Soham Shah of Kaal fame returns to the big screen with his second directorial venture, Luck, made under the banner of Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision Ltd and Studio 18. The movie stars the recent debutante and heartthrob Imran Khan (Jaanu Tu), Ravi Shankar (Welcome to Sajjanpur), Chitrashi Rawat (Komal Chautala of Chak De India) and legends Mithun Chakraborty, Danny Denzongpa and Sanjay Dutt. Luck is also the launch vehicle for Shruti Hassan, daughter of acclaimed star Kamaal Hassan, as she makes her debut as an actor and as a singer.
Music has been given by The Brothers Merchant, namely Salim and Sulaiman Merchant who have created a niche for themselves with creditable albums such as Aaja Nachle, Kaal, Chak De India, Fashoion and Rab Ne Bana De Jodi. An album with 9 songs, 4 of which are remixes of the other 5, Luck’s playback singers are Sukhvinder Singh, Anushka Manchanda (‘Golmaal’ – Gomaal), Shruti Pathak (‘Mar Jawan’ – Fashion and ‘Payaliya’ – Dev D), Clinton Cerejo (‘I Just Wanna Spend My Life With You’ – Neal ‘n’ Nikki), Satya Hinduja (‘Fashion Ka Jalwa’ – Fashion), Shruti Hassan and Salim Merchant with remixes by DJ Amyth.
The action thriller is slated for release on the 24th of July 2009.
Luck commences with Luck Azmaa, a catchy title track, sung to perfection by the incredible Sukhvindar Singh. It is a foot-tapping modern number. The music is stylishly upbeat with great use of electric guitars intertwined with enthusiastic Punjabi dhols. Satya Hinduja’s brief verses of English lyrics give the song a nice touch but could have been done without, however because it is so brief, its absence or presence hardly makes a difference. Lyrics by Shabbir Ahmed are fantastic. While the Merchants’ ‘Fashion Ka Jalwa’ was a somewhat haphazard mix of sounds, ‘Luck Azmaa’ has been fantastically arranged and composed. The remix of ‘Luck Azmaa’ by DJ Amyth which appears later unfortunately butchers the track.
Next is the melodious romantic track Khudaya Ve, which is composed with a heavenly arrangement of acoustic guitars and aesthetically sung by Salim Merchant. Salim’s fresh and unique vocals carry the emotional feel of the song well. Shabbir pens the track well while the Merchants compose a brilliant track that proves to be intense and soft at the same time. Khudaya Ve (Radio Mix), is essentially the same track, with the acoustic guitars removed and the percussion pumped up a notch. The Radio Mix might be appealing to a wider range of listeners since it is faster than the original and more on the contemporary side of the genre scale. The track’s remix is fortunately not as bad as the remix of ‘Luck Azmaa’. That being said, the remix replaces Merchants’ awesome musical arrangement with mediocre music that hinders the song as opposed to elevating it.
Jee Le, by Shruti Pathak and Naresh Kamath, is a youthful number where hip-hop meets desi in the best way possible. Shruti who has been associated with intense numbers such as ‘Payaliya’ from Dev D and ‘Marjawan’ from Fashion, dons a peppy avatar which proves to be as impressive as her previous performances. Naresh Kamath, though an unfamiliar name, has awesome vocals, aptly suited to his Hinglish lines. Shabbir’s lyrics are impressive once again as he manages to refrain from mediocrity in the face of a peppy number and does not overdo the Hinglish lyrics. DJ Amyth’s remix of the track is the best yet. It increases the tempo while the additional beats give the track more oomph and style.
Shruti Hassan’s Azmaa (Luck is the Key) is up next. If her acting is as impressive as her vocals, Shruti is heading straight for the stars. Slower than the original title track, the song’s crowning glory is Shruti Hassan. Her confident, stylish and fresh vocals will leave you spell bounded. If you like Sunidhi Chauhan and Anushka Manchanda, you will love Shruti. She sings her English lyrics with just as much ease as the Hindi ones and simply takes your breath away. Clinton Cerejo’s brief appearance is a pleasant but obviously overborne by Shruti. Musically, the track is fantastic. The Merchants have created a hell of a rock number and while it might not be as commercial as the ‘Luck Azmaa’, the brilliant composition and equally brilliant lyrics will definitely make it a favourite amongst music buffs.
The last track is Laaga Le, a fast-paced number sung amazingly well by the amazing Anushka Manchanda who infuses style and oomph in track with utmost ease. Robert Umolu’s rap weaves in and out through the track and surprisingly does not hinder the track one bit. Merchants’ compose an impressive item number with loud yet stylish and well arranged sounds. Shabbir’s lyrics, stay true to the theme of the movie (gambling) despite the usual trend of item numbers being the odd song in an album.
In conclusion, Luck is definitely going to get lucky with the audiences. It is a well composed album, with amazing performances by a wide range of singers and great lyrics by Shabbir Ahmed. The movie promises style, thrill and glamour, and the music definitely reflects those themes. It is hard to single out any one track because they are all good, but if push comes to shove, both versions of the title track (‘Luck Azmaa’ and ‘Azmaa (Luck is the Key)’) and ‘Khudaya Ve’ have to be the top tracks of the lot. Obviously, the remixes can be conveniently skipped. Undoubtedly, Luck is Salim-Sulaiman’s best work yet as they continue to impress.
