SHREYA GHOSAL.. CELESTIAL VOICE

 

I am sure no one will arrest me or even threaten me of anything or bash me or abuse me, if i openly eulogize the great singing queen Shreya ghosal. People will disagree, or rubbish me but won’t deny most of what i am expressing here as i am just reflecting the most music lovers feelings and thoughts. 

It was year 2002 , i think and the month was July/ August and i heard the song , Bairi Piya from Devdas for the first time after i bought the cassette. I just could not believe what was happening to me. The song, more so the deep innocence divine voice was taking me somewhere and i kept listening again and again and again. I knew for sure that a voice has arrived in Indian music. That was Shreya Ghosal. Those days, Aish was literally the queen (for me she will be forever that) and here was someone who matched such angelic looks of aish with her voice. Each time i listen to song, i just travel to some unknown serene place and come back. I won’t take back anything from Ismail Darbar , the composer of that song, but only keep wondering as to why didn’t he last long.

After Lata and during lata several singers appealed to me immensely and each time, i would think,  that this is the replacement for LATA.. Started with Anuradha podwal, then alkayagnik, then Kavitha Krishna Murthy, Then Mahalakshmi iyer, much later Madhusree etc..  I salute and respect each of them as astounding singers as they are so fantastic as singers. But this lady shreya is a gift to the Indian music. She has all the characteristic and nuances of being the proper Indian singer, cutting across languages, traditions and culture.  She is fabulous in her way; she gets into the nativity of the song in each language. 

There is no song and genre that she has not sung and made a mark. How does one appreciate her histrionics in songs like Dochey in Puli ( telugu), or Mahabooba in Ek tha tiger or that famous song from dirty picture. Honestly i would want to believe that, all these numbers are sung by a different singer.  Today when hardly, the singers voice can be differentiated and identified for uniqueness, shreya’s stands out and she gives a stamp on every song she sings.

In telugu, Varsham, 7 G brindavan colony ( talachi), Okkadu( nuvvemaya) , Chali ( Mr perfect) are some of them which are so typical shreya that, you will always remember those songs for her voice, rendition, style and presentation. But one song which i listen almost every day is Sreeramalera from Sriramarajyam. I can never get over the divine effect it has on me each time i listen to the song. Not even once it seems that a human can sing that song. I will fail completely if i try to put that magic in words and every word, is uttered in a celestial fashion.

I started writing this, thinking i will list my top ten of shreya ghosal and this will be more criminal than most crimes and i do not want to take risk. But my all time greats are 1) Bairi piya from devdas 2) Jadoo from jism 3) Doobi from 3 idiots 4) teri orr from singh is king 5) piyu bole from parineetha  6) pal pal har pal from Munnabhai, 7) cheeni kum song and NO way i can keep typing the songs.

But one last time i want to make a special mention of Saans from Jab tak hain jaan....just to listen to that song, one has to go into silence and experience, especially the shreya sad version of the song. In the movie, that is so rich and intense that, it touches deeper layer of heart. Otherwise, the duet song the same is disappointing visually. If one listens carefully, the talent of shreya is there as a multi scan report. 

I want to take the risk and assert that, it’s surely shreya ghosal after LATA.... And this lady will rule for another decade easily.. Though it is tempting , i do not want to compare the 2 legends of so different eras for the fear of inviting wrath from the old timers. But Shreya is easily the best after lata. 

JAB TAK HAIN JAAN ..MOVIE REVIEW

..                             . GOOD BYE YASH JI....

 Watching Jab tak hai jaan was very special as , myself and grusha saw this movie with my mom and sister, both of whom stopped watching movies for more than a decade now barring couple of so called devotional movies..

Yash chopra just brought back the flavour of 60’s and 70’s in the movie , with the proper story narration and values relevant to my times like sacrifice, confessions , waiting , lamenting etc. Reminds one of golden era of Rajendra kumar , Shammi Kapoor movies of 60’s, but for the avoidable smooching scenes and skimpy clothes of heroines. The movie proved that, Katrina can actually act and even dance differently. Shahrukh can still wield his magic with reduced melodrama and the winner is Anuksha Sharma, whose acting, and  her presence is very refreshing and pleasant. 

The movie reminds us of all Yash chopra movies, including greater similarities to Dil to Pagal hai... Probably, like several aspects of life, even art and artists get stagnated with their image and talent stuff. Innovation wise, Jab tak  is not so great but surely a feel good movie and does not leave any stress on the mind. But one needs to tolerate the use of heart and mind dynamics in relation to amnesia, accident, etc and not question on the logic and all that. When do we Indians ever question on these accounts? We ought not to be doing that even for this movie  and instead enjoy the simple love story with no major surprises or shocks.

The movie has all the grandeur and riches that we often see in the Yash movies. Yes we get tempted to go to London for sure and also ladakh after watching this movie.  Life, death, love, sacrifice, permanency , immortality  are all dealt with some relative ease and light heartedness also. I personally would have preferred Ranbir for this role and surely Deepika in place of Katrina. Shah rukh should stop romancing now...though he did not look jarring , he seemed unconvincing in steamy scenes.

The flawless and the best aspect in the movie is Back ground score. Particularly disappointing is the manner in which Saans song was shot and the cinematography is of high quality.

Surely, a must watch for several reasons but do not expect great innovation in thought and presentation and please do not check for any logic.. If you have time and are a Hindi movie buff, do not think twice to watch this once

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Good bye Yash ji and feel touched that you made such a movie as your last movie.. You died young at heart and salute to you for that...

BIG B, SRK, KBC ... DIWALI SPECIAL

I love Big B and he has been the greatest influence on me , by virtue of his movies, talent, conduct, decorum, success and what not..  So what’s new and what’s the big deal that it is being said again? Millions of people for several decades said this and lived by it and this is the fact. So, so? Again and again and again, only he can touch the deeper layers of our heart, conscience and bring tears, laughter, joy and all the good, intense things happen. TO me he is what Rehman is for the music.  But why is this being highlighted now again? 

On diwali day, Grusha saw the KBC in the afternoon at my brothers place and rushed to my mom’s home one floor down in the same apartment  and took control of remote and came on to show us KBC... what happened after that?  All of us were in complete rapt attention and no changing of channels for next one hour and even during breaks we hung on to Sony. No comments and talks while watching this episode of Big B, Srk and Katrina. This was simple, clean, sheer entertainment of the highest class. The vibes and the rapport between SRK and BIG B is to be seen to be understood. I want to believe that most of it was spontaneous and impromptu and i wouldn’t also not discount the great Siddhartha basu as its quite likely that he would have also come up with value additions. But from audience point of view it just happened to be a great episode.

The dialogues scene between them, the interaction between them, the connections, the examples, the experiences , all put together gave 100% satisfaction to the viewer like me who grew up watching Amitabh and saw SRK growing into a big league. I am not a big fan of SRK but one has to give it to him for matching amitabh”s overall brilliance, sometimes.. The show got to the viewers what all entertainment should bring. A great story, a powerful narration, intense moments ( while talking about SRk’s dad and Yash chopra) , loads of fun ( coffee incident between SRK and Kaif) and just several inexplicable arresting elements.. 

Yes money brings grandeur, Grandeur brings stars and stars bring audiences but this deadly combination of SRK, Amitabh does not come with Just any of those.. They come with the belief and talent that they are showmen and they are here to entertain and hence they do it so wonderfully. What they get in return is valueless. Just watch Srk on stage every time he comes and he just spells magic and every time BIG B faces the camera, he makes a huge difference to the audience. Fundamentally both of them are happy souls, contented souls and they are THOROUGH professionals as they know what they should always keep doing to stay where ever they are, at the top.. It’s never easy and they have done it successfully for decades..

If you want to relax, have fun, feel good and remember and feel happy, don’t miss this episode... You will not only not regret but want to watch it again and again. For me, they motivate me to keep improvising in everything that we do. They define, enthusiasm, contentment, success, happy souls. Please watch, at least people born in 50’s, 60’s, 70’s.... even the rest will like but the connect of these 3 generations will also be emotional.

JAB TAK HAIN JAAN... WOW MUSIC

                    JAB TAK HAIN JAAN.. REHMAN KA MUSIC SUNENGEY

As much as creating music is an art, so is an art to listen to the music. No criticism but this generation of which i am also a part (not age but gadgets depending group) is in a hurry to like, dislike and make quick judgements and communicate on twitter, face book and god knows what all other means is there to let their opinion out. So far so good, but this cannot be done to A.R Rehman music.. One has to be a student of his music, understand, experience and then listen again and again. Listening to his music is an investment to the soulful food. His music can give everlasting, abundant and richer food to the soul. The immortality of his music is far ahead of much immortal music of all times. 

What he creates is not just music, but he manufactures sources of deepest experiences and bliss.  No comparison but it’s unlike all contemporary telugu film music and most other Hindi film music.  Most music is created for the generation in a hurry and hence they all sound alike and get into past within weeks. Rehman music is the outcome of the deepest penance that he involves in creating every bit. One has to just meditate with his latest album Jab Tak hai jaan..  We have not got over Rock star yet and will never be able to and this latest album has again excelled and at first instance, there is a temptation to call it “ Un rehman Music “...  But NO.. no one has maturity and right to give any names to his music..

All the songs are bound to make an impact and i am going to highlight one song which is my anthem and prayer for next several weeks now. I am referring to the song Saans sung by Shreya ghosal and Mohit .. Lyrics penned by youngest at heart Gulzar Saap. It’s an absolute treat to all music lovers, all people who are in love, now or ever before and what can i say about Rehman fans.. We will all worship him. We do not want to be disturbed when we are listening to this song. There need not be any life after listening to this song as everything else seems shallow after listening to this music.. When we wonder, how else can love be expressed after millions of books written, stories and songs  heard , Gulzar, rehman , shreya and Mohit give an answer by the freshness and amazing depth in everything that makes a song. The opening violin bit accompanied by Shreya voice will take us high and higher instantly....

How can a man who is 70 plus create such a magic..  He proved that, love, feelings, living life to the full has no age but just requires the willingness to be joyful. Gulzar’s lyrics are not just simple, but  also very fresh and intense. The experience of listening to this song makes one a calm person and an understanding one..  “Accchi lagi tanhayee” high pitch rendering at the end of first half of song is done so beautifully that you keep wondering at the rehman‘s magic. I for now keep wondering at the new sounds that Rehman created again... Rock star has a line “ tujhe cheenlu ya chodudoo, Iss lamhe kya kar jaoo”... Rehman song... tujhe sunu ya samjhoo, tajrooba karoo ya gawoo” is my dilemma..

This song in particular and album is general is for 1) Hindi music lovers 2) Love songs admirers 3) People in love 4) Gulzar fans 5) Shreya and mohit fans 6) Rehman devotees 7) People with little sensitivity and music love . So who is left?? Only people in a hurry and people who want to judge and make a fast comment... Guys not for you and i really miss Yash chopra  .. Can’t stop saluting this man who got so much glory and grace to Hindi cinema..

 “Jis saans ka gaane se, zindagi bakshi iss album mein, usi saans  rukh kar aap chale gaye... Yeh shayad qurbani thi aapki yash ji”