Film: Darling  Cast: Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol, Isha Koppikar, Kota Shrinivas Rao, Zakir Hussain, Promodini, Upendar Limaye, Ritwik, Pubali Sanyal, Mukesh Bhatt, Shishir Sharma, Raghvendra Sharda  Produced by: Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar Directed by: Ram Gopal Varma Music: Pritam 

Lyrics: Sameer

Rating: 1.5/5 Though he adjudged that plagiarism is no big deal, it hurts one’s ear when it becomes too obvious. Lately Pritam has been in news for giving hits like Dhoom 2 and Life in a Metro; with Darling, it’s easy to judge what exactly has been done with the music. The special composition by Himesh Reshammiya, ‘Tadap tadap’ will make you want to break your music system and much more. Himesh has sung the song in his extreme shrill voice and his ‘oooooooing’ is sure to push you to the last level of frustration. You will experience twice the frustration as before when you hear Tulsi Kumar crooning her bit in Himesh’s style. And the music is faintly similar to that of Aap Ki Khatir. While you try to recover from the ‘Tadap tadap’ disaster, ‘Aa Khushi Se Khudkhushi Kar Le’ starts playing. The initial tones of Punjabi music will give you a sense of relief, but once the lyrics start flowing in, you realize it’s not an original piece of work. The English bits of this song have been picked from international pop artist Fergie’s track London Bridge. And the English lyrics will certainly make you frown. You will like the music in intervals, but before you give it a serious thought the lyrics will instantaneously change your mind. The only good thing about this song is the way Sunidhi Chauhan sings Aa Khushi Se Khudkhushi Kar Le. ‘Saathiya’ is the only soothing and melodious track in this album. With Adnan Sami’s impacted voice the lyrics by Sameer sound even more beautiful. Tulsi Kumar does a good job by giving that oomph effect to her voice.  ‘Hasaye bhi rulaye bhi’ is another soft song and Shaan’s magical voice manages to make this one sound different. Tulsi Kumar complements his voice. The music is balanced well with lyrics. ‘Akele Tanha’ sounds like one of those archetypal mid-nineties tracks with lyrics of sadness. Then in some bits it sounds like a song from Raaz, lyrics of vengeance. Tulsi Kumar’s thin voice suits the situational song. ‘Awaaz Koi’ has all the special effects sounds to be slotted as the perfect horror song. It has the Ram Gopal Varma flavour and has been sung really well by Priyadarshini. The lyrics are apt and have been weaved in well. The music is a detailed work and is an amalgamation of various sounds.  The album has a fleet of remixed versions. Starting of with ‘Aa Khushi se khudkhusi karle’, the remix is a level above the original. It’s fast and peppy and will leave you grooving on the floor. Some bits of ‘I see you baby’ have been lifted. How much ever one digitalizes a disastrous track, there are very little hopes from the same. Tadap Tadap’s remix has nothing great to offer, as the voice is overpowering the music.  There is no major difference between Saathiya’s original version and the first remixed one. The other is like just another remix and doesn’t offer anything great. Since the song is sung well, it leaves one with no complains.  Hasaye Bhi Reulaye Bhi’s remix has good beats and spruces up the original.  An assortment of 11 tracks, of which five are remixed versions of the original, some are far from being average, some are bearable, while only one or two will make you groove. This album is not recommended. Buy it at your own risk.