Jhankar Beats Music Review

 

  
   Jhankaar Beats : Innovative Title

Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose, Rinke Khanna, Ria Sen,Shayan Munshi : Fresh Star cast

 Sujoy Ghosh : Debutant director from the Crossover league

Pritish Nandy Corporation : Production house for musical hits like Sur and Kaante

Vishal & Shekhar - Music directors of Pyaar Mein Kabhie Kabhie, Champion and the HIT 'Chodh Na Re - Kaante'

Vishal Dadlani - Front man of Indian rock band Pentagram, who turns a lyricist and singer with Jhankaar Beats

Jhankaar Beats - Does that ring a bell? A concept of re-mixing the original film songs with 'Super Jhankaar Beats' that was pioneered by T-Series, Venus and other music companies for movies like Dil, Khiladi, Phool Aur Kaante, Aankhen etc.in the early 90s. Writer director Sujoy Ghosh bills his first movie with Jhankaar Beats as it's title !!! This comedy is about three young couples who struggle to get their feet set in their professional and personal life withstanding all the odds. This comedy is about three young men who work as Marketing Executives of a firm owned by Vijayender Ghatage. We won't reveal what exactly do they 'market' in the film as this may well be the 'surprise package' of the movie !!

A movie about three couples and their married life - now doesn't that remind something from the recent past? Just scratch your heads a bit and you will recollect that just a few months back a movie with a similar plot came and vanished - the name was 'Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar' . Not many are aware that these two movies have been a culmination of a common idea. DVPV was initially planned to be directed by Sujoy Ghosh himself. But due to creative differences between the producer Vivek Vaswani and the director, they parted ways and Jhankaar Beats was born, although with a varied script and the movie genre itself. Whereas DVPV carried on as a light romantic movie, Jhankaar Beats was re-christened and turned into a comedy flick in the Crossover genre !!

 The common factor between both the flicks is that in both DVPV and JB, due homage has been paid to R D Barman saab !! Whereas DVPV had rearranged versions of 14 songs composed by Pancham da, JB has a song itself composed in his appreciation - 'Boss Kaun Hai' !! Will come to this later on !! All the 10 numbers are inspired by Burman school of music and the effort truly shows. The album gets a kick start with rocking theme song - 'Jhankaar' !! A RD Burman song all the way, what with Sudesh Bhonsle crooning a la Burman ishtyle i.e. a full throated 'Mehbooba Mehbooba' like vocals from Sholay. From here on, you look forward to what next is in the offering !! You are not disappointed as there is a complete turnaround from Rock to Melody with Shaan's 'Suno Na'. Shaan sings in the manner what one expects him to do every time a romantic melody is offered to him and does complete justice to it. A melody that doesn't boast of any great original lyrics, but the music and the vocals mo re than make up for it. A COMPLETE WINNER !!

As you settle with this melody, there is more surprise in store with jazzy 'Boss Kaun Hai' - a biographical song on RD Burman. sung by criminally neglected Amit Kumar, Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravijani. The song truly illustrates pancham da's prowess over the musical notes and narrates his excellence in the world of music in song format. A situational song, it holds your attention !!

'Jo Gaya Vo Gaya' is a pop number by KK and Vishal Dadlani. A number messaging about having a carefree attitude in life, it is good and fits the mood of the movie well. KK is in his usual best. In fact 'Ruk Ruk' by Amit Kumar and Vishal Dadlani is a similar song about walking ahead in life by ignoring all the hassles that may come along. A philosophical song again, it is composed in a pop mode and is quite fast paced. Amit Kumar's vocals are a highlight which raise this oft-repeated question again - 'Why are producers not flocking this guy anymore who stole a million hearts with his renderings in Kumar Gaurav's Love Story two decades back. Bonus Track - 'Sahi Hai Re' is in the tradition of earlier Vishal-Shekhar hit - 'Chodh Naa Re' from Kaante. A song about good old 'Mumbai', it is different from other 'Aamchi Mumbai' song in the way that it refrains from falling into 'tapori' category of songs as the others tend to do. Instead Udit Narayan and chorus turn it into a lovab le number that should be liked by everyone alike.

 From Pop, KK switches to melody with - 'Tu Aashiqui'. A beautiful composition, it can be dedicated to your loved one this valentine. Look out for this touching number. Ditto for Shaan's 'Tera Muskurana' which is again a melodious track. Upcoming singer and AR Rehman's find Mahalaxmi Iyer gets to sing a soothing duet 'Jab Kabhi' with KK (again). Set in a Western mould, it gives strict competition to 'Tu Aashiqui' in terms of flavor of love and makes for a repeat listening.

The grand finale` comes in the form of Burman da's yesteryear's hit 'Humein Tumse Pyaar Kitna sung again by Amit Kumar and KK. Amit Kumar doesn't let his dad Kishore Kumar down who sang the original and in the company of KK makes one nostalgic. The song is interspersed with the remix version of 'Tu Aashiqui Hai' and the combination does work well.

In-spite of not having one single 'CHARTBUSTER' kind of number or an 'ITEM' song, Jhankaar Beats does strike a chord due to it's fresh approach, honest effort and some well composed tracks. Jhankaar Beats is mainly aimed at the youth and should work well in the cities at least. A good score with a typical city flavour of Thodi Masti, Thodi Yaari, Thoda Pyaar !!