Gharwali Baharwali (1998)

Love in Tokyo Love in Simla and now.... Love in Nepal....!!! Last Hindi movie that was shot in a major way in Nepal was probably David Dhawan's Gharwali Baharwali starring Anil Kapoor, Raveena Tandon and Rambha. The movie, which was a triangle love story cum comedy didn't create much ripples at the box office. But the publicity so far projects LIN to be genuinely different, as it says : 'Dangerous Can Be Fun'. Supposed to be a thriller woven around a love story, this has Sonu Nigam making his second full fledged attempt at acting after Kaash....Aap Hamaare Hote !! (We can ignore Jaani Dushman though !!) Though he was reasonably well in KAHH, the low key publicity of the movie, average music and medium production values made the movie barely visible when it got released. LIN, which is produced by TP Agarwal (Bharat Bhagya Vidhaata) and directed by Rajat Mukherjee (Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, Road) tells a different story all-together as it has gloss (why not? When the movie marks the debut of three beautiful girls - Fllora Saini, Sweta Keswani, Jharna Bajracharya), boasts of some good enough locales and the production values, and the MUSIC....well, we will be talking about it now !!! Vishal Shekar, who are slowly, but VERY steadily making a mark for themselves in all the recent movies for which they have composed (Kaante, Jhankaar Beats, Supari) do it again with the solo song offered to them - 'Bolo Kya Khayal Hai'. A very rhythmic number, it is sung very well by Sonu Nigam and he does full justice in acting well to his own song as well. Sunidhi Chauhan is very-very effective and sounds really cute in the only line that she sings in the entire number (though repeatedly i.e. 'Mujhko Tumse Pyaar Hai !!). Yes, the number by Sameer does revolve again about 'Pyaar' and 'Ishq', but Thank God !!, the packaging is much better that time. Or should we say Thanks to Vishal Shekar. Nevertheless, a hummable and a very catchy number, the instrumental of which is equally good. Then there are two numbers in which Anu Malik makes a 'Very Special Appearance' !! Don't worry, this one is strictly in the studio !! He composes two tracks - 'Mushkil Hai' and the title song 'Love In Nepal'. Needless to say, since both the songs have a male voice, they are sung by Sonu Nigam. The former is already a regular on all the music channels and is fast climbing up the charts. Don't know, whether the song has enough steam to be at the top for months to come, but then again, there is a 'instant coffee' association with this number as it is definitely going to do well for itself for some days to come !! A pop track, which is also featured as an instrumental, it is pretty lively due to some good choreography, Sonu's energy and decent cinematography that gives the number a very polished glossy look. Again, a number, where you expect people NOT to go for a break in the theatre !! The title track is again a rhythmic number that is effective again as it stands out like any other title track. A duet by Sonu Nigam and Sapna Mukherjee (whose selectivity is paying these days !!), it may not be sung by everyone as the approach of the number is mainly towards beats, rhythm and chorus, it still does well in holding your attention. A good title track in the past few weeks !! Then there are three songs composed by Sonu's favorite Nikhil Vinay (or is it the other way round ?!!) - 'Ek Anjaan Ladki', 'Katra Katra' and 'Sutta Maar Le'. A point to be noted - all the three songs belong to different genres and mood !! Whereas 'Ek Anjaan..' is mainly a romantic number in the mould of Sonu's earlier numbers from the albums 'Deewana', 'Jaan' and 'Yaad' (we can't help referring any of the Sonu's love songs to these albums !!), 'Katra Katra' need not to be compared with the evergreen namesake sung by Asha ji from Pancham Da's classic 'Ijazat'. This one is a high voltage seduction number sung excellently by Sunidhi Chauhan that is bound to get the temperatures soaring in the theatre. A good song, taking into the consideration the genre it belongs to, it is bound to be one of the USPs of LIN for a section of the gentry. Lastly, we mention about 'Sutta Maar Le' by Sonu and Hema Sardesai, which hopefully is not aimed at being yet another 'Dum Maaro Dum' from 'Hare Krishna Hare Raam'. Though 'Sutta' has been given prominence in even the centre-spread of the album cover, it somehow doesn't hit the bulls's eye !! A poppish number again, now all depends upon the way it is choreographed, as by the look of the things, it seems situational !! In all, LIN has got fair quantity of variety to keep one engrossed with the album. Though it doesn't get classified as a classic stuff (there have hardly been any such albums in recent times anyways), it is certainly exciting, energetic, youthful and peppy - something in the lines of 'Ishq Vishq'. Go for it, if you want to just hang around and have some great time pass !!