As with many films of the genre, it is not really a 'score' film - a smattering of period songs are more than enough to spice up the soundtrack and the score itself just fills in between. Unfortunately, that is just the feeling given by Nitin Sawhney's effort. On its own, some of the music is pretty numbing stuff and the 'written, arranged and performed' credit doesn't exactly inspire confidence. There are of course the token Asian instrumentals that have enough in the way of authenticity, but really only serve to add something interesting to the aural soundscape which is frankly a bit on the thin side. The perkier, pop instrumental cues, 70's Nostalgia, Goodbyes & Revelations and Hippy Father are more fun, combining a some almost interesting vocal samples with Sitar and some funky 70's sounds. However, it's not really enough to prop up the supposedly dramatic cues, where tracks such as Sketches of Meena sound like a cobbled together GCSE music project. I'm sure it's a charm in the film, but simply isn't album material.
The songs all scored fairly highly in the charts of the era (according to the liner notes which details such things), although I can only lay claim to recognising a couple of them, most notably In the Summertime (although it has nasty connotations for me after its use in a somewhat harrowing anti drink driving advert) and erm, well, One Bad Apple by the Osmonds which just goes to show that pop has always had drivel lyrics that make no sense whatsoever. The album ends with a couple of cover versions by the cast, who actually acquit themselves quite admirably, particularly Bhaskar on Volare. Film music fans won't miss much by passing up on this one, but for a nostalgia collection, it's a pretty good selection, although with so many of them floating around these days, another seems a fraction redundant.
Rating ~ The Score
Total Time ~ 70:24
Ah, the 1970's, I remember them not. Anita & Me seems to be feeding into the current wave of interest in Bollywood and all things Indian, together with the fin de siécle nostalgia trip that Britain has been on for several years. Based on a book by Meera Syal, who stars along with Sanjeev Bhaskar (both from the frequently hilarious comedy sketch show Goodness Gracious Me), the film is about a Punjabi family moving to a small village near Birmingham and the film's young protagonist, Meena - the 'Me' of the title - trying to fit in by befriending the local slapper, Anita. Despite the pedigree of its writer and cast, which includes several other well known UK comic actors, it's not much more than a pleasant coming of age story that doesn't really have enough dramatic bite to honestly portray the racial tensions of the period.
Performed by Jeff Beck
Performed by Chicory Tip
Performed by David Cassidy
Performed by Dave Edmunds
Performed by Mungo Jerry
Performed by Lieutenant Pigeon
Performed by Barry Blue
Performed by The Osmonds
Performed by Sweet
Performed by Kenny Rogers
Performed by Gilbert O'Sullivan
Performed by Jimmy Cliff
Performed by Lata Mangeshkar
Performed by Mond. Rafi & Asha Bosle
Performed by Sanjeev Bhaskar
Performed by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal and Omid Djalili