Disappointingly underwhelming

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The word remix often strikes fear into the hearts of Bollywood music fans, terrified that an unknown DJ will have destroyed their favourite film tracks. With names such as Rishi Rich and Hunterz on the credits of The Streets of Bollywood 3, however, you could be forgiven for thinking that on this occasion things were in safe hands.

Unfortunately, it is partly this presumption that makes the album so disappointingly underwhelming. It begins promisingly, with It Can Only Be Love, Rishi Rich’s take on a Bollywood love song, ably assisted by Mumzy on added vocals, but things quickly deteriorate. Kami K’s lyrical contributions are entirely devoid of any imagination, Hunterz appears to have phoned in his performances without any effort or verve, and the eight tracks which are not produced by Rishi Rich seem to be little more than thudding RnB beats rather perfunctorily employed over Bollywood melodies.

The album sleeve rather annoyingly pays no tribute to the original composers of the tracks sampled, or the films from which they are taken – a definite faux pas if they are attempting to appeal to the Bollywood market, and also a mistake if they are attempting to open up Bollywood to the urban market.

The title of this album implies that the music producers have done something new and interesting with Bollywood favourites, to make them more accessible to an urban audience perhaps. Yet one soon longs to hear the original songs in their unadulterated forms. The only positive is the opening track, thanks to Rishi Rich’s unsurpassed ability for music production alongside Mumzy’s excellent voice. But in all honesty, any listener will find plenty of that on one of Rishi or Mumzy’s own albums.

Bollywood fans should stay well away from this compilation as they will most probably despair at the treatment some old classics and modern favourites have been given. Those wanting a more urban sound should look up some of Rishi Rich’s earlier remix work, which far outshines this poor effort.

One can only hope “The Streets of Bollywood 4” is not lurking around the corner.

: 21 Jan 2010 17:40 |  Tags: Music Review |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem