Good Boy Bad Boy

Himesh Reshammiya and Emraan Hashmi created history when they came together in Aashiq Banaya Aapne. The same fate couldn't be repeated though in Dil Diya Hai which came last year. On the other hand, Subhash Ghai has one super success musical score with Reshammiya in 36 China Town though their association in Shaadi Se Pehle didn't come up with even remotely similar results.

With Good Boy Bad Boy, both Hashmi and Ghai come together with Reshammiya for the third time. Sadly, the outcome is hardly exciting with the soundtrack turning out to be pretty routine with nothing much for a listener to hum around once the album is through.

Welcome to an album that has all but one songs crooned by Himesh Reshammiya with lyrics by Sameer. In the times when even die hard Reshammiya fans are looking for variety in his albums (this is exactly the reason why the music of Namastey London is a smash hit while Shakalaka Boom Boom too met with a decent response), it is not really a good idea for the composer/singer to be exposed. Still, one can settle for an excuse here that the film has been around one and a half year in the making and hence the music comes from the time when Reshammiya had just started getting full throttle into the singing business.

The album opens with the title song 'Good Boy Bad Boy' which is actually the weakest offering out of four unique numbers in the album. Trying to be all cool, hip and happening, Reshammiya creates one of the most lukewarm tracks in his post 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne' era as he pairs up with Akriti Kakkar to croon a campus number.

Revolving around the film's theme of a good and a bad boy, this track composed in western style hardly creates any excitement and turns out to be a painful hearing. Sounding nothing better than an average track from a non-film music album by a newbie, 'Good Boy Bad Boy' also appears in a remix version that doesn't turn out to be much different from the original except for some rap-n-reggae added in.

Himani Kumar, who was at her sensual-n-husky best in Reshammiya's title song of Dil Diya Hai returns to the big arena with 'Meri Aawargi'. It is mainly due to her efforts that the song rises above ordinary and gives it a spicy edge. A club dance floor number, it has Reshammiya as the lead singer who is as usual with his rendition but it is Himani who steals the show as she croons for Tanushree Dutta. There is a little bit of 'Zara Jhoom Jhoom' [Tom Dick and Harry] in the opening arrangements but the similarity just ends there.

A rhythmic number with good potential to be popular across the dance floors of the country, it has an interesting 'remix version' too with the sound of 'tabla' pepping up the arrangements to give the song a new feel. With a female voice in the background taking the song forward, the remix version deserves a music video to be created around it.

For third straight song in a row, it is Himesh Reshammiya's voice that you hear as a lead singer. What is surprising though is the presence of additional singers in 'Aashiqana Aalam Hai' since Sunidhi Chauhan is overtly husky in her rendition and is heard for the major part of the song, Vinit and Alka Yagnik are hardly there A rhythmic track boasting of rich western arrangements, it is a decent hear which starts catching on you only after repeated hears. Yes, it isn't path-breaking or superb by any means but can be played on for creating a peppy atmosphere.

A 'remix version' of the track appears too (as is the case with each of the 4 tracks in the album) but except for some routine beats added on from beginning till the end of the song, there isn't anything more that could make 'Aashiqana Aalam Hai' anything special.

Don't expect yet another classic track on the lines of 'Dard-E-Dil' from Subhash Ghai's own Karz even though the title of the last song of the album reads 'Dard-E-Dil'. The song has Subhash Ghai stamp of music on it but only turns out to be a poor cousin of the melodies we have heard in Ghai's films for over two decades.

In spite of Zubin Garg as the lead vocalist, this 80s stage shot style of song is just not appealing enough even in it's remix version that is crooned by Reshammiya and turns out to be as lukewarm as the opening track Good Boy Bad Boy.

Once Good Boy Bad Boy is through, the only thing that you take home is a lot of noise. Agreed that the film is based in a campus and a lot of youth and exuberance is expected from both the film and the music. But still, with a composer like Reshammiya joining hands with showman Subhash Ghai, it was expected that there would be some 'dum' in the music. Well, that is not the case as the music turns out to be neither 'good' bor 'bad' with just about a couple of tunes ['Meri Awargi' and 'Aashiqana Aalam Hai'] working to an extent.