WITH so many films being made every year, it is a miracle that the music is not more stale than it actually is. Among the front-runners of "inspired music" is Anu Malik. But it seems that he loves to spring surprises. Just when you expect him to recycle and remould, he comes up with a refreshingly original offering for the Fardeen Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer that takes your breath away. Each of the six songs in Khushi boasts of great sound.

He gives clear notice of his intentions with the opener itself. Hai re hai re… (Hema Sardesai, KK) is a lilting melody. So is the next, Tere bina tere bina … (Alka Yagnik, Shaan).

Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan sing a slightly slower but matching melody, Jiya maine jiya… with élan. It is quite a coincidence that all the three songs on side A have lyrics (Sameer) which have repetitions of the opening words ( Hai re hai re… and Tere bina tere bina…).

Sunidhi Chauhan is the only female singer who gets to sing solos, two of them. Khushi aayee re aayee re… (another repetitive stanza!) is average but Aaja piya aaja piya … has an interesting background music.

Good morning India… is a kind of song which normally Anu Malik like to croon himself. Here he has handed over the mike to Sonu Nigam. The latter dutifully duplicates his style of singing.

Professional playback singers have converted ghazals into a form of film singing, even though they belong to a different genre altogether. The underplayed elegance is almost totally lost when there is an attempt at vocal jugglery.

This album by Hussain Buksh presented by Daler Mehndi Music Company begs to differ. It presents six ghazals in their pristine form. Hussain Buksh of Pakistan had his classical training under his father, the late Ustad Nathu Ali Khan, and guru Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of Patiala Gharana. Years of riyaaz for as many as 21 hours a day have given his voice a rare fluency.

This is the first ever live recording of the ghazal great from Pakistan. How one wishes the names of the writers were mentioned on the album.

Here is that just-average music which is the hallmark of most of the Bollywood releases every year. Everything is just about right without being exceptionally notable.

Normally, a song which comes in two versions has a happy version and a sad version. But it is difficult to make out what distinguishes one variety of Shaam bhi khoob hai… (Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan) from the other. Its opening music reminds you of the old Bobby song, Mujhe kuchh kehna hai …

Another song present in two versions is So gayi hai zameen …. It has been sung first by Kumar Sanu and then by Anuradha Paudwal. Interestingly, the one sung by Paudwal is some three times longer than the one by Sanu.

Hema Sardesai and Sukhwinder give a good account of themselves under the baton of Sanjeev-Darshan in Jhoom jhoom na jhoom….

Lyrics are by Sameer, except those of Aashiqui ban ke…, which have been penned by Abbas. It has been sung by Adnan Sani and Kavita Krishnamurthy.

Kumar Sanu and Abhijeet have come together after a long time in Meri mehbooba hai tu ….