By Joginder Tuteja, IndiaFM
Friday, June 03, 2005

Watching just one Shetty girl is a handful on the silver screen. And it's quite a bonus when both Shetty sisters are willing to sizzle together in a single frame. The movie in question - Fareb, which is the third outing of director Deepak Tijori after Oops and recently released Khamosh - Khauff Ki Raat (that also starred Shetty senior). Manoj Bajpai forms the central character of this drama about 'Twisted Love and Unholy Obsession' that is produced by Rajesh Singh and Sanjiv Jaiswal. Bajpai would be looking at hitting the jackpot as a lead hero this time after his third lead performance in Bewafaa that was hardly appreciated. Anu Malik, who was surprisingly listless in recent ' Nazar ' composes while Sayeed Quadri, who has been writing quite a lot these days handles the lyrics.

Kunal Ganjawala starts 'Pehle Se' in his distinct style and while he may be accused of repeating the 'Bheege Hoth Tere' act once again, it should be noted that this is just his style. He sings with the required punch, depth and sadness as needed for the situation, where a couple is having retrospection on what has gone wrong in their relationship. Shreya Ghoshal sings in a mature manner and does well once again to prove herself as a dependable playback singer. A beautifully worded song, it is highly melodious and gains from the saxophone usage in the style of Kenny G. This is one of the better compositions by Anu Malik this year. Towards the end of the album, composer Vishwajeet does a remix and its instrumental for 'Pehle Se'. The remix version sounds interesting after the original due to an increased pace and more hip-hop feel and unlike some cardboard remixes that just venture into adding in an additional beat or two, this version changes the soul of the song and manages to strike the right chord.

A retro rain dance number comes up as highly rhythmic 'Baras Ja Ae Badal '. Rendered by item queen Sunidhi Chauhan, the song is instantly catchy and makes for a good dance track. Presence of both the Shetty sisters only soars the temperatures high while the choreography is effective too. A fast paced western music based track, it sounds best when played on high volume and turns out to be quite enjoyable in the end.

Udit Narayan and Shraddha Pandit come together for the romantic duet 'Jaayoon Kahan ' that is quite easy on ears. The chorus effect of 'Jaayoon Kahan' does remind of the one in 'Chori Chori' (Om Jai Jagadish) but the overall tune is quite different. Udit Narayan is spirited, as always while Shraddha continues to do well in whatever chance she has been getting off late. The tune is vintage Anu Malik that is based on soft melodious music. The song is not a chartbuster in the making but due to not many expectations from the musical score of Fareb (because of a small banner), third enjoyable song in a row comes up as a bonus.

Law of averages catches up with 'Shaam Aayegi' that is not bad but doesn't have an entertainment quotient either to keep the listener hooked to the composition. A situational track about the regret of a man wanting to be back to his first love. It is very well worded by Sayeed Quadri. Sonu Nigam too sings with a painful touch that was required for a song of this genre but due to its situational nature, it would sound best only when seen on the screen.

Melody returns with the classic 'Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu ' from Waqt revisited as 'Subah Bhi'. Alisha Chinai does a very good job in singing this soft romantic song that should look quite beautiful on screen. Quiet impressive in the first hearing itself, it does hint of a passion play. A fine track, it brings the album to a satisfying end - though one is surprised on seeing two bonus songs 'Bambhole' (Charas) and Sufani (Rog) as well. When the overall soundtrack of 'Fareb' itself had enough merits to boast of, why was there a need to include two additional tracks that are themselves not any great shakes?

As mentioned earlier, there was not much expected musically from this relatively lesser-known Deepak Tijori film. But to one is pleasantly surprised that there is at least 2-3 tunes that are genuinely good and could easily fit in a biggie. 'Pehle Se', 'Baras Ja' and 'Subah Bhi' are some of the tracks that can raise the sales prospects of the album. Publicity of the album has been going on a decent pace on the small screen and increased word of mouth should only help the cause. 

Fareb - Movie Stills
Nazar - Movie Stills
Shilpa Shetty - Gallery, Wallpapers
Shamita Shetty - Wallpapers

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