Not just any statistic...



I think the time has come to wind down the revolution. I think it had a good run, but somehow one feels that the baseline philosophy that I had when I began this blog, ragingly differs from who and where I am today. Couple this with the inability to write during what we all know as a widespread global crisis, and there you have my reasons. I don't see myself copy-pasting nonsensical news stories, or embedding videos, in an inglorious effort to keep this blog afloat. I would much rather resurface when the time is right.



I hope you enjoyed reading my inanities as much as I enjoyed writing it. RevEv has definitely had its moments.



But to my loyal hitters (yes, all 3 of you), don't despair. Don't hit the bottle or abuse substance or recklessly attack small farm animals just yet. One shall resurge like the phoenix with a new avatar and spirit, on another galaxy of the blogosphere, when the time is right.



Until then ... Au revoir, mes amis. Don't stop believing.





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Two words, universe....

Slumdog..... Millionaire.

In other news, anil kapoor needs a muzzle.

Mr. Rahman - u r God!

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2008: Musical Flashback

It was quite a tremendous year for Bollywood music. 2008 saw the infusion of new sounds and genres into its mainstream, as well as international music collaborations with big names from the West. The new age sound of Bollywood is so much more mature, evolved and global in its appeal, but it has still managed to keep itself firmly grounded to its traditional roots. While this year saw some incredible soundtracks, which continue to resound in our ears, it also saw some serious duds that ended up flushed into forgetability rather rapidly. Here’s a quick musical flashback at the year that was.

2008’s Paanch with Punch

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

With JTYJN, Rahman brought back the youthful sound that defined him back in the days of Rangeela and Kadhal Desam. The album was replete with emotional ballads as well as fun and frolic dance tracks. The controversy around Pappu Can’t Dance added more masala to it as well, and the other significant highlight of the album would have to be the fizzy and light “Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi”, which introduced light-voiced balladeer Rashid Ali to Bollywood, as well as the jazzy title track rendered by ARR himself. This album definitely deserves top-notch marks for being a light-hearted and enjoyable album, while still being rich in terms of musical flavor.

Singh is King

Ekdum Dhamaal! This crossover album effectively brought the ‘pind’ into the nightclubs of urban India. Could anyone have predicted that 2008 would see the collaboration of our vernacular veteran Akshay Kumar and the notorious rapper Snoop Dogg? The soundtrack also featured the coming together of several global artists of varied experience levels, including Hard Kaur and Jay Dabhi. The best part of Singh is King was the fact that it featured certain songs that went from slightly nauseating to highly addictive in just a few listens – especially Bhootni Ke which has become a permanent fixture at North Indian weddings. Expect to hear similar sounds from Akshay Kumar movies in the future, like Chandni Chowk to China.

Rock On

Rock On was without doubt 2008’s underdog, which went on to create a rocking impact across the music world. At first listen, Farhan Akhtar’s guttural vocals over Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s solid rock arrangements seemed like an experimental one-off, which would lead it to be dismissed by critics, and restricted to a few cult rock followers. In contrast, the album and every one of its tracks have attained an anthem-like popularity. Rock On has clearly emerged as one of the most appreciated Indi-rock efforts, especially in the uniqueness of the songs themselves (Pichle Saat Dinon Mein, Sinbad the Sailor). In addition to hard rock, the song features some delicate and cutting-edge guitar ballads rendered by Caralisa. This album will clearly open doors for many experiments with rock emerging out of India in the near future, and kudos to the team behind it.

Yuvvraaj

With JTYJN and Jodhaa Akbar, A R Rahman was already on a winning streak for ’08, while he continued to work on several international projects. It is still a wonder as to how ARR manages to juggle all his various initiatives, and yet continues to deliver the same quality of excellence in each of his albums. Yuvvraaj was one such hallmark for ARR, especially because it brought back the Ghai/Rahman combination that created “Taal”. While the film may not have been able to create ripples, Yuvvraaj boasted of a splendid and diverse musical sound, especially with symphonic arrangements and usage of relatively unheard instruments (cello) and sounds. The fusion sound of Manmohini Morey and the anthem-like Dil Ka Rishtaa were the stand-out tracks on the album, while the delicacy of Tu Muskura and Dost were heart-warming.

Dostana

While the last year saw the emergence of new genres, MDs like Vishal Shekhar worked feverishly through the year to build upon pre-existing sounds of Bollywood, and while some of their efforts didn’t work as effectively as they may have intended (Tashan), Dostana was an accomplished effort, in terms of both critical and popular appreciation. Desi Girl continues to burn up dancefloors, while ballads like Kuch Kum and Khabar Nahi gave the album much more depth and intensity. The album also saw Vishal Dadlani get behind the mic, and saw the duo give their promised and deserving break to SaReGaMa star, Amanat Ali, who rendered the touching “maula” alaap on Khabar Nahi.

2008’s Punched-Up Paanch

 

Love Story 2050

As futuristic as this movie was supposed to be, with Harman and Priyanka space-dancing with silver foiled aliens, the soundtrack was extremely dated and weak. The failure of LS 2050 fueled the depleting career curve of Anu Malik, who hasn’t come out with a quality soundtrack in eons.

God Tussi Great Ho

A starcast like this one (Amitabh/Salman/Priyanka) may seem like a divine combination. Sadly, the music was not so heavenly. Sajid-Wajid have traditionally delivered superior-quality soundtracks, especially in their compositions and arrangements, but GTGH was a veritable damp squib.

Karzzz

The expectations were towering. Himesh Reshammiya was at the top of his career curve, riding on the success of Aap Kaa Suroor. The stage was set for the recreation of an Indian classic film. Its difficult to admit that a crash landing was in the offing, but its true. Himesh’s nasality and overtly simplistic arrangements could have carried him once or twice, but every one-trick pony has a maximum time-span. And Himesh, its more than evident that your pony is done.

Jimmy

Certain soundtracks honestly make one wonder – “what were they thinking”? Devised to be the launch vehicle for Mimoh Chakraborty, who clearly carried a lot of Daddy Mithun’s dreams, the soundtrack featured some of the weakest arrangements of the year, and failed to carry any weight even with a bevy of heavy-duty singers like Kailash Kher, Kunal Ganjawala and Shaan.

Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic

Extremely tragic. This Mary Poppins-esque debacle was a disappointing half-baked effort by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who clearly did not want to devote too much of time or attention to this project. The result was a rehash of some of their older work, and a highly forgettable soundtrack.

Honorable Mentions

Ae Pappi (Kismat Konnection)

Khuda Jaane (Bachna Ae Haseeno)

Ek Meetha Marz De Ke (Welcome to Sajjanpur)

Mar Jawaan (Fashion)

O Re Piya (Aaja Nachle)

"Baldly" go where no man has gone before..

No limits to what movie stars will do to promote their movies these days. In the picture above, you have Aamir buzzing the "Ghajini" haircut on a few of his fans, as part of the promotional activities for his film. Full article here.

Don't believe in mincing those words, do you, SRK?

Question: Aamir kick-started the final promotions for his film Ghajini with the release of your film. Your comment?

SRK: I think it is a very good strategy. He thinks he can ride off the brand that is Shah Rukh Khan, which is the biggest brand. The problem is, I cannot ride on any other brand as there is no brand bigger than me!

Daym, son!

When Indi-Pop began...

Now you're talking

Rahman does fusion, just right. This takes Lebanese Blonde (Thievery Corporation) to the next level.

Love the way this song starts off all pretty with pianos and guitar (assumedly, that's Mausam), and that kicks into the sitar, drum 'n' bass groove.

A constituent of the radical new OST that is Slumdog Millionaire.

Behka Main Behka

When I first heard this song, I figured that the video would have to be extremely "hatke" to match up to the work Rahman has done with it. Its amazing to see the creativity and spirit that Bollywood exudes during the process of film-making. The industry has certainly come a long way. While Aamir does look a tad bit haggard, must laud his tenacity and ability to reinvent himself so brilliantly.

Ghajini's looking drastic! Can't wait.

Note to Ahmed Khan - R&B is Rhythm and Blues, not Rhythm and Bass.

Chak Lein De

Awesome Kailash Kher track from the OST of CC2C (sorry, being very Delhi-ite with my abbreviations, today).

The best part is the flute interlude after the second verse, and the really best part comes after the last verse when the song goes into an acoustic guitar mode, and then crescendoes back with flutes and drums back into the hook. Nice job, K.Kher!

Dev D

Seems to be like a glitzier "Leaving Las Vegas" on acid. Not too convinced about the choice of Abhay Deol as the lead here, but he could prove me wrong. The dark look of brooding negativity, and drug-inspired panning shots are elements which haven't been seen too often in Bollywood. Either they have been too pretentious (Aks) or rather meaningless (No Smoking - which is also Anurag Kashyap's doing).

In either case, its nice to see a new spin on an old tale. Props for the effort itself.

sometimes my ipod can read my mind

do pal ruka khwabon ka karavan,

aur phir chal diye, tum kahaan, hum kahaan,

do pal ki thi, yeh dilon ki daastaan,

aur phir chal diye, tum kahaan, hum kahaan,

Guzarish

Tight new track from Aamir's Ghajini.

Deadly hook. In classic ARR style, the major verse transitioning to a minor chorus is phenomenal!

Rahman totally gets this s/t right.

Dallas for the day

Drove out to Dallas for the day. Had a few meetings, and some business to take care of.

Find it ominous that I'm in Dallas on Nov 22 - a day where 45 years ago, JFK was shot dead in this very city. Plan to drive by Dealy Plaza later, on my way back to H-town, and solemnly reminisce by mystic curiosity for one of the greatest so-called "conspiracies" of our time.

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In Houston for the weekend

Had to get away from the east freeze. Here are the stats:

New York: 37 deg F

Houston 58 deg F

Works for me!

Tell me your dreams..

You want soulful music that will hit you like a ton of bricks? Listen to Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan's solo album, Tabeer. Phenomenal stuff!

A musically and vocally superior album, Tabeer (An Interpretation of Dreams) nails in the fact that Shafqat was indeed the lifeblood of Fuzon. With Tabeer, he establishes himself as a legendary classical singer and musician. All the songs have a characteristic raw and elemental classical theme to them, interspersed with other musical genres. Almost like a response to Classically Mild, only not as mild, as the vocal and atmosphere is more intense.

Here's Rohi as a good example:

India celebrates planting its flag on moon - Yahoo! News

WTG, ISRO! :-)

India celebrates planting its flag on moon - Yahoo! News

Awaaz di hai

Came across this gem, the other day. A serious blast from the past, from the limited collection of Bappi Lahiri's golden years (Yes, all the gold which he turned into kilos of bling neckwear, for his non-golden years to follow). From the film, Aitbaar (1985) - which was Mukul Anand's answer to Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder.

Awaaz di hai aaj ik nazar ne
Yaa hai yeh dil ko gumaan
dohraa rahee hain, jaise fizaayen
bhuli hui daastaan

Wish it were fiction...

Can never forget the chills I felt, as the climax of Airframe revealed itself, and the intense build-up that led to it. The unputdownable thriller - just one of this man's immense repertoire - combined his mesmerizing abilities of story-weaving and telling, with an intense amount of research and comprehensive perception of the premise's framework . Not since Arthur Hailey, has a writer managed to portray a believable in-depth understanding of subjective premises, and been capable of portraying it effectively, without being obfuscatory to the unknowing reader.

He revolutionized science fiction with the concept of recreating dinosaurs from DNA extracted from fossilized mosquitoes. He inspired a new genre of edge-of-the-end-of-the-world disaster, with The Andromeda Strain. He spun an epic legend of time travel in Timeline. His array of creativity knows no parallel. Unfortunately, his life was cut jagged short.

Last week, the world lost one of the most gifted writers of our generation.

Michael Crichton (1942 - 2008).

Sweet!

Aside from the closet innuendo and Priyanka's blazen-ness, Dostana has a compelling soundtrack. Highlight being, this gem - Khabar Nahin - which has Vishal Dadlani crooning the tune, rather well.

Groovy beat programming - very reminiscent of "Must be the Money" - accented brilliantly by the earnest "Maula mere Maula" chorus by Amanat Ali. Nice to see the Sa Re Ga Ma contestant make a neat Bollywood debut, and lets hope he's here to stay.

Check out my detailed review of Dostana here.

Currently Sampling: The rest of Dostana, Yuvvraaj and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Nuff said, 'merica

Totally badass!