Till some time back, most of the films coming from the house of Bhatts had music by Nadeem Shravan. Anu Malik was roped in for some of the subsequent movies in last few years and now a new entrant is entrusted with the job of handling the entire musical score - Pritam. The young man, who has mainly been associated with popcorn flicks in the past [Dhoom, Chocolate, Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena, Fight Club] gets a challenging opportunity to give music for a love story cum action-drama 'Gangster - A Love Story'. It would be interesting to see how he scores for this Emraan Hashmi, Shiney Ahuja, Kangna starrer that is directed by Anurag Basu of 'Murder' fame!
1) Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai (Original, remix, euro mix) [Singer: K.K., lyrics: Sayeed Quadri]
Romance in a candle light dinner on a moonlit night, and the song 'Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai' playing in the background - now that would really make it a special evening. Sayeed Quadri's poetic lyrics are presented in such a contemporary manner by Pritam that it is hard but not to repeat the song on a continuous mode. K.K. is subdued in his rendition and yet again demonstrates that he is one of the best that we have today in the Bollywood playback scene. A melodious number, it also appears in a remix version each by Bunty Rajput and Jatin Sharma. Their effort is visible as they bring a distinct club feel to the son, but hey give us the original melody any time. A great kick start to the album, 'Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai' stays on with you for long!
2) Bheegi Bheegi [Singer: James, lyrics: Mayur]
If 'Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai' wasn't a good enough reason to celebrate, then there is more to come in the form of 'Bheegi Bheegi'. A song that actually catches heat and picks up the tempo after being on for around a couple of minutes, it welcomes the arrival of Bangladeshi singer James who impresses in his very first Bollywood outing. His rendition style is simply phenomenal, taking into consideration that he was actually made to drink by the composer before he came behind the mike. A song about life and its strange ways, lyricist Mayur and composer Pritam spin the tale in such a manner that it makes for a good background piece. Based on Gautam Chatterjee's 'Prithvi', 'Bheegi Bheegi' may turn out to be crucial to the proceedings. A haunting track!
3) Lamha Lamha [Singer: Abhijeet, Sunidhi Chauhan, lyrics: Neelesh Misra]
A minute into 'Lamha Lamha' and you are happy about your decision to include 'Gangster' in your music collection. As like majority of Abhijeet sung number, 'Lamha Lamha' too has certain innocence around it by means of lyrics and soulful music. Neelesh Misra is effective in his non-Bollywood lyrics [thank God for that!] and 'Lamha Lamha' turns out to be yet another number that impresses you from the very first note. After a romantic 'Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai' and a thoughtful 'Bheegi Bheegi', its time to fall in love once again with 'Lamha Lamha'. There is more in store when the same song is repeated, this time with Sunidhi Chauhan and Abhijeet coming together for the duet. Incidentally this is for the first time when a female voice is heard in the album!
4) Ya Ali [Singer: Zubin, lyrics: Sayeed Quadri]
A situational track that should appear in the background, 'Ya Ali' is a passionate number, which is neither a 'sufi' track nor does it fit into a 'qawalli' mode. Instead it is a westernized number with unique musical arrangements that make this Zubin sung number a good techno affair. This song by itself may not be the reason enough to go for the album but as a part of an overall score of 'Gangster', it makes for a decent inclusion.
5) Mujhe Mat Roko [Singer: Kavita Seth, lyrics: Sayeed Quadri]