SOORAJ BARJATYA: Music and Melodrama

More involved in distribution than film-making, Sooraj Barjatya has directed only a small handful of films – but several of them were such huge hits that he’s effectively made his mark on Hindi cinema as a director – specifically as a director of a specific type of film – the sentimental, schmaltzy, melodramatic ‘family drama’. Hallmarks of his movies include family celebrations (usually with gorgeous, heart-warming songs) and inter-generational conflict (typically resolved thanks to love, understanding and forgiveness – all done the desi way, of course).

Barjatya’s films always reflect – and even champion – so-called ‘traditional family values’ – values which are often decried as both unrealistic and anachronistic. Several of his films feature ‘arranged marriages’ between characters who, although they have no objections to spending the rest of their lives together, haven’t exactly had the opportunity to make such a life-changing decision with a person of their own choosing, after a reasonable period of discovery. The films also tend to endorse a model of marriage where the girl seems to set aside any aspirations or ambitions she may have had, in order to become the idealized ‘biwi aur bahu’.

In addition, Barjatya often seems to adopt the simplistic view (often seen in Bollywood – and also, by the way, in Nollywood (Nigerian cinema)) that 'Western' values are completely unwholesome and undesirable and worse, are some sort of raging virus out to destroy everything that the Indian family holds dear. This theme pops up in all the Barjatya films I’ve seen – the worst characters are those that try to look and speak ‘Western’ – they are immoral, greedy and uncaring about the needs of others.

I’m not going to weigh in on the debate as to whether there’s anything harmful or misleading in the ‘family values’ model adopted by Barjatya in his films – I think that everyone has a view on that. I will only say that as a lover of Bollywood films, I’ve learned to sift through the messages in various movies and to extract what (if anything) is of value to me, discarding whatever goes against my own worldview. And I will also say that my beliefs, I like to think, are pretty embracing of diverse views, and I sometimes (but by no means always) find that there’s value to be extracted from ideas that may at first go against the grain. And that’s a lot to say from someone who had nothing to say!

Before talking about the Barjatya films I’ve seen so far, I’ll just summarise what I love and (don’t love) about them. I like a formula that works, and his formula works for me – catchy, melodious music + beautiful, charming actors + some conflict + all-conquering love healing all wounds. I like it – it’s simple and it’s fun (for the most part). Let’s break it down.

The music: Barjatya uses music (and lots and lots of it) really well to heighten emotion and tug at those heart-strings, awakening feelings of nostalgia and tenderness. The melodies (usually provided by Raam Laxman) are simple, catchy (really infectious, actually), memorable and even sometimes shamelessly plagiarized (as in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’). The song picturisations are usually really beautifully done, in my opinion. Schmaltzy and over-the-top as it sometimes is, I think the music is my favourite thing about his films.

The actors: Like every director, Barjatya has his ‘MVPs’ – actors that understand how to effectively capture and demonstrate the family-friendly messages infused through each film. Alok Nath, who’s almost a genius at melodrama in my view, has to be the most valuable Barjatya MVP, but there’s also (among others) the charming Reema Lagoo, Anupam Kher (whom I love), Ajit Vachani, Mohnish Behl, and his favourite ‘hero’, Mr. Salman Khan.

Mr. Barjatya is a bit more adventurous when casting young females, and he sure goes for the gorgeous: Bhagyashree – she of the lamentably underachieved career (‘Maine Pyar Kiya’), Madhuri Dixit and Renuka Shahane (‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!’ – Renuka is another whom I wish had done more), Kareena Kapoor (‘Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon’), Amrita Rao (‘Vivah’), Karisma Kapoor, Tabu and Sonali Bendre (‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’). Barjatya picks beautiful people, and that makes for many beautiful picturisations – from Madhuri and Salman in ‘Joote Dedo’ to Shahid and Amrita in ‘Hamari Shaadi’, to Tabu, Sonali and Lolo in ‘Maiyya Yashoda’, to Bhagyashree and Salman in the Antakshari medley from ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’.

Speaking of great picturisations, India itself is, I believe, a character in Barjatya’s films – the rich culture, the family traditions, the colourful clothing, and the scenic locations spread across the country. All his films that I’ve seen include scenes shot in the beautiful, picturesque, often rural areas of India. That’s another thing I love.

Barjatya is also fond of animals, it seems – from Tuffy the dog in HAHK, who ends up playing a pivotal role in the film, to Handsome the dove in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. And he has a distinct affection for the the name 'Prem'!

One thing I do like about Barjatya’s characters is that they all have distinct and different personalities – some are feisty and forward, others shy and reserved; some are plain-speaking, others diplomatic geniuses; some are bubbling with life, others inwardly seething. They are definitely not the most nuanced and complex characters (although I think some of them end up having a lot more substance than you’d at first think), in fact they are usually very broadly-sketched, but I guess I can forgive that within the context of what he does.

The conflict: There is always one – whether created by human weakness (as in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’) or by bad advice from creepy friends (as in ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’) or by tragic accident (as in ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!’ and ‘Vivah’). As with real life, the conflict usually comes straight out of nowhere. Unfortunately, sometimes the conflict also comes off a bit contrived and/or unrealistic… but oh well.

All-conquering love: Ah… the all-consuming power of love, be it romantic or filial, able to straighten out every difficulty, obliterate every complication, assuage every human yearning, make people become exactly who the people they love want them to be…. Except, this works only in the movies! It makes for some nice, cathartic emotional resolutions though. It would be nice, I suppose, if a nod was made to the fact that things are never so nicely tied up in real life – but then again, isn’t that why we’ve got the movies?

Now to the Barjatya films I’ve seen so far.

‘HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN…!’: I adore this film. It’s my favourite of the films Sooraj Barjatya has directed and just has a very special place in my heart. I wrote just about everything I have to say about it here.

‘HUM SAATH SAATH HAIN’: I’m one of the few people that actually really liked this film. Yes, it’s very saccharine in many places, but I think it had its heart in the right place. I love the songs from it and enjoyed the performances as well as the issues it tackled. I’ve written about it here and here.

‘MAINE PYAR KIYA’: This is a very sweet, charming film about young love. It’s very ‘typical’ of Bollywood romance – rich boy, poor girl, opposition from parents… but it’s very nicely done. A young, likeable Salman Khan and the adorable Bhagyashree play Prem and Suman, two young people who despite their differing backgrounds, find friendship, and later love, when Suman comes to live at Prem’s house (Suman’s father and Prem’s father are old friends). These two made SUCH a lovely couple, and the film-makers captured some really memorable moments with them.

Unfortunately, as the bond between Prem and Suman develops, the bond between their parents is destroyed by Prem’s father’s pride and elitism. Suman’s father’s pride is awakened in turn, and Prem must then convince him (as the Biblical Jacob had to convince Laban) that he is deserving of his daughter. Throw in the attempts of the greedy, Westernised Ranjeet, Seema and Jeevan (played by Ajit Vachani, Pervin Dastur and Mohnish Behl) to snatch away all that Prem and his family hold dear, and our young hero faces quite a challenge. Will he succeed? Anyone who knows Bollywood knows the answer to this question, but it’s still fun to watch.

The best thing about this film for me was the performances – especially by Bhagyashree and Salman, although they’re nicely backed by the rest of the cast. I do so wish Bhagyashree had built on the success of this film – I think she could have had a great career. The songs in this film are also really sweet (‘Dil Deewana’ is pretty, ‘Tum Ladki Ho’ is fun, and ‘Kabutar ja’ is delightful – I enjoyed the rest as well). Some aspects of the script could I could have done without, such as the strangely intense relationship between our lovers’ fathers (especially on Alok Nath’s side) – very amusing, but weird. Also could have done without the big fight at the end. But all told, this is a really, really sweet and charming love story.

‘VIVAH’: Sooraj Barjatya’s most recent hit, a charming courtship story starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao helped Barjatya regain the credibility he had lost with HSSH and ‘Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon’ (which I haven’t seen). It also sparked criticism from many who felt that its themes were obsolete and its female protagonist annoyingly submissive. While I don’t agree with all of it (I particularly disagree with the notion that Poonam’s shyness automatically makes her a mindless coward), I do have problems with some aspects of this film’s storyline.

Shahid Kapoor plays the sweet, sincere Prem, a young man whose father (played by Anupam Kher) apparently gets up one day, and out of nowhere, decides it’s time for his son to get married. Prem has his doubts, but like a good, obedient son, he meekly goes with his father to meet the selected prospective wife, the lovely Poonam (played by Amrita Rao). After only one brief and one-sided conversation, during which Poonam seems to be afraid to look up at Prem's face, she agrees to marry Prem. There is no discussion about her goals, desires and aspirations until after the decision is made. And even then, the ‘discussion’ (such as it is), almost explicitly subjugates her own future accomplishments to the chief role she will soon have as supportive wife and dutiful daughter-in-law. And through it all, Poonam is quietly acquiescent - and somehow it's a little difficult to tell whether it's because she's doing what's expected of her or because she's doing what she wants.

After this beginning (which, you can probably tell, I found pretty problematic), the bulk of the film is taken up by Poonam and Prem’s sweet season of courtship. I have to say I was won over at this point by the warmth and sincerity of the characters and the way they slowly establish friendship and intimacy.

I thought Shahid and Amrita had great chemistry, and I liked their characters’ mutual respect and the fact that neither was ‘fronting’ - Prem and Poonam were keeping it real. Their relationship takes time to mature, and both of them have to make an effort - I liked that as well. And it was immensely gratifying to eventually discover that Poonam, despite initial appearances, does, wonder of wonders, actually have a pretty resilient backbone and something even more endearing – maturity and wisdom along with a sense of fun.

I really, really enjoyed ‘Vivah’ – I loved the songs, I loved the romance, I loved the way in which it all unfolded, and I just thought that it was really lovely and sweet. But there is no doubt that unfortunately, I also found some aspects of it unacceptable.

I think that this ambivalent note is a really good one on which to end this post. While I like the fact that Barjatya’s films put family values front and centre, while I love the music and the emotion, and the beautiful people and scenery, and the whole formula; there definitely are aspects to that formula that can be difficult.

But I think that I am probably not the only movie buff that comes to this point with a number of films (whether they be products of Bollywood, Hollywood, or Nollywood) and has learnt to deal with it – extracting, as I said earlier, what works for me and pushing aside what doesn’t (of course, there are times when there’s nothing to extract because none of it goes down well).

I am of course conscious that some will use messages in films to continue to legitimate and reiterate (even if only to themselves) ceretain inequitable viewpoints – and even worse, that some more impressionable viewers may possibly find their viewpoints shaped by what they see on their screens… and of course at this point the whole ‘life imitates art imitates life’ circular argument rears its ugly but compelling head.

Phew… I went a bit deeper with this than I planned… funny how I returned to the same point I tried to avoid at the beginning of this piece. Time to summarise. I remain a fan of Barjatya’s work as a director – and even if he never directs another film, I will always be glad he made the films he did (especially HAHK – I love it so much).

Just a Note...

Just a note to say that I’m currently posting photos from my trip to India over on my other blog – please head over and take a look if you’re interested. I’m also working on a post about the Bollywood-related stuff I encountered on the trip – and that will be posted here in due course.

And now I’m off to find out how the ‘Om Shanti Om’ vs. ‘Saawariya’ contest is shaping up. Of course there’s also the Sonam Kapoor vs. Deepika Padukone contest that the press has hyped to the max (because ‘two actresses can never get along, especially when there’s a young, luscious, ruby-lipped Ranbir Kapoor to catfight over’ – whatever).

Personally, I am really looking forward to seeing both movies, but I have to say that while I’m sure I will have A LOT more fun watching ‘Om Shanti Om’ than with ‘Saawariya’ (plus there’s SRK and loads of star cameos in OSO, including my dear Dharam-ji making a brief appearance); performance-wise I am more excited about watching the newbies in ‘Saawariya’ than the newbie and oldie in ‘Om Shanti Om’. Me likey fresh blood (she says, in her best vampire voice). And I find Ranbir and Sonam (and the path they took to get to where they are – co-starring in a Sanjay Leeela Bhansali film as their industry debut) quite interesting. Sonam in particular comes across to me as a very gutsy girl and more compelling to me than the woman the press have tagged her competitor. Usually I'd be more interested in the girl from outside the 'film fraternity', without the starry papa, but I just think Sonam is really feisty and interesting, and just might have more staying power.

In terms of the music, though, I am definitely more in love with the ‘Om Shanti Om’ soundtrack than the ‘Saawariya’ one – both are really good but ‘Saawariya’ is typical SLB-movie fare, in that it’s more classical and intricate and… ultimately kinda slow for the mornings (which is my main music time – unfortunately I can’t have music playing at work, and the hours are long). So I’ve spent many recent mornings with ‘Ajab Si’, ‘Deewangi Deewangi’, ‘Dastaan E Om’, ‘Jaage Soona Soona Lage’, ‘Dard-e-Disco’, ‘Main Agar Kahoon’ and ‘Dhoom Taana’. The soundtrack (sans the remixes, which I tend to ignore) is fab!

HINDI MOVIE SONGS I AM LOVING RIGHT NOW (or... DG rambles on and on about music)

WARNING: After finishing this post, I’ve realized I am probably the only person on the face of the earth who will enjoy reading it or find it even remotely interesting. All I really do in it is gush about songs and say how much I love them. So… umm… you probably won’t like it. But I will come back with something less… less utterly-boring-to-everyone-but-myself soon.

I recently became the proud owner of an iPod Shuffle, thanks to the benevolence of my brother who decided to give me his older model (thanks bro! I love you!) My Shuffle is one of my favourite possessions at the moment – I really love the fact that it’s a bit battered – it makes me think of my lovely, lovely big brother and all the hours he's spent with it. I’ve had a Creative mp3 player for quite a while now, and I love it, but the sound quality the iPod delivers is definitely superior, and the Shuffle gives me twice as much room as my Creative does – much more space to cram lovely, delicious, wonderful songs in. So much sheer bliss!!

My new (well, new to me) gadget gives me a new reason (as if I needed one) to rave about the music I’m digging at the moment. Music is not only my drug of choice, it keeps me barely sane and somewhat balanced and makes me a much better and happier human being overall – so I think it’s definitely time to celebrate it again on this blog – it’s been a while.

While I’d really love to rave about my how funky and cool I think Lucy Pearl were on their first album, my ongoing love affair with the ‘Dreamgirls’ soundtrack, my re-discovery of Michelle Branch (‘Tuesday Morning’ is fantastic) and The Cranberries (‘Linger’ is still amazing as ever), how much I love the smoothness of Justin’s voice on ‘Summer Love’, how much I love Common (I really need a man like him to write me some beautiful poetry and look extremely hot while delivering it – actually, no I don’t but I still think he’s very hot), how much I like Awillo’s ‘Ndombolo Cache Cache’, how MJ still is and will always be the king of pop even if he needs a lot of help, how great Mariah Carey’s voice is even if she knows absolutely nothing about age-appropriate dressing, how much I like Lagbaja’s sound, how fabulously and effortlessly delicious Aretha F. and Gladys Knight always are, how very cool I think Sound Sultan’s ‘Area’ is (very strange since I don’t like Sound Sultan normally – thanks Uzo for the hook-up), how there is just something so amazingly inspirational about Donnie McClurkin’s voice, how much I love Joann Rosario’s ‘I Hear You Say’, how much I love Jill Scott’s poetry, how catchy and cool I think Rihanna’s new stuff is (she definitely needs more ‘Umbrella’s and less tacky ‘I don’t wanna be a murderer’ stuff), how much I love the ad libs at the end of ‘Umqombothi’ and the way Yvonne goes ‘Um-qom-bo-thi’, separating all the syllables like that, how brilliant Brenda Fassie was (‘Memeza’ and 'Vulindlela' are beautiful), how Keyshia Coles and a killer backbeat and strings made ‘Last Night’ one of the only good songs on P. Diddy’s ‘Press Play’ album, how much No Doubt’s ‘Spiderwebs’ reminds me (in a very good way) of Blondie’s ‘Hanging on the Telephone’, how much Twista and Kanye always crack me up with ‘Celebrity Overnight’ although it’s WRONG, how crazy D-Banj is with his ‘no long ting’, how John Legend just might live up to his name, how Jay-Z has madd skillz and is super-talented despite my disagreement with most of what he says, how much I dig Keane’s ‘Everybody’s Changing’ and Athlete’s ‘Half Light’ and still go a little crazy for Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’ and ‘Michael’, how Robin Thicke can do no wrong in my book, how much I love Annie Lennox’s voice and ABBA’s songwriting skills, how much I miss Lauryn Hill and almost feel like crying whenever I hear ‘Just Like Water’, how much I enjoy the Sugababes and their corny but ballsy kind of pop, how sweet I think Styl Plus are on ‘Olufunmi’ and ‘Call my Name’, how much I love David Bowie’s ‘Thurday’s Child’ and ‘Life on Mars’, how much I enjoy hearing Bey really let it rip on ‘Lost Yo Mind’ (the song that proves that – OMG! She really has lost her mind – just kidding, but it is kinda crazy), how sexy Eric Benet’s songs were (maybe that should’ve tipped Ms. Halle off – anyone who looks that hot ( remember that so-sexy stride down the street, with girls on each arm, in the ‘Love Don’t Love Me’ video? So not very PC of me to find that super-cool, but I so do) and sounds that hot (e.g. his riffs on ‘Georgy Porgy’ which, BTW, remind me of Ms. Evans, who’s really coming into her own now) just might be, umm, a little TOO hot), how much I am feeling Kano (‘it’s just one of those days’) and Estelle (does she have new album out?), how much Corinne Bailey Rae’s voice reminds me of summer, picnics and warm moments, and how much The Osmonds’ ‘Love Me For a Reason’ still makes me smile every darned time (somebody make me stop!!), as does ‘God Only Knows’ by the Beach Boys (such a perfect song)… this IS a Bollyblog after all (maybe I need to start a music blog – but heck no, there are not enough hours in the day), so I’m going to talk about the Hindi movie music that’s making me very happy at the moment. Can’t believe I actually just wrote all that, guess I really needed to let it all out.

I’ll start with my more recent discoveries – I’m not one to listen to music from a movie before actually seeing the movie (I just don’t get the whole concept of doing that), but I made an exception for ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’, which was probably the first movie soundtrack I got this year. It was love at first listen. I love all the songs although I’m not too crazy about ‘Babuji’ (recently found out that it was a remake of a much better song from the 70s – not surprised). I think S-E-L have really outdone themselves with this absolutely brilliant set of songs. I love the Highland feel to the title song, the plaintive cries of ‘Rabba’ at the end of ‘Ya Rabba’, the fun playground feel of ‘Tenu Leke’, the danceability of ‘Saiyaan Re’ (so perfect for Priyanka), the way ‘Dil Kya Kare’ reminds me of how cute Vidya and John were rubbing noses on the train in the movie… I love everything about this soundtrack. It makes me happy. Bas.

Speaking of fun and upbeat music, I also really love the songs from ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt.’ I think they are really ‘different’, borrowing from interesting influences – ‘Albela Albela’ has a fantastic soulful James Brown feel to it, and is really well done – kudos to the singer. I love the salsa feel to ‘Pyaar Ki Yeh Kahani Suno’ – I don’t know why but I especially love the ‘ek ladka tha, ek ladki thi’ line. For me, though, the ultimate jam of the soundtrack is ‘Sajanaji’ with that fab repeated line ‘aisa mera pyaar hai’– it never fails to get me dancing. Totally infectious. A great set of songs.

Still on the upbeat tip, I recently saw Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji in ‘Tara Rum Pum’. For any fans of Saif and Rani (and I am one of them), this movie is a must-see. Rani looks fabulous and it’s great to see her (in the first half of the movie) showing Preity Zinta that she can do young and sassy just as well (don’t get me wrong, I love Preity, but Rani just rocks – go, Rani!). Both Rani and Saif were really good in this film – very nice acting, although the script could definitely have given them more to work with. But on to the music. My gem from this soundtrack (I downloaded it the following day, couldn’t wait to hear it again) is the fun, highly danceable, pop-rock song ‘Ab To Forever’, which was beautifully picturised in the movie, with Saif and Rani really getting down in the street at night in New York (I love the whole ‘West Side Story’ feel of the picturisation, love the way the number was lit and shot – it’s just, for want of a better word, hot).

‘Hey Shona’ is the token romantic ballad of the soundtrack, it’s an ok song, and the picturisation is so cute (love the little jig Rani and Saif do – and I just think they’re so adorable together) – but it’s just a regular ok song. The second half of the movie takes a dark turn (a bit too dark, some scenes were actually rather disturbing for a family movie) and featured some questionable moments that really should’ve been left out (maybe I’ll do a proper review sometime), and the songs from that half are less remarkable. The two ‘family’ songs (one of them, the title song, is semi-animated) are ok but nothing special. What I really liked, though was the sweet version of the title song that Rani teaches to the kids (who, by the way, are just too cute) – it’s stuck in my head now and won’t go away.

This year Uzo and I also saw ‘Eklavya’ – a movie that really features only one song (‘The Moon Song/Chanda Re’) – but what a song it is. I love that song, it’s beautifully sung and just so hauntingly evocative yet somehow so soothing at the same time. Love it. Another slow one I am really feeling is the charming and beautiful ‘Gudgudee’ from ‘Just Married’ (‘Baat Pakki’ from the same soundtrack is a nice jam BTW). And how can I fail to mention ‘Tere Bina’ from ‘Guru’, which I just cannot stop listening to? Fantastic, brilliant music – I love everything about that song from start to finish – everything. I also like ‘Barso Re’ from ‘Guru’ – always makes me think of Ash’s beautiful dancing and the great scenery at the start of the film. But back to slower numbers – I really, really love ‘Bole Re Papihara’ from ‘Guddi’, a charming Jaya Bhaduri movie I saw this year and loved to bits. The song is so simple, but so pretty and so sweetly sung. Lovely, lovely music.

I recently downloaded ‘O Sathi Chal’ from ‘Seeta aur Geeta’ (another recent viewing for me), and it never fails to make me smile. Fun song, and putting the hero and heroine on skates for the picturisation was a very nice – and memorable – idea. I am currently also loving the title song from ‘Do Aur Do Paanch’ which I recently downloaded (although in a way I guess it’s not really the title song, as it’s called something different). The soundtrack from ‘Namastey London’, another movie I saw this year (and surprisingly, liked a lot) can be summed up in one phrase: ‘waaay too much of Himesh Reshammaiya’ – but there’s one song from it I really liked, ‘Chakna Chakna’. And of course ‘Beedi’ from ‘Omkara’ is a fabulous song.

Ok, so that’s some of the newer (i.e. newer to my music collection) Hindi movie music I’ve been rocking to, smiling to, and just adoring in every way. But I have not forgotten my older loves, some of which I talked about in a previous post. I’ll highlight a couple here. Kishore Kumar’s voice on ‘O Saathi Re’ still does something to me – and it’s something wonderful; R. D. Burman’s music from ‘The Burning Train’ I still find totally genius and so great, the music from ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ – wow, just thinking about it makes me smile and makes me want to sing each and every 10-minute song on that soundtrack – ‘Dhiktana Dhiktana’ is crazily long but I never tire of it, nor of ‘Joote Dedo’ or ‘Didi Tera Dewar Deewana’ or anything else on that soundtrack.

‘Veer Zaara’ – not a popular choice, I know, but I just love and adore this soundtrack to bits, can’t get enough of the lyrics to ‘Main Yahaan Hoon’ – sure, I don’t understand most of it except ‘I’m here’ (or something), but I just know Javed saab was saying something powerful. (One day I must make time to seek out translations of my fave Hindi songs.) I usually hate Bollywood remixes – it seems like they often just take a nice song and spoil it with some out-of-place bhangra beats, but there is this wonderful, gently soulful remix of ‘Tere Liye’ that I just can’t get enough of – it really lifts and (to borrow a Beyonce-ism) ‘bodies’ the song.

I still love ‘Main Hoon Don’ from the new Don and am still shocked that Shaan did not win awards for his rendition (although he did for ‘Chand Sifarish’ from ‘Fanaa’, which I must say he also did extremely well). Shaan, I think you were brilliant in this one – you definitely get my award, absolutely worthless though it might be.

I could go on (and on) but I think this is long enough – I still can’t get over the crazily long paragraph I did on non-Bollywood songs, can’t bring myself to delete it though…

...anyway here’s to more (loads more) brilliant, creative, sometimes rock-able, often very sweet Hindi film music. I’ll be seeing ‘Life… in a Metro’ this weekend, haven’t heard anything remarkable about the music, but who knows? Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

‘TAAL’, ‘CHORI CHORI’ AND ‘PYAR KIYA TO DARNA KYA’

There’s been quite a bit of activity in my Bollyworld of recent. I recently watched 3 movies, to be discussed in the lengthy post below. I also saw ‘Just Married’ at the cinema yesterday, to be discussed in my Esha Deol post ('Dharam’s Children' Pt.III), whenever I get round to it. And I have quite a few movies to look forward to in the coming weeks. Yum.

‘TAAL’

I watched ‘Taal’ over the weekend. I like when you can tell that a writer/director has made a film close to his/her heart. With ‘Taal’, Subhash Ghai set out to make a modern story with a strong musical element. The musical element, provided by A. R. Rahman, is indeed strong, with a soundtrack that’s quite varied and a bit adventurous. While I didn’t like every single song, I enjoyed most of them, especially ‘Ishq Bina Kya’, sung with beautiful, emotional nuance by Alka Yagnik. I wasn’t surprised to discover that A. R. Rahman and Alka both won Filmfare awards for this film. In line with his focus on the power of music, Subhash Ghai also gives himself a cute little cameo singing along to his Walkman in a market.

As far as the story goes, it’s nothing ground-breaking. A rich boy named Manav (played by Akshaye Khanna), on a visit to Chamba, falls for a lowly village damsel named Manasi (or Mansi, played by Aishwarya Rai), and she (after a little resistance) returns his affections. When Manasi’s father, a renowned folk singer named Tarababu (played by Alok Nath) finds out, he tries to bring the affair into the open (and to forge suitable family ties) by visiting Manav’s father (played by Amrish Puri), who has lately become a friend. Things don’t go very well during the visit, and Manasi and her father are despondent until they meet a famous pop singer named Vikrant (played by Anil Kapoor), who gives Manasi a shot at fame and a new lease of life. But Manav still wants Manasi, and isn’t prepared to take ‘no’ for an answer (in fact his unshakeable confidence that he will get his Manasi back is a bit weird and annoying).

While the story is nothing new, I like the way it was told. I enjoyed the beautiful scenic shots in Chamba, and I thought the song picturisations were very lovely. As mentioned above, the music is charming, and some of the choreography is very good (some of it is dodgy). While the film as a whole is a bit uneven, with some really good scenes and some bits that were just out of place, I enjoyed the way it was wrapped up. I liked the emphasis on relationships, and the fact that all the relationships in the film got some attention and resolution, from the obvious (Manav and Manasi, Tarababu and Manav’s father), to those that would typically be considered less significant (Manav and Vikrant, Manav and his father, Manasi and Vikrant).

I thought the performances were quite strong. Akshaye Khanna hands in an understated and quite mature performance, and although I found his character very annoying in some parts of the film, I think Akshaye handled him quite well. He lets you see the courage, strength and confidence of the character, although some of that I felt was a bit questionable. He is also quite sweet in some scenes, especially with Ash.

I loved Aishwarya in the first half of the film – or perhaps I should say I loved what Ghai did with her (and the character of Manasi) in the first half. It was an unusual treatment – Ash (nicely stripped down, with wavy, simple hair and little make up) plays an innocent girl becoming aware of herself, the opposite sex (in the person of Manav) and most interestingly, her power over the opposite sex. I like that Manasi was depicted as fighting a battle she not only did not want to win, but one she knew she would eventually rejoice over losing. Ash plays this Manasi well, with a sexual awareness, sensuousness and intensity that is compelling, yet simple and without guile. The second, post-fame and success, meek and a bit majboor, burdened with love and divided loyalties, Manasi we meet in the second half of ‘Taal’, I found much less interesting, because she was someone I’ve seen many times before.

Alok Nath is good with these kinds of roles, and ‘Taal’ is no exception. I especially liked him and Ash in the scene at Manav’s home in Bombay (it was a bit of a stretch, though – I think realistically, most people would have just upped and left after a while). Amrish Puri is very good in his role as well. And there is a sweet little pooch called Brownie who had no wondrous abilities and was just so cute.

But for me, the standout performance in this film is by Anil Kapoor, with a gorgeous, meaty comic role (he won a Filmfare award for it). His character, Vikrant Kapur, is self-consciously over-the-top and dramatic, but also intelligent and even a bit sensitive. Vikrant is a showman, constantly playing ‘pop star’, surrounded by lots of spandex-clad dancers who just never seem to stop dancing and just seem kinda trippy. He even has his dancers on the go when he’s recording songs in the studio. He’s really crazy (his scene expounding his ‘7 Commandments’ is priceless comedy), but somehow you don’t find him annoying or grating (at least, I didn’t). Even when he starts acting out of character (as he does later in the film), he does a funny little scene to remind you he’s still the wacky Vikrant you’ve come to like. And in the midst of all the craziness, there’s a depth to his character that comes through here and there.

This scene was hilarious: 'Arrest him!' 'No, why should I?' 'Arrest him!' 'No!' 'Then dance!' Loved it...

All-in-all, I liked ‘Taal’. Not sure if I’d like to watch it again, but I enjoyed it very much and think Ghai and his team did a good job.

‘CHORI CHORI’

This was such a chore to watch. I just found it flat and bland, there was nothing particularly cute, or sweet, or endearing, or enjoyable about it. It was just a load of ‘blah’ for me. And it’s a bit perplexing for me because the film stars two of my favourite Bollywood actors, Rani Mukerji and Ajay ‘the hotness’ Devgan. I so wanted to like their performances, to enjoy the movie, but it just wasn’t happening.

Let’s start with the obvious – the tagline for this movie is ‘Everyone falls in love’. It should’ve been ‘Everyone falls in love except the stars of this movie’. I did not believe that they fell in love, I could not relate to their angst, torment and emotion, there was less than zero chemistry between them, and it was just… not good. And then the story – it wasn’t charming, or sweet, or witty – although it was obviously trying to be. It wasn’t even offbeat, edgy, black comedy – which I think it was also trying to be. It was just blah – a bit annoying, if anything.

I didn’t like the characters – Rani’s character is meant to be street-smart and sharp, yet somehow likeable (I think). I didn’t feel any of it – I just thought she was such a big fat liar and kept lying with an amazing casualness and ease which I found somewhat appalling. Maybe I need to loosen up, but I didn’t like her at all. Ajay’s character was a big fat bore and just seemed empty, uncaring, selfish and uninteresting – even his excitement and passion was half-hearted. The depiction of Ajay’s family is no more than an unwieldy caricature, and Ajay’s ex, played by Sonali Bendre, really does nothing except look sad/regretful.

The music in the film is not particularly great either. In fact, there’s nothing particularly great about this film. It looks pretty enough, but it lacks heart and substance. And it’s sad, because it has potential (I guess). And because I’m always searching for slightly sensational theories to back up observed phenomena, perhaps the biggest lesson of ‘Chori Chori’ is: never make a romantic movie opposite your cousin’s husband, especially when you and said cousin don’t get on well enough to laugh over a few drinks at the movie launch party.

‘PYAAR KIYA TO DARNA KYA’ (PKTDK)

Once upon a time I tried to watch this film – but then a few minutes into it, a shirtless guitar-playing Salman Khan leapt out at me and I was exasperated. I think I was in one of those I-don’t-want-no-crap moods that day – I skimmed over a few scenes and then just gave up. Looking back, I think I had just suffered through Salman’s ‘Lucky – No Time for Love’, which I absolutely hated – so my Salman tolerance-level must’ve been at an all-time low. Recently, I got a chance to borrow a few DVDs from a fellow Bollywood fan, and there it was in her collection – PKTDK. I thought to myself, why not give it another try? At the very least, you’ll be able to give your ‘slacking’ Dharmendra movie list a much-needed boost. I’m glad I did.

PKTDK, like ‘Taal’, is basically a rich boy (played by Salman) meets and falls in love with lowly girl (played by Kajol) movie. However, on this occasion, the major obstacle to the lovers’ bliss is Kajol’s over-protective and rather violent bhaiyya (played by Arbaaz Khan), who takes fierce delight in battering all of Kajol’s prospects. Salman does not help his case by making a terrible first impression on bhaiyya, and also by being a young, happy-go-lucky kinda fella. Despite his best efforts, bhaiyya remains stubbornly unimpressed. Can’t believe I haven’t mentioned my darling Dharmendra yet, who plays Kajol’s wise and strong chachu, who has looked after her and her brother since the loss of their parents. To cut a long story short, obviously there is much drama but love prevails at the end because the protagonists (Salman in particular) are determined to take risks in the name of love, and not to give way to their fears (hence the title).

I really enjoyed this movie – it was actually fun and kinda sweet. Kajol and Salman both did well, and I think they made a nice couple, surprisingly. The songs are mostly cute. There’s a scene with ‘duplicates’ of Bollywood stars that’s really quite funny. And there are quite a few hilarious subtitles, some of which are showcased below (we always love that!)

Don't know why I love this... I just do.

'Wed me thee'?? If you're going for the Shakespearean approach to subtitling (nothing wrong with that, it's always fun), at least do it right and say 'wed thee me'...

And of course, it was so great to see my Dharmendra kicking bad guys’ behinds and being all fatherly and sweet. And his voice still does ‘it’ for me. If I have any complaints about Dharam in this film, they are (a) it would have been nice to see more of him; (b) his dubbing skills seemed a bit off – there was sometimes a glaring lack of sync – like once his lips said ‘strong boy lakhta hai’, but his voice said ‘he’s a strong boy’ (I think I'm nit-picking); and (c) there were a few ‘voiceless’ scenes where they deliberately don’t let you hear the character’s voices – and I would've liked to hear his. Anyway, whatever, I don’t care enough about this to bother about it much. It was just nice to see him again.

But the craziest thing about watching PKTDK was the realisation that I AM CHANGING (and not in a cute, inspirational I’m-getting-stronger-and-wiser Effie-White-in-Dreamgirls way either). No – I am changing: from a girl who didn’t like Salman at all, to one whose Salman tolerance-level is currently rather high! I mean, the shirtless scene didn’t bother me that much this time. I didn’t wince much at his silly, goofy wiggling-his-bumbum scenes. I wasn’t constantly rolling my eyes at his frequent corniness – OMG! I think he just might be (gasp!) growing on me. I find this very, very, very disturbing.

‘DREAMGIRLS’ (or, the Musical Guest Blog)

This post does not really belong on this blog – although Bollywood movies are usually musicals, albeit in a very different style from the Western style of musical. But it doesn’t belong on my other blog either, and I just HAVE to post it somewhere. So I’m posting it in the same spirit as the Nollywood guest blog I posted a while ago. This one is about musicals.

I am the queen of musicals – I just love them. I love that unique blend of song, dance and drama. I love a well-crafted musical with just the right number of songs, inserted in just the right places. It fills me with delight, it sends shivers down my spine, it makes me smile, cry and laugh – it is a pure joy and a special kind of release. I love the ‘fantasy-ness’ of musicals… nothing allows you to escape into another world better than a really good musical. For me the best musicals are fantasies which still manage to have strong elements of social relevance and realism – movies which are escapist but still have a strong resonance. And of course, the songs have to be solid – in terms of lyrical content as well as the music itself.

Obviously, the stage is the true home of the musical, but for those of us who can’t afford the ticket prices (except on very special occasions), the film versions will have to do. In addition, movie musicals give us the opportunity to see musicals which are no longer on stage and are unlikely to ever be revived – it’s a special but very rare treat when the stage actors get to re-interpret their roles onscreen – Rex Harrison and Yul Brynner got this opportunity for the legendary performances in My Fair Lady and The King and I, but their female counterparts didn’t. (I sometimes wish I could go back in time and space just to watch Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews do My Fair Lady on Broadway – and I still feel bad that we didn’t get to see Julie as ‘Eliza’ on celluloid).

Musicals tend to be longer than 90 minutes because of the songs, and for that reason can be difficult to adapt to the standard film format. Being a Bollywood fan, I obviously have no problem with ‘longer’ movies, so I get a bit miffed when the quality of a musical is sacrificed just to get it to be the ‘right’ length.

I think it’s a well-known fact that Hollywood has lost its knack for the musical – the ‘golden age’ of the musical is over. For this reason, my favourite Hollywood musicals are the oldies – the ones with Rodgers & Hammerstein music (South Pacific, Oklahoma!, Carousel, The Sound of Music etc), the fabulous films from the days of Judy Garland, Leslie Caron, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse et al (Easter Parade, Gigi, The Wizard of Oz, High Society, Singing in the Rain, Lili, Hans Christian Andersen etc).

Moving forward a little, I love Streisand’s work (Yentl, Hello Dolly) and of course movies like Cabaret (Liza was tres hot), Victor/Victoria (possibly my fave Julie Andrews performance ever - although my childhood bond with The Sound of Music constantly battles that assessment), then forward to Grease, and then the 80s ‘dance movies’ which featured strong soundtracks even though they weren’t musicals – Flashdance, Dirty Dancing, Breakdance. Of course, I should mention that Disney has kept the musical going as far as animation is concerned, from the innovative (at the time) blend of animation and human actors in Mary Poppins, to modern animated classics like The Lion King (with its brilliant music), The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.

The more recent Hollywood musicals, while not bad, do not, in my opinion, measure up to the oldies. I mean, ‘Moulin Rouge’ was ok, but it’s not the kind of movie I’d see again – ‘Chicago’ was better because the performances were stronger (especially Catherina Zeta-Jones’s excellent Oscar-winning turn) but… still no masterpiece. For me, those movies just lacked some of the sense of fun and abandon the old movies had… that joy… that heart… not that the oldies all had that, of course, but I’ll come back to that. I’ve enjoyed the modern movies which were not technically musicals but which made extensive use of music (because they were about real/fictional musicians) a lot more – movies like Ray, Selena, Gypsy, The Rose (I do love the Divine Miss M when she sings - nothing like it), What's Love Got to Do With It (Angela Bassett was robbed of the Oscar), Walk the Line (love it), the Judy Garland Story (with a fantastic Judy Davis) and Hustle n Flow (don't let me get started on Terrence Howard now), among others.

‘Dreamgirls’ is a treat for me because it’s the best of both worlds – it’s about musicians (so much drama there) and it’s also a musical in the true sense of the word – with music actually telling the story. It’s based on (in a satirical style) some great musical history (probably my favourite era of modern music) – the fabulous Motown day with the diva-licious Diana (read Deena) Ross and the Supremes (read Dreams). I love the fact that although I missed the famous Broadway run of the original stage musical, a worthy tribute (yet, from all accounts with its own ‘personality’) has been made.

Dreamgirls is a thoroughly modern movie (especially in terms of choreography) but it has the feel and the heart of many of the oldies. I love the passion and freshness you can feel from the filmmakers – this is where I think Bill Condon succeeded the most. Like I said, even some of the classic old musicals sometimes suffered from a lack of heart – ‘My Fair Lady’ is a good example. It had all the right elements – Rex Harrison at his best in an Oscar-winning performance, great sets and costumes, technically almost-perfect in terms of production quality, Audrey Hepburn in a very good performance (while I wish Julie had gotten the role, I can’t deny that Audrey did her best – even if she couldn’t sing her own songs). But it just lacked heart – it just lacked that freshness – that enthusiasm and joie-de-vivre that you need for a really good musical, which is what films like ‘Singing in the Rain’ had – and ‘Dreamgirls’ has that in spades.

Where shall I begin? The performances – Jennifer Hudson’s performance has been praised to high heavens by almost everyone else and I see why. She is amazing in this film – her onscreen presence is so powerful yet so natural. I actually missed her in the scenes she was absent from. She had such depth in this performance, she never over-acts, she just flows with all this real emotion – and she has such confidence that it’s amazing to think that this is her first movie. And that voice… whoa… it sent shivers down my spine. I have the legendary Tony Awards ceremony Jennifer Holliday rendition of ‘And I am Telling you I’m Not Going’ on my PC and listen to it (and marvel at it, thinking no-one but no-one could ever sing the song as good as that) all the time… but this Jennifer H. has really done justice to the song – and to ‘I am Changing’, and all the other songs. Just a great, great voice… but more on Ms. Hudson later.

My second favourite performance in this film came from a veteran, Mr. Eddie Murphy. I love his old comedies (Trading Places, Coming to America, the Beverly Hills Cop movies, Bowfinger (with Steve Martin - one of my all-time faves)) but it’s been a while since Eddie did an ‘adult’ movie… he’s been doing lots of family stuff like ‘Shrek’ and ‘Dr. Dolittle’… and this film made me realise how much I’ve missed him. This role ('James Thunder Early') was perfect for him… cocky yet vulnerable, funny as heck, crazy, tragic, self-absorbed yet so giving and generous, so over-the-top but also somehow contained and sensitively interpreted. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Jamie Foxx and Anika Noni Rose also did great in this movie – they both nailed their roles – fantastic performances… Jamie’s range as Curtis was great. Keith Robinson was really good (plus he was too cute – I wanted him to be my little brother)… and Beyonce… well, she did well too. Markedly better than her past performances, but definitely not worthy of a Golden Globe nomination (what were they thinking?) Having said that, she did do very well – she should be proud. She held her own - but not a patch on Jennifer. I hear she’s a bit upset at all the attention Jennifer’s getting – how very ‘Dreamgirls-y’! She did write a great song though ("Listen") but then we already know Beyonce can write a good song. The rest of the cast – Danny Glover, Sharon Leal etc was really good – good casting.

The choreography – Fatima Robinson nailed it. She nailed it! Totally reminiscent of the time period under reference, but also fresh and classy. Fantastic – one up for the MTV music-video generation. While Condon and his gang can’t take credit for the high lyrical quality of the wonderful songs (although some great new songs were written for the film too), they were beautifully arranged and performed – very very good work – I must get the soundtrack. The sets and costumes – lovely – from the Dreams' costumes (the later ones – after they had made some money) to the black suit Beyonce had on when she went to see hubby – so 70s (with all the ruffles) yet so contemporary.

But the directing, editing and cinematography deserve honours too. So lovingly done… this film was just beautifully shot. So many great examples – the use of lighting and shadow in ‘And I am Telling You…’, the way they shot the first Jimmy Early song sequences – heck, the way they shot all the song sequences. So seamless and beautiful, so well-paced – courtesy of Condon’s genius script. The script is dramatic, exciting but also hilarious, really nicely done by someone who obviously truly loves the stage musical. I’m trying to think of something to fault this movie on, but I can’t – maybe the next time I see it, I’ll be able to nitpick (actually, no I won’t) – but for now I’m just loving it.

And I’m loving Jennifer Hudson – what a story… first of all, she accomplished the feat of trimming down from a size 22 to a 12 before auditioning for American Idol. While on AI, despite winning the admiration of veteran musicians like Sir Elton John, she got voted off by America (I remember her saying ‘well, if America don’t like me, what can I do about it?’ or something like that, when the results were announced). Instead of disappearing into oblivion like all the other AI rejects, she got this role… and she absolutely KILLED it!! Amazing… talk about the original Dreamgirl. And now Clive whathisname (Clive Davis?) is falling over himself to give her a record deal (after turning her down a couple of years ago). How hotttt is that? Of course, there’s the usual crowd of naysayers saying that Jennifer will fall prey to the so called ‘curse of Effie White’ – i.e. that, like Jennifer Holliday, she will always be seen as Effie White and nothing more. To that I say, whatever!! (I know, how very eloquent of me) Well, I predict that this Jennifer has more up her sleeve… and I’m rooting for her.

Obviously, I think Dreamgirls is a great production – I think I may have to see it again before it leaves the cinemas – and it’s definitely going in my DVD collection when the DVD comes out. What more can I say? I just loved it.

I know this was a loooong review - but bear with me, it's not everyday I see a movie I can really rave about!

'JUGNU'... Hope it gets better

After a long period of inaction in terms of Dharmendra movies, it finally seems like things just might be looking up for me. After a long wait, I finally got my ‘Chupke Chupke’ DVD, although I haven’t had time to watch it yet, and might not get round to it for a while. It’s great to know I have it, though.

By sheer happenstance, I recently also found (during one of my random DVD/VCD raids near my office) a copy of ‘Jugnu’, another Dharmendra film from way back. I watched a few minutes of it last night. ‘Jugnu’ stars Dharam, Hema Malini, Prem Chopra and the Pran-tastic one. I quite like Pran, his roles are always fun to watch. Anyway, from what I saw of ‘Jugnu’ last night, hmm… this just might be a bad movie. I posted a quote on this blog a while back from a Hema Malini interview, in which she said she regretted not making more movies with Dharmendra (and establishing themselves as a romantic couple). Maybe she was wishing they could have done more with films like ‘Jugnu’.

I loved Dharam and Hema as a couple in ‘Sholay’ and ‘The Burning Train’ (the film which made me fall in love with Dharmendra)… but I gotta say it’s not looking too promising for ‘Jugnu’. I’m only like 20 minutes in, but the film just seems to fall flat. Dharam is playing the clever conman and master of disguise that we’ve seen done in really good old movies like ‘Do Aur Do Paanch’ and newer ones like ‘Bluffmaster’ and ‘Bunty aur Babli’, but… he doesn’t seem to be doing it that well. He just seems really naff and a bit annoying.

Hema, looking very beautiful as always, is playing the independent, headstrong tomboy stereotype, and she seems to be doing ok… but it’s not really working for me. So far, the parts that are supposed to be clever and funny are just… not. They’re just silly, and not even in an interesting or amusing way. The film appears to be really badly scripted – the story is making absolutely no sense and the scenes are just plodding along. I really hope things pick up in ‘Jugnu’, otherwise I might just have to write this one off as a bad Dharam movie, which would be sad... although, hey, at least I'd have one more movie to add to my list of the Dharam movies I've seen.

On the plus side, ‘Jugnu’ features music by S. D. Burman… which I’m looking forward to because I recently heard about him from Carla. So far, the background music has been mildly interesting, and I’ve listened to only one full song, which Dharam’s character does with a group of schoolchildren on Independence Day. I didn’t really notice whether the song was good or not, because the picturization was so cheesy and… not very likeable. Hopefully, I’ll enjoy the music more when I watch the rest of the film over the next few days.

YOU ROCK MY WORLD, YOU KNOW YOU DO…

This post is a tribute to great Bollywood soundtracks. My cousin, who watches a bit of Bollywood now and then, always skips the songs. She says they are time-wasters, make the films unnecessarily long and mess with the storyline. Oh I so disagree. If it were not for the music, I honestly would not love Bollywood half as much as I do. I love, love, absolutely love, the music.

Sure, the music is not always perfectly done. Sometimes you find that the soundtrack just does not fit the movie – they are out of sync somehow. They are on totally different pages – hate when that happens. Sometimes the music is decent but the movie is so bad that it distracts you from enjoying the songs. Sometimes the music is just so forgettable, it sounds like a million things you’ve heard before. Sometimes, it’s not the music but the choreography and movement that fails – and it just doesn’t flow (hate that as well, but love it when it works). Sometimes it’s just plain ol’ flat-out bad music. Which can be a shame, ’cos even a good movie can be semi-sabotaged by bad songs.

BUT WHEN IT’S HOT, IT’S HOT… and I absolutely LOVE it. When the music rocks, and is right for the movie, it’s a beautiful thing. Here are some of my favourite Bollywood soundtracks. I’ve put 25 of my favourites (in no particular order) here. This is just 25 of my favourites off the top of my head, so I’m sure some of my faves haven’t made it on here just because they’ve skipped my mind at the moment. Still love them, though, whatever they are (I'm sure I will be hitting myself for skipping some of my favourites later).

This is a tribute to the great, super-talented and super-creative composers, lyricists, instrumentalists and playback singers of Bollywood (who I know will never read this). I love you all (really – I’m not just saying that), your music makes me happy (or sad, but in a good way). You rock my world (even though a lot of the time I don’t know what you’re talking about – I always love it when they remember to subtitle the songs – wish they would always do that!).

VEER ZAARA: A rich, beautiful and evocative soundtrack that completely and perfectly complements the movie. My personal favourites are ‘Do Pal’ and ‘Tere Liye’, but I would happily listen to the entire album over and over again without skipping a single track.

UMRAO JAAN: The poetry is beautiful. The music is beautiful. Asha Bhonsle (thanks, Carla) sings like an angel (albeit a very seductive one). Nothing else to ask for, really.

MERA SAAYA: One of those soundtracks when you really only remember one song from it, but somehow it’s enough. I love the theme song ‘Mera Saaya’, and honestly can’t remember the other ones, but… it’s still on my hot list. The song ‘Mera Saaya’ is haunting, mysterious, and somehow a bit quirky – perfect for a ‘60s mystery movie. Love it.

MUQADDAR KA SIKANDAR: Three words: ‘O Saathi Re’. Again, I love this soundtrack just for one song – ‘O Saathi Re’ is just beautiful to me and is amazingly sung (by Kishore Kumar, I think). It’s just terrific. I could listen to this for hours.



THE BURNING TRAIN: Three songs from this soundtrack make me love it – ‘Teri Hai Zameen, Tera Asmaan’, ‘Pal Do Pal Ka’ and my personal favourite ‘Pehli Nazar Mein Humne’. ‘Teri Hai Zameen…’ is kinda cheesy, but sweet and even inspiring, ‘Pal Do Pal Ka’ is a 15-minute orgy of music that just makes you feel happy; and I just have a special place in my heart for ‘Pahli Nazar…’. ‘Wada Haan Ji Wada’ and ‘Meri Nazar Hai Tujhpe’ are also very good songs.

BLUFFMASTER: A great soundtrack, just perfect for the film and guaranteed to make you wanna dance. ‘Bure Bure’, Sabse Bada Rupaiyya’ and ‘Say Na Say Na’ are my favourites. Very memorable.

LAAWARIS: Another fun soundtrack from one of Amitabh Bachchan’s earlier movies. ‘Jis Ka Koi Naheen’ is almost deliriously defiant and brilliant, and the other songs are delicious and indulgent.

SHOLAY: Another soundtrack that was perfect for the film. Great songs all around, I like the folksy, off-kilter ‘Mehbooba Mehbooba’ (Helen rocked it out in the movie); but ‘Yeh Dosti’ has to be my favourite.

KABHI KHUSHIE KABHIE GHAM: A number of good songs are on this soundtrack, but I never get tired of watching the video for ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ and listening to the song. Love it! ‘Shava Shava’ is fun and ‘Bole Chudiyan’ is even more fun. And the title song is sweet.

DUSHMAN: You wouldn’t expect a thriller about a serial rapist-murderer to have such a great soundtrack. It’s surprising, and therefore brilliant. I particularly love ‘Awaz Do Humko’, but ‘Pyar Ko Ho Jane De’ is good too. The one where they go ‘kabhi nahin, kabhi nahin’ is nice too.

MAIN HOON NA: Ah, ‘Main Hoon Na’. Great music. I love the title song, but I think my favourites are ‘Chale Jaise Hawaein’ and ‘Tumse Milke Dil Ka’ (particularly the latter). ‘Gori Gori’ is fun too.

HUM SAATH SAATH HAIN: The major reason I love the Bharatya (I'm not sure I spelt that right) family musicals, like this movie and HAHK, is the music. It’s just awesome. This is a great soundtrack, from the title song to ‘Maiyya Yashoda’, to ‘Mhare Hiwda’, to ‘Yeh To Sach Hai Ki Bhagwan Hai’, to ‘Sunoji Dulhan Ek Baat Sunoji’. Even the cheesy-oh-so-cheesy ‘ABCDEFGHI’ song gets my thumbs up.

DEVDAS: ‘Devdas’ as a movie was (for me) visual overload, so the songs had to live up to that. I think they succeeded. My favourites are ‘Silsila Yeh Chaahat Ka’, ‘Hamesha Tumko Chaha’ and ‘Dola Re Dola’.

DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE: I’m sentimental about this film so it just had to be on this list. But the songs really are great - absolutely delectable music. I particularly love ‘Tujhe Dekha To Yeh Jaana Sanam’ (I'm sure I didn't spell that right), ‘Mehndi’ and ‘Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko To Pyar Sajna’.

HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN: Another Bharatya film with a fantastic soundtrack. Love the title song, so sweet. Love ‘Waah Waah Ramji’, ‘Joote Dedo’, and Dhiktana Dhiktana’. Even ‘Chocolate Lime Juice’ which is a bit silly, sounds good.

BUNTY AUR BABLI: A fun soundtrack with a few cringe-y moments. Overall, it’s very very good. I love ‘Dhadak Dhadak’ most of all, it always makes me feel good, but I also like ‘Kajra Re’ (Ash rocked it out), ‘Nach Baliye’, ‘Chup Chup Ke’ and even (aww shucks), the title song.

KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI: Whenever I hear that unmistakable ‘Tum Pas Aiye’, my body involuntarily starts to move. When I was watching ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge’ and this song came up in the medley, I was singing like a madwoman. This is a great soundtrack, infectious, instantly recognizable, and perfect for the film. Other highlights for me are: ‘Koi Mil Gaya’, ‘Ladki Badi Anjani Hai’, ‘Raghupati Ragav Raja Ram’ and ‘Tujhe Yaad Na Meri’.

YES BOSS: This is a chilled out, goofy movie – and the soundtrack is equally chilled-out and goofy. Some of the songs are duds, I have to say, but I think ‘Main Koi Aisa Geeta Gaoon’, and a few of the other numbers, make up for them.

DIL TO PAGAL HAI: This is a really nice film (with Madhuri Dixit totally killing it when everyone thought her career was over – go Madhuri!! – and SRK and Karisma doing a great job too), but I think I loved the songs even more than the movie. My favourite is ‘Koi Ladki Hai’ (so catchy, and I love the kids’ voices on it). Other good picks are ‘Dholna’, ‘Are Re Are’, ‘Le Gayi’, ‘Pyar Kar’, ‘Bholi Si Surat’, and of course, the excellent title song. This is a really lovely soundtrack.

SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM: Again, the title song would be enough for this movie to make my list. Perfect for the film - haunting, mysterious, melodious, beautifully sung. The other songs are great too - very... interesting and 'different' - for a 'different' film.


MAIN TULSI TERE AANGAN KI: Who woulda thought you could make such a great title song out of such a long title? It works, it absolutely works. To hear this song is to love it, and it’s mostly in the way it was sung (can’t remember if it was Lata or Asha who did the honours). Whichever of the sisters did it, it was beautifully done.

ARADHANA: This is a romantic movie to the core, and they gave it an appropriately romantic soundtrack. The songs are great – from ‘Main Sapnoon Rani Kab Aaegi’ (Kishore Kumar always rocks), to ‘Gun Guna Rahe Hain Bhavre’ (my personal fave), to the sexy ‘Roop Tera Mastana’, to ‘Baghon Mein Bahaar Hai’ (‘Ha Hai!’)

JUNGLEE: ‘Yahoo!’ I absolutely love this soundtrack. The title track is totally right for the film, and I also love ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ and the oh-so-sweet song that has ‘Tumse Mohabbat Hoge Hum Mujhe’ in it (can’t remember the title but it’s my favourite song from the film). The soundtrack complements the film beautifully.

THE RISING – THE BALLAD OF MANGAL PANDEY: I love the way this soundtrack was done. It’s very creative and moving, it tells a story, it conveys the feeling and tone of the film, and I just think it rocks.

For number 25, it’s a tie between DIL and YEH VAADA RAHA: which I guess is kinda appropriate because they are both romantic films (which, I must admit, I love). I guess the right thing to do would be to make the list a list of 26; but I don’t really like that number so I’ll keep it this way. For me, ‘Dil’ had a great soundtrack – young, catchy, passionate and just right for the movie. Same goes for ‘Yeh Vaada Raha’. Nuff said.