After the highly acclaimed Iqbal and Dor, Nagesh Kukunoor took a bit of nose dive with Bombay to Bangkok. However, his latest offering 8 x 10 Tasveer promises to change all that and bring him back in business. Having the newly crowned King of Indian Cinema, Akshay Kumar, as the protagonist of the film certainly improves his chances dramatically, but we are not here to talk box office, we are here to talk charts. 8 x 10 Tasveer has Salim-Sulaiman of Rab Ne Bana De Jodi and Fashion fame in the music directors' chair. They are assisted by Bohemia (CC2C - Chandni Chowk To China) with remixes by DJ Amyth. Lyrics have been penned by Sameer and Ifraan Siddhiqui. Playback singers consist of Tulsi Kumar, Mohit Chauhan ('Masakali' - Dehli 6), Vishal Dadlani ('Dhoom Machale' - Dhoom 2) and Neeraj Shridhar who now busts charts on a daily basis with hits such as Bhool Bhulaiya's 'Hare Ram Hare Ram' and Race's 'Sexy Lady'.

Made under the banner of Percept Picture Company and SIC Productions, 8 x 10 Tasveer also stars the newlywed Ayesha Takia and the legendry Sharmila Tagore. It is slated for release on the 3rd of April 2009.

The album commences with the energetic Nazara Hai by Vishal Dadlani who owns this rock number. Salim-Sulaiman take a page out of Shankar-Eshaan-Loy's book and compose a rocking number which will be a treat for everyone who loves the music of Rock On!! Irfaan's lyrics elaborate the film's tagline (he has the power to see the past) and set the scene of danger and mystery. The track's only low point is the repetitive chorus and the annoying shrieking echo of 'hai' after the title line of 'Nazara Hai'. Its remix by DJ Amyth could have worked if the tempo of the additional techno music matched that of Vishal's vocals.

Up and coming crowd pleaser Mohit Chauhan sings the melodious Hafiz Khuda with Tulsi Kumar and the results are magnificent. The endearing melody, coupled with Mohit's expressive vocals makes the song one of the best in the album. Tulsi improves dramatically with this number as her amateurish and young vocals sound, well, less amateurish and young. Irfaan impresses with his lyrical skills while Salim-Sulaiman deliver a brilliant urban romantic number. The remix is not as bad as the previous one, but there is still a mismatch of tempos between the vocals and the additional music. The main problem is that Mohit sounds like he has the shakes or is singing from a cold-room, which is probably due to Amyth's poor mixing and programming skills.

In the same melody as 'Hafiz Khuda' is Kuch Is Tarah sung by Tulsi and Mohit again. The album does not specify who has written this track, but the lyrics are slightly better than that of 'Khuda Hafiz' and have more emotional gravity. Tulsi and Mohit sound non-different from their performance in 'Khuda Hafiz', possibly because both track are romantic in nature and essentially convey the same expressions. Amyth follows Salim-Sulaiman's approach and does not bother to create a different remix for 'Kuch Is Tarah', so it sounds exactly like the remix for 'Khuda Hafiz'.

Next is Aaja Mahi that sees Neeraj in a melodious and romantic avatar, quite unlike his usual flirtatious numbers. The track is excellently written by good old Sameer, who does not hesitate to use all the clichéd romantic phrases. The clichés are overpowered by Salim-Sulaiman's powerful composition that is both fierce and sweet. Neeraj and Tulsi sound great together, especially when they sing the uplifting 'baharon vizayon nazaro mein dekha' portion of the song. Amyth really loses it this time round. The guy clearly needs to study the compatibility of his additional music with the singers' vocals. These two aspects are drastically mismatched and the result is a remix that is downright unbearable.

Bohemia's last venture with Indian Cinema was the outstanding CC2C from Chandni Chowk to China, where the audiences got introduced to Akshay Kumar, the rapper. Unfortunately, do not expect anything like CC2C from I Got The Picture. As far as rap goes, the track is strictly okay. Fans of rap will definitely dig in to this. The music is great and the lyrics (also written by Bohemia) are equally effective, but the track does not have the wow factor that CC2C had. While one may sigh with relief at seeing that DJ Amyth did not remix 'I Got The Picture', one is advised to not get their hopes up high because Bohemia were not so good at the task either. Slightly more bearable than Amyth's stuff, the remix still fails to be impressive.

Looking at the big picture, Salim-Sulaiman get a sound grade for effort, although they clearly lacked innovation and creativity in the melody department with 'Kuch Is Tarah' and 'Hafiz Khuda' being mirror images of each other. They could have gone for a better female singer, maybe the likes of Sunidhi Chauhan or Shreya Ghosal if they wanted a naive and innocent voice. Tulsi's voice still sounds unnatural and devoid of confidence, expression and experience. 'Aaja Mahi' and 'Hafiz Khuda'/'Kuch Is Tarah' are the album's crowning glory. 'Nazara Hai' means well but ultimately sounds like a wannabe version of Rock On!! while Bohemia clearly do not increase the entertainment value of the album.

The music of 8 x 10 Tasveer is slightly out of focus which due to the to the poor development process adopted by Salim-Sulaiman. Sadly, they are too late for a re-take. A tasveer maybe worth a 1000 words but the music of 8 x 10 Tasveer clearly is not!

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