Music: Pritam Chakraborty

Lyrics: Kumaar

Label: Sony Music

Rating: 2.5/5

When you talk of Emraan Hashmi, you cannot miss the number of lip locks the serial kisser has had with all his co-stars. Similarly, when you talk of music director Pritam, you cannot stop counting the number of hits he has lent Bollywood. But you are definitely speechless when a film has the trio Emraan, Pritam and Bhatt working on it. It has to deliver soundtracks that top the music charts.

After Gangster, Awarapan, Jannat and Tum Mile, Pritam Chakraborty, the favourite of the Bhatt camp scores yet again by dishing out likeable tracks with the forthcoming film Crook – It's Good To Be Bad. Directed by Mohit Suri, the thriller film stars Emraan Hashmi and Neha Sharma  and revolves around racial attacks on Indians in Australia.

The album kick-starts with the dance number 'Challa' which based on a Punjabi traditional folk song, as acknowledged in the credit details. Decades back, legendary Punjabi singer Gurdaas Mann had crooned this folk song touching the hearts of millions. The track is still considered to be one of his best renditions by many. Babbu Mann's version in the film does not match upto the vocals that Gurdas Mann lent. So in possibility Punjabi music listeners may shun it. The original version is more melancholic where as this one serves the purpose of the usual Punjabi tracks being played in the clubs. But Pritam deserves a round of applause for roping in Babbu Mann for authentic Punjabi feel rather than Sukhwinder Singh's much exploited Punjabi vocals, says my colleague who is a pakki Punjaban. The sounds of �Doom Cheeka Doom' and �Tenana Tenana Tena Tena' adds the fun element to the song. Suzanne D'mello, the only female singer in the entire album croons a few lines in English while the background music has a good deal of �desi' beats with some western influence. The remix version of the song created by Tigerstyle is not very different from the original one, yet it is enjoyable and can attract crowds.

Next comes the track that will shift your mood by bringing you a dash of romance. After delivering hits like Anjaana Anjaani, Aisha and Udaan, Nikhil D'Souza, the singer with a soothing voice is back with the solo track 'Mere Bina'. It is a soulful number and we are sure the college-going youth will love it  The soft rock music gives a slight urban touch to the song. Thumbs Up to Kumaar for his passionate lyrics that say â€?Tujhko jo paaya ahan, toh jeena aaya, ab ye lamha theher jaye tham jaye bas jaye hum dono ke darmiyaaaaan…' that deliver the emotions fantastically.

Also you can expect the song playing during all major highlights of the film as 'Mere Bina' is repeated thrice in the album. After Nikhil D'Souza's original one, it's Mohit Chauhan rendered version with just guitar playing in the background. Mohit's voice is quite addictive. Simplicity does work and this is proved with this version which is titled �Tujhko Jo Paaya'. The last one is the unplugged version of �Mere Bina' sung by KK which also strikes a chord with the listener like the other two.

�Kya' is a typical Neeraj Sridhar song. An amalgamation of Hindi and English lyrics with strong orchestration and a western approach, the song suits the singer's voice very well. It does not seem like a lovable song when you hear it but the video and the visuals might add that zing to the otherwise mediocre track. It is not extraordinary, but not bad either.

KK is back with â€?Tujhi Mein' which is a soft hummable song with a heard-before feeling. 'Tujhi Mein' carries the kind of flavour that Bhatts have patented over the last couple of years. KK has also crooned the reprise version of the track which is equally soulful. And without forgetting lyricist Kumaar's contribution, we say he's done a great job by interspersing the track with beautiful lyrics that make the song all the more meaningful 

On the whole, the album is a blend of fun and romantic songs which will stay with the audience for a long time, even after the film is off the big screens. But we pick �Mere Bina' as the best track of the album and Mohit undoubtedly succeeds at creating wonders with his own version of it.

Send in your comments to: shikha.shah@indiantelevision.co.in