In the Black: Tashan Music Review

Banner: Yash Raj Films

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor

Direction: Vijay Krishna Acharya

Production: Aditya Chopra

Music: Vishal, Shekhar

Tashan marks the debut of Vijay Krishna Acharya aka Victor, the man behind the scripts of Dhoom. Tashan comes across as Yash Raj Films first venture of the New Year and is one of the most expected movies of the year for its mix and match casting.

The music of the film has been accredited to the hit duo of Vishal and Shekar whose last Om Shanti Om saw huge success.

The album opens with ‘Dil Haara’a rock cum folksy affair rendered by Sukwinder Singh. The lyrics have been penned by Piyush Sharma and the track has some motivating phrases. The pumping elements in the form of “oo-aah” signature and the electric guitars enhance Sukhwinder’s vocals. But, the track fails to really make it as one of those numbers that either sink into you or make you hum it and sounds quite familiar to various tracks done in the past be it from Omkara and the works. Yet the track seems to be doing well with its picturisation on Saif Ali Khan doing the rounds.

‘Chaliyya’ comes across as a gypsy turned babe raunchy number. The lyrics by Anvita Dutt Guptan have some really catchy phrases and lines with a Hinglish touch to it. The track gets its punch with the coarse voice of Sunidhi Chauhan bringing in the ‘Na Lada Na Lada’ lines with complete excellence. The track is sure set to be remembered particularly for the pretty visuals featuring Kareena Kapoor.

‘Dil Dance Maare’ comes in as the best track of the album with lyrics that has ensured that audiences from several parts of the country don’t miss this film. With lyrics that is a combination of English, Hindi and Bhojpuri, the track is a sure shot hit. The lyrics have been penned by Vishal Dadlani himself and the track has been rendered by Sukhwinder Singh , Sunidhi Chauhan and of course apna Bhojpuri music’s sensational voice and producer of several Bhojpuri films-Udit Narayan. He makes his presence felt in a Hindi film album after a long time.

The lyrics of the track has easy catchy phrases like ‘White white face…..dil beating fast Sasura..dil ke theatre ma advance maare’ that make it an easy to remember track and one of immense mass appeal.

‘Falak Tak’ is the only soothingly romantic track of the album. The track comes in as a break from the loud and vivacious songs of this album. The lyrics have been penned by Kausar Munir. The track has been crooned by Udit Narayan once again and to support him on the vocal front is Mahalakshmi Iyer. There seems to be similarities between this number and ‘Bol na Halke Halke’ from ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ yet ‘Falak Tak’ comes in a very refreshing manner.

‘Tashan Mein’ comes in more as a background score rather than a full fledged title track. The repeat value of the lines ‘Tashan Mein’ is what gives it a feel suitable to being a pulsating background track. The voices of Vishal and Saleem enhanced by lyrics penned by Piyush Mishra and Vishal himself provide the stylish, sleek and rock feel to the song. It isn’t the best title track around but is sure to be raised to another level with visuals revolving around Saif, Kareena, Akshay and Anil.

Another unique characteristic of the album is that it brings across the attitude and Tashan (style) expressed by each character in the film in terms of dialogues. 'Pooja Ka Tashan' by Kareena, 'Jimmy Ka Tashan' by Saif, 'Bachchan Pande Ka Tashan' by Akshay and 'Bhaiyyaji Ka Tashan' by Anil respectively. The finest of these come from Akshay as Bachchan Pande and Bhaiyyaji is pretty interesting with lines such as ‘I issspeaking English Phully..sahi galat ko maaro goli!’ but draws similarities to Javed Jaffrey from Salam Namaste.

On the whole, Tashan comes in as a good blend of diverse languages and it’s the Bhojpuri element that brings in the zing and carries the true tashan of the album. With an appealing star cast and their unique tashan’s, the tracks are set for a face lift as the promotion of the tracks are set to get more intense over the next few days.