Hattrick - Review

By: Joginder Tuteja, IndiaFM
Friday, March 09, 2007
Pritam came up with the most versatile music in the year gone by. Even in 2007, he has come up with a melodious soundtrack in soon-to-be-released Just Married and now he has been entrusted with the responsibility of composing for Hat Trick, a film that is first of its kinds of attempts when it comes to Hindi film industry. This is the reason why one is not too sure about the kind of soundtrack that would be in the offering from this UTV produced and Milan Luthria directed film.

Will there be cricket theme based songs since the film has cricket as the metaphor? Will it have some item numbers that would be thrown around the narrative just to fill up the film with some songs? Will there be some romantic numbers even though the film doesn't belong to the love-n-mush genre? Or would there be situational numbers that would just flow with the narrative and help the film move further?

Since there are apprehensions and doubts galore about the kind of music Hat Trick has to offer due to film's title and the way film is being promoted, one is pleasantly surprised when the music turns out to be something that is truly enjoyable and is a mix of all kinds of songs as listed above. Now if only the film's publicity too would have suggested something on the same lines, the album would have made itself much more visible to the music lovers and started doing brisk business from Day one of its release.

Mayur Puri, one of the most regulars with Pritam, starts the proceedings with 'Ek Pal Mein' which has philosophical undertones but has been composed so very well that never once does one feel bogged down by the song's theme. In fact, more the song is heard; more it turns out to be a pleasant hearing since Kay Kay does extremely well, as always, in his rendition.

A fast paced rock number with some beautiful wordings about living for the moment without worrying about what has happened already and what would happen in future, 'Ek Pal Mein' is about moving on in life and be happy. And no, it is certainly not restricted to cricket by any means.

In fact when one hears the song closely, it reminds one of 'Aane Waala Pal' [Golmaal] that came with a similar theme. One can bet on the fact that this song would appear at multiple junctures throughout the film. And if that's not the case, it may not be a bad idea to incorporate it in that manner. It is sure to pep up the proceedings!

Just when you thought the album would have many more situational/theme tracks like 'Ek Pal Mein' comes a underground bhangra track in the form of 'Rabba Khair Kare'. Rendered by soon-getting-popular Labh Janjua who had earlier delivered a superhit 'Pyaar Karke Pachtaya' in 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' for Pritam last year, 'Rabba Khair Karke' is about a guy who has lost his heart to his girl and is now loosing everything that he had for her!

A fun number with witty lyrics by Mayur Puri with everything from hip-hop to pop to underground music gelled well in a predominantly Punjabi number, 'Rabba Khair Kare' is a lambi race ka ghoda, especially up North. This is the region where such numbers are just a quick excuse for folks to dance around this marriage season, especially so in the remix version that brings the flavor of Punjab through the much mandated dhol beats!

Welcome to the Caribbean! Earl opens the first true blue theme number of the movie, 'Wicket Bachao', with his rap that is followed by ever-so-spirited-and-still-kicking-and-alive Usha Uthup who goes full throttle yet again. A 4 minutes number that is based on cricket with English and Hindi lyrics interspersed together, it is a much talked about promotional number that should be out on satellite channels soon.

The beats, rhythm, arrangements and especially the crowd cheers and the chorus transports you to the stadium there and then and you can actually imagine yourself to be a part of the proceedings on the ground. A shorter and faster Club Remix follows next and is enjoyable once again. Now if only the song can be promoted aggressively and used as spot ads during the ongoing World Cup Cricket, it could just be the next big cricket theme number!

So, what next after a philosophical, dance and a theme number? A rock track about a man who is living in his dreams and is aiming to achieve something that is finally coming his way, 'Kahan Kho Gaya' is yet another excellent number that is even a step ahead of 'Ek Pal Mein' in terms of concept and treatment. Rendered by relative newcomer Soham Chakrabarty and written by Ashiesh Pandit, it may not be your usual Bollywood number but if you have liked 'Halka Halka Sa Hai Yesh Nasha' from Pritam's 'Chocolate', you would love this one too! A 'reprise' version comes after a while which sounds a little crisper and livelier than the original due to spiced up proceedings and takes the spirit of the song further.

First love song of the album comes as 'I Am Coming Home' which throws a surprise even before you have heard the song. Reason? It has three composers coming together in different capacities to create a song. Hence while Pritam is at the helm of the composition, Roop Kumar Rathod renders the number while Vishal Dadlani [of Vishal Shekhar duo] pens the lyrics. Is it a record of sorts?

Caralisa opens the number with her English rendition while Rathod arrives soon after and sings a heartfelt for a guy who has finally gone through self-realization and now knows what he always wanted from his life. Written for someone who has matured with time and now can distinguish between his 'needs' and 'desires', 'I Am Coming Home' is a slow-n-melodious love ballad that also comes in more-rock-per-note 'reprise' version and deserved to be promoted from Day One.

Listening to the songs before this and now 'I Am Coming Home', one can't help but wonder what was stopping the makers and the music company from going all out on the film and music promotion.

The sound of 'Feel Me Touch Me' marks the beginning of the remix version of yesterday's classic 'Jab Chhaaye Mera Jaadoo' which was penned by Amit Khanna and composed by Rajesh Roshan. Listening to this pepped up version rendered by Mahalaxmi Iyer with support from female voiceover artists who do a good job themselves, it makes one nod in appreciation for Rajesh Roshan who has been traditionally giving melodious music over the decades. Why doesn't the composer create music for films outside his home banner too?

The song seems to be created for the situation when the young couple of Rimmi Sen and Kunal Kapoor get intimate. 'Jab Chhaaye Mera Jadoo' sounds much better than the everyday remix tracks that hit the stands and one can credit Iyer for that as she does a very good job in giving her best even while singing a heard-before song.

After listening to 'Hat Trick', you are thoroughly satisfied with the final outcome since you get much more than what you had set out for. And that brings you to the question that why was one undecided about any expectations from the album? From a production house like UTV, a new age director Milan Luthria and composer Pritam who has seldom set a foot wrong, there should have been little doubts about the music.

But that wasn't the case and there are only two factors that one can attribute this to:

a) The promotion hasn't been up to the mark and there needs to be something done too-quick-too-fast to bring both the album and the film on-the-face to the audience since there are hardly 10-12 days remaining for the film to arrive.

b) The film has an ensemble cast, which is good to have, but one can't expect an album to sell on it's own with relative newcomers on the album cover. They are star material, yes, but amongst the 'aam junta' they are still on the rise and hence the call of the situation is a holds-no-bar promotional drive that takes maximum advantage of the remaining days.

If all this and more happens, it should only help this very good score by Pritam to reach out to the masses in big way. Something which Hat Trick truly deserves!