Pritam is on an insanely abnormal hit streak, with practically each one of his albums hitting the mark in the last year or so. It doesn’t matter how much is copied, how much criticism they get, or how bad the lyrics are — his albums work with the masses, and at the end of the day that is what gets you noticed. So when Kismat Konnection comes along, you already expect there to be some chartbuster tracks to be there. No, you don’t find a soulful and deep album, but it’s fun and peppy and keeps you on your toes throughout. What more can you ask for?
‘Hare-ram-hare-krishna’ boy Neeraj Shridhar is behind yet another hit in the making titled Aai Pappi (Tu Hai Meri Soniye). It’s a riot from the very first beat and will instantly set the charts on fire. Pritam knows his stuff, even if he does take ‘inspiration’ from others. You have to give the man credit for knowing what will work with listeners, and with this track, he proves that yet again. Shabbir Ahmed’s lyrics are okay, but the English does get irritating at times and one wonders why it’s so hard to find a dance track these days that doesn’t have English. However, the Remix is fairly good and manages to hold its own in comparison to the original.
In a film like this, a few romantic tracks are obviously necessary. In this case, Atif Aslam emerges with Bakhuda Tumhi Ko which is gorgeously melodious and works to the tee. My only complaint is that Atif needs to re-invent himself in different types of tracks, because he’s starting to get typecast and that is never good. But yes, he is good at what he does, because you can tell that his singing is spontaneous and that’s oddly infectious. Alka Yagnik joins him later on in the song and is at her romantic best. The Remix is fantastic and works so well because it doesn’t destroy the melody or vocals of the original.
Returning to the genre that the album opened with, Move Your Body Now is another rocking track. With a variety of singers including Shaan, Akriti Kakkar, Hard Kaur and Suheil, this one turns out to be exceptionally foot-tapping and manages to stick in your head once it has concluded. The lyrics are once again slightly irritating because of ridiculous lyrics like “freaky freaky raat ho gayi” and “kudi tu lagti hai naughty” but with tracks like these you tend to disregard lyrics and focus on the music. Expectedly, there are two more versions which don’t really vary too greatly from the original which makes them unnecessary but not exactly bad — which is something we can live with!
Back to the lovey-dovey tracks, Is This Love (Kahin Na Laage) sails into the album beautifully. Mohit Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal both have amazing voices that work in perfect harmony to create a romantic aura around this track. Pritam has got it spot on and really proven that he can make a mark in both dance tracks as well as romantic melodies. I’m shocked at the fact that I’m praising a Remix once again, for the sheer fact that the remixes have been formulated brilliantly. Bollywood composers take note — these are what remixes should be like! It doesn’t ruin the track, it doesn’t overpower great vocals and you never feel like it was forced.
Sajid-Wajid have composed a sole track for the album, titled Soniye Ve (Dhak Dhak Dhak) which is about as typical as you can get. It’s hardly bad by any standards, in fact it’s quite enjoyable, but from the lyrics to the composition to the vocals everything is something we’ve heard before. This is probably the weakest track of the album although it isn’t much of a downer because you don’t really feel the need to turn it off even though it might not become a chart-topper. Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan are both wasted and you feel like you have heard them sing this type of song a thousand times. Nevertheless, you can deal with one average track!
Without a shred of doubt, this is probably one of the best albums to release amongst a slew of recent disappointing or average albums. Each and every track is entertaining in its own way and it’s hard to really pick the best of the lot. This is an album for those looking for something hardcore commercial with the sole purpose of entertainment. Lucky for Pritam, it doesn’t look like he’s lost his midas touch.
