Jhoom Barabar Jhoom Music Review

By: Joginder Tuteja, IndiaFM
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Shaad Ali has always got it right, be it with his storytelling or the music in his films. First Saathiya and then Bunty Aur Babli more than prove that. If Saathiya has a classy feel to most of the soundtrack with AR Rahman at the helm then Bunty Aur Babli had masses going in ruptures with the tunes by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy playing to the gallery.

Everything that is now associated with his film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom has only become bigger over the years. Yash Raj Films is country's numero uno production house, Amitabh Bachchan sits right at the top, Abhishek Bachchan is hot property and Aditya Chopra's smart product placement strategy has been working more often than not!

Meanwhile Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy have a hat trick of super successful soundtracks in the form of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Don and Salaam E Ishq. With Gulzar saab adding on the spice, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom promises to be one mouth watering dish. Well, how much does one savior the dish again and revisits it time and again!?

Move over Sudesh Bhonsle and take some rest Mr. Bachchan, Shankar Mahadevan is here to take care of the songs for you. He churns out a delightful 'Jhoom', the title song of the film, which can be proclaimed as a sure fire hit in the very first minute of hearing it. Extremely catchy with an Indian base to it, 'Jhoom' is such foot tapping that one almost tends to ignore the poetry of the song and concentrates on only three words - 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom'.

While we have been hearing the chants of Jhoom Barabar Khoom' and 'Damadam Mast Kalandar' in their sufi versions so far, this could probably be the first time ever that 'Jhoom Barabar Ever' has been given a different mood altogether as the tracks bases itself on Punjabi rhythm and style. Choreographed on Amitabh Bachchan in his much talked about getup, 'Jhoom' is going to be much talked about in months to come.

Another version of the song comes towards the end of the album when KK, Sukhvinder Singh, Mahalaxmi Iyer&Shankar Mahadevan get together to croon Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. A track that has as an out and out Punjabi 'mukhda' and features all the four young protagonists of the film, Abhishek, Bobby, Preeti and Lara, presumably coming together for a stage show.

Thankfully, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom refrains from taking the 'remix' route and just has some zingy nuances added to it to make it appear a little more youthful. Also, there is an additional 'dhol' sound running throughout the 7 minute track that keeps the dance flavor on.

'JBJ', which stands for Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, comes next and only helps in taking fun to a different level altogether. Except for the chant of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom which comes at places, rest of the song boasts of a completely different tune though the basic feel still retains its hardcore North Indian feel.

There is a distinct Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy touch to this song which is dominated by Shankar Mahadevan in the capacity of a singer while Zubeen follows. As for Sunidhi Chauhan, she puts on a husky-n-carefree avtar which makes one look for more of her in the song. A racy track which has the term 'jhoom' coming at just the right places in the background, 'JBJ' would be looked forward to in a packed auditorium boasting of a superior sound system.

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