Its the 2nd death anniversary of Addy today and I am missing him a lot.
Its funny how the image of someone who is no more with us always stays the same. No matter how old you get.
Take care bro ... !!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Missing ADDY ... !!
Its the 2nd death anniversary of Addy today and I am missing him a lot.
Its funny how the image of someone who is no more with us always stays the same. No matter how old you get.
Take care bro ... !!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Dilli unleashed ... !!
I had been eagerly awaiting the music release of Dilli 6 ever since I heard Massakali. I am glad that I have not been disappointed.
The album is on similar lines to Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra's previous 2 offerings of Aks and RDB. AR Rehman's stamp is evident on each track. Looking at his past record, it is difficult to like his music in the first hearing. But Dilli 6 is quite a surprise. I liked it in the first attempt itself.
The album starts off with the now-known Massakali which is like an ode to a pigeon along with an attempt of the hero to correlate the pigeon to the heroine. That's just my guess. It can be thought of as a song to Patao or tease the girl. It is quite hummable and it almost gives you a feel that the singer is enjoying himself a lot while singing it.
The next is Bhor Bhaye which is an out and out classical music song. Its for the connoisseurs of classical music. I think this song has the potential to be the most ignored song of the album. I liked it though.
Noor follows. It is not a song actually but a recitation by Amitabh Bachchan. Usually, with such songs, the words used are very heavy and most people tend to ignore them. I didn't understand each word of it but the good thing is that its a small song and gets over before you shift to the next one.
That brings us to Tumre Bhavan Mein. This is more of an Aarti song but its good. Rehman weaves his magic and prevents it from becoming a Bhajan. Its good to hear to say the least.
One of my favorites of the album is Genda Phool. It is a feminine song catering to experience of a newly wed woman and the nuances of her in-laws. Vikash rightly pointed out that it gave him a homely feeling. And why not? The Hindi used in the song is very North Indian and very Gaon-ki-Hindi. Extremely hummable song. You should not miss this one.
One of the most calming and soothing tracks is Dil Gira Dafatan. It forced me to find the meaning of Dafatan and I have still not figured it out. Amazing song. You need to hear it at least a couple of times to understand it completely.
Funky is one of Rehman's lesser explored areas but he does a fantastic job with Kaala Bandar. It has the beat to it which makes you feel like dancing. The fusion of western and Indian music is evident along with the usage of Hindi and English throughout.
Rehna Tu is also a very soothing song. I don't have much to say about the song other than this. You cannot ignore it if you like calmness.
Coming to the title track, Dilli 6 is a rundown about the highlights of Delhi as a city. This also contains beats and for a title track, its actually quite good unlike Chandni Chowk to China.
The last song is Arziyan. Rehman seems to be heavily inspired from himself. Shades of Piya Haji Ali and Khwaaja Mere Khwaaja is painted all across this song. I think this is also the longest song of the album.
The album is on similar lines to Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra's previous 2 offerings of Aks and RDB. AR Rehman's stamp is evident on each track. Looking at his past record, it is difficult to like his music in the first hearing. But Dilli 6 is quite a surprise. I liked it in the first attempt itself.
The album starts off with the now-known Massakali which is like an ode to a pigeon along with an attempt of the hero to correlate the pigeon to the heroine. That's just my guess. It can be thought of as a song to Patao or tease the girl. It is quite hummable and it almost gives you a feel that the singer is enjoying himself a lot while singing it.
The next is Bhor Bhaye which is an out and out classical music song. Its for the connoisseurs of classical music. I think this song has the potential to be the most ignored song of the album. I liked it though.
Noor follows. It is not a song actually but a recitation by Amitabh Bachchan. Usually, with such songs, the words used are very heavy and most people tend to ignore them. I didn't understand each word of it but the good thing is that its a small song and gets over before you shift to the next one.
That brings us to Tumre Bhavan Mein. This is more of an Aarti song but its good. Rehman weaves his magic and prevents it from becoming a Bhajan. Its good to hear to say the least.
One of my favorites of the album is Genda Phool. It is a feminine song catering to experience of a newly wed woman and the nuances of her in-laws. Vikash rightly pointed out that it gave him a homely feeling. And why not? The Hindi used in the song is very North Indian and very Gaon-ki-Hindi. Extremely hummable song. You should not miss this one.
One of the most calming and soothing tracks is Dil Gira Dafatan. It forced me to find the meaning of Dafatan and I have still not figured it out. Amazing song. You need to hear it at least a couple of times to understand it completely.
Funky is one of Rehman's lesser explored areas but he does a fantastic job with Kaala Bandar. It has the beat to it which makes you feel like dancing. The fusion of western and Indian music is evident along with the usage of Hindi and English throughout.
Rehna Tu is also a very soothing song. I don't have much to say about the song other than this. You cannot ignore it if you like calmness.
Coming to the title track, Dilli 6 is a rundown about the highlights of Delhi as a city. This also contains beats and for a title track, its actually quite good unlike Chandni Chowk to China.
The last song is Arziyan. Rehman seems to be heavily inspired from himself. Shades of Piya Haji Ali and Khwaaja Mere Khwaaja is painted all across this song. I think this is also the longest song of the album.
My preference of songs starting from my favorite ...
Dil Gira Dafatan
Massakali
Kaala Bandar
Genda Phool
Bhor Bhaye
Arziyan
Dilli 6
Rehna Tu
Tumre Bhavan Mein
Noor
Overall, a great album and I am not getting rid of it for at least the next 2 weeks ...
Listen to it ... you wont regret it ... Cheers ... !!
Overall, a great album and I am not getting rid of it for at least the next 2 weeks ...
Listen to it ... you wont regret it ... Cheers ... !!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Go Slumdog ... !!
I am so glad that my first post of the new year is dedicated to such an awe-inspiring piece of work. Hats off to Danny Boyle. We need more slumdogs ... errr ... SlumDogs ... I think that word deserves more respect.
For starters, I am not going with any spoilers. Hence, its not a bad idea to read the entire post. So much for self advertisement.
The plot is the heart and soul of the movie. How does a SlumDog who has grown up in the slums and bylanes of Juhu (and conned lots of people for money) end up winning the biggest cash cheque of the famous show "Who wants to be a Millionaire?". The Director poses a question to the movie audience, much on the lines of the quizshow. He asks ... "How does Jamaal know all the answers? and gives us 4 options ... A). He knows the answers B). He is a cheat C). Its his luck D). It is written. I wont delve too much into further details.
The movie starts with Irfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla interrogating Jamaal (played by Dev Patel) about how he managed to win 1 crore in the gameshow. They definitely feel that he has cheated and they only want to know how he managed to cheat. Thereon starts the movie about how Jamaal knew the answer of each and every question. There are some twists too. There are 3 phases of life for Jamaal (along with his elder brother Salim and love interest Latika). Each of the characters in these 3 phases make you stand up and applaud. The innocence of being a kid is depicted beautifully. My personal favorite is Jamaal and Salim in phase 1. Just hats off guys ... !!
A lot of human emotions are on display ... NO ... not those feel-good emotions ... just the normal day to day emotions. For example, something as simple as ... you know only what you have seen or experienced. That scene between Irfan Khan and Dev Patel is amazing. Then there is LOVE ... for some LOVE is genuine while for others its an easy way to get into a relationship. For the wise and the realists and the practical, you can do most manageable things when you are in LOVE.
There are undercurrents of the most visible issues that plague India as a country. I am not surprised that a foreigner made it a point to remind us about these. Like the Hindu-Muslim tension, child labor and corruption.
As actors, all the actors who played the characters of Jamaal, Salim and Latika (in all 3 phases) are the only ones worthy of applause. To be honest, there is no one else with a lot of scope in the movie. My personal favorite is Salim (in all 3 phases). Irfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla are just about OK. I thought Anil Kapoor continued with his of-late reputation of hamming. Mahesh Manjrekar is hardly there.
The music is the highlight. AR Rehman steals the show with a most precise rendition for such a topic. This man is just amazing. It feels great when you watch a movie and get up the next day to Breaking News of the movie grabbing the Best Movie, Best Director and Best Original score at the Golden Globe awards.
Go ahead and watch it. You wont regret a single moment. Watch out for the Three Musketeers story from the very beginning. Its like a dream. Dont miss THE Amitabh Bachchan scene.
OSCARS ... here we come ... Cheers ... !!
For starters, I am not going with any spoilers. Hence, its not a bad idea to read the entire post. So much for self advertisement.
The plot is the heart and soul of the movie. How does a SlumDog who has grown up in the slums and bylanes of Juhu (and conned lots of people for money) end up winning the biggest cash cheque of the famous show "Who wants to be a Millionaire?". The Director poses a question to the movie audience, much on the lines of the quizshow. He asks ... "How does Jamaal know all the answers? and gives us 4 options ... A). He knows the answers B). He is a cheat C). Its his luck D). It is written. I wont delve too much into further details.
The movie starts with Irfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla interrogating Jamaal (played by Dev Patel) about how he managed to win 1 crore in the gameshow. They definitely feel that he has cheated and they only want to know how he managed to cheat. Thereon starts the movie about how Jamaal knew the answer of each and every question. There are some twists too. There are 3 phases of life for Jamaal (along with his elder brother Salim and love interest Latika). Each of the characters in these 3 phases make you stand up and applaud. The innocence of being a kid is depicted beautifully. My personal favorite is Jamaal and Salim in phase 1. Just hats off guys ... !!
A lot of human emotions are on display ... NO ... not those feel-good emotions ... just the normal day to day emotions. For example, something as simple as ... you know only what you have seen or experienced. That scene between Irfan Khan and Dev Patel is amazing. Then there is LOVE ... for some LOVE is genuine while for others its an easy way to get into a relationship. For the wise and the realists and the practical, you can do most manageable things when you are in LOVE.
There are undercurrents of the most visible issues that plague India as a country. I am not surprised that a foreigner made it a point to remind us about these. Like the Hindu-Muslim tension, child labor and corruption.
As actors, all the actors who played the characters of Jamaal, Salim and Latika (in all 3 phases) are the only ones worthy of applause. To be honest, there is no one else with a lot of scope in the movie. My personal favorite is Salim (in all 3 phases). Irfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla are just about OK. I thought Anil Kapoor continued with his of-late reputation of hamming. Mahesh Manjrekar is hardly there.
The music is the highlight. AR Rehman steals the show with a most precise rendition for such a topic. This man is just amazing. It feels great when you watch a movie and get up the next day to Breaking News of the movie grabbing the Best Movie, Best Director and Best Original score at the Golden Globe awards.
Go ahead and watch it. You wont regret a single moment. Watch out for the Three Musketeers story from the very beginning. Its like a dream. Dont miss THE Amitabh Bachchan scene.
OSCARS ... here we come ... Cheers ... !!
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