MM Kreem-The Tale of an Underrated Composer. Review on Ten Best Songs of M M Kreem

Admirable things come scattered in life and bollywood. Same is the case with movies like Sawan Kumar Tak's Mother 98' and MM Kreem's music. Well sarcasm intended with the former choice. Wasn't it a laugh riot reading Premjit and Crimemastergogo's reviews on Mother?(LOL)

Years back in 95(?) I remember watching some steamy clips of Manisha and Nagarjuna on the TV backed up with a brilliant number called 'Tu Mile Dil Khile'. Without delay I slam-banged to Sarojini Nagar Market in Delhi and bought the audio cassette of 'Criminal'. Those were the days when I suffered from a major AR Rahman fever(I still do). Once I got done with this album I made a very quixotic statement with my friends that MM Kreem would be nearest corrival Rahman will ever face in the near future. I was wrong. Criminal flopped.

Almost 9 years gone and I count a handful of his works in Hindi Cinema while Rahman has gone international now with many filmfares and national awards to his name. I consider him to be the dark horse who surely is capable of making it big(real big) specially after I comprehensively enjoyed his off late albums like 'Sur' and 'Jism'. MM Kreem's first album was Ram Gopal Verma's Drohi in which he composed two songs while the others were composed by the legendry RD Burman.

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His Works

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Criminal

There is not much about this movie to look back at excluding the romantic number 'Tum Mile Dil Khile' by Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik. It's a copy of Carly's Song by Enigma. I really like this number better than the Enigma version. There is another song called 'Kimti Kimti' which was a horrible pick from a better-not-remember rapper called Snow(remember his hit song called 'Informer').

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Pehli Nazar Mein

This song featured in some T-Series movie which probably never saw the light of the day. The title song Pehli Nazar Mein Dil De Diya Hai is a fantastic number sung by Kreem himself along with Anuradha Paudwal. A very romantic song which never got its due. MM Kreem wasted for the second consecutive time.

Catch Line: 'Mere Sanam Kahin Tu Aisi Jagah Chal, Jahan na Aaj Ho Na Ho Koi Kal. Us Jagah Pyar Hi Pyar Ho, Beech Koi Na Deewar Ho, Siwa Pyar Ke Koi Cheez Bhi, Aaye Na Dono Ke Darmiyan'

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Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin

This offbeat thriller by Sudhir Mishra failed miserably at the box office due to bad marketing. Trust me, it was a great movie with some great songs by MM Kreem. Third time in a row MM Kreem's qualified work got hampered due to this movie's box office insignificance. There are two songs which I particularly like in this movie, 'Mere Tere Naam Naye Hain' by SP Balasubramanium and 'Chup Tum Raho' by Chitra. The highlight of these songs were they were as simple as they could be and yet so soulful. Nida Fazli got nominated for best lyrics for the song'Chup Tum Raho' but lost out to a ridiculous'Pardesi Pardesi' by Sameer.

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Zakhm

After the debacle of Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, MM Kreem still kept going for the Mahesh Bhatt clan with another offbeat movie called'Zakhm'. Zakhm features some great numbers again. I particularly like this number called 'Raat Saari Beqaraari' by Alka Yagnik. This number is highlighted with some catchy beats, great lyrics and melodious singing by Alka Yagnik. Kreem scored a very adorable song here. The other song is called 'Hum Yahan Tum Yahan' by Kumar Sanu. I wish it were sung by any other than Kumar Sanu. Though its a great number but I sometimes can't stand Sanu's nasal voice.

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Sur

I jumped out of my my chair when I first heard about this album. Lucky Ali teaming up with MM Kreem. WOW. This album lives upto the expectations especially with Sunidhi adding fuel to a few numbers. 'Dil Ki Khushi' by Lucky Ali and Sunidhi. I thought Sunidhi kinda overshadowed Lucky Ali in this number by her high pitched voice. 'Aa Bhi Jaa' by Lucky Ali and Sunidhi kicks off with a haunting violin tune. This song rocks. Jaane Kya Dhoondta by Lucky Ali is another feel good number. A piece of advice: Listen to this number while you are driving long distance. Sur was surely a feather in MM Kreem's cap.

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Jism

It took me sometime to like this album. First thing that put me off was watching Bipasha Basu semi clad on a beach. It wasn't the semi clad thing that put me off but it was Bipasha. Two songs from this album gradually did the hypnotizing effect on me. The song 'Chalo Tumko Lekar Chalen' by Shreya Ghoshal is a knock out. The only filmfare award which I believe was rightfully given this year was for Best Playback Singer(Female). 'Aawarapan Banjaarapan' by KK has an amazing ambience to it. It reminds me of the dusk when the sky is dimly lit red. A scotch on the rocks goes great with this number. A definite knock out.

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I wish Kreem does expand his works out of the Bhatt clan in hindi cinema. He has surely made a name in the Telugu movie industry. His paltry appearance in the current hindi music scene needs to become more frequent. His style of music is basically a cosmopolitan fusion where he aptly incorporates world music with formula hindi film music eventually churning out melodious feel good numbers. He has the capability of leaving some well known current composers far behind.