India sings

India sings

Amongst all the reality shows that showcase India’s best talent — namely, Zee’s SaReGaMaPa, Voice Of India and Indian Idol 3, there is one voice, for me, that rules and rule seriously.

It’s not the versatile sweetheart Emon Chatterjee who might just be the Indian Idol, it’s not Deepali of the same who who was voted out. It could have been Amit Paul who has a unique voice even though he made a mess of things with his Omkara rendition, or rather an attempt at it. Fine, girls go ga-ga over Chang but, hello, he’s far from Idol material as far as the voice goes, and if he does get picked, it’s official — our’s is deaf nation that can just see.

Mauli impressed, totally, in SRGMP with her Mayya Mayya, immense energy and even miles away on telivision, we could only applaud in appreciation. Amanat’s soul is crystal-clear when he sings in that penetrative voice of his, and Ismail Darbar has done a really good job with mentorship on many fronts. But hey, it ain’t them.

That leaves us with VOI, with some of the weirdest judges and ironically the better talent as far as singing is concerned. Sumitra Iyer’s name comes to mind, this woman is lovely, I repeat — lovely, and she is perfectly capable of power-packed performances especially with fusion. Ashpreet is a treat to listen too, her vocals linger in the air even after she walks away.

And that brings me to my pick amongst all of them, aptly named the Voice of India. Yessir, it’s Toshi Sabri, but of course, 24 carats of Gold if you may, but a priceless voice in many ways. Listen to his ‘Piya Re, Piya Re’, that drew comparisons with the great Nusrat, but even then, that’s saying a lot.

Yours truly grew up in the Emirates, and an expat kid, I realised the importance of halaq to bring the Arabic script to life. Dude here does this effortlessly when he rendered Kaho Na Kaho.

I mean, he’s honest, he can sing like awesome, he’s firmly rooted in the basics and Sufi, will you folks please vote for him? He makes the rest of the singers sound like substandard artists, doesn’t he?

Enough talk, here”s a video that suggests what the chap’s capable of.

Don’t go by Abhijeet’s words though, making any sort of comparison between NFAH and someone else is absurd and uncalled for. Toshi is awesome, he isn’t divine. The chap is humble, the judges ought to recognize his honest humility that’s so familiar of Jaipur, and let his singing speak for itself.

And boy, that’s a voice-and-a-half.

Source: showbizia.rediffiland.com

Gandhi, My Father is a good try

There are flicks that enlighten you. Gandhi, My Father is one of them that tries, and nearly succeeds.

Like the promos go, it’s about the price one family had to pay for the nation’s freedom. The Mahatma’s eldest son, Harilal, is a product of the Gandhi’s ideology — albeit negative, and the movie is a daring effort by the makers to add depth into Harilal’s character on film. It revisits the reasons behind Gandhi being so popular, yet being a total failure as a father to his eldest son.

The plot is somewhat familiar — we are ferried across the South African timeline of Gandhi (Darshan Jariwala) and wife Kasturbha (Shefali Shah). A middle-aged Gandhi shows the first signs of dedication to his cause, as he considers every child in the community his own. The other side of the coin, of course, is the fact that Harilal (Akshay Khanna) wishes to be treated like a son. His ambition — to become a barrister like the father, but Gandhi is opposed to the idea of a Western education, insisting that Harilal builds firm roots in his andolan against racism.

Gandhi also separates Harilal from his wife Gulab (Bhumika Chawla), hence inflicting a wound so deep that the son couldn’t recover.

Post-interval, the movie extends the hatred between the father an the son, and it does this very slowly, trying to build emotion on the way. Darshan Jariwala is a class act, lending the respect buried in books to the fragile frame of the Mahatma. Shefali is a treat to watch — entirely natural — she makes this role her own, and it’s almost unimaginable who else could have portrayed Kasturbha with that kind of intensity. Bhumika Chawla does her bit well, an honest presentation although she doesn’t enjoy a lot of screen presence.

But the sincere effort for me, by far, is Akshaye Khanna. His Harilal strives for his own presence in the might of Gandhi’s, and although the title suggests that he is the protagonist, one finds it hard to take their eyes away from the character of Gandhi that keeps dropping by with eternal words of wisdom. Akshaye Khanna’s ex-pressions in this movie are awesome — watch out for the scene at the railway station where he brings his mother a gift, blinded by his interpretation of what is right and wrong. In fact, the entire flick is studded with a few scenes of brilliance where the two contrasting lead roles come together for a silent showdown.

Unfortunately it’s also smudged with flaws.

The editing is, er, inexplicable — there are scenes floated in that just don’t make sense, adding neither depth nor intensity to the story. The background music tries to be soulful, but is quite familiar throughout, and criminally goes missing in a few shots where emotions run high. Although it is indeed an honest effort by the makers, for me — they didn’t evoke much sympathy for the son, and when I look back, it was more of a documentary, a celluloid documentation of a story you won’t find in your history books from school. I applaud the makers for exploiting the power of cinema and giving me a subtle perspective of whom we know as the ‘Father of our nation’. Unfortunately, like Hey Ram, it tries too hard to build dislike for the Mahatma instead of building love for the protagonist.

But it does have a stinging message that many of us need to realize. The nation has often called for the people to come forward and serve. It beckons us, every now and then, and many of us run away in spite of nurturing a real desire to improve our country. Gandhi, My Father makes a point — the kin must take a backseat if one really intends on dedicating himself for the country’s development.

And in the process, families might be demolished.

*****

Source: showbizia.rediffiland.com

Of Rishikesh, Munnabhai and Umrao Jaan!
In case you are wondering what happened to Thought Express, well it went on a vacation. And thanks for missing me, some of you.

So, yippee, I just got back from a refreshing holiday to Rishikesh and Haridwar. Though Haridwar was a disappointment of capital proportions, Rishikesh still maintains its sanctity and freshness.

If you happen to head towards the holy cities anytime soon, please remember to carry a set of umbrellas and raincoats, it’s raining quite a bit.

Oh, and while I was there, I couldn’t help noticing how the posters of some dubbed Chiranjeevi-starrer Devaa hogged more walls than Priyanka Chopra-Akshaye Khanna’s rom-com, Aap Ki Khatir.

But the film of the moment and year is definitely, Lage Raho Munnabhai. (No offence to Rang De Basanti and Omkara. I love you both!) Very rarely comes a film that makes you want to praise it openly to obscene levels without any shame or hesitation. Lage Raho is one such experience.

I happen to see it in an expensive multiplex of Ghaziabad. Trust me I wouldn’t mind paying double for the amount of pleasure it gave me.

The kind of response it generates from the crowd is absolutely heart-warming. Ditto for the film. What a glorious work of cinema! The film leaves you feeling so light, relieved, happy and appreciative. Everyone who finds it hard to get into the yoga routine should wait for the DVD of Munnabhai- 2 to come out. It’s THAT good. Maybe Munna-Circuit Day isn’t such a preposterous idea after all?

In latest news, have you seen the promos of Umrao Jaan? Aishwarya Rai is looking fetching. That too is a feat when you look good almost all the time. Noticed how Abhishek Bachchan looks like a younger version of his ‘Pa’s’ Afghani Pathan, Badshah Khan (Khuda Gawah) in the whole Nawab get-up? I didn’t like the brief strain (music composed by Anu Malik) that goes with the trailer though. It just doesn’t stand out. And when you make, correction: remake, a film like Umrao Jaan, you got to be clear on two points costumes and music.

Ah well, the soundtrack is yet to come out. So like always, hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.



Source: thoughtexpress.rediffiland.com

The nation went deaf

This is bullshit with a mammoth B.

Wonderful, just wonderful, another good vocalist voted out. Why the hell is Prashant still there? Yes, he”s got an awesome voice, but his last performance wasn”t as good. The song was as easy as it gets, a straightforward Aap Ki Dua, while Puja on the other hand, rendered Shubha Mudgal”s Ab Ke Saawan.

Anu Malik pointed out the harkat in the songs. Udit suggested that he himself couldn”t have sung it that well. Alisha takes it a step forward, suggesting that her rendition was better than the original. Sonu was all praise, and Javed Akhtar went on a forgiving spree after that performance. Mini Mathur summed up her performance in one bloody appropriate word - awesome.

But hey, the audience missed it all, didn”t they? Let”s hope you don”t, here it is.

Surely, we live in a deaf nation.



Source: showbizia.rediffiland.com

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