When an album is titled Soundtrack, the least you expect is - what else but - a good soundtrack. With Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale coming together for this rather loaded album (there are 12 tracks here), one looks forward to some new age sound in the offering here. Of course there are some apprehensions as well, since Soundtrack isn't a quintessential Bollywood affair, which means experimentation could go either ways. Still, with good interest and reasonable excitement, one plays on Soundtrack.
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Soundtrack begins with 'Symphony Of The Streets', a musical piece sans any singing involved, which starts with the sound of a train running on tracks. There are other interesting bits and pieces of seemingly live music added as well which makes it a good lounge piece.
Next to come is a song which could be one of the most straight forwarded of all when it comes to the title. Rendered with aplomb by Anushka Manchanda, it goes as 'What The F'. A club track that has good beats accompanying it and surprisingly doesn't have a 'remix version' attached to it, 'What The F' is a song with an attitude and is co-written by Dhruv Jagasia, Anushka Manchanda and Gaurav Raina.
Though Soundtrack manages to attract your attention by now, there is a downer in the form of 'Mein Chala' which has a strange choice of singer in the form of Kailash Kher. He co-composes as well as writes this song which seems like an extension of one of his philosophical/spiritual trance numbers that he has attempted in the past. Though there is a Western treatment given to the song, there isn't much in it to warrant a second listening as it gets too heavy after a point in time.
It's an all around show by Vishal Vaid as he writes, co-composes (with Karsh Kale) and sings 'Ek Manzil' (along with Khalid Alvi). This one has a non-film appeal to it and while one has to listen to the song quite carefully to understand what it is eventually trying to say, the overall arrangements too are of the kind that end up lending a sad feel to it. The same sound is later used to create another musical piece which is titled 'The Soundtrack Theme' and comes towards the end of the album.
The album also incorporates a couple of old Bollywood tracks in the form of 'Ruk Jaana Nahin' and 'Yeh Jeevan Hai'. Surprisingly, none of them manage to add much value to the album and seem to have been picked out of one of those average sounding cover version albums that was a trend during the late 90s/early 2000s. While 'Ruk Jaana Nahin' is sung again by Suraj Jagan and doesn't make you really fall in love with it, 'Yeh Jeevan Hai' by Malini Awasthy belongs to quick skip variety as it is difficult to listen to it even once in entirety.
Thankfully, there is something to look forward to in Soundtrack all over again with Ankur Tewari playing a triple role of composer/lyricist/singer for 'Jannat'. Best track of the album which belongs to soft rock mode and is the most enjoyable of all, 'Jannat' is the kind of song that one was always expecting in Soundtrack to begin with.
Unfortunately, this excitement is short lived with Papon composed and sung 'Banao' turning out to be weird more than anything else. Leave aside the fact that the overall treatment of the song is hardly appealing; one can't even fathom what it is eventually trying to say. A slow paced number, it tries to be cool and contemporary but only ends up making you look the other way. He makes an added contribution with 'Naina Laagey' which has a classical feel to it and thankfully turns out to be better than 'Banao'. Still, this co-composition with Midival Punditz doesn't quite make you go wow as you move ahead in the album.
After 'Ek Manzil', Vishal Vaid returns with 'Fakira' where Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale join him in the composition department. Belonging to the same genre as the kind of songs that were once in vogue when Feroz Khan made films like Qurbani and Jaanbaaz, 'Fakira' with added vocals by Aslam Parvez manages to cover some distance but just about. With a trance feel to it, appeal of 'Fakira' is restricted to a selected play in clubs.
Last to arrive is 'Atomizer' which has the kind of sound which is associated with Quentin Tarantino movies though with somewhat lesser verve to it. Still, it does manage to excite to some extent at the least as Gaurav Raina and Karsh Kale come together with Midival Punditz for this dance number. Karsh Kale is the common element in music, lyrics and vocals department while Tapan Raj adds on to little lyrics that one hears in this track.
OVERALL
Soundtrack doesn't quite turn out to be an album that it could have been. Now that's sad because with Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale at the helm of affairs, one expected something that was really cutting edge and also to a good extent commercial. However, what one ends up hearing in Soundtrack are barely a couple of numbers that actually end up staying with you for a while at the least.
Honestly, one's expectations are in check before playing on the music of Love Breakups Zindagi. After all, the movie hasn't been hyped for its music during its making and other than Dia Mirza and Zayed Khan, there are no other major names involved. Yes, Salim-Sulaiman have time and again delivered well due to which the least one can expect is a decent music at the least. Also with Javed Akhtar as the lyricist, there is further credibility added to the album. However, instead of going over board, one still waits to check out the four songs that follow. 
By this time one's expectations has only soared further and there is good hope that the next song to follow, 'Love Love Love', would continue the feel good mood of Love Breakups Zindagi. This is exactly what one gets as 'Love Love Love' (the song which plays in the background of the film's promos) turns out to be a peppy-n-lively track which adds on to the youthful flavour of the album. Benny Dayal and Shradha Pandit do well to make 'Love Love Love' as almost an anthem of this film and one strongly feels that this song would appear at various junctures in the film's narrative. 
OVERALL
There are decent (though not extraordinary) expectations from the music of Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster. After all, the film hasn't been promoted as a musical and there aren't any major/established names on the credit details either. Moreover unlike its similar sounding counterpart Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, this Tigamanshu Dhulia affair hasn't claimed itself to be a musical classic in the making. With hopes of something that may just end up being a tad surprising, one plays on Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster that has multiple composers at the helm of affairs with Sandeep Nath as the lyricist. 
There is an attempt to jazz up the proceedings with 'I Love To Love You' which has a 70s style beginning to it, only to get into a 'Munni Badnaam' mode as Rekha Bharadwaj opens up further. Composed by Anuj Garg, it is basically targeted at the interiors and has its chances only if it is complimented by visuals that go by the mood and setting for which it has been created. As a standalone song though it turns out to be ordinary and only makes one start wondering whether it is indeed the kind of song that one was expecting in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster. 
Abhishek Ray composes 'Raat Mujhe' which again has 70s written all over it and makes one feel that if only Asha Bhonsle would have sung this track, it may have gone to an altogether different level. On the same lines as a RD Burman-Gulzar composition though a tad lesser in making an overall impact, 'Raat Mujhe' sees Shreya Ghoshal coming behind the mike. Though the singer does well in her own capacity, the song's setting and genre is such that one can't help but miss the senior singer to bring back the 70s nostalgia. 
OVERALL
A Country
For a film which is pitching itself as Bollywood's biggest espionage thriller ever, Aazaan has been promising good music as it's another strength. Though one still waits to check out if these claims are indeed true, the fact that Salim-Sulaiman are at the helm of affairs makes one look forward to the album with good hopes. Amitabh Bhattacharya, Irfan Siddiqui and Shradha Pandit pitch in as lyricists for this album that has four songs and a theme track with some remixes to boast of as well. 
Fun doesn't stop at 'Aafreen' though, what with Salim Merchant continuing to make the lovers smile with his rendition of 'Khuda Ke Liye'. He has Shradha Pandit for company who actually opens the song and does quite well in setting up the mood for this immensely likeable number that makes it two-in-a-row for Aazaan. Yet another number that could just have been the right inclusion in a Yash Raj/Karan Johar film, courtesy the melody that it excels in, 'Khuda Ke Liye' written by Amitabh Bhattacharya is a soft number that is not just sung quite well by Salim and Shradha but also makes one look forward to Aazaan as a film which otherwise was known mainly for it's action all this while. 'Remix version' of the song only ends up bringing added variety for the album which has been flowing on a good note till now. 
Last to arrive is the 'Aazaan - Theme' which promises a lot due to the action setting of the film. It starts off well too and gradually picks up pace to reach a crescendo which is grand and lavish enough to create good excitement for a big screen extravaganza. However what's disappointing it that it is too short and lasts a mere two minutes.