Music of Kidnap

Pritam should be officially renamed Mr. “Hit and Miss” Chakraborty. While he has had quite a diverse year ranging from blockbuster hits to international collaborations to plagiarism revelations, he still has the uncanny ability to deliver certain soundtracks which have the personality of a flat can of soda. “Kidnap” is one such album.

The album has two lead tracks. The psycho-journey trance track, “Mit Jaaye” is reminiscent of “Har Kisiko Nahin Milta” from “Jaanbaaz”. The self-involved hip/hop track, “Hey Ya”, is a veritable Pritam rehash, blended with some Beyonce Knowles/Timbaland-type samples, which has Minissha Lamba traipsing around town singing lines like “main itni khaas hoon, koi mujhsa hai kahaan”.

Sorry, but shouldn’t you let the audience be the judge of that? Anyhow, both tracks are trite and non-impactful, as are their remixes.

The tribute to the weatherman, “Mausam”, a track which plays on the rhyme scheme of the words “mausam” and “awesome”, is overtly sugary, but at least has a character variant from Pritam stereotypes.

The respectful acknowledgement track, “Haan Ji”, is a situational feel-good song featuring Adnan Sami.

“Meri Ek Ada Shola” is yet another weak composition with some Middle Eastern influences, and picks up a little with Sukhwinder Singh’s entry towards the middle.

Balance sheet: Seeming like something he put together in his sleep, “Kidnap” seems like a templated album, replete with Pritam’s habitual melodies, beats and electronic samples.

The excuse that Kidnap is a thriller which doesn’t warrant a stellar soundtrack shouldn’t deter a truly prolific MD, should it?

Each song has the “chhaap” of Pritam’s earlier work, and while it is ok to have a musical style, a little innovation doesn’t hurt.

On a completely separate note, with recent titles like “Kidnap” and “Hijack”, shouldn’t Bollywood start to arrest its crime wave?