As if we didnt have enuf of Tabu in maqbool already, here's the next big surprise - meenaxi. afterall, who cud do a better job than a painter like MF Hussain to depict tabu's beauty on celluloid. in all her varied forms, full of sensuality, charm n most of all seduction. meenaxi is an abstract poetic journey into the heart n mind of restless womanhood. much toned-down n abstract maya memsaab i guess.

Believe me, if her voice was a lil less hoarse, she wud have displaced madhuri dixit long back. hoho. yo tabu!

and btw, rediff is turning more n more classy in its choices. print media has seldom seen such a support for the alternatives on the front page. but then, everything now is on the cover (web)page. hoho.

am voraciously reading anything related to meenaxi since yesterday. went back to its music trying to look at it in a new kind of light. not a mere acquaintance but someone u wanna love, get emotionally involved with. the songs are incredibly fascinating n each one of them except perhaps dhuan dhuan, which i learnt was done in 3 hrs. ARR says he's learning to compose good qawwalis n i fully agree. noor-un-ala-noor captures all the intriguing aspects of qawaali. in retrospect, i found that we've been exposed to some elaborate qawaali finery thru NFAK n ARR. looking back at those 70's movies, where qawalis were degraded to rishi kapoor, swivel n clap depiction, somehow it seems to me that this version of sufi music was on verge of being lost. one cud study n lay down several principles of this genre in detail (beginning with the dual purpose of the songs wrt both the beloved n the god), but a couple of them can be seen right off. qawaali has a pass-the-parcel flavor in between two or more lead qawwals. one of them proposes while the other stresses upon the idea. altho similar, the two propositions are independent in their classical intonations, the guy with the parcel being the boss for the moment. one doode being busy with serious stuff while the other frivolously indulging in his alaap. some of my fav expressions:

zindagi ek raaz thi, ek raaz hai, ik raaz hai,
jaankar hoga kyaaaaaa,
jaankar hoga kyaa, kisne hai jaana,
koi kahe mohabbat, koi ibaadat.

deewaangee kahen chaahe junoon,
deewaangee kahen chaahe junoon,
chaahat hi meri adaaaaaa.