Koi Mil Gaya: The music is different, and it bravely tries to blend number of contradictory aspects:
Grandness, the sound that you hear in epics
Spookie Eeerie Haunting touch
Melody
Innocence
Children
Simplicity
Situational Adherance
International Appeal
Class Audience
And ofcourse, must have an item quality: dance, rona-dhona, sing around trees etc
Given such contradictory pulls and an awfully new subject for Bollywood would have made making the music for this one tough ask. The result is sounds which come from as wide a compass as Goan beaches, Sunday prayers, Temple aartis, Discos, Nursery Rhymes, Romance, Grand Orchestra, Old films Emotional encore and Nuanced scales.
1) Koi Mil Gaya - One hearing of the title song ’koi mil gaya’’ and you know how much effort has gone in to it, there is change in music and even instruments after every 30 seconds; even the pace varies up and down. Listen to the song that resonate across almost an entire existence, from Yash Chopra style background score to Titanic type SFX to MM Kreem type innovation and Barjatya Simplicity. Singers have an enviable task matching the pace which is not atall repetitive, even anatars are different. Both have done an exquisite job with Chitra doing exceedingly well. Do listen to the song carefully and you will be surprised on how simple lyrics have meant effectiveness and how Rakesh Roshan has created a gem of a song. ’’Yun to hum tum milne ko milte rahe, par kyun aaj aisa laga....’’ And the orchestra is wonderful.
Rating - 5/5
2) Haila Haila - Starts off well, this is a high paced venture and focusses more on beat. It is rather easy on ears and the singing is again soft, which comes in an arena where singers are stretching their vocals for shouting which is a routine in such songs. The music again ranges across the instruments available with drums, ghunghrus, guitar, dholki, congo to even electric sounds, giving the songs unique folk based song. Yes the synth has also been used like other songs in the movie and a solo alaap comes just before the second antara. The music gives way the picturization as well and its lyrics look highly situational. Here is a guess: this song comes in the second half with a fit Hrithik. Some of the melody has the influence of an old song which Iam not able to recall.
Rating: 4/5
3) Idhar Chala - This is my favorite song in the album. Starts with the signature tune and then the mood is set for a soft simple melody with great rhythm to it. Singing is perfect, going up and down in a narrow zone. With the temptation to make it a heavy dance number large, tendency would have been to clutter it highly; but what comes out is a soft dance number which is romantic, melodious and sweet all at the same time, the kind of Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si. The sounds in the interlude are again unconventional and the mood is uniformly pleasant and consistent. It does not rise high and the credit for such a fine composition goes to the music director who has defied commercial dictates and come up with an excellent number. It may be naive to assume the song is too uni-dimensional, there is tremendous versatility to it, just hear with your eyes closed, this is an amazing experience.
Rating - 5/5
4) Its Magic - This is the ’not so typical’-typical Hrithik dance number. It has got a different beat than the ones on which Hrithik has so far performed. The beat has Stereo Nation feel to it (they sing this one afterall, silly me!) and the influence of heavy synth and congo creates a tone of mystery and drama to it as well. The situation is similar to Ek Pal Ka Jeena where Amisha (and here Preity) is shocked to see the new Hrithik. The lyrics are unconventional and the song has decent singing. The dance beats are high and constant, and hence would have been difficult choreographing this one. However, the song although riding high on the strength of its Mukhda has weak Antars. Maybe with video this would catch up more since a dance number is mostly defined through the step it popularizes. On repeated hearing it does go on your lips and asks you to dance. With Hrithiks dancing skills, it wont be surprise if this one is a chart buster, although Idhar Chala is obviously the better song.
Rating - 3.5/5
5) Instrumental Theme - Yes this had to be good. Already the haunting tune has been heard by all. This combines the tunes from the songs from the movie and also adds some linking music in between to create a theme heavy of night and magic effect. The main piece is good and can be easily used for a Fashion Show/ Choreography and even otherwise makes decent listening. Most of it is modeled on KNPH theme pattern and hence does not sound as fresh.. Preeti Utham does some singing along with the chorus.
Rating - 3.5/5
6) In Panchiyon - This is another wonderful song and I like it. The song has an outdoor feel to it and has a child like freshness to it, almost like kids running around discovering the world. The lyrics are wonderful. Again Rajesh Roshan refuses the urge to go loud or frentic pace and produces a soft number which is easy on ear. This lends the song a unique touch which would have been robbed off in case some heavy duty churlish had been added. The music pieces provide you immense scope to give creative ideas a wide run. Kids also get a turn to sing and the song is perfectly composed.
Rating - 4.5/5
7) Jadoo Jadoo - Another song based on Children and another soft number. It appears again in the album and has again got an old world soft charm to it. I like this song because of its smooth beat and sweet lyrics along with effective instrumentation. The beat goes up and down at all the right times and the children in the song make the song that much more cheerful. Again despite being a children song it is not over the top or stupid in any way, it has good lyrics and even better music.
Rating - 5/5
The best thing about the music is its control when the tendency to create a whacko score for a movie of this hype was there. It does not play overtly to commercial aspects, other than one Hrithik Dance number, rest of the numbers are too soft and situational. Overall the music may not sell as much as KNPH but it has more depth and coherence to it. The singing especially is uniformly excellent. Only if Hrithik is able to exercise this control in his acting and editor in his editing, movie would be a treat to watch.
P.S. Preity Zinta looks mint fresh and stunning in that Black dress. :oops