What a let down!

Sukanya Verma

Music has always been a notable aspect of producer-director Shankar's films -- be it Gentleman, Kaadhalan, Indian or Jeans. His latest big budgeted Anil Kapoor-Rani Mukherji starrer Nayak-The Real Hero fails miserably on that account.

Nayak, which is a remake of Tamil hit, Mudhalvan (Arjun and Manisha Koirala) consists of seven songs, composed by A R Rahman.

The album begins with Chalo chalo mitwa, in the voices of Udit Narayan which sounds strictly all right.

Chalo chale purva is another version of the same song.

Sunidhi Chauhan and Hans Raj Hans infuse life into Saiyyan saiyyan, a dance track with earthy Rajasthani beats. Be warned: It's no Chaiyyan chaiyyan.

Chidiya tu hoti to by Abhijeet and Sanjeevani (of Kareeb fame), sounds unintentionally funny, what with its silly lyrics by Anand Bakshi.

Likewise Tu acha lagta hai -- Hariharan and Kavita Subramanium.

The foot-tapping and racy Ruki sukhi roti with some lively singing by Shankar Mahadevan and Alka Yagnik lends this otherwise mundane album a certain degree of credibility.

Last and certainly not the least is the best track of Nayak: Shakalaka baby: a trendy, smooth and immensely catchy ditty in the seductive voices of Vasundhara Das, Shiraz Uppa and Pravin Mani.

Picturised on Sushmita Sen (in a special appearance), Shakalaka baby is poised to figure in all musical countdowns.

On the whole, Nayak is a quite a letdown. One expected better fare from Rahman.

You might also want to read:

'I just happen to be a hero!': Anil Kapoor
The man who lives, breathes, eats, dreams cinema: Shankar
The Rani Mukherji interview
Nayak - the real music. Glimpses
In Nayak, Citizen Can!
The Mudhalvan review
The War Within
'The storyline is important, the rest is cosmetics': The Shankar interview
Official website of Shankar
Official website of Nayak