Films
Reviews
Yakeen
Music Review
Synopsis -YAKEEN is about Nikhil (Arjun Rampal), a young and handsome business tycoon in Himachal, married to the beautiful Simar (Priyanka Chopra), a young lady with considerable charms. Though it's happy marriage, their relationship is seemingly devoid of that closeness which represents the ideal bonding. Life takes a bizarre turn when their car plummets from a height crashing down the hillside, turning into a total wreck. Nikhil is moved in a comatose to the finest hospital and his recovery from an extremely critical state is both slow and painful. The beautiful Simar escapes relatively unscathed with minor cuts and bruises.
Yet another Bollywood insider makes his debut as a director. This time it's
the turn of popular dialogue writer from the Bhatt camp – Girish Dhamija – who
dons this hat for the dramatic thriller around a troubled relationship between a
husband and wife – ' Yakeen '. Coming back
together is the ' Asambhav '
jodi of Arjun Rampal and Priyanka Chopra who
feature in this Shreya Creations flick produced by Sujit Kumar Singh. Vikram
Bhatt handles the story and screenplay department while Himesh Reshammiya and
Sameer are in charge of the music.
From this relatively unknown movie that was relatively out of news and for which
the publicity has just about begun, one doesn't look forward to a chartbuster
score. An average to above average score is what one anticipates and plays on
the album. '
Tune Mujhko Deewana Kiya ' has a distinct Nadeem Shravan stamp and
one is surprised to see Himesh Reshammiya coming up with such melody. Lyrics by
Sameer are as simple as they go but then as always they work. Both Udit Narayan
and Alka Yagnik go through the motions effortlessly as they have done in
thousand such love songs. The result – a fine romantic duet that does well as an
opening number and can be easily hummed around.
' Meri Aankhon
Mein ' is the second love duet by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik in
succession but this time on the singers are let down by an average tune.
Predictable and heard before, even this number too bears a Nadeem Shravan
resemblance. Thankfully the number isn't an absolute letdown and is still easy
to ears. But this pass-on number that (as expected) appears in an '
Instrumental ' doesn't stand a chance
to be one of those popular tracks.
Beginning of '
Tu Hi ' establishes the theory that Girish Dhamija has been
heavily inspired by the Bhatt style of music and that seems to have been rubbed
onto Himesh Reshammiya as well who gets a third Nadeem Shravan sound-alike
track. This time it is the turn of Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal to lend their
vocals for this love duet that again relies on melody and is given that extra
zing with an effective use of ' tabla '. Yet
another track that can be given an ear comfortably but is not suited to be one
of those that you would highly recommend to friends as 'THE' song.
Guitar strings at the beginning of '
Bhoolna Nahi ' successfully adds in
the mystery to the plot of ' Yakeen '. But
then just as one expected this version by Shaan to be one of his sugarcoated
renditions, it surprisingly turns out to be quite lackluster. Shaan, for reasons
that may suit the narrative of the movie, sings in a quivering tone that fails
to create any appeal. This time the emphasis is on rhythm rather than melody but
then this situational track (that also doubles up as the title song) just
doesn't rise up to the occasion. The second
version by Sunidhi Chauhan is also on the same lines and doesn't create
any impact or excitement around the movie. Surprisingly this weakest song of the
album appears third time in the album – this time as yet another Shaan version
where he switches moods from being lovey dovey in the first version to accusing
his beloved of breaking his heart!
' Chehra Tera
Jab Jab Dekhoon ' by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik is another run of
the mill number that makes one wonder that for how many more years would be
continuing to listen such tracks. Same rhythm, same beats, same tone, same
rendition – it is just surprising to see such tracks being composed year after
year!
As expected, the soundtrack of ' Yakeen ' is
very average with just about a few tunes that manage to make you at least listen
through the entire album. There is not a single track that would reach the top
of the charts. But thankfully, on the flip side, none of the songs jar or turn
out to be absolute disappointment hence turning out to be face saving for the
album.
Don't expect Dhamija's debut movie's musical score to be the talk of the town
this summer.
2 out of 5
Yakeen is indeed another Priyanka Chopra film! There certainly hasn’t been a dearth of those for the growing actress. And given her multitude of releases it’s not surprising that she is featuring with Arjun Rampal for a second time after the disastrous Asambhav. The former wasn’t as bad musically but this time Himesh Reshammiya a.k.a. typical but likable has been roped in for his jhankaar beats and romantic compositions.
Songs don’t get simpler than “Tune Mujhko”, sung by the dependable Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik. The song literally screams of Reshammiya’s ear friendly composition and it serves its purpose in opening up the soundtrack. Again, a very listenable song but where is the life after that? (Especially a concern considering Mr. Reshammiya is composing other soundtracks releasing at the same time with very similar music).
The Narayan-Yagnik duet team up for round two of a similar composition in lyricist Sameer’s uninspired “Meri Aankhon Mein”. Barring a few saxophone interludes and the piano there is little to distinguish it from the first song (barring of course, Sameer’s uninspired lyrics). But the song is probably bound to keep your attention longer than the opener. An instrumental of the song follows later on in the soundtrack.
The title track attempts to change the pace a little as Reshammiya enlists in his favorite Shaan to verbalize the lyrics differently as he does in “Bhoolna Nahin”. Shaan is apt in his rendition of what is obvious the theme track. A decent composition one certainly can’t imagine it being an attention grabber. Sunidhi Chauhan sings the second version and is just as apt in her rendition. And of course, a third slower version must also follow to provide the filler.
Sonu Nigam and Shreya join in for the slower duet, “Tu Hi”, a very T-Series kind of song. The song is much slower than the first two and is obviously trying to garner some type of emotion from its listener. There’s not much in it to do so, however, leaving the listener to hit skip faster than expected.
It’s a flashback to the eighties in “Chehra Tera”, what is probably the nicest song on the soundtrack. Himesh changes gears from his routine sound to bring us a song familiar to the likes of “Tere Naam”. Certain portions are better than your average run of the mill and are pleasing to the ear. Alka and Sonu are refreshing in the romantic ditty.
The music for Yakeen is nothing if not ordinary. Portions are catchy but overall there are no surprises and ultimately nothing to make you want to buy the soundtrack immediately. Those who are into the three day listenable type of soundtrack may get into Yakeen otherwise this time-pass score is better left on the pass section.
5 out of 10