Tuesday, November 24, 2009

~*Relationships*~



Oh, the comfort - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person - having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.
~Dinah Craik
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Few days back, I got a small story in my mail and found it very very close to reality. Check this out

A boy and a girl were playing together. The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl had some sweets with her. The boy told the girl that he will give her all his marbles in exchange for her sweets. The girl agreed. The boy kept the biggest and the most beautiful marble aside and gave the rest to the girl. The girl gave him all her sweets as she had promised.

That night, the girl slept peacefully. But the boy couldn't sleep as he kept wondering if the girl had hidden some sweets from him the way he had hidden his best marble.


Moral of the story:If you don't give your hundred percent in a relationship, you'll always keep doubting if the other person has given his/her hundred percent.. This is applicable for any relationship like love, friendship, family, employer-employee relationship etc., Give your hundred percent to everything you do and sleep peacefully.


There's one sad truth in life I've found
While journeying east and west -
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.

Friday, November 6, 2009

The lost Innocence



After giving sufficient time to my damaged ligament to heal, on Sunday, I came out of my house for a walk to a park nearby. And it felt so good to fold my stretched leg (ouch!!!!! felt a sting of pain but it felt nice). While sitting on the bench with my better-half and talking about increments, promotions and all that stuff, my eyes got fixed on a small boy of age around 6. While playing with a ball he was singing some song in undistinguished voice which initially I was not able to understand.

But when I heard it properly, I was amazed that he was singing a very old but famous song “cheel cheel chilla ke kajri sunaye.. jhum jhum kauwa bhee dholak bajaye..” and that too in a his cute funny voice and the best part was when he says “arre wawawa arre wawawa”.


All of sudden, I was in deep thought ki yaar how come hi knew this song? Now a days we all are happy with Dil mera Hit-Hit, Ahun Ahun, Dhan te naan ,Tandoori Nights and all other not-so-good songs. But I was not able to find the answer cos he was not interested in talking to strangers.

This song took us back to our childhood days…

The days when cold drinks used to be once in a while thing and its consumption used to be an occasion. It was something that used to be enjoyed and to feel good about, not only just a mean to satiate our thirst.

The days when birthday's meant to be an in-house gathering of friends & family with proper home made food and not just a birthday luxury in a gaudy bistro.


The days when Doordarshan's sunday morning Rangoli, Chandrakanta, Mahabharat, Ramayana and cartoons (Duck-tales, Tale-spin) and evening Movies used to be a Special event when all the neighbors use to gather at one place to watch them.


The days when summer vacations used to be a time to have wholesome trouble-free fun but not a time to force children to enhance their skills by joining all promising vacation course.


The days when we use to go to our villages to enjoy our vacations without any tensions, without any burdens, without any pressures, without any cheatings, and also without any complaints with a lot of swimming in the pond and river, those running around trees and animals, those cycling teachings, those jagging and fighting with friends but not a time when each child compete with other to please their parents.



The days when we use to sit with our parents and talk about everything but not a time when we have no time for our spouses too.


The days when Ek aur anek, Mile sur mera tumhara, the Doordarshan music at 6 o’clock used to be children’s fav song not Meri pant bhi sexy and Hoth rasiley.



We were lost in the memories but the raindrops bought us back in the world where we are living, the world with ruthless cutthroat struggle, where one have to go over others head to gain something and the world where there is no place for innocence.

Well, after coming back the first thing I did was downloading the songs of Movie HALF-TICKET along with videos of famous Doordarshan songs as Ek aur anek, Don’t spread rumors, Title track of Jungle Book (Jungle jungle baat chali hai pata chala hai, Chaddhi pehan ke phool khila hai phool khila hai), Shristi se pehle (Bharat ek Khoj), Surabhi and Duck-tales.

Why??

Cos I wanted to show the coming generations about our past and also to satisfy my hunger to go back in time and find the lost innocence…..


~*The innocent and the beautiful Have no enemy but time*~ William Butler Yeats


Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Dedicated to the most beautiful girl I ever met :)





My kind of music,
My favorite song,
I want to be with you
All day & all night long...

A spring breeze,
A summer sun,
Now that I know you
You are my one...

A winter sparkle,
An autumn tree,
Added all up
It equals you & me...

My best friend,
My only lover,
From here on out
I'll keep you forever...

A good laugh,
With some happy tears,
You're the one I go to
Through all the coming years...

When it rains it rains,
When it snows it snows,
I wrote this specially for you
& you're the only one who knows...

You keep me warm,
When I'm so cold,
As if my heart were for sale
To you it was sold...

Whether playing our favorite games,
Or to music we sing & listen,
When it comes to you
There's just no competition...

Not the finest thing,
Or the reddest rose,
Could ever amount to
When you hold me close...

& when everything is said & done,
The night is over & we've had our fun,
Out of all the girls I choose just one,
The best one of all & that's you Hun.





Thanks for being with me in all my thicks and thins.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

~*Tum Mile Music Review*~


What comes to your mind when name of Bhatt’s and Emraan Hashmi comes together?
1) Kisses
2) A real life story
3) Soulful music
4) All
Well, this combo is back with Tum Mile, the first film in the history of Hindi cinema having the backdrop of 26th July 2005, when Mumbai was hit by hurricane and pouring downpour, directed by Kunal Deshmukh (Jannat fame) and featuring Soha Ali Khan in lead role along with Emraan. Music is by Pritam and lyrics are by Sayeed Quadri and Kumaar. Year 2009 has been a mix yearfor Pritam, he gave some big hits as Love-Aajkal, New-York and Billu, some ok-ok kinda music in Aa dekhen Zara, Dil bole Hadippa, All the best and some flops as Ek-the power of one, Life partner and Love khichdi. Being a Bhatt Camp movie, expectations were high from this album (at-least mine) and here is my take of the album:
1. Tum mile: The album opening is totally different from what expected from Hashmi’s soundtrack, there was neither an intense KK crooning at his best nor a peepy beat to set up the mood. But the album starts with a beautiful rendition and then Pritam’s lucky mascot Neeraj Shridhar holds the center stage to croon this quixotic number with all his Ohhhs, huuuuhs and Yeahs. The best part of this track is absolutely soothing and classy yet simple lyrics by Kumaar that will hold your attention instantly and will be on your lips. Lyrics talks mainly about finding love in each and every aspect of life but still not able to explain it (Very mushy….haannnn)

palakein munde chaahat meri so rahi thi
khushbu hawaao mein thi maine nahi mehsus ki
jaane kahaan bahaarein meri khil rahi thi
khushbu hawaao mein thi maine nahi mehsus ki
tum mile toh mehaki baarishein, tum mile toh jaagi khwahishein
tum mile toh rangon ka hai silsila
tum mile toh jaadu chha gaya, tum mile toh jina aa gaya
tum mile toh main paaya hai khuda


Pritam tried to gave a pop touch to this quixotic track but at points music took over the words. But what enthralled me the most was the pairing between Neeraj Shridhar and Pritam, I had expected Aahun Aahun, Talli Hua, Hare-krishna, hare Raam and Aai Paapi from the combo but this was a pleasant surprise. It’s a perfect first date song.

2. Dil Ibadat: This track starts with a catchy piano-violin combination and then KK holds the center stage to croon this haunting soft-rock number and instantly hold your attention. The best part is the starting of each stanza with an up growing tuneful arrangement of soulful guitar tunes, merging piano and violin tunes along with some African vocals and above all the powerful vocals by KK just elevate this song to another level. The other key factor is Sayeed Quadri’s verse of a man head over heels in love which is totally simple yet superb.

Bahoon main de bas jaane, seene main de chhup jaane,
tujh bin main jaaun to kaha????
tujhse hai mujhe ko paane yaadon ke woh nazrane,
ek jinpe haq ho bas mera
teri yaado mein rahoo, tere khwabo mein jagun
mujhe doondhe jab koi, teri aankho main milu
jo bhi saanse main bharun, unhe tere sang bharun
chahe joho rasta use tere sang chalun


Dil Ibaadat (Rock): A pleasant surprise appears in the form of Dil Ibaadat (Rock) as track 7 but in spite of using high tempo and pitches, the tempo has been slowed down and music has been reduced to the subtle along with masterfully arranged rock instruments. Sung by KK, this track will leave you enthralled.


3. Tu Hai Haqeeqat: Next track starts with a simple guitar strumming along with a synthesizer melody that grips the attention and resonate throughout the body and then Javed Ali holds the center stage to croon this haunting track and was well supported by Irfan Ashraf and Shadab who helped him in with the chorus. The main attraction of this track is the soulful music with a sufi touch in it (full of multiple string instruments and a simple but haunting flute tune), the brilliant singing by Javed Ali (who touches different pitches to deliver this track) and soulful lyrics by Sayeed conveying the profound, passionate love of the protagonist.

Aa tujhe inn baahon mein bhar ke, Aur bhi kar loon main kareeb
Tu juda ho toh lage hai, Aata jaata har pal ajeeb
Iss jahaan mein hai aur na hoga, Mujhsa koi bhi khush naseeb
Tune mujhko dil diya hai, Main hoon tere sabse kareeb
Main hi toh tere dil mein hoon, Main hi toh saanson mein basoon
Tere dil ki dhadkanon mein, Main hi hoon main hi hoon
Tu humsafar tu humkadam tu humnawah mera
Tu humsafar tu humkadam tu humnawah mera


4. Is Jahaan Mein: After 3 passionate tracks, this rock ballad takes the album to a different up-beat mood but in the mean time reminds you of Hai Junoon (New York). This track is crooned by Mohit Chahuhan in a pretty different voice and has fast tracked music arrangement especially the use of the saxophone and Pritam brilliantly utilizes Mohit's voice intonations to give famous Kishore Kumar type Yudlei Yudlei sort of touch towards the end of the verses. But somehow this track fails to catch the attention for long!!! Blame it to previous tracks and heard-this-before-feeling.

Meri nazar mein tu, Rehguzar mein tu
Shaamosehar mein tu
Tujhe judaa bhala karoon toh kaise
Woh ho ho ohh hooo ohh…
Ho sake toh yeh bata, Lag raha hai ab kyun aise
Jo bhi ab tak hai jeeya, Bewajah sa tha woh jaise
De de dil nazaraana
Ohh ohh hoo…Meri tu ban jaana
Ohh ohh hoo… Door tu na jaana
Ohh ohh hoo… Sun le meri yeh iltejah

5. Tum Mile (Love Reprise): If you loved the first track, then you gonna love this track for sure. This track starts with a superb saxophone tune along with a trace of sitar string and then Javed Ali holds the center stage. And one more thing to remember, this is not a remix track but a new track in itself where Tum mile is taken from the title track with soothing melody and lyrics. There are minimum musical instrument used in this track (amazing saxophone and later the electric guitar) and the preference is given to the singing by Javed who awes you in this smooth ride (pssttt but it did reminded me of Bhula Tujhe (Blue) at places, Blame it to Javed’s voice and the start of the first verse). Sit back and enjoy this track

Tujh mein kinara dikhe, Dil ko sahara dikhe
Aa meri dhadkan tham le
Teri taraf hi mude, Yeh saas tujhse jude
Har pal yeh tera naam le
Tum mile to abb kya hai kami, Tum mile to duniya mil gai
Tum mile to mil gaya aasra
Tum mile to jadoo chaa gaya, Tum mile to jeena aa gaya
Tum mile to mene paya hai khuda


Tum Mile (Rock): Rock version of Tum mile appears as track 8 and is the best of all the versions where brilliant guitar play by Kalyan Baruah, Paresh Kamath, Pawan Rasaily and Krishna will hold your attention from the starting (they deserve an applause for this) and above all is the raw voice of Shafqat Ali that delivers the powerful words necessary for this rock version maintaining his classical touch. No fiery or pacey note but still this will take you with it. Listen it to feel the magic of Shafqat Ali.

6. O meri Jaan: Next track is a little slow, soft but haunting O Meri Jaan crooned in a little rough voice by KK which talks about dooriyaan, Tanhai, Judai and reasons behind that. Don’t compare it with O meri Jaan from Life in A metro then only you will appreciate this track. Pritam superbly used a haunting piano tune along with modulating KK (shifting between high and low pitches). Lyrics are heart wrenching and justify the suffering and the despair of a man in need of his loved one and KK brilliantly convey the same to its listeners. Awesome!!!

Tere bin jo din aaya, Kaate na woh kat paaya
Kami teri khal si jaati hai, Tere bin jo shaam aayi
Badi dil ki tanhai, Meri aankhen bhar si jaati hain
Kuch tum mujhse khafa, Kuch main bhi hun
Hai kya iski wajah, Main kya kahun
Na jaane waqt ki marzi hai kya, Kyun hai mili yeh dooriyan
O meri jaan…o meri jaan

7. Soul of Tum Mile: The final tracks is an instrumental Soul of Tum Mile, a entirely situational track which starts with a sound of cloudburst and have a menacing effect throughout the track in form of thunder storms, cries of torment and distressed vocals and it brilliantly portrays the pain and trauma. I never believed that Pritam could do something like this but yes he had brilliantly created a melancholy effect through this track to fill in the highly charged situations in the film. A good end.




My Take: Emraan-Bhatt collaboration has always been musically special be it Chocolate, Gangster, Awarapan, Jaanat or Raaz–The Mystery Continues and when they came with Pritam expectations are always high that was the reason that their latest offering Tum Mile, came with a expectation of good potential. The album starts with Tum mile and holds your attention instantly but that’s not all Pritam has 2 alternative versions for you and they are not remixed in current Pritam style but will remind you of his Life in a Metro days creation and are truly awesome, next he had Dil Ibadat and Tu hi Haqeeqat describing a simple situation of a man with head over heels in love but what makes it special is the music arrangement and the choice of singers varying from KK to Javed Ali and all with immense potential and Pritam Brilliantly used it. He had Is Jahaan Mein which will give you glimpse of new-age Mohit Chahuhan, then he had O meri Jaan with a elegant lingering piano tune along with modulating KK and finally he gives you Soul of Tum Mile a truly situational instrument which is truly enjoyable.

A copy cat/ Plagiarist or whatever we call Pritam, his music is always in news and general music lovers look forward for his albums and Tum Mile is a signature Pritam album with some quality music in it which needs some patience to grow on you. I will give 4 out of 5 stars.

My favorites:
1. Tum mile (Rock, Love reprise and the original one)
2. Tu hi Haqeeqat
3. The soul of Tum mile and Dil Ibadaat.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

~*The day I was Born*~

Tuesday, 6th Oct 2009, 11.30 pm
Tired of work, was trying to sleep and with numbess in my mind and body, nothing else. Medha was with Mom, as usually discussing on Saas-Bahu issues!!!! Slowly slowly I was drifted in the sweet lap of sleep and forgot everything.

All of sudden, I heard a cry!! Happy Bday Sweetu!!!

That was Medha, standing near me with my fav Black forrest cake with some candles on it. I was shocked that how come I didn't remember my Birthday.

She saw me startled and asked, "Hey what happened??? Are you ok??"

"Yeah!! I am fine, was surprised. Tall" somehow i managed to reply
"Now its time to cut the cake, chalo saari candles bujhao" (well to be true, that was my first time when I was blowing off the candles, during my college days, no one bothered bout candles and all, Birthdays were meant for BUMPS BUMPS and BUMPS and cake covered faces) .


"ok" I replied nervously and got up

Phuuuuuuuuuu.......................

Candles still burning!!!!

"Arre aur jor se"

Phuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ..................
And finally managed to blow off a few but they they got lit again
Then I relaized, these are magic candles(Gawwwwwdddd)
Somehow managed to blow off all the candles and cut the cake.
And the cake was awesome!!

Got call from Sisters, Sister-in-laws, Brother-in-laws and In-laws and finally retired to bed again.

Wednesday, 7th Oct 2009

Was late for office, took a quick bath, wore new pair of trousers and shirt (gifted by Medha) and left for office. Reached office by 9.10 (late as usual due to traffic and all). Friend wished me and was forced to cut a cake again (with my name wrongly written on it and with some other things Check it in the pic.. Sighhhhhh ) and got indulged in work. Checked Mouthshut.com for a few times and after seeing the tons of virtual gifts from members I was shocked in the same way as i use to when i read crapy DPs (copy asted one and the posts full of I, ME and MYSELF). Took lunch at 1.30 and then again back to desk to get up at 6 pm.


It was a hectic day. Reached home by 6.30, had tea with family, went to temple and then had an awesome dinner cooked by Medha and Mamma.
Watched TV for some time, where got a glimpse of "Big Boss-3 (What the crap)" and "Pati, patni aur woh (it should be named as Mujhe En clebreties se Bachao)" and then retired to bed. Got up by phone calls at 12'O clock. All were from my college friends to wish me A very happy birthday. Few asked me that my Facebook profile shows my bday as 7th Oct. why so??

Actually it's complicated, (I said this in Himesh style) I replied I was born at 11.55 pm on 7th october, so my family use to wish me on 7th only but most of my relative took it as 8th October (saying Us samay itna precise time kaun dekhta tha, it will be 8th only) and the same was spread in my school and in the college too.)

And yeah

I received this funny poen from one of my friend (Who sent me Birthday wishes after 6 years, God knows why) but this one was cool one

Hike across green Ireland;

Bike the USA;

Backpack through New Zealand,

But don’t call it a day…

Do yoga in lovely Paris;

Jump rope in Katmandu;

Avoid Italian pasta,

(Well, maybe taste, but don’t you chew!)

Climb atop Mt. Everest;

Do aerobics on China’s Wall;

Lift weights on Mexican Beaches;

And honey, that’s not all…

Shake your booty with native dances

In Fiji and Bora Bora;

Move your body and exercise

Like you’ve never done before.
Okay; that’s good;

you’re finished;

Now you can take a break;

You’ve finally burned enough calories

To have your birthday cake!


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly- That was the week Gone

The Good:
Lovely weather through out the week, no tension in office as the work load was a bit less; watched 25 movies in 4 days (and all were good ones) and yeah slept a lot too



The Bad:
The sad demise of YSR and the heavy torrential rain which gave me some heart attacks while driving on the bumpy roads in the mad rush of Hyderabad.


YSR RIP


The Ugly:
Closed public transport and Petrol Pumps (one of my neighbor suffered a lot as her Daughter in law was expecting and started having labor pains on Friday and No ambulance was available due to closed petrol pumps, but somehow we managed to take her to hospital and she was blessed with a chooooooooo chweeet baby girl), closed ATM’s and Burning tyres on road (that’s the reason one should not rely on plastic money I survived 2 days with a total 78 Rs in my purse), closed shops (even small eateries so the main sufferers were the bachelors) and Cable black-out.




Now happy to be with some known faces after 4 day long and sulking weekend.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

!! How to kill your weekend !!

Friday evening
Came back from office at 6.30. Changed clothes and sat in front of TV surfing through channels, got bored after a while. Now what to do??? Lemme call Ma. After 3rd try got connected to BSNL number (Goshhhh, why they still trust that pathetic service).

"Hey Ma, Parnam, How are you people??"
"We are fine beta, how is Medha??"
(Lo ji pehle bete ka haalchaal nahin liya aur bahu ko poochna shuru).
"Ma, she is fine, I talked to her at 4.30, she was sleeping so didnt disturbed her for long" (See, what your bahu is doing huhhhhhhh)
"Arre then you should call her in eveing no, why you keep on bugging her" (I have heard that Shaadi ke baad log badal jaate hain, but even family members get changed, i never knew that)
"Ma, Ma, Ma, I called her to know how s she doing" (Grrrrrrrr)
After a couple of minutes, she asked the toughest question "Khana bana liya?"
"Naa, abhi nahin"
"So planning to eat out??"
"It’s raining heavily in hyderabad ma, I will cook something."
"Kuch aata bhi hai banane"
(Ma that was below the belt, but no problem will bear that)
"Ma, I am a good cook now"
"Ok, will check you when i will be there" (lo lag gai watttt)

Finally off the phone after 15 minutes of instruction about eating properly and sleeping properly and hit the kitchen. Got a pack of dry mashed p0tataos, a glove of wheat bread along with Maggie, knorr soups and lays. I was in dilemma what to cook, suddenly the phone rang.
Thankfully it was Medha,
"hey sweety, how are you now"
"hey I am good. How s it going?? Khana Khaya kya" (phir Galat sawaal)
"Na yaar, I am confused kya banau? Planning for sandwiches"
"Sandwiches?? Day before yesterday it was Pizza, yesterday it was maggie and today Sandwiches, great going!!!"
"Yaar phir kya banaun"

"Why dont you try for Aalu Paratha" (Wahhh jaise Allo parathe aur Sandwich me koi antar hai, Godddddd in ladkiyon ko 9i mean auraton ko) koi samjhao)
"Ok lemme try that, par how to kneed aata for that one?? You know how pathetic i am at that"
"Arre, all you have to do it make it soft. Look for recipie on net and try it. I know you can do it"

So after getting lessons, I hit the kitchen and within 30 min I was again in front of TV (to saw who got eliminated from IJSMB) with hot Allo ke parathe and a cup full of tea. And it was totally awesome. Here is the pic of that (sorry for poor quality, clicked by my phone camera)


So now stomach was full and IJSMB was over and it was 10'0 clock. No sleep in the eyes
Now what to do???
Checked my DVD collections (downloaded one obviously) and finally got one with 21 Grams, The Last samurai and Catch me if you can. Was not able to stop myself before finishing all three. Checked time, oopssss it was 3.30 am, logged to Gmail account, no mail no facebook intimation nothing and No one online too (surprising!!!!!) Phewwwwwwwwwww. Hit the bed with Stephen king's "APT PUPIL" and slowly slowly drowned into sleep.

All of sudden heard some noise. That was my doorbell (Shit, forgot to switch it off) and my Maid was fultoo-on on it. Tried putting pillows over my ears and ignore but she was not in compromising mood. So finally opened the door and managed to say
"Repu Vasta" (come tomorrow)
She happily asked "enta Ghantalu" (At what time)
"Padi ghatalu" (at 10'O clock)

Hit the bed again to get up at 12.30, brushed, freshen up, had tea and again infront of TV. Checked phone, shitttttt 20 missed calls, 19 from Medha and one from Ma. Called Medha, with excuse of fever and somehow she left me easily with direction to eat outside at lunch.

Had omelet and again went for sleep. Got up at 6.30, went out for ice-cream and came back by 7 to catch MTV Rock On, loved the concept and the arrogant rapper. In the mean time keep on switching between Channel [V] and MTV. (Aren’t these guys suppose to play music!! Big question).
From 8-9 pm: played What's your Rashee at full volume. (i am in love with this album.. Now)
Came back to TV again. Caught a glimpse of 100 % - De Dhana Dhan on Colors and was confused and I am still confused. What was that?? A comedy show or what and who the hell is that disgusting Mohan Kapoor. Show sucked big time!!!

Back to DVD collection again, this time with Chicago (*ing Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere), Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (*ing Emile Hirsch and Kieran Culkin, Awesome movie, how I missed it till date) and Into the wild (*ing Emile Hirsch and its in my all time fav list)

Finished by 3' O clock and hit the bed but this time forgot to put phone on silent mode. Got a call from Ma at 8.30 and some scoldings for not calling her yesterday. (A goodway to start the day!!! Isn't it). Got up, brushed, freshen up, prepared tea and again infront of TV. Maid came at 10, washed clothes, utensils and left by 11. Ordered Biryani from hyderabad house and again slept for 2 hour. At 4.30 got a call from friend, inviting me for a small gathering at Secret lake. But it started raing at 5 and i called him that i will not be able to make it.

Now what to do???

Prepared tea and sat on balcony and watched children enjoying the rain and spend sometime to think (yeps after 2 days i thought something). Back to TV at 7 pm for Stunt Mania and then listened to What's your Rashee and Saher (Jagjeet Singh), grabbed some sandwiches and finally hit the bed at 11 cos there was nothing elso to do.

Sighhhhhhhhhhh
Finally one more weekend is finished and I am back to square one!!!!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

~*Quick Gun Murugun*~Listen it Yanna Rascals*~





Guys, Put your Green Shirts and Orange pants on and Come out I say, to salute our Indian Cow boy whose name is Q G Murugun, Quick Gun I say.


First thing first, this is not a traditional Indian comedy!!! Mind It. It’s a spoof directed by Shashanka Ghosh (who is known for his quirky Waisa bhi hota hai part 2 which most of us haven’t watched) and is being released in Hindi as well as English. This movie is inspired by a famous Channel [V] character Quick Gun Murugun, a veg south Indian cowboy with guntastic power who comes forward to protect the world and vegetarianism (yeah u got it right) against Rice Plate Reddy and enters in an heroic clash that extents time and space, from a small South Indian village to an Indian heaven and then finally to a cosmopolitan Mumbai across 25 years. The music of movie is given by Sagar Desai (along with Raghu Dixit) and lyrics by Ankur Tiwari (except Ek Tha Murugan by Shellee). To be true, I was never interested in the music of QGM, but after hearing it for the first time I am glued to it.,.. Here is my take of this uproarious album




1. Dialogue mix: Album opens with Dialogue mix using witty dialogues from the movie starting with Karma bhoomi mera yeh aangan, with a back ground trademark Tamil kuthu music and hits one hard enough to make an impact. And through out the song you will be amazed how some amazingly inane lyrics and vivacious music can be combined to give this fulltoo time pass track. This is supposed to be a promotional track as most of the dialogues featured in the songs are shown in trailer, be it trademark Come out I say or Remove your guns I say or Agar tu lightening hai, to main 250 volt current I say, Murugan to Gun powder Rascal, main sikhayega how to behave, Gun Powder replies Need not to worry abey gede, main correspondence se seekh loonga or Main tere pe Google kiya hai, Rice Plate Exclamation Mark!!.


Listen it to believe it. This is gonna hit you hard I say.

2. Murugan Superstar: is the next track that again glorifies Quick Gun Murugun as a Tej nishaane baaj. Though this track also uses dialogues from the movie but this one is more hummable and supposedly it should be the introductory track for QGM which describes him as the only superstar who doesn’t have a wonder car but drives all the ladies wild and his character. This track is composed by Raghu Dixit and Ramina Reddy and sung by Raghu himself. This track is a perfect fusion of Indian music (use of Sitar and Carnatic vocals) with western one (brilliant Rap and beats) and Raghu brilliantly used the South Indian words (as First beedi, Mothalle Sambar, Apparama Nee, and Rendu gun in his pocket) to gel with the mood of the song.






3. Mind it (Tamil Bhangra): Ever heard of Tamil Bhangra before??? Naaah!! Well this is possible only with QGM. This is will remind you of a perfect Indian mix veg where there is south Indian music on Bhangra tunes and a punjabi singer crooning for asouth Indian cowboy. Well this songs is again about QGM as a Dhoondhe na mile na aisa Namoona, jo ladies logo ko patata par us me hamesha fail, jiske saare funde hai ghatiya aur phaltu, who has well toned body just thoda phat re but he is still item sayana. Well this is not all it has even words like Apna pichwada bajao “Wink wink” along with Bhau bhau and meow meow. But beside Idli, Appam and Sambhar there is no Tamil in it (but yes, back ground music is there) and in the name of Bhangra our nassy Mika is there, but even after that this track works. Do remember to listen veena after Mika’s voice.
Club Mix: Remixed by Club mix by Mc Bobkat and was totally not required as the parent was doing great.



4. Kyun keeda hai aapko: Next track kyun keeda hai aapko is surly one of the best songs I have heard this year. This is a chatty track with a classical Carnatic base with it. This track is crooned by Vijay Prakash (known for his classical singing capabilities and for his songs in Cheeni kum (Sooni Sooni), Swades (Pal Pal Hai Bhaari) and Jai ho) and talks about living the moment leaving worries behind. The main attraction of this song is the soulful rendition by Vijay, cynical yet side-splitting lyrics by Ankur Tewari and classical jazz music by Desai. You gonna sing it for some of your friends for sure chhode apna chirkut-pan..gootli chhodein khaye aam..aapse meri trahimaam. Awesome!!!



Bak bak hai aapki sunli, Kis khet ki aap hain mooli


Tedhe sawaalon ke hain tedhe jawaab


Miyaan na biwi raazi Phir bhi lage hain quaazi


Itne asmanjaz mein hain kyun janaab Kyun janaab, Kyun janaab



5. Ek tha Murugun: Next track Ek tha Murugun starts with the trademark cowboy guitar tune and then Vijay Prakash holds center stage to croon this track written by Shelle. This track is again about Murugun who is tried of being famous. This track has a peculiar retro feeling to it and Vijay’s raw and languid voice perfectly suits the song. Perfect mixture of Wild West and Indian curry. Hats off to Vijay Prakash and Desai



ek tha murugun bada hi quick gun sahi hai
umrr bhi ja rahi hai par chamak hai aur damak
main hoon naayak kaise shikaayat karun main
pura get up videsi andar se full to desi, thodi milaavat
confusion kya kahun main senti na ho jaau main, ek banaawat
bas yahin hai



6. Chat Mangni Lover: How many times you come across a recent track that has a captivating old feel attached with it?? Not many na!! Now try Chat Mangni Lover. This retro ballad track has everything that is gong to leave you mesmerized, be it the feel of old music (raucous string sound, unusual piano sounds) funny lyrics with legendary Sanskrit words and commonly used Hindi and English word or amazing singing by Vijay Prakash which compliments the song. And yeah do concentrate on lyrics; otherwise it will be Flaval at the place of Flower.



aa ha turant prakat ho na mere liye


na shak maanasi kathin tan hai yeh


sanaka sehama mann hai tere liye


hai yeh bhraham hai yeh bhraham preet yeh iski re


ho little flower be my loverbe my lover cute chat mangani pat byaah lover



Space Goddess remix: This one has a lounge touch with it and here Pratichee Mohapatra who joins Vijay Prakash behind the mike and music is rearranged by Deep and DJ Chandu with perfect mix of dialogues and classical music and vocals. Awesome



Aunties On The Dance Floor: Next remixed track is called as Aunties On The Dance Floor and remixes with extra beats attached to it at fast pace. Parent one was much better but this will force you to dance floor.



7. Kuchi Kuchi Twist: Not over with Chat mangni Lover, here comes the next retro track for you with a perfect mix of traditional and 1960’s music (with shrieking band and piano beats). This track is crooned by Vijay Prakash and Hamsika Iyer with characteristic southern accent and will surly rekindle the Eastman color romance on the screen where heroine lures the hero and yeah don’t forget to catch para para para through out the track and also don’t forget to catch the gender confusion at the end of song. After all its Quick Gun Murugun, any thing is possible. Please…once again!



Rukmaniye chance nahi le, sabka hai man,


bas ek chumban Rukmaniye ye kissi ye na de.


kuchh pyaar jataate hai, kuchh money dikhaate hai


kuchh flower le aate hai, kuchh drive karaate hai
Kuchi kuchi se kuch na ho agar bas ye samjho


Bin reasons se pyaar karo
Rukmanie will say Hello

Please once again
Main pyaar jatata hoon, main mani dikhata hoon


flower bhi laata hoon, usey drive karaata hoon


Kuchi kuchi bhi karta hoon…
Want to make family with you only Rukmini



Ragamuffin mix: This track is remixed by Mc Bobkat and have superb Tamil Rap by Sout Dandy Squad and this one is as enjoyable as the older version.



8. Naam mera mango dolly: The album ends with a seductive jazzy number Naam mera Mango Dolly with a feel of 50’s cabaret to it, where Geeta John croons the hinglish wordings praising Mango Dolly (naam hai mera mango dolly, I am a lady rumba jolly, sweet toffee like a lolly, sabki neede maine uda di). The best part of this one is the music arrangement and the vocals involved in the music part.



Kisi ki bhi hai na maine suni Apni kahaani bhi khud hi buni


Look mera Fair ‘n Lovely Mera dank mein zehar hai


I am a lady jolly Sweet toffee like a lolly


Sabki neendein maine udaali



My Take: In the current Bollywood scenario, after first listening one will easily feel that this album is totally out of sync and at least a few decades old. But, one should have to keep this in mind that this is according to the story and mood (cheesy-spoofy theme) of the movie where hero has to travel time spans.


Ever imagine that one will get a totally engrossing album from a spoof??? No, even I was not ready to buy the album, but I was bowled by kyun Keeda hai aapko and end up in getting this album. This album is like Appam with pizza toppings on it. Here you have Dialogue mix that will have you in splits (listen to I like your culture line), you have Murugan Superstar that is perfect fusion of Indian classic with western beats, you have Punjabi paratha with sambhar in form of Mind it, you have Kyun Keeda ahi aapko a jazz based Carnatic classic vocal, you have Chat mangani Lover and Kuchi Kuchi Twist as an ode to Eastman color romance of 1950’s and last but not the least you have Naam hai mera mango dolly, a seductive cabaret number. May be in first listen, one will find this as a tacky one but when it hits its target, it hits it hard. For their sincere effort Sagar Desai, Raghu Dixit and Ankur Tewari surely deserve a standing ovation. Be ready for a flashy commoving comic ride! I will give it 4 and half star out of five. Listen it I say!!!!


Thursday, August 20, 2009

~*Wake Up S!D*~ ! Music Review !

This was selected as


Hum sab is duniya se, doosron se, bahut kuch chahte hain
Magar hum duniya ke liye, doosron ke liye, Ya apno k liye kya kar sakte hain?
Heard this question before???


If not, wait for Wake UP Sid, a forthcoming quixotic comedy staring Ranbir Kapoor and Kokana Sen Sharma and it tells story of Siddharth Mehra aka Sid, an indolent, unenthusiastic idler from Mumbai and how his life undergoes a series of changes after taking his final year college exams. This movie is pbeing produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and is directed by Ayaan Mukherjee. The music is given by successful trio – Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy along with Amit Trivedi (Dev-D fame) and lyrics are by Javed Akhtar. After ROCK-ON, SEL came back with a sweet Luck By Chance but failed miserably there after with 13B and Short kut-Con is on. With Wake UP Sid they are again here with Javed sahib, but whether they will be able to recreate the magic of Rock-On or will fizz like Short kut, only time will tell this. Here is my take on the album


1. Wake Up Sid: Album starts with a typical SEL sing along soft number Wake up Sid in the voice of Shankar Mahadevan. There is something in this song that gonna remind you of SEL old numbers from Dil Chahta Hai and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic but even after that I-have-heard-this-before feelings, it will catch your attention because of beautiful lyrics. This song talks mainly about self believe and to live the life at fullest and upsurges at the end of the track to give a lounge feeling. BUT, this requires repetitive hearing to grow on you but otherwise it will be listen-for-a-week-and-forget song.


Wake up sid, saare pal kahe
wake up sid, chal kahin chale
wake up sid, sab dishaon se aa rahi hai
sada sun sako agar suno wake up


Club Remix: The only change done in this Club Mix is that the song is sped up. Somehow I found it better than the original one may be because its speeding is suiting the mood of song.


2. Kya Karoon?: Next track starts with a soft guitar beats and then Clinton Cerejo holds the center stage to amuse you with his smooth vocals. Clinton Cerejo?? Any idea who is this guy?? Well, he is the one who gave his voices to I Just Wanna Spend My Life With You (From Neel and Nikki), Beedi jalai le (Omkara, yeah he was there with Sukhwinder Singh), Do u wanna Partner (Partner) and Dil ka Rishta (Yuvraaj) and here again he is going to show the versatility of his voice while crooning utterly beautiful wordings. The music is just according to the mood of song which talks about feeling of a guy who confused bout his life and what to do. Beautiful is the word for this but again, requires repetitive hearing.


kya karun haule haule, jo mera dil ga rha hai
kya karun dheeme dheeme se, nashe mein jo hai zindagi
kya karun dheere dheere, main behka ja raha hun
kya karun thoda thoda to, asar hona hai mujh pe bhi
kya karun soye soye se, kai armaan hai jaage
kya karun khoyi khoye si, kahin raahon meri zindagi


3. Aaj Kal Zindagi: Next track is a typical SEL-Javed Akhtar-Shankar Mahadevan track. Which talks about life and hope and attitude one should have towards the life. Songs starts with a slow pitch and reaches its crescendo at Tere liye nayee hain part. The music is soft and mainly rely on mellow tune and modulating speeds. A beautiful composition in all aspect but requires repetitive hearing to grow on you.



4. Iktara: When I first read that Amit Trivedi is the composer of this song, I was ecstatic. The song starts with a soulful guitar beats and Kavita Seth holds the center stage to croon this beautiful number. The music of this song is bucolic, which will keep you glued to it and has a class in itself. Kavita Seth’s (a trained Hindustani and Classical singer who is known for Mujhe Mat Roko from Gangster and Maula from Waada) exceptional, mellifluous raw and pastoral voice along with beautiful background rendition of Iktara Iktara from Amitabh is the main attraction and the real soul of the song. Awesome is the word for it. Hats off to Amit and Javed Sahib.


O re manwa tu to bawara hai
Tu hi jane tu kya sochta hai..
Kyun dikhaye sapne tu sote jaage baware
Jo Barse Sapne Boond Boond
Naino Ko Moond MoondGunjasa Hai Koi Iktara



5. Life is crazy: In this last track has a Rock-On touch to it ( due to its na na na na) where Uday Benegal (lead singer and song writer of Indus Creed, one of the pioneer rock band of India, to know more about them please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Creed) and Shankar Mahadevan gave their rendition to the beautiful words which talks about colors of life, amity and how to enjoy the crazy life which keeps on changing every minute. A rocking number which will surely gonna grow on you after a few hearing.


Dilkashi ke jo ranh hai, wo hai tere
Dosati ke jo rang hai, wo hai mere
Inhi rango me chupe saare Khushi ke rang hain
Dekho na dekho na ye halke gehre gehre halke Zindagi ke lamhe


My Take: From last couple of months, the soundtrack of most of the movies are composed with keeping the fact in the mind that it should grasp the instant attention and be a trendy number because of the shorter consideration period of the audiences. So, it’s quite surprising to see come up with album whose sound tracks requires repetitive hearing to grow slowly and will hold your attention for longer period of time. But SEL are famous for this, be it Rock-On (after repetitive hearing even critics changed their view) or Luck-By Chance. So when SEL- Javed Akhtar combination came again along with enormously talented Amit Trivedi, we oan album that gonna hold our attention for long. The songs are totally according to the mood of the movie (I think that was the reason of only one song in female voice) and is gonna be played more after the release of more. Go get and keep on listening, the more you listen the more you gonna love it…I will give it 4 out of 5 stars.


Friday, August 14, 2009

~*Fimply Fuperb*~


Year 2009 can be described as year of debacle for Bollywood. Year started with a bumper flop CC2C and the trend was continued by disastrous Victory, ruinous Billu Barber, unfortunate Delhi-6 (inspite of good songs and relatively new story) and supernatural 8x10 Tasveer which all has huge expectations, star power and price tags. Thankfully Bhatt’s Raaz-TMC, Farhan’s Luck by Chance along with Kashyap’s cult hit Dev-D saved the grace in first quarter and then 99 and New York saved the grace in second quarter along with Kambakkht Ishq (which was again a horrible one). The third quarter started off with a very promising LAK and has various other interesting films in its kitty as Kaminey, Dil bole haddipa, Jail and Whats ur rashi?

Among all, my favorites are Dev D and Gulaal, which came out of the dark and forced me to setback in my seat and literally pounced on me. And I felt the same thing when I watched the first trailer of Kaminey while watching Delhi-6.

Vishal Bhardwaj is famous as a path-breaking director from his first movie Makdee, followed by Maqbool (adapted from Macbeth), The Blue Umbrella (based on Ruskin Bond’s story), Omkara (adaptation of Othello) and then the aids awareness movie Blood Brothers.

Through Maqbool, Bhardwaj gave an authentic representation of 1990s scenario of Indian crime world and lust, The blue umbrella gave glimpse of a child mentality and sheer spirit of humanity, Omkara gave idea of the politics in western UP and lust for power, where as Blood Brothers was an AIDS awareness movie and now he is back with dark and gloomy comedy Kaminey.



Plot: The plot of Kaminey revolves around twins Charlie & Guddu. Charlie, the bad guy works a bookie with his friend Mikhail and his two brothers (Bengali Brothers) and lisps (using F at place of S) and believes that life has two options, one shortcut and second Chota shortcut and he had a dream of opening his own bookie counter where as Guddu, the good one trips over his tongue and works in a NGO spreasinfg awareness about AIDS.

Though they are twins but nature wise they are different (Wo chalta hai, main bhagta hun:- as Charlie says) and cant stand the sight of one another. But at one eventful day they came across each other when Guddu decided to marry his love Sweety, sister of Marathi don Bhope and Charlie got mixed up in fixed narcotic deal of Taashi to get rich using Chota shortcut. Now both get involved in the world of coke, politics, corruption, money and guns. Soon they realized that though they hate each other but all they have is each other and then they fight with their fate, gangsters, politicians and corrupted cops to protect themselves and their dreams over a period of 24 hr.
Will they survive the Indian politics and corruption?
Will Charlie be able to get his own bookie house?
Will Guddu be able to live happily with Sweety?

To know all these go and grab your tickets of Kaminey.
Direction: In true sense, Kaminey is Bhardwaj’s story which is totally bold, hilarious in all respects. Be it witty one liners (As Bhope saying Hamare Ghode (pistol triggers) bhagte nahin Girate hain or Agar teen bhai hoge to kya hamari mooch ukhad loge And Charlie replying to Guddu To kya tu meri cokh ujadega haan!! when he said that he want money to save pregnant Priyanka) or sarcasm on politicians (Bhope and his people hating people from other states and Guddu asks Bhope, tu sweety ko 10 khoke me mujhe bechde) and police (while encounter discussing about Hissa up to 33%, Lobo asking Guddu to give a police statement through song), austere at times and totally unpredictable.
He brilliantly captured and metamorphically displayed the human emotions ranging from love to lust to hunger of power and money. I still remeber the enterance of Priyanka Chopra and the song Phatak playing in the background with lines ye naiya doobe na and when she tells Guddu, Naiya doob gaye.




Be attentive for first 30 minutes to figure out minute details where the complex relationships were being discussed in Charli’F voice (yeah even the narration is in lisp) and after that the movie will take you with its flow and its unpredictability (so you have to put certain pieces by your own) and movie unfurls using fast cuts from shaky cameras against a murky and menacing screenplay. Hats off…
Acting: Besides Bhardwaj, this movie belongs to Shahid Kapoor, who enacted one of the toughest roles in the present time (thanks God, he is out of SRK’s shadow). As stammering Guddu, he displayed character of a boy-next-door who planned to finish his diploma in 2007->job in 2008->tarraki (promotion) in 2010-> marriage in 2014 and still remembers his middle-school love who use to stammer behind his back to make fun of him, but things got out of his hand when he had to marry Sweety and that brings him face-to-face with his brother Charlie and the dark gleam world of cops, politics and guns.
As rough, mucky, rugged and lisping Charlie, he displayed the role of a guy for whom money is everything and for that he is going to do anything but still he accuse himself for his fathers death due to shortage of money and that’s made him rebellion. He hate not only his brother (teen faal fe fakal bhi nahin dekhi ufki) cos he thinks that he is too fweet for this harami world but hates the whole Harami world. He deserves a standing ovation for this role

Priyanka Chopra did a decent job in role of chatterbox Marathi Mulgi Sweety who is deeply in love with Guddu and ready to do anything for him (from holding legs of Inspector Lobo when Guddu was in lockup to holding gun on his brother to save Guddu's life). All her nakhras and dialogues suited the role she was playing (be it Main home science ki topper hun or where she declares she loves Guddu more than Mumbai, Chennai, Thiruvanthapuram or to kya maine tumhara rape kiya hai?).


Amol Gupte as Sunil Shekhar Bhope aka Bhope Bhau can be called as the finding of the movie and he brilliantly displayed the character of a shrewd Marathi politician who hates people from other states, thinks that Mumbai was never Bombay and is ready to do anything for money (even to sell his ideology). His character showed all the shades of human nature, Funny (Mikhail introducing himself to Bhope by calling himself Tope Bhau and both playing with Guns in hand Dichkau, Dichkaun, Phatak, Thayan) and Shrewed (asking his aide to kill Guddu after getting Guitar and Paying the small boy to not tell the truth and offering money to police to stop shooting at them).


Tenzing Nima as Tashi (who love bitches more than dogs), did a great job in the role of gangster who owns police as well as cops from Narco department and dying hard to get his coke assignment worth 10 carore, back. The way he slaps his aide's face whicle looking for the marks on his cheeks was amazing and at the times he was funny too as telling Bhope, Bhau topein hamare paas bhi hain to kya chala de?? We are not America.


Shiv Subrahmanyam and Hrishikesh Joshi as corrupted cops Lobo and Lele, were awesome. They perfectly displayed the character of the one who messed up his work and then forced hard to make it correct. Theier chemsitry was great (speacially Bhaiya, aap mahan ho sequence while interrogating Guddu)

Chandan Roy Sanyal as Charlie's impulsive coke-lover gangster buddy Mikahil was were simply amazing. Mikhail simply sets the screen on fire when he lurch in on the some gangsters, high on coke and impulsive as a broken wheel. Watch him when he was racing with Charlie and Fpiderman Dance performed by them and his interaction with Bhope bhau and their Gun game. He will be on my must watch list now.




Others:
Cinematography by Tassaduq Hussain is stylish and according to the mood of the movie, covering the darker side of human emotions with fast cuts using handheld camera. Screenplay and dialogues are awesome and clearly marked the difference between twins. I am not going to explain it here watch the movie (but do remember Fpiderman sequence along with kaife kaife paife paife).

Music is another plus point for the movie and songs were at right place. Be it Go Charlie Go (during the coke heist when Charlie was on run), or Dhan-te-naan (Clebrating 10 khokha) or Pehli baar mohabbat ki hai (at the end of movie) and yeah how can I forget the climax song Hai Jo Zindagi Ka Phanda Hai Jo Katana Nahi (watch it).

The background score was bleak and humors at time use of old songs as "Duniya mein logon ko" to describe the situations was a refreshing attempt and it suited the movie (try to catch S/F lisp in tracks).

My take: First thing first, this movie is not a normal chick Bollywood movie but it is a dark humor that gonna leave you dazed and stimulated through it cheeky twist and turn and unpredictability. The subject of the movie is unique (not like Comedy of error sort of movie using twins) and converting it into a masterpiece was a difficult job to do but Bhardwaj vigilantly scanned each and every aspect to make it happened.
After watching one is not going to overlook the droll and austere dialogues and the lingo uFed in the movie and they are sure gonna carry it back with them. This movie totally relies on its actors, most of them are untried faces (Nima, Shiv Subrahmanyam, Hrishikesh, chandan Roy sanyal: have you ever heard of them before?? Nahhhhhh!!!), but still they deserve standing ovation). I will give it 4 and ½ stars.
!!!~*~*~*~*Dhan-Te-Naan!!!!!!Welcome to the new Dark and Bleak Bollywood. *~*~*~*~!!!

Monday, August 3, 2009

~*Naam bade aur Darshan Chote*~


From last two months, Love Aaj kal was all over the news and music channels, partly due to controversies (trimmed beard, But I am still confused where this protest was when Singh is King was released and Akki paaji kept a super duper thin daadhi) and partly due to the music scores (most of them taken from some other movies and old Punjabi songs (Kadi te has bol de by Madam Maddi which was taken from a Pakistani song sung some years ago by Lahore-based Naseebo Lal who was famous for VULGAR SONGS :) ).

In promos, movie looked refreshing errrrrrr but a bit disconnected as well (well, It was the chemistry between Deepika and Saifu, that failed to impress me right from the first promotional song Chor bazzari).


Being a big fan of Imtiaz Ali, I was bound to watch this movie. So we did our homework in advance, oops it means advance ticket booking for the first day third show (yeah I know that was not too advance but still we managed to get the last tickets available at Fun Cinema @ Miyapur, closest Movie theatre from our company and place).


After checking and all we entered the hall, it was already dark over there with some VICCO VAZRADANTI and VICO TURMERIC WSO cream (what the hell is WSO?? I am still confused) going on. It took around a minute to adjust our eyes but in meantime we had already hurt a couple of cute thin legs, finally after all that when we reached to our seat and getting settled, Aladdin’s (Amitabh, Ritesh and Sanju baba starrer) first teaser started playing and it looked like India’s reply to Harry Potter.)
While I was busy in looking that who is going to occupy the vacant seat next to mine, I heard a question, “Abe kya lagta hai Movie kaisi hogi???” And I was shocked at his question, but then get hold on my nerves and replied, “Abe ye tickect book karne ke pehle sochna tha, ab okhli me sar dala hai to musal se kya darna. Aur waise kisne kaha tha ki movie dekho”.


Khair movie started with Saifu and Deepika errrrr I mean Jai Vardhan Singh and Meera Pandit meeting for the first time in lift in September (As far as I remember, it was September only) and then moved on to December, January, July, August, and so on and with in 10 minutes my biggest nightmare turned into reality when I heard the song “Ye Dooriyaan” after that and watching Saifu in a plain and Deepika in a car… I was totally confused what is this??? Is movie is going to be in Flashback or it is in Flashback…
Plot: Love Aaj Kal begins with the story of Jai Vardhan Singh and Meera Pandit, who are in London and in love with each other or at least that’s what they think, In spite of this love and all, both are "realistic" enough to realize that their relationship can’t take priority over their careers which are foremost important for them (Golden Gate for Saifu and some old fort for Deepika), they finally decided to break up, cordially without any hard feelings or tears and gave a " break-up" party to celebrate the event.
Well in mean time café owner called Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) comes in the pic and asked Saifu bout reason of their break up and then narrates his own love story to him featuring bearded Saif as Veer singh saying “Is janam mein aur har janam mein… yehi meri votti banegi – Harleen Kaur. Ya job hi iska naam hoga agle janmo me.” But even he was not able to force Jai to stop Meera.

Chalo Yahan tak to sab theek thaak hi tha par ab shuru hui main problem. In Delhi, Meera starts going out with her boss (Rahul Khanna) using the same tantrums what she used on Jai and in meantime Jai falls for a Swiss girl called Jo. Jo forced him to come to India where he met Meera again and was a bit jealous of Rahul khanna, but decided to move on.

In between Veer Singh keep on telling Jai story bout how he travelled a thousand kilometers by train to stand under her balcony only to have a glimpse of her face. And yet not speak a word with her. Jai was confused bout this love and Laila Majnu stuff but later on he realized the fact that may be the relationship might be different in different era with different names but the love remains the same and finally was united with her Meera who in the meantime had married her boss and left him on the first day of there wedding.


Director and all: Well, now let me talk something about the movie and its crew. Love Aaj Kal is directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Saif Ali Khan. And this movie was said to be a copy of a Taiwenese film, Hao De Shi Guang (Three Times in English and as usual the directors and producer denied bout that).


As far as direction is concerned, I think Imtiaz was a bit confused bout the characters and failed to develop Meera’s character to its fullest. There was no maturity in her character (aaj break up, kal shaadi, shaadi ke agle din pati ko chodna and then living all alone waiting for old love to come) when we compare with Ayesha Takia’s role in Socha Na Tha and Kareena’s Role in Jab we met. And in end I found this movie to be a khichdi of Socha Na Tha (confusion about love and relationship), Hum Tum (sad lady leaving all alone), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Rishi Kapoor’s story) and Jab We Met (Again miserable lead lady). And what lacked the most was the chemistry between the lead pair.


Cinematography by N Natarajan Subramaniam was awesome and he beautifully captured the scenic London and Beautiful Delhi. Music by Pritam was contemporary (but beats taken from Old songs though royalty paid this time) and back ground scores were by Salim Sulemman.



Acting: Character of Jai was tailor-made for Saif Ali khan, who looks quite good in roles of a career oriented-smart ass flirt and acted naturally, looked great and delivered a memorable performance. But when it comes to the role of young Veer Singh, he was totally out of sync with his old, bearded look and his mumbaiya Punjabi accent. (Saifu dear, mana producer ho to kya saare role khud hi karo ge).

But at places he looke liked Deepika's uncle. Check this pic

Deepika as career oriented Meera looked good in the scenes that do not demanded emotional outbursts but failed otherwise. I thought Imtiaz would take a character out of her but miserably failed…. I think may be the problem was the development of her character in the movie was a bit haphazard.


Giselle Monteiro as Harleen Kaur was an eye-candy and that’s all she was. Her stunned expressions and her freezed dance steps were horrible (even more than that of Shruti Hasan in YUCK ooops i mean Luck). I heard that she was taken for the role of JO but later on shifted to this role. Only her face looked like a Punjabi but not her actions, accent and dance steps.


Watching Rishi Kapoor in the role of Old Veer Singh was a real treat and he was brilliant in his short but sweet role and same was true for Rahul Khanna (whose wife lefts him on the second day of marriage saying Main baad me maafi maang lungi). Neetu Kapoor was an unexpected package in an unexpectedly small role! Raj Zutshi and others (including Veer Singh’s friend) were ok.
Few Scenes Those were really Cool one:
1. The scene when Jai tried to explain that they should break up but was totally confused how and what to say
2. The scene where Deepika and Saif’s friend were confused bout what to bring in at the unusual Break-Up party or how to wish them for that occasion.
3. Saif’s try to hit on Jo in the same manner he did for Deepika but it didn’t work on her and he finally cover it up
4. Retro love story of Veer and Harleen
5. Harleen asking Veer Singh not to follow her (That time her grace and elegance and the scene was awesome)
6. Harleen bringing black tea for Veer hiding it in her dupatta
7. Harleen kaur dancing (Awww that too was indeed very phunny watching her confused and stunned face expression while dancing on punjabi beats in a freezed standing position.
8. Deepika saying, Main tumse baad me bhi maafi maang lungi, to Rahul Khanna (in deed a height of stupidity)
9. Last but not the least, the end scene where almost full hall was in splits when they saw Deepika crying and asking main neeche aa jaun.



My Take: What worked for Ali’s Jab We Met was the essence of the movie so that every boy and girl related to Geet and Aditya who were deeply in love with each other but failed to accept it due to some problems, where as in Love Aaj Kal, it was a complete mix-up of emotion that left even Imtiaaz ali out of option. The second problem with the movie was erratic time travelling which created a lot of confusion. The movie started in a good pace but later on lost its track, some times it was running to fast to keep the audience glued and some times it dragged like anything for a predictable ending.
I will give it a two star but will still recommend it as it has it own moments.