Music Review: Short Kut - The Con Is On

By: Mufsin Mahbub

Anil Kapoor‘s produced film "Short Kut - The Con Is On" stars Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi, and Amrita Rao in a comedy about the Bollywood industry. The music trio Shankar, Ehsaan, and Loy have been known for their music in many hit films like "Rock On" and "Taare Zameen Par." The music contains four original songs and two remixes. They have made the music for ‘Short Kut’ and it doesn’t seem like it’s their best work so far.

The first track, "Kal Nau Baje" is a melodious romantic number sung by Sonu Niigaam and Alka Yagnik. The soft music and vocals by the two experienced and talented singers are the great highlights of the song. It has the potential to stay with the listener even after the song is over.

Up next is "Kyun Hota Hai Dil Deewana" and it is sung by Javed Ali and Shreya Ghosal. The song has traces of qawalli music but it doesn‘t stand out. It’s foot-tapping and high beats has does appeal for some time, but it lacks in getting the interest throughout the whole song.

"Mareeze Mohabbat" has a fusion of rustic and western influences. It is different owing to its sudden break from Indian music to western and back to Indian during the course of the song. The track is sung by Sonu Nigam's sister Nikita Nigam along with Kirti Sagathia, Hrishikesh Kamerkar and composer Shankar Mahadevan. With touches of English rap mixed with Indian touches, the song does have a potential to impress the listener. The song also has a remixed version, making the already fast-paced song fit for the dance floor.

Finally, we have the title track of the film "Patli Gali," sung by Shankar Mahadevan. The song, which has a lot of distorted and electro beats, somehow lacks the punch and the quality to gain the attention of the listener. The remix version of the song does not help hype up the original.

The trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy always strengthens one's faith in good music as they aren’t afraid of experimenting. However, the composers have not gone that extra mile for the album of "Short Kut." With the exception for "Kal Nau Baje," I would give the album a one out of five because the music is not that bad, yet it is not as good as their earlier work.