Music review: Dum Maaro Dum

Just the title of the film, Dum Maaro Dum, is enough to give anyone an idea about what the film is like. For those who haven’t seen the trailers, the thriller is about a drug mafia in Goa. But it seems the music is contrary to what you'd expect.Nikhil Hemrajani writes...

Just the title of the film,

Dum Maaro Dum

, is enough to give anyone an idea about what the film is like. For those who haven’t seen the trailers, the thriller is about a drug mafia in Goa.

With a story like this, you may have some expectations from the soundtrack. Movies even slightly similar in context like

Snatch

(2000),

Trainspotting

(1996) or even

Dev D

(2009) have all had definitive music.

That’s the big problem with

Dum Maaro Dum

. The soundtrack takes the opposite direction with regard to your expectations. Songs are mostly a mix of alternative rock and love ballads with lots of guitar riffs and leads thrown in.

Maybe director Rohan Sippy and music director Pritam were intentionally going against the flow and breaking convention. But this album doesn’t work in their favour.

The most interesting pieces are the first and fifth tracks,

Mit jaaye gham…

and

Thayn thayn…

respectively. The former borrows significant parts from the legendary RD Burman track

from the Dev Anand-Zeenat Aman classic,

Hare Rama Hare Krishna

(1971).

With Anushka Manchanda on vocals, the song uses a break-beat similar to the one in The Prodigy’s

Smack my bitch up…

The electronic bits are handled capably by Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale.

Thayn thayn…

ropes in Abhishek Bachchan who raps through most of the song. Interesting percussion and good mixing makes it an engaging and memorable listen. It’s the only song that somewhat matches the film’s rave-like image.

Songs like

Te amo…

and

Jiyein kyun…

– though the latter is sung well by Papon – pack in a standard alternative sound that is completely out of place in this compilation. An acoustic reprise of

Te amo…

by Mohit Chauhan is far better. With its intricate guitar strumming and tapping, it sounds like Jack Johnson without blindly aping him.

Overall, the soundtrack is a hit and a miss. It’s a letdown as the music isn’t as snazzy as you’d expect it to be, but certain tracks will make it worth your while.