Film: “Roadside Romeo”; Music Director: “Salim-Suleiman”; Lyricist: Jaideep Sahni; Singers: Kunal Ganjawala, Gayatri Iyer, Naresh Kamath, Jugal Hansraj, Anushka Manchanda, Earl, Salim, KK, Sudesh Bhonsle, Sunidhi Chauhan, Javed Jaffrey, Marianne D. Cruz, John Stewart, Saif Ali Khan; Rating: ***
Music director duo Salim-Suleiman has composed an interesting and fun soundtrack for Yash Raj Films’ first animated movie “Roadside Romeo”. The film revolves around a street dog’s life. One needs to keep a whole lot of factors while creating music for such a movie and Salim-Suleiman pass the test with flying colours.
“Apni dum bhi oonchi ho” is one of the best tracks of the album. The hip-hop number is high on entertainment and energy and ensures a nine-minute-long dose of fun. While Kunal Ganjawala is the lead singer here, he is joined by Earl, Anushka Manchanda, Salim Merchant and Jugal Hansraj and they together make the entire package sound fantastic.
Lyricist Jaideep Sahni seems to understand the requirements of an animated movie and has strung words together to suit the mood.
A sensuous rendition comes from Sunidhi Chauhan in “Chhoo le na”. In this enjoyable track, KK and Sudesh Bhosle join Sunidhi with their great vocals. The song has a Latino flavour and should be a treat on the big screen.
“Cool, cool” follows with an interesting twist. While Naresh Kamath and Marianne D. Cruz are the lead singers, it is interspersed by Saif Ali Khan’s and Javed Jaffrey’s expert comments on the term “cool”. Javed’s rendition where he puts on an amusing south Indian accent to entertain listeners is awesome. Jaideep’s lyrics too are commendable and keep up with the pace of the track.
The first 15 seconds of “So right” reminds one of “Mar jaawa” from “Fashion”. But the track later takes a different route. Rendered by Kunal Ganjawala and Gayatri Iyer, “So right” is a soft and slow romantic piece. The composition isn’t the kind to grow on you, but Gayatri’s voice provides a certain freshness to the song.
“Rooftop romance” (Instrumental) is an approximately one-and-a-half-minute track with guitar, piano and violin. Based on the soundtrack of “So right”, it is a pleasant piece of music but isn’t good enough to be downloaded.
Kunal renders “Main hoon Romeo”, a fun-loving number.
Clearly, “Apni dum bhi oonchi ho” and “Choo le na” turn out to be complete winners in the album. What can be truly appreciated about the tracks of “Roadside Romeo” is that the composers, who have created music for films like “Chak De! India” and “Dor”, have experimented with rhythms and composed innovative and fabulous tunes.
rounak