May 31

Fanaa: A Mixed Bag

Fanaa – destroyed in love, another churn from the YashRaj Films. To put it all out, is highly flavored in some instances, and just bland in others! Overall what may seem to be a hurriedly packaged product, it leaves a lot to be desired in several levels! Not to mention that at points it seems a lot like a spoof of various movies! Now that being said, let us get down to our favorite point of dissecting the movie and laying things out thread bare much to the bane of the ones who are interested in knowing the destruction this movie seems to claim about.

It was Fanaa all the way for the movie. This is the last venture of the talented duo Jatin-Lalit. The story is badly “fanaa”d in between (albeit without much love), and so also was my interest. The sole saving grace of the entire movie is Kajol. Her screen presence is impeccable and she outshines Aamir, in several instances. Sadly enough Aamir Khan (much as I adore him), is showing off his aging! 🙁 Well we shall dwell more on that front later.
The story is what forms a major bane for me! I am sure, the director could have sat for some more time on the story, and refined it. A typical Yash Raj film fare all through, replete with instances of patriotism, National Anthem strewn in, and the “oh spare me” round of Antakshari! (gimme a break dudes!!). Fortunately, not as nerve wracking as in “Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Ghum”. The story is of a sweet blind girl, meets a strange “guide” boy in the streets of delhi and falls in love! Strange “guide” boy who seems a casanova, issues all the necessary statutory warnings, and yet sweet girl commits herself to him. Soon it turns out that Strange “guide” boy is actually a “bad” boy!!! Jeepers Creepers!!! And is out to destroy the sweet ol’ nation by detonating a Nuclear Bomb, to wipe out the city of Delhi – nice and clean. As the darn ol’ fate or the director would have it, he lands all wounded up in the door of sweet ol’ girl and his “fruit of deed” kid. Sweet ol’ girl who believes he’z dead, gets him back. Eventually she realizes that her prince charming is a “baddie” and spanks him fine in the end!
The cast has done a decent job all the way through. What boggles me is the high level of maturity that the kids in YashRaj films seem to have! I for one would sure like to have my kid custom made through one of these movies! Now that said, the script is wonderful in some instances, more so in the first half of the movie replete with shayaris, and taut dialogues for the main protagonists. But it is “insipid and moronic” in some instances. Especially the character of the so called Chief of Anti-Terrorist Bureau – Sushil Rawat. If anything he seems highly childish and may as well be rocking in some cradle, and sporting the girdle! Instances when he is passing taunting comments on Tabu, is just crappy and down right trifling! Grow up dude is what one may wanna say!
The absolute saving graces of the movie are – the music, the songs, and Kajol! The instances of her parting from Aamir at the train station, the moment she realizes that her love is not dead and is standing in front of her, and the way she confronts him, are gleaming examples of her acting prowess! A truly seasoned actress, Kajol ravishes on the screen with huge aplomb! Tabu is wasted in her role, which anyone would have done. Aamir is good. Rishi Kapoor easily fades off, while Kiron Kher probably does what Farida Jalal did in DDLJ (acting wise ie).
Overall, what could otherwise have been a really impressive story line, is left hung high and dry by a rather inept handling of some issues that tend to leave a bad taste after all is over. If you are a sucker, like I was to the songs of Fanaa, you may as well devastate your money over it! Then again, don’t tell I didn’t tell you!

May 28

Fanaa – Adieu by Jatin-Lalit

Fanaa – in urdu means “destroyed”. Is it a mere co-incidence that this movie did infact bring to fore-closure the successful partnership between Jatin-Lalit, one of the most promising and successful duo of Bollywood. But indeed, they have parted with a huge aplomb! The songs of Fanaa, are anything but forgettable and insipid! A Top Scorer all the way! The lyrics by Prasoon Joshi breathe a fresh air!
    1. Chand Sifarish Jo Karta :- Sung by Shaan and Kailash Kher is my topper! Shaan’s playful and happy voice works wonders for this song! It fills the air with an abandon that is expressed even in its lyrics.

    2. Mere Haath Mein :- Sung by Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Aamir Khan, and Kajol. Music, lyrics, the seasoning of some couplets in the voice of Kajol, and Aamir, circumvented wonderfully by the voices of Sonu Nigam, and Sunidhi Chauhan! Does one need more reasons to love this song?

      “Rone de aaj humko do aankhen sujaane de baahon mein lele aur khud ko bheeg jaane de hai jo seene mein kaid dariya woh choot jaayega hai jo itna dard ke tera daaman bheeg jaayega“!!

    3. Des Rangila :- Sung by Mahalaxmi Iyer. Yash Raj films have somehow made it a signature to include a song to glorify the motherland! The relevance of the same is something that I don’t really want to get into. I gave it up soon after Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gam! To say of the song by itself, well, to put it simply, its good ofcourse! Some very thoughtful lines makes it worth a listen.

    4. Yeh saazish hai boondon ki :- Sung by Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan. Sunidhi Chauhan’s voice being so soft and romantic is something that I am getting used to off late! If anything, her talent is made of ample use in this movie! The lyrics are really different than the ones usually featured in romantic numbers! Something that one may, as a matter of fact say, “is different”!!

    5. Chanda chamke cham cham :- Sung by Babul Supriyo, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Aamir Khan, Kajol, and Master Akshay Bhagwat. An absolutely sweet song replete with tongue twisters! Very playful, one can for sure make out the ample fun all the singers may have had while singing this song!
      In summation, its worth the moolah one pays to obtain the CD! A must in the collection not just because it is the final presentation by the combo, but also as it is a magically brewed potion of music with just the right combition of lyricist, singers, and music! A rather rare phenomenon these days!

May 28

A Song that Says A Lot!

I must begin this post by giving a heartfelt thanks to my dear ol’ friend Manu. If it weren’t for him, maybe I would have completely driven this song into oblivion.
Madhur Bhandarkar’s movie – Page 3, was a very candid and lucid depiction of the life of the personalities featured usually in the so called “page 3”. It held a gleaming mirror to their lives raft with hypocrism, personal miseries, crimes, jealousy, moments of glory and deploration – much akin to any common man’s life! Except that they are revered and people find it an awe to know of their daily rigmaroles! It blatantly exposed the inner secrets of the movie stardoms, and dealt with several sensitive issues, everyone knows exist, but no one dares to touch viz., Child Abuse, Homosexuality, and exploitation. Well, those things apart, coming to the issue at hand, one particular song rendered by Lata Mangeshkar, and Suresh Wadkar (each separately) was what caught my attention (again thanks to Manu). What was surprising is that, though I watched the movie, somehow this song doesn’t seem to have registered in my mind. I cannot but be surprised over that! The song is “kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahaan pe“. The song startled me with its simple and yet hard-hitting lyrics! In the many songs of the recent movies, I have rarely come across a song that is as profound as this one! I’d say the entire summary of the movie is well established in the few words of this song.
The lyrics are included:

kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahaan pe

do pal milte hain saath saath chalte hain
jab mod aaye toh bach ke nikalte hain

yahaan sab apne hi dhun mein deewaane hain

kare wohi jo apna dil theek maane hain
kaun kisko pooche kaun kisko bole
sabke labon par apne taraane hain

le jaaye naseeb kisko kahaan pe

kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahaan pe

khwabon ki yeh duniya hai khwabon mein hi rehna hai

raahen le jaayen jahaan sang sang chalna hai
waqt ne hamesha yahaan naye khel khelen
kuch bhi ho jaaye yahaan bas khush rehna hai

manzil lage kareeb sabko yahaan pe

kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahaan pe

The music has been rendered by Shamir Tandon. I personally liked the version of Suresh Wadkar compared to that of Lata Mangeshkar. Sadly enough her aging voice is more prominent in this particular song. The other really note worthy songs of this movie include “Mere wajood mein tu kaash” – by Adnan Sami and Sadhana Sargam (rendered separately), “Kuan Ma Doob Jaaungi” is another hot-spicy dance number by Sapna Awasthi, and Blaaze fit for a hip party! “yahaan zindagi ek alag zindagi hai” by Shaan, Saagarika, and Shabab Sabri turns out rather bland and fails to impress. The song reminded me a lot of “yeh mumbai shehar haatazon ka shehar hai” from Disco Dancer!!!!!! “Huzoor-E-Ala” by Asha Bhonsle and Abhijeet, though well sung, remains as just yeddanoder song! The sole winner of this album seems to be “kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahaan pe”, but then no surprises there!!

May 25

Lost in Asha!

Long time since I wrote anything in here. Well, let’s just say that the trend may continue for a few more days! But not withstanding that, it took Asha Bhonsle’s soulful voice to bring me back to the keyboard to key in about 2 songs in particular, that have been looping in my player for a while since! Both the songs are from the movie – Ijaazat. A movie that created waves in the film industry for all the right reasons! A 5 Star performance by Rekha, Naseeruddin Shah! Heart stirring music by RD Burman, the magic of Asha inter woven with the deft handling of direction and lyrics by Gulzar Saab.
Panchamda’s music paints a wonderland, replete with lush greenery, the skies resplendant with bright colors of the day and the twilight alike! The two songs am talking in particular are “Chhoti is kahani se” & “Khaali haath shaam aayi hai”. The lyrics are as follows:

1. Chhoti Si Kahaani Se

chhoti si kahaani se baarishon ke paani se

saare vaaden bhar gayi
naa jaane kyon dil bhar gaya
naa jaane kyon aankh bhar gayi

shaakhon pe patte the patton be boondein thi
boondon mein paani tha paani mein aansu the

dil mein gile bhi the pehle mile bhi the
milke ke paraaye the do hum saaye the

ruk ti hain kam ti hain kabhie barasti hain
baadal pe paon rakkhe baarish machalte hain

2. Khaali haath Shaam aayi hai

khaali haath shaam aayee hai khaalee haath jaayegi

aaj bhee naa aayaa koi, khaalee laut jaayegi

aaj bhi na aaye aansoo, aaj bhi naa bheege naina

aaj bhi ye koree raina, koree laut jaayegi

raat kee siyaahee koi, aaye to mitaye naa

aaj naa mitaayee to ye, kal bhi laut aayegee
I guess am gonna go back to it for quite sometime now! Peace! Ciao!

May 18

Dedicated to Kishan!

After reading the recent post by Kishan. I was left thinking for sometime, basically wondering whether to write a comment right there, or else make a separate post of it. Now knowing that most of Kishan’s posts really make me want to respond to in length, I decided for the latter. Well to sum up he writes about expectations and reality. Something that is often said as “Man proposes but God disposes”. Now whether things are predisposed to follow a certain pattern that is ordained for a greater good is a matter steeped in obscurity. It is upto the individual perception whether to trust in it or not.
My take is, as long as one is to live this life, why not make the best of what is given. I have this beautiful poem on a frame, on the table-top. It has sustained in times of good and bad, and in response to Kishan’s post, I’d like to dedicate this to him. Here it goes.
I asked for strength
And God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for wisdom
And God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity
And God gave me brawn and brain to work.
I asked for courage
And God gave me dangers to overcome.
I asked for love
And God gave me troubled people to help.
I asked for favours
And God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted,
And everything I needed.
My prayer has been answered.

May 11

Self-affirmation and Responsibility!

Why is man in a constant need for self-affirmation? What makes him fear that his existence is lost amidst the myriad other personalities surrounding him everyday? It is this fear that makes him strive to establish his hold, not just on his relations, but also on the environment, society and eventually the entire creation. One may argue against this on grounds of intellectual curiosity, education and the quest for knowledge! But what is quest for knowledge other than a means of getting over fear? Ignorance, I feel, contrary to the popular belief, isn’t bliss. It breeds fear. Self-affirmation is hence a need to get over the ignorance we have, about ourselves! Ignorance about our abilities breeds not just fear, but also its ally – doubt. When we doubt ourselves, we need others to alleviate them, and thus we depend on others. When the need is dire to turn in, we turn out!
In order for them to cater to our needs, we create a hold on them. We manipulate them in various ways – physically by brutal strength, intellectually through the means of education, and emotionally. Rogues, theives, bullys are all examples of the first kind, while the Government, Industry, Consumerism, show case the 2nd case. The last instance is more personal for each human being – while he is being manipulated, he also emotionally manipulates others through his relationship/power! On a more subtler level, as I feel is evident, all of these are dependents. The US Government, that wants to manipulate us through the means of education, convincing that the breach into our personal lives under the pretext of national security is but a thriving example of a political system, that to affirm its existence has left no stone unturned – in the domestic politics or international! What is alarming is the susceptibility of the common man! This post by Chandan is a glaring example for what I have to say! Though comic, it poses some grave questions about the responsibility of the government.
Talking of responsibilities, taking a tangent from here (which I do so often, sorry readers!), how responsible must a writer be? Creativity and Responsibility are two things that at some instances, make odd bed partners. I was exposed to this aspect, ever since a story I wrote, has been appearing in www.thatskannada.com. I have had people write to me complimenting my work, but at the same time, saying how influenced they were by it! Some even trying to share their personal matters with me, and asking for a feedback! The two faces of self-affirmation and responsibility are now staring at me. Am I responsible for their self-affirmation? Is it my responsibility to account for their fears/doubts and help them with it? Or can I just brush them off? What if I take refuge in my creativity, and not be accountable for my work! Write, whatever I feel like, about whatever I feel like, and just throw it out to the masses! It’s upto them to pick it up, or leave it there! They can do whatever they wish with it! Either get influenced by it, or laugh at it! Whether I can remain aloof of their involvement depends on my need for self-affirmation as an author! Am I using my work to manipulate the readers, and thus prove to myself my existentialism as an author?
As of now, I have only questions…… anyone with answers?