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Music Review

John Matthew Matthan is a director who needs no introduction. He is the same man who made 'Sarfarosh' years back. After working with Aamir Khan, he now joins hand with Ajay Devgan, Shahid Kapoor, Pakistani superstar Jawed Sheikh, Bipasha Basu and Amrita Rao for 'Shikhar'. The movie got its title only a few days back and appears to be quite relevant to the movie's subject that deals with the tussle of power and humanity. A project that has been 'designed' by Sanjoy Bhhattacharjii, 'Shikhar' has music by Viju Shah whose last full fledged musical score was for Rajiv Rai's 'Asambhav'.

A new word gets introduced in a Bollywood song with 'Fitna Dil', which is a club number by Udit Narayan, Sunidhi Chauhan and K.K. The number is all about the games that a heart is capable of playing and is high on energy. There are some trademark Viju Shah arrangements in the number but one still misses the thumping feel that his songs normally have. In the case of 'Fitna Dil', the rhythm is fine but still the track isn't as rocking as one would have expected from the opening track of an album. Through lyrics by Chandrashekhar Raajit, it appears the song is a situational setup and would carry a lot more meaning when seen on screen.

There is another version for which Joy does the rap while Rohit Kulkarni joins Shah for the remix. The track follows the style that has been now patented by the likes of Vishal Shekhar, Pritam and Salim Sulaiman as there are ample doses of short English passages in the song with some beat added on intermittently. Does it make you jump on your feet? Not exactly as the original tune itself is just about good, that's all!

Manoher Iyer writes for both versions of 'Dheere Dheere' that are sung as solos by Sunidhi Chauhan and KK respectively. The version by Sunidhi is moderately paced and has a child like innocence to it. With additional music by P. Sameer, it has an old world party feel to it with a rhythm that reminds of 'Dil Hai Chota Sa' [Roja]. A smooth sailing song with a tune that has its basic music in the style of the 60s, it won't turn out to be the most talked about song in the town but is pretty harmless as a part of an album. As much as the female version by Sunidhi was subtle, the male version by KK is 'on your face' with a forceful rendition. A passable tune, one still waits for a song in 'Shikhar' that could be called as THE song in the album that would excite people to go for it!

With additional music from Mani Shankar comes the first bona fide romantic number in the album, 'Mere Mann'. Now this is what one calls a running behind the trees/singing near a lake track that always succeeds in getting itself heard at the least. There is a mix of Laxmikant-Pyaarelal/Jatin-Lalit style of music in the song with some poetic lyrics by Sudhakar Sharma that can be heard but not necessarily be hummed along by the listeners. A conventional track, it just continues the flow of 'Shikhar' and that's about it. One is in fact surprised to see such a song coming in John's movie who had some really great music in 'Sarfarosh' by Jatin Lalit.

Next comes a devotional number 'Tu Hai Shikhar' by Jagjit Singh that has been written by Sudhakar Sharma. A track praising the might of GOD, the number also has a bunch of kids providing some chorus in the background. The number by itself is soothing and should fit well in the movie's running as well because of a character in the movie that runs an 'ashram'. But is it a kind of number that helps sell an album? Looks unlikely!

Sudhakar Sharma continues to write for the album with 'Aap Ko Samjha' that starts with lyrics like 'Aap Ko Samjha Hai Jab Se Zindagi, Zindagi Ab Zindagi Lagne Lagi� Need to say more about the song being 'different'? A slow moving romantic track that tries to same territory as Viju Shah's own 'Subah Se Leke Shaam Tak' [Mohra]. Shah's regular Sadhna Sargam pairs up with Udit Narayan for the song but it is too lukewarm to make an impression. This romantic number invokes anything but romance and in fact takes Bollywood music a good 10 years back. No doubt, it is the weakest song in the album!

After 'Ghanan Ghanan'[Lagaan] , 'Megha Megha' is yet another song that revolves around arrival of rain to help reap crops. A celebration song that is based on 'dandiya' beats, it has a 70s influence looming large over it and is highly situational. Mani Shankar provides additional music again for this Sudhakar Sharma number sung by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik that is quite ordinary. There are also references to preservation of forests and hence civilization [that forms the basic plot of the movie].

Towards the end of the album comes Ash Chandler sung 'Vaga' that is a sure shot item number incorporated in the movie and the album, to boost the prospects of both. (And no, this Ash is a male singer before you think that it is a female voice crooning the track). An English track written by Anita Sarkar, it is a definite lounge number with beats without turning too loud.

Overall, Shikhar disappoints in a major way. There is nothing exciting about the score and one can't find a single reason to lap on to the album. Now all eyes are on the movie for John Mathew Matthan to come up with something interesting and exciting like his earlier work 'Sarfarosh'. At least the movie should be path breaking if not the music.