We are Family – Music Review

Everyone remembers being almost reduced to tears (or in my case, sobbing my eyes out) whilst watching Susan Sarandon try and ensure that the woman who would bring up her children would do a good job, in the 1998 Hollywood hit “Stepmom”. So when I heard that the fabulous Karan Johar would be remaking it in Hindi, I was excited to see what he could pull out of the bag.

“We Are Family” stars Kajol, Kareena Kapoor (who will be in Julia Roberts’ role) and Arjun Rampal as the father. The music has been done by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who have produced some amazing soundtracks such as Taare Zameen Par, Dil Chahta Hai, and three of Karan Johar’s hits – My Name is Khan, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Kal Ho Na Ho. The trio consists of three very talented musicians. Loy Mendosa was an ex-pianist for A. R. Rahman amongst others. Ehsaan Noorani is a highly talented guitarist, who played under many music directors before the formation of SEL. Tamilian Shankar Mahadevan began his musical career singing playback in Kollywood cinema, and won his first National Award of many for the song Enna Solla Pogirai from hit film Kandukondain Kandukondain. His other hits include Maa from Taare Zameen Par (Hindi), Thaniye from Rhythm (Tamil) and more recently Kaatu Sirikki from Mani Ratnam’s blockbuster Raavanan (Tamil).

The album begins with a scintillating duet by Shreya Ghoshal and Rahet Fateh Ali Khan – Ankhon Mein Neendnein. Being a classical-based piece, it was lovely to hear both singers sounding so at home with it . In terms of music, this one has “Karan Johar movie” written all over it; it sounds like the love-child of KANK’s Mitwa and MNIK’s Sajda, with a hint of KHNH’s title track. But the classical swara interludes in the middle – sung impeccably by both vocalists – and the peppy beat, add a whole new dimension to this tried-and-tested presentation.

Dil Khol Ke Let’s Rock is basically Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock in Hindi. Akriti Kakkar, Anushka Manchanda and Suraj Jagan’s vocals are lovely to listen to, though you can’t help but compare them to The King himself (and feel a little disappointed).

Beginning with just the vocals and the piano, Shankar Mahadevan and Vishal Dadlani’s performance on Reham O Karam is beautiful. Just as you get used to the simplicity of a song with just a piano, the full orchestra kicks in, in the chorus, and the rock feel given by the dominant electric guitar takes the song in a totally different direction to what you first expect. Beautiful, serene, and still a powerful piece of music!

Shreya Ghoshal takes the mike again, this time with Sonu Nigaam for the song Hamesha and Forever, a beautifully romantic duet, with a predominantly guitar-based accompaniment, along with some wonderful interludes on the flute by Naveen Kumar. Sonu Nigaam sings with such emotion in this piece, and though Shreya Ghoshal’s role is not huge in the song, her voice is still as divine as ever to listen to.

Sun Le Dua Aasman is another ballad, this time with just a piano, and a delightfully melodious flute accompanying the sweet vocals  by Bela Shande who aptly deliver the touching lyrics. The melody is based on the final track – the We Are Family Theme, which is an instrumental piece, led by the flute, and piano, with a harmonic string orchestra in the background. Though there are no vocals, there still seems to be some emotion that comes through in this very chilled out track.

I’m now eagerly anticipating the release of this film in early September 2010! Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have produced a lovely album, with some really moving songs (I have a feeling Karan Johar’s picturisation for some of them will leave me crying!). Though there’s nothing very one-of-a-kind in the album, the We Are Family soundtrack still has some very lovely pieces to listen to; 3.5/5.

Kavya Rajagopalan (c) Thamarai.com