Jodi Breakers, London Paris New York, Will You Marry Me - Music Review

Jodi Breakers (2012)
Music: Salim - Sulaiman

Salim-Sulaiman have a very distinctive style of music, especially when Salim lends his voice to tracks. This album resembles to a great extent to their past albums like Band Baaja Baaraat, Pyaar Impossible and Ladies v/s Ricky Bahl. While they may seem to stagnate in terms of variety, so far it has been on the better side. This album however, would be one of their average efforts.

1. Jab Mai Tumhare Saath Hum --------- 8/10
A not-so fresh, but a very likable romantic track, as also the best track of the album. The slow, soothing start by Shilpa Rao is very calming, while Benny Dayal and Salim Merchant provide a euphoric follow up. Good tempo and the mood of the song never drops in quality, which a great plus for the song.

Brownie point:

• Kunwara - A perfect fun-filled sangeet song for some wedding fun.

Otherwise, a passable album. Some songs are overly melodramatic, evoking images of a painful lover than a happy lover.

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London Paris New York (2012)
Music: Ali Zafar

Ali Zafar's first stint as a Bollywood music director was exciting given his peppy track F.U.N. Fun Funaa in Luv Ka The End.
If you listen this album with those expectations, this track will surely be a letdown. Overall, the album is upbeat and light in mood, however, it fails to capture the heart.
Brownie points:

• London Paris New York - If you were making a trip between these cities, this would be a nice trip song. Besides that, there is not much in this song that distinguishes itself as anything nice.
• Ooh Lala - The overall techno instrumentals and digitally altered voices gives this song a discothequ-esque feel right out of the box.

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Will You Marry Me (2012)
Music: Toshi Sabri, Sharib Sabri, Sachin Gupta

....and the last album of the week. Same story. The album is not outright bad, but there is hardly anything new and exciting in the album to make heads turn.

Brownie point:

• Soniye - This is one is for Rahat Fateh Ali Khan fans. It has all the hallmarks of a track from him: Slow paced, soothing, soft start leading up to a crescendo by the ghazal maestro. Again, for the fans only.

That's all from this weak music week.
Jab Main Tumhare Saath Hun - Jodi Breakers Kunwara - Jodi Breakers London Paris New York - London Paris New York Ooh Lala - London Paris New York Soniye - Will You Marry Me

Internationalization

Just as meteorologists use satellite images and weather vanes to forecast weather, or a mechanic uses probes to find the status of machine, what would we find if we were to make a quick physical exam of international cricket. Here are the observations:

Australia
The only team in the world that seems to care for excellence. Right from being the national sport of the country to the grassroots level, passion for cricket seems to run down the veins down under,....... and.....a very big 'and'.....translates to the seriousness of maintaining a high standard of game.

• Won 1987 World Cup in India
• Won 1999 Wold Cup in England
• Won 2003 World Cup in South Africa
• Won 2007 World Cup in West Indies
• Finalist in 1975 in England and 1996 in Pakistan

In short, excellent international team for the past 35 years, and does well outside home conditions too.

High cricket standards in national cricket. Unfortunate to have to send only one team on the international level.

India

Passion for cricket runs deep to the point of insanity. The same level of commitment towards achieving professionalism and brilliance for the de facto national sport: Patchy. A single team to represent about a billion people on earth, over and over: Extremely unfair. Highly polarized and nepotistic cricket board that manages Indian cricket: Board of Control for Cricket in India, or BCCI:

• BCCI grows super rich over the past 2 decades, is a monster in the ICC room.
• Bullyish and pushing it's own agenda on ICC. Makes room for Indian cricket for IPL giving international tourneys a second thought.
• Opposed to DRS, on ridiculous grounds
• Produces cricket pitches that would make bowlers take up another sport instead.
• Become Test and ODI World Cup champions only to follow up by 2 back to back overseas whitewashes, bringing home World Cup glory into question.

Sri Lanka

• A nobody cricket team until 1996 World Cup. Wins the World Cup and creates waves for rising up from being underdogs to champions
• Has been on a downward path ever since, and despite featuring in the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals, remains a toothless opposition.
• Circa 2012, Sri Lanka Cricket is cash-strapped, dysfunctional. Players not payed wages. Team selection is erratic and spurred by personal motives. Talent dwindling.

Pakistan

• Always a volatile team. Possesses talent.
• Pakistan Cricket Board - An unruly board. Complete new faces every couple of years. Coaches come and go. Superstar players thrown out only to come back later. And then thrown out again. A team in a constant state of repair and rebuilding.
• Players involved in serious offenses involving spot fixing, drug use
• Political and security situation of the country debilitates international cricket. Sri Lanka team attacked, bomb explodes outside New Zealand team's hotel. A places off-limits for any international team
• India and Pakistan don't play bilateral series for years at stretch due to diplomatic breakdown and make ups between the countries. The only series that could match the Ashes in rivarly doesn't happen for years at a stretch.

England

• As always, truly England
• When will this team be the team to beat. Despite beating Australia in the Ashes twice in a row at the time of this writing, a perennially mediocre team.
• Great county cricket structure, gave the world Twenty20 cricket
• Quick question: How is England an international team, when it is only a part of United Kingdom?

South Africa

• The only other team in international cricket that knows to stay competitive and interesting over the course of many years
• Can be blamed for having players that were at the heart of match-fixing, and got exposed.
• The only team consistently able to challenge Australia at home and away venues.

West Indies

• Old glory does not seem to come back to the Caribbean
• Athlete loyalties shift from cricket to soccer, basketball and baseball. Serious deprivation of talent
• Board infighting leads to key players leaving international cricket, significant player strikes
• Now: Mediocre team with no hope in sight for improvement

New Zealand

• Almsot forgot the Black Caps
• Such is the case with the team who plays the fifth popular sport in the country.
• Talent rare. Passion: Hard to find
• The forgotten team of international cricket. No one except New Zealanders care if they the World Cup or anything

Zimbabwe

• A poor team that looked to become good by 2003
• Political debacle in the country, destroys it's upcoming team. Relegated by the ICC from Test cricket
• Test status regained, but stays a team, no major team can dream of losing to.

Bangladesh

• Achieved Test status in 2000 in a hasty fashion
• Since then, has been able to record upset victories in ODIs against all major teams, but only one-off games. Never a tournament, except if keeping Zimbabwe in picture. By now, these two countries must have developed an Ashes like rivalry, amongst the bottom tiered teams
• In the past 11 years, have won only 3 test matches, 1 against Zimbabwe and 2 against second tier West Indies team sent during their phase of player strikes

Other fringe teams:

• Kenya - The team with the most potential wasted over 16 years since debuting on tier 1 international level in 1996 World Cup. Beat West Indies in 1996, semifinalist in 2003 World Cup owing to match forfeitures. Left to rot by ICC to play against minnows. Never given Test status.
• Ireland - Made an impact by edging out Pakistan in 2007 World Cup. Beat England in 2011 World Cup in stunning comeback victory chasing 300+ total, featuring fastest World Cup century by Kevin O'Brien. Future in dark, as they keep on playing the minnows for the coming years. Test status, a pipe dream.
• United Arab Emirates - Featured in 1996 World Cup. Best known for being clobbered by Gary Kirsten for record breaking World Cup innings
• Netherlands - Barring 1999 World Cup, made it to all World Cups since 1996. Have a couple decent players, but, as usual, ICC won't do anything to bring them up and make them play against elite cricketing teams. The team features mostly original Dutchmen, instead of South Asian disapora pretending to represent the country, which displays some level of mainstream support
• Canada, USA, Scotland, Namibia, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Afghanistan - Good to know they made it to tier 1 stage at different points in time

Conclusion:

• The prospects for international cricket to continue over the same course it has taken for a while looks very bleak.
• The onslaught of 24x7 cricket, between the same teams over and over is getting monotonous
• Teams that were formerly powerhouses of cricket have regressed to mediocrity. New teams do not have good talent and ICC support framework to make a meaningful addition to international cricket
• More and more players are being stretched between the practicality of good fortune offered by club cricket and representing national cricket
• ICC needs to put in a creative and aggressive plan in place, if it plans to keep international cricket the face of the game. It needs to add more teams that are competitive quickly and decide upon the standard format of the game: Tests, ODIs or T20s. Otherwise it risks not just failing to expand it's audience, it might be staring at fan erosion.
• Alternatively, cricket should take a cue from other major professional sports. Promote club cricket around the world and keep international cricket limited to World Cup and it's qualifiers and Olympic Games.

Act ICC! For once.

Ekk Deewana Tha, Tutiya Dil, Married 2 America - Music Review

Ekk Deewana Tha (2012)
Music: A. R. Rahman

The best of the best in Bollywood, A. R. Rahman looks to resurrect his magic after the wildly popular Rockstar.
1. Hosanna ------------------------ 8/10
One of the best romantic tracks in quite a while, resembling a great deal with ARR's Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na music style. At one point, it is a romantic melodrama, while a playful, joyful friendship in the next instant. The negative points are only for the length and a slight repetitiveness owing to it. Otherwise, a very fresh track.

2. Jessie's Land ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8/10
After Latika's Theme from Slumdog Millionaire, comes another soothing instrumental. Very romantic and nostalgic. It is based off of Hosanna, so all the melodrama from Hosanna is in full concentration here.

3. Phoolon Jaisi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7/10
Clinton Cerejo, one of the best, in modern music in Bollywood teams up with A. R. Rahman for this beautiful and calming romantic track. A departure from the acoustics laden music for Clinton, this one is a very humble melody, combining a soft melody and traditional carnatic musicals. The final outcome is a soft track, with distinct instrumentals and vocals.

Brownie points:

• Dost Hai (Girl I Loved You) - Interesting techno-gangsta rap experiment in Bollywood. Certainly not a piece of trash, so if you were looking for something from this genre, give it a shot.
• Jessie's Driving Me Crazy - Rock music in Bollywood: still evolving and though it has all the elements of classical rock, it is only for the die-hard rock fans. Also a very short track.

Final verdict: Overall, the album is very fresh. Very experimental. It is almost like someone came up to A. R. Rahman and told him: 'Look, you love producing music. But this time, just do what your heart tells you to do and not the business. Weave something fresh and we will make it work'. The final result is a mixed bag: Only one good song to remember, and many decent songs with great patches. A. R. Rahman does produce very long songs.

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Tutiya Dil (2012)

Music: Gulraj Singh

A movie hardly anyone has heard about; a cast and crew no one cares about yet. But don't just overlook, or should I say, overhear the music of the movie. One of the wild cards in Bollywood, this one is a real entertainer. Not the best of the songs, but the energy, beats and simple but fun lyrics is a perfect cure for a dull mood.

1. Hip Hop Saiyaan ----------------------------- 9/10

Yet another a hip-hop track of the album about the romantic tussle. A surefire hit in wedding parties, this song blends traditional music and techno/rap pieces. Result: Approve.

2. Satrangia Dil ---------------------------------- 8/10

A classic use of soft, silent strumming followed by a euphoric ending in every other line keeps this song very sharp, clear and distinctly melodious, energetic and entertaining. A commendable effort by the newcomer Gulraj Singh.

3. Alak Niranjan ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8/10

Never before there has been a philosophical song this fast paced and hip. Never before there has been a philosophical song where you would pay attention to lyrics and wait in anticipation of what's coming next. The first few rounds of listens might sound odd, but wait till this song grows on you.

4. Tutiya Dil ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6/10

An entertaining blend of Punjabi and hip hop musical styles, making it suitable for young parties. The lyrics are a little abrasive. The great start to the song is a little wasted, by a tad slow follow up.

Brownie point:

• Le Chalo - If you loved Iktara from Wake Up Sid, this one is worth paying heed to. Soulful and melodious for the intended.

Final verdict: Overall, gets an 8/10. This is an album, that comes up trumps due to it's upbeat and fast-paced approach. The high tempo is backed by clearly laid tunes and instrumentals, instead of commotion. Yet another point in it's favor is it's youth and freshness. Watch out for Gulraj Singh in future.

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Married 2 America (2012)

Music: Dr. Anwar Hussain

The only positive thing to say about this album is: Despite being a fringe movie, the music director has tried to stay true to melody and appears to have put in his heart to recreate the emotions in the movie with the music. It does not have a trashy vibe. But, the million dollar question is: Is it entertaining? :)

Hosanna - Ekk Deewana Tha Jessie's Land - Ekk Deewana Tha Phoolon Jaisi - Ekk Deewana Tha Dost Hai (Girl I Loved You) - Ekk Deewana Tha Jessie's Driving Me Crazy - Ekk Deewana Tha Hip Hop Saiyaan - Tutiya Dil Satrangia Dil - Tutiya Dil Alak Niranjan - Tutiya Dil Tutiya Dil - Tutiya Dil Le Chalo - Tutiya Dil

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Gali Gali Chor Hai, Sadda Adda - Music Review

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012)
Music: Amit Trivedi

1. Aunty Ji -------------------------- 6/10
A pretty fun party song with a stroke of sarcasm. A great song for a fun filled get-togethers and make the previous generations to groove, without having to play the songs of the 60s or 70s. The use of Tex-Mex style swing music laden with fast-paced mandolin and harmonica musical is impressive. Overall this effort falls way short of being truly entertaining.

2. Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6/10
Foot-tapping and modern. The lyrics and mood are very light-hearted making it a good getaway song. In no way, this is a chartbuster; just manages to add some fun in the air. Shelf-life for this song: As much as this movie stays in limelight. Note: The background beats feel like a direct rip-off off Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out Of My Head.

3. Gubbare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6/10
If you loved Sham from Aisha two years ago and are yearning for another song in this genre in Bollywood, look no further. If you didn't like the previous one and don't like this genre, just skip this song.

Final verdict: Overall, gets a 6/10. The songs sound decent. It is the only saving grace for this album. Otherwise a highly unoriginal album. Disappointing indeed. Amit Trivedi takes a leaf out of Vishal-Shekhar's musical cookbook. Very much like Anjaana-Anjaani and using Vishal as the male playback for Kar Chalna Shuru Tu only brings out the similarity starkly.

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Gali Gali Chor Hai (2012)
Music: Anu Malik

1. Chhanno ----------------------------------------- 10/10
2. Chhanno (Remix) ------------------------------10/10
If you haven't already caught up to the fever of Chikni Chameli killer, it is still not too late. Super cheap and hilarious lyrics. Great energy. Good beats and tempo. And to top it, Mamta Sharma resurrects the Munni Badnam Hui experience. In fact, the songs are so similar, this one feels like an extended version of the former. The genre and rating for the song are strictly for the genre it represents. The original and Remix are almost identical, so play whichever, the experience won't change much. Great item number.

3. Gali Gali Chor Hai ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5/10
The song is obviously not made for entertainment, but more for expression. This one only gets a mention for it's corny lyrics on corruption, reminding us of Mehngai Dayain from Peepli [Live].

Very surprising to see Anu Malik still being employed in the mainstream. The genre of the movie did not lend him much space to impress, but he definitely pulled off Chhanno brilliantly.

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Sadda Adda (2012)
Music: Shamir Tandon, A Band Of Boys, Ramji Gulati

A very passable album. Not a complete piece of trash, but only adequate to make it sound decent. Pretty boring and might be only a little better if they are placed well in the movie's plot. Dosti is a decent album on friendship in this college campus and hostel life themed album. As an album overall: Totally unoriginal.

Aunty Ji - Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu - Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu Gubbare - Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu Kar Chalna Shuru Tu - Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu Chhanno - Gali Gali Chor Hai Chhanno (Remix) - Gali Gali Chor Hai Gali Gali Chor Hai - Gali Gali Chor Hai Dosti - Sadda Adda

Rock, devotion and misfits of 2011

Rock:

The most evolving and nascent genre of music in Bollywood. The genre started picking up late in 2009, through 2010. They were mostly misfires and distasteful at times. However, 2011 saw a much mature rock genre, and although it is still far from the 'true' rock (rock what's rock as of 2012), it is coming along well in Bollywood.

Rap:

Ditto for rap. A completely foreign genre for an industry, a culture which prides on melody and graceful, poetic lyrics.

Here are the best from 2011 from rock, rap and alternative music:

** Click here to PLAY **

• Utt Pataang - Utt Pataang
• Bandagi - Hostel
• Thayn Thayn - Dum Maaro Dum
• Karma Is A Bitch - Shor In The City
• Shor - Shor In The City
• Ujale Baaz - Short In The City
• Issi Baat Pe - I Am
• Baadlon Pe Paon - Kuchh Luv Jaisaa
• Ragini - Ragini MMS
• Josh - Shaitan
• Fareeda - Shaitan
• Unleashed (Music) - Shaitan
• Outro (Music) - Shaitan
• Life Sahi Hai - Pyaar Ka Punchnama
• Baanwre - Pyaar Ka Punchnama
• Dilli Ke Deewane - Hair Is Falling
• Dum Hai To Aaja - Force
• Symphony Of The Streets - Soundtrack
• Shera Di Kaum - Speedy Singhs
• Chhoo Le - Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge
• Saadda Haq - Rockstar
• Fatal Attraction - Ladies v/s Ricky Bahl

Khwaja Mere Khwaja:

Another overlooked genre of Bollywood is the devotional music. A. R. Rahman definitely gave it a different meaning over the past couple of years. Hence, I like to call it the Khwaja Mere Khwaja  series. Even though some or more of these devotional songs are brushed off as that, fans of this genre had more to add to their playlists in 2011:

** Click here to PLAY **

• Aye Khuda - Murder 2
• Aik Alif - West Is West
• Har Saans Mein - Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge
• Bismillah - Azaan
• Kun Faaya Kun - Rockstar