Music Review: Fast Forward (2009)

Akbar Sami mixes the Bollywood tinge with techno beats for this soundtrack

Akbar Sami is one of the more famous DJs from Mumbai, and is also a big name in Bollywood circles. His music for Fast Forward, as expected, is packed with songs built on techno beats and a heavy Bollywood flavour.

Opening the album, Taali Bajao (Fast Forward Mix) is a few minutes of lifeless thumping. Shaan and Pamela Jain’s Aankhon Ki Baat is a decent composition. Sami does make it sound fresh, retaining the Bollywood tinge throughout.
The exact same thing can be said for the rest of the album. Techno beats, Bollywood approach, slow songs remixed with mid-paced techno beats. Yes, that sums it up.
There’s a whole bunch of singers here, understandably, since there are 14 tracks. Half of these are remixes, but it’s nice to have a different singer crooning over the newly-added techno beats, yes? Shaan, Shweta Pandit, Kunal Ganjawala, Shamur… all good for Sami.

Also, these songs clearly have a structure. Evidently, a decent bit of thought has gone into all of this, so it’s not ‘mindless nonsense’ if that’s what you’re expecting.

Dated as it may sound, the treatment is timeless. Akbar Sami has got his ‘Bollywood Remix Formula’ down pat. Aqueel is another name that sticks to this formula and always comes out shining. Slower stuff may display Sami’s music-making ideas, but making people move is what he’s best at.

The tunes that stand out on Fast Forward are Let The Music Play (Marascia Mix), Glassy, Rise Up Feat. Jaba (Club Mix), Rhythm Of The Night (Original Mix), Punjabi MC’s Mundiyan To Bach Ke and Nachna Onda Nei (Revisited) that takes liberally from Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean and hits it over the head with flowing bhangra.

VERDICT

Expect to be moving and shaking to Akbar Sami’s music for Fast Forward, especially if you’re at a nightclub with some alcohol in your veins.

RATING: 2.5/5