ARR finally gets his due, and, more interestingly, reveals his PJ repertoire. It starts with
mere paas maa hai
and ends with
i always had a choice between love and hate. i always chose love and here i am.
I've observed that his PJ delivering abilities have significantly improved as he got up to received more n more awards. At golden globe, he was jumping with "this is unbelievable" much like poolkutty yesterday. At the oscars, he beamed so very kingly after each of his PJs before an audience that could hardly relate to most of them. Sort of majestic oh-yeah-I-know-you-are-goin-to-rotfl. I believe that most of the audience, including the desi-tv-viewers were forced to re-evaluate their sense of humor during those moments. (more than a) Few were also taken aback by ARR's supreme audacity put forth to us with a sly smile and a childlike voice. A priceless moment in time!
India is confused why slumdog gets so many oscars. Some call it poverty-porn, some say its about hope. I don't have an explanation. But I simply adore the collective confusion.
PS: I've never felt this excited and nervous since my marriage.
And yes, Gulzar inadvertently wins an oscar. The world behaves in strange ways. Here's his interview full of ifs n buts.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
ode to mohit chauhan
I've been extremely fond of mohit chauhan perhaps since boodein. However, I don't remember being an ardent fan before I heard guncha and tried to imitate the tough song. The song masakali brings him to the limelight, and I hope he is here to stay. The guy's voice is out-of-the-world nasheela, his style extremely original, his notes are perfect, and his saadgi commendable.
main meri patni aur woh was a remarkable movie, a complete delight. I really could never figure out who composed the music for the movie. and I still would like to know if mohit chauhan himself composed guncha. Mohit also sang ye zamana hum se hai in that movie, a nice number which was forgotten.
In fact, he has lent his voice to a series of superb numbers, which got lost each and every time. The album boodein was followed by a sapnay album - sapnay hain sooni aankhen, which had a couple of other lovely numbers, including a breathtaking folk number (chupi ja na chandrama..). The whole album was lost to the audience. Not sure, but sabse peeche hum khade, probably belongs to the same album. guncha did remain in the memories, however, and is still appreciated.
I hate to read that he got a semi-break through rang de basanti, and this post was written to set history straight :). Then, jab we met, kismat connection, welcome to sajjanpur, fashion, ...., and dilli 6 happened.
I pleasantly discovered today that he had been part of mission ustad last year - you get to see him singing all through those episodes - awesome! Its really heartwarming to see the singer getting his due recognition now.
main meri patni aur woh was a remarkable movie, a complete delight. I really could never figure out who composed the music for the movie. and I still would like to know if mohit chauhan himself composed guncha. Mohit also sang ye zamana hum se hai in that movie, a nice number which was forgotten.
In fact, he has lent his voice to a series of superb numbers, which got lost each and every time. The album boodein was followed by a sapnay album - sapnay hain sooni aankhen, which had a couple of other lovely numbers, including a breathtaking folk number (chupi ja na chandrama..). The whole album was lost to the audience. Not sure, but sabse peeche hum khade, probably belongs to the same album. guncha did remain in the memories, however, and is still appreciated.
I hate to read that he got a semi-break through rang de basanti, and this post was written to set history straight :). Then, jab we met, kismat connection, welcome to sajjanpur, fashion, ...., and dilli 6 happened.
I pleasantly discovered today that he had been part of mission ustad last year - you get to see him singing all through those episodes - awesome! Its really heartwarming to see the singer getting his due recognition now.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
dilli 6
I was eagerly waiting for this ARR track. The track is plain awesome. just pure magnificience. All amazing kinds of sounds. Pure brilliance. Its the rang de basanti team again - prasoon joshi and ARR. The lyrics are lovely, esp. note masakalli.
Masakalli has mohit chauhan creating the allahadpan of kishore kumar with all the verve. Choosing rekha bhardwaj to lead the bhojpuri genda phool was a superb decision - how beautifully can she combine her tangy voice with softness of emotions. ARR's second bihari number (after jhooth ka pat chalkaini, from saathiya), replete with grooves this time - it almost sounds funny or perhaps it is meant to be.
The most beautiful song is perhaps dil gira dafatan (altho masakalli wud be terrific to sing) - amazing ensemble of emotions, sung by someone called ash king.
dil, gira kahin par hai dafatan
jaane magar ye nayan
teri khamosh zulfon ki gehraayian hain jahan
dil mera uljha hua hai wohin, kho gaya
tu magar hai bekhabar, hai bekhabar
..
samandar lehron ki, lehron ki
chaadar odh ke so raha hai
par main jagoon, ek khumari, ek nasha sa,
ho raha hai.
tu magar hai bekhabar, hai bekhabar,
dil...
The samandar lehron ki tune is simply breathtaking with its painful emotion.
The rehna tu sung by ARR has a crazy sense of expression last seen in tu bole glass aadha khali (jaane tu ya jaane na) - its the same genre, rendered even more effectively this time.
I couldn't help but write down masakalli lyrics - an unrivalled tribute to allahadpan.
aye masakalli, ud matak kali
zara pankh jhatak, gayi dhool atak,
aur lachak machak ke, door bhatak
ud dagar dagar, kasbe kooche,
nukkad basti, masti mein ye ye ye
ithri se ud, adaa se mud
karle poori dil ki tamanna
hawa se jud, ada se ud
phur phurr phurr, tu hai heera panna re.
ghar tera salonee, baadal ki colonee,
dikhla de thenga unko jo udna na jaanen,
udiyo na dariyo, kar manmaani ...
badhiyo na mudiyo, kar naadaani
gar taan le, muskaan le, (??)
bas sansananan hawaa,
bas thaan le, tu jaan le,
keh sanananananan hawaa
ae masakalli ..
tu kya gam tera rishta
gagan ki baansuri se hai
pawan ki guftgoo se hai
sooraj ki roshni se hai
udiyo na dariyo, kar manmani,
badhiyo na mudiyo, kar naadani
....
masak-kali...
Masakalli has mohit chauhan creating the allahadpan of kishore kumar with all the verve. Choosing rekha bhardwaj to lead the bhojpuri genda phool was a superb decision - how beautifully can she combine her tangy voice with softness of emotions. ARR's second bihari number (after jhooth ka pat chalkaini, from saathiya), replete with grooves this time - it almost sounds funny or perhaps it is meant to be.
The most beautiful song is perhaps dil gira dafatan (altho masakalli wud be terrific to sing) - amazing ensemble of emotions, sung by someone called ash king.
dil, gira kahin par hai dafatan
jaane magar ye nayan
teri khamosh zulfon ki gehraayian hain jahan
dil mera uljha hua hai wohin, kho gaya
tu magar hai bekhabar, hai bekhabar
..
samandar lehron ki, lehron ki
chaadar odh ke so raha hai
par main jagoon, ek khumari, ek nasha sa,
ho raha hai.
tu magar hai bekhabar, hai bekhabar,
dil...
The samandar lehron ki tune is simply breathtaking with its painful emotion.
The rehna tu sung by ARR has a crazy sense of expression last seen in tu bole glass aadha khali (jaane tu ya jaane na) - its the same genre, rendered even more effectively this time.
I couldn't help but write down masakalli lyrics - an unrivalled tribute to allahadpan.
aye masakalli, ud matak kali
zara pankh jhatak, gayi dhool atak,
aur lachak machak ke, door bhatak
ud dagar dagar, kasbe kooche,
nukkad basti, masti mein ye ye ye
ithri se ud, adaa se mud
karle poori dil ki tamanna
hawa se jud, ada se ud
phur phurr phurr, tu hai heera panna re.
ghar tera salonee, baadal ki colonee,
dikhla de thenga unko jo udna na jaanen,
udiyo na dariyo, kar manmaani ...
badhiyo na mudiyo, kar naadaani
gar taan le, muskaan le, (??)
bas sansananan hawaa,
bas thaan le, tu jaan le,
keh sanananananan hawaa
ae masakalli ..
tu kya gam tera rishta
gagan ki baansuri se hai
pawan ki guftgoo se hai
sooraj ki roshni se hai
udiyo na dariyo, kar manmani,
badhiyo na mudiyo, kar naadani
....
masak-kali...
Monday, January 12, 2009
rahman wins golden globe
worldwide accolade was long due. the track was avg by rahman standards, but the prize was definitely due - both for ARR and the country. the video is here. hope he gets the oscar too.
slumdog was a true bollywood masala film. the article here sums it up:
Partly in Hindi, the movie is an uplifting tale, but manages to balance fantasy with a stark look at the life of the urban poor in India. It is this balancing act that seems to have touched a chord in audiences abroad.
I'm still confused WHY it touched a chord. Here's another interpretation:
The scam gives the film a moral: The difference between those who are poor and those who are rich is only a scam and underdogs can beat the odds if they adopt the practices of those who control their destiny.
By a clever use of subtext, Slumdog Millionaire becomes a work of art.
slumdog was a true bollywood masala film. the article here sums it up:
Partly in Hindi, the movie is an uplifting tale, but manages to balance fantasy with a stark look at the life of the urban poor in India. It is this balancing act that seems to have touched a chord in audiences abroad.
I'm still confused WHY it touched a chord. Here's another interpretation:
The scam gives the film a moral: The difference between those who are poor and those who are rich is only a scam and underdogs can beat the odds if they adopt the practices of those who control their destiny.
By a clever use of subtext, Slumdog Millionaire becomes a work of art.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
tera emosanal atyaachar
The trailer for Dev D has been out for a while. The emosanal atyaachar song was a serious warning how eclectic/crazy this movie was going to be. After all, its the next anurag kashyap movie and has abhay deol - so only the unexpected can be expected. The modern day Devdas is going to be a mega-treat to watch.
Now, the audio is out. The song list is unbelievably long - and when you consider the variety, you are nothing short of plain dumbstruck. Who's this Amit Trivedi doode. Amazing sort of folk, western, classical genres, all put together in a single album. The album is a major celebration of the man himself, whom I know nothing of, at least at this moment.
tauba tera jalwaa
tauba teraa pyaar
teraa eemosanal atyaachaar.
Of course, there couldn't be a better matching song to the context than emosanal atyachar. Here's the director's cut on it. The other favorite is paayaliya - I guess I like it more cos the seamless fusion with classical. and, btw the singer shruti pathak is of the mar jaawa (fashion) fame. The song has all kinds of crazy instrumental, vocal, percussion and accapella effects fused together that one can ever think of - totally mind-boggling composition. and no words enuf for the My God! effect. Nayan tarse is another fabulous number - I still don't know what its reminding me of. Someone write a wikipedia page on Amit Trivedi! Plzzz.
Alright, so its his second movie after Aamir. Now I've to go back to Aamir's soundtrack.
Now, the audio is out. The song list is unbelievably long - and when you consider the variety, you are nothing short of plain dumbstruck. Who's this Amit Trivedi doode. Amazing sort of folk, western, classical genres, all put together in a single album. The album is a major celebration of the man himself, whom I know nothing of, at least at this moment.
tauba tera jalwaa
tauba teraa pyaar
teraa eemosanal atyaachaar.
Of course, there couldn't be a better matching song to the context than emosanal atyachar. Here's the director's cut on it. The other favorite is paayaliya - I guess I like it more cos the seamless fusion with classical. and, btw the singer shruti pathak is of the mar jaawa (fashion) fame. The song has all kinds of crazy instrumental, vocal, percussion and accapella effects fused together that one can ever think of - totally mind-boggling composition. and no words enuf for the My God! effect. Nayan tarse is another fabulous number - I still don't know what its reminding me of. Someone write a wikipedia page on Amit Trivedi! Plzzz.
Alright, so its his second movie after Aamir. Now I've to go back to Aamir's soundtrack.
Monday, December 22, 2008
kishore kumar, RNBDJ, SM
I chanced upon this hilarious interview of Kishore Kumar. Probably taken during late 70's - maybe he got more mad with age - or maybe he only spoke in atishayoktis. The article is such a comic masterpiece. Intrigues you so much about the character.
On a side note, Passion for Cinema is a wonderful site for people like me.
And on the main note, I'd like to (finally) put it down on paper that Rab ne bana di jodi and Slumdog Millionaire are, in true sense, movies built around the same exact theme - romantic idealism. The quintessential theme is the one which bollywood is identified by, and scoffed at by our beloved desi-movie-watching pseudo-intelligensia. SM is made a thousand times more wonderfully than RNBDJ, which is perhaps why it is receiving so much applause. But, when you start looking for the key idea, the germ, the inspiration (if any) that the writer may have had - its plain old romantic idealism. And sadly, none of the movies does justice to the thought - in fact, I would say that RNDBJ is a far more sincere portrayal of the idea that SM - SM merely manipulates the critic to convince him/her of an illusion of the inspiration, almost like an insult to the thought. However, SM's story had the real potential (due to its true-to-life characters) to put forth romantic idealism so that it would jhakjhor the audience; the depiction failed to milk the potential. RNBDJ instead was complete fairy tale - a sweetened dose of romanticism; I don't know, maybe it is the bollywood thing - depth of emotions is often diluted for the common masses. The interesting thing that I found was how Aditya chopra managed to recreate the scene from DDLJ - the girl begs the guy to elope with her, and the guy refuses, as a true romantic hero. It was turnedaround though in RNDBJ (the villain and the hero were indistinguishable), but how so beautifully.
On a side note, Passion for Cinema is a wonderful site for people like me.
And on the main note, I'd like to (finally) put it down on paper that Rab ne bana di jodi and Slumdog Millionaire are, in true sense, movies built around the same exact theme - romantic idealism. The quintessential theme is the one which bollywood is identified by, and scoffed at by our beloved desi-movie-watching pseudo-intelligensia. SM is made a thousand times more wonderfully than RNBDJ, which is perhaps why it is receiving so much applause. But, when you start looking for the key idea, the germ, the inspiration (if any) that the writer may have had - its plain old romantic idealism. And sadly, none of the movies does justice to the thought - in fact, I would say that RNDBJ is a far more sincere portrayal of the idea that SM - SM merely manipulates the critic to convince him/her of an illusion of the inspiration, almost like an insult to the thought. However, SM's story had the real potential (due to its true-to-life characters) to put forth romantic idealism so that it would jhakjhor the audience; the depiction failed to milk the potential. RNBDJ instead was complete fairy tale - a sweetened dose of romanticism; I don't know, maybe it is the bollywood thing - depth of emotions is often diluted for the common masses. The interesting thing that I found was how Aditya chopra managed to recreate the scene from DDLJ - the girl begs the guy to elope with her, and the guy refuses, as a true romantic hero. It was turnedaround though in RNDBJ (the villain and the hero were indistinguishable), but how so beautifully.
Friday, November 28, 2008
oye lucky
watched oye lucky lucky oye yesterday.
- dibankar banerjee has done it again. the second movie generally shows if the director is truly capable. difficult to find even a small hitch in his work.
- abhay deol is the cult genre star of the bollywood.
- its kind of sad that to keep up with the out-of-the-world script of khosla ka ghosla, one has to make a black comedy of the oye lucky fame.
- manorama six feet under, mithya, and now oye lucky. fabulous black comedies. (i recall some old ones too - waisa hi hota hai part 2, .. )
- neetu chandra is such an amazing actress.
Incredible amount of details - sometimes pretty overwhelming. the characters, the execution, the gripping slick story telling, and of course, the script - a masterpiece. perhaps it won't be such a huge hit since its a black comedy - i hope it is.
- dibankar banerjee has done it again. the second movie generally shows if the director is truly capable. difficult to find even a small hitch in his work.
- abhay deol is the cult genre star of the bollywood.
- its kind of sad that to keep up with the out-of-the-world script of khosla ka ghosla, one has to make a black comedy of the oye lucky fame.
- manorama six feet under, mithya, and now oye lucky. fabulous black comedies. (i recall some old ones too - waisa hi hota hai part 2, .. )
- neetu chandra is such an amazing actress.
Incredible amount of details - sometimes pretty overwhelming. the characters, the execution, the gripping slick story telling, and of course, the script - a masterpiece. perhaps it won't be such a huge hit since its a black comedy - i hope it is.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
raaste hain juda juda
rahat fateh ali khan gets to do nusrat in zindagi ye song in the forthcoming Dil Kabaddi. This one should rise quick on charts, I hope. The music director is somewhat unknown (sachin gupta) but the other tracks are fine too. The movie should be fantastic given the fine ensemble of actors. I wanted rahul bose and irrfan to come together in a movie since long. it was so much fun to watch arshad warsi with irrfan in Sunday.
zindagi ye safar mein hai
kat raha hai raasta
humsafar to hai magar
manzilen hain juda juda.
I'm not impressed with the soundtrack of rab ne bana di jodi. Salim-Suleiman have plenty of melody in them and a fine arrangement sense too - I don't know what happens to them with Yash Raj. O re Piya was the only impressive one in Aaja Nachle. and rith rnbdj, the best they get is haule haule with sukhwinder - some fine lyrics, some nice modulations. Old fashioned dholak or even tabla gets to me - but well looking back at DDLJ, the songs were pretty old-fashioned there too. Perhaps they could have put in some more melody. something. But, the real creative song is phir milenge chalte chalte. fabulous lyrics and note combination.
Friday, October 31, 2008
yuvraaj
ARR is at it again - yuvraaj has fantastic melodies. subhash ghai comes back with another magnum opus with old wine in new glass feel. tu hi to meri dost hai and tu muskura are both superb numbers woven in melody. funny how both songs play in the interlude of the other. tu hi to meri has a hair-raising note combination at the end when ARR starts singing. tu muskura is somewhat more ethereal. but i grew attached to zindagi first, probably because its strongly emotional and so well sung by srinivas - we see gulzar play again with do naina sakhiyaan. i think it was srinivas in kaisi hai rut (DCH). manmohini morey is ARR's take on lat uljhi suljha ja bandish - ultra modern accompaniment with full classical base. i didn't really like the tune/melody in the beginning, but then ARR makes sure that it will definitely grow on you. somehow all the songs (except zindagi) fall a little short of the mark, perhaps due to the overbearing arrangement or perhaps they were intended to touch only superficially.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
shankar mahadevan
shankar-ehsaan-loy (SEL) have been a recurring theme in my blogs since the very beginning. ever since dil-chahta-hai, they've been growing on the bollywood scene - and perhaps would be the most consistent performers after a r rahman, getting the melody and the mood right each time.
have been watching srgmp 09, where shankar is a judge. quite an appealing personality. again a unique combination of humility, megalomania, and street-smartness. its amazing to watch such people perform. effortless singer. breathtakingly soulful voice. gifted with melody and sensitivity. god, for lack of a better term. i wonder how he feels up there.
i sang "maa" recently (shankar, taare zameen par) with the usual besurapan and anavashyak kalaakari. still, it was lovely the way it turned out.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
two fascinating movies
i watched two lovely movies this weekend. hulla, and, saas bahu n sensex. hulla is horribly cool except the end. saas bahu n sensex is a part-cliche-part-awesome movie about nothing by shona urvashi (her last movie was chupke se, another lovely movie about nothing with superb soundtrack). farooq sheikh in parsi form is incredible - its so inspiring to see an actor like him live such a well-crafted role. all good supporting actors, and you definitely can't ignore farooq's assistant (sorry I dont know his name) -"we're back in business", "i think i miss her".
both these movies fall into the hrish-mukh, basu-chat genre. feels so good. btw i'm a fan of both gul panag n minisha lamba. minisha looked lovely in srgmp.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
kuch geet
ek hi khaab
the song feels as good as love. amazing how rdb-gulzar combo cud be so inspired.
welcome to sajjanpur - shantanu moitra, swanand kirkire (parineeta, khoya khoya chand ) combo- bheeni bheeni, ek meetha marz de ke. have to figure out wot the second song means. hehe. shyam benegal directs again - should be interesting.
colonial cousins - dekhoon main jahan. the hariharan classical appetite that i've inherited. such a difficult-to-sing song couldn't sound simpler.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
main zinda hoon
Tons of reasons why I should have written earlier but didn't :)
just finished watching A Wednesday. Awesome would be an understatement. amazingly slick, powerful dialogues, just-in-time well-etched characters, couldn't have been better. the soliloquy by naseeruddeen shah at the end is a masterpiece. Reminds me of teen deewarein, where he single-handedly pulled it off - i guess this is even better; he stays put at a single location throughout the movie and effortlessly delivers a gem of a performance. first-time movie of neeraj pandey; first-time directors seldom fail to surprise. UTV continues to be sensible - good for us.
aamir was good too. via darjeeling kept you on the edge, but maybe there was too much of suspense.
C kompany is hilarious - ekta kapoor has learnt the parody genre from farha khan and she does it better by spoofing her empire - few people could do that so well. Rock on needed better actors and dialogues - but preeti desai was superb. farhan akhtar is a mega star but needs training.
just finished watching A Wednesday. Awesome would be an understatement. amazingly slick, powerful dialogues, just-in-time well-etched characters, couldn't have been better. the soliloquy by naseeruddeen shah at the end is a masterpiece. Reminds me of teen deewarein, where he single-handedly pulled it off - i guess this is even better; he stays put at a single location throughout the movie and effortlessly delivers a gem of a performance. first-time movie of neeraj pandey; first-time directors seldom fail to surprise. UTV continues to be sensible - good for us.
aamir was good too. via darjeeling kept you on the edge, but maybe there was too much of suspense.
C kompany is hilarious - ekta kapoor has learnt the parody genre from farha khan and she does it better by spoofing her empire - few people could do that so well. Rock on needed better actors and dialogues - but preeti desai was superb. farhan akhtar is a mega star but needs training.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
rajnigandha, manzil
they're not releasing new movies and i've been resisting watching oldies or even dloading them. maybe i wont be able to come back to new ones if i start watching them :)
but boriyat makes u give in and therefore. i watched two basu chatterjee movies - rajnigandha and manzil (didnt realise until now that both were basuC movies:) i thought i always knew the story of rajnigandha cos I'd seen it on DD when i was say, 15. i was pleasantly surprised - i didn't have the faintest idea of the track. and it is one of those horribly mature movies where the tension is built and kept all the way to the end (the end was too clumsy tho). and the director never makes the characters too mysterious - you always kind of know what they are thinking - sometimes making their minds too obvious tho. i'm so tempted to watch all of them in this list in a chronological order :)
manzil is an all out AB affair with akHangal playing the coy villain so comfortably. surprisingly, mousamiC used to ham much less back then :) but the doode is AB - his performance is awesome, his charm is arresting - his facial expressions talk to you literally. i wud say its one of his best pre-angry man roles, only if i knew all the rest of his pre roles :)
of course i've been familiar with the soundtrack of rajnigandha for long. rajnigandha fool tumhare, kayee baar yunhi dekha hai, na jaane kyun - all unrivaled salil ch compositions.
manzil has rimjhim gire saawan - no words enuf for that RDburman composition, its almost like a soothing, spriitual romantic prayer :) there's another supersweet song, which I heard for the first time (all kudos go to me), tum ho mere dil ki dhadkan. again by kishore kumar, it has awesome mithaas.
but boriyat makes u give in and therefore. i watched two basu chatterjee movies - rajnigandha and manzil (didnt realise until now that both were basuC movies:) i thought i always knew the story of rajnigandha cos I'd seen it on DD when i was say, 15. i was pleasantly surprised - i didn't have the faintest idea of the track. and it is one of those horribly mature movies where the tension is built and kept all the way to the end (the end was too clumsy tho). and the director never makes the characters too mysterious - you always kind of know what they are thinking - sometimes making their minds too obvious tho. i'm so tempted to watch all of them in this list in a chronological order :)
manzil is an all out AB affair with akHangal playing the coy villain so comfortably. surprisingly, mousamiC used to ham much less back then :) but the doode is AB - his performance is awesome, his charm is arresting - his facial expressions talk to you literally. i wud say its one of his best pre-angry man roles, only if i knew all the rest of his pre roles :)
of course i've been familiar with the soundtrack of rajnigandha for long. rajnigandha fool tumhare, kayee baar yunhi dekha hai, na jaane kyun - all unrivaled salil ch compositions.
manzil has rimjhim gire saawan - no words enuf for that RDburman composition, its almost like a soothing, spriitual romantic prayer :) there's another supersweet song, which I heard for the first time (all kudos go to me), tum ho mere dil ki dhadkan. again by kishore kumar, it has awesome mithaas.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
underrated actors
rediff had this user-poll on under-rated actors. so i thought i shud record it since its a constant theme in my head. below is a cut-paste from one of the readers.
I don't necessarily agree with the ranks (e.g. vinay pathak n ranvir sheorey are far more talented) but the entries are very appropriate. I maintain that bollywood is going through its second golden period, and we better sit up and take notice. :)
Top 5 under-rated actors:
1. Shiney Ahuja 2. Abhay Deol 3. Vinay Pathak 4. Ranvir Sheorey 5. Boman Irani
Top 5 under-rated actresses:
1. Gul Panag 2. Chitrangada Singh 3. Ayesha Takia 4. Koyel Puri 5. Rituparna Sengupta
Top 5 under-rated directors:
1. Vishal Bharadwaj
2. Navdeep Singh (of "Manorama")
3. Dibakar Banerjee (of "Khosla ka Ghosla")
4. Anurag Basu
5. Sriram Raghavan
6. Shashanka Ghosh (of "Waisa bhi hota hai")
7. Jahnu Barua
8. Imtiaz Ali (socha na tha, jab we met)
9. Rituporno Ghosh (of "Raincoat")
10. Tigmangshu Dhulia (of "Haasil")
Top 5 under-rated contributors in other forms:
1. Jaideep Sahni (writer)
2. Arvind Kannabiran (cinematography)
3. UTV (production house)
4. Shantanu Moitra (music)
5. Amitabh Shukla (editor)
Note that I have left out usual suspects such as KayKay Menon, Konkona Sensharma & Rahul Bose, The reason is that they are not that under-rated anymore. Also, the directors list consist of 10 entries instead of the regular 5, as I believe there are more talented directors out there with no face recognition whatever, than actors. Feel free to add to the list.
Some more guys: Irfan, Jimmy Shergill, Pawan Malhotra, Zakir Hussain.
smriti mishra - u cant help notice her in one dollar curry. and saw dil dosti again recently. biryaani khayenge hujur?
raima sen
manish tiwary (dil dosti etc)
i'm sure i missed many more.
I don't necessarily agree with the ranks (e.g. vinay pathak n ranvir sheorey are far more talented) but the entries are very appropriate. I maintain that bollywood is going through its second golden period, and we better sit up and take notice. :)
Top 5 under-rated actors:
1. Shiney Ahuja 2. Abhay Deol 3. Vinay Pathak 4. Ranvir Sheorey 5. Boman Irani
Top 5 under-rated actresses:
1. Gul Panag 2. Chitrangada Singh 3. Ayesha Takia 4. Koyel Puri 5. Rituparna Sengupta
Top 5 under-rated directors:
1. Vishal Bharadwaj
2. Navdeep Singh (of "Manorama")
3. Dibakar Banerjee (of "Khosla ka Ghosla")
4. Anurag Basu
5. Sriram Raghavan
6. Shashanka Ghosh (of "Waisa bhi hota hai")
7. Jahnu Barua
8. Imtiaz Ali (socha na tha, jab we met)
9. Rituporno Ghosh (of "Raincoat")
10. Tigmangshu Dhulia (of "Haasil")
Top 5 under-rated contributors in other forms:
1. Jaideep Sahni (writer)
2. Arvind Kannabiran (cinematography)
3. UTV (production house)
4. Shantanu Moitra (music)
5. Amitabh Shukla (editor)
Note that I have left out usual suspects such as KayKay Menon, Konkona Sensharma & Rahul Bose, The reason is that they are not that under-rated anymore. Also, the directors list consist of 10 entries instead of the regular 5, as I believe there are more talented directors out there with no face recognition whatever, than actors. Feel free to add to the list.
Some more guys: Irfan, Jimmy Shergill, Pawan Malhotra, Zakir Hussain.
smriti mishra - u cant help notice her in one dollar curry. and saw dil dosti again recently. biryaani khayenge hujur?
raima sen
manish tiwary (dil dosti etc)
i'm sure i missed many more.
Friday, March 14, 2008
anuranan
anuranan means resonance. (very corny :)
watched this awesome movie. rahul bose, rajat kapur, raima sen, rituparna sengupta. both rahul bose n rituparna overact and ham (i used to think that it was aparna sen who used to make rahul bose ham). its a pity why the director fails to control them. perhaps becos its his first film.
anyhow, the script is good. and just when you think its another "before sunrise", the story takes a dramatic turn so much that it hurts. somewhere, inspite of its clumsiness, the movies strikes a chord. and for sure, a few scenes here and there did manage to escape to surrealism (rather than being corny or cliched).
its amazing how rajat kapur has a "cold shoulder" role lying around almost everywhere for him. god knows wot wud have happened to these movies without him. and no words enuf for raima sen . she is totally awesome in her restrained performance. i had kind of noticed her in manorama 6 feet under, few days back, playing a mix of push-button seductive and otherwise helpless role. she is hugely talented - and i'm so surprised i haven't been rooting for her since earlier.
so that makes manorama 6 feet under a true classic. two great actresses - gul panag and raima sen and the fabolous doode abhay deol (u can never ignore vinay pathak).
watched this awesome movie. rahul bose, rajat kapur, raima sen, rituparna sengupta. both rahul bose n rituparna overact and ham (i used to think that it was aparna sen who used to make rahul bose ham). its a pity why the director fails to control them. perhaps becos its his first film.
anyhow, the script is good. and just when you think its another "before sunrise", the story takes a dramatic turn so much that it hurts. somewhere, inspite of its clumsiness, the movies strikes a chord. and for sure, a few scenes here and there did manage to escape to surrealism (rather than being corny or cliched).
its amazing how rajat kapur has a "cold shoulder" role lying around almost everywhere for him. god knows wot wud have happened to these movies without him. and no words enuf for raima sen . she is totally awesome in her restrained performance. i had kind of noticed her in manorama 6 feet under, few days back, playing a mix of push-button seductive and otherwise helpless role. she is hugely talented - and i'm so surprised i haven't been rooting for her since earlier.
so that makes manorama 6 feet under a true classic. two great actresses - gul panag and raima sen and the fabolous doode abhay deol (u can never ignore vinay pathak).
Saturday, March 01, 2008
mithyaa
mithyaa is a horribly cool cult movie. reminds me of jaane bhi do yaaron - but of course that is an exaggeration. same team - rav sh, vin pat, rajat kapur. rav sh should get a lifetime award for this performance. :) the genre prolly is darker than dark comedy.
u
me
aur
hum.
vishal bhardwaj again composes masterpiece drowning melodies. let's see how ajay devgan does.
jodha akbar : ash gow went old-fashioned. forget history, forget wars, it was all about chemistry. and chemistry was done and shown well. hrithik had a towering presence ( iguess which made the movie believable) - yet he seemed to lose gravity once in a while. and finally the taming of a rajputain didn't look that difficult.
also, i was looking for rafi songs to sing. came upon this wonderful rafi-madanM number ek haseen shaam ko (dulhan ek raat ki). it b/w and nutan looks beautiful. lip-synching to such numbers wud be so difficult. same with this one (shashi kapur lip-synchs awesomely) and this one (where did KK learn to lip synch). and leave alone lip-synching to pure classical numbers like this one. and lastly, it would be a crime to disregard this performance.
u
me
aur
hum.
vishal bhardwaj again composes masterpiece drowning melodies. let's see how ajay devgan does.
jodha akbar : ash gow went old-fashioned. forget history, forget wars, it was all about chemistry. and chemistry was done and shown well. hrithik had a towering presence ( iguess which made the movie believable) - yet he seemed to lose gravity once in a while. and finally the taming of a rajputain didn't look that difficult.
also, i was looking for rafi songs to sing. came upon this wonderful rafi-madanM number ek haseen shaam ko (dulhan ek raat ki). it b/w and nutan looks beautiful. lip-synching to such numbers wud be so difficult. same with this one (shashi kapur lip-synchs awesomely) and this one (where did KK learn to lip synch). and leave alone lip-synching to pure classical numbers like this one. and lastly, it would be a crime to disregard this performance.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
tanhayee
again long time. tons to write but difficult to recall.
strangers is a fantastic movie. kay kay has such a presence.
khoya khoya chand was a psycho-thriller :) welcome was too hilarious.
oh yes, bombay to bangkok. pretty sure this won't fly like all kukunoor previous productions. tons of reasons. but the secondary track of the gangster (vijay maura) n the shrink (manmeet singh) had a horribly cool chemistry. both are superb actors - wish they had replaced the main theme :)
jodha-akbar track is out. arr doesn't fail with his unusual note combos. more later.
being part of the community, i must link here. I hope someone puts the video on youtube.
i've grown a liking for coupling. its definitely what inspired how i met your mother.
just being close to NY makes me feel like so much is happening. :)
finally, i need to focus more on my singing career :)
nagme hi nagme hain
jaagte soti fizaon mein
husn hai saari adaon mein
ishq hai jaise hawaon mein.
- jodha-akbar, arr, sonu, madhushree?
strangers is a fantastic movie. kay kay has such a presence.
khoya khoya chand was a psycho-thriller :) welcome was too hilarious.
oh yes, bombay to bangkok. pretty sure this won't fly like all kukunoor previous productions. tons of reasons. but the secondary track of the gangster (vijay maura) n the shrink (manmeet singh) had a horribly cool chemistry. both are superb actors - wish they had replaced the main theme :)
jodha-akbar track is out. arr doesn't fail with his unusual note combos. more later.
being part of the community, i must link here. I hope someone puts the video on youtube.
i've grown a liking for coupling. its definitely what inspired how i met your mother.
just being close to NY makes me feel like so much is happening. :)
finally, i need to focus more on my singing career :)
nagme hi nagme hain
jaagte soti fizaon mein
husn hai saari adaon mein
ishq hai jaise hawaon mein.
- jodha-akbar, arr, sonu, madhushree?
Saturday, December 22, 2007
taare zameen par
its so sad that this blog was so abandoned............at least till this moment.
aamir khan turns director with taare zameen par - and I do my first day second show routine. very touchy, classy, honest and all that. awesome music - I hope it becomes a greater hit than the movie itself - SEL are just awesome at rolling out melodies after one another - no unusual notes; plain melodies full of warmth and expression. the movie could drag less and be less simplistic/preachy in some parts. the award goes to them for drawing the audience back into the movie everytime the audience got distracted. lots of deja vu, lost love - difficult to hold back tears at some moments.
kya tujhko pata hai na maa .
couldn't be a better song of its kind.
i should post more. enjoying the job and the place. khoya khoya chand was an interesting movie with a haunting title song. haven't seen manorama (6 feet under) yet. oh yes, om shanti om had a lovely track. already managed to perform aankhon mein teri :)
aamir khan turns director with taare zameen par - and I do my first day second show routine. very touchy, classy, honest and all that. awesome music - I hope it becomes a greater hit than the movie itself - SEL are just awesome at rolling out melodies after one another - no unusual notes; plain melodies full of warmth and expression. the movie could drag less and be less simplistic/preachy in some parts. the award goes to them for drawing the audience back into the movie everytime the audience got distracted. lots of deja vu, lost love - difficult to hold back tears at some moments.
kya tujhko pata hai na maa .
couldn't be a better song of its kind.
i should post more. enjoying the job and the place. khoya khoya chand was an interesting movie with a haunting title song. haven't seen manorama (6 feet under) yet. oh yes, om shanti om had a lovely track. already managed to perform aankhon mein teri :)
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