Mukhbiir

The name Mani Shankar conjures up recent memories of some ahead of its time and unconventional genre flicks like 16 DECEMBER and RUDRAKSH and also of the superb, hard-hitting but unfortunate TANGO CHARLIE. In fact, with the last named movie, Mani, not much known for the scores of his films, broke the shackles, thanks to a few good compositions by Anand Raj Anand and Anu Malik. And from what one has seen and heard in the promos, the audio of Mani Shankar's latest, MUKHBIIR also appears quite promising, so let?s check out the album!

Trademark Pritam 'Ya Ali' style music sets the pace for a breezy, syrupy sweet romantic track, 'Tu Salamat' and yes it has his characteristic and well loved 'Oo, Oo, Oo' croonings! Some guitar based orchestration further enhances the romantic flavourings of the song. Pritam's once upon a time favourite, KK lends his vocals to a song which is tailor made for him, though one wonders why this song is not a duet. May be it was the requirement of the situation. The 'antara' is slightly similar to A.R.Rahman's 'Ma Tujhe Salaam'.

Lovely guitar strummings and keyboards sounds commence the philosophical and thought provoking number 'Jeena', which urges one to forget the past and move on in life. Sandeep Chowta is quite an able composer, who certainly deserved more recognition and he proves his musical prowess here with a superbly composed track. No wonder the makers have decided to convert it into a music video and the upcoming talent, Rohit Batra, has done a wonderful job in blending the song and appropriate visuals of the film to perfection. The pace of the song makes it a hummable number, although the vocals (slightly nasal) of the lead singer, Sonu Kakkar are more suited to 'ghazals and ?geet?. One must admit that she has done a fantastic job, as she sings with an attitude that brings out the essential motivational aspect of the song beautifully.

'Dhoonde Dil' brings back the delightfully soothing vocals of Hariharan, an artist who needs no introduction, such are his capabilities and fame as a singer. The philosophically inclined number, with a touch of romance has been rendered beautifully. Hariharan does a KK here and in fact surpasses him! The superb couplets recited by the hero (the 'mukhbir'/informer), in quite base vocals set the somber and serious tone and also commence the song - 'Kuch is tarah se maine jeevan saja liya, Har bar ek naya chehra laga liya'. The acid rock guitarings (a la Deep Purple) have been beautifully used to signify the traumatized mental state of the lead protagonist. The lyrics are simply superb and they intermingle beautifully with the feel of the music which changes from slow lazy pace to a totally rockish high octane track. Telugu composer, Sashi Pritam deserves credit.