LAILA MAIN LAILA (RAAES)

(ORIGINAL SONG: LAILA O LAILA — QURBANI, 1980)

GenX: Cannot deny that the main riff has been used to fantastic effect in the new song, but we missed the distinct sound of percussion. And it bothers us that the classiness that Zeenat Aman brought to the song was turned completely raunchy by Sunny Leone.

GenY: The 2016 version in Raees is one of the better-made remake songs. This one has a faster tempo and a mystery element in the sequence with Shah Rukh Khan lurking around, while Sunny Leone doesn’t try too hard to be sexy or match up to Zeenat Aman. It’s one of the best dance numbers of 2016.

EK DO TEEN (BAAGHI 2)

(ORIGINAL SONG: EK DO TEEN — TEZAAB, 1988)

GenX: Hell, no! You don’t mess with one of the most iconic song-dance routines from our childhood and get away unscathed. Jacqueline Fernandez murdered the Madhuri Dixit classic with dance steps that looked like she was getting an electric shock and those utterly ridiculous expressions. Madhuri wore shorter skirts than Jacqueline, shook her butt, did the matka and thumka and still kept it classy. It is not so easy to be Mohini!

GenY: Absolutely right. Jacqueline seems to have focused more on her abs than on getting the look and feel right. Shreya Ghoshal’s uninspired singing doesn’t help.

TAMMA TAMMA AGAIN (BADRINATH KI DULHANIA)

(ORIGINAL SONG: TAMMA TAMMA LOGE — THANEDAAR, 1990)

GenX: There are no complaints. This was a job well done. At least three minutes shorter and minus those interminable musical interludes, it stayed true to the signature Madhuri Dixit steps we spent our childhood practising. We just wish the chair sequence was included somehow, especially since Varun Dhawan is a far better dancer than Sanjay Dutt.

GenY: A perfect tribute, this track has the original vocals of Alka Yagnik and Bappi Lahiri with a bit of rapping by Badshah. There’s the Madhuri-Sanjay signature step, but we love Alia-Varun’s addition — the ‘been bajati huyi nagin’ move, which is a huge party hit. What makes it even better? There’s no chest hair scare ala Sanjay Dutt’s!

THE HUMMA SONG (OK JAANU)

(ORIGINAL SONG: HUMMA HUMMA — BOMBAY, 1995)

GenX: Noooo! Where are those, as the young ’uns say, sick beats? Where is the flute line? And what is it with that god awful rap? Ugh! What was a fantastic setting for Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala’s wedding night, which had a certain innocence to it, is just about getting on with the sexy times while sharing a room in Ok Jaanu.

GenY: Jubin Nautiyal’s husky voice, Badshah’s rap and the oh-so-natural chemistry between Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur make it playful for us. While it is not a patch on A.R. Rahman’s composition, Badshah and Tanishk Bagchi have given us a track we can dance to at a club or a Sangeet! The chemistry between Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala was cute, but let’s not forget that was 23 years ago.

TU CHEEZ BADI HAI (MACHINE)

(ORIGINAL SONG: TU CHEEZ BADI HAI MAST MAST — MOHRA, 1994)

GenX: It was one of those songs that became an earworm despite the fact that it was all about objectifying a woman. Whether it was Raveena Tandon doing the pelvic thrust in a white dress or Akshay Kumar in a bandana and black glasses, it was iconic. The new one not only messes with the song, it is so insignificant that it is insulting.

GenY: Totally agree. The new lyrics are blah and there is barely any chemistry between Mustafa and Kiara Advani, the lead in Machine, forget the fire between Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon.

HAWA HAWAI 2.0 (TUMHARI SULU)

(ORIGINAL SONG: HAWA HAWAI — MR. INDIA, 1987)

GenX: It’s a delightful, fun song from our childhood and Tumhari Sulu stayed true to it. What we don’t like is the sound of the new song. It sounds different. Different that is not really great. We liked the Shaitan version of it better.

GenY: Sridevi’s sultry moves? Nope. The thigh-high slit metallic golden dress? Missing. Her funny faces? Nada. Hawa hawai 2.0 featuring Vidya Balan has nothing of it and yet feels fresh and zingy. This version retains the classic step and also scores with the dab. Plus, Vidya and Neha Dhupia have so much fun dancing to it at their office party that we feel like joining in too!

LIFT TERI BANDH HAI (JUDWAA 2)

(ORIGINAL SONG: OONCHI HAI BUILDING — JUDWAA, 1997)

GenX: Again, a nice tribute, except the “sagarwaale raja” addition that causes us discomfort. It is good choreography-wise too, except that it is all too perfect without any of the Salman-Karishma silliness that made the original such a hoot. The same goes for Judwaa 2’s remake of Chalti hai kya 9 se 12, the other song from Judwaa.

GenY: It’s director David Dhawan paying tribute to himself and he keeps most of the original intact, including Anu Malik’s nasal twang! We love the new version more because — better clothes, better chemistry between Jacqueline-Varun-Taapsee, and better beats.

HASEENO KA DEEWANA (KAABIL)

(ORIGINAL SONG: SARA ZAMANA HASEENO KA DEEWANA — YAARANA, 1981)

GenX: The old one was such a feel-good song, Amitabh Bachhan’s bad dancing and all. Why the heck did it need to be this sexualised? A stage song turned into an item number with a scantily-clad Urvashi Rautela and rap lyrics that predictably include phrases like ladki dynamite and ladki hain ya wine… Whine!

GenY: First of all, these two tracks should not be compared. The singer is a bar dancer and the play in the song is around the ‘haseena’, which justifies  the lyrics that go Kisi ko mera shaukh hai/ Kisi ko mera hai nasha/ Jawani kehte hain mujhe/ Hain mere aashiq har jagah. And Urvashi Rautela does a far better job of grooving than Amitabh Bachchan’s funny moves and Nitu Singh’s PT steps.

Text: Chandreyee Chatterjee and Pramita Ghosh

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