Regular (loyal?) readers of this forum would by now, be aware of my bias towards anything the young music Director Sandeep Chowta dishes up. No surprises here, I happen to like this album too! Remake of the Tamil hit Dhill; Dum has Vivek Oberoi and Siya Mirza in the lead and is directed by E. Niwas.

Sandeep Chowta has some surprises up his sleeve and the tunes are upbeat and lilting. The singers are Sandeep Chowta, Sonu Nigam, Somya Raoh, Sukhwinder Singh, Sonu Kakkar, Leslie Lewis, Anuradha Sriram and Jolly Mukherjee sing to lyrics by lyricists Abbas Tyrewalla, Nitin Raikwar and Sameer.

The lively number "Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo," by Sonu Kakkar and Sukhwinder Singh is fun and novel with its constantly changing refrains. Sonu’s raspy vocals are a surprise element and a pleasant one at that. The bijli mix which appears later in the album is fun too and has the promise to become a club fav.

Dil hi dil mein falls in the Roothna Manana genre but is melodic and pleasing to the ears in spite of the clichéd lyrics and sound.

The title song Dum, sung by Sandeep himself, (later in the album by Sonu Nigam) is in Chowta’s trademark style (reminiscent of Company) with some heavy electric guitar riffs. Jeena by Somya Raoh and Sonu is your usual upbeat romantic number de rigueur in every Bollywood film and didn’t do much for this reviewer. Someday by Leslie Lewis (Colonial Cousin) and Anuradha Sriram, a hybrid Hinglish number passes muster, the lyrics are corny and it is to Chowta’s credit that he keeps it from getting downright maudlin. Desi woodwinds and western drums are mixed for Suntaja, an inspirational (and almost didactic) number by Sukhwinder, Somya and Jolly Mukherji. Fast paced and rhythmic, this one will have you tapping your foot to the beat.

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