Work is again coming in the way of my blogging. The post frequency would be low for a couple of weeks.

I went to my cousin’s place on Makar Sankranti and somehow the discussion moved to songs that became huge hits but seem very dumb and laughable now. Here are a few examples:

Saath mere aaogi- kahaan, ice cream khaoogi- haan haan – 2
saath bulate ho ice cream khilate ho, bolo irada hain kya
apana yeh wada hain nek iraada hain, waah waah
tumko ghumaunga main duniya dikhaunga main aayega tumko mazza
taram param pam param pam taram param pam – 2

And this one’s even better:

pom pom – 2, hey mama miya mama miya
pyar ki gaadi tez chalaon, accelerator aur dabaaon
prem gali mein mode bahut hain, dekho dil ke tod bahut hain
rasta mudd jaane wala hain, main road aane wala hain
stop, love, love (mama miya pom pom – 2)

These were the lyrics of a popular song from Justice Chaudhury starring Jeetendra and Sridevi. I myself was a big fan of this song. In fact, I had a compilation cassette of this movie with Himmatwala and I listened to it all day. I loved all songs of Sridevi.

Then there was a song from Dance Dance that I absolutely loved:

Aa gaya aa gaya
halwawala aa gaya
aa gaya aa gaya
halwawala aa gaya
rang jamaane aa gaya
roop dikhaane aa gaya
aa gaya aa gaya
halwawala aa gaya

Then, back in the mid 90s, Bali Brahmbhatt became very popular because of:

Amma dekh, aa dekh, tera munda bigda jayee,
Bebe dekh, aa dekh, tera munda bigda jayee.

The song is from a flop movie starring Jackie Shroff called Stuntman.

There are lots of such songs but I don’t have the time to find the lyrics and I’m too lazy to write the lyrics myself.

PS: All the non-Hindi-speaking readers are requested to forgive me for this very Hindi post. I would have loved to translate these songs but there’s no time. *very sad face*

A R Rahman’s much awaited album, Rang De Basanti, is finally out and I decided to let you know what I think of it. I must warn you though that I am a huge fan of Rahman and hence the review might be a little biased.

1. Ik Onkar: ARR can always be trusted with religious songs and this is a perfect example. He doesn’t meddle too much with it and hence the album starts off beautifully.
2. Rang De Basanti: Daler Mehendi is still around? Who knew? Anyways, in spite of being a Punjabi song, it doesn’t sound like a typical Punjabi song and that’s what’s great about it. The song has a great beat to it. Daler sounds different from his usual self (which is a relief) and Chitra has been wisely used to add a unique flavor to it. A great title song that efficiently conveys the mood of the film. 8.5/10
3. Paathshala: A peppy song with great youth centric lyrics and great music. ARR has used new voices for the song and it helps. Naresh Iyer and Mohammad Aslam give a young n fresh feel to it. The only bad thing about the song is that it is picturized on a 40-year-old Aamir Khan trying to pass off as being in his early twenties. 9/10
4. Tu Bin Bataye: A slow, romantic song (the only romantic song in the album). Sadly it’s just an average song with a strong typical ARR stamp on it. Madhushree sounds sweet, perhaps too sweet. She should try a little less honey laden sometime. Naresh Iyer is good. 7/10
5. Khalbali: Probably the weakest song of the album, it has an Arabic tune and even Arabic vocals. ARR sings himself with Nasim and Aslam. Starts off slow but gets better towards the end. It’s a situational song and will (hopefully) make more sense in the movie. 6/10
6. Khoon Chala: A slow but fantastic song. I just found out that Mohit Chauhan who has sung this song brilliantly is actually the lead singer of Silk Route. No wonder then. The orchestration is commendable too. But what really give the song an edge are the lyrics. Easily, my favorite track of the album. 9.5/10
7. Paathshala (Be A Rebel): A slightly modified version of Paathshala, it somehow reminds me of the song “Dating” from Boys. I guess Blaaze is the common link. A great song, nevertheless. I like this version more than the first one. 9/10
8. Luka Chuppi: A rather strange song between a mother and a son. Once again, great lyrics and good music. ARR sings himself, this time with Lata Mangeshkar, who is great as usual. The tabla is sure to make you like the song. 8/10
9. Lalkaar: Its wrong to call it a song. It’s more like Aamir Khan reciting a verse accompanied by chorus. It’s obviously a situational song. 7/10
10. Roobaroo: An easy going, mid tempo, upbeat song. A great way to end the album. Its sung well by Naresh Iyer with help from ARR. 8/10

In totality, it’s a great album and even the not-so-good songs are better than your average Himesh Reshammiya and Anu Malik songs so it is a must buy for ARR fans/ non-fans alike.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Update (Friday, 16th December): It been two and a half days since I wrote the review and after repeated listening (with continuous looping), “Rang De Basanti” has become a favorite with the standout line being “Dheemi aanch pe tu zara ishq chadaa”. “Roobaroo” too. Love the line “Dhuan chhata, khula gagan mera”. But the most favorite is still “Khoon Chala”.

• Since my room was locked for almost two weeks and Bangalore didn’t see any decent sunlight during that time, it had become really damp. You could actually smell the dampness. But I think I have managed to make it livable again in the little time I had.
• It’s difficult to adjust to my life after a not-so-long vacation but I am trying. I went grocery shopping yesterday. Its always fun since it mostly consists of ready-to-eat food, juices, drinks, other eatables and few other stuff. But I bought the wrong deodorant by mistake. I was standing right in front of the one I wanted and then I got a call and then I took the one kept right next to it and since they are different fragrances from the same company, its difficult to distinguish between them. I sprayed it today morning and it smelled horrible. Then I read the name on the bottle and it was the wrong one. What do I do now? I can’t return it. I can’t use it. It’s basically useless. But I don’t get why the deodorant company came out with a product with such a horrible fragrance. It’s so bad that it makes me puke.
• John Mayer has done it again. He left adult contemporary, which was considered his forte and formed a Blues band called John Mayer Trio (called JM3). Few people even called it a career suicide. Gutsy, huh? But their first single. “Who Did You Think It Was?” and its b-side, “Come When I Call” are both fabulous. The video for the single is very weird though. It features a record player playing their CD and shows the view from the window nearby the whole time, while moving closer to the CD slowly. I was just listening to their song so thought of including this in the post.

I don’t know if I’ve already told you all but I am fascinated with Skyscrapers and Skylines. Some people find it strange. I find those people strange because take a look at these pics of Tokyo.

How can anyone not like it?
—-
I’ve been listening to a lot of new songs lately and I love:

“Road To Rouen” by Supergrass
All the songs from Deepa Mehta’s Water especially “Naina Neer” and “Piya Ho”
“Push The Button” by Sugababes
“You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt

I also like the song “Hum Bade Hue” from The Film cos it makes me feel nostalgic though it would have been better if they hadn’t included nursery rhymes in the song.

I neither completely believe in Gandhian philosophy nor have any idea what relevance it has in today’s world but I really like the song, “Vaishnav Jan To”, that was a favorite of Gandhi too.
You can download various versions of the song here. The lyrics taken from the same site are:

Vaishnav Jan to tene kahiye
Jay peerh paraaye janneyray
Par dukkhey upkar karey teeyey, man abhiman na anney ray
Sakal lokma Sahuney bandhey,
Ninda Na karye kainee ray
Baach kaachh, Man nischal Raakhey, dhan-dhan jananee tainee ray
Samdrishi nay trishna tyagee, par-stree jaynay mat ray
Vivihva thaki asatya na bolay, par-dhan nav jhaley haath ray
Moh maaya vyaayey nahin Jeynay, dridth vairagya jana manma ray
Ram-nam-shoom taalee laagee,
Sakal teerth seyna tanma ray
Vanloohee nay kapat rahit chhay,
Kaam, Krodh nivarya ray
Bhane Narsinhyo tainoo darshan karta kul ekotair taarya re.

English Translation:

Speak only as godlike of the man who feels another’s pain
Who shares another’s sorrow and pride does disdain
Who regards himself lowliest of the low
Speaks not a word of evil against anyone
Blessed is the mother who gave birth to such a son
Who looks upon everyone as his equal,
Lust he has renounced
Who honors women like he honors his mother
Whose tongue knows not the taste of falsehood
Nor covets another’s worldly goods
Who longs not for worldly wealth (or fame)
For he treads the path of renunciation
Ever on his lips is Ram’s holy name
All places of pilgrimage are within him
He has conquered greed, is free of deceit, lust and anger
Through him Narsinh has godly vision
And his generation to come will attain salvation.