Nagesh Kukunoor can heave a sigh of relief. After some poor release strategy appointed for his last two films Teen Deewarein and Hyderabad Blues - Part II, he finally has the backup of a mega production house [Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts] who have pumped up the publicity of this movie about a deaf and mute lad from a village who rises to become a fast bowler in international cricket. A saga of human triumph rather than a movie just about cricket, 'Iqbal' was earlier titled 'Iqbal - The Rampur Express' [on the lines of Shoaib Akhtar - The Rawalpindi Express] only to simply become 'Iqbal'. In company of veterans like Naseeruddin Shah and Girish Karnad, debutant Shreyas Talpade gets an opportunity to enact the title role in the movie that has a heartwarming and meaningful tagline - "The Only Voice He Could Hear Was His Own". The music album is a mix of songs that would be featuring in the movie combined with some others that show up only in the album.
1) Aashayein [KK, Salim Merchant, music: Salim Suleman, lyrics: Irfan Siddique]
The entire album carries a theme of courage and determination. 'Aasheyein' is the first song to convey this message in the vocals of KK and Salim Merchant supported by the chorus of Dominique and Clinton who raise the tempo of the song to make it a notch above ordinary. A theme song that makes a good impression due to its good pace and arrangements that convey a lot of energy, it is boosted by thought provoking lyrics by Irfan Siddique. The song may not be everyone's idea to hear to while on a drive but it never fails to haunt you for long once it is through. You can suddenly find yourself humming this track after hearing it a couple of times. Slower version of this track doesn't take a painful route [as done by most of the slower sad versions] and instead just varies the pace of the number.
2) Aankhon Mein Sapna [Channel [V] Super Singer Ravindra Upadhyay, music: Himesh Reshammiya, lyrics: Sameer]
The best track in the album, 'Aankhon Mein Sapna' unfortunately doesn't make an appearance in the movie but makes a great impression as the very second number in the album. A soothing track carrying the theme of dreams in eyes and motivation to make the dream come true, it gives a great account of the talented singer Ravindra Upadhyaya who comes up with a near flawless performance. The music is quite melodious with Sameer too coming up with easy to hum lyrics. Its amazing to see how composer Reshammiya has two songs belonging to altogether different genre making a mark in quick succession, the other one being the title song of 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne' that has quickly reached the top.
3) Mutthi Mein Hai Aasmaan [KK, music: Kedar - Sarosh, lyrics: Vimal Kashyap
A sports song by all means, 'Muthi Mein Aasmaan' reminds of the kind of tracks that are heard in school parades and assembly time. The difference being that it is much more contemporary and suits the filmy setting of the song. A situational track, it doesn't have the same inspirational effect as the earlier two numbers but nevertheless is not a push over either.
4) Khelenge Khelenge [Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, music: Sukhwinder Singh, lyrics: Subhash Ghai]
A passionate background number that is currently on air as a part of movie's promotion, the track is bound to get the adrenalin level high during the movie's run. It may be an overstatement to make but this Subhash Ghai written track may just be able to get the same energy level while watching the movie as Lagaan's 'Chale Chalo', that revolved around the same theme. While 'Chale Chalo' had a rural feel supported by A.R.Rehman's high on drums orchestra, 'Khelenge Khelenge' too is high pitched with the difference being that it is much more modern and contemporary in approach with the usage of w