Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (Music) - Looks like this is Pritam's year!!

Movie - Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (Hindi)
Director - Rajkumar Santoshi
Producer - Ramesh Taurani
Cast - Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Upen Patel
Music - Pritam
Lyrics - Irshad Kamil, Ashish Pandit
Singers - KK, Sunidhi Chauhan, Atif Aslam, Javed Ali, Kailash Kher, Neeraj Shridhar, Hard Kaur, Mika Singh, Suzanne D'Mello, Alisha Chinoy, Jojo, Soham, Rana Mazumdar, Ashish Pandit, Paresh, Naresh.
Release Date - 6th November 2009


Reasons to be excited about this movie and its music :

• A Rajkumar Santoshi film after a long time. He has always given good films and through this film, he is going back to comedy, something which he hasnt done after Andaz Apna Apna (Probably one of the best comedies made in Hindi).
• Pritam is scoring the music for the film. He is currently the man with the midas touch, turning every album of his into a superhit, most recent ones being Love Aaj Kal and Tum Mile this year. 
• A very unique and cute pairing of Ranbir and Katrina which has already created a lot of buzz through the impressive promos that are on air these days. 
• The combination of Pritam and lyricist Irshad Kamil who have given amazing music in movies like Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal and Tum Mile.
• The movie is being produced by Tips, which is primarily an audio label. So it is natural that the film should be having good music. 
• A huge superstar makes a special appearance in this romantic comedy. 

So it is natural that the expectations are high. And the music almost lives up to the expectations.

The first track is 'Main Tera Dhadkan Teri' by KK, Sunidhi Chauhan and Hard Kaur. The song starts with a rap segment by Hard Kaur. And right from the beginning, we know that Pritam has a chartbuster on his hands. KK brings in all the energy through his powerful rendition. Sunidhi sings in a completely different way, very unlike her usual singing style. Her voice is one of the highlights of the song. A highly energetic dance number, which is really impressive on the first hearing itself. The chorus part of the song deserves special mention. Pritam's trademark guitar interludes find a place in this song also. The rap is not all that great as Hard Kaur sounds pretty repetitive, but KK and Sunidhi make up for it through the other portions of the song. Superhit!! (3.5/5)

'Tu Jaane Na' by Atif Aslam definitely sounds like the soul of the movie. Its a wonderful melody which starts with a chorus part, for a change. The lyrics are wonderful and is sure to stay with you even after you finish listening to the song. Atif Aslam renders the song with all the emotions of separation, something which he has specialized in. The chorus part is like an added bonus to this already beautiful song. The orchestration is not very heavy and the track is very soothing to hear. Sounds like THE song of the film on the first hearing itself. (4/5)

The next track is 'Oh By God' by Mika and Sunidhi Chauhan. If Pritam reintroduced the Nagin sound in Love Aaj Kal's Twist, this time he goes in for a rehash of the famous shehnai sound which can be heard at any given North Indian wedding. That sound itself raises the curiosity levels of this song. But the song is a very ordinary dance number with high energy vocals by Sunidhi and Mika. The main factor that makes this song work is the rehash of the shehnai sound. Otherwise, it is a plain ordinary track. (2.5/5)

Next up is a beautiful song, 'Tera Hone Laga Hoon' by Atif Aslam and Alisha Chinoy. Alisha sounds refreshing in this beautifully composed melody. Her voice would suit Katrina perfectly. Atif Aslam does a great job as well. The lyrics by Ashish Pandit is wonderfully romantic and is sure to find a place in the favourites list of die-hard romantics. ;) Its long since we heard Alisha sing a good song and she makes a great comeback with this song sounding completely awesome. And Atif complements her perfectly too. Lovely track!! (4/5)

'Prem Ki Nayya' is a fun number by Neeraj Shridhar and Suzanne D'Mello. Its such a relief to hear Neeraj Sridhar sing such different and fun numbers rather than the same kind of songs he is very used to singing. He went for a complete change in Chor Bazari in Love Aaj Kal and this song also falls into the same league. An upbeat track where the hero is trying to woo his heroine, this song also has a small portion in English by Suzanne. But Neeraj has had lots of fun behind the mike and that shows in the song also. The promos of this song which are out now are also impressive. (3.5/5)

'Aa Jao Meri Tamanna' by Javed Ali and Jojo is a nice love song. It is decent in all the departments and the part where Javed sings 'Aa Jao Meri Tamanna' is the highlight of the song. The track is a good composition by Pritam and  Javed Ali has done a great job in the singing. The lyrics are also impressive. Jojo gives good support as well. (3.5/5)

'Follow Me' by Hard Kaur is an extension of the rap part from 'Main Tera Dhadkan'. Nothing much to talk about this track as it is just a repetition. 

There are two more versions of 'Tu Jaane Na'. A reprise version by Soham, Rana Mazumdar and the lyricist Ashish Pandit, which is very similar to the Atif Aslam version, except for Soham's voice which gives the song a different feel. The next version is an unplugged version by the Kailasa team of Kailash Kher, Paresh and Naresh. It is probably the best thing that could happen to the already beautiful song. Kailash does a soulful rendition of the track in his trademark husky voice. The guitar chords that keep playing throughout the song are extremely soothing. Both versions are great, with the unplugged version being the best among all the three versions. (4/5)

Then there are the mandatory remixes of almost all the tracks of the albums. As usual, I do not want to talk about them. 

All in all, Pritam has delivered yet another solid album which is sure to do even better when the movie releases. The soundtrack has all the freshness and fun required for the mood of the movie. He has already had hits with Billu, New York, Love Aaj Kal, All The Best and Tum Mile. And with this one also on the list, it clearly looks like its Pritam's year musically. 

Rating - 3.8/5