Holiday Music Review

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'This holiday, come fall in love....with yourself'

This is what producer-director Pooja Bhatt conveys through the tagline of her latest venture 'Holiday'. Set in Goa, this 'musical' is co-produced by Sujit Kumar Singh and stars Dino Morea in the lead who is surrounded by females all around ranging from debutant Onjolee Nair to Kashmira Shah and Nauheed Cyrusi. Gulshan Grover and Anahita Oberoi form rest of the starcast of 'Holiday' that has music by Ranjit Barot. When Neelesh Misra and Mehboob are at the helm of lyrics then one expects some out of the ordinary and 'different' kind of songs.

Since 'Jism', it has been no looking back for Shreya Ghoshal. In 'Holiday' too she comes behind the mike for as many as 5 tracks starting with 'Khwahishon Se'. Caribbean music is the base theme for this love song written by Neelesh Misra that begins with Kunal Ganjawala's voice. There is a beach-n-calypso feel throughout this haunting number that qualifies as a soft number in spite of its Caribbean feel. For a change Kunal sounds different from his 'o o oyoo' mode that has been so prevalent in some of his numbers post 'Murder'. A lyric heavy number it is decent hear, though not the kind of material that breaks into the Top 5 charts.

Shreya Ghoshal pairs up with Vijay Prakash for the second song in the album, 'Neele Neele' that again begins on an extremely soothing note. Just like 'Khwahishon Se', 'Neele Neele' too revolves around the blue-sky, and why not when the movie is set on the beaches of Goa. Once again Neelesh Misra's lyrics are poetic and credit should go to Ranjit Barot for coming up with a tune and musical arrangements [look for the mesmerizing chorus] that make this unconventional number come quite easy on ears. After hearing a couple of songs, one gets a feeling that 'Holiday' is not going to be one of your conventional Bollywood albums and would instead have a musical score that would be one of its kinds.

Ranjit Barot himself comes behind the mike for 'Aashiyan' with Shreya Ghoshal scoring a hat trick. Written by Mehboob, the song is a soft romantic number with an Indi-pop feel to it. In fact those who love Indi-pop genre would simply freak out on 'Aashiyan' but for those who have been bred on 'pyaar-mohabbat-Bollywood-ishtyle-music' would need some time for the track to grow. Continuous use of guitar throughout the song is of the kind that one hears so often in the pop numbers! Though the track by itself has been sung in a slow and subtle manner, it is the musical arrangement that gives it a racy appeal. That's the reason one is hardly surprised to see an even more entertaining 'Remix' version by DJ Nasha to come up towards the end. Thankfully the remix never turns loud and maintains the essence of the number.

Neelesh Misra written 'Tu Hai Bhatakta Jugnu Koyi' may not have the kind of lyrics that would attract the hoi polloi by dozens due to a classy feel, but it is Shreya Ghoshal's seductive appeal that pulls the number through. A soft melodious number with music by Nandini Srikar and Ranjit Barot that completely rests itself on Shreya's vocals, it is situational but should get some fire igniting on screen when played. There is an English chorus in the background that should have some impact when the number appears on screen.

First song in the album that doesn't feature Shreya Ghoshal is the dance track 'Move With My Body' that has a mix of Hindi and English lyrics. When Dominique Cerejo croons a track then one can be sure that it is going to be a highly westernized track. That indeed is the case as this song by Neelesh Misra is full of rhythm and attitude. Great choreography is the call of the moment as it can elevate the effect of the song exponentially. Expect a passionate outing with 'Move With My Body'.

Graph of 'Holiday' continues to show an upward trend with 'Raqs Kar Le' that is a treat for all Shaan fans. Just like most of the tracks of 'Holiday', even 'Raqs' has an Indi-pop feel to it. One of the best tracks of the album so far, even this number has a mention of 'aasmaan' [is it intentional?]. There is a brief interlude by a female voice also but there isn't any mention about the artist on the album cover. The track [as most of Shaan songs] has a campus feel to it and would be identified by youth instantaneously.

Such is the effect of all the tracks in the album so far that one expects nothing less than good from the remaining songs of 'Holiday' too. the song that follows, 'Tauba', needs to be heard extremely carefully to catch its various nuances. Rendered by Ranjit Barot, 'Tauba' is a painful number that runs on an extremely slow pace and gets into a retrospection mood. Written by Mehboob, it is a difficult composition to be created and hats off to Ranjit Barot for playing the dual role of composer-singer effectively. There is a faint sound of flute accompanying the song throughout and makes you go along with the song's flow. A good situational piece!

In the end comes the 'Salsa' piece 'Sound Of The Future' that is as authentic as it can get and should look quite good on screen. Ranjit Barot and Caralisa Monteiro come together for this passionate piece that should definitely turn out to be one of the highlights of the movie.

'Holiday' is truly an unconventional Bollywood musical score that scales new boundaries. Hats off to Pooja Bhatt, Ranjeet Barot, Neelesh Misra and Mehboob for coming with a score that brings with it a new sound. Don't be surprised if this becomes a hot 'Lounge' favorite soon!