COCKTAILed! Cocktail Music Review

No matter how hard I try,

No matter how fast I run,

No matter how far I go,

A ROMCOM keeps catching up with me Every-FRIKKIN-Now and Then.

Bollywood these days have started making all sorts of different Permutations and Combinations of young actors to make romcom's on similar storylines.

It's like Deja Vu everytime I see a romcom thrown at my face with the same shit going on and on.

So what makes a brilliant Romcom in Bollywood?
1)An International Location, preferably Switzerland.
2)A Party Anthem.
3)A slow, boring, lovey-dovey track that Girls can play on their Blackberry's and cry to.

4)A Khan and/or Kapoor.

Cocktail has all five of them.

The Fifth Point?

An excessively FACEPALMable Storyline that most Teenagers can relate to (NOT ME).

So moving on to the Album Overview :

With a Million Headbangs on my desk I put in the Album CD into the Player and hit the "Play" Button with anticipations of disappointment on the horizon.
It starts with the Latest Hit in Bolly-land, 'Tumhi Ho Bandhu' and continued...
The frown on my head changed from a subtle smile to a deep disgusted look somewhere in the middle, but nowhere during the whole time did it transform into "Amazed" or "Surprising"..
Then again, this one looks promising.
One good thing, electronic beats and trans-inputs are very rarely used in MOST of the tracks, which is indeed delighting.
Also, Irshad Kamil, sir, HATS OFF.
I don't know how you come up with such lyrical beauty but it was high time we gave Gulzar ji and Javed Akhtar ji a break.

He not only gives them a break, but ALSO gives them tough competition.

Good stuff, overall.

Heading on with the Track-by-Track Review :

1)Tumhi Ho Bandhu : "Main hoon hi nahi is duniya ki.."

Do I need to review this? It's already being played at parties, hangouts, functions, just EVERYWHERE. It's a HIT! It's topping Radio charts as I type. Musically speaking, it is good, except for ONE thing. Neeraj Shridhar. Easy on the vocal-electronics MAN!! I bet none of you could make out that "crow" like sound at the bridge-chorus IS IN ENGLISH! Apart from that, good beats, and Kavita Seth NAILS the female lead. Her voice, superbly natural just syncs-in with the track.
The video--well Penty is a fresher, I'll give her that.
3.5/5

2)Daaru Desi :"Chadi mujhe yaari teri aisi..jaise daaru desi.."

Acoustic at the start, sounds very promising. The beats are exceptionally fitting. Shalmali Kholgade has an exotic voice and fits in the track. It's a rare mix track of Trans and Soft music. Benny Dayal, SO MUCH ELECTRONIC FIXING!! I feel he wasn't really a good match for the Male Vocals. Vishal Dadlani would've been a fifty times better match. Liked the deviation from the standard 4/4 beat count.

3/5

3)Yaariyaan :"Naa chode Yaariyaan.."

Hi-5 if you too thought 'Agnee' was the artist. A beautiful, soft track, one of the best this album has to offer. This is one of those rare tracks where both the male and female leads just fit in PERFECTLY. Kanan and Shilpa Rao, both are amazing. And I also loved it because it is FULLY void of any sorts of Trans shit. Lyrics are simply mind-boggling. The one cranky song I was talking about. Seriously ladies, get better Whatsapp statuses. Pure vocals is what I respect and like.

4/5

4)Second Hand Jawaani :"Nahi chahiye mujhe teri..second hand jawaani.."

Pumping track. But ultimately poor choice of Female vocals, ie. Neha Kakkar. Even as a Playback, both Padukone and Penty aren't compatible with the visual integration required to pull this off. The "Item Number" of this Movie. Saif just plays another "Pungi" in this one. Fast paced, and very dance-able.

2.5/5

5)Tera Naam Japdi Phiran :"Am gonna rock your world..with the gun in my hand.."

Just strangely, the Punjabi part makes more sense than the English bit! The lyrics are good but WHY in the name of Lord does Javed Bashir need to STRETCH the balls off of the "AAaaaa-AaaAAaaaA-AaaaAaaa.."!? Completely unnecessary and irrelevant. It's like having dinner AFTER having dinner! Would've been so amazing without the extraaaaa stretches clogged in between two consecutive beats. Let's hope Padukone REALLY rocks this one. Somehow I trust her with music videos after 'Dum Maro Dum'.

There's a version 2, a little different with trans beats, in fact it's better.

2/5

6)Luttna :"Ratta farak nazar na aaya.."

In slang Hindi, we have a phrase, "Yaar BAND baja diya..".

It means "You screwed it up"

And that's EXACTLY what Pritam did with such a lyrical beauty and I refuse to appreciate the Hard Rock-riffs in the chorus. Ghazal ka BAND baja diya usne. The lyrics are just so beautiful and the beats are just...out of place. Nothing's in sync and this is the part where I got the "disgusted look" on my face. It's the composer's fault the singer is really very good at his job. Really, the Album could've scored higher points if it wasn't for this.

1/5

7)Jugni :"Phir meri aah jugni ji.."

Takes a pace, then fixes on it. No wavering, no trans inputs, no vocal modification, just focused music. Again a very mind-boggling track. Lots of Piano in the background, good drum-roll and choice of chords-BRILLIANT. Both singers mix into the vocals like they speak for each other! Loads of dramatic tension in the music. Slap those who say, "awww how romantic..". It's an engaging track and really brings out the intensity of emotions when Love comes in between Friendship and how priorities are tested. The very basics of Human Nature are put to test. Loved the Bass in the background. Good composition.

3.5/5

8)Yaariyaan (Reprised) :

The world hath been blessed the day Sunidhi Chauhan was born. Her voice, her style, her singing, it forced me to make another bulletin for a different version of the same track. She MAKES it a different track. Also there's something very exclusive about Sunidhi Chauhan and Reprised versions of songs. 'Te Amo' anyone?

There are very few singers who can carry a whole track solo on their shoulders and actually manage to pull  it off like a boss. She's one of them. Also Arijit Singh is just awesome with the bridge pull.

4/5

With a great collection of various styles of singing, instrumentals, and rhythms, this album packs up a good deal of nice music.

There's no track which would stick in your head, except of course 'Tumhi Ho Bandhu' as you've DEFINITELY heard it by now, and you're absolutely convinced Penty is "out of this world" (reference to incredibly weird lyrics).

So overall this one deserves a 7.5/10

I'm gonna go watch this one, only because it is extremely predictable and I wish the Director surprises me with a good climax.
Such, that I end up believing "yeh movie hai hi nahi is duniya ki.."
Hope for the Best.