Posts Tagged ‘Rohit Sharma’

Rewind 2017 – Best Bollywood Songs Of The Year

Posted: December 24, 2017 by moifightclub in cinema, rewind, Year end special
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To quote Stephen Witt, Listening to hundreds of new releases a year could lead to a kind of jaded auditory cynicism. Last year, I wasn’t expecting a lot, and the year was fine. This year, I wasn’t expecting much yet some albums surprised me (Thank God I have always been a cynic). We have picked  one song per album. We don’t care how the colour scheme of the films to which these songs belong, compliment the character as movie progresses. It is just about the music. Do suggest your favourites which aren’t in the list for I am sure I have missed some gems.

If you are in no mood to read, just scroll down to play the embedded playlist.

  • Badnaam jiya –  Sung by Rekha Bhardwaj and composed so well by Rohit Sharma, this track sounds earthy, retains the charm of a filmi thumri and sounds splendid. I loved the entire album of Anaarkali of Aarah, and it was a task to pick this one over Sonu Nigam’s mann bekaid hua, but I did, gladly so.
  • Tera junoon – From the film Machine (yeah! Have you heard about it?), composed by Tanishk, sung by the excellent Jubin Nautiyal, penned beautifully by Arafat Mehmood & Mohammed Irfan, the song ticks all the right boxes – understated, melodious and very well presented.
  • Humsafar – There are confusing words/lines in the song (Hai nahi tha pata?), still I love the hopeless romanticism in the song from Badrinath Ki Dulhania. Akhil Sachdeva, thumbs up to you!
  • Alvida –  I love this entire album and the keyboard of my laptop will tell you how conflicted I was between this and the magnificent ‘Ye Ishq hai’ (Arijit Singh), both from Rangoon. Gulzar, Vishal Bhardwaj & Arijit Singh. Alvida wins because Gulzar reminded us to question all goodbyes and everything there’s to a goodbye. Aye kahin tu khuda to nahi? – God bless you Gulzar saab!
  • Rozana – Oh the delight of listening to Shreya Ghosal in her normal pitch! Composed intimately by Rochak Kohli and such fabulous words by Manoj muntashir, this one is from Naam Shabana. I quite liked the way the song has been presented. She longs for her love, yet she is not weak because she longs for her love. Aate jaate yun hee, mere liye theher, Rozana..  Simply beautiful!
  • Maana ke hum –  There is a lovely moment in Insomniac City* when O says to Bill,  ‘I’ve suddenly realized what you mean to me: You create the need which you fill, the hunger you sate. Like Jesus. And Kierkegaard. And smoked trout.’ I feel the same can apply to ghazals as well. There are hajaar genres and then there is ghazal. This year, Sachin-Jigar flirted with ghazal-like film songs, and if you remember Sachin’s Kho dia hai (from Bhoomi), you would know what I mean when you hear it along with this fabulous song. I am, of course, referring to the version by Parineeti Chopra in Meri Pyaari Bindu. A contemporary presentation of ghazal in my view. I love Kausar Munir’s pen for what it has done in this song.
  • Phir wohi – I see Amitabh Bhattacharya, Pritam and Arijit Singh together and my heart races in anticipation. I love this song from Jagga Jasoos (JJ)and I felt alive when Arijit went ‘gham ka jaya‘. It felt like a rejoinder to the first song of Arijit which I loved – beprwah rang ka jaaya. Back to JJ, I love the entire album but now that we are picking one song per album for the post, I couldn’t go to any other song than this gem. Arijit Singh…
  • Safar – Haan, so what was I saying about Arijit singh? Oh yeah…Arijit Singh, please never stop singing. For me, this is the song of the year, from Jab Harry Met Sejal. Pritam, Irshad Kamil & Arijit singh – I bow to you for this one. Did you notice the ‘jaana maine’ part from 3:00 to 3:02? I could give my cassette collection to Arijit Singh for that. (I desperately wanted to mention Hawayein and Ghar but I won’t because we are picking one song per album. You didn’t hear anything from me Ok?) If I could live in a song, I would live in this song, may be I do. 
  • Ek Chaand – Guitars by Sanjoy Das, pretty much everything else by Tony Kakkar, this one is from Loev. I remember pausing the film and immediately picking this song, and playing this everyday since then, and perhaps this won’t change. I am still conflicted what I like the most? The music, the singing, the film, the lounge where Shiv is shown in the last shot? Well Jaane do…iss baat pe phir kabhi baat kar lenge. The song conveys pain and hurt yet it doesn’t console, doesn’t even demand to be heard, it plays almost in the background. Do yourself a favor, pick up the full song because the youtube clip doesn’t have the full song. Best 18 bucks you will ever spend.
  • Barfaani – Written by Ghalib Asad Bhopali, composed by Gaurav Dagaonkar and sung by the sublime Orunima Bhattacharya, this song is from Babumoshai Bandookbaaz. The excellent arrangement of the song sounds so close to the ground on which we stand and the singing ensures the song burns that very piece of the ground, just splendid!
  • Hoshiyar rehna – Oh yes! The beauty of listening to Neeraj Arya’s Cafe singing Kabir without dumbing it down or polishing it excessively! Enough said.From Baadshaho.
  • Kho dia – Penned by Priya Saraiya, composed by Sachin Jigar and sung by Sachin, this song took me back to explore the whole album of Hariharan titled Kaash. I love the ghazal-sque vibe of the song and I hope at some point of time, the unplugged version of this song comes out. From Bhoomi.
  • Nachdi phira – Ah! My secret superstar of the year – Meghna Mishra! I loved this album a bit too much and this song just didn’t let me move on, and hello again Kausar Munir! Impossible not to shower adulation listening to this kiddo going all teri nagariya, teri najariya and doing all this so effortlessly..too much! Lastly, Amit Trivedi – Thank you kood kood ke ! I said (Thank Yoooooou in falsetto, kood kood ke)! From Secret Superstar.
  • Na jaa – For some reason, I couldn’t find Asees Kaur’s version of this superlative song (from Jia Aur Jia) on youtube. I like both versions of this song which is basically a friend calling out her friend, her sakhee. When was the last time we heard a hindi film song touch this genre? Excellent music by Nisschal Zaveri and brilliantly penned by Raqueeb Alam.
  • O mere sanam – The answer to ‘What if Benny Dayal decides to floor us with a song so romantic it charms our pants off’? First things first, apart from Benny’s superlative yet understated singing (hear him say ‘varak‘ so perfectly!), what stood out for me are the excellent words by Shakeel Azmi. Girish G has composed this song for The House Next Door.
  • Tu bann jaa gali banaras ki – Yep, Shakeel Azmi with his murderous pen again! Composed by Rashid Khan and sung in two solo version by Asit Tripathy & Asees Kaur respectively for Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana. Tujhe isskooter pe bitha ke main, tere saath hawa mein uda karoo – the way the song is presented comes across with a certain degree of purity and honesty, without being too self aware. It’s like a really cute kid who is indulging in all her** cuteness without caring if someone is filming her mischief. Please hear both the versions on my request. Everyone cries small-town-simplicity, if only half of them could make us live it. This one does it. Lastly, do check Shakeel Azmi on internet.

P.S. – I feel compelled to mention few more things here. 

Genres that Hindi film music touched this year which I absolutely loved 

  • Non manipulative kiddo love to her mum – Ammi from Secret Superstar
  • Teen love done right – I miss you – Secret superstar
  • A song for a friend, by her friend – Na jaa – Jiya aur Jia
  • Non manipulative comment on demons within – Hoshiyar rehna – Baadshaho
  • Classical done right – Babul morai – Poorna
  • Classical done right – Sunn bhavra – Ok Jaanu!
  • Scratch better than the recorded version – Main faraar sa (sung ONLY by Anupam Roy) for ‘Running Shaadi’. The writer of the film made me listen to it on his phone and i loved it. I don’t have it for he rightfully didn’t share it with me, but if you get hold of it, hear it, you will know what i mean.

*The entire book is filled with lovely moments. I am no book recommender, but do pick this one up, or not.

**Hashtag girlchild, Hashtag feminism

– Rohit

The Journey Of “Qalandar”

Posted: May 1, 2017 by moifightclub in Film Festival, Making, short film
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QALANDAR

Qalandar* – A 35 year old man from a village in Punjab (India) has to learn riding a Bicycle to get closer to his fleeting dream. A dabbler by nature. Music, cinema and books interest him, and thus, make him a complete misfit in his village and family.

His age and intellect becomes his biggest roadblock in learning cycling and such a trivial pursuit becomes the chase of his life.

To live up to his name, he has to find his way or his way would find him.

(*Qalandars are wandering ascetic Sufi dervishes)

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What does it takes to shoot a Short Film? A device, which is in your hand most of the times. In my case, it is my first independent film, (Director/Producer) so its pure courage. And sometimes, courage is more important than talent.

The thought of Qalandar has been living inside me for quite a few years. There’s a whole charm of riding a bicycle and why it seems like magic, when you balance a bicycle. You are actually defeating gravity in a way. I myself learnt it quite late in my life. I remember my Uncle reacted to this story idea by quoting Albert Einstein. “Life is just like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

The whole genesis of this film originated from a thought of someone not being able to do something very basic and is too old to even attempt that. Something, which can define your existence and masculinity. For the milieu, it was always a friend’s, (Kulwinder Harshaai)  home in Punjab, which came to my mind. I wanted to treat it like a feature film or my first step towards making a feature length film. One thing I was sure about that it has to be in the countryside, or it was my own aversion to cityscape which was also responsible for my location choice.

My friend Kulwinder Harshai, Creative Producer, apart from being my link to this village named Guruharsahai (in Ferozepur District of Punjab) is also the one on whom the protagonist of my story is based.  This film wouldn’t have been possible without him. He just opened the doors of his home and heart, and let us all in! From locations, sets, actors, accommodation, food & country made liquor to music, vocals and the dialogues of the film.

Though an independent film but I approached every department from the feature’s perspective. I was lucky the first technician who I shared the script with, came on board as the cinematographer, and Mihir Desai also ended up becoming my Co-Producer. This has been the best casting of the film!

Now our main objective was how we are going to tell the story on screen. I wanted to explore Punjab beyond the clichés of pop culture like mustard fields, hospitality, handsome men, bhangra, food & flamboyance. The Punjab etched up in my mind did have all this but primarily it had a serene and placid feel to it, which I’ve attempted to capture in the visual narrative.

I myself a product of pop-culture but my biggest grouse with it is that it never exercises its power to propagate the hidden gems of any culture; and is only interested in ‘selling’ culture as commodity. The land of five rivers, including the part in Pakistan, has given us poets like Shiv Kumar Batalavi, Paash, Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhanvi to name a few. And, if we delve deeper into the history Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah and Guru Nanak. I’ve seen Batalwi & Paash’s books being sold at popular places like bus stations in Punjab but the pop-culture chooses not to mention it at all!

Film making is a collaborative art, I knew and had seen it in the best of professional set ups in Bombay. And it’s ‘magic’ too, I saw this happening every day. The way one by one whole village came together to make sure Qalandar moves! Dev Verma, my associate, ushered them all from our side incredibly – from recording sync sound to making sure we cover everything on time.

The villagers never said ‘no’! The most beautiful example of this collaboration is the scene, when Qalandar is pushing the bicycle uphill. This hill, which we all called “Dali’s Hill” was made accessible by villagers. I guess the ‘Spirit’ scored over logistics or it was simply Punjabiyat, as we all say back home!

Since the story idea was based on Kulwinder’s life I had decided to cast him only as Qalandar…But as I got into the pre-production I realized, thankfully, I could either burden his gentle shoulders as an actor or a creative producer, not both, and I chose the latter.

Siddharth Sen, a professional actor based in Bombay, came on board as Qalandar. Siddharth transformed into Qalandar effortlessly and his quiet charm warmed up all of Kulwinder’s family, who were part of the film’s main cast. Siddharth, a keen observer just absorbed everything around him and that reflects in the subtler nuances of the film. The reason for casting Kulwinder’s family was essentially budget and equally the fact that raw actors bring certain truth to their performances which technically correct ones may not be able to!

Working with all of them was absolute pleasure. I just had to share the gist of moment with them and often capture the magic, or was it truth? This film is a combination of good accidents also. Qalandar’s Chacha, who works in the fields as a supervisor is an 80 year old man. He was one actor who improvised and was cracking jokes off camera! A real Qalandar!

Somi, who plays Qalandar’s nephew and confidante in the film is a trained Physiotherapist in Faridkot, Punjab. His love for Alia Bhatt and social media has become a part of my narrative as well. How Somi came up with his own lines, which became dialogues of the film is also memorable!

We finally managed to finish Qalandar’s shoot in five days. The film was edited on my personal laptop “Macbook Pro” with the help of my editor, John Joseph, and it took me six months of post-production to finish the film, since, I was working on Aamir Khan’s Secret Superstar simultaneously as a Script Supervisor. Indirectly it was my assignment with Aamir Khan Productions, which made Qalandar see light of the day!

We had a 35 minute long first cut, which was brought to 26 minutes. Now we decided to abandon editing the film and finalizing it. Mandar Kamalapurkar (Sound Designer) brought a certain kind of finesse and texture to the film. Mandar’s expertise took the film to another level! He was patient and professional at the same time.

Finally there are few names, which still helped this film but I cannot define their role. Pallavi Pethkar (Poster Design), Collin D’cunha (Talent Sourcing), Mohit Sharma (Ambal Productions), Shipan Vyas (Vfx), Mahak Gupta (DI), Priyarth Mukherjee, Kedar Sonar and Kasbah Digital. My apologies to those who are in my heart but my brain fails to recall!

To live up to his name he has to find his way or his way would find him: We too are on our way, it seems!

– Rohit Sharma

Qalandar premieres for the world on 3rd May, 2017 at the New York Indian Film Festival, New York. So if you are in NY, do catch it.

Screening info:
3rd May 6:15pm
Village East Cinema, New York, New York.

(Qalandar was also Shortlisted in MAMI Film Festival, 2016 (Mumbai) under Large Shorts Category. Winner of Best Screenplay- Jury in Indian World Film Festival, 2017 (Hyderabad, India), Official Selection, New York Indian Film Festival 2017)