From the trailers and publicity surrounding Thank You, the latest Anees Bazmee comedy, looks to be a sure winner. Shot in Vancouver and Toronto, it is sure to appeal to the overseas masses with Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Bobby Deol, and Sunil Shetty starring. The music by Pritam has already been making waves with new update to the Jaanbaaz hit “Pyar Do Pyar Lo.” Does he succeed in making another Singh is King type hit album for Anees Bazmee?
Right from the outset, Pyar Do Pyar Lo does get you into a party mood with the pumping bass hook, and from the promos, it is going to be the selling point of the whole soundtrack. Yet with another update of an already fabulous song, this version does its job, in retaining the original composition and the hooting to appease music purists. However, this song is rather formulaic and Mika’s vocals seem like a rehash of many of his other dance numbers. The lyrics by wordsmith Amitabh Bhattacharya are not on form, as one would expect, with quick drops of English words that don’t add anything to the overall song. It is not sacrilege to touch older songs, as that seems to be the latest vogue, but you have to make it fresh and win over the clubbers and the purists. This song is just a stale update of a great song. The remix version is no better with the club beats drowning out the vocals and music.
Then there’s Full Volume, which initially sounded like ‘Zor Ka Jhatka’ from Action Replayy with its thumping backbeat, but this song is quite alright when it gets going. It has a very retro sound to it with the accordion and blasting clarinet in the back that sounds just out of an 80’s flick. Richa Sharma kicks the song off with a fun hook, but Neeraj Shridhar really shines and doesn’t turn this into a routine track as the Full Volume chorus is repeated over and over. His voice fits so well with this vintage throwback. The only downside to the song is the unnecessary and terribly worded rap verse with duds like “you’re driving me insane like a choo-choo train!” No thanks!
One of the worst songs on the album is My Heart is Beating with its layered chipmunk voices squeaking, “Everybody say” and the awful composition which tries to sound like a Shammi Kapoor rollicking 60’s number but falls so flat. It is very hard to criticize Sonu Niigam but he is terrible on this track and we know he can do the effortless Mohd Rafi voice, yet his frenetic pace and screeching just does not work. This song is far too loud and throws everything into the mix along with name dropping the title of the film. Skip this one.
The remix version unusually calms all the loudness down and focuses on the vocals and it sounds only marginally better.
A lovely song from all the loudness is Pyar Mein, with Javed Ali and Neeraj Shridhar sharing vocals on this one, and it seems like a situational song maybe for the pre or post climax song. The Spanish flamenco sound, full of strumming guitars coupled with a Neeraj Shridhar’s rustic voice works so well together making this one of my favourites of the whole album.
Another favourite is the item number Razia, although it is not in the Munni or Sheila league, this song deserves all the promotion hype instead of Pyar Do Pyar Lo because it is a proper chartbuster.
Barring another unnecessary rap, Master Saleem launches the song onto the right track and Ritu Pathak does a fabulous job with the infectious chorus, one singer to look out for. This song is so catchy and fun because it isn’t overpopulated with slick beats and new experiments, as the vocals remain front and centre. It is sure to look great onscreen with Mallika Sherawat doing the item honours to a good song.
The remix is formulaic and mundane, stick to the original.
Pritam has delivered an average soundtrack for Thank You, barring two real standout songs, it is sure to receive lots of airtime, but it’s far too unoriginal to last after the release.
