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The latest song in the film Khiladi 786 is high on raunchiness and low on music

There have been many attempts to recreate the sounds of the legendary RD Burman – some authentic and honest, like the 2003 film Jhankaar Beats; some decent, like in Monsoon Wedding; some downright crass and off the mark… and Balma from Akshay Kumar’s latest film Khiladi 786 is one such number.

This one draws inspiration in parts from the legendary song Mehbooba, yet it fails even worse than when Ram Gopal Varma recreated the song in the forgettable Aag. Busty German babe Claudia Ciesla is made to dress like Helen and use her mile-long legs to titillate audiences. And surprisingly, she looks and even dances better than Asin. Makes one feel that the Ghajini gal could have been spared the embarrassment by just not being in the song, as the item girl is clearly doing a far better job!

The music by Himesh Reshammiya is tacky and forced, and could be any number in any recent film. And were it not for the huge photograph of RD Burman at the beginning of the song, we could not have said it was meant as a tribute to the legend!

Akshay Kumar meanwhile tries to impress with his usual antics and oddly choreographed dance steps which, though meaning to be funny, look cheesy more than anything else. In masala Bollywood flicks – which Khiladi 786 is – the initial item number becomes the identity of the film. And a good item song does well to create a space and an image of the movie in the audiences’ minds. On this count Balma fails, and Khiladi 786 song is more anadi than khiladi!