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By
Joginder Tuteja, November 23, 2007 - 18:25 IST
 Akshay
Kumar has reached a stage where currently Shah Rukh
Khan is. No matter who is his leading lady, no matter
which production house he works with, no matter what
the film's genre is, no matter who directs the film
and no matter who composes for his films - the fact
remains that he is audience's darling and would hit
gold in each of his films. His great run in last few
years is a testimony to that!
This is the reason why even with names like Anees
Bazmee (No Entry), Firoz Nadiadwala (Hera Pheri, Phir
Hera Pheri), Anil Kapoor, Firoz Khan, Nana Patekar,
Katrina Kaif and Mallika Sherawat involved, Welcome
would go down as an Akshay Kumar release. With
multiple composers like Anand Raaj Anand, Himesh
Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid involved, it only promises
to be an added advantage. However, in case of Welcome,
it turns out to be a major disadvantage as the music
turns out to be way below the mark.
The start of the album is good. Bring out the trumpets
and lay down the red carpet - the celebrations have
begun and party is on with the arrival of title song
'Welcome'. The music has a distinct David Dhawan touch
to it with the title song of Partner (composed by
Sajid-Wajid again) coming closest. Composed as a
Western track with a distinct party feel to it,
'Welcome' is a high on orchestra number which has
Wajid giving a voiceover and Shaan and Soumya Raoh
pairing up to croon the major part of the song. Even
though the intermediate portions of the number aren't
any great shakes as they turn out to be a routine
fare, the music woven around the opening lines if a
killer and ensures that there is no dull moment.
 It's
fast becoming a trend (a healthy one though) to see
one composer crooning for a fellow composer. Vishal
Dadlani has been doing it for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy,
Anand Raaj Anand has done it for Pritam, Shankar
Mahadevan has done this for Vishal-Shekhar and others
and now he has done it again for Anand Raaj Anand for
the number 'Hoth Rasiley'. Surprisingly, the song
turns out to be very ordinary as it is excess of sound
and fury which kills the impact.
The tune takes numerous twists and turns and a minute
into the song, one tends to loose interest into the
proceedings. Shankar comes along with Anand Raaj Anand
and Shreya Ghoshal to croon this celebration number
with an extremely loud Punjabi celebration setting to
it. The only thing which can save the number from
being a total disappointment is it's picturisation/choreography
which may be done in a comic setting.
With Anand Raaj Anand playing the dual role of a
composer as well as a singer for this song with Shweta
Pandit joining in, 'Tera Sarafa' again belongs
completely to the David Dhawan school of music.
Nothing surprising here since Anees Bazmee has been a
script/screenplay writer for numerous Dhawan movies in
the past.
Coming back to the song, 'Tera Sarafa' again follows
an unapologetic 'masti-dhamaal' mode with a focus
mainly on getting foot tapping beats and keeping the
heat on for fast paced proceedings. The USP of the
song is Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar shaking a leg
with Mallika Sherawat, though one wonders if the song
would have gone any further distance if not for this
unique pairing! Ultimately 'Tera Sarafa' is the kind
which is heard today, enjoyed mainly due to
choreography and forgotten the moment film is off the
screens!
 Oops,
now what's that!? By the time an elaborate 30 second
saxophone piece is through and one settles down to
hear something soothing, the 90s style arrangements
start scaring a listener. If this is not enough, what
follows next truly catches you by surprise as Himesh
Reshammiya (doubling up as a composer and singer)
croons the word 'Insha Allah' in the highest possible
pitch!
Heavy arrangements, as has been the hallmark of the
album so far, doesn't spare a listener here as well
even as Shaan and Akruti Kakkar come together with
Krishna to croon some of the most ordinary/pedestrian
lyrics from a music album of 2007. Just hear this one
- 'Ab Jism o Jaan Mein, Dil Ke Jahaan Mein, Hai Tera
Welcome, Aa Bhi Jaa'! Aided by 'dhol' beats, 'Insha
Allah' turns out to be a routine 'masala' number which
work more visually (that too due to Akshay's presence)
than audio-wise!
'Kola Laka Vellari' - Now this is yet another number
where one exclaims - Oops, now what's that!? Frankly,
one can't actually comprehend what exactly 'Kola Laka
Vellari' stands for. In fact even Google doesn't! The
only good thing about this song is that Himesh
Reshammiya is far subdued while crooning this one. A
moderately paced song, the song has a mix of Western
and Indian arrangements though in a trademark
Reshammiya setting that made him a household name in
last couple of years. A love song with sad undertones
to it, 'Kola Laka Vellari' is barely decent but that's
about it.
 Anand
Raaj Anand returns after a couple of tunes by Himesh
Reshammiya and creates 'Uncha Lamba', the opening tune
of which lifts has it's references in 'Makhna' [Bade
Miyan Chote Miyan]. A number which could well find
references in number of Punjabi-fusion-folk tracks, 'Uncha
Lamba' has predominant Western arrangements which go
well with the current on-screen image of Akshay Kumar.
With Kalpana as his duet partner, Anand Raaj Anand
gets into a romantic mode with this yet another 'masala'
track which barely sustains itself for the situation
and that's about it.
With great power comes great responsibilities - This
can well be true for Akshay Kumar now as well! As
mentioned at the very beginning, any film starring
Akshay Kumar today is THE Akshay Kumar film. Whatever
good or bad, it is attributed mainly to the superstar
than anyone else. This is why even the music of
Welcome, which is extremely ordinary in any case, will
be termed as nothing less than disappointing due to
high standards set for an Akshay Kumar film. Though
thankfully the film seems to be highly interesting,
Akshay fans would have to wait for Tashan and Singh Is
Kinng in anticipation of some good music.
Rating:- **
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