Reshammiya's 'Apne' is not too bad : India

By Meghna Menon

Film: 'Apne'; Music Director: Himesh Reshammiya; Singers: Sonu Nigam, Himesh Reshammiya, Jaspinder Narula, Akriti Kakkar, Jayesh Gandhi, Kunal Ganjawala, Shaan, Earl;

Nerve Rating:

The big family drama of the Deols finally sees the light of day with Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby coming together in 'Apne', directed by Anil Sharma.

With the regular pair of Reshammiya-Sameer composing and penning the lyrics respectively, the album of 'Apne' is decent. With a couple of classic Reshammiya numbers and a good song here and there, the soundtrack won't really fail but will click only with a select audience.

Typical Reshammiya is all you can think of when you're listening to 'Ankh wich chehra pyaar da'. Not in the least impressive, this track has Amrita Kak crooning at intervals, which seems quite unnecessary or rather could have been rendered better by someone else.

The track also features Kunal Ganjawala and Shaan but these better singers fail to save the day for Reshammiya.

'Apne', the title track of the film, is reasonably good and quite different from most Reshammiya compositions. Well written and well composed, the number has been well sung by Sonu Nigam. Encompassing the theme of the film, the track suits the whole idea of family and togetherness.

Jayesh Gandhi accompanies Sonu in the song; and we also get to hear Jaspinder Narula after a long hiatus.

A miniature number comes in the form of 'Bull's Eye' rendered by Shaan and Earl. A club number, all you remember by the end of the track are the lyrics - 'You gotta survive, you gotta hit the bull's eye' - that have been repeated endlessly.

A romantic number comes next. 'Dekhoon tujhe toh pyaar aaye' is also nice though not an overall hit. The music is slow yet not overly boring. Akriti teams up with Reshammiya and does a good job. Both make a great pair as you have a singer with a nasal twang on the one hand and a shrill voice on the other.

The song is just nice to hear but not typically the kind to be downloaded. The remix version accompanies the original and, thankfully, it doesn't sound much like his bashing remixes.

'Mehfuz' follows which is an attempt to make a groovy dance track. Reshammiya is up to his usual 'in your face' style in this track. A reminder of his earlier hits, this number probably would have sounded better if Shaan or KK have sung it.

Lastly, 'Tere sang', crooned by Sonu and Jaspinder, is an extremely short track that lasts barely two minutes. For this typical Punjabi folk track, Jaspinder proves to be the apt choice as her Punjabi accent and husky voice highlights the folk element.

A decent number, 'Tere sang' also seems to be a family track that would probably suit the situation in the film well enough.

At the end of the album, one is happy that Reshammiya seems to be learning and making an effort not to make every song of his either a Sufi number or an extremely jarring track. 'Apne' deserves at least one round of listening.