Welcome back to the land of remakes, and let me introduce you to the latest film to join the bandwagon—Victoria No. 203. The 1970’s hit starring Ashok Kumar, Pran, Naveen Nischol and Saira Banu in lead roles makes a re-appearance with Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Jimmy Shergill, Preeti Jhangiani and Sonia Mehra. It’s directed by Anant Mahadevan, who last rose to the surface with the musical success Aksar. Viju Shah, who has in the past given us great music, seems to have slowly faded away into anonymity. Naturally, when you realize he is composing the music for the film, it takes you by surprise.
From the word go, the album is hatke. The title track, obviously called Victoria 203 is an English-Hindi track with Dominique doing the honors. It’s not the type of track that’s going to become a rage, but it does give you insight into the suspense mood of the film. Shah’s composition is actually noteworthy, but the lyrics fall short of anything exciting. Luckily enough, it’s the music that is the focal point of this track and it would work quite well as an instrumental.
Udit Narayan and Amit Kumar team up for Do Bechare, which is another innovative track that leaves an impression for its risqué composition. Again, it seems like a track that will work well in the film, but is not something you’d want to listen to on its own. Both Kumar and Narayan don’t get much scope to display their great vocals. To be honest, if you’re looking for a track with mass appeal, don’t touch this one.
Finally, Shah steps up his game with Deedani! With beautiful lyrics by Sameer, Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal take charge of this track and provide us with a romantic duet which thankfully isn’t mundane and bland like most. It’s soothing and makes you want to close your eyes and take in the music. Nicely done!
Trust Shreya Ghoshal to come up with the best track of the album. Thoda Sa Thero impresses because it scores in all departments. Once again, a track completely out of the ordinary, it manages to work because it keeps in mind the mood of the film and shapes the composition around that. Also, Shreya is wonderful as usual. If you’re into masala tracks, don’t bother. But if you like something different, check this track out.
Zindagi Aa Gayi witnesses none other than Zubin Garg croon this fast-paced number. It’s nicely composed and is perfect for a suspense film, but I really want to see Zubin try something different for once. He seems to get the same type of tracks over and over, which after a while lose their novelty. This one’s catchy but not chartbuster material.
Finally, we come to a close with a reprise of Victoria 203 which is, for the most part, identical to the first track except that Annika is the singer. She has a really unique voice which enables her to add something to the track that Dominique couldn’t. It’s not a great track to begin with, but once again will mesh well with the theme of the film.
The thing about the music of Victoria No. 203 is that it stays true to the mood of the film without going overboard. Also, there aren’t any pointless remixes or item numbers for promotional sake. It’s honest and sincere, though unfortunately the compositions will not appeal to the vast majority of listeners except for perhaps ‘Deedani’ and that too, only to some extent. A worthy attempt and definitely contains a distinct mood and feel. But overall, nothing spectacular.
Welcome back to the land of remakes, and let me introduce you to the latest film to join the bandwagon—Victoria No. 203. The 1970’s hit starring Ashok Kumar, Pran, Naveen Nischol and Saira Banu in lead roles makes a re-appearance with Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Jimmy Shergill, Preeti Jhangiani and Sonia Mehra. It’s directed by Anant Mahadevan, who last rose to the surface with the musical success Aksar. Viju Shah, who has in the past given us great music, seems to have slowly faded away into anonymity. Naturally, when you realize he is composing the music for the film, it takes you by surprise. 
Udit Narayan and Amit Kumar team up for Do Bechare, which is another innovative track that leaves an impression for its risqué composition. Again, it seems like a track that will work well in the film, but is not something you’d want to listen to on its own. Both Kumar and Narayan don’t get much scope to display their great vocals. To be honest, if you’re looking for a track with mass appeal, don’t touch this one.
Trust Shreya Ghoshal to come up with the best track of the album. Thoda Sa Thero impresses because it scores in all departments. Once again, a track completely out of the ordinary, it manages to work because it keeps in mind the mood of the film and shapes the composition around that. Also, Shreya is wonderful as usual. If you’re into masala tracks, don’t bother. But if you like something different, check this track out.
