Lets start out with some honorable mentions. Songs I liked, but not enough to make my list. And, I will admit, I wanted to put more Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi songs on the top 10 list, but I figure that’s because the songs are so new. So, I’m restraining myself.

Honorable Mentions – Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta, Dance Pe Chance (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), Rock On!!, Socha Hai (Rock On!!), Mannata (Heroes), Tu Meri Dost Hai (Yuvvraaj), Zara Sa (Jannat), Talli (Ugly Aur Pagli), Move Your Body, Bakhuda Tumhi Ho remix (Kismat Konnection), Jaane Kyun, Maa Da Laadla remix (Dostana), Dil Haara, Tashan Mein (Tashan), Bachna Ae Haseeno, Aahista Aahista (Bachna Ae Haseeno)

Ok, on to the list:

10. Mit Jaaye [Kidnap]

Imran isn’t really convincing as a bad boy, especially after Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, but he looks quite good in this video. I love the song, though it’s a bit faster on the album than in this video, and the singer sounds different.

09. Khwab Dekhe [Race]

One of my guilty pleasures of 2008. I constantly complain about English lyrics, and this song includes “Sexy lady, makes me crazy, be my baby, give me all your lovin now…”. Definition of cheezy, yet the song is so damn catchy that I listen anyway. Damn Pritam and his catchiness.

08. Haule Haule [Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi]

I didn’t like this song when I first heard it, but it grew on me. Really nice song, great singing by Sukhwinder. Such a different song from what we’ve been getting lately.

07. Khuda Jaane [Bachna Ae Haseeno]

Such a gorgeous song. Vishal Shekhar prove that they are not all about rock. They can make a beautiful love song as well. This song has a haunting quality about it. KK is just perfect. Shilpa Rao’s voice becomes a bit jarring during her voice, you can’t completely understand what she sings. But overall, lovely.

06. Sinbad The Sailor [Rock On!!]

The video really makes this song. I liked it just from the soundtrack, but the video makes it so much fun. Watching Farhan run around the stage and sing his heart out, the crowd everywhere, and Arjun making his appearance. Also love the slow-down at the end, with ‘Tum Ho Toh’. Nice ending to a great song.

05. Tu Hai Meri Soniye [Kismat Konnection]

More English. But not bad. It works. More Pritam catchiness. And Shahid dancing. Can’t beat that.

04. Kabhi Kabhi Aditi [Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na]

Didn’t like initially. Gave it another try, and it shot to the top of my most played list. It’s short and sweet, doesn’t go on too long, and Rashid Ali’s voice is really nice, I hope we hear more of him. Too bad it’s a song about a cat.

03. Jogi Mahi [Bachna Ae Haseeno]

I love love this song. I love hearing Shekhar sing, I love the beat, Sukhwinder makes his appearance, and Himani Kapoor sounds wonderful in her part. She should get more songs like this, it really suits her voice. And aww at Kunal in his turban.

02. Desi Girl [Dostana]

This is such a fun song. An instant hit. Shankar’s voice works perfectly for songs like this. The dancing in the video is kinda weird, but probably because they had to cater to John’s skills. Hehe poor guy. But overall an awesome song.

01. Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte [Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi]

No video for this yet, so it’s just a random pics in the above video. I absolutely adore this song. It’s so creative, being able to mix old tunes together into a whole new tune is no easy task. Salim-Suleman seem to do it effortlessly. It all seams together so well. And Sonu just brings a whole new element to the song. The singer does make a big difference, I think only Sonu could have pulled this off so good. The picturization will surely be a treat.

So, there we go. Coming soon, Top 10 Soundtracks of 2008 and, after RNBDJ and Ghajini release, Top 10 Movies of 2008. That may be pushed in to 2009, b/c Ghajini releases so late.

BTW, my thoughts and prayers go out to all those families who have been affected by the senseless attacks in Mumbai. RIP to those who lost their lives for no reason, and I pray for those injured to get better soon.

You have to go in not expecting a Jab We Met. That movie was made with its dialogues. KiKo doesn’t have many great conversations in it, but that doesn’t make it a bad movie. I’m going to use the old cliche, and say it was really good timepass. When you start watching, you’re completely into the movie. Maybe because they used the best intro ever. Shahid in the shower. Can it get much better? And it’s not even a split second scene. He’s in there for a good minute, and even after, he walks around without his shirt. Can’t get much better for a Shahid fangirl.

Ok, getting past all the superficial stuff, it’s an enjoyable movie. The ’story’ unfolds, we meet Hiten (Vishal Malhotra as his joyful self), we meet Priya, we meet Priya’s boyfriend. Of course, boy loves girl, girl loves other boy, other boy does something bad, girl loves first boy, happy ever after.

Aziz could have changed the names. Raj and Priya? Please. Use some fresh names Aziz, not the exact ones you used in your last movie.

Up until the release, we heard about how the Shahid/Vidya pair wouldn’t work, Vidya looks too old for him, blah blah. Well honestly, I thought they looked pretty good together. Vidya didn’t look too old for Shahid in my opinion. Shahid’s looks have really matured, so I think they looked great.

*Spoilers ahead*

One of my favorite scenes was the one on the boat, when Priya finally decides she loves Raj. The whole “he has to be this tall” thing, and then Priya standing on the railing to check Raj out, and then the adorable little hug, awwww. It was the perfect way to play out the scene IMO.

There are a lot of unanswered questions. Where were Raj’s parents, and why was he living in such a big house if he had no job? On the same line, where were Priya’s parents? Two tiny scenes about the parents for each would have been helpful. How does everyone in Toronto know Hindi? I wish someone would take the time to look at these things, because it seems to happen in every movie. Everyone you talk to knows Hindi, like it’s become the universal language.

The dubbing seemed a bit off to me as well. Maybe it was just me, can anyone confirm? Sometimes they characters mouths were moving before the words were even said, which gets annoying.

Shahid and Vishal are great together. They seem so comfortable with each other, and this shows on screen. I think it’s the first time they are working together again after Ishq Vishq, and I hope to see them together more often.

The supporting characters really stand out, especially Himani Shivpuri as Om Puri’s wife. She was hilarious every time she was on the screen. Om Puri was barely there, but he was good. That new guy, Dev, kinda creeped me out though. Maybe it was his hair or something, but whenever he was in a scene, I looked elsewhere. He did a good job acting though, I think he comes in a TV serial.

Priya’s boyfriend was shady from the first time you see him, so you know something would happen with him. Boman’s role was short but sweet. Juhi was really cute, but at times, a bit weird. I liked seeing her again, but the role seems a bit beneath her. I guess it was a favor for a friend.

Very nice hearing SRK’s voice to the voice-over at the beginning.

One thing that really bothers me is the choreographers used for Shahid’s movies. The man can dance, and he can do it very very well. Yet every time he’s dancing, the moves are so basic or stupid. Let Shahid dance. The moves in Aai Pappi were not bad, but in Soniye Ve and Move Your Body Now, they were just horrible. Like someone was choreographing for Amitabh Bachchan. And it happens all the time. Argh.

Aai Pappi’s picturization was nice, but it really came out of nowhere. Bakhuda was a rehash of Mitwa from KANK, Soniye Ve was an excuse to show off Shahid’s arms (I’m not complaining), and Move Your Body Now was an afterthought, because of the horrible clothes and dancing. Is This Love was ok, but the random blondes coming in to dance was…weird.

Overall, I really liked it. I’m sure Shahid had a lot to do with that. So, go in expecting nothing, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Music: Pritam (let’s play “Find the copied song”), Sajid-Wajid
Lyrics: Sayeed Quadri, Shabbir Ahmed
Label: Tips

01 – Aai Paapi (Tu Hai Meri Soniye) – Neeraj Shridhar – If you feelin me make some noise, ladies and gentleman raise your voice, na na nananan na na na na na nanana na na. Didn’t like this song when I first heard it in the promo, but that was mostly because of the English. That hook right there is very catchy now, I love it. And the song grew on me as well. Still don’t like the ‘rap’ in the middle, but oh well. Best song on the album. Can’t wait to see Shahid dance to the full song.

02 – Bakhuda Tumhi Ho – Atif Aslam – Atif Aslam’s song. Atif starts out great, but when he starts yelling, he doesn’t sound as good. It seems like he does that with a lot of his songs. Also, his voice doesn’t suit Shahid that well. I like Alka’s part, but I’m surprised she was used. Shreya might have been better. Overall, a nice song, but I don’t think it’s one I’d listen to over and over. Maybe I’ll like it more after seeing the movie.

03 – Move Your Body Now – Shaan, Suheil, Hard Kaur, Akriti Kakkar – Hard Kaur is everywhere now. She’s not bad, she’s just everywhere. I like this song, but I really hate the ‘party’, ‘naughty’, ‘freaky freaky raat’ parts. I hate when they emphasize the English. It would have flowed nicely without those words. Other than that, it’s a good song. I really love Akruti Kakkar’s part. She sounded great in ‘Dil Vich Lagiya Ve’ in Chup Chup Ke, and I wondered why she didn’t sing more. I love her voice.

04 – Is This Love (Kahin Na Lage) – Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal – With that title, you know where I’m headed. Noooo. Don’t use English when it doesn’t flow. The song is really good until we hit the chorus. “Is this love” could have been translated into Hindi. And sounded just as good. Mohit Chauhan sounds a lot like Kunal Ganjawala. Shreya sounds great. And here’s the copy from Pritam. Apparently the chorus is copied from an American song. It’s Pritam, we had to figure one song would be.

05 – Soniye Ve (Dhak Dhak Dhak) – Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan – Really disappointed with this one. I love Shahid in bhangra numbers, but this song is just not good. It has a major ‘Aaja Soniye’ hangover. It’s a run-of-the-mill Bollywood bhangra song with nothing new to offer. Hope the picturization is really good, because the song is below average. This is Sajid-Wajid’s only track. You can tell, it’s so different from the rest of the album.

The rest of the songs are repeats, another version of Move Your Body Now, a remix of the same, and remixes of all the other songs. The remixes I like the most are Aai Paapi, Move Your Body Now, Bakhuda Tumhi Ho.

Bakhuda Remix. Yum

Overall, it’s a decent album, but too much English used, which is usually my gripe with albums by Pritam.

Best song: Aai Paapi
Worst song: Soniye Ve

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars