Music Review: David (2013)

Music Director: Various

Much like the abundance of Davids, we have an ensemble of music directors too. Only, we have eight of them. Watching Remo Fernandes after a long hiatus is like opening an old box of chocolates, and realizing they still taste as delicious as ever. “Maria Pitache” is your quintessential Goan melody, and surprisingly accompanies a dishoom-dishoom sequence in the movie. Remo’s ‘Light house symphony’ is also refreshing, and a delight for guitar lovers. ‘Tore Matware Naina’ starts off with a brilliant riff, a French prelude from Joyshanti and follows it from some impeccable singing from Nirali Kartik.

Rekha Bhardwaj proves her mettle yet again with her own rendition of the classic ‘Mast Kalandar’. The song gels very well with its placement in the movie. And I doff my hat to whoever came up with the rock version of this. ‘Out of control’, with Nikhil D’souza’s vocals, is also a good listen (as is its choir version), though the beginning of the song sounds uncannily similar to “Father’s song” (August Rush). ‘Ya Husain’ adds to the list of soulful songs on the album, with Lucky Ali showing his prowess, yet again. Playing to a rather intense sequence in the movie, the song makes for a few captivating minutes.

The theme of David ‘Ghum Huye’ and ‘Rab Di’ sung by Kartik, add colour with enthralling beats and some dub-step moments. Modern Mafia (Not sure who they are) with ‘Bandhay’, however, are rather forgettable. Honestly, many songs and bits sound much better as background score to the movies pacy sequences.

(3/5)

Media - making rapists out of good samaritans?

Aloha, and warm wishes on the beginning of a new year. The last few days of 2012 were anything but joyous with the entire nation gripped in horror and grief over the brutal gang-rape incident and the subsequent death of the victim.

The aforementioned case, and the broader discussion on the security of women in the country has been the sole focus of the media ever since, and for good reason. The entire issue is rather sensitive, and much – logical, practical and ridiculous- has already been said, which had kept me from putting down my thoughts on it. My reactions have been catalyzed by some of the recent events in the entire episode and some discussions on the root cause of such behavior in the Indian society that I came across in the media.

Firstly, I want to bring up the argument of the Indian mindset being influenced by the depiction of women and their treatment by the men-folk in our movies. Earlier in the day I saw this discussion, I had happened to catch a few scenes from the 1990 movie ‘Dil’ where our college going teenager Aamir teaches a lesson to a rich & rude snob Madhuri for, well, being a snob. Replace Aamir and Madhuri with another name, and one can see this story placed in a hundred Indian movies. And yes, our suave femme-fatale also falls for this ruffian in the end. Silly? Yes. Inciting right minded male viewers to do the same with their female counterparts? I don’t think so.

This brings us to the point about the objectification of the female in movies these days. I have always been sickened by the concept of item numbers, and I abhor the directors who incorporate these in their movies, and also the females who agree to let themselves being paraded for some cheap howling and whistles in the theaters. Yet, I agree they sell, and they do because people (men) like it. But do Malaika’s pelvic thrusts or Kareena’s waistline drive their male audience to molest every female they set their eyes on? I believe not.

Here’s where I would like to point out that lust or carnal satisfaction are a rather small cause in most rape incidents. What leads to most incidents of molestation or sexual violation is a person’s desire to dominate, or prove how they are somehow more powerful than their victim. I say ‘person’ as female rapists, though scarce, are not unheard of. No wonder most rapists are disillusioned lovers, members of the poor class getting back at their ‘oppressors’ or the masters and the rich, just reaffirming their one-upmanship over the victim. Most of us have read how the erstwhile emperors mistreated the women-folk in any kingdom they conquered. Their subjugation of the women was their way of communicating their dominance over the entire land.

The latest victim of this juggernaut of blaming everything and everyone for the falling moral standards is Punjabi pop sensation Honey Singh. Pardon me, Yo Yo Honey Singh. Now, I am an unabashed fan of his music. Yes, some of his lyrics are questionable, very much. And none of the songs in Bollywood are, right? Moving to specifics, one of the songs for which seemingly someone has gone ahead and filed an FIR against the guy is not even his song. I came across the petition that was being signed to force the Bristol Hotel authorities to cancel his show (which eventually happened). The song (and its objectionable lyrics) are Honey Singh’s.

This particular song took campuses across India by storm when I was, perhaps, in my 2^nd or 3^rd year of college. Years later, when Honey Singh brought out songs, a zillion times more palatable than the former, I believe most of us chose to keep this dark past of his a secret, laugh at his lyrics and dance to his music. Anyway, the idea that the singer endorses every word he sings looks silly to me. The conception that everyone who enjoys listening to him accepts it as gospel and acts on it, is even more ridiculous. Saying that misogynistic lyrics in songs lead men to lose respect for women is a bit like saying scanty clothing provokes men to rape. Also, if we are going ahead and shunning artists for some objectionable pieces of work they have, shouldn’t we be going after the foray of the likes of Sunny Leone in the movie industry? For that matter, it is time we clamped down on all seedy theaters screening adult movies. Isn’t it?

Point being, and this is something that Ms Sharmila Tagore pointed out on TV a few days back too, that no amount of vulgarity on screen or in songs can provoke you to violate a woman, unless you are pre-disposed to act in that way. I would like to quote the Freudian concept of Id, ego & super-ego here. Id, or the pleasure principle, will always lead a man to extract pleasure – maybe carnal or by proving his superiority, and it might be saying much, but in a way always provoking you to get the better of any female, if he merely desires so.

The ego, or the reality principle, helps keep the Id in check. This is where stricter laws and higher conviction rates come into play. The certainty of being hung/castrated in the event of committing an act of crime against women should be enough to dissuade a man from doing so.

Super-ego, or the moral principle, yet another clamp on the Id, could be enhanced through gender-sensitization. This, I believe, is the toughest to bring about. It starts from the individual’s first interaction with a female, his observance of how his father treats his mother, and a million other social cues. How one can bring about a change in each aspect of this is potentially long enough for a book. Extremely tedious. Extremely necessary.