MUMBAI: If the songs of 3 Idiots gave wings to your imagination when you first heard them, watching them on the big screen will complete the fantasy.

It's an awesome team that has put together the music of 3 Idiots and then woven it into the screenplay - Raju Hirani, shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire - all of whom appear to have immersed themselves in the core concept of the film to craft lyrics, music and situations that blend in seamlessly with the story, not to mention create just the right mood and magic at every turn.

This review didn't intend to gush over the film and its music at the outset, but there are very few places in 3 Idiots that could have been done better. The story has its share of implausiblities, but on the music score, there's little to be scoffed at.

Even before the film gets you into the flashback mode, Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh .. puts you on the nostalgia route, as it follows the red Volvo through the lanes of Shimla and on to Ladakh in pursuit of the elusive Rancho. Shaan and Moitra do a commendable job of tugging at your heartstrings and tickling your curiosity about Rancho's character, but Kirkire's lyrics are the ones that deserve the real kudos.

Not just in this track, but each song is imbued with a depth of meaning. The lyricist does not struggle with profound words to convey the message every time, every day idioms too do the trick - like "Khandho ko kitaabo ne jhukaaya, rishwat dena toh khud papa ne sikhaya!"  The pangs that the hassled student Joy suffers when rebuked by the college principal come out beautifully in Give me some sunshine, and the director has relied on nothing more than the college corridors to provide the backdrop for Joy to  strum his lonely guitar on.

Aal izz Well is just what you had thought it would turn out to - completely whacky, riotous and over the top. The lyrics - funny as they are - touch a chord - 'murghi kya jaane ande ka kya hoga' sums up the campus mood perfectly. Aamir, Sharman and Madhavan slip into the voices of Swanand Kirkire, Shaan and Sonu Niigaam so perfectly, you would think they have belted it out themselves! And if Zoobie Doobie was intended as a nod to the retro fever that grips us every now and then, it serves its purpose. It's a regular dream sequence with its standard choreography and the requisite rain to drench the lead pair in. Nothing remarkable - 'jaise filmon mein hota hai, ho raha hai hu ba hu' - maybe that's why!

The rest of the film and its music washes over you in one tidal wave - not letting you go even in Jaane Nahi Denge - Kirkire in fine form again - even as you know that Sharman isn't going to succumb to his suicide attempt, while his friends do their utmost to jog him out of his coma. If your eyes don't moisten up at this track, they sure will when Behti Hawa floats up again towards the end - and you take those curves up the snows and summits of Ladakh with the trio in the car racing towards Rancho, tasting the mountain air and thirsting for the saga of friendship to come full circle.

Nope, you truly can't find holes to poke into the impeccable background score and the songs of this film. Just sit back with the popcorn and see if it matches how you had imagined them to be.