Rahmaniac

I bumped into this term when scouting for release dates of Dilli 6 soundtrack. I must admit , it aptly describes my adulation for A R Rahman. 

It has been a slow transition from Rahman fan to a Rahmaniac. I must admit , I got hooked onto his music the day I heard Roja songs. The songs came like a breath of fresh air , complemented by Maniratnam's picturisation of the songs. From that day onwards , I am constantly on the lookout for new releases , reviews, award citations, rare interviews .. anything and everything to do with Rahman in a nutshell.

2008 has been a stupendous year for the Maestro ( Mozart from Madras ). With diverse tracks like Jodha Akbar , Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na , Yuvraaj , Ghajini to name a few. To cap it all Golden Globe for Slumdog Millionaire , could not have been more appropriate. He is going to be musical force for a long time to come not just in India anymore. My best wishes to this humble, shy genius :) ( You should see his acceptance speech in Golden Globe )

Coming to Dilli 6, what a soundtrack. He has got every genre possible into one soundtrack.. with pure classical Hindustani to Rap, lounge, kawwali thrown in as well. Just cant stop listening to the songs since friday. 

My favorite at the moment is "Arziyaan", a kawwali number. Its so addictive that I am running it in a loop since morning today. A uplifting number with meaningful lyrics by Prasoon Joshi. Superb!.

Next up is " Rehna Tu " , by Maestro himself. Tough song and takes time to grow .. but once in you are hooked on. Guitar strings in the interlude takes you to a different world altogether. Way to go Rahman, Way to go.

Then comes " Dil Gira Dafatan ".. highly romantic song sung by Brit Asian singer Ash King. Pukka romantic number , completely western.. good singing and subtle music with you blink she's gone presence from Chinmayee. A perfect song for a romantic soul.

"Masakalli " by Mohit Chouhan is another song that is catchy , with fab lyrics. Song is on air and already topping the charts.

With Rakeysh Om Prakash at the helm , I am sure most of the songs are going to be in the background. Hope couple of them do get to grace big screen with some stunning Delhi backdrop and some in NY. 

Go grab the CD now. Best way to start 2009 and You cant get a soundtrack that is so diverse and fantastic , for some time to come.

Thanks Rahman. Proud to be a Rahmaniac.

Oye Lucky and raise of independent cinema in Bollywood

By now lot of film critics have written a lot of stuff praising "Oye Lucky Lucky Oye". Its the latest offering by Dibakar Banerjee , maker of Khosal Ka Ghosla. A brilliant cinema , funny , dark and a great watch. All the actors are top notch, very natural. Its 

Last 2 years has seen a spate of such movies , brilliant ones , portraying the true India. A lot of them are equally entertaining as well, proving that entertainment and meaning can go hand in hand. It is very heartning that such movies are finding backers both in terms of producers and audiences , as more and more cinemagoers are dissulusioned with the escapist kind of movies. I am not saying we should not be making big budget , blockbusters , but just that we should equally support independent cinema. I am a firm believer that Cinema is a powerful medium and it should not just be used to show us unreal , escapist stuff .. but also true india in its raw form.

Also these cinemas bring to light so much of talent that is out there, as most of the the actors are from theatre background and very natural. We get to watch Deebak Dhobriyal in Omkaara, Abhay Deol in Manorama Six Feet Under , Rajeev Khadelwal in Aamir to name a few. Even technicians have been introduced in abundance. One name that comes to my mind is Aamir's music director Amit Trivedi. All in all , these cinema's are what is keeping legacy of Satyajit ray, Hrishikesh Mukherjee alive.

My list so far includes 

•  Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
  
•  Black Friday
  
•  Omkaara
  
•  Khosla Ka Ghosla
  
•  Manorama Six Feet Under
  
•  Aamir
  
•  A Wednesday
  
•  Ek chalis ki Last Local
  
•  Bheja Fry
  
•  Blue Umbrella
  
•  Yun Hota to Kya Hota
  
•  Evano Oruvan (Tamil) ( Dombivili Fast in Marathi )
  

On my to do list I have

 

•   Maqbool
  
•   Dasvidaniya
  
•   Tahaan
  
•   Mumbai Meri Jaan
  

  Thanks to Vishal ( bharadwaj ) , Dibakar, Navdeep , Anurag Kashyap , Nishikanth Kamath's of hindi cinema .. that we can keep our head high when people complain about Bollywood movies being just escapist and not good.