 Oops,
now what's that!? By the time an elaborate 30 second
saxophone piece is through and one settles down to hear
something soothing, the 90s style arrangements start scaring
a listener. If this is not enough, what follows next truly
catches you by surprise as Himesh Reshammiya (doubling up as
a composer and singer) croons the word 'Insha Allah'
in the highest possible pitch!
Heavy arrangements, as has been the hallmark of the album so
far, doesn't spare a listener here as well even as Shaan and
Akruti Kakkar come together with Krishna to croon some of
the most ordinary/pedestrian lyrics from a music album of
2007. Just hear this one - 'Ab Jism o Jaan Mein, Dil Ke
Jahaan Mein, Hai Tera Welcome, Aa Bhi Jaa'! Aided by 'dhol'
beats, 'Insha Allah' turns out to be a routine 'masala'
number which work more visually (that too due to Akshay's
presence) than audio-wise!
'Kola
Laka Vellari' - Now this is yet another number where one
exclaims - Oops, now what's that!? Frankly, one can't
actually comprehend what exactly 'Kola Laka Vellari'
stands for. In fact even Google doesn't! The only good thing
about this song is that Himesh Reshammiya is far subdued
while crooning this one. A moderately paced song, the song
has a mix of Western and Indian arrangements though in a
trademark Reshammiya setting that made him a household name
in last couple of years. A love song with sad undertones to
it, 'Kola Laka Vellari' is barely decent but that's
about it.
 Anand
Raaj Anand returns after a couple of tunes by Himesh
Reshammiya and creates 'Uncha Lamba', the opening
tune of which lifts has it's references in 'Makhna'
[Bade Miyan Chote Miyan]. A number which could well find
references in number of Punjabi-fusion-folk tracks, 'Uncha
Lamba' has predominant Western arrangements which go
well with the current on-screen image of Akshay Kumar. With
Kalpana as his duet partner, Anand Raaj Anand gets into a
romantic mode with this yet another 'masala' track which
barely sustains itself for the situation and that's about
it.
With great power comes great responsibilities - This can
well be true for Akshay Kumar now as well! As mentioned at
the very beginning, any film starring Akshay Kumar today is
THE Akshay Kumar film. Whatever good or bad, it is
attributed mainly to the superstar than anyone else. This is
why even the music of Welcome, which is extremely
ordinary in any case, will be termed as nothing less than
disappointing due to high standards set for an Akshay Kumar
film. Though thankfully the film seems to be highly
interesting, Akshay fans would have to wait for Tashan
and Singh Is Kinng in anticipation of some good
music.
Three Songs Are
Good...Uncha Lamba,Tera Sarafa and Welcome.........
  
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