The surf guitar-loaded DhanTeNan is no doubt reminiscent of Dick Dale’s legendary track, Misirlou (more popularly referred to as the theme from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction), but beyond broad, genre-influences, it stands on its own, as a hyper-enthusiastic dance track, with infectious vocals by Sukhwinder Singh! Fatak plays along predictably, but only till the guitar kicks in and rocks the track to a completely different plane! The title song is oh-so-beautiful, with its expansive orchestration that is startlingly subdued while Vishal’s vocal prowess on the melody is exceptionally appropriate! As if that was not enough, Mohit Chauhan offers the equally alluring Pehli baar mohabbat - both these tracks have trademark Gulzar verses…the variety that makes one’s knees go weak, particularly when enveloped in such awesome music! Raat ke dhai baje is strangely Vishal Shekhar territory, almost as if it strayed off Tashan’s soundtrack. It is mighty cool, but! Even the small’ish Go Charlie Go theme music is so intelligently assembled that the flow and retro infusion is thoroughly charming! Vishal has always been a super smart composer, with a genuinely different musical streak. His work in Kaminey is spectacularly satisfying – makes one go, ‘Stop making films; compose more, damn it!’

Keywords: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Vishal Bhardwaj

Forget the fact that Kambakkht Ishq is a dud of a film. What irks me the most is when director Sabbir Khan says, ‘KI was an original idea’. It goes like this, in Times of India, today, “Yes, we are aware that there are influences from Pammal…. KI was scripted after a lot of trial and error. But when the idea of Akshay Kumar playing a stuntman came up, someone told us about the Kamal Haasan film. That’s when we approached the producers of Pammal… and acquired the rights”.

So, a few questions? Just because the hero in both the films is a stuntman, you found it similar to the Tamil film? What about all the other specific situations? What about the 2nd lead pair, who become the reason for the lead pair’s antics against each other? And, what about that pendant/ watch that goes inside the hero’s stomach? And sings? Jesus, Sabbir…do you think India is a country full of brainless twits? To believe you when you say, ‘I scripted it, but then found someone else’s film to contain 90% of what my idea was…so we paid them to buy the script’. Goddamn it! Why is it so hard for Bollywood film maker’s to accept a remake? Is that a sin? An insult? Of course not! It only shows how bold and sincere you are - to showcase the source proudly and display the kind of thoughts you have added to the source. But alas, what Sabbir has done is pathetic to say the least - he’s added a fart, a lot of senseless swearing and loads of money, all quite meaninglessly, into a humongous turkey that trade analysts will be quite happy to talk of, in an excited tone, about the kind of opening it had.

The same line of thought was used previously by Rajkumar Gupta (even the thought of spinning the response for a ‘remake?’ question seems to be lifted…for heaven’s sake!), for his Aamir. BollywoodHungama quoted UTV Spotboy head, Vikas Bahl, with this piece of drivel, “Basically, Aamir is written and directed by Rajkumar Gupta and he wrote the story even before the English film, Cavite was released. We had registered it at the Writers’ Association. But then after some time we realized that the story of Cavite was very similar to Aamir hence we approached the writers and makers of Cavite and bought the adaptation rights as that’s the right thing to do”. Yeah…right!

Rajkumar Gupta wrote the complete film. And then found that all the scenes that came out of his head were used in the Philipino original…Oh the poor man. His thoughts have been stolen…boohoohoo! If this was in a Philip K Dick novel, I’d have at least bought this nonsense. Such lame behaviour digs Bollywood’s credibility deeper than anyone can think of.

Just realized - quite surprisingly, very late - that the post in my other blog (Beast of Traal) is very appropriate for Milliblog. It’s about A R Rahman’s new compilation album released by Universal Music, called Connections. No, this is not THE Nokia Connections album and that is exactly what this post is all about. But, considering there is some (although minimal) discussion going on there, I don’t want to start another thread here. So, read the post here.

Pesum minsaram carries the sound of a college band forced to sing in Tamil, complete with rough-round-the-corner vocals and a meandering tune. Paarthathum karaindhen is no better - brazenly slapped together rhythms much like Rahman’s leftovers and a predictable tune, while the lighthearted banter in Koothadichidava is considerably better in its appeal. Things improve dramatically with the appealing melody, Thigatta thigatta even as the short title verse by Bharathiyar is put to tune very imaginatively. The soundtrack’s highlight is the lilting, Yaar tharuvaar indha ariyaasanam (Mahakavi Kalidas)-styled Yaradhu yaro – super smart fusion with a mature classical layer! What a turnaround!

Keywords: James Vasanthan, Yathumagi, Yaathumaagi, Yaathumagi, Sachin, Sunaina

Bangaru kodipetta’s remix is terribly disappointing - it’s a classic case of remixing the wrong way, merely working on the sound and not the soul! Keeravani himself joins Nikitha Nigam in the title song…it’s a typical pompous song straight out of the 90s! Daler Mehndi notwithstanding, Jorsey goes utterly haywire - the composer totally missing every cue for a coherent song, while the two rhythmic melodies - Panchadhara bomma and Nakosam nuvvu are just about listenable - nothing new, however! The rolling title music literally rolls out of Jassie Gift’s tongue and is eminently headache-inducing. Sad soundtrack; poor Ram Charan!

Keywords: M M Keeravani, Ram Charan Teja, Kajal Agarwal

(Note: This appeared in today’s Bangalore Mirror, as my tribute to MJ)

It was back in the ’80s. I was in school, in Coimbatore - a B-town and far from the metro-style trappings. We had a new kid in school, who had moved in with his parents from Dubai. One day, he invited a few friends - including me - to his house. There was a huge TV - even back then - and it was playing music videos, through a VCR. He played us a couple of Michael Jackson videos and I saw them for the first time in my life. Before that day, the only music videos I had seen included snippets on Doordarshan’s Prannoy Roy show, The World This Week or tacky videos from a weird pop music show late in the nights, again, on Doordarshan.

It was only when music channels came to India that I saw much more of music videos. So, in a way, Jackson to me, is more of an entertainer, than just a musician. His performance, be it in videos or stage shows or just in songs embodies a lot more than music and that is perhaps what makes him so much more special.

While I’ve had a far more intimate experience growing up to Wham and George Michael, Jackson’s music was always the benchmark. Even though I realised it on my own, the true epiphany came from my 50 plus-year-old uncle, who once commented very positively about the nuances in Jackson’s music. If a musician can impress someone as world-weary as a 50 plus year old, that is truly something, because the rest of the younger lot is still eating out of its hands listening to his music!

JACKSON’S INDIA EFFECT
Given Jackson’s appeal and renewed interest right now, it is probably the most appropriate time to finally release the track he performed with another person, who is red hot currently - A R Rahman! Yes, releasing Ekam Satyam, the track that Rahman composed along with Michael Jackson, and was choreographed by Prabhu Deva for a German stage show by the King of Pop, would be the right tribute to the pop icon. Isn’t it interesting that the song is partly in Sanskrit, which despite the onslaught of so many languages over the years, has still survived. I have no doubt that kids will discover and appreciate Jackson’s music long after his passing away.

TOO GOOD TO COPY
Jackson’s popularity was so overarching that Indian composers were quite wary of plagiarising his music. There were some genuine flashes of intelligent inspirations though. Telugu/ Tamil composer Keeravani (Maragadhamani in Tamil) had a beautiful, seeped-in-Indian song in K Balachander’s Azhagan - Thathithom. In a shocking twist, the song suddenly changes track towards the end, where actress Madhubala (of Roja fame) had had enough of the pussy-footing to attract the film’s hero, Mammootty, and launches into a snazzy western tune in Tamil lyrics. It was set to the tune of Jackson’s Liberian Girl, and guess what! It fit in beautifully within the song’s structure, composed in the Carnatic raag, Dharmavathi. Compared to this, Hindi cinema has had largely tacky musical inspirations from Jackson - forget the inspiration for his dance moves and music video concepts. Anu Malik’s Hamesha track, Neela Dupatta with shades of Jackson’s They Don’t Really Care About Us is one such example. It could just be that Indian composers were scared to lift Jackson’s songs for the simple reason that the originals were a rage by themselves!

Kalavaramaye madilo opens the soundtrack in Chitra’s impeccable voice - a deep, soothing melody with a beautiful part reserved for the title! The youthful exuberance of Tholi tholi is instantly addictive - the interludes, the springing pace of the song and Chitra’s vocals impress again, while Roshan and Chitra ace the rhythmic, banter-styled duet, Neelo anuvantha – it has also been arranged really well! The composer himself joins Chitra in an incredible moment half-way through the austere, student-guru session Kari varadhuni and Chitra totally takes over Guru Brahma, invoking pleasant memories of Ilayaraja’s Sindhu Bhairavi. The latter’s minimal thavil-styled background helps in bringing both the voices incredibly well. Sharreth’s short Sa Ri Ga Ri showcases his amazingly adept singing and the dulcet duet, O nene o nuvvani too, with Hariharan and Kalpana, with mild shades of Rahman’s sweeping style is tantalizingly beautiful. Pallavinchani is the only, albeit mildly odd one out, with its done-to-death backgrounds that are oh-so-Tollywood. Kalavaramaye madilo has a brilliant soundtrack and Sharreth Vasudevan, both as a composer and as a singer impresses big time. The maturity with which he scores the massy melodies and the classically inclined tracks is remarkable. Sharreth sure has a fabulous future ahead!

Keywords: Sharreth Vasudevan, Sharath Vasudevan, Kalavaramaaye Madilo, Swati, Satish Kasetty

Rangu rangu brings the mental picture of a 80s Tamil hero dancing - beautifully lilting tune, unique to Raja. Shringara sindhura, Kogile koogu baa and Yaarivalu are predictable Raja melodies from his recent synth-dominated repertoire; the latter still impresses with its spunky arrangements. Badavara manege’s tune is no doubt soulful, just that it is an old’ish soul. Giliya mariyondu’s orchestration is nostalgic but way too similar to myriad other trendsetting Tamil songs from the master, but Hodadavne surprises with its spunky, street-smart appeal! Raja’s time-warped music is now mirroring his past closer than ever. Is that bad? Or just repetitive?

Keywords: Ajay Rao, Sheela, Ilayaraja

Minimal techno-wizardry and even more minimal tune makes Luck aazma a poor title song, but the duo spring a surprise with Salim’s vocals in the laid-back melody of Khudaya ve. Jee le is at best a left-over from the duo’s Chopra clan association and beyond all the superficial catchiness, it is plain and routine. The title song’s other version, sung by Shruti and Clinton Cerejo is a much better attempt, with its rock’ish backgrounds and super singing by the ladies. Laga le too, with its Pancham-style tune is absorbing. Luck is average fare from Salim Sulaiman – trendy, but largely lackluster.

Keywords: Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan, Shruti Hassan, Salim Sulaiman