what we are reading – EightandHalf
After doing a double whammy at Cannes 2015, Masaan comes to Indian theatres on July 24th 2015! Produced by Drishyam Films, Phantom, Sikhya Entertainment, MACASSAR films), and directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, we’ve written enough about Masaan by now for you to know about it, so here’s making it easy for both of us in case you don’t –
For Masaan trailer and photos go here
For the Cannes buzz and two awards go here
For the standing ovation video go here
Blow our minds Neeraj Ghaywan!
(click on any pic to start the slide show)
Aha. It feels so good to write this post. And since Indian media is still busy covering gowns at Cannes, we feel like shouting out from rooftop that our Neeraj Ghaywan has bagged not one, but two-fucking-awards at Cannes! The first one is the FIPRESCI Award, which is given by the International Federation Of Film Critics. For other winners, click here.
The next win is in the Un Certain Regard section in which Masaan premiered and was in competition. The film won the Special Jury prize for Debut films/Promising Future (Prix de l’avenir). It shared the award with Ida Panahandeh’s Nahid. Click here for the video. For complete list of winners, click here.
Earlier, the film had received a standing ovation after its first screening. Click here for the video and all the pics. To check out film’s trailer and premiere pics, click here. And to know more about the film, its synopsis, cast & crew, click here.
(PS – whatever you think of Bombay Velvet, Anurag Kashyap still remains the best film school in India. Here is one more proof)
Finally! You have read about it, and now here is the video of that moment of glory – the long standing ovation for Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan, at its premiere on 19th May, 2015 at Cannes Film Festival. The claps continued long after the film got over. Cheers to the entire team of Masaan!
And click here to read an early and glowing review of the film by Screen Daily.
UPDATE : And we have got a small video of the presentation ceremony too. Do watch it.
Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut feature Masaan (Fly Away Solo) is premiering at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. Written by Varun Grover and starring Richa Chaddha, Sanjay Mishra, Vicky Kaushal and Shweta Tripathi, the film is competing in Un Certain regard section of the fest. Click here for the official synopsis, cast and crew list.
Here’s the trailer of the film
Click here to check out a new clip from the film.
And here are some happy faces of the film at the fest. Click on any pic to start the slide show.
It’s all deja vu here. Because Anurag Kashyap is not new to backlash. That Girl In Yellow Boots is not very old. And before that there was No Smoking. And these are part and parcel of the game – when you don’t want to be calculative about “what would audience like”, but try something new, package it with shiny things, and hope that they will come to your side. Sometimes they will, maybe they wont. The hullabaloo seems to be more this time because of a mainstream big actor and the budget. But when do they matter when you are watching a film as genuine film buff.
Keeping all those things aside, here is Arnab Sarkar trying to dissect Bombay Velvet.
“Cinema is like a battleground: love, hate, action, violence, death. In one word, emotion.”
That is the reply Samuel Fuller, portrayed as an American director himself, gives in one famous scene of Godard’s Pierrot le Fou, when asked about the meaning of cinema.
Being a critic of Cahiers du Cinema, Godard believed the very purpose of cinema, was to make the audience think, to introspect. So when he couldn’t tolerate it further, he went on to make movies, which were in a way thought-provoking, which catered to his instincts. These films, through which he hinted towards cinema, politics, America and wars, were heavily booed by the masses; each time one released, and they were tagged as nonsense.
Few years later, that same auteur would be hailed as one of the most influential movie-makers of all time, and his styles would be adopted and praised world over.
A Kashyap film has hidden layers in its stories. His earlier films No Smoking, Paanch, Gulaal had subtexts too, which were very beautifully disguised inside the outer skin of the script. Recently, a song ‘Taar bijli se patle humaare piya’ from his film Gangs Of Wasseypur was finally dissected on a social platform, to hint at such a subtext about the politics of India.
So while, the whole nation was busy criticising his recent release Bombay Velvet and leaving no stones unturned to make it a huge box-office failure, I interrogated myself: Can Kashyap do this to himself? Or is he simply playing with us?
The film which externally looks as the simplified love-story of Johnny Balraj and Rosie Noronha against the enmity between the media moguls Khambata and Mistry over the politics of Bombay is actually a film-study that points us to myriad conclusions.
The Roaring Twenties
Yes, this James Cagney-starrer movie is referred to, quite at the beginning of Bombay Velvet, as an element of foreshadowing in the script through the line ‘He used to be a Big-Shot.’ But, very few know that The Roaring Twenties, per se, was actually a golden era in the United States and Europe, which had witnessed tremendous development from economic and cultural point of view.
During that glorious decade, America witnessed a change in its lifestyle post-World War I. Real-estate boomed, skyscrapers built and huge businesses were invested in. That was also the time when labour unions disintegrated due to the rising power of the politicians and employers. Number of strikes dwindled, and the poor became poorer. The fact how Khambata tries to change the face of Bombay post-Independence is a direct reference to this history of America.
Also, it was the same time when American government imposed its Prohibition Act on alcohol, and which led to the rise of ‘speakeasies’(cover-up bars selling illegal liquor) all over America. It was a huge money spinner, and many tycoons invested in that. For here in our film, Bombay Velvet is that very ‘speakeasy’ that is being referred to in the face of prohibition put up by the state.
At a time when the American culture was going through such changes, jazz was introduced for the first time along with dance forms like waltz, foxtrot, which has again been highlighted in the film from Bombay’s perspective.
Homosexuality was getting accepted, and people had started coming out, baring their desires out in open. Now, we know that typical gait, those subtle hints which Khambata gives to Johnny, were essentially, pokes by Kashyap at our numb consciousness.
Khambata’s wife was the perfect description of how females had started realizing their sexual freedom during the 1920s in America. They were not anymore confined to inside their homes. Wide kohl-rimmed eyes, new hair styles, freedom to drink and smoke were the trademarks.
Lastly, the newly found organized crime and gangsters flooded the cities of America, as they were hired by powerful people to get their work done. That led to rise in murders during that period, and thus a drastic enforcement of law and order on the streets. The emergence of Balraj, as a gangster is again an allusion to that episode.
There is one scene in the movie, when Khambata walks out of his room and secretly sniggers at Balraj’s naiveté. It is epic, and I so wish to wonder it’s actually Kashyap sneering at those who didn’t get his references. The film itself is a mock on clichéd cinema.
Bombay Velvet might be a tribute to Scorsese, De Palma, Tarantino for its styles, but it is a bigger tribute to America. In one of the scenes, where Mistry calls Khambata an ‘American agent’, Kashyap just throws it directly at your face to grab it.
The movie may have been based on Gyan Prakash’s Mumbai Fables, but here the rise of contemporary Mumbai has been compared to America.
Godard here?
This method of bringing out important issues about politics, cultures is quite pro-Godard. But the important thing to note here is the limited indulgence of the characters, like in the films of the New Wave auteur. Just before they are making the connections with you, they snap out of it. You do not get deeply involved into their emotions. It remains superficial, like Ferdinand and Marianne, in Pierrot le Fou.
And yet, for the masses, for those who don’t wish to go deep, Bombay Velvet has: Love, Hate, Action, Violence and Death. A perfect cliché-filled cinema.
Parallels to Kashyap in Bollywood
I know this may sound silly, but here I see Balraj as Kashyap’s alter-ego. His entry into Bollywood with nothing to lose, working up his way through the street noir (indies), laughing at his own (street fight) failures, fighting against the system, just to be a Big-Shot one day in the industry, until the industry smothers him.
But, he still sees a hope that the ones who knew him well, whom he gave a platform to grow and spread their talent, would look up to him and exclaim that he was indeed a Big-Shot!
With that, I rest my views here. Only Anurag Kashyap can tell if these were a bit valid.
(Doctor during day time, and aspiring filmmaker during night, Arnab loves films more than medicines. Settled in Vadodara, he is currently studying for post-graduation)
(PS – Click here to read Anurag’s latest FB post and closing remark on the film and its making)
I am sure there is an innate desire in all mainstream filmmakers to see their audience dance on one of the songs of their films. With Banno, Anand Rai has achieved that aim quite easily. Banno tera Swagger (Not Sweater) is a cracker of a song which isnt just ‘dinchik-dinchik-boom-boom-*random-punjabi*-boom-boom’, the song is word rich, clever and that harmonium towards the end. Orgassssssssssssssm! We wondered here last year if the ‘ooper ooper ren de’ duo of Tanishk-Vayu would be able to match up to their own ‘high’ standards. Fair to say, they did and with aplomb.
It is in vogue to dislike Ankit tewari, more so because of the sameness of all of his tunes. Thankfully, with Krsna at the helm and the burden(?) of composing off his shoulder, Ankit doesn’t try too hard to over express the pain in Mat ja re. Terrific lyrics are a calming factor which generally isn’t the case with songs these days…उम्मीदों से है घायल,उम्मीद पे जिंदा है…आस भरी अरदास…I can go on and on. If you excuse the slight ‘oye raju’ like sound of the song, you will not have much to complain here. Also, I loved the ‘Oye raju’ song.
Jyoti Nooran has successfully filled in the folksy yet सुरीली place in bollywood, and almost all her songs do garner a lot of excitement. Ghani Bawri is easily likeable and Jyoti is in her top form like most times, so that is hardly a surprise. What surprised me no end was how well the remix of this song has been treated. Not a fan of CD filler रुपी remixes in film albums, I was in for a huge surprise with this remix. Thoroughly enjoyable attempt and my favorite part remains the stanzas of the song. Superbly done!
Old style Jazz setting, a meandering piano and Anmoll Malik get along very well in Old school girl which has enjoyable lyrics. The jazz setting isn’t managed by परदेसी बैंड वाली कम्पनी लिमिटेड, still it sounds rich. The lyrics are cute. Talking of cute, the Haryanvi version of this song sung by Kalpana Gandharv easily impresses although it will work more in the film (if used). हम में से कुछ लोग है, जिनकी first language अंग्रेजी नहीं है. ये गाना किसी ऐसे व्यक्ति से ही परिचय कराता है…पहले हरयाणवी में सोचो, फिर Translate it to english and then sing! To be honest, Kalpana’s singing isn’t very convincing (Haryanvi-shly I mean). Still her ‘Babby’ and ‘Telepone’ makes up for everything. Did I like both versions? Yes. Will I play it on the loop? Unlikely.
Move on – Perhaps the weakest song of the album, the song has a catchy hook but dies quickly because of that hook itself! The song sounds like a ‘Mehboob mere’ gone wrong. Normally a big fan of Sunidhi, this song refused to do anything that can make me play it on the loop.
Dev Negi has an interesting voice which doesn’t put you off. In ‘Ho gaya hai pyar tumse’, he is given a simple tune to which he does full justice. May be it is just me, but I felt I am listening to a fresher version of ‘Kitne dafey’ by the time I made it to the Stanza of the song.
I cannot write enough good things about O Saathi mere, so I will keep it short. The layered composition, married to beautiful lyrics and decorated by the faithful singing by Sonu Nigam has makings of a classic. The tune of the song is creatively handled and very rarely we come across such experiments these days in Bollywood. Easily a song that will outlive the film. One of Sonu Nigam’s finest, ever!
This is an album that is ‘small town’ at heart but very urban in execution. Through the songs, we get closer to the narrative without being too serious about ‘How-much-trouble-the-musicians-are-taking-to-put-it-all-together’. The art is to keep it simple, silly!
A mix of fun, बवाल, दुःख, दर्द and romance, this one for keeps, just like its predecessor, and slightly younger! Now How often does that happen?
– @rohwit
Terribly Tiny Talkies by Chintan Ruparel and Anuj Gosalia is a creative initiative which brings together a diverse pool of writers to create one tweet-sized story, everyday. Like their previous shorts centered on the theme of “Love”, this time they have produced 5 more shorts on the ocassion of “Mother’s Day”.
5 shorts, under 5 minutes, by 5 filmmakers. L by by Amit Masurkar, Cuddly by Karan Shetty, Cheers by Piyush Raghani, Arey Baba by Surya Balakrishnan, and Mamta Tonic by Srinivas Sunderrajan. Do watch them and VOTE for your favourite one.
L by Amit Masurkar, stars Tanistha Chatterjee, Pankaj Tripathi and Svar Kamble. A mother’s dream of riding a scooter is not as easy as it seems.
CUDDLY by Karan Shetty stars Neena Kulkarni and Shruti Vyas. Necessity is the mother of invention. But can it replace mother’s love?
CHEERS by Piyush Raghani stars Ali Fazal and Anju Mahendru. 10 years ago, a boy abandoned his alcoholic mother. Now a man, he returns to meet her.
ARRE BABA by Surya Balakrishnan stars Girish Kulkarni and Gauri Deshpande. Little Devika has a problem her father may not understand.
MAMTA TONIC by Srinivas Sunderrajan stars Suhita Thatte. A travelling saleswoman. 3 potential customers. She weighs the pros of her homemade tonic against the cons of making tough choices in life.
Gurvinder Singh’s second feature ‘Chauthi Koot’ will play at Un Certain Regard as an official selection in Cannes 2015. The first trailer of the film has just surfaced on Vimeo (h/t: Jahan Bakshi).
Like his well-acclaimed first film (Anhe Ghore Da Daan), this one too looks largely a silent, mood-driven affair. FB page of the film is here for more updates.
You can check the trailer here:
Fatema Kagalwala dives into the music of Bombay Velvet and comes out mighty impressed. In fact, it seems like she doesn’t want to come out of it. Read on.
Disclaimer – This is not a music review. Just rambles. Just my experience of it.
Back in 2009 when Dev D music hit the market it hit me (and many of us) like a thunderbolt. I drew everyone around mad by listening to it like my life (and theirs) depended on it. The things it did to me, the things it evoked, the things it made me want to do – it was these unexplainable things that make the album unforgettable to me even today. And now it’s Bombay Velvet songs that are doing unthinkable things to me. Maybe its just me, but I thought it warranted an un-review, its too good for anything else.
I’ve been listening to Bombay Velvet songs, on loop since it came out. At first, I couldn’t differentiate one song from another except maybe Sylvia and Darbaan and the remaining 12 merged into one another like milk and water. Give it all to my complete ignorance of the jazz music harmony but I’ve never been the one to listen to music with anything but my heart. I connected to hard rock the same way, till date I don’t know anything about yet I love it because it speaks to me in ways nothing else does and I respond like I never knew I could. Bombay Velvet’s retro-jazz does something similar to me.
Is it the haunting darkness of it? The style, the retro-style which is very modern at the same time. Or the upbeatness of the track covering up the darkness? Every song reminds me of a lot of things, songs, references but when I try to pick one I can’t. The song suddenly gains a credential, an identity of its own. Which is when I realise how homogenous is Trivedi’s mixing of a multitude of elements, moods, strains into something with its own uniqueness.
It’s an album that is a visceral experience of ethos of the 60’s Mumbai, steeped in its still predominant Anglo-Indian culture that continued to give shape to the idiom of modernity in society and our films of those times. We may also call it neo-colonialism. And there are three things that when combined have created magic in the past as well. The resident Kashyap quirk, dystopia and desperation. The typical Trivedi touch of using prevalent sounds in new ways and hence fucking up mainstream music once again. And the staple Bhattacharya habit of taking us to newer worlds within amidst the commonest of commonalities.
Darbaan – Papon’s honey-soaked voice over uncluttered, single or two instruments only music track. Love the way the words melt into each other.
‘Baadshah sadko ka tu, sadke hi teri taqdeer hain,
daakhila oonche makaanon mein kuchh thekedaaron ki jaageer hain.”
Somehow, this refuses to leave me. It touches a little more, just a little than how much it is meant to and I am wondering if it’s the Papon-effect or the words or the sweeping, swaying nature of the tune. It’s got the ‘Hain apna dil toh awara’ abandon, the gypsy-fakir tone but with a disheartened voice. Also, it seems like it’s a 3rd person pov, commenting on the protagonist or the Everyman as we may want to see it, and that gives it one of those singing fakir kinda moods, which is what I love.
In the seductive and tempting mode, a male version of this is super interesting, such moral kind of songs are generally sung by women in films – the upholder of all things virtuous.
The Bombay Velvet Theme – Rarely do I listen to themes, I enjoy them while watching the film but hardly ever take them back home. Except the BV theme. I’ve been imagining Amitabh type swashbuckling fights over it, Humphrey Bogart-Cary Grant type chase sequences, Baz Luhrman type grand bars and ballrooms with a sweep of darkness, intrigue and debauchery. It’s what film theme music used to be back in the 60’s thrillers. Grand, sweeping, moody, dark. It literally takes me back to the 60’s, without any help of visuals. And I am already loving what it is making me expect from the film which I shouldn’t be doing. Let’s stop here.
P.S.: Take a bike ride while listening to it, Especially ghats. You won’t regret it.
Aam Hindustani – I was tickled no end when I first heard this –
“Roothi hain mehbooba, roothi roothi sharab hain,
Aam Hindustani teri kismet kharaab hain!”
*insert rolling on the floor and laughing my ass off smiley here*
Oh but it doesn’t end there!
‘Pyaar mein thenga, bar mein thenga,
Inki botal bhi goronki gulaam hain’.
Whoa! And I love the slightly scathing tone Shefali Alvares has sung it in. Of course, what else would do justice to this! But I’m thinking about the very idea of having a scathing song at all to mock the guy. Back in the 50’s and 60’s our filmy women, even in bars, only sang encouraging songs (Tadbeer se bigdi hui) or teasing ones (Babuji Dheere Chalna) to the man. Interesting subversion I really wanna know more about from the film.
Circus music! I laughed when I read this description of the unconventionally long prelude. Coz by then I had already started tripping on the soundtrack ‘like crazy’. The waltzy-jive feel is too good to ignore, feet begin tapping on their own. And then follows a sweet la la la and bang! There is that Trivedi whiplash – it is followed with a curt, snide ‘Dhobi ka kutta kaisa ghaat na gharka!’ in Shefali Alvares’ boisterous and refreshingly uninhibited vocals and you’re like ‘whaaaaa…’? . This is Bhattacharya in ‘paan mein pudhina’ zone 😛 full on quirk!
“Lalach ne tujhko aisi patti padhayi
Khwahish huyi hain degchi, khadai
Taqdeer teri abhi bhi chamach hain!”
In lesser hands this would have become ‘tujhko mirchi lagi toh main kya karoon’.
There are so many turns of the tune, dramatic ones that I wonder how the song has been used / picturised. Hide-n-seek, chase, robbery, in bits, in parts, in whole? Phew!
Behroopia – Of shadows, of doubts, of lies and half-hidden truths, mysteries and the subtle threat of it all…This is the wine of the album for me. Classy, seductive, romantic, moody, dark, a slow high. The fabulous trumpet giving way to almost minimalist vocals and that giving way to a full-blown orchestra is a transition I can’t get over right now. Between this, Darbaan and Sylvia what would I choose as the best? I’m still trying to figure out. And after Rockstar, in my imagination, Mohit Chauhan is to Ranbeer what Balasubraniam was to Salman at one point 😛
Dhadaam Dhadaam – This one is ‘Duniya’ level good. The operatic touch gives it that grandness of lost passions, a passion critical and deadly at the same time. Throughout the album Bhattacharya uses words we used to use in cinema back in time, but don’t anymore like ‘malaal’, ‘sehra’, ‘gila’, ‘daga’, (the Urdu influence fast disappearing from our films and lives today but immersive back then). This infuses a refreshing old-world-ness to the song only to be taken down with a dhadaam, literally! Someone, once said, everything that had to be discovered has been discovered, now we just create newer meanings and expressions by playing around with those discoveries. And AB puts a very quirky and unpoetic ‘Dhadaam’ bang in the middle of light and beautiful Urdu. The effect.
Ka Kha Ga – The fabulous trumpet makes an appearance again, with a band taking over. And then a seductive, drunk ‘Ay’. Geeta Dutt would have been so happy! This one I love singing! And I do, chilla chillake. (The corridors at Girls Hostel echo, all the more joy :P)
Naak Pe Gussa – Here’s my ‘Tadbeerse Bigdi Hui’ but as modern as it could get! Bhattacharya’s choice of words is so mellifluous, it’s a delicious thing to keep listening to. Teasing, warm, naughty, and one of those rare happy songs in the album. And it sounds like it has been literally sung with a smile on! (Like one feels about Ashatai’s songs!)
Sylvia – This is the true-blue retro song of the album, lovingly and truthfully recreating the O.P Nayyar-verse.
“Bhavra tha sayana, mukar hi gaya na,
Rusvayi reh gayi, (Oh ‘rusvayi’!)
Ghosla suhana, ujad hi gaya na,
Tanhai reh gayi
Tanhai…
Aankh ke surme ko daag banaya,
Kaanch ke aashiyan ko phook jalaya
Fitrat mein hi thi bewafai
Tu pyaar pe tohmat chhod gayi
Yeh kya kiya Sylvia !”
Rusvayi, aashiyaan, fitrat, tohmat haye!
Mohabbat Buri Beemaari – I’m not much of a fan of this, something is very laboured about it…something isn’t right and I can’t put my finger on it yet. I’ve simply stopped listening to it.
<detour> (Sylvia is playing right now. And yet again I am giving myself up to it. My first favourite of the album, its retro-ness calling out to those long-lost childhood memories. Growing up on O.P.Nayyar in a family that hailed him as a path-breaking musician when he was somewhat of an outcast in the mainstream more Indian-classical-is-music-alone world, the quality of his songs and sounds make me smile even today.(really wanna know if it’s a conscious hat-tip). There is something searing in the rendition and the use of march rhythmic chorus to underline that entire effect wanting to overpower…well, succeeded there!)
Shut Up – Drum rolls!!! Drum beats now, foot-tapping, jubilant trumpets and others follow. All upbeat and celebratory. And when things are about to settle down, Trivedi throws a spanner in the works. And then the song starts. Then you realise the effect this juxtaposition has on the expectation of the opening and the surprise in what follows.
Aisi kya, aisi kya, aisi kya bhookh hain…The first time I heard this I tripped on how the use of repetition fits in so beautifully! And lately I’ve been noticing how ‘harqatein’ almost sounds like ‘harqutein’ and suddenly it gains more quirk. Remember ‘sufed’?
And the merging of light, lilting, Urdu words with a crude ‘Shut Up!’ Why isn’t this today’s ‘Emotional Atyachaar’ of the youth yet?
Conspiracy – ‘Conspiracy’ is so well-named! And Trivedi plays with extremes once again, kabhi silent, kabhi ceiling-crashing, extremes – tempo mein, scale mein, aur emotion mein. Leaves me a little breathless every time I listen to it. And I love that feeling of anticipation as the music keeps picking up scale only to peter out, without any fulfilment, without any answers…letting a dullness set in that’s ‘safer’.
Out of 15 tracks, 12 are with vocals. Out of the 12, 11 are romantic songs. Only one is about the overarching ambitions of the protagonist, the central conceit of the film. Let’s see how the film treats the music and vice-versa.
For now, let the trumpets and trombones lull me to sleep, like they are used to by now. I wonder which one of these I will wake up singing tomorrow morning! Will let you know 🙂
There is so much that has already been ‘lectured’ to us on Bombay Velvet that I would refrain from saying anything else and just begin with whatever I thought of music of the film.
The film is 1960s and quite loudly so in whatever we have heard or seen so far and with whatever little I know, the words like tattu and nikhattu were surely not heard in the jazz of those days. To me, they dilute the feel of the song and even though it might go with the situation of the song, it is quite a put off for me. If you leave this slip aside, Aam hindustani is top class. Shefali has stressed on pronunciation a lot which is quite refreshing and goes with the attitude of the song. The tempo of the song varies teasingly and creates a great club like atmosphere.
Mohabbat buri beemari by Neeti Mohan is dominated by brass and even during the antraas, you can hear a faint notes of brass in the corner of your ear. The song is filled with tease which can, in terms of setting remind you of ‘mud mud ke na dekh’. Neeti mohan and her ‘come on!’ Is grey, purple and all shades of Stimulation. Another version of this song which is sung by Shefali Alvares is cute and sounds fancy but is not as aggressive as the one by Neeti Mohan. Both versions end with flourish and are of exact same duration.
Neeti Mohan’s Ka Kha Gha has an adorable tune but the words are a big let down. I am sure this would not be a common opinion but when you produce such a rich tune, you have got to have better choice of words than ‘sab bhula ke jo doob jaye kyu wo hee tair paata hai‘. Neeti Mohan cannot be praised enough for her exquisite singing. Sadly, she is stuck with ordinary lyrics in a song that has everything going for it otherwise. Easily the most ordinary song of the album and ONLY because of the lyrics.
An insightful guitar, quiet brass, whip-smart set of violins and a general evening-ish atmosphere is what makes up dhadaam dhadaam. Neeti Mohan has poured her heart out in the song and the part where she goes ‘malaal mein’ can actually be used as a ‘goosebumps checking device’ for all humans to see if their bodies are adequately producing goosebumps at right moments or not. Call me fussy, but the use dhadaam dhadaam is the only thing that put me off in the song. It sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise superlative song.
Naak pe jo gussa features a madly in love Neeti Mohan who is playful, yet stays within the ‘jazz’ brief of the song. Successful attempt is made to recreate a bar scene with the lead singer of the bar trying to cajole her love interest to give up anger. The lyrics of this song are terrific to say the least. A top class song.
Sylvia is an enjoyable song which has a generous pace and lyrics that tell us everything about a certain ‘Sylvia’ who enjoys a stranger’s touch more than someone who loves her. The song has a sad undertone to it in spite of being fast paced and that to me appealed a lot! Did I like the song? Yes. Will I hear it again and again? No.
Darbaan by Papon has a lot of sadness laced around a hummable tune. Generally the first hurdle between the disadvantaged and the rich of the society is the darbaan (gatekeeper) who doesn’t let the poor get as much as a peek inside the club where ‘mem log and babu sahabs‘ have fun, high society style. Singing wise, a strictly average song because the composition didn’t give much to Papon to play with. It might be a great spectacle on the screen (or not) but it is unlikely this would be a ‘repeat’ song in the playlist.
Shut up is an interesting song with Shefali Alvares asking the ‘lecturers’ to shut up. The bass lends good depth to the setting. Brass swivels along with Shefali and what we get is a thoroughly enjoyable song about something sinister, something vulnerable and someone being way too naughty.
Behroopia is perhaps the lightest song of the album, arrangement wise. Even here, you will find a quiet appearance of brass. The tune of the song is oddly familiar at times but nothing to complain here. In fact, it doesn’t sound like a typical Amit trivedi song and that is such a relief. An easy song, worth a play or two.
A nearly 5 minute Bombay Velvet theme is my favorite piece from the album without a doubt. Of course the film is touted, hyped, over propagated as noir and what not, and the theme heightens this feel to maddening levels! This could easily be one of the best theme music we have heard since Bombay Theme. The sense of occasion is palpable and the build up is magnificent. Kudos to Amit Trivedi for smartly using brass, clarinet and that Guitar…ooh la la! Such themes are the reasons we wait for films to be out! So filmy and so bloody good! You want ‘grand’? Here it is.
Conspiracy, like the name suggests has ominous written all over it. The violins build up the atmosphere and don’t be surprised if you start expecting a ‘twist’ in everything after you listen to this track. The clarinet keeps the track grounded and concludes it leaving an air of uncertainty. Nothing play worthy on repeat, but for film buffs, a track to re-live the film.
Tommy Gun in reality shuts up everyone forever so it isn’t surprising that a track with the same title will have nuanced presentation of the shut up song among other things. Again a film piece and good of makers to include it in the album.
There are two rather embarrassing remixes in the album and I would refrain from mentioning anything else about them. Perhaps, the makers wanted to see the name of McCleary in the film credits. In what is an extremely rare occurrence, McCleary makes you want to skip the tracks. The tracks are a misfit in the overall scheme of things and that is just what it is.
The film pertains to a set time period revolving around jazz music and to create the music of the film Amit Trivedi with his team have really given everything to the soundtrack and what’s more sound oozes the effort. My complaint is only with somewhat lazy lyrics and at times, the over produced sound. Unlikely that all the songs will remain in your playlist after the film goes out of theaters but a good effort which is worth an applause or two, club style!
For an ordinary music-booze lover and someone who is least bothered about jumping the ‘social class’, and who doesn’t care if it is a local, cheap beer or an expensive wine with an unpronounceable name, the songs might take a while to grow but they will grow for sure. The others are well, already busy revealing how they found the music to be ‘magnifique’.
Overall, a good album that fits the narrative.
– @Rohwit
(Ps – Click here to get the credits for each song)
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 