Chalo Dilli sees former Miss Universe turned actress Lara Dutta (No Entry and Houseful) turn producer. She stars opposite Vinay Pathak (Dasvidiyan, Khosla Ka Ghosla and Rab Ne Bana De Jodi) in Challo Dilli, a dramedy about re-discovering the colours of India while on a journey to Delhi.
Challo Dilli features compositions by Gourav Dasgupta (Acid Factory and Aa Dekhe Zara), Anand Raj Anand (Kaante and Masti), Sachin Gupta (Prince) and newcomer Rohit Kulkarni.
Chalo Dilli hits cinemas 29 April 2011.
The album commences with title song, Chalo Dilli, a fast-paced Punjabi number rendered by Raja Hasan (Maari Teetri – De Taali). The chorus is very catchy and it gets your feet tapping within nanoseconds. Gourav scores high for cleverly intertwining traditional Punjabi instruments with modern ones. Manthan’s well-penned lyrics make the song even better.
Next is an Anand Raj Anand composition, Matargashitya. This fun-filled number that is both a musical and lyrical delight and is sung with equal gusto by Sukhwinder Singh (Jalwa – Fashion). Anand’s word-play with suffering and safar at the end of the song is especially commendable since fun slice of life. Anand’s quirky fast-paced music reminds one of his is fun tracks in mid to late 90s and will warm the hearts of all Anand Raj Anand fans.
Laila O Laila is up next, a remix of the 1980 hit of the same name from Feroz Khan’s Qurbani. Gourav Dasgupta has arguably done a fair job with his past remixes, namely, Aa Dekhe Zara for Neil Nitin Mukesh starrer of the same name and Jab Andhera Hota Hai for multi-starrer thriller Acid Factory. However, his latest remixe outing Laila O Laila leaves much to be desired. The music is strictly okay while newcomer June Banerjee just does not sound right. Its gets off to a terrible start and the additional lyrics are a real letdown. It might not have been such a train wreck if the song was just revamped musically with lyrics kept intact. This remix was further remixed by Roshan Babu which neither helps nor hinders the original remix.
Neeraj Shridar (Sexy Lady – Race and Twist – Love Aaj Kal ) features in the next track, Hi 5, a feel good number composed by Sachin Gupta and penned by Krishika Lulla and Shabbir Ahmed. It is a cute Hinglish number well sung by Neeraj but otherwise unremarkable. Sachin Gupta also composes an alternative remixed version of the song. It cranks up the tempo and infuses some dhol-tastic Punjabi beats in it that makes the song slightly less unremarkable.
Next is Kaun Si Badi Baat. A situational sufi-esque number well rendered by award-winning Punjabi musician Kamal Heer, composed by Rohit Kulkarni and penned by Shabbir Ahmed. It’s a decent composition but will work best in conjunction with the film’s narrative rather than on its own.
Album draws to a close with Moments in Life by Natalie De Luccio. Another Rohit Kulkarni composition, Moment in Life is a non-Hindi track written by Neisha Mascarenha. It is a good enough number but feels a bit out of place in an album that was pre-dominantly quite desi.
In summary, Chalo Dilli is a decent listen, the best tracks being ‘Matargashitya’ and the title song. The item number ‘Laila O Laila’ unfortunately fails to entertain. Here’s hoping that Yana Gupta magically makes it bearable on screen.
