Music Review: Bombay Talkies

Music Director: Amit Trivedi


This movie promises to bring together different flavours from four directors, but as far as the music goes, the one-man army of Amit Trivedi reworks its magic and conjures a journey through years of the various tones of Bollywood.

The movie is an ode to the Indian film industry (marking its centenary) and the music couldn't have done more justice to the theme. Firstly, the voice selection is remarkable, bringing together the finest voices we have and then embellishing them with a delightful assortment of instrumentals. This becomes fairly evident with the title track sung by Kailash Kher and Richa Sharma. The frequent change of tempo, and the consistent feeling of dreamy motion it lends to the listener, that runs through most songs in this movie, is well represented in this track.

The reprise with various voices packs familiar sounds from Bollywood and presents a 2-minute roller coaster. Not to forget, the lyrics are perky, smooth and well thought-out. Which brings us to the much hum-mable 'Bachchan'. Save the juvenile "Baccha Baccha gaye from bachpan bachpan" opener (which is also catchy!), the words are a perfect tribute to the living legend. Adorned with the rich vocals of Sukhwinder Singh, the song begins like a typical aarti, stumbles upon the Arabian sounds of the rabab and moves into the beat-laden, electric groove peppered with snippets of Bachchan's legendary dialogues in the background.

'Murabba' is another song with two versions on the album, both as different in their tonal quality as two songs could be. It is hard to pick 'the better' of the two, with Javed Bashir's powerful, neo sufi-esque vocals set to the pace of a chuk-chuk engine in one, and Kavita Seth's slightly-husky, slightly-dreamy voice peppered with Trivedi's backing vocals (very reminiscent of songs from 'Udaan') in the other.

Apart from the pacy tracks above, we have Mohit Chauhan, with his Himalayan shepherd voice, singing a soulful, perky 'Akkad Bakkad' - very beautiful lyrics again. All in all, another work of pure art from the Trivedi House! Just a little surprised, the songs are not entirely grabbing all the air-time even after a week of the music release.

Matter of time, I say!

(3.5/5)
--only because I am eternal optimist, and believe better music will waft into my ears someday! :)

Movie Review: Nautanki Saala (2013)

Release date: 12th Apr 2013
Director: Rohan Sippy
Rating: 1.5/5


A lot of people I talked to in the weeks running up to 'Nautanki Saala' said they were eagerly waiting for the 12th of April (I was one of them!). In such cases, the chances of disappointment enhance manifold. But at times, things come to a point where you wonder why, in the first place, were you hopeful of running into a blockbuster. Just because Ayusshmmaann Khurrraana delivered with 'Vicky Donor' with an ensemble of fresh faces, and the trailers of this one boasted of atleast these ingredients? Perhaps so!

Unfortunately, in this case, Professor Utonium forgot to add the Chemical X. What came out was a patchy disaster - ticklish in spurts, the rest a terrifying drag. No amount of special performances could have set right the pathetic excuse for a plot this movie is. Mr. Khuraana (I am really unsure of the double-triple letters and think it is excusable!) pulls up a fine show again, but refer to the previous point. He should totally take Daddyji's numerological advice when he chooses his next, before he lands up making another attempt at Career harakiri.

The first half of the movie is quite bearable, and there are quite some tid-bits there which are undoubtedly humourous. AK and Kunal Roy's pair indulges in a flurry of 'Jaane bhi do Yaaron'-esque (just for analogy) antics, which set one up to expect more as the movie progresses. The music, as is well known, is well done and gels well with the movie too. The good part ends there. To top off all the script mess-up, the director chose to cast a 'newbie' as female lead- one who is not a looker (at all!), has her voice dubbed (or it is just a complete mismatch to her countenance) and cannot act to save her life. Her only contribution to the movie were two insanely/incredibly/ridiculously long liplocks with Ayyusshman which were completely unnecessary, and their inclusion reinforced my belief that Mr. Sippy knew very well about the complete lack of 'masala' in his script, and tried making up for it in more ways than one.

Worth a watch only if you have some time and money to kill. And, even in that case, just go buy yourself some ice-cream or something.

The late night tea-time of the soul

I am quite the tea freak. Have always been. Considering the ritualistic fashion of tea drinking in my family, I often wonder if our ancestors migrated from China. Ah well, that could explain the tiny eyes… yowser!

My oddly timed requests for tea are often the subject of my friends’ amusement. There have been occasions, and many such, when after a scrumptious chicken meal accompanied by beer (ya mum! Only a little bit), I stretch myself and say, “You know what would be perfect now?!”, and I hear a collective sigh from the rest of the group.

A cup of tea serves loads of purposes. I totally believe that if there was anything that could replace the Hitchhiker’s towel, a cup of tea it would be. First and foremost, it is the refreshing taste. People believe that it is difficult to mess up making tea. For my part, I think making perfect tea is no ordinary man’s task. I would have had innumerable cups of tea at several different places. I am sure that most of them used comparable quality of milk and tea leaves. Yet, I remember the tastes having varied widely. That’s the thing with tea- and it is not just the taste; it is also about the aroma, the optimum amount of brew- every little ingredient an important part of the experience.

Tea is also the healthy man’s pack of smokes. Conversations begin and continue over tea. Friendships deepen as individuals spill their hearts out while casually sipping their cup of tea. Some of my most pleasant after-class memories feature holding a cup of tea and chatting away beside the college canteen. It offers the most preferred amount of break during office hours. Most people do think coffee is better suited. But believe me, tea is an equally refreshing and much healthier alternative. Try it. Though, the vending machine tea is hardly any good. Tell your mother to brew some for you. Rest assured, she would know.

Well, for me, tea is an extended dinner time, after-breakfast time - something to provide me the wanted boost shot any time of the day. Now that I think of it, add ‘tea’ to Ishan, and you have the energy of a pace bowler.

Ok, if you intend to kill me for the bad humour, please let me have my last wish. Aikta cup cha!