Digi's Blog

It is indeed a difficult job to make a list of my favorite songs of A.R Rahman. After much thought and exclusion of MANY songs, here is a list of my favorite ARR songs - Yeh haseen vaadiyaan (Roja) Lukka chhuppi (Rang de basanti) Tum ho (Rockstar) Saadda haq (Rockstar) Bombay theme (Bombay) Tere bina (Guru) Jaane tu meri kya hai (Jaane tu ya jaane na) Jashn e bahaara (Jodha akbar) Ishq bina (Taal) Mujhe rang de (Thakshak) Ek tu hi bharosa (Pukar) Chale chalo (Lagaan) Radha kaise na jale (Lagaan) Sadiyaan (Lakeer) Yun hi chala chal (Swades) Des ki mitti (Bose the forgotten hero) Dil hai chhota sa (Roja) Al maddath maula (Mangal Pandey) Khoon chala (Rang de basanti) Kabhi kabhi aditi (Jaane tu ya jaane na) Tu muskuraa (Yuvvraj) Ae Nazneen suno na (Dil hi dil mein) Jhoola baahon ka (Doli saja ke rakhna) Raanjhaa raanjhaa (Raavan) Dreams of fire (Slumdog millionaire) Maa tujhe sa...

There is this new trend of merging mythology with fiction lately which seems to be working quite well. “Baramulla bomber” too follows the same path to some extent. Written by Suraj “Clarke” Prasad, this book is a combination of politics, cricket and some deep and well done research. PLOT – A lot of things are crammed in this first part of the trilogy. There is a deep insight to the political tension between India and China. Then there is some very thorough description of the mythological being the key. To be honest, I felt a bit too much stuffed in a single book. The initial few pages are a difficult read – ranging from boring to quite disjointed. But soon, the author picks up pace and we are on a racy ride involving espionage, religion, friendship and ofcourse, cricket. There are a lot of twists and turns and unexpected events which manage to hold your interest till the end. WRITING – Clarke Prasad’s writing is quite lovely. I liked his unique style of writing ...

After "Ajab prem ki ghazab kahaani", the team of Rajkumar Santoshi and Pritam return with PPNH. While the former had some great music, I somehow listen to this soundtrack with slightly reduced expectations- blame it on the slapstick trailer, its similarity to APKGK or the absence of Ranbir Kapoor. Let us take a look at the soundtrack. "AGAL BAGAL" sees Mika in full form. Having mastered such songs, this one rises one step further owing to a catchy tune, very funny lyrics and an innovative video. There is also some nice use of harmonium(?), guitar and some really good interludes between the antaras. Massy, entertaining and catchy, this one is sure to set your feet tapping. "HEY MR DJ" is sung by Benny Dayal, Shefali Alvares and Shalmali Kholgade. Included as a pure club number, this one has a heavy hangover of "Latt lag gayi" from Race 2. There is also that templatized disco beat plus arrangement. The "let's go bananas" loop is...

Sachin and Jigar have had a wonderful year uptil now. First the awesome ABCD, then the wacky Go Goa Gone and then the simple Ramaiya Vastavaiya. Now they make a BIG leap as they bag a Yashraj movie. With the promos smelling totally fresh, let us take a look at the music of the movie. "Tere mere beech mein" holds your attention from the first second. We are treated to a collage of sounds- boys echoing "dado mujhe de chhokro", the hustle bustle of traffic, that cycle ki ghanti and that rickshaw ka bhopu backed by nice guitar riffs. There is a sweet whistle playing too. Finally all these sounds give way to Sunidhi Chauhan's voice. Along with Mohit Chauhan, she sings this dialogue-like song with finesse. Mohit lends ample support, his voice sounding good as always, especially in the higher notes. But for the first time he is not the dominating singer. It is Sunidhi who owns the song and Mohit who pitches in at regular intervals- an arrangement for which the comp...

Nikhil Advani is one of those rare directors whose films have always boasted of brilliant music – Kal ho na ho, Salaam-e-ishq, and the recent Patiala House. Even Chandni Chowk to China had the gorgeous “Tere naina”. In short, his movies have always had quality chartbuster stuff. And the people responsible for this have always been the same – Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. D-Day looks very promising from its promos. However, one doesn’t know what really to expect from the music, as there seems less scope for music here. Yet, let us take a look at the album of D-Day. DUMA DUM gets one more version, this time in the voice of Mika Singh. What is with this song that it is getting so many remakes? No doubt it is a great song, but there is always a tolerance limit. And that has been reached. Earlier this year, even David had a version in the voice of Rekha Bhardwaj. Coming to the song, it is good. Mika does a good job with the vocals. But that’s it. I would prefer the original versi...

The latest book which Blogadda delivered at my door step was a book called “MY STROKE OF LUCK” written by Vijay Santhanam. And believe me, I am indeed lucky to have read this book. Firstly, I myself am a doctor. So that changes my entire perspective towards the book. I have seen people suffering from all kinds of strokes and brain abnormalities, ranging from mild to severely debilitating. But Vijay Santhanam’s book moved me, deeply. STORY – One can’t really call it a story. It is a true and heart wrenching write up of the odds faced by a single man, how he dealt with it, how he came out of it and what he is capable of achieving even after facing so much in his life. Vijay Santhanam, at a young age of 41, was afflicted with a cerebro vascular stroke, resulting in paralysis of the right side of his body. His speech was lost. A stroke at such a young age is distressing, both to the patient and the people around him. But then, as I have learnt in medicine, disorders of the brain can a...

Rohit Shetty’s movies never boast of path breaking music. However, this time he teams up with Shahrukh Khan. Let us see what Vishal and Shekhar give us in the music department. 1234 – GET ON THE DANCE FLOOR – Staying true to the title of the film, the song starts with some tamil rendition by Hamsika Iyer. We are also treated to some tamil rap portions done by Sricharan. To put it bluntly, the song is highly irritating. Following the path taken by umpteen item songs, this one too progresses on the same lines. With a catchy background beat, we are treated to Amitabh Bhattacharya’s disappointing lyrics. (Is it really him?) Vishal Dadlani sings one of his career’s worst songs. He is totally out of tune and doesn’t fit in at all in the song. Even the video hardly does any justice to the song. Overall, nothing is right about this song. Please delete it if you have downloaded it. Period. TERA RASTAA is another disappointing track. With Amitabh Bhattacharya singing this one, I was expecti...