Anamika
Venus, Rs 99
Anu Malik returns with a full score after almost 18 months. Nowhere near his best, Anamika is still worth a listen for its sheer stress on compositions rather than the current fad of over-importance on production (sound). One loved the twinkle-toed Aashiqui (Shaan) and the folksy but melodic punch of Aayo re (Sunidhi) (despite the mukhda’s passing resemblance to Chhore ki baatein from Fight Club). Saath (Anu-Sunidhi) is a trendy track and Laagee laagee (Krishna-Sunidhi) suffers only because at 6 minutes-plus it is overlong.
The lead track, Shagufta dil (Shaan) suffers from Shaan’s habitually poor pronunciation of dil as d-lllll. Wonder why composers do not correct poor diction nowadays?

Screen choice of the week
Dasavatharam (Tamil)
Sony-BMG, Rs 99
The first question we ask is - does Himesh deliver in a Tamil film? This is akin to the query that we asked when he turned actor. And the answer is the same - he does!
The Mumbai/Hindi/national flavour is of course there, but that’s a welcome flip from the South-based or the Western-heavy Hindi scores we get in overdrive from the rest of the music makers today. Yet the young composer also brings in a delectable South flavour in at least two tracks, Kallai mattum kandal (augmented by Hariharan’s zesty rendition) and that stunner of a devotional composition, Mukundha Mukundha Krishna Mukundha, rendered by Sadhana Sargam in a way that places her leagues ahead of every post-Mangeshkar singer. Kamal Haasan pitches in here with a gimmicky segment in the end.
The album starts off with the peppy Ulaga nayagan (Vinith), which incorporates the Why does it happen in love chunk of Himesh’s hit Makhna ve from Dil Maange More!!! But the song is fresh all the same.
Mahalakshmi Iyer, another standout vocal force, sings Oh ho… sanam, another fast-paced song with Kamal Haasan. It’s remix version has Himesh Reshammiya coming in Kamal’s place, and to his credit again, it’s a neat vocal job.
Finally, the ‘item’ number Kaa… karuppanukkum (Shalini Singh) - though lukewarm compared to the rest, it has an innovative structure and a different, placid groove.
The score prods two thoughts - one, that we hope that the Hindi version is as good and works in today’s era of vacuous songs, and two, when will Himesh come out of his self-imposed exile and do mainstream composing? Surely, he can continue to do outside films along with his acting vehicles?

Woodstick Villa
T-Series, Rs 145
The standout track here is Anu Malik’s Yeh pyaar hai (Aanchal Datta Bhatia-Shaan) - well-rendered, contemporary yet melodious (in film music, these terms are becoming almost antonymous today!), it also has interesting orchestration and texture. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s Koi chala jaa rahaa hai grows on you with more listens, but one feels that this song was more up Kailash Kher’s street of a higher soulfulness. Dhoka (Anchal) is a pleasant track, while Kyun (Aryans) is so-so and Saawan mein lag gayi aag (Mika) is an interesting re-creation of the Mika original by Anu Malik.