Last year he sang Kal ho naa ho. This year he sings Main hoon na.
Main Hoon Na will be Shah Rukh Khan's first release in the year 2004. Directed by Farah Khan, the choreographer who makes her debut, has good friend SRK in the lead. The film also stars Sushmita Sen, Boman Irani, Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir Bedi, Zayed Khan, Amrita Rao and Suniel Shetty.
Although music director Anu Malik does not break new grounds with his composition, the title track is simple and melodious. Sonu Nigam is good while Shreya Ghoshal impresses with her rendition.
Abhijeet, who reserves his best for SRK (as seen in Yes Boss, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Chalte Chalte), does a good job at crooning the sad version of Main hoon na.
One cannot miss the Latin influence in the peppy and foot-tapping Tumhe jo maine dekha. Something like Anu's earlier tune Banda yeh bindas in Aks.
And now for some qawwali -- an almost forgotten genre in Hindi music -- is back with a bang! Ru ba ru in Maqbool, Noor un ula in Meenaxi and now Tumse milkar dilka jo haal in Main Hoon Na.
Anu, of course, mixes it with rap, pop, rock, even a bit of a DJ voiceover. Sonu Nigam, along with the Sabri Brothers, is at his commendable best. Ditto for Javed Akhtar's mesmerising lyrics.
Chale jaise hawaein is upbeat, but fails to hold your attention. And that is disappointing coming from Vasundhara Das and KK, who recently sang the chartbuster It's the time to disco with Shaan and Shankar Mahadevan in Kal Ho Naa Ho.
Yeh fizaein is about love and happy times. It is also quite boring and unimpressive. Things do not get any better when Anu Malik, along with Sunidhi Chauhan and Ghosal, decides to get behind the microphone with Gori gori. Looks like the inspiration for this track comes from Shammi Kapoor films of the 1960s. Is that why Anu claims he has a classic in Main Hoon Na?
At the music launch, Anu Malik said, 'Farah Khan's brother Sajid Khan told me that my music reminds him of the late R D Burman.' Now we all know Sajid has a great sense on humour, don't we?
