Mission Istanbul Music Review

Rating: 7.0/10

Wow! ‘Darr Ke Aagey Jeet Hain’ – when you have such a fearing tagline, trying to capitalize on the unshaven looks of the main protagonists, one feels that this is going to be an exciting and thrilling musical experience as an army of composers queue up to have their compositions exposed.

Expect pumping electronic music and newcomer Chirantan Bhatt joins the forces to deliver two techno-centric performances. If Nobody Like You is a wild dance floor track, thanks to the sensational voice of Neeraj Shridhar, Mission Mission is more of a mesmerizing- synthesizers’ dud. The intoxicating rhythm in ‘Nobody Like You’ integrated with the voice of the popular Neeraj Shridhar, the sexy vocals of Anoushka, and the fast-rising Ishq Bector, while porting galloping hard-techno beats, result in party-ready material. Nobody Like You (Remix) is another pounding fare, due to the compelling beats and its vigorous singing. The hiccup with the next track of Bhatt is a matter of pronunciation. When ‘mission’ sounds like ‘nishaan’ and coarse words are included in the same song, don’t expect much in terms of creativity and high production values. ‘Mission Mission’ is attractive – all because of its wild programming and sequential sounds. Hamza Faruqui goes on and on with ‘Nishaan, Nishaan, Istanbul’. Please! The whole flow of singing is forced, jammed and superficial. An alternative for club fanatics would have been an electronic theme and applied vocal trance, keeping the same structure minus the unfaltering wordings.

Exit Chirantan Bhatt and enter Shammir Tandon! Plagiarism is hitting hard the industry, so the honest producers have bought the rights of Bob Sinclair’s chartbuster ‘World Hold On’. Needless to say, Tandon’s ‘Hamara Kal, Hamara Aaj, Hamare Hi, Hathon Mein Hai’ completely spoils the whole Sinclair’s hit. As a true villain, in a musical perspective, the out-dated tune is a misfit, and the twists with ‘World Hold On’ are uninspiring, derogatory and painful. How on earth can one artist see a connection with words like ‘Hamara Kal, Hamara Aaj’ and ‘World Hold On’? Kunal Ganjawala, Gayatri Ganjawala and Raaj innocently sing plainly the disastrous track, which gets a clubby feel make-over in World Hold (Remix) by Nikhil Chinappa and DJ Nawed. One wonders why ‘World Hold On’ has been delegated in the song and replaced with such insipid wordings by Shabbir Ahmed. The remixed version founds a mélange of Turkish music, trendy beats and computerized vocals.

Next is Anu Malik, who saves the soundtrack from drowning, after the colossal let-down by Shammir Tandon. The revamped Malik, who is never tired of working, presents his sweet melody in Jo Gumshuda – which clicks instantly. The Middle-East influence is brought by Ege, who handles his part with the required accent with panache and Malik’s music follows suit, keeping the Turkish musical invasion alive. Shaan and Mahalakshmi Iyer infuse soul in the romantic ballad and the backdrop of the Turkish music is a delight. Anu Malik extends the programming and ensures that ‘Jo Gumshuda’ is equally balanced with melody and crispy sounds. Jo Gumshuda (Remix) is another fusion where lounge meets trance, with a pinch of beats, but is not comparable to the original. Anu Malik’s expertise is put to use where he brings a touching melody, reminding of his 90’s work at places. The singing duo trespasses the limits and delves into the passionately loving melodic tune. Special mention to Sameer who avoids his loved word ‘Sanam’ and uses a more-Arabic sounded word such as ‘Gumshuda’. Clever move!

Javed Ali is entrusted with Yaar Mera Dildaara which translates into a slow-paced Malik’s typical number, reserved for the sometimes classical K.K. A gently building track, Javed Ali engages adequately and Sunidhi Chauhan joining in, is the best part. Her entry is commendable. The only minus point is that the track suffers a tiring tune and renders it a heavy affair. Ali is quite tight in his high-pitched vocals as the song is limited to have a sophisticated display of his vocals’ range. Sameer couldn’t resist the over-used ‘Ishq’ and ‘Dildaara’ from his bank of words, thereby restricting its appeal. Malik again puts double efforts in the instrumentation - keeping the Middle-East theme in tact with the wide array of instruments played.

Ah the favorite word, ‘Apun’ is back as Mika Singh and Pretty Priya embrace Apun Ke Saath comfortably, which is composed by Mika Singh. He also helps with the words with new-age lyricist Virag Mishra. A situational number in all circumstances; the laid-back approach to the composing style, including the care-free singing, automatically throws the song into a light category. Once again, the English words ‘Mission Mission’ fail to fit into the narrative of the song.

Let’s forget about that ‘Nishaan-Mission’ mess-up and Tandon’s amateurish take on Sinclair’s hit. Dependable Malik comes to the rescue big time with a traditional melody. Bhatt hits the right notes with the Shridharish track and Mika Singh signs off with a ‘tapori’ number, breaking the flow of the standard set. One of the highlights remains the consistent Middle-East sound in most of the songs, including the remixes. Among all the composers, the soundtrack once again reiterates the fact that Anu Malik is definitely in fine shape, having successfully gone through the reinvention phase. His presence is worth a mention and to deserve more spotlight, Malik should concentrate mainly on solo assignments. If only Anu Malik was given to recreate ‘World Hold On’, the soundtrack of Mission Istanbul would have had enough numbers to pack a dance floor.