{mosimage}It is raining in the yards of AR Rahman's fans... The 'Madras Mozart' had been dishing out chartbustsers at alarming intervals as if they are an assembly line product. The versatility of the scores of period drama "Jodhaa Akbar" to " funky "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na" to techno "Ghajini"... the journey this young maestro took last year is incredible. The Golden Globe awards for "Slumdog Millionnaire" came as a diamond in his crown, validating his popularity across the globe. ARR's music for Rakeysh Mehra's "Dilli-6" came in the heels of his Golden Globe awards only to become a smash hit. But this album, Dilli - 6, has the potential to burn the speakers no matter when it was released. I couldn't resist lending my ears tothe songs of "Delhi - 6" every morning, evening and whole day through my iPod. Here is the playlist for those who hadn't heard it still...

If I am asked to describe the new version of Mahabharat in one word, I would say - "sexy". This Ekta Kapoor's version of Mahabharat called as "Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki".... notice her 'K' sentiment and the effects of numerology's effect on the title..... This new version of Mahabharat is no different from the regular mega serials, but it stands apart from the crowd by its presentation. Not only the visuals are rich, but the costumes of the characters are definitely different. Admitted that the costumes came under heavy criticism that the serial looked more like a greek mythology (even my mother felt the same), but as a normal viewer I found the dresses subtle, sensible and sexy. All the boys and girls in the serial had amazing hot bodies. Even the set prop men like ministers, security guards had a well toned body and the girls were sexy in near topless costumes. If you ponder over the dresses, as somebody who keeps watching the ancient dresses through sculptures, I think this the way the people might have draped themselves...

Subhash Ghai - A.R Rahman coming together after (almost) a decade... The initial promos manage to pump up the adrenaline, especially 'Tu Meri Dost'. Sometimes piracy mills work overtime... The audio was released on Oct 16th morning and the downloads were available by evening itself. I will definitely but this CD as the orchestration is of high quality. There are 9 songs and all the songs are immediately catchy. Best part of this album is that it uses many of South Indian voices - Srinivas, Vijay Yesudas, Benny Dayal, Karthik. I still hadn't got into the songs completely as you know that AR Rahman's songs take sometime to grow on you. So it is an injustice to pass judgements on the first hearing itself. I want to write my views on the songs after enough hearing. I have added the songs playlist in the post. Hear it for yourself.

I wanted to see this movie but couldn't in theatre as well as DVD. Last weekend I received this surprise package from Filmfare - a collection of 10 DVDs including KKC. The movie by Sudhir Mishra is brilliant in parts but a hogwash on whole. The sheer maginificance of 60-s era recreated by Art director Gautam & Sachin Krishn's cinematography blows your mind in awe, Shantanu Moitra's compositions rooted in melody soothes your ears. Besides these I couldn't remember what we had seen for previous 2 1/2 hrs. The movie set in the early 60s of Bollywood gives a sense of disgust that it is all about casting couch. When Nikhat remembers her first casting couch (rape) at the age of 14, it leaves a lump in your throat. But Nikhat using the same method with reigning superstar to reach the stardom is not something that we sympathise with her. Also some characters are hazy - is Superstar Prem a lecherous creature? or who just takes advantage of the ambitiousness of Nikhat? When Zafar goes to bed with his new muse Ratanbala, we couldn't differentiate him from Prem. Nikhat sleeps with Prem, then with Zafar, on the other hand Zafar sleeps with Ratanbala.... grrrrr!!!!

Ram Gopal Varma's (favouritely Ramu) marketing acumen accrued from his video library days is evident in his campaigns. The caption of Phoonk (whiff of wind / breath) reads "It's superstition until it happens to you". A clever way of arousing the curiousity towards the product. In 'Phoonk' Ramu charters into the least treaded territory of Black Magic. He admitted in his blog that he is clearly inspired by Endamoori Virendranath's "Thulasidhalam (Tamil) / Kashmora (Telugu)", but the screen version is credited to Milind Gadagkar. The movie is clearly a case of inspiration - you are reminded of the original but couldn't lay hands on similarities". The real hero of the movie is the DOP - Savita Singh. Just through the soft toys the spooky ambience is set in the first half, but sometimes going overboard. Among the cast Ahsaas Channa as the possessed kid steals the show and Sudeep's subtle expressions in agony loaded eyes make an impact. Ashwini Kalsekar as eccentric black magician woman goes over the top towards the climax. Phoonk can't match the standards set by Ramu himself with 'Bhoot', but that's the problem with Ramu he sets his benchmarks higher in each genre that he himself fails to match up with later projects. Shiva, Kshana Kshanam, Deyyam, Ghayam, Rangeela, Satya, Bhoot, Company just says the same. On the whole a worthy entertainer.

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கோவை வந்தாலே காரணம் தேவைப்படாமல் மனது குதூகலிப்பது எனக்கு வாடிக்கை தான். இம்முறையும் அதற்கு விதிவிலக்கு அல்ல. கோயம்புத்தூரில் படம் பார்த்தே 5+ வருடங்கள் ஆகிவிட்டது. இந்த முறை கர்னாடிக் தியேட்டரில் படம் பார்க்க முடிவு செய்தேன். முதன் முறையாக மீரா ஜாஸ்மினை பெரிய திரையில் பார்த்ததும் இங்கே தான் (படம் - மலையாள கஸ்தூரிமான்). அது போல முதன் முறையாக வித்யா பாலனை இதே தியேட்டரில் வெள்ளித்திரையில் பார்க்க முடிவு செய்தேன். படம் - கிஸ்மத் கனெக்‌ஷன். வித்யா பாலனுக்காக மட்டுமல்லாமல் இயக்குநர் அஜீஸ் மிர்ஸா, கூட நடிக்கும் ஷாகித் கபூர் என பல துணை காரணங்கள். அஜீஸ் மிர்ஸாவின் படங்கள் எப்போதும் மிக இயல்பாக இருக்கும். மேலும் பல வருடங்களுக்கு பிறகு அவர் படம் இயக்க வந்திருக்கிறார். நல்ல வேலையாக அஜீஸ், வித்யா, ஷாகித் என யாருமே ஏமாற்றவில்லை. இந்த படம் தான் என்ன?

Khamosh (1985) - the movie that kept intriguing me for a long time ever since I learnt that it was Vidhu Vinod Chopra's debut movie. After seeing the movie, you can understand why Vidhu Vinod Chopra is one of the most reverred & hated film maker in Bollywood. I always loved his passion towards the good cinema, eccentricity that sometimes snubbs film folks and a dare to break steroetypes. "Khamosh" is an edge of the seat thriller, straight from Aghata Christie type of novels, with no commercial distractions or thrusted item numbers even though the movie offers plenty of scope for such elements. The not so great technical finesse gives the film a raw texture that enhances the stark performances of all talented powerhouses - Naseeruddin Shah, Amol Palelkar, Shabana Azmi, Pankaj Kapoor, Ajit Vachcani and others. I could suggest that "Khamosh" is a must watch if you are a stickler for quality thriller. What keeps "Khamosh" ahead of other murder mysteries?

Moserbaer's maiden production "Shaurya (Courage)", though a blatant rip off from American movie "A Few Good Men", is engrossing at parts. It is about the court martial of Javed Khan, an young Muslim military officer, whose defense lawyer Siddhant is not so intrested about the case initially. Enter a journalist Kavya Sashtri, who ridicules Siddhant for his ignorance that Siddhant sinks into the case really to find out some intresting communal aspects and fake encounters. Shaurya can best be a movie remembered for its arresting performances by Kay Kay Menon, Amrita Rao as conscience of killed military officer and voice over by Sharukh Khan towards the end. Minisha Lambha grates your nerves, a romantic angle uncalled for and a slow pace proves fatal for Shaurya but with a breath taking cinematography, details of military etiquette, Shaurya can be a nice experience for those who hadn't watched the original. Still it is not a losing proposition costwise (Rs. 50/- in Moserbaer Home DVD). Give Shaurya a try in DVD or in a TV premier.

{moshits left} people had liked to read about and watch Shaurya.

{mosimage}Raj Kumar Santhoshi was back to a hard hitting drama with 'Halla Bol' (Raise your voice). This flick deserved to be a hit even though the box office verdict didn't go with the critical acclaim. Made on the lines of Jessica Lal's murder case, 'Halla Bol' creates an awareness about the individual's social responsibility in ensuring justice to the victims. Dubbed as a 80's styled revenge drama, "Halla Bol" didn't garner a favourable verdict with the audiences. Pankaj Kapur is terrific with an amazing screen presence, Vidya Balan makes her presence felt even with a miniscule role as conscience of lead protagonist Samir Khan, played by intensive Ajay Devgan. Raj Kumar Santhoshi strongly condemns the middle class' apathy towards society, media's hysteria in sensationalising the news rather than being truthful. My only concern is that the failure of 'Hall Bol' shouldn't demoralise Santhoshi in making such powerful movies in future. Let his next movie – a love story is just a temporary detour. 'Halla Bol' doesn't deserve your indifference, so please watch it atleast in MoserBaer DVD for Rs. 49/-

Some movies deserve a viewing but their promos fail to excite the viewers. Either they carry a shoody production value or far ahead of their times. In Hindi I would say some movies like "Aar Ya Paar, Lamhe, Tum Bin" and in Tamil certain movies like "Vidukathai", which are liked by the people who had seen it, but very few had seen them. Recently I caught up with "Aar Ya Paar (1997)" a Jackie Shroff starrer directed by Ketan Mehta, who made "Mangal Pandey" after a gap of 7 years from this movie. The reason why I watched "Aar Ya Paar" could have been a wrong one ("Hulle Hulle song is my favourite erotic song"), but I loved the movie. It was a thriller replete with infidelity, treachery, greed and sex.

தாரே ஜமீன் பர்... (தரையில் நட்சத்திரங்கள்) - காதலும், கட்டிலும், குத்தாட்டமும் தான் வாழ்வின் ஜீவாதார பிரச்சினை, அதை தவிர்த்து வேறு எதுவும் மனித வாழ்வில் இல்லை என்று 'படம்' காட்டும் தமிழ் பட இயக்குனர்களை எல்லாம் ஒன்றாக கட்டுப்போட்டு இந்த படத்தை பார்க்கவைக்க வேண்டும். - இது தான் நான் 'தாரே ஜமீன் பர்' பார்த்து முடித்தவுடன் தோன்றியது. அதுவும் நடிகர் ஆமீர் கான் முதன்முதலாக இயக்கிய படம். புதுமுக இயக்குனர் என்ற சாயலே தெரியாமல் அனுபவ இயக்குனர் போல, தேர்ந்த, sensitive-ஆன இயக்கத்தை கொடுத்து, தைரியமாக இதனை சொந்தப் படமாக எடுத்து இருக்கும் ஆமீர் கானுக்கு வாழ்த்துக்கள். நம் வாழ்வின் முக்கியமான பருவமான குழந்தை பருவத்தையும், குழந்தைகளையும் சுற்றி வருமாறு அமைந்த படங்கள் மிக மிக குறைவு. அந்த வகையில் ஆமீர் கானின் 'தாரே ஜமீன் பர்.'-ஐ முக்கியமான படமாக கருதவேண்டிய அவசியம்.

{mosimage}SShit!!! Sometimes I take much time to catch up with some good movies. Today I came early and chose to watch 'Chak De! India' much long time after gettings its DVD. Man! It is really a cult classic that opened up a genre of sports films in Bollywood. Sharukh Khan at his best non SRK performance. Nice that he stepped down letting the girls take the spotlight. Among the girls I liked Preethi Sabarwal, Komal Chautava, Balbir Kaur and Vidya Sharma (all screen names). If the girls getting a standing ovation from their opponent team had my hair raising, the scene where Komal passes the ball to Preethi in the finals match really made my day. I had tears of joy in my eyes, whistled and clapped during that scene. The team building scenes were so warming that no wonder Bal Thackrey sent all his staffs to watch Chak De! India for getting that message. Again no matter who did the SRK's role, this movie would have stayed afloat on its own merits. After seeing this, 'Goal' is definitely a cliched scrap.