Film: ‘We Are Family’; Music Directors: Shankar Mahadevan-Ehsaan Noorani-Loy Mendonca; Lyricists: Irshad Kamil and Anvita Dutt Guptan; Singers: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Anushka Manchanda, Suraj Jagan, Akruti Kakkar, Vishal Dadlani, Shankar Mahadevan, Sonu Niigaam and Shreya Ghoshal; Rating: **1/2
Filmmaker Karan Johar and composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have always belted out chartbusters, so the expectations from ‘We Are Family’, Johar’s latest production venture, was high. But, though the album offers few melodious tracks, there is nothing extraordinary.
The album boasts of six tracks.
The soundtrack begins with a romantic duet ‘Ankhon mein neendein’ by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal. The love song is likeable, but offers nothing great as it has a heard-before feeling. However, the brilliant vocals by two talented singers makes it enjoyable number.
Next is the Indian version of Elvis Presley’s classic song ‘Jail House Rock’. It is called ‘Dil khol ke let’s rock’ and Hindi lyrics are composed on the tunes of the original. It seems that the composers wanted to repeat the success of their song ‘Pretty Woman’ from ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’, but somehow it doesn’t work. The song fails to impress.
Singers Anushka Manchanda, Akriti Kakkar and Suraj Jagan manage to do a decent job, but no one could even get remotely closer to the legend.
Then comes ‘Reham o karam’ and Vishal Dadlani and Shankar go behind the mike for the song. It starts as an unplugged version, but soon strong orchestration with rock elements make an entry that makes the song interesting and engaging.
Melody strikes again with ‘Hamesha forever’, which is a soft, pleasing song. Sung by Sonu Niigaam and Shreya, it generates interest in the beginning but soon the repeat element creeps in the composition.
Up next is ‘Sun le dua yeh aasman’, a slow version of the theme song. Crooned by Shankar, the track is backed by minimal musical arrangements – something that makes it quite soulful.
The soundtrack also offers a slow-paced instrumental theme track.
The music of the film is neither bad nor brilliant but the feeling of deja vu is felt in most of them. It’s high time Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy reinvent themselves by indulging in some experimentation.
