तुमको देखा तो ये खयाल आया …

एक गरीब मध्यममार्गी विद्यार्थी, आपले एम ए चे शिक्षण घेणारा. छंद म्हणून शायरी करणारा. आपल्या घरापासून दूर कॉलेज असणाऱ्या शहरात राहणारा. नेहमी चहासाठी कॅन्टीन मध्ये दोस्तांबरोबर गप्पा मारत बसणारा. त्या नायाकामध्ये आणि आमच्यात खूप साधर्म्य होते कॉलेज जीवनात त्यामुळे की काय पण इतर बी ए पास आणि नुसत्या गाड्या उडवणाऱ्या हिंदी चित्रपट नायकांपेक्षा तो खूप जवळचा वाटायचा. जरी त्याच्या चित्रपटांत आणि आमच्या कॉलेज जीवनात एक-दीड पिढीचे अंतर होते तरीही तो जणू आपले प्रतिनिधित्व करतो आहे हे पाहून बरे वाटायचे. असा नायक साकारला होता फारुख शेख नी.

मुंबई मधील एका वकिलाचा तरुण मुलगा ज्याने स्वतः कायद्याचे शिक्षण पूर्ण केले आणि वकिली सुरु केली. पण त्या काज्ज्या खटल्यांमध्ये याचे कलाकारी मन काही रमेना. कॉलेज जीवनात भरपूर नाटके केल्यामुळे तशा ओळखी होत्या आणि अनुभवही होता. त्या अनुभवावर त्याला 'गर्म हवा' मध्ये एक पात्र मिळाले. त्या चित्रपटातील त्याचा अनुभव पाहून सत्यजीत रायनी त्याला त्यांच्या 'शतरंज के खिलाडी' मध्ये घेतले. ज्या काळात हिंदी चित्रपटसृष्टीमध्ये समांतर चित्रपट चळवळ सुरु होती तो त्याचा उदयाचा काळ ठरला.

त्यानी ७० आणि ८० च्या दशकांत बरेच सामान्य माणसाला जवळचे वाटणारे चित्रपट केले त्यात आम्हाला तो जवळचा वाटला तो 'साथ साथ' मध्ये आणि 'चष्मेबद्दूर' मध्ये. यापैकी साथ साथ मध्ये त्यांनी लग्नानंतर जवाबदारीने माणूस कसा बदलतो आणि मग त्याला त्याची हाव अजून खाली खेटते हे अत्यंत परिणामकारक रीतीने दाखवले. चष्मेबद्दूर मध्ये तीन कॉलेज कुमार असताना हा त्यातला एक साधा सरळ सज्जन मुलगा होता. मुलीला भेटल्यानंतरचा सुरवातीचा नवखेपणा आणि नंतर भांडणानंतरचे नैराश्य त्याने उत्तमरीतीने साकारले. त्याची खर्या जीवनातील सहचारिणी त्याला कॉलेज मध्ये नाटकातच भेटली त्यामुळे बहुतेक त्याला ते साकारणे अवघड गेले नाही.

नंतरच्या काळातही तो सतत कार्यमग्न राहिला. 'जी मंत्रीजी' ही मंत्री आणि त्यांच्या सचिवांवर आधारित विनोदी मालिका केली. त्याचबरोबर 'जीना इसिका नाम हैं' हा मुलाखतींचा कार्यक्रम ही केला. २००९ मध्येच त्याला 'लाहोर' चित्रपटासाठी सर्वोत्कृष्ट सहायक अभिनेत्याचे राष्ट्रीय पारितोषिक मिळाले. त्यामुळे तो अजूनही उमेदीतच होता असे मी म्हणेन. त्याचे असे अचानक जाणे म्हणजे आपल्या कॉलेज जीवनातील एक मित्र सोडून जाण्यासारखे वाटते आहे.

                                  

Mala Ved Laagale ...

A teen love story, a simple Marathi girl next door, a rowdy boy - you just need some great songs in this mixture to make a perfect romantic movie.  And Timepass combines all these ingredients to make the perfect blend. Mala Ved Laagale is picturized on Ketaki Mategaonkar and Prathamesh Parab. They make the perfect couple described earlier. Director Ravi Jadhav has selected the usual canvas of a rainy day but he elevates it to the next level by painting a real life middle class neighborhood and two lovers madly in love (Ved = madness).

The song is composed by Chinar-Mahesh. They have created the true modern but still a warm in heart melody for this song. Swapnil Bandodkar is one reliable performer in Marathi movies now. The true surprise in this song is the beautiful voice of Ketaki. We all knew she has a great voice but this song gives her great exposure to the mainstream singing besides kids' songs. She has handled the music very well and complimented Swapnil's voice. You can say on screen and in singing she has became a true celebrity of Marathi film industry in no time.





Enjoy!!         

Laage Re Nain

The start of new season at Coke Studio Pakistan and we already have the song giving goosebumps. This song is a traditional Bandish based on Raag Bhupali. There are many renditions of this bandish but Rohail Hyaat has produced it to suit western instruments. The new version sung by Ayesha Omar has became a great lounge pleaser.

The husky voice of Ayesha suits the song very well and she has sung it nicely. The sarangi piece at the start is a great way to introduce the bandish and Ayesha's voice mellows perfectly with that sarangi intro. It is a simple and melodious song without much complexities and that is the catching point for the song.




Enjoy!!

Jeene Laga Hoon ...

Now you will think I am advertising all Tips movies - but the fact is they are making some good movies with great songs. And this one is again following the path of great love songs - Ramaiya Vastavaiya - the new movie by Prabhudeva. This is the remake of his directional debut from Telugu. I would say a good launching pad for producer's son!

The song is again composed by Sachin-Jigar - this year's hot favorite. For a teaser I am going to write about one another song composed by them - but that's later. Looks like they are filling in the gap created by exit of two great pairs  Nadeem-Shravan and Jatin-Lalit very nicely. Voiced by Shreya Ghoshal and Atif, this song follows a romantic melody and takes you in the clouds of fresh love. It feels like you are surrounded by the mist of early morning dew and you are looking at your love while the nascent rays of sun playing with her still wet hair. I was always arguing about need of a good love story with fresh faces for Bollywood and I have a good feeling that chemistry between Girish Kumar and Shruti Haasan will make this movie a memorable one.






Enjoy!!




         

Balam Pichkari ...

I normally don't write about Pritam's songs here but this song made me write about it as it is stuck in my head for some time now. Holi songs are not new for Hindi movies and this song follows that trend. Evergreen song from Sholey to the new version of Akshay Kumar, Holi songs are hot favorite for capturing the youth mind. This song captivates it perfectly. Add that with a great chemistry between Ranbir and Deepika. She is the only second actress after Anushka Sharma to look so comfortable in doing any song. I don't want to compare but these two has brought back some magic of Hema malini and Vaijayanti mala - dancing freely on the great tunes.

Well going back to song - a great catchy tune with use of base to amplify the sound of dance! Pritam makes it even better using voice of Shalmalee Kholgade and Vishal Dadlani. Vishal has sung many good songs recently and his voice is used perfectly in this song. I would just say that listen to this song and you will land in your childhood/youth playing Holi with some dance and lots of colors!!









Enjoy!! 

गीत रामायण - Geet Ramayan

कालच आई म्हणाली आज रामनवमी आहे जरा नमस्कार कर तो चांगली बुद्धी देईल. आता आम्ही कधी तिचा सल्ला ऐकतो कधी नाही ऐकत पण आज काही तरी वेगळेच होते. चेहरे पुस्तकावर एक श्लोक वाचला आणि कळले की हे गीत रामायणातील राम जन्माचे गीत आहे. गीत रामायणातील काही गीते मधून मधून ऐकली होतीच पण निदान माझ्या पिढीला तरी गीत रामायण काय आहे हे कमीच माहिती आहे. ग दि मा आणि सुधीर फडक्यांनी रचलेली गीते आहेत एवढे माहिती होते. मग काय शोधाशोध सुरु झाली आणि हाती लागला खजिना. गीत रामायणाच्या सुवर्ण महोत्सवासाठी सकाळ ने आयोजित केलेल्या सुश्राव्य कार्यक्रमाचे चित्रीकरण तू-नळीवर सापडले. आणि मी ते ऐकण्यात हरवून गेलो.    

१ एप्रिल १९५५ रोजी पुणे आकाशवाणीवर या महायज्ञाची सुरुवात झाली आणि एका वर्षानंतर एप्रिल १९५६ मध्ये शेवटचे गीत प्रसारित झाले. महाभारत आणि श्रीकृष्ण दूरदर्शन वर पाहिल्यामुळे दर आठवड्याला नवीन भाग पाहण्याची किंवा ऐकण्यातली जी हुरहूर सर्व घराला असते ती मी अनुभवली आहे. म्हणून फक्त कल्पना करू शकतो त्यावेळेस सर्वजण किती आतुरतेने नवीन भागाची वाट पाहत असतील. गीत रामायणाची कीर्ती इतकी वाढली की नंतर वर्तमानपत्रेही नवीन गीत दर आठवड्याला छापू लागली. ग दि मांची रसाळ भाषाशैली आणि बाबूजींचे श्रवणीय संगीत असा एक दैवी संग गीत रामायणात घडून आला. त्याचबरोबर गायला सुधीर फडके, माणिक वर्मा, वसंतराव देशपांडे, लता मंगेशकर आणि अजूनही बरच प्रथितयश गायक मिळाले. 

चैत्र मास त्यात शुद्ध नवमी हि तिथी, 

गंध युक्त तरीही वाट उष्ण हे किती. 

दोन प्रहरी का ग शिरी सुर्य थांबला … 

राम जन्मला ग सखे …राम जन्मला

राम जन्माचे किती सुंदर वर्णन आहे यात. अशीच सुंदर संपूर्ण ५६ गाणी ग दि मांनी लिहिली. ज्यांनी खरच त्याकाळी आकाशवाणीवर ऐकले त्यांचा थोडा हेवा वाटतो आहे पण जे अटल बिहारी वाजपेई म्हणत होते "आपण सर्व तर या काळात विरून जाऊ पण गीत रामायण असेच वर्षानुवर्षे टवटवीत राहील". मला महिती नाही माझ्या पिढीतील आणि माझ्या नंतरच्या किती लोकांना हा सुंदर ठेवा माहिती आहे - म्हणून हा एक छोटा प्रयत्न पुनश्च ओळख करून देण्याचा. 

बरोबर तू-नळी वरील चित्रीकरण देतो आहे. ते ऐकून आनंद घ्या हो आणि सुधीर फडक्यांच्या आवाजातले मूळ मिळाले तर अजूनच आनंद द्विगुणीत होईल. 

(धन्यावाद - मिनल देवस्थळे)                 

Paani Da Rang ..

Sometimes some simple things also give you great pleasures. One of such song was Paani da Rang. I was not expecting from it to be a sweet melody and it surprised me! I heard about Vicky Donor - it's a funny movie with some bold subject. A new hero with a new heroine - only known name was Annu Kapoor. I watched the movie and came across this great song. And then I made turns of listening it in a loop - it just stays with you and gets on your mind.

Ayushmaan has sung the song and himself has composed it. It is a simple composition with guitar and basic house beat. A compelling voice of Ayushmaan makes you feel good and happy. Though lyrics are  dominantly Punjabi, they do not hamper the song. They sound perfect match for Ayushmaan's voice. Bhatt camp should learn something from this - the big disappointment were songs of Ashiqui 2. They have lost their simple melody over the time - but Paani da Rang proves that the melody in Hindi film music is still alive and going to stay here for the long time!








Enjoy!!

Yeh Haseen Vadiyan ...

Some songs are special songs - you hear them and they give you goosebumps - this song is one of those songs. When I first heard this song I got goosebumps and still whenever I listen this I get goosebumps. I always consider Roja was ARR's masterpiece and this is The Best work.

Yeh Haseen Vadiyan starts with a distinct rhythm, picks up with the chorus. And then comes the ravishing voice of Chitra. She start and S P Balasubramanyam backs her up with a great fineness. P K Mishra has written some great words for it. He did not just translate the words but conveyed the feelings from Tamil to Hindi.

I know many will fight with me that there are other works of ARR better than this but I still feel this is the One. Even with the picturization of the song is great. I have always given full points to Manirathanm for his great locations and use of colors in the songs and Santosh Sivan makes this one a work of greatness.

Now don't think anything - put on your headphones - close your eyes - and start listening. I bet you will reach the beautiful Kashmir in a second and experience the Heaven on Earth!!!







Enjoy!!!           

Piya O Re Piya ...

Hindi movie industry is always blessed with great melody maker duos. Shankar - Jaikishan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Nadeem - Shravan, Jateen - Lalit have made listening romantic songs a pleasant breeze in movies. This list has its newest addition. In last post I wrote about Sachin-Jigar, the new duo in Bollywood. In very short time they have made their mark with great melodious tracks.

Piya O Re Piya is written by Priya Panchal and sung by Atif and Shreya Ghoshal. A perfect love track filmed on Ritesh - Jenelia, the real life couple. From movie Tere naal Love ho gaya this track fills your mind with the love feel!







Enjoy!!  

Early morning ...

Some songs are not traditional still they become tradition of Bollywood movies. Now a days songs like flashback and parodies are making a huge sensation on the chart of Hindi film music. The new entry in this is a song from remake of "Chashme Baddoor". The 1981 masterpiece of Sai Paranjape, Farooq Shaikh and Deepti Naval ( miss chamko) is remade by David Dhavan and the hero is Ali Zafar. Sai herself helped David to write the script and made it to suit youth in 2013.

This song really takes the heart from the old movie and transforms in the new times. Sonu Nigam has used his versatile voice and funky composition of Sajid-Wajid to made this song a worth listen. Ali Zafar, Siddharth, Rishi Kapoor, and Tapsee look awesome in this song and perform great dance.







Enjoy!!
    

Thoda Thoda ..

Bollywood is always looking for nice romantic tracks - this song proves one of the highlights. Vivek Oberoi is always fortunate to get good songs for his movies - this song may be his new chartbuster. Composer duo Sachin-Jigar proves they are here to stay with this great track. They have FALTU, Kya Super Kool Hai Hum in their belt. They had some dabbling in romantic style with "Teri shirt ka mai button " but that was more of comic song. Now they enter with the real number one. This song is already on top in many online song listening sites.

Thoda thoda from Jayantbhai ki Love story is a sensual track with voices of Shreya Ghoshal and Sachin. Lyrics are penned by Priya Panchal. And not to forget beautiful Neha Sharma. She have the potential to be the new leading lady of Hindi films. I was not sure about this song before hearing this but now it is stuck in my mind and I wonder it will make it's place in your mind too!






Enjoy!!  

Ek Cutting Chai

Some songs brings back memories of happy and sad times and some memories bring back some songs! A rainy evening, wind is blowing and you are nearly stuck somewhere. It's getting chilly and you need a hot drink. You just look around and a small tapri catches your eyes. You go there and start slurping the Cutting Chai - you find your heaven on earth. Similar memories came through today's blizzard. Just instead of rain it was snow still I remembered this song about everybody's favorite cutting chai (half cup tea).

Song is sung by then unfamous Kunal Ganjawala and friends and video has apla Makrand Deshpande. 
Writing this while drinking hot ginger tea - cutting chai!!







Enjoy!!

    

Kannodu Kanbathellam - kehta hai mera dil.. Jeans

Mr. Rahman in his earlier years composed some awesome tracks for Tamil movies. Jeans was one of those lucky movies which received the hand of the god and it was very important part of it's success. Jeans had many notable songs and Shankar went all over the world to film the song "Ajooba"  with seven wonders. He made many technical advances in Indian cinema even before Bollywood tried them.

One such is this song "Kannodu Kanbathellam" in Tamil or "kehta hai mera dil" in Hindi. In the video Aishwarya Rai's brother plans to show her digital copy to fool twin lovers and their father. This video is really funny with all computer graphics.

I like this song for great voice of Nithyasree Mahadevan. She is eminent Carnatic singer from Chennai. ARR based this song on the basic Carnatic music . This song has best use of similar sounding words to make a peculiar rhythm complimenting original rhythm. Nithyasree has performed this very hard song beautifully. Kavita Krishnamurthy has sang the Hindi version which is not as impressive. Javed Akhtar disappointed me with simple lyrics and a dull song comparing with original Tamil.

Listen both versions and let me know which song you like more!! Post your comment....









Enjoy!!
      

Achcha Jee Main Haari ... Madhubala

14th Feb 1933 was birthday of the screen goddess of Indian cinema - Madhubala. In her short career she immortalized many roles in major hits. She worked with all superstars of 50's and 60's and still managed to steal the limelight. She was the ever beautiful dream Indian cinema had for a short time. On 23rd Feb 1969 she said her last words but she is still reigning the hearts of millions of fans.

Her perfect expressions and eminent beauty made this song a great watch. I don't need to describe her more just go ahead and watch the song. Just want to share one picture which shares her simplicity still engraves her beauty.

(Thanks to Madanban from Misalpav)






Enjoy!!