'Short Kut...' not best work of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (IANS Music Review)

Film: 'Short Kut - The Con Is On'; Music Directors: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy; Lyricist: Javed Akhtar; Singers: Shankar Mahadevan, Shreya Ghosal, Javed Ali, Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik, Nikita Nigam, Kirti Sagathia and Hrishikesh Kamerkar; Ratings: **1/2

'Short Kut - The Con Is On' had everything going right for it - famous composers, best lyricist and talented singers like Alka Yagnik and Sonu Nigam going behind the mike. Yet the music of the film is not as interesting as one expected.

The soundtrack of the film - an Anil Kapoor production starring Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi and Amrita Rao - entails four originals and two remixes.

'Kal nau baje', a melodious romantic number, is crooned by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. Soft music and vocals by two experienced and talented singers are the high points 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's not very prominent. It's foot-tapping, high on beats and does appeal for some time but lacks in holding the interest for long. The lyrics are nothing extraordinary.

'Mareeze mohabbat', a fusion of rustic and western influences, 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 Shankar Mahadevan. With touches of English rap interlinked 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 Shanker Mahadevan. The song, which has psychedelic and electronic beats in abundance, somehow lacks the punch and the quality to garner the attention of the listener. The song has lyrics which are quite unlike Javed Akhter's work.

The remix version of the song does no good for the original.

Compositions by the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy always reinforce one's faith in good music as they don't shy away from experimenting. However, the composers have not gone that extra mile for the album of ' Short Kut - The Con Is On'. The music is not bad, yet it is not as good as their earlier work.