Anjaana Anjaani, Robot - Music Review

It's all about the latest and the greatest this week. From hip-hop music to hi-tech music....featuring this week:

Anjaana Anjaani (2010)
Music: The duo on fire Vishal-Shekhar

1. Tumse Hi Tumse -------- 8/10
Very pleasant and chic romantic track. Starts out in an interesting fashion and takes it's own time to get into groove. The English fillers add a stylish flavor to it.

2. Hairat ----------------- 8/10
Lucky Ali fans rejoice. Lucky Ali comes back with a swift paced rock track. The song starts out with a tune of strained emotions and follows up with good beats. Just the perfect elements for the singer who's trick is to sing songs with some dard factor to it. Not much variety in the tune of the song.

3. I Feel Good ------------------------------------------------ 8/10
A nice, totally feel-good factor and romantic track. The tempo of the song is good and evokes an upbeat mood. This song sounds so much like American/Western music, that if you didn't know what you were listening to and tune right into the I Feel Good part of the song, it won't even feel like Bollywood music. The song has some resemblance to Jaane Kyun from Dostana.....by Vishal-Shekhar...go figure!

4. Tujhe Bhula Diya -------------------------------------------- 8/10
This is an interesting, which starts out like a total pop song, follows with a sad-romantic track and then adds qawwali to it. And since all of it blends nice makes it an interesting track. The romantic part feels a little slow in the middle though. Remix is a so-so.

5. Aas Paas Khuda, Aas Paas Khuda (Unplugged) -------------------------------------------- 6/10
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has to make an appearance somewhere every now and then. And most often than not it  is good presence. A treat for his fans. Although, the Unplugged version is a duet, and it sounds better than the original version, but the original version has all the beats making both the songs just that a little less perfect.

6. Anjaana Anjaani Ki Kahani ------------------------------------------------ 6/10
A jolly title track for the song. Not really great, but the upbeat mood of the song is just infectious. The Anjaana a a a a a - Anjaani i i i i i part is fun. The style of the song is very Jatin-Lalit like.

7. Anjaana Anjaani ------------------------------------------------------- 5/10
A pretty flat track. It starts out nice and shows a lot of promise, but by the middle of it you would feel tired of it.

Final verdict: Good album. Not a single song is the greatest, but not one song is total trash. The whole album should entertain you. Gets a 7/10.

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Robot (2010)
Music: A. R. Rahman

One of the costliest movies in Indian history with highest paid and highly prolific musician, A. R. Rahman is meaningless, if the music does not turn out to be one of the finest. Real disappointment.

1. Naina Miley ------------------- 6/10
Probably the better of the worst. The song takes a little while to get better, but does get a little catchy. Just enough to get it a 6/10. The entire track sounds as if it is a remix of another track.


Brownie points:

• For some sarcastic pleasure, Boom Boom Robo Da is fun. Robo Da...really?
• Chitti Dance Showcase - Awesome beginning and an aweful rest.
• Overall the lyrics are funny. Harks back to those dubbing days of Humse Hai Muqabla, Jeans! Who sings Kilimanjaro Ladki Parvat Pe Yaro? The song is just hilarious for it's lyrics. Pagal Anukan and Arima Arima is just as corny.
• A. R. Rahman again shows his liking for unintelligible tribal sounds in his music. I really want to know what they babble.

Final verdict: Feels sorry to portray A.R. Rahman's album in such sarcastic light, but can't help. The expectations are always high of him.

Welcome to Amreeka!

.........because first impression is the last impression

People

• Strangers smile and say 'Hello'. Be it a bus driver, a janitor or your boss!
• Strangers do not look in the eye

At the restaurant

• You get free refill for coke/sprite aka soda. Bottomless. Ditto for coffee
• If there is a mistake in your food order, you get it for free
• Pepperoni is not sliced tomato!

Living

• There are no fans and lights in the apartments you rent!
• But your house is carpeted!
• You begin to wonder how you ever lived without a microwave and 24/7 internet
• If you dont have a car and you are not in a place that has good public transportation, there is no easy way to go anywhere. No autorickshaws or the like. Taxis are expensive.
• The first few months are weird. You cannot get a phone line or rent an apartment, because you have no credit (read: previous financial information about you)
• You tip the waiters, the taxi driver, the pizza delivery man. You tip!

On the train/ At the station

• People wait for passengers getting off the train/bus before boarding on
• Even during rush hours, no one storms a bus or train. Everyone boards a bus or train calmly
• No one does not do 'nothing'. You either read, listen to music or drink coffee
• You don't climb in or climb out of a subway train. You get on and off the train.  The floor of the subway train and the platform are at the same level. Most, if not everything is wheelchair accessible and all the buttons carry brail instructions for the blind
• On public buses, there is no conductor. You pay at the box at the driver and the driver manages it all

Driving

• You fill up the gas yourselves. You pay more for someone to fill up petrol aka gas for you
• You don't jump signals aka lights, even at midnight. Try at your own risk.

General

• There are way too less skyscrapers than you think
• There is far too much land once you leave the city

Calling

• You pay for incoming calls and incoming SMSs/texts
• Prepaid phone is very costly compared to post-paid plans.
• For post-paid plans you end up getting into 2 year contracts! But you get a handset for free!

At the movies

• At movies, there is no seat assigned. Seats are first come first serve. It only matters how early you are at the show
• No intermission

These are just some of my observations.......chime in yours.

Dabangg..........and the rest - Music Review

Finally, the first music blog of September and after a while. I won't say I am back with a bang, but I am surely back with Dabangg!

Dabangg (2010)

Music: Sajid - Wajid

Salman Khan & Co. is back with another action-packed goofy flick. And when this happens, it could be no other than Aksa Beach fame duo Sajid-Wajid directing the music for this film.Only the best songs below.

1. Tere Mast Mast Do Nain (Duet), Tere Mast Mast Do Nain ------------------------------------ 7/10

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is on a roll, and this track is another feather in his 2010 cap. He has been great in all the qawwali-style romantic music so long, and this track is no exception. The track is slightly not-so-generic romantic in the sense, that it is not the best of the romantic tracks that could be listened to at any occasion. Listen to it when you think you are ready, otherwise you may end up not liking it. Also, the Duet version sounds a little better than the solo version, as romantic tracks sound the best as a duet than solo.

2. Chori Kiya Re Jiya ---------------------------------------------------------- 6/10

Another romantic track by the king of romantic tracks Sonu Nigam and the queen of melody Shreya Ghoshal. Despite the perfect voices for the song, it fails to capture our hearts. Starts out great but fizzles out by the middle and there is not much variety in the song after the first verse. Sounds good enough....but just not enough.

3. Dabangg Theme ---------------------------------------------------------- 6/10

Pretty impressive wild wild west kind of theme for the movie. The theme is pretty much like Wanted, replete with the choiciest of dialogues from the movie. But not great, and only a few dialogues make us laugh.

Rest of the songs are pretty mediocre. Humka Peeni Hai sounds like a mixture of Taali Maar from Veer and Bidi Jalai Le from Omkara

Final verdict: The movie might have a good dabangg at the box office, but the music fails to be as impressive.

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We Are Family (2010)

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy! What has happened to them? I don't remember when was the last time, they got me tapping my feet. Either they are on the downward route or they are selecting drama movies to lend their music which is keeping their music very heavy and morose.

Either case, the music sounds as if it was My Name is Khan Too. If you still insist, Reham O Karam and Hamesha And Forever are the slightly better tracks.

Overall, a disappointment.

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Madholal Keep Walking (2010)

Music: Nayab Raja

I don't know if it is a rule that artsy movies have to have bad music or what, but this assumption is totally correct in this case. There is nothing to miss here...........

Gumshuda (2010)

Music: Bikram Ghosh

......... and nothing to miss here too. Again, Sunidhi Chauhan singing crappy songs only makes me wonder, is she short of money?