Chandni Chowk To China

Two movies. Kal Ho Naa Ho & Salaam-E-Ishq. One a blockbuster & the other a box-office dud. And Nikhil Advani presents his 3rd movie, Chandni Chowk to China. Irrespective of how his previous 2 movies did at the box office, both of them had one thing in common : great music by Shankar-Ehsaan- Loy.

This time, SEL aren't alone. There are 3 other music directors for this movie: the trio of Kailash Kher-Naresh-Paresh, Bappi Lahiri & punjabi rapper Bohemia. That's 4 music directors for 6 songs.

Chandni Chowk to China isn't an album that you'll like instantly. Each song needs about 2-3 hearings for you to like it.

1. S.I.D.H.U : This "small town dream big" kind of song probably depicts Akshay's early days in the Chandni Chowk area, where he was brought up (both in this movie and real life). It has a country feel all over it and is aptly sung by Kailsh Kher whose rustic voice neatly suits the feel of the song.

2. Chandni chowk to china : After the Heyy Babyy & Bhool Bhulaiyaa title tracks, Neeraj Shridhar croons for Akshay again in this title track. A typical SEL number with just the right amount of Chinese feel to it, this title track, just like the 2 title tracks mentioned above, is all set to become the rage of the nation, at least for the first quarter of 2009.

3. India se aaya tera dost(Aap ki khatir) : Starting with brilliant beats, this song is a redo of Bappi's own "Bambai se aaya tera dost" from the movie Aap ki khatir(1977), with some nice chinese flavor all over it. A fun track all the way, the main background tune that runs through the song trasports you to China and brings to your mind the general image of China we people have : A sprawling monastery nestled among the hills and a bald monk flashing his big smile! One listen is enough to like this song!

4. Tere Naina : Enter SEL territory again. Tere naina is a soft, romantic number on the lines of Bol Na Halke Halke(JBJ), Falak Tak(Tashan) etc, mostly based on ragam Hamsadhwani, but not fully. The parts of the song sung by Shreya Ghoshal faintly remind you of Unn Arugil(Kalloori). Nevertheless, it's a very good song.

5. Chak Lein De : A high energy, fast paced number. Call it an "edge-of-the-seat" song, if you want to. This song can get you charged up, and it has the same feel as Dol Dol(Yuva). Well orchestrated, it has a lot of electric guitar and powerful singing by Kher.

6. C C 2 C : Akshay Kumar starts singing a "romanchak gaana", promising to give Rs.101 to those who listen to it! But he realizes that it sucks & asks Bohemia to assist him. What follows is a mini autobiographical song of Akshay, proclaiming him to be the undisputed king of bollywood, which is of course, the obvious trend of late. You can't call it over the top though, for, this chap's the perfect example of hard work, having been in the industry since 1991 and barely getting the recognition he deserved, until a few years ago. With this sudden craze all over for Akshay Kumar, one thing is sure : he's definitely giving SRK nightmares!


By the time the film releases in 2009, there is no doubt whatsoever that the songs will catch up and help the film get a record opening.

Ghajini

Ghajini (tamil) is among my most favorite tamil albums. Though it had bad songs like Ragathulla and X-machi, the remaining 3 songs more than made up for it. In Ghajini (hindi), director A R Murugadoss plays it safe by having A R Rahman (note the initials!) for the music. Probably because he thought Harris didn't have enough experience in Bollywood, his only album being Rehna hai tere dil mein (Minnale remake).

ARR, being Harris's former guru, rightly rectifies the 2 mistakes Harris made in the original Ghajini and gives 5 amazing songs. Well, almost!

1. Guzarish : Javed Ali, ARR's current favorite, continues his great run in 2008(he had earlier sung Jashn-E-Bahaara & Tu Muskura, both for ARR) with this hindi version of Oru Maalai, using his slightly husky voice to his fullest advantage. He structures the song well, but the soul of the song is provided by Sonu Nigam(surprise guest vocals!), who keeps soulfully humming in the background periodically and together, both the singers make this song a perfect package.

2. Hey bachu : Being a solo female song, this song has to be either the Ragathulla or the X-machi equivalent. At the beginning, it sounded like it's the X-machi equivalent due to the fact that it didn't exactly sound like a fun song, ruling out the possibility that it could be Ragathulla. But then P. Adithya confused me; he said, "Dei can't you see that the title says "Bachu"? Don't you remember Asin dancing with kids in Ragathulla? ". I was stumped. I would have agreed with him, but song no:5 is not letting me do that!

3. Kaise Mujhe : A very intense romantic number, this song will mostly make an appearance in the second half of the film. Probably it's the Suttum Vizhi equivalent. It also marks the pairing up of Benny Dayal & Shreya Ghoshal for the second time this year, after Tu meri dost hai(Yuvvraaj). There's also an instrumental version of this song later in the album,which is good too.

4. Behka : This song is so weird that you might even hate it the first time you hear it. It sounds really bad the first time. From weird mode ,all of a sudden it goes to rock mode in the middle and gets back to weird mode after that. But you'll gradually like it as you keep hearing it. Karthik just about saves the song from being put into the "Among ARR's worst" category.

5. Latoo : Songs like this are generally sung by Sunidhi Chauhan. Hence, it is indeed a pleasant surprise when you hear Shreya Ghoshal singing it. And we've all been thinking been thinking she excels only in soft, melodious songs! She does such a fabulous job in this new avatar of hers! This song, being much more youthful, is my candidate for the Ragathulla equivalent. But I'm not sure, it's just a calculated guess. Also, you can excuse yourself if you're reminded of Mpumelelo Mbangwa/Robert Mugabe when you listen to this song!


A R Rahman has had a great 2008 and he signs off the year in great style too!

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

SRK. Aditya Chopra. Their first movie together, DDLJ, is still running houseful to a daily show in a theatre in Bombay. That's a good 13 years! Their second outing,Mohabattein was the 2nd biggest hit of the year 2000. After 8 years, they come together again for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, though this time, the movie seems to be a bit different(just look at SRK!), unlike their previous 2 movies, which were commercial potboilers.

However, the album seems to be fairly commercial. Salim-Sulaiman, basking in the success of Fashion, are the music directors of this album.

1. Tujh mein rab dikhta hai : If DDLJ had a Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana sanam and Mohabbatein had a Humko humise chura lo, can RNBDJ be far behind?! Tujh mein rab dikhta hai is the quintessential romantic number that is an integral part of movies like this. Sung beautifully by Roop kumar rathod, this song is definitely one of the better melodies to have come out in recent times. There's a female version of the song too, later in the album and Shreya Ghoshal only makes it sound better.

2. Haule Haule : Whenever Sukhwinder Singh & SRK combine, they've been heard all over the country. Think Chaiyya Chaiyya & Chak De India. But this time around, it's not that effective because Sukhwinder is proficient in high pitched songs and this song hardly goes into high pitch notes, except for a few times. It's a good song alright, just that it's not as effective as their previous songs together. But because of its simple, catchy tune and excessive promotion, this one too in all probability will be heard all around the country!

3. Dance Pe Chance : With a title like this and Sunidhi Chauhan at the helm, you know what kind of a song to expect. And she doesn't disappoint you much either. It's a situational song, with Anushka teaching SRK how to shake a leg. Being an above average number, it takes a few hearings to get used to it and like it. But not bad.

4. Phir milenge chalte chalte : This song is a tribute to the bygone era of bollywood. Or, you can say, a tribute to the Kapoors. Both pretty much mean one and the same! It's an amalgamation of various famous songs of that glorious era. Starting off with the background tune of the legendary Raj Kapoor's Mera joota hai japani from Shree 420 ('55), the first stanza mentions a lot of his songs like Pyaar hua iqraar hua, Jeena yahan marna yahan, Bol Radha Bol, to name a few. The second stanza is dedicated to Dev Anand, though i don't recognize most of the songs as they're very old. The next stanza is a tribute to the Elvis Presley of India, Shammi 'Yahoo' Kapoor! It mentions his greatest hits, including Aaja Aaja & O haseena from Teesri Mazil('66) and Badan Pe Sitare from Prince('69). The next stanza has the hits of India's first ever official "superstar", Rajesh Khanna, like Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, Meri sapnon ki rani(Watch out for a small piece of humming having Kishore Kumar's original voice) etc. And the last stanza is for Rishi Kapoor and it starts off with the tune of the original Bachna Ae Haseeno from Hum kisise kum nahin('77), and mentions Dard-e-dil & Ek hasina thi from Karz('80). Phew! Even if you haven't heard any of the above mentioned songs, doesn't matter, the song is still enjoyable!

5. Dancing jodi : This song is some kind of a remix of all the previous songs in this album and hence there's nothing new musically.

So Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is a fairly good album. Salim-Sulaiman keep up their good work.

Dasvidaniya

Dasvidaniya is the trio's (Kailash Kher-Naresh-Paresh) second attempt at music direction after the disappointing Pranali. The album has has only 3 songs, but still manages to create an impact.
Here's how :

1. Alvida : This one's a typical Kailash Kher song, reminding you of his superb teri deewani in parts. Great work.

2. Mumma : Starting with some soft guitar strumming, like Allah ke bande (which was Kher's ticket to fame), here comes another song after Maa(TZP) that anybody would love to dedicate to his/her mother. The simple tune, good lyrics and Kher's rustic voice make this song a good listen.

3. Muskura : This song is characterized by the generous usage of the accordion in the background and Sonu Nigam's soothing vocals. Nothing extraordinary here, but the song's not bad either.

Those who have heard Kailash Kher before will definitely like this album. Those who haven't, start with Dasvidaniya and you won't be disappointed!

Aegan

There is a rumor going around that Aegan is a remake of Main hoon na. After hearing the soundtrack, one is quite sure of two things :

1. The rumor is very likely true.
2. Nayanthara'a name in the movie is Mallika.

And in Main hoon na, which is one of the most pointless movies ever, SRK did a lot of spiderman & superman acts, typically done by Captain in all his movies. Still it went on to become the biggest hit ever (as of 2004. Now OSO holds that title). Okay, I accept it was very entertaining, but that's all it had to it. You could completely forget the movie after coming out of the theatre. It should be fun seeing Ajith doing all the superman & spiderman stunts in his bulky frame.

And moreover, in the pic above, Ajith looks like what Sunil shetty looked in MHN. Is he doing a double role? Of both the hero and the villain? We'll have to wait and see.

Coming to the music, Yuvan and Ajith combine again after Dheena and the more recent Billa.
Do they deliver?

1. Hey salaa : Starting with techno sounds and a background piece inspired from B N B (Bunty aur Babli) , Hey salaa turns out to be an entertaining hip-hop number, even though the rap lyrics are quite irrelevant. Reference of Thala is made here, so this may be Ajith's intro song. One wonders why tamil lyricists are going for hindi lyrics unnecessarily. It happened in Saroja too, with songs like Aaja meri soniye and dosth bada dosth.

2. Odum varayil : Supposed to be an inspirational track, this one fails to inspire. Just an average/above average track.

3. Yahoo yahoo : This one's the Chale jaise hawaein equivalent and again turns out to be an above average number. Should do well with the college crowds.

4. Kichu kichu : On the lines of Sei from Billa, this song too has some funny lyrics. Come on baby girl Mallika, can I bite you like a nellika! What nonsense! The song is decent hear,though.

5. Hey baby : The jazz equivalent of Tumhe jo main dekha (and with this it's almost certain that Aegan is a remake of Main hoon na), Shankar Mahadevan sings this enjoyable track effortlessly. To make it even more obvious,the song goes into a higher scale towards the end, just as in Tumhe jo maine dekha. Going by the video of the original(which was a Sush show all the way) , one can say that this mallika is all set to do the sherawat act in this song!

On the whole, Aegan is a good album. It's peppy all right, as Yuvan had promised. But it's definitely not as good as Billa.

Yuvvraaj

Before you go into the review ,it's important that you know the synopsis of this Subhash Ghai musical extravaganza. It goes like this :

Imagine a film where:
Salman is a dreamy singer...
Katrina is a leading musician...
Zayed grooves to a chaotic disco sound...
Anil Kapoor enjoys only classical music...

What happens when the three brothers come together?

Subhash Ghai's films have always been known for their great music. Take Karz(' 8o), Pardes(' 97) or Taal(' 99) for instance. AR Rahman and Ghai have worked together for Taal before,which went on to become the biggest hit of the 1999 and for Kisna-the warrior poet,which lost the battle at the box-office and became a grand disaster.

A few years back, in an interview, ARR was asked to name his favorite composition till date. He said all his albums were equally liked by him but after much coaxing, he said Dil Se was the closest to his heart.

If that interview is conducted again, chances are that ARR would go for Yuvvraaj as his favorite composition ever.

Yuvvraaj is straight from his heart. It is his grandest ever ,in terms of everything. Be it the songs or the intense background instrumentation and orchestration each song gets.It is one of the toughest albums to interpret. And hence it is, not surprisingly, mindblowing!

This Yuvvraaj goes for 6 sixes too!!

1. Main hoon Yuvvraaj : This is not actually a song. Salman gives his intro here. But what makes this track special is the use of Beethoven's 5th symphony in the background. This track gives you a brief idea of what the movie is about. Boundary.

2. Manmohini Morey : Set in ragam Abheri, this one reminds you of Kannodu Kaanbadellam from Jeans and Kana Kandenadi from Parthiban Kanavu, also set in Abheri. And hence, is immensely likable. Singer Vijay Prakash does a fabulous job. Sixer.

3. Shano Shano : A superb dance floor number,this should be picturized on zayed khan ,going by the synopsis. I didn't like it the first time but started liking it after a giving it a few more hearings. Sixer.

4. Tu hi meri dost hai : This is the number being played on the promos. It starts off with the impeccable ARR crooning,followed by a bewitching piece played on the cello that is played throughout in the background. Suddenly Benny Dayal is all over the place. I remember noticing his deep voice in his first song Balleilaka, where he gave the chorus lead. He's done a great job here and so has Shreya Ghoshal. A superb track by all means, this one will be remembered as one of ARR's best ever. Super sixer.

5. Mastam Mastam : A feel good number, this track is very pleasant to hear. Reminds you of Bande mein that dum from Lage raho Munnabhai. Nothing exceptional about it. Boundary.

6.Tu Muskura : A haunting melody from Alka Yagnik,this track will take its own time to grow on you. And then you'll love it. Just like Saawariya saawariya from Swades. I love that song even though it took a very long time to grow on me. Super sixer.

7. Shano remix : One of the rare songs where the beats in the remix are slower than those in the original! Nevertheless, it makes an interesting hear due to its short length (2:37). Boundary.

8. Dil Ka Rishta : I have no words to describe this stunning masterpiece. Guess how many people are singing this song? Nine! How many times have you heard of 9 singers sing a single song? This song is the grandest song ever in the history of bollywood. It's global too, and by that I mean nobody in any corner of this world will have problems relating to this song. Please listen to this song with your headphones on as otherwise you'll miss the stunning background orchestration this song has. This song is what makes A R Rahman the one and only A R Rahman . This song is why A R Rahman is up there, far beyond the reach of any other composer. Dil Ka Rishta may very well be the best song ever from A R Rahman. It's mesmerizing . Super duper sixer.

9. Zindagi : A soft, melodious number, this one too takes time to grow on you. Makes you feel kind of nostalgic. Sixer.


Thank you, Subhash Ghai, for letting ARR be himself. You're a nice ghai :)

The only problem with this Yuvvraaj is that you might take some time to truly appreciate some of the sixers. It's like the ball has gone so much high in the air, and you don't know if it's a sixer or if the fielder's got it. You wait. And after sometime suddenly realize that the ball has gone out of the ground!

I laugh at myself for asking if Dostana is the best album of the year in my previous post. I had said Dostana is amazing, and I said the same for Vaaranam aayiram. I still say they are amazing!

Then what exactly makes these two different albums from Yuvvraaj?

The answer is very simple. The answer is, my dear friends, Allah Rakkhha Rahman.

Dostana

Whenever there's Karan Johar's name associated with any film, expectations are humongous, both for the soundtrack and for the film. After all, his films are the ones that have given us timeless melodies over the years.
This time around he's not the director,but the producer,just as he was for Kaal. Kaal had pretty good music from Salim-Sulaiman, even though the film was a box office disaster.

Dostana has music by Vishal-Shekhar,who are riding high on the success of OSO(it sold the most number of copies in 2007) ,Tashan and Bachna Ae Hasseno.
Do they deliver what is expected from them for a film like this?
The answer is a big YES!

1. Jaane kyun : Vishal Dadlani himself comes behind the mike for this excellent number that is instantly catchy. In fact this song sounds so much like a SEL track that one wonders if it was actually composed by them. This only means that Vishal-Shekhar are getting better and better with every passing album! Superb song and a great start to the album!

2. Desi Girl : It's a healthy trend to see composers singing for other composers' compositions. SEL let Vishal sing Kiss of love in their JBJ. So it's only natural that he returns the favor. And hence comes along Shankar Mahadevan ,who does a great job singing this ultimate dance number! This one's going to be the Deewangi Deewangi of 2008!

3. Shut up & bounce : This one's supposed to be the song picturized on Shilpa Shetty on the beaches of Miami. So well,ahem,how the song sounds shouldn't actually matter :-p. But anyway, Sunidhi Chauhan does a good job and this one's gonna be a sure hit too! Well,double hit actually,for the reasons mentioned above :)

4. Khabar Nahi : On the lines of Meri duniya tu hi re from Heyy Babyy,Khabar Nahi comes across as a feel good, melodious number that is an integral part of all movies associated with Karan Johar. Vishal again does a good job of singing this beautiful track.

5. Maa Da Laadla : A typical dance number,everything's okay with this song except the cackly voice that comes at regular intervals in the song! Nothing great about this song as such.

6. Kuch Kum : Shaan does a good job of singing this soothing,melodious track that again takes you to the SEL territory. It might take you a few hearings to actually appreciate this song fully but it's completely worth it!

So on the whole,Vishal-Shekhar give us an album that fulfills all expectations of an album from the Karan Johar camp.

Dostana joins the list of Race, Jannat and Singh is Kinng as another superhit album.

Best of the year?

Can't say yet, beacuse the music of Subhash Ghai's musical extravaganza Yuvvraaj has just arrived on the stands!

Fashion

Madhur Bhandarkar's films have always had only average/above average music.
Music was never the mainstay of Bhandarkar's films;the hard hitting script was,be it Page 3,Corporate or Traffic Signal.

So before starting to listen to this album,one does not have any kind of expectations.

This time Bhandarkar ropes in the duo of Salim-Sulaiman for the music,who had composed last year's patrotic anthem,Chak De! India.

So does Fashion have some good music or is it just another average album?
Let's see.

1. Fashion Ka Jalwa : An out and out Sukhwinder number,this song is superb and is in tune with the feel of the film,which highlights the dark side of the world of fashion. Instantly catchy,you'll want to play this one again and again. Sukhwinder seems to be getting it better day by day. The Salim-Sulaiman-Sukhwinder combo clicks again after Chak De! India.

2. Mar Jawaan : Amazing composition,this one's a haunting melody well sung by newcomer Shruthi Pathak. Salim himself gets behind the mike for a few lines. One of the best songs of the year i should say,you'll be hooked to this one too! Exceptional!

3. Kuch Khaas : Another soft, romantic melody. Though not good as Mar Jawaan, this one's quite special too,as the name indicates!

4. Aashiyana : This one sounds like a typical Emraan Hashmi-Pritam combo song. A fast paced,love song, this one's a good hear too, though one wonders what scope this song has in a movie like Fashion!

5.Theme of Fashion : Not many bollywood movies come with a theme,the last one to have come so was probably OSO. However,this theme is so good,so stirring, that you won't forget this in a long time! I guess this theme would be played throughout the movie in the background.


Overall, Fashion is a fantastic album!

What makes it even more special is that nobody actually expects such a superb album from Salim Sulaiman,that too for a Madhur Bhandarkar film! He would be extremely happy to get a soundtrack like this!

Salim Sulaiman can now go ahead with great confidence to compose for their biggest project ever, SRK-Aditya Chopra's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi!

Vaaranam Aayiram

So this is my first post.
I thought, "What better way to start off my blog other than starting off with the review of the most anticipated tamil album of the year,Vaaranam Aayiram?".

So here goes!! (this review is a bit late,though!)


Vaaranam Aayiram is the most anticipated album of the year,for the following reasons:

1) It brings together the Surya-Gautham Menon-Harris Jayaraj combination after a long time.
2) Harris' previous outing "Sathyam" was one of his rare "not so good" albums.
3) There's supposedly a fight between Gautham and Harris of late. So one wonders if Harris would betray Gautham by giving some bad music.

Well,first things first.

Vaaranam Aayiram is not exactly your typical Harris Jayaraj album. Meaning, he goes for a little variety here and not the "same old tunes",like his critics say. I mean,there are trademark Harris numbers,but there are different numbers as well.

1.Adiyae Kolluthey : Harris starts off the album in great style with his signature electric guitar.This is the number played on the trailer, and has caught public attention instantly. Give it one hear and you'll love it. One gets to hear Shruti Hassan,though her pronunciation is a bit weird!

2.Nenjukkul Peidhidum : Harris gets his favorite Hariharan to sing this beautiful, melodious number that is soft on your ears. This is Gautham's favorite track in the album. Just close your eyes and listen to this song,and you'll be transported to surya's and sameera's romantic world!

3.Mundhinam : Said to be picturized on Surya and Simran,this song starts off with a dialogue from Surya in his ever saccharine voice. Brilliant by all means, this song is the pick of the album.

4.Ava Enna : Harris steps into a territory he has never wandered into before for a Gautham film,the gaana pattu territory. And pulls it off moderately successfully too! Rendered by Karthik, this a different song, nothing great about it,but should go along with the story i guess.

5.Oh! Shanti Shanti : Again,give it just one hear and you'll love it instantly. This song faintly resembles some of his old numbers,but doesn't really matter. Superb. It's sung by a guy called Clinton. No wonder he keeps saying "Oh! Shanti Shanti"! :)

6.Yethi Yethi : A dance number, very faintly resembling "Urvasi Urvasi" in the beginning parts. Or rather in all parts. Nothing extraordinary about it. The only song in the album having english lyrics and rap.

7.Annul Maelae : As I reach this song,it suddenly occurs to me that there has been no Bombay Jayashree song so far in the album. Come on, it's a Harris Jayaraj album.So there has to be at least one song sung by her and this one's got to be that,right? Wrong! This track has been credited to Sudha Raghunathan, and i would call this development the shock of the decade. Not that she doesn't sing it well. In fact she does a good job of singing this soulful number. But what happened to bombay jayashree? The combo of Harris and B.Jayashree have given us some of the best songs of the decade starting from vaseegara in 2001 to sakiye in 2008 May,which is just a few months back! I hope nothing's gone wrong between them.

So is VA is the best album of the year? Definitely. It has already sold more copies than any other album this year
.
Is is the best album of the decade? (as the ad in Hindu claims) Well,not quite.

And finally,has anything gone wrong between Harris and Gautham? Read this to find out.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog.
In this blog i plan to review hindi and tamil albums.