Remixes mean quick bucks to a lot of people. For one, you dont have to waste precious resources trying to come up with a totally new song. And then you dont have to waste more resources trying to sell a song to the public - because the public already knows the song.
Most remixes reek and are as cliched as it comes. They take a song, strip it down, put a nice thumping beat, add some RAP crap and reassemble the song. Quick bucks while song sucks.
Bally Sagoo kick-started the remix craze in India. He did a decent job with the BOLLYWOOD FLASHBACK record (which spawned that sensual Chura Liya remix), but then slipped into a rut of commercialism.
A breath of fresh air came in the form of...
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Ehsaan, Farhad and Loy
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The trio of accomplished musicians, who were known for great jingles, took on the name INSTANT KARMA (a John Lennon song). They picked some well known songs and produced an ’ORIGINAL REMIX’ record called DANCE MASTI. The songs on the record included OM SHANTI OM from KARZ, DIL KYA KARE from JULIE and MERE SAPNO KI RANI from ARADHANA.
The reason why I said ORIGINAL REMIX is that, Instant Karma didnt do a rehash of the original. They took pains to retain the essence of the song, to weave fresh instrumental passages and add a dash of pulse pounding rhythm. The end product was real good.
The fact that they worked with singers of the calibre of Shankar Mahadevan, Mahalaxmi Iyer and Shaan also ensures that quality is never compromised.
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The Return...
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The successor to DANCE MASTI, Return Of Dance Masti raised the bar. The album opens to the brilliant song from ANAMIKA Bahon Mein Chale Aao. Mahalaxmi Iyer’s voice is sublime.
Hum Bewafa (Shalimar) features Shaan at his best. Although I prefer the Kishore Kumar original, the remix is decently done too.
The one and only, Shankar Mahadevan goes berserk on this record rattling out half a dozen songs which include O Mere Dil Ke Chain (Mere Jeevan Saathi), Shaam Mastani (Kati Patang), Jawani Deewani (Jawani Deewani), O Meri Mehbooba (Dharamveer) and a medley that had Yeh Mera Dil (Don) and Yamma Yamma (Shaan).
Remember the Hassan Jehangir pop song Hawa Hawa? Our man Mahadevan lends his throat to that song too on this record.
Finally theres the voice of Shaan singing a rather sweet, poppy song Musu Musu.
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Overall
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If you like remixes, you’ll love Instant Karma’s works. Return Of Dance Masti provides BANG FOR THE BUCK entertainment. The production quality is excellent and so is the artistic value.
I believe in originals. But give the musicians their due, they have painstakingly crafted each songs from scratch and made sure that you dont end up spending hard earned cash on trash.
On a personal note, I do not like the ENGLISH parts that seems to be mandatory for remixed songs.
After all, isnt something thats built from zero, an original too?
~finis~
Footnote: Listen to Hum Bewafa from Shalimar and Hum Bewafa from this record. The original is beautiful but the sound quality of the times leaves a lot to be desired. That is one advantage that a remix offers - sonic quality.
And if you didnt already know about it... EHSAAN and LOY are the people who teamed up with SHANKAR MAHADEVAN to create some beautiful movie music in the form of DIL CHAHTA HAI and KAL HO NA HO.