KHAN-daani DANCE ALBUM! (HAPPY NEW YEAR – Music Review)

Music Album Details:-
♪ Music by:- Vishal-Shekhar, Dr. Zeus, Manj Musik & John Stewart Eduri
♪ Lyrics by:- Irshad Kamil, Jiwan Mann, Kumaar, Farah Khan, Vishal Dadlani & Shekhar Ravjiani
♪ Music Label:- T-Series
♪ Music Released On:- 15th September 2014
♪ Movie Releases On:- 24th October 2014

Happy New Year Album Cover

 

To hear the full songs of this album on Saavn CLICK HERE

To buy this album on iTunes CLICK HERE

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Happy New Year is an upcoming comedy film directed by Farah Khan, and starring Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah. The story is about six losers, who compete in a ‘World Dance Championship’ and end up on a quest to pull of the biggest diamond heist ever. So, that story doesn’t seem all that new and fresh, but I’m sure Farah has something in mind to make it interesting and intriguing. Anyways, the Shahrukh-Deepika-Farah trio is back together after ‘Om Shanti Om’, and the same magic that was created that time is expected to be created once again now, so let’s just cross our fingers and hope Farah doesn’t go her brother’s way, by putting in too much (and by too much, I mean TOO MUCH) of cheap slapstick humour, and instead gives us a cute little comedy, which could be watched again and again. 🙂 Talking about the music, we have Vishal-Shekhar in charge of the majority of the album, with Dr. Zeus collaborating with them for one song and composing another song by himself. Manj Musik has also collaborated with Vishal-Shekhar for another song. John Stewart Eduri composing an instrumental track. What’s more, the total number of tracks is eleven! Hopes were naturally high, as they always are for a Shahrukh Khan film, and with Vishal-Shekhar working with Farah, then the hopes become tripled, and so the resulting expectations are pretty humongous! Let’s see whether they have met those expectations, exceeded them, or let us down!

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1. India Waale / India Waale (Electronic)
Singers ~ Vishal Dadlani, K.K., Shankar Mahadevan & Neeti Mohan (Both Versions), Music by ~ Vishal-Shekhar, Lyrics by ~ Irshad Kamil

The song which we had heard in the trailer, and on which many people were placing bets that it would be the best track of the album, and it would be a mind-blowing, super hot, superhit track, opens up this massive album. Imagine this: you keep on waiting for your birthday, or any special day, for that matter, and when that day comes, you find yourself getting very bored, as your expectations haven’t quite been satisfied. Either whatever you wished to happen hadn’t happened, or whatever you wanted to do, you couldn’t. You must have felt like this at least once in your lifetime? Well, recall that feeling you felt, and now read the review for this song. It came across as a very, very ordinary song, because a) these kind of songs have been heard innumerable times from Vishal-Shekhar, b) The audience was expecting something new, innovative and brilliant from the song, which would surpass the craziness of ‘Deewangi Deewangi’ from ‘Om Shanti Om’, and c) Even such an awesome lineup of singers has failed to save the song from its fate. Unfortunately, what we have got is something less than a chartbuster, and it can never surpass ‘Deewangi Deewangi’ ever in its life (playlist life), and, well, it’s just too heard-before! They had promised something BIG by saying Indiawaale aa rahe hain… But actually nothing came, neither interest to hear the song on repeat, nor a feeling from the heart saying, Waah! Kya khoob gaana banaaya hai! 😛 Instead, I felt like the song is full of fake desh-prem.  Not so impressive! By now, you must have got that the tune is ordinary, so get this, too: the lyrics are nothing special either, and the only elements left are vocals and arrangements. Arrangements, thankfully, have been done very well, and the techno sounds have been used efficiently. The arrangements sound like 80s disco songs, and what Vishal-Shekhar did in ‘The Dirty Picture’ songs. The vocals are also powerful, and Neeti Mohan stands out in her part, and she also sounds beautiful when she sings behind the three male singers. Vishal also stands out, whereas Shankar and K.K. are mostly singing in the chorus, so they don’t have much scope to stand out as such. The electronic version is the same ordinary composition on different arrangements. Those are not of the must-listen types, but there is certainly no harm to hear it, as you’re going to hear this song all throughout Diwali. 😛 Ordinary stuff from Vishal-Shekhar and Irshad Kamil. They say old is gold, but this one is already sold!

 

2. Manwa Laage
Singers ~ Shreya Ghoshal & Arijit Singh, Music by ~ Vishal-Shekhar, Lyrics by ~ Irshad Kamil

When I heard ‘India Waale’, I was ready for the second song to be a just as ordinary, just as heard-before, just as disappointing one, but oh, was I wrong! The second song turned out to be a soulful, cute and melodious romantic song, sung by two ever-so-wonderful and talented artists, Shreya Ghoshal, and Arijit Singh. Vishal-Shekhar have woven together a beautiful melody, with hints of the 90s, and have managed to create a tune that will make sure your attention doesn’t go haywire while listening to the song. Instead, the magic of the song will grasp you and your attention, and it will make you start dol-ing to the beats. The enticing accordion tune will be the first thing to grab your attention. After that, comes the even more beautiful dafli beats, providing the catchiness and beat for you to dol as well! 😀 I guarantee that you would dol after hearing them, they are so attractive and catchy! Shreya is awesome as always, but sorry guys, this time Arijit simply stole the show! He has given his career best performance in this song. His voice never appealed to me as much as it did in this song! So it turns out that Vishal-Shekhar have finally given Arijit a filmi and a fully commercial romantic duet, whereas his other romantic duets were probably not as filmi as this, and if you do find one, by any chance, then it would surely not be as beautiful as this! The tune of his lines also attracts you so much, that it instantly becomes your favourite part in the song. Plus, the arrangements in his parts are spellbinding, and it leaves you wanting more and more each time it comes. For that matter, I would have no problem at all, if they made a separate male version of this song, just for the Arijit fans. 😀 (Which I’m not, by the way, nor his hater) Enough of Arijit, let’s move on to Irshad Kamil. He has written such beautiful and innocent lyrics here, that I can’t help but forgive him for what he wrote in ‘India Waale’. Take this line: ‘Musafir hoon main door ka, Deewana hoon main dhoop ka, mujhe na bhaaye, na bhaaye, na bhaaye, chhaanv re!’ Such beauty lies in the lines. Another one: ‘Ho.. Kisika toh hoga hi tu, kyun na tujhe main hee jeetun?’ The sheer innocence which lies in the line! Beautiful! Vishal-Shekhar, as I have said many times, have composed a very, very divine tune, which immediately sets on your tongue and literally becomes a part of your tongue, what I mean to say is that you will always have this song on the tip of your tongue, it is that beautiful! Anyways, there are many more songs, so I’ll wrap up with this song’s infinite praise now, saying Definitely one of the best songs of the year, and it easily joins the list of Vishal-Shekhar’s best romantic melodies! A must-listen and an undoubted #5StarHotelSong!!

 

3. Satakli
Singers ~ Sukhwinder Singh, Music by ~ Vishal-Shekhar, Lyrics by ~ Irshad Kamil

The team who had given us the big hit, ‘Dard-e-Disco’ is back, with just the lyricist replaced. Another huge hit was expected, but sadly, this one too, falls way below expectations. It starts with some Sajid-Wajid type music, then comes the ‘Radhe Radhe bolo jai Kanhaiyalal ki’ part which was heard in the trailer. That part excels, but unfortunately, it is the only gripping part of the song. The rest is just something which has been composed by the confused Vishal & Shekhar. Confused because, they have placed the right groovy beats required for such a song, but the tune lacks any appeal! It doesn’t stand out and make you want to hear it again and again, because it is (very frankly) NOT CATCHY! The lyrics are nothing great, either, so the only saviour for the track is Sukhwinder Singh’s unique voice texture and energy and the great arrangements. The tabla and dholak beats which come in between, sound awesome. The track proves as a great dance track or festival-type track, but it does not prove its worth as a song which you can repeatedly listen to, or even listen to many times — not in loop, because you will get bored after a while. So, a track with perfect groovy beats, and a singer with immense talent and energy, has been degraded in quality because of the ordinary composition which it is. The hookline might come across as catchy for some, but for me it is also heard many times before from Vishal-Shekhar. An ordinary composition can spoil everything no matter how good the arrangements or the vocals are! Good for dancing and festivals, though!

 

4. Lovely
Singers ~ Kanika Kapoor, Ravindra Upadhyay, Fateh & Miraya Varma, Music by ~ Dr. Zeus with Vishal-Shekhar, Lyrics by ~ Kumaar, Additional Lyrics by ~ Jiwan Mann

This can probably be the most meaningless song in the world (I mean, what can this even mean:- Main lovely ho gayiaan naam tera padhke?) It makes no sense at all. Yet, it might also be the first song which makes no sense lyrically, but which I have liked so much musically! Kanika Kapoor is back with her unique and addictive voice after making the whole country crazy with ‘Baby Doll’, and she does the same magic in this song as well! Her voice is so different but awesome, that it instantly makes your ears go in attention mode. Then whatever be the words, whatever be the tune, whatever be the arrangements, the song will still sound great. Singing for a Shahrukh Khan movie in just her second song, is a huge accomplishment for her! She has taken full advantage of the wonderful opportunity and sings well. The composition is a collaboration between Dr. Zeus and Vishal-Shekhar. They have recreated a Punjabi folk tune (and also somewhat made a darker and sultrier sequel to ‘Baby Doll’ 😛 ) very well! The beats are the exact same as ‘Baby Doll’, so the composers lose some points there, but the tune is very addictive and attractive as well. The other singers don’t have much work, but Miraya sounds good in her Arabic parts, Habibi, aashiqui, hayati, asibi. The song overall is a great item song, with something other than the typical Desi rhythm of Bollywood item songs. The upbeat portion towards the end with the dhols and percussion is awesome! The tempo shift makes the climax interesting. Doesn’t make sense, but makes for a very fun and addictive listen! Great collaboration by Dr. Zeus and Vishal-Shekhar! Since I enjoyed it, it’s a #5StarHotelSong!

 

5. World Dance Medley
Singers ~ Vishal Dadlani, Neeti Mohan, Sukhwinder Singh, Shahrukh Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, K.K. , Music by ~ Vishal-Shekhar, Lyrics by ~ Irshad Kamil

This song is just what it says it is, the title is self-explanatory. They have made a medley by playing the first three songs (the ones by Vishal-Shekhar). Neeti opens with a brilliant rendition on ‘Manwa Laage’, with awesome variation, followed by Sukhwinder, who comes in to sing his energetic song, ‘Satakli’, after which the Badshah Shahrukh himself comes to say a few lines about the patriotism in every Indian’s heart (Really, SRK? Was this needed? Well maybe it was for their Dance competition, so let’s let it be. 😛 ) Vishal-Shekhar cannot get through a song without putting in some or the other surprise element, so here comes Vishal with some amazing patriotic lines, which he sings just as awesomely. Then the India Waale return, to sing ‘India Waale’, and thankfully, wrap up this summarizing song (because it has a summary of all the comparatively better songs by Vishal-Shekhar in the album. Believe me, the worst are yet to come! With some exceptions, of course.) This song is perfect for the situation, the dance competition, so all the better songs of the album are placed here, and I would suggest only to listen to the album up till this medley and not to forget one song which I have liked which is unfortunately after the medley, (and I think the makers had also sensed this, because usually medleys are kept at the end, so they’re seemingly giving a warning — DANGER LIETH AHEAD! 😛 But they have very smartly placed a good song in between the bad songs, so as to make us hear everything at least the first time we hear the album 😛 ) And you’ll get to know which that good song is later. First you have to read about the bad song which comes next! What lies ahead might make you go loony. 😛 Anyways, this track is perfect for school annual functions which have a theme of ‘OUR GREAT COUNTRY: INDIA’! 😀

 

6. Nonsense Ki Night
Singer ~ Mika Singh, Music by ~ Vishal-Shekhar, Lyrics by ~ Farah Khan, Vishal Dadlani & Shekhar Ravjiani

Mika is up to no good these days, singing cheap and irritating songs, so when I heard this song in the trailer, the first thought that came to my mind was, “When will this guy understand?! Why doesn’t he sing something good for once?” However, I still had at least some hopes from the full song, because I do appreciate Vishal-Shekhar’s works. Then the whole song released and I felt as if Vishal-Shekhar have betrayed me by giving me some boring, uninteresting and utterly NONSENSE composition. Then I realized that I must not be the only one thinking this way, and more people must be feeling betrayed by Vishal-Shekhar and Farah Khan because and JUST BECAUSE the lyrics of the song are horrible. They must be thinking “Oh it’ll be awesome if we literally translate Hindi Proverbs into English”. But it turned out to spoil the whole song. It starts with weird noises and what follows is even worse and weirder. The techno sounds are used good, and the dafli sounds awesome. The antaras have been composed very, very amateurishly and I really can’t believe that Vishal-Shekhar have made them. The tune is something I wouldn’t even call a tune! The beats might be catchy like ‘Satakli’ but the cheapness of the lyrics just spoils it all. Mika and his illiterate rendition makes it sound even cheaper. Height of cheapness! Now decide for yourself whether you want to listen to it or not! And if you choose to hear it, decide for yourself whether you like it or not! One of the worst works of Vishal-Shekhar!

 

7. Dance Like A Chammiya
Singers ~ Sunidhi Chauhan & Vishal Dadlani, Music by ~ Vishal-Shekhar, Lyrics by ~ Irshad Kamil

The groovy tune and beats at the starting played, and I instantly got hooked to this song. After that BAD song, this one is a great refreshment! Sunidhi, unlike Mika, is just singing better and better songs nowadays. As if she’s challenging him, “Hey Mikkka paaji, I bet you can’t give so many back to back hits like me!” Well, he has given back to back hits many times in the past, but now I’m fed up of him. Back to the song, it is a typical Vishal-Shekhar item-ish song, and it instantly reminded me of ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ from ‘Tees Maar Khan’ and ‘Chhaliya’ from ‘Tashan’. The music and the composition is for a similar type, and Vishal-Shekhar have rocked it, even though it is a very heard-before composition. So, where they lost their points in ‘India Waale’, they have recovered them with this song. Sunidhi is the undoubted queen of such energetic and naughty songs, and she proves it once again, with her flawless rendition. Again, she sounds angelic like she did in ‘Daawat-e-Ishq Title Track’, in the line ‘subah subah dardon se baaton ho badan ki’ . It is composed awesomely, and Sunidhi makes it sound even better! Vishal’s energetic interruptions are worth hearing as well. The arrangements are awesome and groovy as well, especially those tabla beats that are placed so wonderfully throughout the song. Lyrics are nothing to pay attention to, this one is just for dancing!! Overall, a superhit and super hot dance track!! Not boring at all even though it is the same old typical Vishal-Shekhar composition! #5StarHotelSong!!

 

8. Sharabi
Singers ~ Manj Musik, Nindy Kaur, Vishal Dadlani & Shekhar Ravjiani, Music by ~ Manj Musik with Vishal-Shekhar, Lyrics by ~ Kumaar, Vishal Dadlani & Shekhar Ravjiani

The previous song was just a temporary painkiller. 😛 The atrocity of the album has returned in the form of this song, which just seems like a mishmash of Punjabi words and techno beats, but no strong base, and so it fails to impress. The singers are Manjeet and Nindy, so one would think that the song is composed by Manj only, and not a collboration between Manj and Vishal-Shekhar. Seems that Vishal-Shekhar haven’t tried to take any step forward to improve Manj’s composition, so i dont know why they have been credited! The so-called addictive song has nothing addictive whatsoever to it, and it just barely succeeds in giving a little (very little) comic effect, so it has to be placed at the right place in the movie, so as to make it famous. Or else, they can just leave it as a promotional song, and keep it at the end of the movie when the credits roll — that would be better. Lyrics by Kumaar and Vishal-Shekhar are again, not that impressive. The voices of the lead singers have been altered a lot, and Nindy’s is as annoying as always, but a bit more annoying than that. Manj sounds okay. The beats are mostly techno Punjabi beats and don’t impress at all. While the collaboration with Dr. Zeus impressed, this one with Manj Musik is a plain bore!

 

9. The Heist (Instrumental)
Instrumental by John Stewart Eduri

John Stewart Eduri, who has done the background score of the film, gets a compulsory but unwanted instrumental track in the album, and he creates a two-minute-long track which lacks any sort of punch whatsoever. It has tried to be a thriller background piece, but interest in it is lost in a very short time. The guitars are played energetically but still don’t manage to hook you to this instrumental track. One-time listen! John has not quite made great use of the opportunity of composing background music for a Shahrukh Khan film! Amateur attempt!

 

10. Kamlee
Singers ~ Kanika Kapoor, Ravindra Upadhyay, Fateh & Miraya Varma, Music by ~ Dr. Zeus, Lyrics by ~ Jiwan Mann

This song is like a reprise version of ‘Lovely’ but it has been composed solely by Dr. Zeus. So, naturally, the antaras, which were my favourite parts of ‘Lovely’ are different. This time, they aren’t interesting and catchy and I didn’t like them as much. Kanika has also sung this version as if she had a fever while singing it, very slowly and a bit stretchedly. The way she says ‘Naam tera padhke’ sounds as if she thinks that shes doing a favour on us by singing the song again. 😀 The arrangements are mostly the same, but this one has more of those female ghost sounds. Also, some string arrangements have been added. Many lines have been added like those in the interlude — ‘Akhiyaan vichcho…’ and the antaras as I said before. This version has more rap, as well. All this, but it doesn’t fare as well as its other version. Not as addictive as ‘Lovely’, but if you liked ‘Lovely’, you might like this one as well.

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Happy New Year — Okay, I won’t bore you any further, because I’m sure you must be already knowing what I think of the album, by now. I would just want to say that Farah Khan might have had hopes of repeating the success of the ‘Om Shanti Om’, and even we did, but unfortunately, this album misses by a long distance! Vishal-Shekhar have tried their best, but haven’t performed as good as they did with their other two albums this year. The album isn’t bad, but definitely not very good either. I would call it above average, hence the rating. However, the songs are perfect for dancing, and functions and since it’s always important to enjoy whatever you hear, the album gets more marks there too. 😀 But most of the songs are strictly NOT for music lovers like me. For Farah — Quality is always better than Quantity! 

 

Final Rating for This Album:- सा < रे < ग < म < प < ध < नी < सां

Note:- The letter which is underlined is the final rating.

 

Which is your favourite song from Happy New Year? Please vote for it below! 🙂

 

Next “dish”:- Jigariyaa, Chefs:- Agnel Roman – Faizan Hussain & Raj – Prakash