With Love... Tumhara - Music Review

By: Joginder Tuteja, IndiaFM
Monday, September 25, 2006
While Bollywood is certainly looking up with numerous different subjects [presented in a big, medium or low budget] being embraced by the audience, there are still some film makers who believe in creating old fashioned formulaic love stories that audience has been witnessing since time immortal. With Luv...Tumhaara appears to be one such film that is produced by Rakesh Bhhatia and directed by Kamal D Nathani. Starring Pravin Dabas, Preeti Jhangiani, Anupama Verma and Nakul Vaid [Ab Tak Chappan] in principal roles, WLT has music by Sudeep Banerjee and lyrics by Nazir Akarbarabadi, Vicky Nagar, Shyam Banerjee and Sudeep himself.

A couple of songs from the film are currently and have not really been an unpleasant listening experience! One checks out the entire album to see if the other songs too make the album a decent hear at the least. After hearing it, one realizes that they indeed do.

Credit it to Shreya Ghoshal that she lifts 'Dheere Dheere' to a level that one wonders if the song could have made a good place for itself in a better setting?! Sudeep Banerjee's music has a lively pace and is so rooted to Bengali music that reminds one of Shantanu Moitra's 'Piyu Bole' from Parineeta. In fact if one goes further in the past, there are also references to the musical style of 1942 - A Love Story where again Bengali influences were quite prevalent in Pancham da's score! A beautiful number to kick start the album, this love song is quite a surprise at the beginning of the album.

Probably this was one song with which Sudeep was quite attached to and hence he too comes behind the mike to do the solo version of 'Dheere Dheere'. His voice is quite different from the 'filmy' influences that one can sense in most of the current generation singers today. Also there is certain honesty about his rendition that makes him yet another composer to show his prowess as a singer.

It's the sound of a whistle amidst scenic beauty of mountains that arrives before Shaan who gets a chance to sing an even better track titled 'Zindagi'. A song dedicated to the life being beautiful and looking forward to what happens in next, this well worded track has a lovely melody coupled with some sweet-n-simple arrangements that do not fail to make you smile as the song plays on. Though there is some similarity to 'Jaana Ek Kahaani' from Jaana - Let's Fall In Love in the song's opening, one may choose to call it as a coincidence as 'Zindagi' overall holds good for itself. Sudeep gets the best out of his singers in the album so far and one doesn't have any other choice than to look forward to what is in store next! Though the lyrics are different for the sad [and much slower] version of 'Zindagi', the base music remains same for this Sudeep Banerjee rendered version that has been arranged well in an echo avtar.

Sudeep carries the Bengali feel to the album with 'Rutho Na' that has an old world charm to it and could have been an ideal track for Kishore Kumar to sing today if he was alive. Sudeep plays the role of both composer and singer well while bringing to fore a refreshing flavor aided by quality lyrics. Melody is kept intact in this song that is a definitely a nice hear in spite of not being truly contemporary in its outlook.

For a movie belonging to romance genre, it is surprising to see that each of the songs is a solo number with not even a single duet in the entire album. Sound of wind chimes accompany Shreya Ghoshal's cry of seduction before she begins 'Kyun Ho Khafa'. Most likely a track that would have been picturised on Anupama Verma, it may be suited for the narrative but is a little out of place [in theme, not musical style] after the songs one has heard so far. It is to the credit of Sudeep that he at least tries to keep the overall pace and mood of the album consistent by not going overboard with the arrangements and maintaining the tempo. Still one may rather skip this song if given a choice to choose from the rest.

Kailash Kher, who is fast becoming a mandatory inclusion in every music album, croons 'Moula'. A situational Sufi number which has Kailash Kher been expectedly competent, it is for those who have traditionally enjoyed 'qawallis'/Sufi tracks in Bollywood films for all these years. With Luv...Tumhaara comes to close with 'Theme Music' by Nimit & Daniel that basically combines the instrumentals of songs like 'Rutho Na' and 'Zindagi'. At three and a half minutes musical piece, it maintains a good pace throughout with some nice music arrangements that facilitates seamless transition from one instrumental to another.

Though the entire album doesn't necessarily make one jump with joy, songs like 'Dheere Dheere' and 'Zindagi' turn out to be quite impressive with 'Rutho Na' being a good hear too. The album may not rake in smashing sales figures but introduces good talent in the form of Sudeep Banerjee who deserves to be heard more.