Music directors: Salim-Sulaiman
Lyrics: Mir Ali Hussain
Music Label: Universal
Rating: ***1/2

Salim-Sulaiman's compositions for "Dor" are exactly like what director Nagesh Kukunoor had to say: "Salim-Sulaiman and I were looking to break the rules. To make songs that stood out from the clutter and something that was different from the item numbers or the boring love ballads. This is the result of that effort."

The album begins with the poignant "Yeh honsla", sung to perfection by Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan and backed well by Salim Merchant. The minimum use of instruments and a rhythmic beat make the number all the more listen-able.

Shafqat, member of the Pakistani band Fuzon, is having a real good time in the Indian music industry after his hugely popular "Mitwa" from "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna".

There is a brief, sad version in the track at the end of the album sung by Karsan Sargathia.

"Iman ka asar" brings Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghosal together in a brilliant number backed up well by stringed instruments.

"Kesariya balam"'s original composer was Shantanu Moitra. In this reworked version, Salim-Sulaiman makes the folk number catchier with Karsan and Ustad Sultan Khan lending their voices.

There is a minute-and-a-half long "Dor Theme", which sums up the good work in the first part of the album.

Ex-Viva (India's first-ever all-girl pop band) girl Pratichee sings the ebullient number "Piya ghar aaya".

Taken from the singer's earlier album "With Love Pratichee", the song reminds one of Rajasthan's famous Kalbeliya dance where women gyrate their bodies and match their steps to the music while moving about in spiral formation.

Pratichee's voice adds to the sensuous element of the song - certainly, one of the highpoints of the album.

Next comes "Allah hoo Allah hoo" crooned by Salim. The song is based on the famous qawwali sung by the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Though he lacks the depth of the great Sufi legend's voice, Salim still does justice to the track that Nusrat often used as the opening number of his performances as it was a song in praise of Allah.

Then there is "Expression of love", an act of drums, tabla and percussion by master percussionist Trilok Gurtu with vocals by Shankar Mahadevan and Shobha Gurtu. The piece has been taken from Gurtu's album "Remembrance".

The Salim-Sulaiman duo is able to maintain the good work they did in Nagesh Kukunoor's "Iqbal". Though mostly situational songs and targeted at a select audience of classical buffs, "Dor" is expected to go even further.

Good compositions, backed up by reasonable inflections of instruments and selection of singers - it's all there.

One word is enough to describe the music of "Dor" - brilliant.