Chennai Express Music Review

Expectations, expectations and more expectations! And why not? Shahrukh Khan is back in an out an out commercial masala movie after a span of 6 years – his last being the blockbuster ‘Om Shanti Om’ in 2007. Coincidentally, Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express shares the same leading actors and music directors with ‘Om Shanti Om’. The movie has been in news ever since the theatrical trailer released with a hurricane-like response.

With music CDs all set to hit stands today, the curiosity level is sky-high. Vishal-Shekhar have worked with SRK in ‘Om Shanti Om’ and ‘Ra.One’ while they also composed music for the first part of ‘Golmaal’ directed by Rohit Shetty. Let’s enter into the musical coach of ‘Chennai Express’ and review its album which will be released at an event today.

1) One Two Three Four: Undoubtedly, the South Indian impact on Hindi Cinema has reached its peak in the last few years. Along with the success of countless remake movies, songs like ‘Dhinka Chika’, ‘Kolavari Di’ or ‘Chintata Chita’ have topped popularity charts. ‘One Two Three Four’ is completely on the lines of a typical south Indian dance number filled with high octane beats and Tamil rap. Vishal himself lends his voice and joins Hansika Iyer to provide eclectic vocals. Lyrics live up to song’s intention – ‘Talk Less Dance More’ (3/5)

2) Titli: Any Shahrukh starrer is incomplete without a genuine love melody. Easily the best song of the album, ‘Titli’ has been sung magically by Chinmayi and Gopi. The Tamil chorus reminds of SRK’s ‘Jiya Jale’ from Dil Se. Vishal-Shekhar boast of this uncanny knack of churning out genuine unadulterated melodies. Lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya and leading lady Deepika Padukone are having the time of their lives with this album coming right after the mega success of ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’. (4/5)

3) Tera Rasta Main Chhodoon Na: While ‘Titli’ is a slow paced track, ‘Tera Rastaa’ is a fast moving tune crooned by Amitabh Bhattacharya along with Anusha Mani. This is a refreshing track with no reference to southern musical compositions. Lyrics are average. Signature tune of ‘Titli’ comes during the end and elevates the tempo further. (3/5)

4) Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari: Singer of the year Arijit Singh joins Sunidhi Chauhan and Neeti Mohan to lend vocals for a cute dance track ‘Kashmir Main, Tu Kanyakumari’. The Vishal-Shekhar musical arrangements have the capability to grow further once depicted on screen. (2.5/5)

5) Ready Steady Po: Vishal Dadlani comes behind the mic again with a bunch of rappers for this thematic track. The number is highly situational and may fit well in the movie. Music directors have focused more on high octane techno beats. (2/5)

6) Chennai Express: The legendary S.P. Balasubramaniam returns with the title track of Chennai Express! His voice has always been a treat to hear and even at the age of 67 the freshness of vocals remains the same. The tune composed by Vishal-Shekhar is addictive and lyrics are praise-worthy. Jonita Gandhi provides the female vocals. The title track is worthy of repeated hearings. Chartbuster! (3.5/5)

As album fillers, we have ‘Titli Dubstep Version’ and a mashup of all the songs titled as ’Chennai Express Mashup’. Remixing and arranging has been cleverly done in mashup song which makes it worth a listen.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

In terms of music this is the best amongst all Rohit Shetty’s movies. Although his films are not known for great music, he has the ability to churn out blockbusters at will. His last 2 films joined the elite 100 crore club. Going by the stature of the movie, it is going to witness the largest release worldwide this Eid and all the existing box-office records are practically in real danger. Get On The Train Baby!

Review by Abhishek Sharma (tweets @abhu_sharma)

Advertisements

42 Comments

  • i’d like to give it a 4 star , the album is very good to ears and versatile too…..kashmir mein tu kanyakumari is not a 2.5..it is way better song

  • songs are below average and boring…looks like another below average movie coming from SRK..Lean phase continues…Expectations were very high – but result is very bad

  • u r the best @indicine.always love ur reviews.but i think 1234 does not deserve equal rating to Tera Rasta Chodu na.the later is nowhere in comparison to “1234”
    overall gud review!

  • This must be the worst music album of SRK in recent years…

    The title track sucks big time…

    The item number is just pathetic..

    Only song that i like is Titli,,,

    rest are just waste…

    This album is even worst than JTHJ

  • @ Indicine: At 3 star, do you want us to board the Train or wait till Independence Day to have a look into the great masala flick once again doobara.

    One thing I must confess, though I am not an SRK fan, but I did love some of his movies, as far as Rohit Shetty is concerned, I did not like any of his movies apart from Golmaal 2.

  • I agree
    it is totaly masala album not great as ra.1 , jthj, oso but also not bad as the usual masala albums,

    I am in love with titli tera rasta, and CE ,

    I loved all the album’s music, its full of energy and all music kinds, romance, dance, disco, dj remix, funny dance , it is so colorful album, but as i said not great like the past ones, it is average one except titli, tera raste and CE Title they were superb.

    My review
    3/5 To the album if i compared it with SRK’s last albums,

    7/5 if i compared it with rohit last albums and the other songs which i heard and will be released also on aug :D

  • Kashmir main tu kanyakumari will sound way better once its video promo comes out…. it heavily depends on picturisation! Anyways nice review .

  • all songs will be hit. It takes time to grow on you… the best album of the year,gonna collect 215 cr. MARK MY WORD….

  • I know Rohit Shetty’s movie r nt knwn for chartbuster music but theyalways have great tile tracks.and decent songs e.g- Singham,Golmal 1,2,3..,

  • I had posted my review at a different page. But i thought that it should be published here, too. So i am giving the excerpts of my that comment below :

    Well it is an average album.But i think they have designed it while keeping the masala genre into their mind . In fact, in whole album , there is a shadow of southern tones, which is probably the effect of southern background of the movie. Let’s have a snapshot :
    1. 1234 : This dance number has a full impact of southern tone on it. The southern rap makes it like as we are listening a song from any Tamil or Kannad movie. The only reason i guess for this song is to make the audiences familiar with the background.
    2. Titli : This song has a full flavor of south. Even they chose the singers (i.e. Chinmayi sripaada and Gopi sundar), who can make it possible so that it sounds like a slow south song.
    3. Tera Rasta Chodun na : One of my fav song from this album. Actually , it seems like a romantic song, but Vishal Shekhar Duo has made it fast to fit it into a masala flick.
    4. Kashmir to Kanyakumari : Funny , but looks promising. I think , when we will watch its video , then we will enjoy it more than any other song of CE.
    5. Ready steady Po : I think it’s the loop hole of this album. There is nothing good in this song. Only a well picturized video can save it.
    6. Title song : I have enjoyed it more than 1234 and ready steady PO. I think they should have made it the item number with Priyamani .
    So, Music album of CE is average. May be, due to masala genre, they are bound to create such album. But the storyline and impact of CE has to be great if it has to do some decent business and to ensure a long run on BO.

  • here it is my opinion,
    If you love funny and dance songs u have 1234 and kashmir main , If u love romantic songs u have titli and tera rasta, if u love dj tybe or disco music u have ready steady po, finally if u want nice and different song so close to spanish music u have channia express.

    Realy so colorful album it has every thing,
    I loved it so much .

    My fav are titli, tera rasta, ce title.

  • Ce music is the best album amoung all rohit shetty films. But as compare to srk starer film its a above agerage. We expect more from vishal and sheker. But the album is very good for a massala film and its success. But yes sajid wajid is the best for massala films. Good review by indicine, titli is a key of the album, no doubt the album is better than ouatid.
    Its very clear now ce was made in strong content. A lovestory with lots of comedy and action. Now i am 100% sure ce col more than 200cr. When an average content film yjhd did 190cr plus releasing in a non holiday. Only bad wom affect ce business which looks impossible. So there will be a heigh chance for ce to cross 200cr mark.

  • Well,vishal-shekhar are my fav composers.so i had expected a little more than it. .
    If we compare ce album with veer zara,oso,rnbdj,mnik and even jthj album,then ce songs are nothing.but still i like some songs.
    If i will rank them ,then it will be-

    1.titli:this song is just amazing.the humming tone is giving a heavenly feeling.the female singer in it has a soft and sweet voice.the entry of male voice as well as the quality of his voice is awesome.it sounds really sweet.4.5/5

    2.title track:i greatly enjoyed the song. .this song has a fragrance of vishal-shekhar composition.4/5

    3.one two three four:enjoyable song.but could have been better.3.5/5

    4.kasmir mein tu kanyakumari:nice.arijit singh part is awesome.but sunidhi and neeti mohan part could have been better.so though it sounds good,but the sunidhi chauhan craze is missing due to the composition.3.3/5

    5.tera rasta chodoon na/meherbani:lyrics is awesome.but the composition disappointed me.so 2.5/5
    6.ready steady po:not heard yet. .

    Conclusion:singer selection-perfact
    lyrics-awesome
    composition-could have been a little better though vishal-shekhar are my favs. .

  • @ King … let me assure you that the story line will be great… don’t know y but i getting this so called ‘feeling’ after looking @ the trailer and stills .. As far as music is concerned “Kashmir and Titli” Good rest all are average… So first day 1st show? hmm

  • ohh … Srk fans … Ha ha ha . Class lover srkians where is your class .. Ha ha ha . Not even 1 song of them should be called as good song . All songs are bellow average , acting of srk and deepika nothing more than overacting … All srkians knew about that… But kya karenge aadat se jo majboor hai … ‘DOGGLE’ jo hai.

  • Just listened the’ready steady po’.. .again disappointment. .
    Vishal-shekhar’s other youthful songs like disco deewane,vele,radha were awesome. .but this one is truely bad. .though i am a big fan of vishal and shekhar.

  • @Vek. Dude, i have been watching all SRK movies first day first day since last 6 years. So, definitely CE will be my obvious choice on 8th Aug. And thanks for your assurance , but even in the case, if story line will be weak, still i will be the one to watch it’s first day first show. I don’t need any kind of review to watch an SRK starer movie. Not because i am over confident that his all movies will have an excellent script, but because he has done such an excellent job in past , that now it won’t affect me , if the story line is weak or songs are poor. I will remain a loyal SRK fan till my last breath.

  • indicine team, you showed your true colours by praising this kind of album and giving it 3 stars. woww hats off to your judging skills. and srk fans……its better if i say nothing to them coz they will praise whatever their star offers them without any complain. if po po had been a song of chennai express, then the same srk fans would have called it class song. indicine, this is not fair, you lost all my faith. if you rate this kind of bizzare album 3 stars, then what more can i say.

    • @r20, if the same ‘po po’ was a Chennai Express song, you wouldnt like it either. So why blame others?

      If you dont agree with the review, you’re free to post your own review.

  • Review is good .. Album is fine but not great .. I hope Abhishek Sharma has written the review as per the format, not sure though

  • i think the music album of ce is awesome and we ll enjoy it with situations…now those who r calling this album r the one, who r expecting “suraj hua madhham”, “abi mujme kahi” ,”mai yeha hoon yeha” etc frm a masala flick…actually these guys have enjoyed even more cheaper songs frm the muvis of their respective stars,but nw they r pretending as saints like we r unaware of their choices..lol..
    I m totally agree wid indicine that when they do then its alright, but when others do, then they used to complaint..such a duble standard.

  • Yeh music review hai but why does the reviewer behave like a srk-obsessed teen girl towards the end! :P

  • @indicine:how is my music review in my last comment? ?please tell your opinion about it and dont ignore . .

Leave a Comment