U Me Aur Hum is the directorial debut of one of Bollywood’s finest actors Ajay Devgan, and he, along with one of Bollywood’s finest actresses, Kajol, will bring the story to life in April. The music for the romantic film was released, fittingly, on Valentine’s Day. Due to the buzz surrounding the song promos, everyone was looking forward to hearing the full soundtrack. With music by Vishal Bharadwaj and lyrics by Munna Dhiman, the album was sure to be above the ordinary, but is it? Well, in part. There are some great songs and some ok songs but in trying to go outside the box they included some notes that don’t fit.
First we have U Me Aur Hum, sung by Shreya Ghosal. The opening section is very, very pretty and then a smooth male voice begins singing some very nice English lyrics. Shreya Ghosal’s beautiful voice comes in, full of warmth: it is lovely. Listening to it, the words that went through my mind were pretty, slow, mellow and wonderful to listen to. There are some standout harmony sections and one admires Vishsal’s skill as a composer. With its background orchestration and the violins, the song is just beautiful, but then here is an odd change up to a section with the male voice speak/singing some English lyrics that are just goofy – it really takes away from the song. You really wish that that section was not there. But the melody resumes and it really is a romantic ballad that is marvelous.
The track Dil Dhakda Hai starts out with really strong percussion and the beat is carried through the entire song. Adnan’s fabulous voice on the track adds so much and then when Shreya Ghosal comes in they blend perfectly. The song seems to be top notch. The song has a great basis, but on trying to mix it up a little Vishal added elements in that do not fit, especially the English lyric sections. A good song that many will love, I just wish Vishal had left it as the song with the pulsing beat and 2 great singers. A side note: it does stick with you – when I woke up this morning the song was playing in my head.
Jee Le is an impressive track that takes this album from good to great! Begins with an out-of-this-world Flamenco guitar and some Spanish lyrics that just sets the mood. Adnan’s mellifluous (yep got my thesaurus out for that one!) voice joins in and you think: perfect. But then it moves into a totally new realm, moving from the slow section to a full on Spanish-infused celebration. One can imagine a huge crowd having the time of their lives dancing to the superb mix of instruments and voices. Adnan’s voice is shown off in both the lyrical and joyful sections and Shreya Ghosla is wonderful, too. A song you can listen to over and over again and attempt to, maybe, do some Latin dancing, too.
In Saiyaan, Sunidhi Chauhan proves yet again why she is one of the best singers out there. It is very pure song with a great beat, a mixture of Western and Indian. You can see Kajol singing this to Ajay, and it should be a great picturization. But again there is one part that takes away from the feeling: a rock guitar riff plays and it is just discordant to the rest of the song. It is a cool song but “mindblowing I have to hear this right away again” – sadly no.
Phatte is a song that tries to be to many things. Full of Punjabi bhangra beats, it is also has a club mix feel. On top of that there are some violins and a chorus added in as as well. The track has a very very cool mix of voice and sounds in parts but overall it does not seem to fit together. Adnan sounds great with some fabulous inflections but I do not think this is a song for Chauhan. Although I love her voice, this did not do it justice. By about half way thorough I was waiting for the song to be over and overall it is hard to listen to.
The title track U Me Aur Hum is sung by the music composer himself and is actually one of the best songs on the album. Probably my favorite track, though Jee Le is very close. The guitar in the beginning is perfect, and throughout the rest of the song the combination of guitar and piano is just gorgeous. Vishal sings the song with great feeling and with a low whispering quality that seems ideal. He used only the good notes while composing this. It is a classic song that is simple and musically outstanding. Though I loved Vishal’s rendition I would have also loved to hear Adnan’s voice on this track.
One has to admire Bharadwaj for attempting to add in new elements to his songs, but his music is so wonderful at its purest that you prefer that he would have avoided elements that detract rather than enhance. There are some outstanding moments and Jee Le and the two versions of U Me Aur Hum are fantastic so be sure to check it out!
