By Satyajit, Bollywood Trade News Network
Madhuri Dixit is back! The pristine beauty of 90's who made every heart "dhak-dhak" with her swirling-twirling moves makes her singing-dancing comeback after a hiatus of 7 years in Salim-Suleiman configured theatrical musical bonanza AAJA NACHLE. It was big task for any composer to deliver an exuberantly show-stopper musical show as Yash Raj last troupe musical DIL TO PAAGAL HAI, featuring Madhuri, SRK, was magnanimous success. The album extrovertly delivers musical ammunition in the style and flair of fun-filled "nautanki" histrionics with mixed bag of results.
"Aaja Nachle", a tantalizing "chocolate box" title track about the zeal and notion of spirited dancing is a brilliant solo songstress effort by ever versatile Sunidhi Chauhan. The serpentine flow of "shehnai' coupled with synchronized drumming of "dhol", "tabla" and arranged harmoniously with keyboard notes delivers a feisty rustic folklore outlook. Salim-Suleiman harmonic textures has big take on typical "nautanki" style of work where the frivolously paced classical music propels and collides impetuously with crispy wording (Piyush Mishra) to give a thriving dancing floor appeal. This Madhuri special number gets into higher tempo with westernized inputs to give a signature finale look in "Aaja Nachle (reprise)". It has the gloss and crush of Madhuri's flamboyance written everywhere on it but hasn't got the gleaming spark of her everlasting tracks like "Ek Do Teen" or "Mera Piya Ghar Aaaya" etc that made her prodigy overnight.
Salim-Suleiman gets into typical Chopra-Johar's mushy romantic overtones in its sluggish arrangement and supple rhythmical patterns in squashy "Ishq Hua". The excruciatingly vociferous splurge of Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal are under utilized as they are coordinated with pale sounding contemporary orchestration. Even the exhaustively impounding wording of Jaideep Sahni proves inadequate to lift its spirits and all it ends up as poor cousin to tracks like "Tumhi Dekho Naa" (KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNAA).
"Show me your Jalwa", an outrageously voluble song about encouraging locales to join fun fare troupe at scintillating dancing show is a brilliant handiwork of lyrical catchphrases, folksy harmony and throaty vocal flows. Jaideep Sahni's enthusiastically imposed exhortations are remarkably emoted by unconventional but promising Richa Sharma, Kailash Kher and Salim Merchant that bring shades and glimpses of Udit Narayan's rendered "Mitwa" (LAGAAN) for its "go-getter" feel.
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, now a regular in melancholically profound sluggish tracks gets into another sentimental eloquence about beleaguered love relationship in average sounding "O Re Piya". Like "Maula Mere Le Le Meri Jaan" (CHAK DE INDIA), it has more narrative appeal in its poignant wordings with predictable arrangements of bass guitars and drumming in its melodic backdrop with splurge of "qawalli" flows in its latter interludes.
Theatrically amusing!!! Spunk, humor and zeal are written all over it with Madhuri's chirpy connotations about youth (Patang sang urr gaya bachpan...ayi jawani re!) making engrossing elegiac prelude to the highly entertaining track "Soniye Mil Ja". Piyush Mishra's hilariously catchphrases are cheerful salutations to the youthful spirit where Sukhwinder Singh's merry-making voice along with Sunidhi's enthused rendition is sheer listening delight.
After mediocre "Ishq Hua", it's time for another slapstick soft melodic work "Is Pal" from the vocals of Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal with slightly better results. It has intrinsically intense Indian classical works of "sitar" and tabla with scurry of soft westernized arrangements in its rhythms but the "soulful" impulse is strikingly missing.
"Koi Pathar Se Na Maare", quintessentially traditional Indian opera rendition about "Daastan-e-Laila Majnu" is figuratively appealing in its gloomy tonality with modest vocals, synchronized harmonic flows, and elegiac wordings at its best. Shreya Ghoshal's shimmering yell in svelte rendition is the brightest while Sunidhi delivers a gripping prelude and Sonu Nigam's affirmative vocals sums up with an impressive conclusion to this depressing theatrical saga.
Move it...groove it!!! It's groovy time to streamline your body beautiful as the track "Dance with me" comes out in the form of an amusing ordeals envisaged by model trainer on the dancing floor in 80's flamboyant style. Sonia Saigal delivers this mumbo-jumbo sounding track that can be playful exploit for an aspiring dancing freak but relevantly low key affair for the listening pleasures.
Salim-Suleiman raises their mantle of being proficient melodic storyteller through AAJA NACHLE rather than feasting listeners with enthralling urbane disco delight tracks. It has chartbusting surprises in theatrically delightful tracks like "Aaja Nachle", "Soniye Mil Ja" and "Show me your Jalwa" while disappoints completely in mushy soundtracks.
