Utho vaade nibhaane hain utho kuch door jaana hai/ Chalenge to hi manzil payenge hum tum na ghabraana/ Zaamane mein sabhi ko milte hain ghum tum na ghabraana...Okay, it is soft, poetic and meaningful. But then that is to be expected in a film by Tanuja Chandra. Remember what she got out out of Uttam Singh and Jatin-Lalit in Dushman and Sunghursh?

Now, it is the turn of the overpowering Anu Malik`s sibling Daboo Malik in his first major foray into film composition. Though Daboo`s music is soft, it doesn`t really forge an identity beyond the obvious. There is nothing here to grab us and tell us, "Yes, this it! Here comes talent to watch."

Instead, we are more often than not watching the words rather than the tunes. Salim Bijnori has done a good job in the two-version ghazal Dil to kehta hai woh apne hain which addresses itself to existential truths with an endearing directnness. The problem is, both this love ballad and Haalat na poochho dil ki (lyricist Anwar Sagar`s "soul" contribution) sound like a mixture of what Anu Malik did for Mahesh Bhatt in Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee and Uttam Singh did in Dushman.

What elevates the tunes is the singing. Kumar Sanu is in great shape in Haalat na poochho dil ki, while Alka Yagnik gives us proof of her growing vocal vocabularity in the female version of the tandem Dil to kehta hai. But Sonu Nigam steals the score from all the other singers in the soundtrack with Aye chaand khoobsoorat (reminiscent of Udit Narayan`s Chand chhupa baadal mein in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) and with the best track of the album, Ahista ahista. This is the only track that actually grabs us rightaway, and its distinctive character is easily explained by the credits. Daboo retreats to let Sajid-Wajid do the needful in Ahista ahista.

But yes, good poetry, some soft silky sounds peeping out from behind a rigidly formulistic melody-centric framework, and a will to forge an identity of its own see Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar reach its journey`s end. A unique characteristic of this score is the predominance of male vocals in a female-centric film. There are only two female solos, one of which is Jaspinder Narula`s theme song Main kaun hoon is pretty much a "sob"-chalega kaun-job.