Salute the brave hearts!

Hats off to the NSG commandos and the other policemen who risked their lives for us! Thank you so much guys. The Mumbai incident just proved that if we are united we can fight terrorism, no matter how fierce they are! Lets pray for all those who sacrificed their lives for us. We owe you a lot!

Hats off again!

Let peace prevail everywhere!

Ghajini – Music Review

Ghajini is obviously Aamir Khan’s most awaited movie of this year. The music was released on November 21, and the movie is expected to release on December 25.

Music is by A.R.Rahman and lyrics by Prasoon Joshi. This is my review of Ghajini.

Soundtrack consists of

1. Guzarish

2. Aye Bachchu

3. Kaise Mujhe

4. Behka

5. Latoo

Guzarish

This song sung by Javed Ali, is a soothing melody. The tune seems to be simple and is surely catchy. It has already become a hit. This song suits Javed Ali’s voice – good choice by Rahman. I guess this is equivalent to ‘Suttum Vizhi’ of Tamil version.

Remarks: Good melody.

Aye Bachchu

This song is sung by Suzanne. It is modern. The starting of the song sounds like ‘Mere Buddy’ from Bhoothnath, but I would say it is just a coincidence, because as the song progress you cannot find any similarity. And remember music is by A.R.Rahman – he never copies! It is obviously a dance number and i guess it is equivalent to ‘X Machi Y Machi’

Remarks: Modern.

Kaise Mujhe

Sung by Benny Dayal and Shreya Ghoshal, is a slow song. Is it romantic? (I’m not sure) The tune is not that simple. The orchestration is good. Shreya Ghoshal, though joins after half of the song, has done a wonderful job as always. She has an amazing voice which improves day by day! And Benny Dayal, why does he sound different every time I listen to him?

Remarks: Not so romantic but pleasing.

There is also an instrumental version of Kaise Mujhe.

Behka

This is sung by Karthik. It is stylish with lots of variations. Karthik is singing for Rahman after so many years. He has improved a lot. This song is totally different. The promo of this song had Aamir in six different looks! I guess this song is equivalent to ‘Oru Malai’ of Tamil version.

Remarks: A different Jazz.

Latoo

This song sung by Shreya Ghoshal is a peppy number. The melody is catchy. This song proves that Shreya Ghoshal is versatile. Oh man! She has an amazing voice. Nothing much to say about this song. I think this is equivalent to ‘Rasathulla’ of Tamil version

Remarks: Peppy number.

Ghajini is a commercial Bollywood album sans ‘Punjabi beats’ (that makes it different from the rest)! You cannot expect more than this for a commercial film. Guzarish has already become a hit and the rest I’m sure will become popular before the movie releases (more than a month left). This is obviously not Rahman’s best musical album but it will surely fit the situation. Listen to it as many times as you can and it will grow on you. Like every other A.R.Rahman fan I am waiting to experience that magical touch which is hidden right now.

 

My rating : 3.5/5

Buy the songs from T-Series Webstores.

 

Good Day folks!

 

India’s declining culture

I recently got an email (a forward) from one of my friends (Devettan). This made me realise how great our culture ‘was’.  

 

 

Lord Macaulay’s address to the British Parliament 1835

 Let me quote Lord Macaulay’s address to the British Parliament in 1835 regarding the greatness of our motherland. 

 “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such  wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not  think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very  backbone this nation, which is her  spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I  propose  that we  replace her old  and ancient  education system, her culture, for if the  Indians think  that  all that is foreign and  English is good and greater than their own , they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly a dominated nation.”

This was India in 1835 – the most prosperous, happy and peaceful country just before the British adopted this strategy and destroyed India. India was looted – not only her wealth but also the moral values, self-esteem which were more valuable (Indians were renowned for these).

 

As Macaulay said, our culture is our backbone – which is at stake now. Indian history shows that we have embraced the culture of all the invaders who ruled us. All cultures have both good and bad aspects, and it is up to us to adopt the good and ignore the bad. We Indians right now are aping the West. It is high time we realise the greatness of our culture and stop following the West blindly – instead take the good ones from them and improve our already great culture. In order to make India great again we have to bring back those lost values somehow. It may take time but we must do it.

 

We can! We Must!

 

Good Day!

 

A memorable test match

At the end of 5th day of the 4th test match, the scorecard reads

India 441&295

Australia 355 &209

Result India won by 172 runs

Series India won 2-0

What a memorable sight!

 

India vs. Australia, 4^th test match, is indeed a great match to remember. It was completely India’s, starting from day one. It was Laxman’s 100^th test match, Saurav’s (Dada) last test match, Sachin (God) made his 40^th century-first batsman to make 40 hundreds and Harbhajan (Bhajji) took his 300^th test wicket (3^rd Indian)! (So many individual records). And most importantly India registered an emphatic victory and also won the four test match series 2-0! This was Australia’s first series defeat since the 2005 Ashes tour of England. This win also pushes India to the second position in the latest ICC Test rankings and is only 13 points away from first. Don’t these make this match a memorable one?

 

In the Australian camp, everything went wrong. Critics all round the world will look at this series and wonder whether Australia has lost their aura. Questions have already started to rise about this un-Australian way of approach to the game. Cricket Australia (CA) has the reputation of kicking out players who don’t play well. So will this be Ponting’s last match? (I wish). We will have to wait and see. As Ian Chappell said, the upcoming New Zealand’s tour to Australia might help the criticisms to die out.

 

Anyways Indians played well and was rewarded. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is now with the Indian team after they lost it four years back on the same Nagpur ground. 

 

Yeah! We beat the Champions.

 

Now all are eagerly waiting for the England’s tour. 

A proud moment-Chandrayaan-1 enters moon’s orbit

Chandrayaan-1, India’s first unmanned spacecraft mission to moon, entered lunar orbit today. This is the first time that an Indian built spacecraft has broken away from the Earth’s gravitational field and reached the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched on October 22, 2008 by PSLV-C11 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The lunar orbit insertion (LOI) was an important phase for this Rs 386 crore moon mission. Experts say that about 30 per cent of unmanned moon missions of the US and Russia failed during this phase.

With today’s successful entry into the moon’s orbit, India becomes the fifth country to send a spacecraft to Moon, the other countries being the United States, Russia, Japan and China.

ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said “It (Chandrayaan-1 entering the lunar orbit) will go down in the history of Indian space in golden letters. India now has a “big leadership position” as far as space is concerned.”

A proud moment for the Indians!

I’m proud to be an Indian.

Sachin Makes History Once again – Hits his 40th Century!

 

 

I was following today’s match (India Vs Australia 4^th Test, Nagpur) in cricinfo.com (No NeoSports in Dish TV ). Sachin was in his 90s. Slowly he went on to make 99. He was still on 99 even after 2 overs. I was praying that nothing silly (like a wrong decision by the umpire) should happen. And then, this flashed on the screen,

 

 

74.4	Krejza to Tendulkar, FOUR, And he gets it. Hundred no 40. And has a big smile as Ganguly comes across to congratulate. It was a short delivery and Tendulkar cut it through backward point. The helmet is off, the bat is held high, he looks up to the skies and the dressing room celebrates.

 

 

 

After hitting his 40th century

 

 

 

A sigh of relief! He becomes the first batsman to score 40 test centuries – the moment that Indian cricket fans were eagerly waiting for. He makes history once again. He has once again proved that he is simply the best.  His century helped India reach a respectable total of 311/5 at the end of the first day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at his statistics 

 

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	154	251	26	12261	248*	54.25	75.34	40	51		47	99
ODIs	417	407	38	16361	186*	44.33	85.49	42	89	1785	166	122

 

Hoping to see 50 centuries!! Will it happen?

 

 

 

Meanwhile BCCI felicitated Anil Kumble, Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S.Laxman in Nagpur this evening.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 Pictures and stats: cricinfo.com

Yuvvraaj – Music Review

I know I will be the last person in this world to write a review for Yuvvraaj, this year’s most awaited musical thriller. It takes time to understand and appreciate A.R.Rahman’s (a genius’) songs. Each time a person listens to them it takes him to a different, new level. So it is tough to write a review.

Subash Ghai is one of the few directors in Indian cinema who knows how important music is for a movie and he always makes a good effort to ensure its quality. Yuvvraaj is a musical treat, music by A.R.Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar, a typical Subhash Ghai’s list.

Rahman’s musical brilliance and Gulzar’s lyrical mastery have given us this year’s most innovative album,  with a brilliant blend of Western and Indian classical, pop,melody,disco…

 

Main Hoon Yuvvraaj – An introduction

This soundtrack starts with Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 performed by the Chennai String Orchestra and Salman Khan trying to introduce his character in the film. He is boring and confused. As usual? I wonder why this track was even included? Lets move on.

 

Tu Meri Dost Hain- A good melody

It is a soothing melody sung by Benny Dayal, Shreya Ghoshal and A.R.Rahman. The song starts with Benny Dayal humming (sounds like A.R.Rahman). The melodious cello that follows takes the song to a different level. Shreya Ghoshal’s voice is too mesmerising as ever. The master himself joins after the second BGM. The symphony is fabulous. The beats are little but sufficient. The choice of instruments is impeccable. But I feel the song ends rather abruptly!

Remark : A good melody.

 

Shano Shano – Time for some party

This funky song is sung by many singers like Sonu Nigam, Srinivas, Karthik, Sunaina, Vivinenne Pocha. Rahman brings variety with some interesting instruments. Most of them seem to be synthesizers.  A typical party song, nothing great compared to other tracks. But Rahman’s touch can surely be felt in the use of instruments (intricate) and singers. Check out the melody piece in between. But I feel Sonu Nigam’s voice doesn’t suit the song (bad choice) . The urban population will surely like it.

Remark : Could have improved a little more (comparitively).

 

Shano Shano remix track contains more vocals especially rap by Ember. The remix is done by Krishna Chetan (remember Ponmagal Vandaal from ATM?). Just another remix, that’s all!!!

Remark : Sounds better than the original version.

 

Tu Muskura – Melodious!

Sung by Alka Yagnik and Javed Ali is another soft number. It starts with cello, supported by percussion which continues till the end. Rahman brings back one of his favourite singers Alka Yagnik after a long time (Don’t remember when she last sang for Rahman). Javed Ali plays a supporting role and has done a good job.

Remark : A good song.

 

Mastam Mastam – Contemporary

This song sung by  Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik, Naresh Iyer and Benny Dayal is fresh, trendy and also innovative. The music is simple yet. Sonu Nigam’s pleasant voice adds life to this song. Though this song does not have a catchy melody, after repeated listening it becomes extremely enjoyable especially the last part.

Remark : A fresh one!

 

Zindagi- Soulful

This song is sung by Srinivas, a singer with melodious voice which can distress you.  The song starts with some woodwinds then by some piano. This song is more melodic than Tu Muskura, thanks to the singer. A typical Rahman melody.

Remark : A good melody.

 

Dil Ka Rishta –Totally different!

Sung by Sonu Nigam, Roop Kumar Rathod, A R Rahman, Clinton Cerejo, Suzanne D’Mello, Vivinenne Pocha. This song will surely take you by surprise! It starts with soulful piano followed by powerful cello and then awesome orchestration. Then it takes a very different path. A fusion of Indian and Western music (West meets east). This is a unique song, never heard before. It has all that one wants – contemporary beats, good tune, amazing orchestra. Is this the theme music of the movie? I guess so. Amazing track!

Remark : Awesome. The best!

 

Manmohini - Fusion of Classical and synth

This song sung by Vijay Prakash (I’ve not heard him before) is a classical composition with some synth (some real instruments also). Nothing much to say about this.

Remark : Satisfactory.

 

Listen to the songs here. 

 

This album will surely be remembered as one of the best albums of A.R.Rahman. The songs are thematic. Kudos!!! Great Music-What else can one expect from a great musician? It does not have the usual Punjabi beats (a Bollywood formula to produce a hit) or any other typical Bollywood stuff. And people addicted to these will find it difficult to appreciate this album. This is serious music, thats it.  We will have to wait for the movie release to check how the music blends with the narration. Excited!

 

My rating - 4/5