Music Reviews:Kyun Dooriyan,Striker,Prince

Kyun Dooriyan

Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan is one of the finest mainstream singers Pakistan has produced.Pity then that he isn’t patronised as much as his contemporaries like Atif Aslam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in India.

Kyun Dooriyan is numinous and breezy in tone,tenor,texture and finish.Shafqat glides over the lyrics- a curious blend of urbane sufi and rank downtown Bollywood stuff-alternating fluidly between melancholy(title song,Jayein Kahan) and mischief(Naal Naal) besides dabbling in consecrated requiems.Pleasure.

Striker

Its funny how I failed to comment on this one for this is some zany mix of songs(Kudos Siddharth) which explode much like the eclectic collusion of tangy bhel- puri flavours.But like the snack itself it is soggy(like the sluggish Haq Se) and awkward(Bombay) at times.Vishal’s tasteful Yun Hua though takes the cake…sorry garnishing.Ajab Teri is sauteed and liberally tossed over spiritual embers.It is also an unusually racy listen.The ingratiating Cham Cham,though a touch turgid and cloying,rounds off the OST well.

Prince

Here is one OST that doesn’t believe in half measures(Pardon my Ravi Shashtri’esque mutterings).Its almost achieves what it sets out to seek as well-to dish out a wholesome,hard core commercial soundtrack that is puch drunk on adrenaline,razzmatazz,schmaltz…whatnot.Sadly,it is a snooze,as well.Funny really,because that was not what I was expecting.But,oh well,I should have known better.Atleast after seeing ‘Sameer’ emblazoned prominently on the cover.Atleast after coming to know that this was being produced by some TIPSy guys who had also bankrolled that amazingly stupid movie called Race.Barring O Mere Khuda and its slower twin,Prince is painfully schlocky.The lyrical landscape is dotted by Sameer’s unabashedly cliched verses.The music,on the other hand,lacks novelty-its a cruel mix of blaring electric guitar coupled with incessant technobaazi and little innovation-and sounds fatigued and tiresome.At times even the usually dependable and engaging Atif gets irritatingly monochromatic.Too much of anything,they rightly said,is bad.