Dhoom 3 Music Review: Pritam And Julius Packiam Do Quite A Good Job

Hoping to end 2013 with a bang, Yashraj Films has lined up Dhoom 3 for the holiday season with the icing on the cake being their collaboration with Superstar Aamir Khan who takes over the onerous task of donning the negative role, played successfully by Hrithik Roshan and John Abraham in the past along with Katrina Kaif for company. This Vijay Krishna Acharya helmed franchise sees Uday Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan returning to play the role of Ali and Jai and promises to be a full-on entertainer. Initial promos have already fuelled the audience’s expectations from this film and Pritam’s music is expected to be nothing short of a chartbuster. Let us hope Pritam with the additional help from Guest Composer, Julius Packiam does deliver this time around too.

The album opens with Malang, an intriguing fusion number which has a telling Arabic music influence but settles into the Classical Sufi mode pretty soon and ends up as a decent outing. Written by Sameer Anjaan and vocalized by Siddharth Mahadevan and Shilpa Rao, Malang’s music is indeed an interesting cocktail of sounds. Siddharth Mahadevan is satisfactory but Shilpa Rao steals the show with her powerful rendition. With its experimental composition, Malang might indeed take time to unleash its magic on the listener but rest assured, this one when seen in tandem with its astounding choreography will be nothing short of a visual spectacle!

Sunidhi Chauhan is on fire in Kamli, which also happens to be Katrina’s very own Crazy Kiya Re. Though the composition itself is nothing extraordinary especially due to the repeated use of the word Kamli which gets tiring beyond a point, it is Sunidhi with her wonderful voice modulations who makes this song worth listening. When coupled with Katrina’s incredible dance moves, there is no doubt whatsoever that this Amitabh Bhattacharya written number is going to be another spectacular treat for the fans.

Tu Hi Junoon is the quintessential romantic number of this album and has Mohit Chauhan exercising his vocal chords for this solo number. Kausar Munir’s lyrics are likable but the tune is once again run-of-the-mill and does not really appeal as much as it should especially with Mohit behind the mike. This is especially disappointing as Tu Hi Junoon seems to be the only romantic number of this album and one expected more from Pritam especially so since romantic genres have always been considered to be his forte. But this Kausar Munir written number is unfortunately not in that league though one still hopes the visuals will make this song more appealing.

Then comes the flagship number of this franchise, the title song Dhoom Machale which has been suitably reworked to appeal to today’s audience. Though the essence has been retained in terms of its composition and flavor, Pritam has added a lot of new sounds including a bit of rap which is indeed interesting. Sameer’s lyrics follow the same pattern as the earlier versions while Aditi Singh Sharma ends up giving a near perfect rendition. But honestly speaking this song has become such a cult classic over the years that it does not matter whether it has been tweaked or revamped, it will still be loved by one and all. But one does wonder the need for adding an Arabic version for this hit number especially so since the music does not have any Arabic influence at all except for the lyrics which is in Arabic and sung by Lebanese singer, Naya. It is supposedly a promotional number but when compared to the Tata Young version in Dhoom, this one falls quite short.

The album moves to a spiritual zone with Bande Hain Hum Uske which has been sung by youngsters, Shivam Mahadevan and Anish Sharma and composed by Guest Composer Julius Packiam. This short and sweet but haunting melody written by the Director, Vijay Krishna Acharya himself is more devotional and is not the kind of number one would expect in a film like Dhoom 3. That this number finds a place in this film is of much significance since it represents varied emotions like pain, angst and even motivation which should hopefully be well woven into the storyline that its presence seems natural and not forced. Musically, this is surely one of the better ones in this soundtrack and can work as a motivational track even otherwise.

Dhoom Tap is the instrumental track which is expected to showcase Aamir Khan’s tap dancing skills. This one is well arranged and is interspersed with the signature Dhoom Tune and is surely worth a listen. It also increases the listener’s anticipation to see the picturisation of this number on the big screen.

Dhoom Overture is the other instrumental which should serve well as the opening or closing credits for the film or maybe even as the background music in the film. Though it is replete with the Dhoom signature tune, it has also been arranged really well by Guest Composer Julius Packiam and does possess a repeat value.

Overall, the music of Dhoom 3 is a mixed bag with some really good tracks alongside some average ones. But Pritam and Guest Composer Julius Packiam have done quite a good job which should find favour with the listeners.

Our Picks: Dhoom Macha Le, Malang and Bande Hain Hum Uske.