Posts Tagged ‘video’

Kagalwala to Khanwalkar : I cant hold it any longer! This is pure LSD!

Posted: March 20, 2010 by moifightclub in bollywood, music, reviews, songs & videos, Thoughts
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Like many of us, Fatema Kagalwala is also tripping on LSD these days. But the big fuck up is that the music is still not available at many places! Yes, even after the film’s release. WTF is Sony Music upto ? I checked with Landmark (Andheri west) today. They have no clue. Thats quite a landmark, right ? Anyway, back to the dope.  

LSD music is LSD. Not the film but its actual abbreviation namesake- the psychedelic hallucination-inducing, drug. And in its 8 song package it packs every kind of delirious phantasm the drug can induce. 

I have no idea about music, you won’t get a review. I cannot write intelligently about instruments, rhythms, notes, genres and all that but there is this absolute compulsion I have, to write about the music of Love, Sex aur Dhoka. (Last I felt like this was for Gulaal and before that Dev D’s music. There is no comparison, these two and LSD music being in totally different spaces, the only similarity being how they got stuck to my playlist, fevicol-ka-mazboot-jod-types). Hence, this deluge of words which actually could begin at ‘rocks!’ and end at ‘awesome!’ But aren’t we all suckers for a little more than simplistic minus 20 IQ FYBA expression? I am going to have fun with it here while LSD songs play right now on my comp, yes, giving that extra kick.

Title track – Starts with a high-pitched shriek. Goes onto an equally mind-fucked ‘Dhishkiaaooon’. And the number of ways it is said in makes me imagine a character experimenting in different ways to say it, all mad but. Sets the perfect tone for this crazy song. And the mayhem then breaks loose. Obsession, destruction, wild fantasies all roll out without warning. What love! Destructive and protective in the same breath. I think it’s quite an interesting kind of love. But the killer are the lyrics. The schizophrenia in them is so much fun! Great perverse pleasure. In a twisted way embodies the point of the film. I don’t know if it was supposed to. If yes, then it’s genius. If no, even then I am thankful for the serendipity. And the way suddenly Kailash Kher softens down on the ‘Love, sex aur dhoka darling, love sex aur dhoka’ going into the frenzied pitch again is…Sneha Khanvalkar, take a bow. Actually, quite a few.

I can’t hold it longer – I think I LOVE this one because of it irreverence, its brazen-ness. And maybe also because being the ONLY female song in the bunch, I guess identify with it the mostest. But I also don’t think so, that’s too subconscious a reason because the song is a class-act in its own right. It’s more trippy than anything else in the album. Oh, the magic done with turntables, flutes, dholaks and what-nots (How I wish I could distinguish which instrument makes which music in the song!) The Rajasthani folk turned into a crazy, starved pop song! And does it work? The one that works the most in the album because of all the elements. Lyrics. Whoever thought of Rajasthani words and that too belted out in such a pop-ish style, in this case Mr Banerjee, is a genius. But for me the real genius is Sneha, the ensemble put together, with her bare-it-all, rendition, adding to the craziness. The fun she seems like having while singing it, makes me jealous. And the FO? It’s the juiciest cherry I have seen on any cake yet! My roomie put it on her cell after she listened to it once (by compulsion being in the same room with me) and now does not need permission to go upto my comp and put it on whenever she pleases which has become all the time in two days. More testimony for Sneha’s genius and our madness?

Tu Gandi – Controversy’s child. I first read about it on Anurag Kashyap’s status on facebook and me being the prude that I am, was more than a little taken aback. But of course, a curiosity for anything ‘atrangi’ (not for a want for a better word but there is no word that clearly translates the full meaning of this word in any language), call it attraction rather, drew me to it. Where the hell did the ideas of this song come in from? I want to go to that place… Explore it superficially or delve a little deeper, it explodes. A song that starts with something as crass as ‘Tu gandi achhci lagti hain’ goes onto something as spiritual as ‘Main kya jaanu kya sharam haya, tujhe jaanke main sab bhool gaya, woh kehte hain yeh kufr-khata, kaafir kya hain, kya mujhko pata.’ Then it goes into a starker yet deeper zone, ‘Sach, sach main bolnewaala hoon, main manka behad kaala hoon, tere rang mein man rang loonga, tu rangeen achchi lagti hain.’ There can be no song more honest about love and sex than this one. Personally, I think the music is a bit of a let-down in this one. Or maybe it is just that I am not a trance fan and this one falls in that pattern, the repetitive rhythm structure. Had the variations in the melody been more, it would have been a much much more interesting song. But guess, Dibakar thought we wouldn’t be able to handle the RDX then? 😉

Tainu TV pe wekhya – The craziness for me ends with the songs above. From here begins another trip, a bit closer to reality, dripping sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, laughing at the knowledge that those being made fun of will not even get the point. This song reminds me of the news item years back saying how Abhijeet Sawant was inundated with marriage offers after he won whatever music contest he did. Wow. But the view of the dystopia we live in is delicious. Laughing at oneself and one’s surroundings is another kind of liberation.

Na Batati tu – The trip in this one is the music and KK’s rendition. Starting with classical beats going onto western beats and KK coming in with classical vocals going na dhin dhin-na over western rhythms gels for me! Again the self-deprecatory tone of the music and singing hide the meaningful lyrics. And the under-emphasis works so well, just adding that splash of meaning in an environment of lightly charged music! Sample this –

Nabh ke sitare (when was the last time we heard ‘nabh’ in any Hindi movie song?)

Aise saje hain dwarein

Jaage Jaage ujiyare

Mukh rang gaye saare

Palkon ke tale chhupa chand na

Tujhko padega pehchanna

Kuchh samajh ishaare…

My, my! Is this part of a movie about vouyeurism, materialistic changing values, love, sex and dhoka??? I am waiting for the film, if the songs alone pack in so much.

Tauba Tauba – Roomie tells me this is part of KK’s ‘Kailasa’. I imagine it as a spoof of some kind much like the ‘Love Bollywood Style’. The pace, very disco-ish and the rhythm very Arabic, makes it danc-ish. Ish! Why am I writing like this? Maybe cause its a song just to be heard and not to be spoken about at length???

Bollywood style – Makers of silly ‘nostalgia-inducing’, ‘tributes’, spoofs of 60, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and hell even 2000’s songs must learn a thing or two from this Love Bollywood style song. Not that it’s the best in this category. “Woh ladki hain kahan hain’ from DCH and ‘Dhoom tana’ from OSO rock (I am out of words now) but this one’s got a tongue-in-cheek satiric attitude that the two above didn’t have. I like the sly tone of the song, making fun at prevalent popular film songs/situations/attitudes and the treatment is so genuinely serious it’s quite funny!

I’ve spoken too much about that just needs to be heard. And I can’t stop playing it repeatedly and can’t stop saying, ‘Fuck, awesome’ every other minute or so. Hope you like it too! And hope it catches on like Dev D. Not comparing but seeing how big a hit it was with the youth these songs sure do have the capacity to catch fire and heat up things more on the alternative film music scene. And by god we know how bad we need it.

But now I need to go watch the film. I caaaaannnnn’t hold it any LONGER! And shouldn’t either, na?

Hrithik Roshan’s Kites – new trailer & the kites connect!

Posted: March 13, 2010 by moifightclub in bollywood, cast & crew, cinema, first look, News, songs & videos
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A new trailer of Hrithik Roshan starrer Kites is out. Produced by Papa Roshan, its directed by Anurag Basu and co-stars Barbara Mori and Kanagan Ranaut. For those of you who have scratching your head wondering why is the film called Kites and whats the connect, check out this promo. Finally they have figured out the “Kites” connect, somehow!

First Look : Arshad Warsi’s Hum Tum Aur Ghost (Trailer)

Posted: February 25, 2010 by moifightclub in bollywood, cast & crew, first look, News, songs & videos
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Actor Arshad Warsi has turned producer with his new film Hum Tum Aur Ghost. The film was earlier titled Kaun Bola ? Its directed by Kabeer Kaushik, who made a superb debut with Sehar. But nobody knows how he lost the plot in his next film Chamku. Was it the Deols-who-dont-die in films ?

Hum Tum Aur Ghost stars Arshad Warsi, Dia Mirza, Sandhya Mridul and Boman Irani. Can anyone smell Ghost Town ? As always in bollywood, Arshad clarified that after he wrote the script hi freinds told him that it sounds like Ghost Town. Otherwise he had no clue.

First Look : Mahesh Manjrekar’s City Of Gold (trailer) & snopsis

Posted: February 23, 2010 by moifightclub in bollywood, cast & crew, cinema, first look, pics, songs & videos, Story / Plot / Synopsis
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The first trailer of Mahesh Manjrekar’s new film City Of Gold is out. Check it out.

This one had lot of promise, till we saw the trailer. The premise, setting, time, incidents and an untold story. But from the trailer it looks too tacky! City Of Gold is set in Mumbai’s mills era. Here is the official synopsis of the film…

Today, there is hardly anyone who hasn’t visited the swanky shopping malls, nightclubs, lounge bars, clubs and other such lifestyle destinations that sprung up across the centre of Mumbai. However, very few know that buried deep below these glittering edifices to consumerism lies the dark, dirty and painful reality of many thousands of mill workers who once worked the cotton mills in this very same area. Rising and toiling to the wail of the mill sirens each and every day, seven days a week, these workers embodied the true unbridled zeal and unflagging spirit of the city and played a pivotal role in the evolution of Mumbai as the modern day business capital of India.

And then it suddenly was as if they never existed. Following the mill workers strike in the mid-80s, these mills began closing down rapidly and the mill-workers mysteriously disappeared. What happened to them, and where they went is one of the most shameful secrets that the city of Mumbai will have to bear for generations, one that until now has always been spoken about in hushed whispers.

City of Gold – the story of these long-forgotten masses – not only explores the apathy of these mill workers narrated through the story of one such family, but is also a take-no-prisoners account of the birth of the true underbelly of organized crime in Mumbai.

The film traces the birth of the politics of greed in Mumbai and exposes the unholy collusion between the triumvirate of big business, the political establishment and the trade union leaders who ostensibly were charged with protecting the rights of the mill workers. In the two decades that followed, the entire landscape of Central Mumbai was changed forever. Land became the currency of growth, and this began the systematic extinction of mills in Mumbai. In a matter of just a few years, hundreds of thousands of workers lost their means of livelihood. Having worked in these mills from generation to generation, this was the only vocation that they knew.

Many left Mumbai and went back to their ancestral homes, some others chose to stay back and fight what they soon realised was a losing battle, some took the extreme step of ending their miserable lives, and still some others took to a world of crime.

Truth… as is said, is stranger than fiction. But the truth that the film uncovers is not just stranger but darker and dirtier than any mind has ever imagined. Produced by DAR Motion Pictures and from the Director of dark and realistic films like Vaastav – Mr Mahesh Manjrekar, ‘City of Gold’ takes another trip down memory lane…. just that this time around the result is a much more heart wrenching, soul stirring and shocking film about human avarice and apathy.

The film doesn’t provide any direct solutions. Yet it shatters many a myth and raises many a question which only the passage of time will provide answers to.

To know more about the film, click here for the official website.

Xclusive : IPL 2010 launch video is plagiarised from Coke China Olympics TVC!

Posted: February 22, 2010 by moifightclub in Ad world, first look, News, plagiarism, songs & videos, Xclusive
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Ah, they have done it again! One more and its a hattrick. Last time it was the IPL Karmayudh video which was copied from the Yankees Ad. If you dont remember click here to see the original, the copied and filmmaker Prasoon Pandey’s reaction to plagiarism allegations.

And here is the new one from Indian Plagiarised League! Those who are following all the IPL buzz must have already seen the “red carpet” launch video of IPL 2010 on SetMax. If you havent, click on the play button.

And here is the original one. The Coke TV commercial for China Olympics.

In the desi one, they have just added saare jahan se accha, hindustan hamara. And believe it or not, but try this. Freeze the first video (IPL) at 01:03 and the second one (coke) at 01:37. Looks like they went out on recce looking for similar locations and shot in the same way. And how can they let go the great visual of snow-capped mountain? As Dhoni says, toh aur bolo ?

And can any enlightened soul tell us who is the culprit this time ? Is it Pandeyji again ?

Like Mamujaan, Imran Khan is Coke boy! In a new TVC with Kalki Koechlin

Posted: February 21, 2010 by moifightclub in Ad world, bollywood, first look, News, songs & videos
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When there is a new Pepsi/Coke campaign on air, you know that summer is near. Coke launched its new campaign with a new brand ambassador – Imran Khan. This is the first brand endorsement deal of Imran Khan. And he follows the footsteps of Mamujaan Aamir Khan who has been endorsing Coke since last few year.

Imran stars with Kalki Koechlin in the new Tv commercial. The new campaign “Open Happiness” has been conceptualised by the creative team of McCann Erickson that includes Prasoon Joshi, Ashish Chakravarty, Tirtha Ghosh and Nakul Sharma. And the film has been directed by Dibakar Banerjee. If you havent seen it yet, click the play button.

Kartik Krishnan fills up the blanks of The Untitled Kartik Krishnan Project

Posted: February 16, 2010 by moifightclub in cast & crew, cinema, pics, songs & videos, Thoughts
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First it was Madhuri Dixit and now its Kartik Krishnan. Rarely do people manage to get a film title based on their name. No, we dont want to count Ramu here. Thats for another day.

The 70 min film has been directed by Srinivas Sunderrajan. The cast includes Kartik Krishnan, Vishwesh K, Swara Bhaskar and D Santosh. Its shot by Hashim Badani and is written by Srinivas Sunderrajan & Vijesh Rajan. While trying to pitch his feature, Srini has been told by few that tu toh bachcha dikhta hai (which he does. 26 ka hai bus!), abhi film kya direct karega. Well, now he can throw the dvd on their face. 

So while we wrote blogs, spread goss, struggled with writing and did tweet-twat, the bachchas got together and shot this film in less than 70k.  Its been shot on Sony HDV Z1 in 30 days over a period of one year. And there are more twists in its making than in the film. Read on. 

Many of you must have already seen the trailer. If not, click on the play button.

Over to KK.

Flashback
The 1st draft of the script was ready and emailed to me on Feb 20th 2009 by the director and my friend Srinivas Sunderrajan with a instruction in CAPS saying ‘BANIYAN KHAREED” (helpful in attaching the lapel mike to the actor). We begin the actor rehearsals. The screenplay is in place but no dialogues. “Why?” I asked. “Because I want to improvise it”

Preparations

When the Locations would be available for say a Saturday, the actors would meet on a Wednesday for a reading and rehearse under Srinivas’ instructions. If some interesting lines came about in the reading, they would be kept. A framework would be developed with the actors being given a free hand to fill in the meat. No sticking to lines, but simply improvising, but being in the scene, being in character.

Shoot begins 
All wide shots, long takes. Minimal cut-aways. Not necessarily adhering to traditional style shooting of covering a scene from all angles. Also this was done because we used to get the location for not more than 2 hours (read: Location). And there used to be at least 4 scenes (average) per location. The lapel mike works sometimes, and sometimes you have to keep the battery cover pressed down for it to work. So someone off-screen would do that (Mostly the director himself)!

Slowly it is falling into place.

Crew

Barring the actors, there used to be max. 3 people on the set – Srinivas (director), Hashim (Camera), and sometimes a friend to just help us out. But most of the time, it used to be just the two of them. Some locations, had one guy for lights.

We are our own costume designers, makeup men, location in-charge, food & catering. We lose our cool most of the times due to the high level of multi-tasking, but Srinivas’ level headedness kept us going. All actors/crew (except Srinivas) having day jobs and other assignments, postponing a day of shoot meant waiting at least for a week for the same location & all our dates to match. 

Locations

There were 4 main locations in the film – KK’s flat, KK’s Office, Drinks Bar, Coffee shop. Coffee shop turned out to be an expensive affair so we had to settle in for a “sweet mart” which also had seating space for customers. With the help of Srinivas’ friend, we barged into one and finished two huge scenes in a span of 2 hours and before the owners could even realize what was happening – we vacated the premise.

For the drinks bar location, we had to visit the bar a couple of times, befriend the waiters, and then bribe them into letting us into the place to shoot early in the morning. So basically, 5am shifts wherein we used to enter the location via the backdoor, and then complete shoot before 9am because that’s when the main owner opens the front door shutter! We again had 3 long scenes at this venue and so we had to re-visit the location twice till Srinivas got everything he wanted.

KK’s flat was the cinematographer Hashim’s grandmother’s flat in Mohd.Ali road. Hashim had to basically trick the building people into saying that it was a student film and Srinivas’ ‘I’m still in college/school’ look came in handy! It was the most difficult location because the house was very near to the JJ Flyover and the sound pollution levels were maximum. To top it all, the house was on a slant so we had to basically balance ourselves while delivering our lines.

Intermission point
60% of the scenes are shot at this location in Mohd. Ali Road. The location is crucial because that’s the house of the protagonist, Kartik Krishnan.  

Due to some major ‘postponements’ and ‘date issues’, we could not finish the 40% as pre-decided. Srinivas, by now, has spent half his year trying to get us all under one roof for a very crucial scene of the film – the ‘film shoot sequence’. Just when things try to brighten up, a call from Srinivas – “One section of the 3rd floor (our shooting floor) falls onto the 2nd floor. The building has been cordoned off by BMC and will be broken down in the next 6 days”.

We’re in a fix – Whether to risk our lives and finish the 40% in those 6 days or just figure out another location. Risking life seems stupid but the only “indie solution” here! Srinivas is in two minds about the whole film now since any other location would break the whole flow-chart.

Time lapse clouds

I don’t hear from Srinivas for quite sometime. I guess no one from the crew has any news about him or the film. What to do when you have completed close to 60% of the film and a location in continuity is unavailable and you have a completely absconding director? Drink booze? We do. Luckily our director is a tee-teetotaler (edit: And still is!)  

Few months later 
I’ve moved on to a new job. Also to a newer house. I get a call from Srinivas saying “I’ve cut a scene from the film – do you want to take a look?” Hell yeah!

Srinivas comes home and shows me the first interaction scene between Kartik Krishnan and Srinivas Sunderrajan. I like it. He seems positive of finishing the film – we talk about my dates etc. Things look bright.

A few days later, another phone call from him. “Dates clashing”, “Crew unavailable”, “Life moves on!”

Welcome 2010, bye 2009

Fresh look. Use the existing footage. Shoot something else. Build a new story around it. See if it works. It does. So it seems. But not all actors are available. REWRITE according to the available resources. Film becomes something else. 

“I’ve got an idea to finish the film without involving everyone. I’ve already edited the film and written a rough script for the new version. You game?” – Srinivas

Shoot begins – again
Early morning 4am in local trains. 10 am versova beach. 11.30 local train to panvel. My house. Montage shots. Stock shots. B-rolls. Painful edit process.

Shoot complete 
Post production which was simultaneously happening, now needs to be addressed single mindedly. Does it all fit? Does it hold attention? Does the new story work? Is the VFX looking tacky? Inhibitions and doubts.

Screening for the cast
I saw it twice the same night. Seemed to hold. Long Takes kind of work. Don’t know what the audience will say. 

CUT TO – PRESENT 
Some talk about the festivals. Undecided. We are trying to spread the word. FB, twitter, mails. We’re hoping the film finds its own course.  

First Look : Koochie Koochie Hota Hai’s trailer, Salman Khan is MIA & no hotdogs here!

Posted: February 15, 2010 by moifightclub in bollywood, cast & crew, first look, News, songs & videos
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As if one Shah Rukh Khan wasnt enough, now we have a doggie version too! Awwwww…wwwwful! Or is this the Aamir’s doggie who was named after King Khan ? Koochi Koochie Hota Hai is the animated (read doggie) version of Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota hai.

Its directed by Tarun Mansukhani and has voiceovers by Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee, Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Simi Agarwal, Anupam Kher, Uday Chopra and Sajid Khan. Guess who is not here ? Salman Khan. Missing In Action. And you dont need to be genius to guess the reason.

And whoever thought about the “Koochie Koochie” title, needs to get into doggie avatar soon. Woof teri ada, woof tera badan, woof woof tera ya title! The trailer looks, sounds and feels terrible! And more so, because in a year when UP makes it to the Oscar nomination in the Best Film category, we are still rewinding back to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Spare us. We are not buying the tickets! Feels like its made for Under-5 category! Take a look.

  

VOTD : Directors Roundtable with Quentin Tarantino, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, Jason Reitman and Lee Daniels!

Posted: January 30, 2010 by moifightclub in cinema, Hollywood, life, News, songs & videos, VOTD
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This is it! It doesnt get bigger than this! The best directors of the year, all together. Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Peter Jackson (The Lovely Bones), James Cameron (Avatar), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) and Lee Daniels (Precious) sat down for a roundtable chat to discuss outsider versus insider, toughest scenes they had to film for a movie and what they would do if they weren’t directing movies. Killer!

UPDATE : And there is more! Our good freind Manu mailed us the link that has the same set of directors talking about the challenges of marketing a film, how they became directors, sequels & board games versus originals. Click here and enjoy! Or you can click here for the transcript.

WTF : Na mila mera sur, na tumhara, na kisi aur ka!

Posted: January 27, 2010 by moifightclub in bollywood, first look, News, songs & videos, WTF
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WTF is this ? Why ? What is this Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara ?

Bad video. Bad choice of celebrities/icons. Bad lip/voice sync. And all badly put together. Looks like as if we are still stuck in 80’s Bollywood. Like Ramu’s Sholay remake which turned out to be (Bh)Aag, this one fails on every account. As a freind said, it needed Bharat Bala. Period. Or as Zoom Channel’s punchline goes, isko mat dekho. 

Here are the two part videos of the Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

BTW, do check out the comments on the video pages. Seems we are not the only one who hated it. And here is the one that cant be replaced, do anything. The magic of good ol’ DD days!

 

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