After a movie that dealt with terrorism, Sarfarosh, director John M Matthan arrives with his second directorial outing 'Shikhar' that revolves around the subject of land grabbers and the suppressed. Due to an unusual storyline, the music too is expected to be unusual and it shows once the album is played. Starring Ajay Devgan and Bipasha Basu with the 'Ishq Vishq' pairing of Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao, Shikhar has Viju Shah at the helm with some additional music by Mani Shankar and P. Sameer.
1) Fitna Dil (Original and remix) [Singers: Udit Narayan, Sunidhi Chauhan and K.K., lyrics: Chandrashekhar Raajit]
It has been some time since Viju Shah gave a chartbuster number. It seems the wait would be over for him with 'Fitna Dil' that is instantly catchy and should race its way to the Top-10 charts in a few days to come. This dance floor number has singers doing good justice to the song with much required enthusiasm. A rhythmic song, it has a good mix of Indian and Western feel to it with good and truly different lyrics by Chandrashekhar Raajit.
As is the tradition, there is a remix of the best song of the album that has some good and effective rap by Joy. Rohit Kulkarni does well in joining hands with Viju Shah for coming up with this remix version for which it won't be surprising to see a specially created music video soon. In fact after hearing this version after a couple of times, it turns out to be even more entertaining than the original.
2) Dheere Dheere (Two versions) [Singers: Sunidhi Chauhan, KK, lyrics: Manohar Iyer, additional music by P. Sameer]
Now this is yet another experimental score as 'Dheere Dheere' comes in two separate versions by Sunidhi Chauhan and KK respectively. So one may ask what's different as there are number of tracks where there are two independent solo versions? Well, in the case of 'Dheere Dheere', the entire music, feel and arrangement of the two versions is completely different and this is what stands out. First to come is a Sunidhi Chauhan version that has an excellent melody sung brilliantly by Sunidhi Chauhan. She proves the point once more that she is not there just for the item songs but can deliver great results even when it comes to singing love songs soaked with melody. P. Sameer's lyrics are simple and beautiful while Viju Shah comes up with a tune that could befit an ad jingle or a children song.
After a melodious outing, male version by KK comes up next that picks up on speed and has makes you hear it with good attention. Musical arrangements are not too loud but this well written song still makes an impact due to its theme. The song deals with the changes that take place in life of one of the main protagonists of the movie and the way he is feeling good about it. Situational and effective!
3) Mere Man [Singer: Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, lyrics: Sudhakar Sharma, additional music by Mani Shankar]
As soon as Alka Yagnik begins crooning 'Mere Mann', you can relate it to only one style of music - the Subhash Ghai style! It has deep rooted Indian melody presented in the simplest of fashion by Viju Shah and Mani Shankar, which would not have been an easy task considering Sudhakar Sharma's poetic lyrics. Also one can almost visualize Udit Narayan having a bright smile on his face while singing this love song.
4) Tu Hai Shikhar [Singer: Jagjit Singh, lyrics: Sudhakar Sharma]
After some fun and romance, 'Shikhar' turns sober with Jagjit Singh's rendition of the title song 'Tu Hai Shikhar'. In the background there is a group of children who provide chorus. Soft music forms the basis for this short devotional number that is situational and as expected sung well.
5) Aap Ko Samjha [Singers: Udit Narayan, Sadhna Sargam, lyrics: Sudhakar Sin