Archive for February 2008
Gaana of the week…….
Jaan-E-Mann was a very different film and told in a very novel fashion. The use of colour and visuals is very impressive though the plot seemed cliched. The movie suffered more than it should have for being pitted against SRK’s ‘Don‘ for a Diwali/Eid release. Anu Malik however did a good job with the music dept and the movie is remembered for Akshay Kumar’s comic timing. This song in particular stands out for me and is shot in very interesting angles, the waltzing shadow dancers give it that extra punch. Sonu Nigam I feel has given Anu Malik his best songs and ‘Ajnabi Shehar’ one also lines up among those forgotten and neglected melodies. Priety Zinta looks as fresh as a daisy and Salman Khan gives us one of his rare and restrained performances. Watch the film at least once if you haven’t, for this guy Shirish Kunder has a future…..
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Ad of the week…….
Complan has been part of every growing kid’’s diet. The ‘I’m a Complan boy’ was one of the most famous ad campaigns to which later the ‘I’m a Complan girl’ was added. Krish Srikanth was also roped in as a brand ambassador and they ran a similar campaign on the lines of Kapil Dev’s ‘Boost’. This ad features Shahid Kapoor and Ayesha Takia, and like they say it’s better to catch them young….
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In lamhon ke daaman mein…….
It’s not everyday that you come across a movie of epic proportions, but then most of them are plagued by the burden of heavy expectations. Ashutosh Gowariker’s latest offering ‘Jodha Akbar‘ sadly falls into the same league. The promos, music and the big names ensured that the movie had a monstrous opening on the weekend but not many people left the cinema halls with the same feeling that they had while entering. There has been controversy surrounding the name of Akbar’s wife and everyone seems to have heard a different version of the story, what matters is that he married a Hindu woman and lets call her ‘Jodha’ for that is how it was in ‘Mughal-e-Azam‘. You’ve got to cut the guy some slack, how on earth do you expect to market a film called ‘Harkha Akbar’ or ‘Akbar Mariam‘ after spending close to INR 40 Cr! Now that we have grown over the name and watched the trailer of Abbas-Mastan’s ‘bhai-vs-bhai-ladki-ke-liye’ thriller Race three times in a row, the movie opens with the director explaining the reason behind naming the film in a 200 word essay.
The very first scene opens with a war sequence as I tried to stifle my laughter looking at the extras and the choreographed formations. I agree it’s very difficult while filming with so many extras they seemed like running into each other, looking confused and playing dandiya . There was a roar in the hall when HR says ‘Hamle ke liye tayyar’, only to be dampened by his non-involvement in the ensuing battle with cannons blowing into the camera and elephants crushing the heads of foot soldiers!
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Gaana of the week…….
‘Dil Hi Dil Main‘ was another of A.M.Rathnam’s futile attempts to ride on the back of A.R.Rahman’s music. Made Initially as ‘Kadhalar Dinam‘ in Tamil and later dubbed in Telugu as ‘Premikula Roju’, the movie starred a Barbie-looking Sonali Bendre and a the late Kunal Singh sporting a girlie hairdo. Nothings worth writing bout the film as I haven’t been able to sit through it despite trying thrice. However once can’t take away anything from ARR for another memorable soundtrack, which might not figure amongst his best but is definitely worth listening. The lyrics by ‘Mehboob’ are pretty bland but the voice of ‘Abhijeet‘, the locales, a ravishing Sonali add to the timeless music of ARR.
If you were amongst the unlucky ones to have watched this film, then you would also be able to relate to a dandiya song sung by the one-and-only ‘Udit Narayan‘. I prefer this song as opposed to the dandiya number that was featured in the promos of this film. Sadly the poor guy never made it big in bollywood, but this song will be etched in the memory or ARR fans for a long time, I hope you’ll be humming this song for the rest of the day…
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Ad of the week…….
No Indian kitchen is complete without the ‘Sumeet mixer & grinder‘, often known as the ‘mixie’. Designed specifically for the asian market this food processor ruled the 90’s. Though there were other entrants in the segment such as Singer, Butterfly and a few others, but none came close to beat the ’sumeet mixie’ in value for money and durability. I’m pretty sure every household has one of these, but what about the new homes? Does the good ol’ mixie still win over modern day food processors?
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To grade or not to grade…….
P.H.D Comics is the only comic strip I subscribe to and accept that I am not cool enough to read popular ones like Dilbert, Calvin & Hobbes etc simply because I can’t relate to them. I was never a fan of comic strips though I still remember the joy in snatching the Economic Times from my dad, just for the toons page. The Sunday Times was special for it had the Wizard of Id, Hagar the Horrible, Garfield, Dennis the Menace and a couple of others. I’ve loved my comics though be it Tintin, Asterix, and the girly Archie to the desi Tinkle. Even now I can recollect the episodes of He-Man, Force-Five and G.I.Joe on the tube. Cartoon Network was the best thing to happen and brought Johnny Quest, Scooby Doo, Swat Kats, The Mask, My all-time-favorite Dexter, and a host of toons to our lives. Now this warrants another post before I drift away.
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Gaana of the week…….
Sarfarosh is one such movie that you can watch anytime irrespective how many times you’ve seen it before. Released in 1999 every song in the album went on to be played by every music channel to this day. Brilliantly directed by John Mathew Matthan at a time when tensions were flaring, the movie was a blockbuster hit. Haven’t heard of another movie from the director again though. The song ‘Hoshwalon ko khabar’ is picturized on Sonali Bendre and Aamir Khan as a dream sequence and Jagjit Singh’s soulful vocals are etched in memory long after you’ve heard it.
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Ad of the week…….
Humara Bajaj was the middle class anthem in the early nineties, and this jingle was on everybody’s lips. Always featured before the 9PM news on DD and brings back fond memories…
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Vaazhthugal – A crash course in tamizh…….
Saw the so-called blockbusters of the tamizh pongal bonanza back to back this weekend and I’m glad to have survived the ordeal. Tamizh cinema has often succumbed to hero worship and the new releases of the season plunge to an all new low. I hope this and the previous two posts, serve as an early warning to unsuspecting junta.
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Kaalai – The bull disappeared from the BSE, and so did this one…….
Pardon me Simbu fans, for your idol has always reminded me of a cockroach! It was very amusing to imagine an insect belonging to phylum Arthropoda as a bull. Just like the previous post, even here I fail to understand how the title was related to the story, except for the million times the word ‘Kaalai‘ was uttered as part of the BGM. Deliberate eh? But then you have to hand it out to the director for the very unique characterization. How often do you come across a movie where three unrelated people share the same name? And when almost everybody in the movie is after a ‘Jeeva’ your brain cells are put to work as you decipher who is after whom. But then once you’ve got this sorted out you once again can’t stop thinking of that thing that runs around your kitchen sink and bathroom pipes.
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Bheema – When a man loves another…….
Yep, ladeej and juntalmen Bheema is the first tamizh gay film and makes Will&Grace look amateurish. After giving us India’s first 70mm blue film for Diwali, the industry gives us a gay flick for Pongal! Shekar adores and idolizes Chinna ever since he was a kid and wants to be like him. They actually edited out a scene wherein the stick that Chinna hands over to Shekar sends shivers through his body. There might have even been a dream sequence song where Shekar is bathing in a pond and fantasizing about Chinna, but this is something only our director saar can clarify. Twenty years later, an all beefed up Shekar joins Chinna’s gang and single handedly takes on his enemies. In a bid to throw sand into peoples eyes and keep them guessing, we have a heroine who is mad about shekar and sings songs with him in dream sequences. Poor thing, little did she know that she was part of a triangular love story and there was just one-way traffic from her side.
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