Music:

Sneha Khanwalkar nailed it this time. The lady who gave not-at-all impressive music for RGV’s Go last year has done a commendable job with the compositions of upcoming movie, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye(OLLO). Dibakar Khosla ka Ghosla Banerjee is all set with his second movie (looks promising if I go by the promos). Title song is already a chartbuster a la KKG’s Chak-De-Phatte but the two other songs which hold your attention are Superchor and Tu Raja Ki Raj Dulari. Tu Raja Ki Raj Dulari has a touch of Rajasthani folk. This is the one I am particularly hooked to since couple of days. This is the kind of song either will make you a slave of it or would repel you and you won’t hear it again. If later be the case, please give it a shot again and listen. The song in high-flying words is superlative, awesome, and mind-blowing. And beware of few raised eyebrows whilst you listen to it. Trust me there would be few people who would say, ‘what the heck are you listening to?’ The song is such.

‘Superchor’ is a Punjabi number which can be termed rap as well. But, it’s unlike those high-pitched, loud; ear shattering ones which aam-junta usually associates the Punjabi songs with (remember Bhootni Ke). Sample this:

‘Jugni Rehti Sheeshe Paar’
‘Odi Kothi Sector Chaar’


‘Jugni Kehdi English Bol’
‘Hello How You Do You Bol’


Lyrics are penned by director himself along with Amitosh Nagpal and Mange Ram and few words here and there are difficult to understand but the music is so damn impressive that you can hardly call that a flaw.

So, that’s the music I am currently listening in to. A lot better than Tandoori Nights and Tu Saala Kaam Se Gaya of recent times.

Also good are these:

Muskura from Dasvidaniya sung by Sonu Nigam. I rate Sonu a lot higher than any other singer of last decade. I was disappointed with his Makhna from the movie Heroes. But with Muskura he made it up. Another singer whom I put high up there is Mohit Chauhan (of Silk Route). Mohit who has Khoon Chala, Guncha Koi, Tum Se Hi to his credit is back with two beautiful ones this year. Kuchh Khaas from Fashion and Aankhon hi aankhon me from EMI. Sukhwinder sings once again for SRK after last year’s Dard-E-Disco, a song that had constipated written all over it, be it Sukhwinder’s voice or SRK’s dance. This year he sings Haule Haule for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, a pretty decent number.


Books:

Coming to books, I finished four of them (that I had got in the beginning of this year) in last two months. Local and Vertigo (recommended by Smita) are by Indian authors; Jaideep Varma and Ashok Banker respectively. Both have backdrop of Mumbai and both are told from point of view of young man. Protagonist in Local works in ad-agency and describes the Local trains of Mumbai as his home while that of Vertigo is caught between an alcoholic mother, demanding girlfriend, and not-so-good-paying job. Both the books are very readable. Btw, Jaideep Varma has now turned director with Hulla which was released in September this year.

Third book was Orhan Pamuk’s My Name Is Red, a story of multi-layered plot told from various POVs like the murderer, the dead, the dog, the satan, the red (color) and high chances reader will get confused and irritated to the point of leaving it in midst. However, it is a great piece and almost faultless. The last in the list of finished ones is Memoirs of my Melancholy Whores written by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The book is 100-odd pages that can be finished at one go of 2 hours or so. I had heard of Marquez and his Love in the time of Cholera is on my to-read list for over three years now and I haven’t bought it yet. Nonetheless when a friend strongly recommended MMMW, I bought the book and enjoyed reading the story of a journalist who decides to sleep with a young virgin girl on his ninetieth birthday; on the pretext of treating himself and eventually falls in love with the young virgin girl who was set up for him by his old friend; a lady who ran a brothel. The book is rich in literature and now I am eager to read his other books.

I have picked booker winner The White Tiger now and if not extremely enjoyable so far (as I have read just 50 pages), the book is at least readable considering the other booker winner (2006) ‘The Inheritance of Loss’ never saw the daylight after I packed it in a carton which consists of ‘started-reading-left-and-will-never-read-again’ books. TIOL was remarkably a gloomy book from the first page.

Movies:

Fashion was a decent watch but Madhur is now getting repetitive. Half the reels of fashion are influenced by his previous works. His next one Jail sounds interesting but I wonder what he will showcase. Sodomy? Probably. Golmaal Returns was an awfully sad movie. Quantum of Solace put me to sleep and so did Righteous Kill. I was expecting a lot from Righteous Kill especially. Nevertheless after watching it I decided to pick 3 random movies each of De Niro and Pacino from their young days. Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter and Raging Bull it was for De Niro; Dog Day Afternoon, Donnie Brasco and Scent of a Woman it was for Pacino. I love watching these movies again and again. Paul Newman’s Hud was another one which I caught in between. Hud is a great movie laced with one of the finest dialogues ever written.

World Cinema:

Irreversible (French) is a thriller/mystery that lasts over a night. The story is told in a reverse order. The movie has lot of violence, gore and sexual assaults. It can be disturbing for few. Rating – 4 Stars

400 Blows (French) is a powerful story of a young boy at the threshold of becoming an adolescent. The boy is neglected by all and is seen as troublemaker. Starting from trivial crimes to eventually getting into stealing things he finds himself arrested. He is sent to juvenile detention but soon sent to work camp. The film deals with sensitive issue of adolescent criminals and how they are dealt. Rating – 4 Stars

Grimm (Dutch) is a story of two adults; brother-sister duo who are left on their own in the forest by their father. The pair goes to Spain to their Uncle who now turns out is dead. They meet a Surgeon who falls for the sister, takes them to his mansion and marries the sister. Their lives turn upside down when they get to know the Surgeon in actual steals the Kidneys when brother one day wakes up to find himself in a dessert while Sister is confided in a cellar. Rating – 3 Stars

Happy Together (Mandarin) is a Hong Kong movie about two gay men who go to Argentina for work. One of them (Ho) is promiscuous and leaves the other (Lai) as he cannot keep a monogamous relation. Once when beaten up Ho returns only to find Lai is not so approachable intimately. Ho begs to Lai to give him another chance. Lai agrees and they are back together as couple. Once stable, Ho goes his usual promiscuous way and leaves Lai again. Rating – 4 Stars