MUSICALISED

Dostana Teaser

2008-08-26T01:46:00.000-07:00

Karan Johar's new flick Dostana. Starring Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra. The teaser is out.

Karzzz

2008-08-24T15:03:00.001-07:00

If you are a Himesh Reshammiya fan, it's good news. The music of Karzzz is all set for a grand release on 25th August, almost 2 months prior to the release of the movie which is scheduled for a October 17th release, thus ensuring you listen to Himesh bhai for at least two months on music channels.

The soundtrack of Karzzz consists of 9 songs and 10 remixes, hence 19 tracks in all. You must have heard the pieces of Lut Jaun, Tandoori Nights and Hari Om by now. (In case you haven't, check out the videos at the end of article)

Karzzz also has two versions of the super popular Ek Haseena Thi (Oops! It was Urmila) in Himesh's voice of course. It'll be worth seeing what Himesh makes of the masterpiece sung by Kishore Kumar.

Among other songs, 'Lut Jaaun' sounds good and 'Hari Om' will find a place in not very long time. 'Tandoori Nights' is not looking as good but remixes of the song should do better.

Rest will be known only when movie releases. Though one thing sure is that even though the music is good, Karz of Laxmikant-Pyarelal is not going to be repeated.

Here are the released videos from the movie.

Lut Jaun

Hari Om

Tandoori Nights

A Wednesday

2008-08-24T03:56:00.000-07:00

The second half of 2008 is seeing a lot of 'different' movies coming up. Be it Mumbai Meri Jaan, The Last Lear, Tahaan, or even Chamku. The new name in the list is A Wednesday, the directorial debut of Neeraj Pandey with a rock solid cast of Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher and Jimmy Shergill.

The story revolves around a Mumbai Police Commissioner who gets a call demanding four militants' release in exchange for information on bombs set in the city. And then, events follow, on a wednesday.

I hope the movie is worth a watch. Check the trailor here.

Ru Ba Ru

2008-08-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

Randeep Hooda is back. The tough guy in D is back with his new movie ru ba ru that is going to be a romantic flick. The movie is directed by debutant Arjun Bali who has previously made a lot of ads and short films. In the movie, Randeep is opposite another debutant Shahana Goswami.

Here is the first song from the movie which I quite liked. Hope you like it too.

Randeep is also coming in Ketan Mehta movie Rang Rasiya or Colors of Passion which is based on the life of famous Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma. In Rang Rasiya, it's Nandana Sen opposite Randeep.

Mit Jaaye.. Kidnap

2008-08-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

"Hell is right here Raina!"

The last sentence of the Kidnap promo, and the not-gonna-fight guy of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na suddenly starts looking like can-do-anything hero of Bollywood movies. And next, there is a song. Yet another from Pritam, who has been with Sanjay Gadhvi in Dhoom and Dhoom 2 also, but has given a bit different music this time as far as this new song from Imran Khan's new flick Kidnap suggests.

Check out for yourself. Here we go.

Listen to Drona

2008-08-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

The first sound bites of Drona are here. Abhishek Bachchan's long awaited movie Drona is going to release on October 2nd and you must have seen the First promo of the movie, that reminds me of Alchemist, to be true. But now, here is some music from Drona, the first song to be launched, the title song of Drona.

Music of Drona was supposed to be given by Ashu-Dhruv, the talented duo that gave Mera Pehla Pehla Pyar (MP3) music. But the credits in first song show only Dhruv Ghanekar, reminding me of Jeet-Pritam, which later turned into Pritam alone.

Well, more shall be seen later, but for now, check out the video of the first song from Goldie Behl's 'Drona'.

The Big Friday

2008-08-22T14:50:00.001-07:00

22nd August was surely a big friday, as there were six movies lined up for a release, though some of have been rescheduled to coming week or other. What 22nd August did not see was Chamku and C Kkompany, but what it saw is no less. It was Maan Gaye Mughall e Azam, an already praised Mumbai Meri Jaan, and a hyped Phoonk.

The results have been quite okay too. While MGMA turns out to be a not-too-bad comedy, Mumbai Meri Jaan is a decent movie for those who like serious cinema. But most important of all, this Friday brings Phoonk, the black magic story, which seems to be the end of the black magic working on Ram Gopal Varma.

Phoonk has been praised by most of the critics and moviegoers are once again finding it possible to go for a RGV movie, which had in itself become a scary thing for past some time.

On the Other hand, there is Mumbai Meri Jaan, a movie that brings in five different stories which center the serial bomb blasts that took place in Mumbai local trains on July 11th 2006. Mumbai Meri Jaan is a fine work on a sensitive subject by Marathi movie director Nishikant Kamat who won Swarovski Trophy in 2006 for his film Dombivli Fast.

Chamku: Will Bobby shine?

2008-08-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

The music is superb, at least those two songs lines of which every channel surfer has learnt by heart now are really wonderful. The promos, at large, are good and indicate the movie might be good too. Most positive point, the movie doesn't seem to be one of Bobby Deol.

Yes, Chamku is no Apne or Jhoom Barabar Jhoom if promos are to be believed. The only doubts are whether the movie will be technically as sound as it seems in the first look? And still bigger question, will it bring about the much needed change for Bobby Deol as an actor?

Though I feel, after seeing the bits of his next movie 'Ek-the power of one' with Sangeeth Sivan, that Bobby will be again Bobby after this movie, I hope there might be some change in his image and serious movie makers might like to take him for 'different' roles. (though I feel Sangeeth Sivan is a good film maker, Ek didn't impress me)

As far as the movie is concerned, I have much hopes from the movie not only because the promos are good but also because of it's director Kabeer Kaushik. Kabeer has to his credit 'Seher' which was an absolutely wonderful movie, while the actors were Arshad Warsi and Mahima Chaudhri, not to forget Pankaj Kapoor.

More will be clear on 29th August now as the release of Chamku has been rescheduled from 22nd August, of course because of 6 movies clashing together. I hope Chamku shines well.

Himesh Reshammiya is back with Karzzz

2008-08-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

I don't care whether Aapka Suroor was a hit or a flop, I don't care whether people liked it or not, I don't even care whether people think I can act or not, I will do what I feel like.

That seems to be the attitude of Himesh Reshammiya when you see the first promo of Karzzz. And what's the second thing? The music, the song you listen to. It really feels good to listen to 'lut jaaun lut jaaun lut jaaun, main lut jaun, uss karz mein'. Either it's different, it's better. Or it's just that we are listening to Himesh Reshammiya in a new album after a long time. Whatever the reason be, Karzzz will be something to watch out for when it's music releases on 25th August.

For now, try to make up with the video that shows Himesh with Urmila and a new actress.

Jaago: Small Movies by Big Directors

2008-08-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

A few months back I saw a short film called Positive, made by Farhan Akhtar, starring Boman Irani and Shabana Aazmi. I loved the film. Later I found there was another movie called Blood Brothers, that was around the same topic, AIDS. And today I found a blog entry on PFC that reviews both these movies along with two more. Here it is:

Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, for one of their project on helping humanity, have united with 4 directors Mira Nair, Farhan Akhtar, Santosh Sivan and Vishal Bharadwaj to co-produce 4 short films on issues regarding AIDS education and awareness. These short films are taking the AIDS awareness on more personal level with some beautiful and some incredible journeys involving blood relations, lovers and strangers with urges either sexual or just plain human.

1. Migration (2007).
Directed by: Mira Nair.
Written by: Zoya Akhtar.
Starring: Shiney Ahuja, Sameera Reddy, Irfan Khan and Raima Sen.
URL: MIGRATION

Migration is a set of parallel stories between a husband and his lover, husband’s wife, a mason worker his wife and infants. This short is very well directed, right from the drought death visuals to marine drive tides. The cinematography is eye catching. Thanks to Shiney Ahuja’s speaking eyes and Irfan Khan’s emotions for his lover, one way maybe. The core message of the story is delivered by sex education street actor Vijay Raaz with Beedi song in the background. Its the unconventional migration that is thought and written by Zoya Akhtar gives a different but convincing journey. It was exciting to see marathi stage and screen actress Sulabha Deshpande as Sameera’s mother-in-law, little has she changed from Choukat Raja’s (1991) mother.

2. Positive (2007).
Directed by: Farhan Akhtar.
Written by: Rajesh Devraj.
Starring: Boman Irani, Shabana Azmi and Arjun Mathur.
URL: POSITIVE

Positive is the story of AIDS awareness for a family as one of the members becomes HIV positive. The effects of it in a broad picture and a very tiny extremely personal point of view is very well written by Rajesh Devraj, whose future writings are Farhan Akhtar starrer Fakir of Venice and Shashanka Ghosh project Quick Gun Murugun. Boman Irani is fantastic with his lowering speaking abilities and at the same time with the desires of a young photographer to capture something. But it needed Farhan Akhtar’s trick to bring out the moment absolutely necessary for this story. The moment when Arjun’s character is positioning the rose in the window. This is perhaps the same transformation moment that occured in Dil Chahta Hai (2001) when Akash (Aamir Khan) calls up Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) only to realise subconsciously he dialed Sid’s (Akshaye Khanna) number. Incredible. Shabana Azmi is short but plays the character who has already past previously mentioned transformation.

3. Prarambha (2007).
Directed by: Santosh Sivan.
Starring: Prabhu Deva and Skandhas.
URL: PRARAMBHA

A truck driver (Prabhu Deva) finds an unknown boy Kittu (Skandhas) hiding in the back of his truck. Truck driver finds it unsolvable to get rid of an unknown boy riding with him. Kittu hands him a letter written by his mother with an address. Truck driver agrees to take him there. But then out of humanity he finds himself on a quest to make the people around Kittu realise what he feels for kittu. This movie is a cry out towards those strangers who might have some humanity left in them. Prabhu Deva does a great job. His apological and optimistic smiles are the driving force for the audience and kittu as well. Skandhas as Kittu is nothing short of a applauding performance. He represents the understanding son, rejected school friend and a happy boy. Though there aren’t many opportunities for Mr Sivan to use his lens he still captures the moments that do not need words.

4. Blood Brothers (2007).
Directed by: Vishal Bharadwaj.
Story idea by: Matthew Robbins and Ajit Ahuja.
Starring: Siddharth, Pavan Malhotra and Ayesha Takia.
URL: Blood Brothers

This story brings in the most courageous factor in the AIDS awareness. The point of view of the main victim, the one with the disease. This is the best short among the four. An ordinary man hears his doctor say that he is HIV positive. Devastated by the news he gives up on his life to find something that out smarts him. This is an absolutely astonishing story. This movie proves the fact that you do not need 1000 cuts in a 5 min movie to make it interesting. Though non-linearity exists in the narration it never seems a cliche by the creation of scars on Siddharth’s faces. This short challenges the viewer by putting in the shoes of the protagonist and ask them what if? Kudos to Mr Bharadwaj. This one is a must see.

Overall rating: 8/10.

Original text here. You can also search for these movies on Youtube yourself. They are there too.

Chandni Chowk to China

2008-08-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

If you missed Olympic and wonder how Chinese look, or if you feel bored seeing promos of Singh is Kinng all the time, or if you want to see more stunts coming from Akshay Kumar than he's performing in Khatron ke Khiladi, Chandni Chowk to China may be a good option for you.

Here is the first look of Chandni Chowk to China which is expected to release this Diwali, on 24th October.

Hello

2008-08-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

It was literary. But now it's about movies. The second bestseller from Chetan Bhagat, 'One Night @ The Call Center' is going to hit big screens as 'Hello'. Salman plays Chetan in the movie and Katrina is in a special appearnce too.

Here is the much awaited first promo of the movie.

The movie, directed by Atul Agnihotri, is expected to release on September 19.

Can God survive past Ranbir?

2008-08-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

August has been interesting in the movie circle and is expected to be interesting in the coming weeks too. With Singh is Kinng getting the it-had-to-be-like this huge response and Bachna ae Hasino and Rumy Jaffrey's God Tussi Great Ho slated for the next week, the battle seems far from ended.

Ugly and Pagli which came on 1st of August survived well and is expected to work with multiplex audience whereas Singh is Kinng is guaranteed to work well in public theatres, especially small towns and all.

Bachna ae Hasino which is set to see an August 15th release is expected to fare well too. And seeing these two, God Tussi Great Ho may find the going a bit difficult.

The interesting thing is that coming next week, things may get more confusing if movies release as per the dates available now. In present scenario, there are 6 movies that are to release on August 22nd: Tusshar's C Kkomapany, Bobby-Priyanka's Chamku, Rahul Bose-Mallika starrer Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam, Mumbai Meri Jaan, My friend Ganesha 2, and finally, Ram Gopal Varma's Phoonk.

Of these, Chamku, Mumbai Meri Jaan, and to some extent Phoonk look strong, though none of them seems to be a mass movie. My Friend Ganesha may find it difficult to reach their audiences. C Kkompany holds nothing special and should survive somehow for a few weeks. It will be worth seeing also if Rahul Bose works with Mallika as good as did Ranvir Shorey.

End of August brings Hijack which is not looking as strong on promos as it was going on talks, and Rock on!! that may well find it's new base among younger audiences.

Basically, after Singh is Kinng, there is not much that can be said about movies in August, but one thing that is sure is that we can find some good material with Chamku and Mumbai Meri Jaan out there. I wish Chamku is not another movie wasted by Bobby Deol as he's looking promising after a long time. Mumbai Meri Jaan is good on cast too, and the previews have been encouraging.

Mumbai Meri Jaan

2008-08-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

It was a movie I had loved the promo of. Recently I found a review by Anurag Kashyap on in.com which is here.

Possibly India’s “Crash”.. or i don’t know how else to describe it..Saw the rough cut , on Nishikant’s avid.. he wanted to bounce it off me and i was cleanbowled.. again the familiar feeling went through me.. why did i not think of it and why did i not make it..

The film begins in a police station with cops discussing sunil more(the marine drive rape case), one(Vijay maurya) of who is going on a holiday and the other(Paresh Rawal) counting his last few days in the service..then it introduces us to the computer salesman(kaykay) with his unemployed friends in a irani cafe talking about cricket and you also see that he has a phobia of muslims or probably distrust and hatred, then you see the bicycle coffeeseller (Irrfan) who is fond of perfumes and then the film introduces us to the bite hungry TV journo(soha ali khan) and her boyfriend who disapproves of her job and how they are indifferent to the the subjects of their story and she defends it (before she herself becomes a story) and finally we see the US phobic executive(madhavan) who prefers to commute to his work by local train and not invest in a car.. and then Nishikant tells us the day and date of all these random observations into the life of people..

It’s the 9th of july 2006.. the numerous blasts in the train and what it brought out in people.. some of them victims.. their fear and paranoia.. Kaykay is sure that the suspicious muslim guy who hangs out at the irani cafe is one of the perpetrators of the tragedy and his subsequent rage and loss of innocence.. Madhavan’s mortal fear of trains.. his unaware pregnant wife of the tragedy that almost missed him.. Irrfan wanting to avenge his humiliation in front of his family by the floor incharge of the perfume section by figuring out a dangerous game that he can play with the paranoid distrusting police and administration.. the wisdom of the retiring cop always in confrontation with the idealistic cop who had to cancel his holiday.. and the tv journo who has now become the story.. anger,humility, fear and fearlessness, paranoia, self realizations, hate and self loathing, all surface over the facade of the perfect lie of a life we dream of in a metropolis..

It tells us of a beautiful time and the way city was before the national security became the ultimate excuse for invasion of privacy and privacy became such an aspiring word..Outstanding performances by a stellar cast and the best ever of their lives by Paresh rawal and Soha Ali Khan.. an incredible and courageous followup to DOMBIVALI FAST by NISHIKANT KAMAT..

The kind of a film that we all need to go see it in theatres and take our friends along with us, this film needs our effort for the sake of the kind of cinema we talk animatedly about. Spread the good word.

Find the original review here.

Exclusive: Ishmeet in Pics

2008-07-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics taken from Ishmeet's Album.

The voice of India

Ishmeet with his favorite Daler Mehndi

With Diya Mirza

With Hard Kaur

Singing with Kavita Krishnamurti

In a jolly mood, singing Mauja hi Mauja with Shahid

Ishmeet with Malaika Arora

With Lata ji, the godess, in Ishmeet's words

Singh was King

2008-07-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

I was a fan of Ishmeet Singh the day I saw him on the TV for the first time. In fact I saw the first episode of Voice of India because of him.

I was surfing channels when I passed a Sardarji singing a beautiful Tune Mujhe Pehchana Nahi on Star Plus. It was one of the initial stages of VoI and I loved that performance so much that I thought he should reach somewhere in the final stages. By the time I didn't even know he would reach the mega finals where there will be two people on the stage and then win the title.

Even when the final results were about to come, I was supporting Ishmeet against a person who had the same name as mine. I even wrote a post on my blog, 'Will my candidate win this time'.

But today, he is no more. I don't know how it happened exactly, but it was a painful incident.

May Ishmeet Rest in Peace.

Hijack

2008-07-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

After a long time, there is something worth talking about. Though music of C Kkompany is Okay, there has hardly been any movie worth a description after Rock On.

But now, there is Hijack.

Hijack's teaser and first song are out and I believe that this song will be a hit too, irrespective of absence of Pritam. I think Justin-Uday, the new composers, and Kumar, the lyricist have done well.

Wait for a review. Hope there is another Jannat on its way.

Rock On!!

2008-07-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

Dil kya kehta hai mera kya main bataun
Tum ye samjhoge shayad main pagal hai
Dil kya kehta hai mera kya main bataun
Tum ye samjhoge shayad main pagal hai
Dil karta hai TV tower pe main chadh jaaun
Chilla chilla ke main ye sab se keh doon
Rock on, hai ye waqt ka ishara
Rock on, har lamha pukara
Rock on, yunhi dekhta hai kya tu
Rock on, zindagi milegi na dobaraa...

Dil karta hai sadkon par zor se gaaun
Sab apne apne ghar ki khidki kholen
Phir main aise joshile geet sunaun
Mere Geeton ko sun ke sab ye bolen
Rock on, hai ye waqt ka ishara
Rock on, har lamha pukara
Rock on, yunhi dekhta hai kya tu
Rock on, zindagi milegi na dobaraa...

Jaise jeene ko dil chaahe jee waise tu
Meri to hai bas ye raay ki
Apne jitne bhi armaan hain poore kar le tu..

Rock on, hai ye waqt ka ishara
Rock on, har lamha pukara
Rock on, yunhi dekhta hai kya tu
Rock on, zindagi milegi na dobara..

Rock on, hai ye waqt ka ishara
Rock on, har lamha pukara
Rock on, yunhi dekhta hai kya tu
Rock on, zindagi milegi na dobaraaa.....

singer: Farhan Akhtar (bold letters: chorus)
music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy
lyrics: Javed Akhtar
album: Rock On!!

Pichle Saat dinon mein maine khoya (Rock On!!)

2008-07-08T05:40:00.000-07:00

meri laundry ka ek bill
ik aadhi padhi novel
ek ladki ka phone number
mere kaam ka ek paper
mere, taash se heart ka king
mera, ik chaandi ka ring
pichhle saat dinon mein maine khoya
kabhi khud pe hansa main,
aur
kabhi khud pe roya

present mili ek ghadi
pyaari thi mujhe badi
meri jeb ka ek packet
meri denim ki jacket
do one-day match ke passes
mere naye naye sunglasses
pichhle saat dinon mein maine khoya
kabhi khud pe hansa main,
aur
kabhi khud pe roya

kaise, bhoolun, saatva jo din aaya
kisi ne, tumse, ik party mein milwaaya
kaisa, pal tha, jis pal maine tumko pehli baar dekha tha
hum jo mile pehli baar
maine jaanaa kya hai pyaar
maine hosh bhi khoya dil bhi khoya
kabhi khud pe hansa main,
aur
kabhi khud pe roya
maine pichhle saat dino mein
ye sab hai, khoya..

singer: Farhan Akhtar
music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy
lyrics: Javed Akhtar
album: Rock On!!

Socha hai (Rock On!!)

2008-07-08T04:29:00.000-07:00

aasma hai neela kyun
paani geela geela kyun
gol kyun hai zamee
silk mein hai narmi kyun
aag mein hai garmi kyun
do aur do paanch kyun nahi

ped ho gaye kam kyun
teen hain ye mausam kyun
chaand do kyun nahi
duniya mein hai jung kyun
behta laal rang kyun
sarhaden hain kyun har kahin
socha hai... ye tumne kya kabhi
socha hai... ki hain ye kya sabhi
socha nahi to socho abhi

behti kyun hai har nadi
hoti kya hai roshni
barf girti hai kyun
dost kyun hain roothte
taare kyun hain toot-te
baadlon mein bijli hai kyun
socha hai... ye tumne kya kabhi
socha hai... ki hain ye kya sabhi
socha nahi to socho abhi

sannata sunai nahi deta
aur hawayen dikhayi nahi deti
scha hai kya kabhi
hota hai ye kyun............

aasma hai neela kyun
paani geela geela kyun
gol kyu hai zamee
silk mein hai narmi kyun
aag mein hai garmi kyun
do aur do paanch kyun nahi

ped ho gaye kam kyun
teen hain ye mausam kyun
chaand do kyun nahi
duniya mein hai jung kyun
behta laal rang kyun
sarhaden hain kyun har kahin
socha hai... ye tumne kya kabhi
socha hai... ki hain ye kya sabhi
socha nahi to socho abhi......

singer: Farhan Akhtar
music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy
lyrics: Javed Akhtar
album: Rock On!!

Bachna ae Haseeno: music review

2008-07-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

Bollywood didn't see much good happening during the first half of this year. But the second half seems to be bringing a lot many promising things right from the first Saturday of July. After Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Kismat Konnection and Singh is Kinng, it's Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno starring Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu and Minissha Lamba from which bollywood is expecting a lot.

Interestingly, there is a lot of variety in the music of these movies too. Where Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na primarily had romantic music with an AR Rehman touch, Kismat Konnection has mostly dance numbers in hip-hop style. Singh is Kinng has a lot of Punjabi flavor attached to it, and now Vishal Shekhar has brought Bachna ae Haseeno that has a number of flavors in it.

The album has 7 songs, one of them being Bachna ae Hasino from Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin, the Rishi Kapoor flick. Except that there are 5 songs and one remix.

The album starts with a romantic number Khuda Jaane that has started showing on TV channels already. The song starts off on slow notes with KK and Shilpa Rao both taking turns until KK picks up a beautiful higher note with Khuda Jaane ke.. The song is a bit too slow but KK keeps the momentum and the song gives a good feel. The lyrics are good too but Shilpa Rao's voice doesn't fit very well with Deepika Padukone.

The second song 'lucky boy' starts with voice of Raja Hasan giving a desi feeling to the song. But then with Sunidhi Chauhan coming in, the entire feel of the song changes into a slow dance number with beats that suit high volume. The song goes on pretty regularly with Raja Hassan coming in at times and with not many surprises.

'Ahista Ahista', the third song starts with a music that make you expect a good song, somewhat of the sort that Pritam is making in plenty. After almost a minute, Shreya starts singing a not-so-typical-of-her song which, although it doesn't go very high, is not of the type of songs we generally hear her sing. Lucky Ali certainly gives the song his flavor and his alaaps of o..o.. in the duet may remind you of Khuda Hafiz from Yuva.

The fourth song 'Jogi mahi' gives you a surprise with its first line itself when you listen to Shekhar singing the beautiful lines 'Suno ik thi Kaanch ki Gudiya, Suno ik thi pyaar ki pudiya' and then really sings a significant portion of a song probably for the first time. Later Sukhwinder Singh sings along but Shekhar doesn't leave the song unlike his earlier songs and his presence is felt through the song. Voice of Himani Kapoor, who is found towards the end of the song, is good too. Shekhar and Sukhwinder singing together give the song a good end.

If Shekhar Ravjiani singing was a surprise, get ready for a bigger one this time. Shankar Mahadevan, who is a full time composer now, sings to the tunes of Vishal and Shekhar for the next song 'small town girl', and the song is a small pretty woman and also has lyrics in Hindi, English and some Punjabi too. The song has the potential to make people dance to it but will take some time. Hope Ranbir gives a good show of dance in the video, which can make the song a chartbuster.

The originals end here and the sixth and seventh songs of the album are a remix and a mix respectively. Number six is a remix of Khuda Jaane which goes pretty fast compared to the original version. Vishal Shekhar have performed a few good experiments on the song too and the results are good too.

The final song of the album is 'Bachna ae Haseeno' of Hum Kisise Kam Nahin in a version mixed by Vishal Shekhar, resulting in a song that bears the credits 'Kishore Kumar, Sumit Kumar, and Vishal Dadlani', something like Deepika Padukone dancing with Sunil Dutt in Om Shanti Om. This is important to say here that the song has been mixed well and the beauty of old voice remains as in original song. Sumit Kumar has filled in for his father's voice well in places.

To summarize, Bachna ae Haseeno has a good soundtrack which will be getting pace slowly, as opposed to those of Pritam that are getting instant success. Keep listening to the songs on TV and other media and by the release you'll be humming them. That's Vishal-Shekhar for you.

(Download Bachna ae Haseeno mp3 songs)
..

Singh is Kinng: Music Review

2008-07-05T03:01:00.000-07:00

In one word, Singh is Kinng rocks. But there is a lot more that needs to be said about the rocking music, so read on.

Singh is Kinng is surely one of the most awaited movies of the year and the same can be said about the soundtrack of the movie. It's the fourth movie of the year for Pritam after Race, Jannat and Kismat Konnection, all of them chartbusters. And no doubt now Singh is Kinng is going to add to the list of these hits.

Though, there is one song that does not belong to Pritam. And Singh is Kinng starts with that one song only - The Snoop Dogg Version of Singh is Kinng. This one is a Rhythm-Dhol-Bass track composed by Calvin Broadus with Surjeet Singh, Manjeet Ral and Kuljeet Ral. The song is supported by Akshay Kumar himself along with Snoop Dogg and RDB.

The song, already heard by many during the IIFA 2008 presentation, is a good number and is interestingly as Punjabi as English. The song is a good listening, especially in the last minute of the five minute length where there is much more Punjabi. Akshay Kumar's part in the song is interesting too.

The second song 'Jee Karda' sung by Labh Janjua and supported by Labh Janjua is a comparatively slower song which is mainly based on the beats in the background. The renditions of Suzi Q add to the so called X-factor of the song. Still, the song is a well composed punjabi song that is going to run well with the other songs of the movie.

The remix version of 'Jee Karda' doesn't have much new to it when compared to the original number and seems to be remixed for the sake of it as there is not much difference visible between the two tracks, not counting a few added effects at points.

And then comes the 'Bas ek King' sung by Neeraj Shridhar, Mika, Ashish Pandit and Hardkaur, which you must have seen on TV by now. The song is a made-for-high-volume song and is going to be a hit in its original and many remix versions which are sure to come out very soon. Though the song doesn't have very much left after the promos as you don't see Akshay Kumar while listening to the song on your music, it is clear that the song will be getting another boost after the release of the music as the full video will be lovable.

The song 'Bas Ek King' has been remixed into a Dhol style version too, named Tiger style remix, as obviously because Dhol is the main instrument in Punjabi music. The remix is made well and of course, a good dhol remix of a good punjabi song can work wonders.

Period.

Get ready for a whole new Daler Mehndi who starts shouting 'Aaj khushi ka din hai aaya..' before he starts singing for a Baaraat in his usual high-high-high style. Yes, 'Bhootni ke' is going to hit Indian marriages more than anything with its completely Made-in-India tag.

'Bhootni ke' has lyrics that resemble the soul of Punjab where love is expressed entirely in its own manner. 'Bhootni ke' is probably the best song of the movie and it seems Pritam agrees with me as we see three different versions of the song including one normal remix and another tiger style version in Mika Singh's voice.

The first remix of the song is as good as the original one, as it runs on a higher speed which will make it more compatible for dancing. The Mika version is the same song in a new packing, and it is difficult to say which one will be more popular. Still, one thing that can be said about the songs is that Daler's version has more Punjabi and authentic feel to it whereas Mika gives a more casual feel to the song and if asked, I would prefer the former.

The next number, Teri Ore by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal, changes the mood for a song and Punjabi dance numbers leave some space for a romantic song, typical of Rahat for past some time, be it O re Piya of Aaja Nachle, Bol na Halke Halke of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, or Falak Tak of Tashan. Typically again, Rahat is a singer who has never failed a song and this one is no exception. Shreya starts off the song with Rahat having an entry through his alaps after a minute and half.

A new experiment in the song is where Shreya and Rahat both sing lines together but Rahat's voice seems to be in backdrop with Shreya singing in front. A chorus that goes uncredited has also given its taste to the song, though I could not understand the language which is probably Rajasthani or some similar dialect.

And then there is a Lounge mix to this too!

Believe it or not (you will when you listen to it), Pritam has made almost an entire new song in the name of lounge mix as the flavor of the song seems to have changed. The song uses some traditional instruments too but they have been given limited access here so they don't affect the song in a bad way. And hence, this lounge version of Clinton and Eric Pillai also turns out to be a song worth listening.

But fact told, 'original is original' is what comes to my mind when I go back to the original version. A wonderful song, in an album that lies in a completely different territory than the song belongs to.

Back to Punjab, Singhs and Dance numbers. 'Talli Hua' is Neeraj Shridhar in a slightly newer territory and he has done his job well. 'Talli Hua' is a song that is Hindi-Punjabi whereas Neeraj is primarily known for English-Hindi numbers. The song is well supported by Labh Janjua as one doesn't easily understand where the two singers exchange voices.

The remix version that adds rap and Style Bhai adds to tempo of the song too and the version comes out well. Neeraj may once again have a hit to his name though it is not expected to catch up with the heights of Hare Krishna Hare Raam or even Kismat Konnection as those are the in the comfort zone of the Bombay Vikings leader.

To summarize, Singh is Kinng is yet another feather in Pritam's cap, especially as he gets into full-fledged Punjabi flavor in some places, which I expect would be required by the movie too.

As an album, Singh is Kinng is a Must Buy if you like Punjabi hip hop music. The only negative point of the music is that in some places it gets too Punjabi which may not be understood by entire Hindi audiences, especially those in southern parts of India. Else, the bottomline is that Singh is Kinng rocks.

And the Winner is...

2008-07-04T00:33:00.000-07:00

It's not the results of filmfare or national awards, or any other awards for that matter. The question was, who will be the winner of this July 4th. And the results are out now. Well, almost.

The reviews of the two movies, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Love Story 2050 are not much surprising. Not for me at least. The bottom line goes as, Jaane Tu.. is worth a watch but Love Story 2050 goes only on the shoulders of VFX n all. Though, expectably again, Harman Baweja is considered to be a lambi-race-ka-ghoda by most.

The result of the two movies' battle can be well understood by seeing the verdicts given by the front running reviewers. For example, Taran Adarsh has called Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na a breezy entertainer which will be loved by its target audience, whereas Love Story 2050 review ends with 'Disappointing!' as he finds the movie 'rests on a thin plot'.

Indiatimes says that 'JTYJN definitely deserves a watch... and not just for Imran' whereas it claims Harman would certainly need some luck.

Also, the reviewers have once again made it clear that AR Rehman's music in Jaane Tu.. has given it a certain edge over its rival which seems to have relied too much over technology.

Now, the final verdict will be given by the public. Let's see what the public says. Because 'Public sab jaanti hai.'

Is Pal Mein Hai Mujhko Jeena

2008-07-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Nagesh Kukunoor's Aashayein, which stars John Abraham and newcomer Sonal Sehgal is getting late again and again. The movie was slated for release on May 9th earlier from where it was shifted to the fourth week of July. And now, hopefully, the movie will release on September 12th.

But seems it's all for a reason. The bits and pieces of movie which were captured look pretty promising. Here is a video and lyrics of Zubeen Garg's song 'is pal mein hai mujhko jeena' which I liked a lot. Hope you will like it too. Music is composed by Salim-Sulemaan.

Lyrics:

ab hai ujala
ab hai savera
ab in hawaon
pe kar loon basera
ab main zamaane ko humraaz kar loon
ab aasmaanon pe parwaaz kar loon
is pal mein hai mujhko jeena
ab mujhko jeena

anjaana kal na maanu main
ye pal hai apna jaanu main
yahan chaaro taraf pyaar ke silsile
dekho veeraniyon mein bhi dil hain mile
apni manzil ki mujhko khabar hai
is pal mein hai mujhko jeena
ab mujhko jeena
ab mujhko jeena..

Bachchan for Bachchas

2008-07-02T07:19:00.001-07:00

Big B is doing it all for smalls. After his Bhootnath, Amitabh Bachchan is appearing in Aladin and the Mystery of the Lamp which is to release in November. And now, the news is that Amitabh is getting a new look for Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Talisman', a fantasy flick directed by Ram Madhvani.

The movie was declared by Vidhu Vinod Chopra last year after he finished with Eklavya, but wasn't seen for a long time. Now it seems that the movie is back in action and here is the look of Amitabh Bachchan that we found.

Only Singh can be the King

2008-07-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

Salman Khan can be a Hunk. Hritik can have a body that changes the image of Indian heroes, Shahrukh Khan can have a six pack and Harman Baweja can be another Hritik dancing his way to glory. But when it comes to the real thing, it is Singh who is the King.

Yes. It is only Akshay Kumar who can perform those deadly stunts for real. At the IIFA awards 2008 he proved once again that he is the person who dares to do it not just on the big screen but even off the screen, in front of crowd of thousands. It is Akshay Kumar who can reach the stage from the other end of the auditorium hanging on a rope and then perform, that is, sing and dance together. And then, even run into the crowds and stand on the chairs in between while performing.

Akshay, who managed to give four hits last year, is all set to hit the big screens with his next movie 'Singh is Kinng' in August. And though there hasn't been much aired on music channels except for one promo yet, Akshay's performance on 'hun te to mera door jaan nu jee nai karda ni' has made it clear that Pritam is once again going to rock with his music in the movie.

Besides his new movie 'Singh is Kinng', Akshay is also ready to hit small screens with his big thing 'Khatron Ke Khiladi', which is the Indian version of Fear Factor, and will be aired on a new channel called Colors. In the show Akshay will be seen performing stunts and helping contestants perform them.

Kismat Konnection: music review

2008-06-25T02:55:00.000-07:00

If it was Life in a Metro in 2007, it is Kismat Konnection in 2008.

Yes, Pritam has once again come up with one of the best albums of the year. The difference is of the theme, and the similarity is that every song of the album rocks. And I think everyone is going to love this one too.

Neeraj Shridhar has rocked us with his Kismat Konnection ho jaye. Atif has entered our hearts with Bakhuda tumhi ho. And now, it's Mohit Chauhan with asking 'Is this love'.

Overall, the album has 5 songs in 11 avatars. And everyone is lovable. In every avatar.

First talk about Kismat Konnection ho jaaye. I don't think I need to review the song as it has been viewed enough already on TV. The remix of the song is good too and is going to be on the dance floors for a long long time. The song in its remix version shows the Hare Krishna Hare Rama touch more than in original.

Next comes Bakhuda tumhi ho. Bakhuda yehi hai. This is the song. Atif has sung a duet probably for the first time in a movie and the voice of Alka Yagnik comes as a little surprise towards the end of the song. The song has been well supported by Alka as she hasn't been given the high 'Atif-pitch' lines of the song.

The remix version starts well too, with Atif's Alaap and the female background voices rendering 'Tumhi Lamhaton mein' running simultaneously. The song picks height slowly and Atif again rocks.

Hardkaur and Akriti Kakkar are two names which have be in many chartbustersin recent past. The next song 'Move Your Body', sung by Shaan, Suhail, hardpour and Akriti is a dance member that comes in as a the third song of the album. Though there is not a lot that is new in the music, the song is almost sure to be a hit with the lines, 'Saade Naal Karle Party, Kudi tu Lagti hai naughty.'

The song is in three versions but only the remix is where you find some significant difference as the other too versions only differ in voices in a song where voices are suppressed under musical instruments. The remix too is fine with more of English rap lines in between the Hindi-Punjabi lyrics.

And then comes another duet from another band leader, Mohit Chauhan, 'Is this love'. The song starts with the ever-so-sweet voice of Shreya and Mohit comes in after a little music and gets into the rhythm of the beautiful love song in a superb way. Looks like the making of another hit from him after Tum se hi of Jab we met.

The remix version of the song is made well too, with Shreya coming in later this time, almost in the mid of song.

Soniye Ve Soniye is the last song of the album sung by Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan. The mood of the song is clear by the lyrics of the song. The Punjabi-Hindi dance number is a try to cash the success of Nagada of Jab we Met and it seems the song will be a hit too.

Punjabi-Hindi songs are always good to remix and Soniye Ve Soniye has been no exception. The song is well remixed and the dhol touch is lessened to give a more groovy effect and the final result is good again.

In short, Kismat Konnection is something we were expecting for. It's a great album with a number of hip-hop-and-hit songs. Two songs are already hit and I expect the others to be hit as well. The only question that now exists is how will the movie be. But however it be, Kismat Konnection the album is worth a buy.

But Pappu Can't Dance!!

2008-06-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

Aamir Uncle's nephew Imran Khan's debut Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na is still awaiting its release which is scheduled for 4th July, the same day when Love Story 2050 will be released, which will be introducing Harman Baweja, son of Harry Baweja.

But both the heroes have already got huge fan followings. At least this is what India's most popular* networking site Orkut is saying.

Now the question is who is the leader.

Any guesses?

Typing Imran on Orkut's search box tells us that the newcomer has a community in his name and the strength of the community is almost 19k, ten days to the release. In fact the guy has first four communities dedicated to him and the member count of the fourth one is 1k. Then only comes Imran Hashmi who has his highest community at 797.

Well, the intersting fact is that Imran has hardly been seen talking by Indian public and it's mostly the songs and promos, and maybe cricket matches where people have seen him.

And now comes Harman Baweja's stats. Well, a community that talks about 'Harman Baweja - Love Story 2050' boasts of 30,000+ members.

And this is not all, there are three communities of Harman Baweja's 'fans' with strengths of more than 16k, 14k and 9k.

Actually, these are stats which have surprised me. After seeing the stats I'm confused thinking what will be the outcome of Friday the 4th as previously I was thinking of Jaane Tu.. as a clear winner seeing the elements attached, especially Rehman's music, which is wonderful in the movie. But now it seems that with the number of Harman Baweja fans out there, it is impossible to guess the final result.

By the way, the main difference in the two heroes is that Imran is mainly popular due to his looks (till date) but Harman is popular for his Hritik like looks, body and Hritik style dance.

And probably that's where Imran is lagging behind.

After all, Pappu can't dance saala!

* : My Own Rating!!

Shahid's Kismat Konnection

2008-06-22T00:47:00.000-07:00

If you think Neeraj Shridhar's super title song is the best Kismat Konnection has to offer, you may be very wrong.

Aziz Mirza, who once directed Shahrukh Khan in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Yes Boss, and later in Chalte Chalte, has finally moved on, and this time, with a bang.

If Shahid rocked you with the first song Kismat Konnection Ho Jaye, Bakhuda Tumhi ho from Atif Aslam is something you are going to fall in love with.

No doubts about it.

The fact that Tips is quite hard on piracy this time has made it possible that all songs are not available online even days after official music release. This has made people more curious about the movie and the songs. Interestingly, till now, the wait has been worth it.

Kismat Konnection is where Pritam has worked with three band leaders in a single movie. Pritam has worked with Atif (previously Jal), Neeraj Shridhar (Bombay Vikings) and Mohit Chauhan (Silk Route) in separate movies to give super hit numbers.

Where Atif sang 'Pehli Nazar Mein' for Pritam in Race, Neeraj has sung two almost similar songs 'Hare Krishna Hare Ram' (Bhool Bhulaiyaa) and Ishq ka Kalma (Goal). Mohit Chauhan's 'Tum Se Hi' from Jab We Met was of course one of the biggest hits of the year.

So after listening to the first two songs, the song I am waiting for is Mohit's 'Is This Love'. Wish it comes soon, and so do other songs. But till then you can sing a few lines with me.

Bakhuda tumhi ho
Har jagah tumhi ho
Haan main dekhun jahan jab
Us jagah tumhi ho
Ye jahaan tumhi ho
Wo jahaan tumhi ho
Is zameen se falak ke
Darmiyaan tumhi ho
Tum hi ho beshubha, Tum hi ho
Tum hi ho mujh mein haan, Tum hi ho
Tum hi ho...
Tum hi...

Yaad Teri Aaye

2008-06-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

hmmmm.... hmmmmm....
hmmmm.... hmmmmm....

Ik pal mein kya se kya hua jaadu sa kya chala
Tujhse juda hua to aaj khud se juda hua

hmmmm.... hmmmmm....
hmmmm.... hmmmmm....

Ik pal mein kya se kya hua jaadu sa kya chala
Tujhse judaa hua to aaj khud se judaa hua

Aaye, yaad teri aaye.. o..o..o..
Jaaye, Jaan bhi na Jaaye.. hmmmmm...
Aaye, yaad teri aaye.. ooooo...
Jaaye, Jaan bhi na Jaaye..

Soona soona sa hai mausam bojhal si shaam hai
Tanha tanha sa har rasta tanha maqaam hai
Gumsum gum si lagti hai aayi hai jo hawa
Chhup chhup ke sab se chhup ke rota hai aasmaa
Bejaan dhadkane meri, aankhon mein hai dhuan
Tujhse judaa hua to aaj khud se judaa huaa...

Aaye, yaad teri aaye..
Jaaye, Jaan bhi na Jaaye..

hmmmm.... hmmmmm....
hmmmm.... hmmmmm....

Kisne socha tha aisa bhi aayega ek din
Khaali khaali honge, har pal chhin tere binn
bechaini hai betabi hai dil hai bujha bujha
Maara maara deewano sa phirta yahan wahan
Saanse ruki ruki meri, khamosh hai sada
Tujhse judaa hua to aaj khud se judaa huaa

Aaye yaad teri aaye.. hmmm...
Jaaye Jaan bhi na Jaaye..

(higher pitch from here)
Ik pal mein kya se kya hua jaadu sa kya chala
Tujhse juda hua to aaj khud se juda hua

Aaye yaad teri aaye.. hmmm...
Jaaye Jaan bhi na Jaaye..

hmmmm.... hmmmmm....
hmmmm.... oooooooooo....

singer: Mohit Chauhan
music: Anu Mailk
album: Ugly Aur Pagli

Thodi Life Thoda Magic Music Review

2008-06-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

In one word, it's Old. And it's not gold at least. With its music, Thodi Life Thoda Magic seems to be a movie of '90s. Even with some good tracks in the movie, it seems like the movie is behind its time.

The movie, which has its name conflicts unresolved with Kunal Kohli's Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic got it music launched by Amitabh Bachchan. The album has 5 tracks plus 2 remixes and a sad version, making the count go eight.

The first song, 'Thoda sa Gham Ho, Thodi Khushi Ho' starts with a music that may remind you of '60s or '70s, but once Sonu Nigam comes in with his typical soft touch, the song turns out to be a good soothing number.

The lyrics of the song are good too. And probably for the reason that the song is good, the composer Vinay Tiwari has tried to cash the song with both a remix and a sad version. The remixed version of the song starts off with some hope generating music and the final result is not very bad either. Even though the lyrics hardly match the pace of the song, the song is not bad for an age where every song reaches the dance floors with a remix version.

At almost 9 and a half minutes, the least that can be said about the sad version of the song is that it's too long. And before the song runs one fourth of its length, you realize it can only be good for background music, preferably in a saas-bahu serial. The great voice of Sonu doesn't help the song very much.

'Zindagi Zindagi Kaisi Hai Tu Paheli', the second song of the album runs for one minute and 18 seconds even with a dialog from Jackie Shroff. Though the song is not bad, it's hardly more than the length of a TV promo. Seems to be a late addition in the movie.

The third song of the album is again a slow number starting in the beautiful voice of Shreya Ghoshal. The song is very good from the point of 1990-95 era but the song will prove good in today's age is doubtful. The song has voices of Sonu Nigam and Vinay himself too.

'Tune Kahi Aur Maine Maani' of Kailash Kher is a typical sufi number and looks just like any Kailash Kher songs as long as instruments don't come into picture. But as they do, the song seems to be from Kachche Dhaage age, ten year old Sufi songs' era. In any case, Kailash Kher hasn't lost his touch to music and one can feel Kailash in the song.

The remix version of the song is comparatively an experimented with and the result is pretty good, at least comparatively.

The last original track of the album 'Maana Ye Aaj Humne' is again a song suitable for '90s. The song is sung by Shaan, Vijay and Swati. Well, the last two names are quite unknown to me too, probably not even winners of some show. Still, the singers have done a not-bad job.

Overall, Thodi Life Thoda Magic would have surely been a hit had it been released ten years ago. But for now, there are too many questions as the album looks stale. Still, some people may like it. Try it once if you still like to listen to '90s songs.

Ugly aur Pagli Music Preview

2008-06-15T04:41:00.000-07:00

Ugly aur Pagli is different. But the difference which is seen in our dear old Anu Malik is something striking. In this latest album of his, Anu has roped in singers that are almost all relatively new and there is only one song featuring Shaan and Sunidhi. In fact Anu himself has appeared in only one song.

The album boasts of singers like Ishq Bector, Anushka Manchandani, Vasundhara Das, Mohit Chauhan, HardKaur and even Mika.

The album has five songs and two remixes. First song 'Talli' has already hit the TV and is quite likeable and expected too as it matches the 'doesn't-know-when-to-stop' character of Mallika shown in the first promo. The song has voices of HardKaur, Mika and Anmol Malik and has been also remixed later in the album.

The song Karle Gunaah is sung by Ishq Bector and Anushka and hence will be a fast paced song. Karle Gunaah also has a remix in the album.

The lyricist Amitabh Varma makes things clear with the lyrics of 'Shut up! Aa Nachle'. The song is sung by Vasundhara Das with Anu Malik and also has a new voice of Dibyendu Mukerji.

The song I am personally expecting the most from is 'Yaad Teri Aaye' sung by Mohit Chauhan (now of Tum se hi fame, previously the lead singer of Silk Route). Interestingly, this will be the first song of the choosey singer after Tum se hi. Before Tum se hi, 'Guncha Koi' (Main. Meri patni aur Woh) and Khoon Chala (Rang De Basanti) have been appreciated well among the few songs sung by Mohit for Hindi movies.

The only song with singers of typical 'love songs' is Yeh Nazar which is given to Shaan and Sunidhi and seeing the recent record of Shaan, the song can be expected to be good and maybe even great.

Overall, Ugly and Pagli looks like a promising album with not very long time commitments. The music looks as-long-lasting-as-the-movie type with probably one or two songs (mentioned at the end) having the capability of running for considerable time.

What is inside will be known only when the music is out. So keep waiting for the review and keep listening to the 'Talli' Mallika on your TV sets.

Summer 2008: Movies to Look For

2008-06-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

2008 hasn't seen much in the name of hits. Where IPL became an instant hit with the ball crossing boundary line again and again, there were only two movies in the year, namely Jodhaa Akbar and Race, that crossed the boundary of hit. Nor have there been many movies that claimed critical acclaim, while 2007 had given a number of hits Guru, Chak De India, Om Shanti Om, Jab We Met and of course, Taare Zameen Par. Many of the movies were loved by critics also.

Well, that was the case with the movies released till now. But it seems that now there can be some change in the trends and I really hope for some good movies and hits too. Though Sarkar Raj hasn't brought very good results even after being good, there are a number of movies which must be good. So let's have a look.

Kay Kay Menon, Parvin Dabbas, Prashant Narayanan, Rajat Kapoor, Simone Singh, Sandhya Mridul, Sonali Kulkarni, Vinay Pathak. That's the cast of Via Darjeeling which is scheduled to release on June 20th. Whoever are the other people associated with the movie, the cast is expected to make a wonderful movie, which seems certain on seeing the promos of the movie. Though I do not expect the movie to be a blockbuster, it should be a great movie.

Next Friday, 27th June brings us Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic which is at least expected to fare quite good if not exceptionally well on the box office. The movie has a great soundtrack and the reviews have been good.

July seems to be the best bet with at least one movie every week to watch out for. The first Friday of July will see two long awaited launches -- Imran Khan, the nephew of Aamir Khan, in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, and Harry Baweja's son Harman Baweja in Harry's sci-fi flick, Love Story 2050. Music of both the movies is out and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na seems to be leading the race till now as AR Rehman's music has helped Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na a lot.
The second Friday will be seeing Apoorva Lakhia's big budget project, Mission Istanbul. The movie has Zayed Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Sunil Shetty along with Abhishek Bachchan in an special appearance. Mission Istanbul is Apoorva's most ambitious project till date and Zayed Khan has even gained 11 kg for the movie. So it will be worth seeing if the hard work will result in the mission getting accomplished or not.

Kismat Konnection will be released on the third Friday of July. The movie is in hype since the day the promos have been launched. The first song of the movie has been getting wonderful response even before the complete soundtrack being released and with Pritam bearing the credits of music director, the movie is expected to have some wonderful songs.

The fourth and final week of July will bring hopes with Nagesh Kukunoor's Aashayein which was previously expected in May. Aashayein not only stars John Abraham but it probably has John as a singer too. Nagesh has been reported to have many 'Aashayein' from the movie after his last movie Bombay to Bangkok which was a disaster.

On the same day, there will be two more movies which have been in news a lot. First is money hai to honey hai which is directed by Ganesh Acharya. Second one is Ranveer Shorey-Mallika Sherawat starrer 'Ugly aur Pagli'. Ugly aur Pagli has started showing on TV channels and I must say I loved the first promo. Being a Ranveer Shorey movie, Ugly and Pagli is almost certain to have a certain part of audience but this will be worth seeing what results does his pairing with Mallika Sherawat bring.

The trend may follow for a few days as C Kkompany, Singh is Kinng and God Tussi Great Ho will be hitting theaters in August. So keep watching.

Music Review: Mission Istanbul

2008-06-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Mission Istanbul has a number of composers giving music for various tracks. The album starts with an average song, 'World hold on world hold on' in the voices of Kunal Ganjawalla, Gayatri Ganjawalla, and Raaj. The most striking feature of the song is the start it is given as it describes the setting of the movie to a good extent. After that there is hardly anything in the song except for the voice of Kunal who keeps the song lively.

The second number is 'Mission Mission', supposedly the title song. The song starts with a good note but it's probably the lack of experience of the composer Chirantan Bhatt due to which the song fails to make a great impact, at least in the first few hearings.

The third song is 'Jo Gumshuda' a treat from Anu Malik. No doubt when Anu gives music for a few songs in an album, it's good. Sometimes great. Here is an example of the same. Filled up with an interesting prelude and background voices according to settings of movie, it's a typical bollywood hit number in the voices of Shaan and Mahalaxmi.

As a bonus, the video of the song is good too, at least on one side of the screen. I case you haven't yet seen, go grab it at your favorite music channel.

The fourth song 'Nobody like you' is a brand Neeraj song. Neeraj Shridhar has been pretty good with his previous songs and here too he has left his mark on the song while singing with Anoushka. The song can be an instant hit once the video is there on music channels.

'Yaara Mere Dildara', the fifth song in the album, is something to look forward to. The song seems to be well set with the movie as the music has a touch of desert. The voice of Javed Ali suits the sufi song well. Sunidhi is good as always.

'Apun ke Sath' of Mika is a catchy semi-rap song and can be expected to run well as background with a fast paced movie.

The remix of 'Jo Gumshuda' is an album filler which is neither bad nor has something special to it. The remix of 'Nobody like you' is comparatively better mixed, which is likely from the past record of Neeraj Shridhar.

The last one, remix of 'World hold on', seems to be experimented a bit too much while remixed. But it all goes well with the voice of Kunal.

In short, it's average. Not bad, but not up to the expectations and hype of the movie. Still, as the music seems to have the same soul as that of the movie, the songs should catch up well with the movie, especially if the movie goes well.

So let's wait and see. Till then we can listen to the few good songs of the movie, especially Jo Gumshuda and Yaara Mere Dildara.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na: Music Review

2008-05-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

A R Rehman's speciality lies in that he knows what he is making. While with other music composers generally songs 'work well' or 'fit' in situations, A R Rehman's music generally can tell you what the situation is.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na is one such example where the movie's mood can be guessed from the light music of the album.

The opening song of the album is 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi'. Don't go on the title of the song, as the song is a pretty soothing number and Rehman's touch is clear from this very first song. The song is a feat in the new voice of Rashid Ali, as the lyrics of the song are fine too.

Rehman and 'Saala' make a good combination. At least that seems to be the thinking of uncle producer Aamir Khan when you listen to second song 'Pappu Can't Dance'. And though I haven't got the importance of Saala in the song like it was in Roobaroo, I can't deny the goodness of song. Expect it to be an instant hit. And the dirigidi-da-da-da-da-daa sounds in the background make sure you don't forget it's Rehman. Interestingly, the song has a few lines dedicated to uncle Aamir's debut Papa Kehte hain too.

The third number of the album, 'Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai' seems to be a good song that may last long, though there is a little monotonicity in the song. The song is sung well by Runa Rizvi and Rehman's music is good. The song doesn't have much length but has a male version later. Lyrics of the song are also worth listening to.

The fourth one, a very light 'Nazrein Milana' is another good number. The song has a number of partying voices from six singers that include Naresh Iyer too, giving a good listening experience. Though there is not much to look forward to in lyrics of the song, music is quite good as Rehman experiments with rock sounds in a light party song.

Only one sentence would be enough for the next song. The song, 'tu bole main bolun' is sung by A R Rehman.

Well, the song is not like Khwaja Mere Khwaja or Luka Chhupi, but there are a lot many new things in the song to listen to. I can't exactly place which school the song comes from but it has a slight clubbish feeling attached to it, which comes easy with the saxophone's sound. And though the song is not a heavyweight (like examples I gave) but it's not a very light number either. It short, listen to it to know it completely.

The sixth song of the album 'Kahin to hogi wo' is a lovely, romantic song sung well by Rashid Ali and Vasundhara Das. Especially Rashid is wonderful. The song seems to have the ingredients necessary to make a song last long and I expect it will be heard for months. In the end, the song has the chorus effect which was generally used in older songs and has been tried by composers at various times.

The seventh song on the album is a second version of 'Jaane tu Mera Kya hai', in a male voice this time, sung by Sukhwinder Singh. The mighty voice of Sukhwinder suits the almost-only-sad-song of the album well and the song goes a bit better than the female version, even though both the versions seem to have almost completely different tastes after listening to the two versions alternately.

The eigth and final song of the movie is a remix like in most other albums. And unfortunately, like most other remixes of today, the song doesn't have much stuff in it and has been experimented with a little too much it seems.

Anyways, with almost all the songs of the album in at least above average category, one remix doesn't make a difference. The album is overall a great compilation and A R Rehman deserves the credit for that. Listen to it. Hope you'll enjoy a lot.

De Taali: Music Review

2008-05-24T00:25:00.000-07:00

De Taali is the next movie for Vishal Shekhar with above average music from the duo. The album has 8 songs out of which 6 are original and two are remixes.

'Everybody put your hands together', the starter of the new Vishal Shekhar album is a groove style song whose music style can be guessed to some extent by its lyrics and Anushka's voice brings some flavor of Golmaal. A beaty dance number which doesn't have much new to it.

The second song, De taali is again in a similar kind of mood. This song too has voices of Shaan and Sunidhi like the first but not of Anushka. Though Shaan seems a bit different in both the songs.

The third one, Aaj main boond hoon, is a pretty song, well sung by Shreya Ghoshal in her typical beautiful voice. It's a slow number with a little light music in the background. Interestingly, Shekhar jumps in to sing a few lines, which brings in more of curiosity than beauty, though Shekhar has sung his lines good.

Fourth song, Hone Lagi is probably a new type for Anushka Manchanda who has mostly sung fast track songs in the movies yet. Hone Lagi is another light romantic song sung beautifully. Shekhar has supported this song too with a few lines in the mid of the song.

Fifth songs brings in Saregamapa runner up Raja Hasan with a song suiting his voice. The song, Maari Teetri has a folk touch to it with added beats and Raja can have a popular song to his credit as the song has good potential of running on dance floors.

The sixth song, Tooti Phooti, sung by Shaan, KK and Sunidhi, is not going to be an instant hit but we can expect to be liked a lot after a few listening as the song has a good-slow-song feel to it.

Seventh song is a remix of Anusha's Hone Lagi which seems to be just remixed for the sake of it and hardly has any stuff in it. The song has fast beats in the background and the song can only be liked in loud volume.

Last song of the album, De taali remix is better mixed but doesn't have anything special.

Still, the album has a few good songs like aaj main boond hoon and even other songs are above average making the album overall an above average album and worth listening. Though, with Yash Raj's Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic and Rehman composed Jaane tu ya jaane na out at the same time, the album may have to struggle for space.

Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic: Music Review

2008-05-23T03:09:00.000-07:00

kabhi socha hai kya..
kabhi socha hai kya, barish kyun bhaaye
kyun geet bewajah, hoton pe aaye
kyun achchi lage, talwon mein lehren
kyun bhatke kadam, ek pal na thehren...

Shankar Mahadevan is getting to sing the best lyrics somehow. And it's all coming out of Prasoon Joshi's pen for quite some time. After Aamir Khan's Taare Zameen Par, Kunal kohli's Saif-Rani starrer Thoda Pyaar Thoda magic seems to be yet another treat from the composer trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and the first song 'Pyaar ke liye' (starting lyrics above) seems to be a great start for the album.

The second song, Nihaal ho gayi has already started showing on the music channels and is getting the great response it deserved. And though the promo shows just two lines, rest of the song has a few good lines. The music has a feel of Jhoom barabar Jhoom title song.

The third song, bulbula, starts in an altogether new manner as there is a chorus sort of cursing in a friendly manner after which Sunidhi renders some lyrics in an I'm-the-best mood. At 3 minutes and 20 seconds, the song is pretty small and not bad.

At number four comes something interesting. First thing is the title, 'Lazy Lamhe' and the second is the voice of Anusha Mani, listening to which one can wonder where she was until now. The song is a slow number with a slight lounge feeling attached to it.

Track five, the last original song in the album, 'Beetey Kal Se' comes in two female voices, Shreya Goshal and Sneha Suresh. The song doesn't have much at the music front but the lyrics are quite positive and are likeable. In fact, the dialogs in the mid-song raise questions of social importance too.

Number six is a remix of 'Nihaal Ho Gayi' by DJ Aqeel. The remix is good as the song is already a good Punjabi-style dance number.

The final track is a well deserved remix of Lazy Lamhe. I mean, a remix that looks like a real remix, like those in Sanjay Gupta movies. The singer, composer and song prove good yet again in the hands of DJ Aqeel and thus the album ends with a good note and a mood to play it again.

Final Verdict: A must buy if you like typical Yash Raj's music which is generally the case with most.

Dhoom Dhadakka music review

2008-05-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

Roop Kumar Rathod has never disappointed with his music, and this time once again he passes the test, although with a different sort of music this time and not that good if compared to Zeher.

Though, one important thing with Roop's music is that he doesn't apply his own voice to a song if there's a better option available. He's content directing music, something that is scarce in today's music composers.

The album 'Dhoom Dhadakka' has a small 3 songs + 2 remixes soundtrack. But the songs are worth being there in the album and most of them give their flavor in the first listening itself, especially the title and ara ra ra ra.

The title song Dhoom Dhadakka which claims not to be a remix, is a complete hip-hop with as many beats in the background as in any good remix. The voices of Daler Mehndi and Jaspinder Narula give the song a complete Punjabi flavor. The song is quite good and interesting and also the best song of the album.

The remix version of the song which appears later is a small number, equally hip with a few extra rap voices in such a way that I love it as much as I loved the original version.

The second song, Hari Om sung by Sunidhi is a made-to-sell song and the voice of Sunidhi reminds of Crazy Kiya re. Still, the song being pretty good, I hope the song can make a mark if the video of the song is good.

The third song, Ara ra ra ra is a Holi song, and gets into its own flavor with the very first words of Udit Narayan, getting its speed with the female voice. The song doesn't have any new type of music and reminds of Khaike Paan Banaras Wala but the song is still no bad. Voices of Anupam Kher and Satish Shah give a good feeling too.

The Remix of Hari Om doesn't seem to be having anything special to it, and the album ends with not actually as much as could be expected from Roop Kumar Rathod, but doesn't fail to give you at least two good songs as the title and ara ra ra ra.

Try the music yourself and see how much you get into the flavor yourself. It's worth listening for sure if you appreciate fast, kinda old fast music.

Hastey Hastey music review

2008-05-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

Seems like Anu Malik is in full mood to compensate for his long absence. After Anamika and Woodstock Villa, it's Hastey Hastey that is again having the name of Anu Malik as its composer within a matter of weeks. Though the movie doesn't boast of many big names, at least it adds to the works of Mr. Malik.

The album has six songs, plus one sad version, and four more versions of two songs, making it a total eleven songs.

Songs are sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawalla, Shaan, Zubin Garg, and Mr. Producer, Shiv Ram Kumar too. Sunidhi has given voice to a hopping 7 tracks out of 11 and is the only female singer in the album, something that has become a rare sight nowadays.

Sameer's lyrics are Sameer's lyrics and nothing more than that. So don't expect any quality lyrics, it's just time pass material in that department.

The album starts with Sunidhi Chauhan's song 'Hum Hain Tum Ho', which reminds of the old music of Anu Malik and the song gives a 5-10 year old feel, something like those of Ishq-Vishk with a few added beats. But that doesn't mean you may not like it. Even though the song feels a bit old, it's just fine.

The second song, 'New Age Mantra', sung by Sunidhi again with Kunal, is quite different, and I feel that the song has some potential to move high in popularity charts and can be a hit.

Number three, the title song happy version is something to be happy about as the music is beautiful, but the producer-cum-singer Mr. Shiv Ram Kumar doesn't seem to realize that if the song were given voice of Shaan, Sonu Nigam or some good singer like that, it might have been a much better song. Sunidhi is as good as in any other song and overall, the song is not bad.

There is a sad version of the song too in which the producer singer is comparatively much better and though he's not much in tune, he tries to show a glimpse of Kishore Kumar in his voice, and somewhere in the process tries too hard for that, almost losing the song completely.

Next song 'Al Madad Chere Khuda Mera Yaar' is a typical Zubin Garg song and goes on the same lines as 'Ya Ali' or 'Jeena Kya Tere Bina'. (by the way, if u haven't heard, that's a good number too, from Kya Love Story Hai)

Next, 'Bheegi Bheegi Teri Zulfen' is another well sung by Kunal Ganjawalla, like always. The high pitch he-he-ho-ho start tells you that you can expect a typical Kunal song here too. Though this one does not reminds of some specific song at least.

The song 'rock the world' by Shaan is fine too. And even though there are hardly words other than 'it's our world' and 'we will rock you, we will shock you' found in the song, the song can pull itself off to high in music charts.

Anyways, it seems that Anu Malik has researched the market well in past some time and now knows what sells (read Pritam). Many of the songs remind of many popular songs of recent past.

To summarize, the album is yet another okay-type album with a few good songs which u can look forward to. Especially 'Al madad' and 'bheegi bheegi' are the best of the album which most of the people will like.

Music Review: Woodstock Villa

2008-04-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I started writing this for Sikandar. I mean, mainly because it's the debut movie of Sikandar Kher, son of Anupam and Kirron Kher, yet another star-son to enter the Indian film industry, almost at the same time with Mimoh, Mithun Da's son. But the songs turned out to be quite good, at least more than I had expected. So here is the music review of Woodstock Villa, the much awaited debut of Sikandar Kher.

Woodstock Villa is almost a typical Anu Malik album with songs just fine, nothing much exceptional, but not disappointing either.

The album contains 9 songs including 2 remixes.

First song of the album is 'Dhokha' sung by Anchal Dutta Bhatia. The song a slight cabaret feel associated to it, even with the harsh voice of Anchal. An average song whose popularity will depend a lot on advertisement.

Next there is 'Sawan mein lag gayi aag' sung by Mika Singh. The popularity of the song is not to be doubted though there have been some changes in the original one. There is also a club mix of the song at almost the end of the album which is not bad but not likely to replace the original.

Third comes 'Kyun' which seems promising, just like from the Pritam's school. Sung by 'The Aryans', The song has something that we have been liking for past one year or so, again and again, and I don't think this one is going to be an exception.

The fourth song of the album is 'Yeh Pyaar Hai' sung by Anchal Dutta Bhatia with Shaan. The song has a few background voices in the start that give the song a beautiful feel. Shaan has sung the song beautifully and so has Anchal Dutta Bhatia. The song is a light romantic, feel good number which is likely to be liked by people.

Then comes 'Koi Chala Ja Raha hai'. It's yet another song well sung from Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. The song starts with a slow rendition in Rahat's own voice which is followed by a fine, slow number.

Sixth on the list is 'Raakh ho ja tu', by Shibani Kashyap, of course giving her special guitar-voice touch to the song. The song moves slowly with beats matching the slow pace in the background.

The last original number of the song, or say un-remixed number, as we can never be sure of original with Anu Malik, is 'Dhokha Dega' again by Shibani Kahyap. The song seems to be a background score in itself with an espionage feel that matches the movie's posters and promos.

Finally there is the club mix of 'Sawan mein lag gayi aag' followed by a remix of the first song 'Dhokha' which has nothing much to it except for a increased speed while compared to the its original. But if promoted well, the song can be popular.

Overall, the album has three good songs, Kyun, yeh pyaar hai and Koi chala ja raha hai. So with the rest of the songs being average, the album is can be put in a 'slightly better than average' category.

Do kadam aur sahi

2008-04-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

Kiski aawaz hai, sunn,
Ye naya saaz hai, sunn,
Kaun deta hai sadaa,
Chal ke dekhen to zaraa,

Raah veeraan sahi,
Raat sunsaan sahi,
Har ghadi saath rahe,
Kitne gham saath sahe,

Thode gham aur sahi..
Do kadam aur sahi..
Do kadam aur sahi...
Do kadam aur sahi....

singer: Sonu Nigam
music: A R Rehman
album: Meenaxi - a tale of three cities

Tashan

2008-04-26T05:47:00.000-07:00

Ever had the cheap namkeen at the thela in a corner in the market? It has a lot of spice there, with not much substance, surely nothing for your health, and while you reach the end of the packet, there's so much of spice only that it gets unbearable. Though, some people like it a lot.

I think Tashan resembles that namkeen very much. Even though the cover resembles that of Haldiram's or Bikanerwala.

The director Vijay Krishna Acharya has put every spice in the movie, and until you reach the extremely spicy end of it, the movie is bearable, and at times interesting.

Well, with Tashan, Hindi cinema gets a Rajnikant of its own, at least in terms of action. As Bachchan Pande aka Akshay Kumar fights and beats up some 10-12 black cat commandos and takes a pole off the earth (inspired by Sunny Deol of course) Kanpur gets a star for the place as Saif claims he should be either dangerous (Anil Kapoor in background) or clever (Kareena in background) or Kanpuriya (Akshay in background) after the fight sequence.

The bikini clad Kareena in Chhaliya attracts like anything for sure and even other songs are a pretty much on the good side. Though not very well placed in the movie, the songs are well placed as far as locations of the world are concerned. The cinematography is wonderful and so is the background score.

Kareena has acted just fine. Saif hasn't got much except Kareena and Anil seems to be overpowering Sanjay Dutt playing a successful don for the second time, after welcome. The entry of Akshay Kumar in the movie promises a new era but it turns out to be fake as the movie gets into too much of Rajnikant-sunny deol-and more action and the end sequence removes any good flavor the movie had given you.

In all, Tashan is all good in the first half if you do not use your mind and just bearable on the start of second half, but in the end it gets to your nerves.

Still, with all odds, it must be kept in mind that a good movie and a hit have no connection and Tashan is all set to prove that yet again as I hope it will be a hit even with all the action and reaction. And at the end it will be Vijay Krishna Acharya singing Tashan mein.

U me aur hummm....

2008-04-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

Tu meri khamoshiyon ka, saaz hai
Teri lafzon mein meri aawaaz hai
Raaz ye sabhi hum tum,
Jaan lein abhi hum tum.

Teri aasoo ki ladi,
Meri aankhon se bahe
Har khushi chhoti badi,
tere hoton pe rahe,

O chal yun jeeyein,
Sau, gham bhi ho gar,
aankh nam bhi ho par,
Dil, dil hi rahe,
Milke saare khwaab jeeyein
Milke sabhi bharam
U me aur hum…

These are the lines I love the most while I listen to U me aur hum. But the lines weren't there in the movie. Still, I loved the movie.

Though it wasn't as such a perfect sort of movie, neither can we compare Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan at their debuts, yet I'd say it was a great effort from the actor.

In fact after seeing the movie U may feel that he has learnt making movies pretty fast as u can feel how good the second half of the movie is, compared to first one.

The best part of the movie: Kajol. Second best being the title song, especially by Vishal.

Worst: A few extra songs.

And the credit goes to: Ajay Devgan. Very much for making such a fine movie especially after losing it in the start.

Unnoticed credits: Monty Sharma, for a good background score. And lacs of SMS addicts, for dialogs.

My opinion: Worth a watch. Will be all the more good if u have a remote with the first half. But if u r a Kajol fan, u can watch it anyways.

Pranali

2008-04-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

A movie out of nowhere. I just picked up the songs cause it was Kailash Kher in a new outfit. As a music composer for a movie, with a duo called Paresh and Naresh. And finally, it paid, at least something.

The movie has four songs including a 'Tandav' from Pt Birju Maharaj.

Of the other, the first song 'Sach na batana' is a good listening experience. We get a whole new Kailash Kher when the song starts as such a hip-hop music could hardly be expected from him. But then comes his high-pitched voice, a lot like Subhanallah of Chand Sifarish, and then the song unfolds itself with beautiful lyrics and a soothingly falling music.

The song has an Udit Narayan version which again is pretty good. But interestingly, surprisingly or shockingly, it has a complete hip-hop remix version too, which I suppose, cannot come out of Kailash Kher and must be the work of the remaining two guys.

The second song, Bikhar gayi, is another thing to be discussed. It's a female song and has the lyrics like 'main janani hoon, main devi hoon'. But the song in the female voice almost disappoints, at least when compared to the Kailash Kher's version.

The third song 'Sakhiyaan' seems to be having a touch of 'Dola re dola' from Devdas, especially due to more than one female voices and similar type of instruments.

And this one is not sung by Kailash Kher. :)

The Tandav of Pt Birju Maharaj must be good if you are a student of classical music, which I am not, so couldn't review it.

In short, a somehow surprising album, containing a truly surprising song. You won't feel bad downloading it for free, though it's not worth buying really as other songs are not that good.

Their masters' voices

2008-04-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

If it's the best, it's mine.

It's not a dialogue from Hitler or Napoleon (I don't guarantee though) but it's the policy of the music composers since time immemorial.

When I was a buyer of cassettes, I used to see the names of composers as they were brands to me. And most of the times these brands gave good results, Nadeem Shravan being the most consistent until they gave Jeena Sirf Mere Liye.

But soon the time of cassettes was over and I got digital format, that is MP3 songs. Now I had to find which were the best songs in every album so that I could listen to them first. To remain a leader in the hostel.

And that was when I got my algorithm to find the best songs.

My initial algorithm was made of two standard parts.

1. If there is a song sung by the composer of the album, it should be listened first.
2. The longest song of the album should be listened first otherwise.

The first part is generally applicable to movie albums only but the second one is applicable almost universally.

For those who believe in superstitions, I got a third part that says a song if 3 minutes and 28 seconds must be good. (Dus bahane and One love are examples)

Well, superstitions apart, the first two hold good most of the times and later I realized that it was an old formula that the best songs were always captured by the music composers themselves.

Want some examples?

Let's start with the King of Indian music industry, A R Rehman. Rehman has not sung many songs. But the best of the songs in almost all the albums he has composed are sung by Rehman himself. Be it 'Dil se', Guru's 'tere bina', or Jodhaa Akbar's 'khwaja mere khwaja'.

Other than Rehman, it's been Vishal from the Vishal-Shekhar duo and Shankar from the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio who have given their voices to the best of the songs for the past few years. Both have been quite selective about the songs they sing and such songs have either had the best of lyrics, or something 'different'.

'Aazma le' from Taxi 9211 and Saaiyaan ve from Ta-ra-rum-pum are the best examples of Vishal's love for good lyrics. To some extent, the same can be said about Shankar Mahadevan for his Mitwaa and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom title song.

Even composers who have not been this regular at composing music for Hindi movies, have also tried the same. And succeeded to some extent, at times. Awarapan from Jism and Khoobsoorat hai wo itna from Rog sung by MM Kreem and a try of Adnan Sami at Sun Zara of Lucky have been such examples.

Vishal Bharadwaj has also sung the best of the songs in his previous movies Omkara (O sathi re) and U me aur Hum (title song).

But for a long time I was thinking that it was a new trend and only the composers of this age were trying to keep the best songs for themselves.

Guess I was wrong.

And I got this when I came to know that the song I liked the most in Guide, 'Wahaan kaun hai tera' was sung by SD Burman himself instead of a professional singer.

There were legendary singers like Mohammad Rafi, Kishor Kumar and Mukesh available at that time, but Burman Senior decided to sing it himself. And the result is there. A superb song.

In fact, now a new trend has started where lyricists have started singing their songs. This is about Swanand Kirkire singing Khoya Khoya Chand, even though his voice is not that good and the slow version of the song shows the discrepancies. I don't have any stats on the trend if this too is an old and is being followed since then.

Anyways, next time you see an album for the first time and you have to decide where to start, just pick the number sung by the composer. Hope it will be good.

Khoya Khoya Chand

2008-04-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Opinions matter. As long as they do not clash with those of mine.

I hadn't heard a good word about Khoya Khoya Chand except for from Mittal who had seen the movie just a day before myself. But when I saw the movie I didn't find anything wrong with the movie. I liked the movie a lot actually.

Though I had seen the movie in three rounds, yet I can say I wouldn't have had a problem seeing it in one sitting. In fact the times I closed my media player, it wasn't that easy because I wanted to continue.

I'm not sure why people didn't like the movie but probably it was because of the mixed up relations that might have confused people.

What I liked in the movie was the superb direction of the times gone and the depths of the industry and the personal grudges of professional people.

But above all, the best thing of the movie was the clash of the egos that is capable of creating troubles among lovers and bringing enemies together.

Shiney Ahuja is good as always but Soha is much better compared to her previous performances. Vinay Pathak is the most convincing in his role even though Saurabh Shukla hasn't lived up to his own brand. Rajat Kapoor lives his role yet another time. Soniya Jehan too is not bad.

Sushmita Mukerjee hardly gets a role but plays it as good as possible. The unknown N Ganguly has been pretty good with his small role.

The background of the movie is almost perfect as far as I could see it. Dialogues are impressive in places.

But the movie is a flop. Probably because it was not an entertainer and probably because it was not for all those who saw it.

Or probably I've been very wrong somewhere.

Still, I think if you do not have problems in watching 'offbeat' movies, you should watch it.

Today's lyric

2008-04-09T08:32:00.001-07:00

jab kabhi yeh dil laga dard hi hamein mila
dil ki har lagi ka sunlo dard hi hai ik sila
kyun.. naye naye se dard ki firaaq mein talaash mein udaas hai dil
kyun.. apne aap se khafa khafa zara zara sa naaraaz hai dil

yeh manzilein bhi khud hi tay kare,
yeh faasle bhi khud hi tay kare
kyun.. toh rasto pe phir seham seham sambhal sambhal ke chalta hai ye dil...
(Khoya Khoya Chand)

Tashan mein

2008-04-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

Tashan. One of the expected hits of the year. Even with a debutant director who is not a hero at least even though he is pretty famous among behind the screen people.

I was really excited about the movie and wanted to get the songs as early as possible. Finally in the end of March I got the songs and after two days I was completely Tashan mein. Hats off to Vishal Shekhar again.

The title song of the movie, Tashan mein, was a great experience. Vishal and Salim singing semi rock and semi sufi were simply superb. I could listen to the song in a repeat mode for hours. And I did.

The next number that caught my attention was 'Dil Dance Maare'. The made-to-be-hit lyrics are going to play a big part with the completely danceable music of the song. A must listen.

'Dil Haara' is a good and a kinda untraditional number in the voice of Sukhwinder. But the song is surely not bad.

'Chhaliya', again is a good song rendered by Sunidhi and has been given kinda effect by voices in the start. I expect it to be a hit with Kareena Kapoor's dance.

Then comes 'Falak Tak', the Udit Narayan style song sung by Udit himself. :)

Falak Tak is a typical romantic type with a light feeling associated with it. Kinda Jatin-Lalit way.

The album also has the actors' voices called 'Pooja Ka Tashan', 'Jimmy Ka Tashan', 'Bachchan Pande Ka Tashan' and 'Bhaiyyaji Ka Tashan' which maybe popular based on movie's success. But anyhow, the album is pretty good with Falak Tak, Dil Dance Maare. End of the day, you are bound to be Tashan mein.

Musicalised

2008-04-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

Hi. This is my blog on music. I have always been a music freak and so a song distributor, playlist maker and song advisor.

But when my friends and acquaintances started asking me which songs I would recommend to them, I felt my choice was important for people and finally I have decided to give it out.

So if u want to know about music, music from Hindi movies and albums to be precise, and some movies too, you are invited to be musicalised too. I won't be providing gossips, or even songs and wallpapers here. All you get here is advice. You can find the songs on your own or ask me where to find them. I shall be happy to help.

No more wait. Get musicalised.

Today's song: 'Zara sa' (Jannat)