By Joginder Tuteja, December 5, 2008 - 14:04 IST
EXPECTATIONS
Not much actually! A film that is not quite a musical, has been delayed by a year and a half, comes with minimal star value, has a composer (Sandesh Shandilya) at the helm who hasn't really delivered a hit musical score when given an opportunity to compose for an entire album, Meerabai Not Out virtually comes unannounced both at the music stands as well as theaters.
MUSIC
As expected, the music here in Meerabai Not Out barely manages to be passable with only one single track standing out - 'Hai Rama'. A fun-n-frolic song that has a fast pace to it which makes it instantly catchy, 'Hai Rama' is an item number which features the lead pair of the film - Mandira Bedi and Eijaz Khan. Sandesh, is in fact quite good with this tune that did come with good potential and if released at the right time with aggressive promotion, it would have certainly gone some distance.
This is immediately followed by the title song 'Meerabai Not Out' and though its start does catch your attention, it takes on a jingle approach within first 30 seconds. A number which hails 'Meerabai' to be biggest fan and follower of the game of cricket, it only continues to lose grip as it moves from 'mukhda' to 'antara' portion. A 'chawl' number arrives a little later in the form of 'Chal De Rapat' which is set around a game of cricket in progress. Though it doesn't have the kind of energy (even in its 'remix version') that one expected due to it's 'game-in-motion' setting, one hopes that visuals make it interesting enough.
'O Dil Sambhal' has a Sandesh Shandilya touch to it for sure but that doesn't quite suffice for it to be remembered much in time to come. A love song, it aims at being soothing and soft in motion but in the end turns out to be plain average. In fact at places, it only becomes a tad lazy which hints of boredom. This is not the kind of romantic number you would like to sing to your loved one or play in a 'remix version' on a highway drive. Same holds good for another love song 'Kaisi Yeh Shaam' which is nothing better than a stock tune. It is not a bad composition but then you have certainly heard dozens of such routine songs in the past that have a melodic tune to it and retain a soft texture.
LYRICS
Four lyricists - Soumik Sen, Professor RN Dubey, Prashant Vasl and Irfan Qureshi - contribute with lyrics but once the album is through, you don't remember the words from a single song. While half the songs in the album are anyways situational and hence don't make one jump with a 'wow', the romantic numbers too don't touch your heart.
VOCALS
'Hai Rama' sees an unconventional mix with Sukhwinder Singh and Neha Kakkad coming together and creating some good energy. In fact this is the only number where one is able to see some good work from the singers followed by Kunal Ganjawala's rendition of 'Kaisi Yeh Shaam' which could well have been tailor made for the late Kishore Kumar. In fact even a normally dependable Neeraj Sridhar is not in his complete elements in the title song 'Meerabai Not Out' where he comes together with Vijay Prakash. Shaan and Sunidhi Chauhan would themselves agree that they have sung songs better than 'O Dil Sambhal' while the kind of setting that 'Chal De Rapat' boasts of, Vijay Prakash and Sandesh Shandilya would have known that they were never in contest for 'Best Playback' singing award.
OVERALL
Meerabai Not Out is an album that has an extremely average soundtrack. It may have done reasonably well, considering 'Hai Rama' is quite an interesting tune. However, with a zilch promotion that is hardly expected to help its cause and a plethora of biggies slated to arrive in weeks to come, Meerabai Not Out is all set to disappear without a trace.
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