So you preferred the sugar-free taste of Cheeni Kum, or did the collage of Life In A Metro motivate you more? Perhaps, you loved the charms of Namastey London, or maybe the gush of emotional Water washed you in its pathos? Whatever be the film, it’s now time for you to select your most favorite film from the plethora of releases in the first half of 2007.

Currently, Bollywood is undergoing a very interesting phase. They are combining age old themes with mint-fresh narratives to create an unique amalgamation that is evidently a reflection of our own society – the old respectfully segued to the vibrant new. New directors are bringing in fresh vision. And the older ones are re-inventing themselves. Of course, there are some bloopers every now and then, but by and large the more ‘known’ films are creating an impact. Loathe it or love it, but you just cannot ignore Bollywood today.

[...]

The blurbs say “sugar-free romance.” Don’t take it too seriously. After all the film comes from advertising guy (R. Balki), there is bound to be some amount of exaggeration. The film is most definitely sweet though not cloyingly so.

And at last there is a mature romance where the characters age is just a number, outside Yash Chopra’s banner (at least, till the time the veteran made films we got some delectable and sensitive films). The film has more weight and words than Nishabd, and while watching Cheeni Kum I had this huge urge of dragging Ram Gopal Verma to the theater and show him that this is how old man-young woman romance should be made!

[...]

If director Anurag Basu’s film is to be believed then everyone in Mumbai is sleeping around in a shockingly loose manner. Relationships sever at the drop of the pant. Honesty and hardwork do not matter. Life is a bitch forever ready to bed, bite and betray. Come on, even I have stayed in a metro agreed it is not easy, but it is not really that bad. As a film depicting a slice of life in a huge city, the film is way too simplistic, salacious and rather unrepresentative.

However, if you see the film just about a bunch of characters (I guess the genre of multiple stories is here to stay), who incidentally happen to live in a big city where some insecurities have seeped in them, it works tremendously well. Especially since characters are not randomly selected, they are all interconnected; hence the film doesn’t look loose or haphazard like Salaam-E-Ishq (which remains the worst movie in this genre).

[...]

Hosting a conference turned out to be quite a massive affair. A week later, I am still lost buried beneath the aftermath exhaustion as well clearing up the bills. In between, I took off to Delhi and took a well deserved holiday. That accounts for the long absence on the blog.

Mercifully, everything in the conference went off with clock-work precision that would make the Swiss proud. True, there were minor goof-ups. In fact, on the day the guests were to arrive, there were several of them (largely thanks to the hotel, who otherwise were extremely good but somehow things went patchy on that morning) but we managed to douse all fires and before the biggest bulk of delegates arrived in the noon we had done the clean-up. When they entered the hotel’s porch, everything was settled the shehnai-and-dhol-and-nagada-wallahs whipped up a resounding welcome note, the girls from the hotel in bright red sarees showered fresh petals, and the cool welcome drinks were served meticulously.

[...]

It happened faster than a snap of the finger. My colleague (A.) and I were walking back from Bankey Bihari Mandir with two peda boxes in hand, A being a few steps behind me. Suddenly a commotion paused my stride. I turned to have a look, and found A. harrassed. My first thought was obvious the monkeys had snatched the peda boxes. But closer inspection brought forth an amusing laughter. A monkey had coolly walked off with A’s spectacles and stood near a stone sign board, chewing the spectacles stem and eyeing us naughtily. A. told that the monkey’s finesse in pulling off the spectacles from his eyes displayed an extraordinary sense of practice and polish.

A helpful hand nearby tried to lure the ape to return the specs in exchange for two mangoes. But the animal was smart. He ran off with the mangoes and the specs towards a nearby building’s terrace. Unfortunately we humans aren’t that adept in climbing pipes, so the helpful person had to climb the stairs but eventually managed to retrieve the glasses.

Next time you are in Vrindavan be cautious and don t take the signs of “Take care of your specs, bags and other belongings”, put up by the town administration, lightly or casually. They truly mean it!

[...]

Back to my favorite composers – Shankar Jaikishan! I have often stated that I love their music for the deeply intrinsic melody and their interludes which had polished finesse and clear tonal quality rarely heard in HFM. Two more aspects that I love in their music are:

a) Their beautiful use of counter melody the music that runs parallel to the antaras (best heard in the Mukesh number Teri yaad dil se bhulane chala hoon from Haryali Aur Rasta) or the music that rounds of a mukhda: for example, Deewane ka naam to poochho (An Evening In Paris) cannot be hummed without the ta-ta-ta sound after every two words: deewane ka ta- ta- ta naam toh poochho ta- tat- a. I hope you understand!

b) Their music had an unusual richness; in the sense even their tabla or dholak was never alone, it always had an accompanying jhankar to it long before those horrid external ‘jhankar beats’ were devised.

Shankar Jaikishan worked for some 190 films (including Telugu movies and documentaries) and composed a spectacular 1348 songs, of which 334 were duets*. Selecting a few lovable duets (not in any particular order except as and when I recalled them), which do not feature Lata Didi but are nevertheless a pleasure to hear:

[...]

Don’t get trapped in self-pity: It’s a trap that is very difficult to avoid. Staying alone means facing your thoughts in solitary confinements. And in this it is easy to get into a self-piteous mode. Socialize as much as your mental disposition allows. And if you are an introvert, try not to be in front of the internet for too long. The one-way silent communication adds to the dullness and depression. A television is a better option, since visuals-with-sound destroys the silence and the monotony.

Don’t drink alone: Pretty much linked to above. Once that sadness creeps in, liquor seems the best mate to share it with. After a while, you start enjoying the drinks with some superbly sad songs – looking forward to it daily and eventually get addicted. Simply keep a strong check on your will-power; and if you must drink alone, let it not be at your place. The best idea is not to keep either liquor bottles or its accessories (soda, cold drinks) at your place at all. I have been through the routine of drinking alone, playing some sad songs and generally feeling sorry honestly, it didn’t help to alleviate the pain. Rather, it aggravated. And then, to assuage the enhanced pain, the next evening would be more depressive the vicious circle simply goes on! You are not a Hindi film hero, and the crescendo of the background song doesn’t end the scene – the hangover remains suspended heavily in your brain and body! Also, if you are a smoker, the intake can substantially increase, so keep an eye on the consumption!

[...]

Juneli tagged me (yet again!) and this time on a topic I am passionate about. But two small caveats a) Usually, I don’t have ‘the’ favorite numbers; hence it is always a wide array of choices that I keep. So, I will twist the rules in this tag; and b) lists like these keep changing; had I taken up this tag a year back the choices might have been vastly different; a year down the line, probably I might not agree with this list. So, these choices are for now, for this moment:

Your favorite lyricist and the lyrics you remember the most:

I am not too lyrics-oriented man, in the sense that I give preferance to the tune, the music, the interludes, the orchestra and the rendition. Hence, even a silly sounding Sunday ko bulaya (I Love You) finds a decent place in my collection!

Shailendra: He pioneered the use of simple Hindi in film music, without dissipating the weight of the thought or emotion he needed to express. His vast repertoire include such shimmering gems like the tongue-in-cheek Chhoti si hai duniya pahchaane raaste hain, the celebratory Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai, the philosophical Sajan re jhooth mat bolo, the sorrow-ful Ae mere dil kahiin aur chal, the pious Manmohan krishna murari, the titillating Ang lag ja baalma and the romantic Tum hi tum ho mere jeevan mein.

[...]