36 China Town Music Review

 
  Subhash Ghai must be a busy man. Barely has his 'Shaadi Se Pehle' released last Friday when the music of his next '36 China Town' releases almost simultaneously with the same music composer and the lead actor, Himesh Reshammiya and Akshaye Khanna respectively. The mood of the film is different though with '36 China Town' belonging to suspense and thrills genre, which is the specialty of the film's director duo Abbas Mustan. Since the film bears a stylish and modern look, the music too is expected to be zippy and hi-tech with a strong western base. With the kind of high both Reshammiya and Sameer are this season, there are good expectations from the music of this film that has Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor as the young lead along with debutant Upen Patel and beauties like Tanushree Dutta, Isha Koppikar and Payal Rohatgi.

Well, no brownie points for guessing that the opening track of the album, 'Aashiqui Meri', is sung by none other than Himesh Reshammiya himself. But before we come to his vocals, a special note for the opening music. A wave of suspense is built at the very beginning as a husky female voice utters the film's title '36 China Town'. From this point on, the music builds up slowly and steadily as high bass beats in line with an 'Enigma' feel create a western rhythm for the song. Reshammiya takes over soon after and rather than trying to be any different, he sings in the style that has been well accepted by the music lovers all over. The signature tune of 'Aashique Meri' and the interspersions of 'China Town' keep making a good impression as Sunidhi Chauhan joins the song mid-way. Her voice is modulated to suit the seductive stance of the song hence making the opening number a complete packaged hit material. As expected Akbar Sami comes up with a remix of the track making it an absolutely rocking track to hear. The pace picks up a few notches for this version that makes it out and out smashing. Far more entertaining than even the original, expect it to be played in the discotheques in a week's time from now!

'24X7 I Think of You' – Now how could these words be put to tune? That's the first thought which comes to mind when one reads the lyrics for this Shaan-Sunidhi Chauhan sung number. One thing that is for sure is that this is going to be a romantic number but it’s the treatment by Reshammiya that one looks forward to. Its time for a guitar to mark the song's beginning as Sunidhi Chauhan starts crooning. Pace picks up immediately for this peppy youthful number with foot tapping musical arrangements. The music belongs to Reshammiya's style of a couple of years back when Shaan was the ace singer for the composer. A love song overall, the sound of '24X7 I Think of You' [with a missing X] accompanies the rhythm throughout. Akbar Sami returns again for the remix version but apart from pacing up the song a little and adding in a few beats, there is not much that he can do since the original itself is quite pacy. Overall a fine track as long as it lasts!

It's back to Himesh with 'Dil Tumhare Bina' where he teams up with Alka Yagnik for a romantic duet. The way the song begins with the sound of a violin, it gives an impression of a sad outing that is enhanced by the full throated rendition by Himesh – 'Ab Tanha Raha Na Jaaye'. But in a matter of seconds, the rhythm shifts upside down with the arrival of heavy duty beats along with the sound of 'Rock Your Body'. Thankfully, except for the interludes of 'Rock Your Body', the song truly stays as a Reshammiya song. The overall feel comes quite close to the superhit title song composed/rendered by Reshammiya for 'Humko Deewana Kar Gaye' and it's not hard to predict it to be another feather in the cap for Reshammiya. The song is so catchy that one eagerly looks forward to the remix version by Akbar Sami. Tremendous! That's the way to describe this 'accelerated' version that has good usage of calypso beats that Sami has used so effectively for his remix tracks in 'Aashique Banaya Aapne' and most recently 'Tom Dick and Harry'. Sunidhi Chauhan is a good selection for Reshammiya's female counterpart in this remix version as she fits in the bill perfectly.

Western arrangements at the very beginning make it clear that 'Badi Dilchaspi Hai' is going to be a foot taping number. Surprisingly the song turns out to be quite average in spite of a trademark Reshammiya stamp [again belonging to his 2 years old style]. There are beats and rhythm alright but overall there is not much for the song to survive beyond the movie's exit from the theatres. Also Reshammiya has raised the bar so high in his recent compositions that one expects a chartbuster from each and every of his songs. Thankfully Akbar Sami comes to the rescue as his version salvages this KK and Arya sung number to some extent with the pace and rhythm picking up remarkably.

'Jab Kabhi' is the only song in the album that arrives with as many as three versions – original and a remix each by Akbar Sami and Suketu. This time around it's time to create a lovey dovey feel with Kunal Ganjawala arriving on the scene. He begins 'Jab Kabhi' in his trademark lovelorn manner that conveys the feeling of a man hopelessly in love! The song comes close to the style of 'Tera Jism Odh Loon' [Kyun Ki], though with a little slower pace and somewhat better feel. A beautiful love song with sweet lyrics by Sameer, it has Alka Yagnik joining Kunal towards the very end where she reassures her love for the man who is so desperately looking for the company of his lady love. Akbar Sami's version of the song is just about 3 minutes long but that's good enough to create a good impression and keep you involved. Suketu's version is full length and is more of a rap-n-reggae version with a nice accompanying signature tune throughout. Overall, a good way to end the album!

'36 China Town' has at least two superb numbers, 'Aashique Meri' and 'Dil Tumhare Bina' that have HIT written all over them. 'Jab Kabhi' is nice too while '24X7 I Think Of You' and 'Badi Dilchaspi Hai' too are not bad. As a package, it is far better than Reshammiya's last effort for Subhash Ghai – 'Shaadi Se Pehle' – and should boast of much better sales.