BOLLYWOOD 2011 MUSIC HITS: 12 songs to welcome 2012

Image by: Manbiz - Spicytec

Establishing a list of the greatest songs of an entire year is always a difficult task BUT the Hindi Cinema Blog is one to love a challenge, so fasten your seat belts for the 2011 musical ride! We are recommending 12 tunes to start the millenium's 12th year! Check out our recommendations for the best Catchy Dance Tunes, Starry-Eyed Love Tunes and Alternative Tunes of 2011!

CATCHY DANCE TUNES 2011

And the winners are:

Akon sings for SRK's Ra.One

1. ‘Chammak Challo’ introduced the longest awaited film this year: Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor's Ra.One, the song in question starring none other than Akon's voice. You may read our review of the film here.

 

2.‘Jalebi Bai’ (Double Dhamaal - starring Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi) has Shweta Tiwari strutting her item stuff and doing a Ritu Pathak lip-sync throughout the upbeat song.

3.'Character Dheela’ (Ready - starring Salman Khan and Asin) was criticized for its lyrics and Pritam was claimed to be incurring in plagiarism due to the song's extreme resemblance with 'Mohabbat Naam Hai  Kiska' from 2001 film Ajnabee. In any case, the reggaeton-like rhythm invaded radio stations and had more than one of us nodding to the beat.

 

4. 'Singham’ (Singham - starring Ajay Devgan) reminds us a bit of the Dabangg title tune but we loved watching Ajay Devgan doing the macho man dance along with all those drums!

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara cast
dripping RED tomato juice

5. Last but not least, 'Paint it Red’ (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - starring Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif and Hrithik Roshan) had crowds dancing to a feel good, chill-out, catchy tune and we thank Shankar Ehsaan Loy for that one. Read our review of the film here.

STARRY-EYED LOVE TUNES 2011

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

6. ** Drum Roll ** The simply sweet and inspirational 'Khwabon Ke Parinday' from film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara placed Alyssa Mendonsa's deliciously unpretentious vocals in everyone's memory. 

7. 'Kaisa Yeh Ishq Hai' (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan starring Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif) was a song that made us say "YESSSS!" for the Sohail Sen we had been waiting for since his highly commendable work in the What's Your Rashee soundtrack. Read our review of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan here.

8. Pritam gifted the audiences a special soundtrack in Mausam, starring Sonam Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor. Our choice from this soundtrack is 'Rabba Main Toh Mar Gaya Oye', with the beautiful voice of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Read our review of the film here.

Mausam

ALTERNATIVE TUNES IN THE SPOTLIGHT 2011

9. If our dear readers allow us to cheat a teeny weeny bit just this once, we want to recommend the entire Delhi Belly soundtrack, fitting it in as one song... Yes, we know, we know. It counts more songs than should fit in a Top Hits list but we guarantee that the raving is justified. Ram Sampath hit gold with an innovative album to accompany its quirky film, starring Imran Khan, Vir Das and Kunal Roy Kapoor. ‘Ja Chudail’ for example has the greatest heavy metal voice we have ever listened to in Hindi (Suraj Jagan). Other special mentions in the album go to the 'Bedardi Raja' Grind Mix, to the soulful 'Saigal Blues' (in our opinion the best track in the album) and the obvious hit: 'Bhaag DK Bose’. Read our review of the film here.

10. And since you already allowed us to cheat once, we want to repeat the feat for fun's sake and also recommend another full soundtrack in this category: AR Rahman's Rockstar, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri. Special mentions go to the gypsy-like 'Haawa Haawa', to 'Jo Bhi Mein', the instrumental 'Dichotomy of Fame', 'Kun Faya Kun' and  'Sadda Haq'. You can read our review of the film here.

Darrling - 7 Khoon Maaf

11. All right, moving on to more alternative musical pastures... The year opened with us celebrating the return of Vishal Bhardwaj and a smashing ‘Daarling’ for 7 Khoon Maaf. Read our soundtrack review here. 

Bhare Naina - Ra.One

12. Our last recommendation is a song that closed this 2011 with a powerful and poignant rendition by Nandini Shrikar,Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani:  'Bhare Naina' (Ra.One).

So ends another year filled with music and entertainment. You will now have a song to think about for each of the clock's 12 chimes as the new year sets in. The Hindi Cinema Blog wishes all our readers a fantastic 2012 filled with joyful entertainment shared with loved ones. Happy Filmi and Musical New Year!

Note: To purchase the songs and soundtracks recommended above, click on the corresponding red bold-type link and you will be redirected.

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MY NAME IS KHAN MUSIC REVIEW

Karan Johar's 'My Name is Khan' is one of 2010's largely awaited films, starring the legendary on-screen couple, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Its recently launched soundtrack has started creating buzz. Listeners can thank the production house and Itunes for making all music tracks available online to listeners worldwide, 3 days before the official store launch, in an unprecedented marketing strategy. 

Music directors, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, are back with a pleasant song bouquet, featuring six original compositions. The album also includes four memorable tracks from other Karan Johar films: 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', 'Suraj Hua Maddham', 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' and 'Kal Ho Naa Ho'.

'Sajda' is an enveloping first track sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan and Richa Sharma. The combination of these three voices singing together in response to each other is a particular treat for the ears while dholak and tabla build up as the song progresses.

Following this enthralling opening, 'Noor-e-khuda' comes and goes between soft, almost naked vocals, and a gentle guitar ballad featuring Adnan Sami alongside Shankar, who can make any track shine. No romantically sweet ballad would however be complete without Shreya Ghoshal's voice. She graces the song towards its last half, rising the level of tenderness to the exact dose required.

Shankar Ehsaan Loy had been known to appreciate and rope in the fantastic classical voice of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan from Pakistan in recent years. They have now repeated the feat by bringing Shafqat Amanat Ali's ('Tum Mile' and 'KANK') talent from across the border to the fore once again in 'Tere naina', which may become the album's favourite track for many Indian but also foreign listeners. Despite its undoubtable international appeal, the song somehow appears to instrumentally mirror the album's inital track. Shafqat's voice succeeds in elevating its essence.  

Next comes a Sufi melody, 'Allah hi rahem', sung by Rashid Ali. It seems to be a situational track that will certainly shine brighter once listeners can see its picturization in the film. Instruments and rythms also seem to be repeating themselves a bit in this track, possibly marking the fact that this is again an SEL album for a Dharma Productions film, a repeated collaboration that goes long back and has produced some very successful and musically beautiful soundtracks. The album's sound might however seem a bit too familiar to avid listeners already acquainted with Hindi film music.

The following track is the 'My Name is Khan' theme. Shankar Ehsaan Loy have long proved their talent in terms of instrumental and background music (let us remember the felicitous release of the 'Taare Zameen Par' background score). This track is no exception. Knowing Karan Johar's films, the song may soon be responsible for heart tugging and tear jerking reactions in cinemas throughout the world.

'Rang de' is a pop rock number and the last of the album's original compositions. It ends in a high note with joyous and soul lifting lyrics sung by Shankar and Suraj Jagan. 

On the whole, 'My Name is Khan' promises to please the ears of film viewers across cultures with a light dose of Sufi style music delivered in a romantic-pop or rock-pop envelope. This genre has become a trademark of Karan Johar's films and will be easily recognized by his followers in Europe and America.

One of the album's strengths is the quality of its vocals and the selected voice combinations. I would personally recommend alternative SEL albums to first time Hindi music listeners, for a richer and more original experience. Soft pop music lovers who know the trio's music should enjoy this soundtrack however and continue to eagerly await the film release. Indulge your ears!

Music Directors: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa
Lyricist: Niranjan Iyengar

Singers: Shankar Mahadevan, Shreya Ghoshal, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Rashid Khan, Adnan Sami, Suraj Jagan, Richa Sharma and Shafqat Amanat Ali

 

Buy the My Name is Khan soundtrack

Visit the film's Official Website

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