The production revolution that has swept Bollywood in recent years has included the music as well. The once trademark screeching violins and raga-based compositions have been replaced by 21st century loops, beats, distorted guitars and rap.
It has its pros and cons, depending on which side of the fence you are looking at it from.
If Rang De Basanti was part of the first generation of that new Bollywood sound, the music of Chak De! India is the second generation.
The Yash Raj Film's offering stars Shah Rukh Khan as the coach of the Indian women's hockey team. As the mentor, Kabir Khan (SRK) moulds a rag-tag bunch of girls into a fighting unit that has its eyes set on being the world champions.
It's an ambitious premise, given the fate of India's national game and the neglect sports has suffered at Bollywood's hands. Nagesh Kukunoor's Iqbal was a glorious exception -- a movie as touching as it was inspiring. But then, that was about a game that is a national obsession.
However, if the music of the film is any indication, Chak De has the ingredients to appeal to the younger crop of moviegoers.
The soundtrack -- by Salim-Sulaiman, one of the most underrated music-maker duos in the business -- is as spiffy, peppy and young as a film trying to inspire a young India should be.
The album starts with Chak De! India, sung by Sukhvinder Singh, Salim Merchant and Marianne D'Cruz. And it sets the tone for the soundtrack, with programmed grooves laced with some nice sarangi and shehnai. It's the kind of electronic bhangra we are now used to, having heard soundtracks like Dus and Dhoom.
The second track Badal Pe Paon Hai straight-ahead chick-rock (pardon the apparent sexism, but there is no other way to define it) injected with some rock n' roll. You can almost see the dressing room dances. If you're wondering what a dressing room dance is, ask Sreesanth.
Next up is Ek Hockey Doongi Rakh Ke, what seems like the title track for the movie. It starts with a rather cheesy rap by Shah Rukh -- nothing wrong with his voice, just the words are rather funny -- and goes into a sort of introduction of the team, with a bit of national introduction thrown in into the lyrics, sung by the gang of girls, KK, and SRK.
Bad Bad Girls, sung by Anushka Manchanda, is up next, an 1980s-rock-meets-break-beats song that will surely find favour with discotheque DJs.
Then comes the best song of the album, Maula Mere Le Le Meri Jan, sung very well by Krishna and Salim Merchant. The lovely melody is backed superbly by the loop-sprinkled arrangement.
The sixth track, a remix of Hockey by the Medival Punditz, is everything an electronic remix should be.
And the finale is Sattar Minute, the coach's pre-final dressing room speech, dipped in some sweet strings in the background.
The bottom line: Don't be surprised if you hear Chak De's music blasting from car and nightclub speakers soon. For old-schoolers: Sorry, but it seems this new Bollywood sound is here for a while.
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