Salman Khan is making news. The guy who has seen multiple successes in the form of Tere Naam, Baghban, Garv and most recently Mujhse Shaadi Karogi will be having two more back-to-back releases in the shape of ' Phir Milenge ' and now ' Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa '. Interestingly with DNJAK, Salman Khan comes back full circle as the same team of 'Tere Naam' - presenter Gautam Kumar and producers Mukesh Talreja and Sunil Manchanda - is behind this project as well. Small time actor Atull Agnihotri ( Sir, Aatish, 'Hum Tumhare Hai Sanam ) makes his debut as a director while a bevy of simple beauties - Preity Zinta, Bhoomika Chawla and Ria Sen - are the leading ladies. A thought that comes to mind is that whenever Salman Khan and Preity Zinta come together there is always a third angle to the love story - be it Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega or Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (with Rani Mukherjee) and now DNJAK (Bhoomika). Himesh Reshammiya, who won multiple awards for his soulful melodies in ' Tere Naam ' composes again while A. R. Rahman too pitches in with three tracks. Sameer and Mehboob write. Inspite of a hit team behind the movie and a top star cast, surprisingly the making of the film has been very low profile with practically zero buzz!

        Rahman launches the title track that is sung amazingly well by the lead singers Sujata Trivedi and Kamaal Khan. Sujata is a new voice and impresses with her opening rendition that concentrates completely on the vocals and the melody. There are no frills, beats or supporting orchestra that may threaten to take away from the song. Kamaal Khan makes his entry towards the latter half of the song and makes an instant impact with his subdued vocals. A touchy number, it is a slow moving composition that is well crafted, lyrics by Mehboob are worthy while the melody is of memorable kinds. This track will be lapped up by Salman fans.

         Follows next a ' shaadi byah ' celebrations track ' Bindiya Chamakne Lagi ' composed by Himesh Reshammiya, written by Sameer and sung by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik. Picturised on Salman Khan, Bhoomika Chawla and Ria Sen, it has a traditional look and feel and should be liked by those who crave for such feel good music. In all the number is nothing spectacular or extraordinary but does well for the situation. Average!

        Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik come together for Himesh Reshammiya's lilting melody ' Yeh Dil To Mila Hai '. Though the number is not exceptional again, it is soothing and makes for a quite and simple hearing. There is distinct Himesh's touch throughout the number and is a positive sign for Himesh as his style is getting the recognition that he rightly deserves.

        Album cover displays an instrumental ' Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha' by Himesh Reshammiya and it comes across as a surprise. This is because one wonders how can one person (Rahman) compose an entire song while another composer (Himesh) take credit for the instrumental of the same? The question is answered when one hears the tune because it is completely different from the song and is not an instrumental of the original, as the trend is. An altogether different instrumental, it is again based on melody. An average track, it is short and doesn't leave much of an impact.
 

        ' Meri Nas Nas Mein Tum Ho ' begins with the words ' Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha ' and is sung by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik while Jayesh provides the background vocals. Composed by Himesh and written by Sameer, it is again a love song with balance tilting towards melody. A simple song, as has been the flow of the album throughout, it doesn't disappoint and follows the same trend as did the songs in ' Tere Naam '.

 Rahman makes reappearance after a long break with a soft number ' Zindagi Hai Dua ' sung by five singers (!) - Madhushree, Pamela Jain, Gayatri, Kartik and Raquib. A good number about to 'How to live life to the fullest and thank God for making it worth living', in spite of it bearing a philosophical theme, it doesn't drag and is entertaining. A number that should do well in the situation where it is played!

        Sadhana Sargam who has been getting some of the best songs in the recent times (most recently ' Aao Na ' from Kyun Ho Gaya Naa ), sings ' Jaane Bahara ' with Kamaal Khan, composed by Rahman. One of the best tracks of the album, it is melodious yet foot tapping; soft yet catchy! There is a distinct Rahman touch throughout the song and the number turns out to be very humable.

        With 6-7 soft tracks in a row, the album ends on a rocking note with ' Go Balle Balle '. After a recent bhangra pop track ' Aaja Ve Mahi Let's Do Balle Balle ' from ' Fida ', it's Salman's turn to do a jig here. This tune by Himesh is sung by K.K, Alisha Chinoy and has background vocals by Jayesh. The number starts off in a sober way but soon catches momentum and goes full throttle. Couple of minutes into the song and you are bound to remember ' Soniye Tu Soni ' from Salman's ' Garv '. Call it the similarity in the tune or the style that is associated with 'bhangra pop'. Nevertheless the situation is different in both because while ' Soniye ' was a marriage celebrations track, ' Balle Balle ' is more of a dance floor number. This catchy number should be lapped up the youngsters if presented well.

        The first question that comes in mind after the album is through is  - Will the numbers turn out to be as big hits as in ' Tere Naam '? No, that may not be the case. But will be the songs be liked? Yes, they will be. One, because of the star power of Salman Khan, two, because of some above average to good tunes in the album that go with the mood and three, because of aggressive publicity by T-Series, who are famous for ensuring that even mediocre products make profits, let alone an album that anyways has enough to survive on it's own!

        DNJAK is not that memorable that it becomes a must for your music collection. But it is still a nice album that you may want to hear for some time.

    Rating: ** ½

By Joginder Tuteja, Aug 10th, 2004