Will we ever get a more confusing artist billing than this? Probably not…
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[3.86]
Hillary Brown: Not the most fabulous song to begin with and not improved by being squished together with a weak hoochie ballad.
[3]
M. H. Lo: There are many inexplicable things about this totally unnecessary version of the song, but here’s an especially big WTF: even though A. R. Rahman is RIGHT THERE singing alongside the Dolls, Nicole “What? I’m part Filipina! That’s practically Indian!” Scherzinger nevertheless insists on pronouncing the titular phrase as “Jay Ho!” Is she deaf, or stupid? Answers on a postcard, please.
[2]
Ian Mathers: If Nicole Scherzinger would just stay entirely separate from the original vocal track, this would be more tolerable, but as soon as she busts out her own “jai ho”s it stops sounding like a dialogue (however artificial) or a sample and more like a borderline shitty dance-pop act trying to make one of the more stirring soundtrack songs Hollywood has stolen from elsewhere into their own kind of romantic pap. The original is still fantastic, but the English lyrics are just so generic (if they’re translations of the originals, more’s the pity) and the additions to the song fail spectacularly, except for the early parts of the chorus, where Rahman and Scherzinger soar in their own ways.
[5]
Martin Kavka: Somehow I don’t think that “this beat is heavy so heavy” is an accurate translation from the original Hindi. Not even the “Baila! Baila!” chant from the original is kept. The backing track is punched up in interesting ways – everything sounds more synthesized, an electric guitar is added, and the strings are pushed way back in the mix – but the fact that it’s interesting doesn’t quite make it enjoyable.
[4]
Dave Moore: Ah, s’more culture-vulture cash-grabbing from the feel-good motion picture that brought us visible evidence of outsourced filmmaking’s unfair wages to local labor in the guise of Slumdog‘s slumkids, who had a great time on Oscar’s red carpet before being shipped back to Mumbai to sleep under a fucking tarp. The song is…I mean, whatever.
[3]
Additional Scores
Martin Skidmore: [6]
Keane Tzong: [4]