Cirque De soleil's "KA" on CNN

My favorite Cirque De Soleil show in Las Vegas "KA" recently made headlines in CNN.

Watch the technology behind KA

They call it one of Cirque's most expensive and technological shows to date. Read full article »

"Shakalaka Baby" Chinese version by Kelly Poon and AR Rahman connection

Now this is great...to be more specific, a great Victory for all the proud members of "arrahmanfans" yahoogroups...We all know how most of our music directors, with very few exceptions, shamelessly indulge in the act of plagiarism and pretend as if they have no clue about it. But very rarely we come across a news where our music is either used or copied outside of India. Most of the times they credit the music to whomever it belongs. But imagine what would happen if they failed to. One such incident happened just a week ago.

A Chinese song named "Shakalaka Baby" sung by Singaporean singer Kelly Poon appeared on the Youtube last week. Name sounds familiar right. Well you'll be surprised to know that even the song sounded very familiar. Infact it was the same song we heard in Mudhalvan / Nayak and also in the smash-hit musical "Bombay Dreams" by AR Rahman. Here's the youtube video-

Everyone wondered who was this Kelly Poon and whats she got to do with Bombay Dreams. How could she sing the same song in Chinese ? The video did not credit AR Rahman as the original composer. So did she get rights from ARR ?? Does ARR know about this ? The song was also playing on the Singapore Chinese radio station yes99.3fm and her fans were raving abt the it.

As a loyal fan of AR Rahman, I did my part in going to youtube and other forums where discussion about this song was going on, and put comments that this was ARR's song and should be credited to him. Many members of arrahmanfans group did the same. And finally yesterday I came to know that a member of the same group, Vijay forwarded all the emails to ARR and ARR's legal advisors and finally Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Really Useful Group" took it up to Universal Music who are releasing the Kelly Poon album. Universal's contention is that they will include credits to ARR in the album, which only releases on Sep 28. They claim that the video and song on air in Singapore is only a promotional release. However, after this notice was sent, the artist has now credited A R Rahman by means of a small wording at the bottom of her MTV Asia music video, which means they sure did hear us.

Should we be ecstatic and overjoyed ? Well NO !!! considering the fact that hundreds of songs get copied from every part of the world and become a craze here, we can forgive them for a one time mistake.
But should we be happy ? Ofcourse YES !! because we, Rahmaniacs, always proud of whatever ARR does, have for atleast one time made him feel proud of us, by creating awareness about a probable plagiarism act and stopping it.

Keep going Rahman, there are many more countries which you still have left to cast your spell.

Johnny Gaddar - Bol kya story hai tera

Coming friday there are two things I'm keenly waiting for. One is to somehow lay my hands on Halo 3. And the other is to see how the new movie "Johnny Gaddar" turns out. The songs have been playing in my ipod in a loop for about 3 weeks now. Even after albums like Om Shanti Om and Saawariya coming in successive weeks, I can't get enough of Johnny Gaddar, especially the title track. I feel its a very honest and original attempt by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, who tried to come out of their feel - good compositions. They've successfully managed to bring in a new genre of music to Bollywood. The trailers also look very slick and stylish. Cinematography looks excellent. I planned to review this music long time ago, but I was late and missed the boat. Also by then there were many sites which came up with good 'straight from the heart' reviews. I just hope the movie turns out to be as good as the music.

When I saw the first poster which was black and white with red and yellow colors standing out, I was pleasantly surprised. It closely resembled "Sin City", one of my favorite movies. But that joy was short-lived, as the movie preview told a different story. In fact it was more on the lines of Kaante and Reservoir dogs. But I was sure that Sriram Raghavan, who had a magnificent debut with "Ek Haseena Thi", wouldnt just remake any other movie, and that too certainly not a movie which was released just few years ago. So I did some research on web to see if there's anybody talking about this. I eventually found a site where Sriram himself clarified what this movie is all about, and thankfully its different from what I thought. Here's what he had to say about the movie :

" Johnny Gaddaar is NOT even remotely based on any of the films such as Harmesh Malhotra’s Gaddaar, Reservoir Dogs, Ringo Lam’s City on Fire or Kaante.

It’s a caper thriller with the same synopsis as seen in many websites and there’s NO suspense about who Johnny Gaddaar is. As the film unfolds, the viewer will be the first to know his identity. The fun/tension/suspense is in how and when the rest of the group find out and what happens next.

In India, we often confuse Suspense with a Whoduit factor…which is quite wrong actually. Alfred Hitchcock has NOT MADE A SINGLE WHODUNIT and yet he’s acknowledged as the Master of Suspense. Suspense is about emotion....about fear....about anticipation and NOT about guessing who the killer/informer/ whoever is.

The movie doesnt have any BIG names etc. So I’d really request you all to watch the movie in the first weekend.In the hall of course. And all criticism is welcome. Thank you. "

I thought it was so good of him to request us to watch his movie. But in reality, he doesnt have to do that. He's one of the few directors whom I adore and include in the hatke director's list which also has directors like Shimit Amin, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, Anurag Kashyap, Madhur Bhandarkar, and Nagesh Kukunoor. When everyone in Bollywood follows a standard hit formula set by Chopras or Johars or any other big names, these directors and few others tread a different path. And thats what makes them develop a cult following. I'm really looking forward to watching "Johnny Gaddar". I hope so do many of you.

Before Sunset to After Sunset - Hongkong

Aint it cool ??

Move the mouse up = Before Sunset
Move the mouse down = After Sunset


The set of pictures which were put together to make this shockwave file were taken between 6:10 pm till 7:40 pm. Great stuff !!

Indians win a thriller final - last over video

yayyyyyyyyyyyyy...What a thriller today's match was. Till the last moment both teams had equal chance and all of us were waiting with bated breath for the cricinfo screen to refresh and a W to pop out :) ...watching a self-refreshing scorecard has never been so exciting. Its a fantastic finale, well deserved win by our team. Great batting by Gambhir and awesome bowling by RP Singh, Pathan, and not to forget, 2 times in a row, a winner in the last over, Jogindher Sharma. I think I should also applaud Misbah for his single handed show in the end which really raised the tension and drama in the match, especially from the 17th over of Harbajan. An incredible victory



You can also watch the final 5 overs in this link - Click here

Young India beats Experienced Australia in Semifinals

This is awesome...this is just splendid...young tigers have indeed beaten experienced kangarooooos...woooooooohooooo...I wish I was in the crowd, cheering our team..With all great players like Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid, we failed in England and now with a young team, all of a sudden we have entered the Finals of Twenty20 world cup!!!! Unbelievable. This is a perfect example of how a new team with full of youth and energy is better than a team filled with experienced players, something which India never had in the last few years. Great job guyz...congrats Yuvraj for yet another splendid performance. Actually I should just congratulate the full team, it was a superb team effort today. Well done boys. You've proved yourself by beating two big guns of this world cup...Just carry on the great show and don't get over-confident any time.

Koi humse jeet na paave, chale chalo chale chalo
Mit jaave jo takraave, chale chalo
Ab darr nahin mann mein aave, chale chalo chale chalo
Har bedi ab khul jaave, chale chalo
Baar baar haan, bolo yaar haan
Apni jeet ho....unki haar haan

Saawariya - Music Review

The trailer of Saawariya attracted many people. It looked very dreamy, like a poetry with beautiful music in the background. I know many friends who were waiting for this album more than for Om Shanti Om. And as we all know Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his penchant for quality music, he's succeeded in extracting a very unique music score from the debutant Monty Sharma. We all know Monty for his brilliant Background score from the movie Black and Devdas. But very few know that he also composed the amazing title track of the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. So although this is his debut movie, he's not new to composing songs. The album comprises of 11 original songs with lyrics by Sameer, no remixes, no instrumentals.

The album starts with "Saawariya" song. A fresh and a feel good song which is very hummable. To add to the freshness, we have a new singer, Shail Hada, singing the song. But just when I started to enjoy this song, it ended. I then realised that its just 2:45 mins long. I wished it was a bit longer. Monty's music arrangement is very apt for this song. Some parts of singing reminds one of Kishore Kumar's style. I think it was intended that way.

When a smooth subtle chorus started the next song with Laage re laage re laage...laage re nainuva...laage re..laage re..I knew that this was the kind of song I was waiting for after watching the trailer. And when Shaan followed it with a soothing sweet-sounding "Jab Se tere naina", I had already increased the volume to get completely drowned in the music. But unfortunately, what followed was a speedbreaker in the form of drum / dhol beats and the song changed its course into a qawali or bhangra wannabe. Thankfully it returned back to its melody soon, which was once again short lived. I'm not against beats, but if you listen to this track you'll understand. This would have been my favorite song from the album, if not for the dhol beats.

Now "Masha Allah" is a song which is direct dil se from Monty, and the way Kunal sings is, it has no other place to go other than direct dil ko. I'm sure Sanjay Leela Bhansali will do full justice to this song with dreamy sets. Its a beautiful song which can be played again and again.

"Thode Badmash" must have been composed during Devdas times. One can't help but notice similarities between this song and "Bairi Piya". This song has the same innocence, naughtiness and interestingly also the same singer Shreya Ghosal as in Bairi Piya. The only missing element is Aishwarya, which I guess is a huge difference. Once again its a small song going for just 3:19 mins.

"Yoon Shabnami" adds to the list of pleasant melodies in this albums. Violin interlude is amazing. In the middle this song surprisingly goes into qawali, but this time thankfully its good and adds life to the song. There's a lot of experimentation in this song as the mood keeps changing throughout. The beats and arrangement is typical AR Rahman style.

"Daras Bina Nahin Chain" song appeared in the first trailor which came out. This is for all Classical music lovers. Richa sharma is very effective in this song which is tailor made for her. In one of his interviews, Monty had mentioned that this is his favorite song, probably the closest to his heart.

"Sawar Gayi" is once again excellent with respect to music arrangement. But it has a kind of sadness to it which would make many to just skip it and go to the next track.

The Chorus singing at the start of the next song "Jaan-E-Jaan" reminds you of the music which appears in the movie Koyla, which in turn was shamelessly lifted by Rajesh Roshan from 1497: Conquest of Paradise by Vangelis. What follows is yet another nice melody which transports you to the 60s or 70s.

"Pari" is another beautiful melodious song, soulfully rendered by Kunal Ganjawala. The whistle tune in the song gives a nostalgic feel to the it. The orchestration at the end of this song is breathtaking. Monty at his best here.

"Chhabeela" is a passable song for me. If this song had featured in any movie between the years 1999 - 2004, probably it would have found takers, but it feels a bit outdated for this time. I'm not saying its a bad song, it just belongs to the times of CDs and cassettes and not ipods.

In "Saawariya reprise" Shail Hada excels once again. Its same song as the first, just that this one comes with crowds cheering for him. Its a perfect ending for this album.

Looking at the sets, the paintings and the costumes in the first trailer, I thought the music would be like Devdas, good melodies but a bit on the sad side. Surprisingly the songs of Saawariya turn out to be very young, contemporary and also melodious at the same time. There are some sad songs without which any Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film is incomplete. In the end its a complete score wherein Monty has poured his heart and soul in each and every track. He's worked hard for two and a half years coming up with this musical score. Unfortunately its come at a time where fast beats, techno, and catchy songs rule the charts, and with mighty opposition in the form of Om Shanti Om, this album might find fewer takers. Nevertheless this album is for everyone who appreciate good quality music. My favorite songs in this album would be Saawariya, Pari, Masha Allah, Yoon Shabnami, and Jab se tere naina minus dhol beats.

India into semifinals...yayyyyyyy

If Yuvraj Singh was the star of last match, we had 2 star performers in today's victory against South Africa. RP Singh and Rohit Sharma decimated South Africa in both bowling and batting departments. Rohit got man of the match award for this match, but I really thought RP Singh should have got it. I mean he consistently took wickets in all matches he's played, and in this match he took 4 crucial wickets which I feel actually won the match for us. Nevertheless, counter argument would be that without Rohit's batting we wouldnt have got a decent score. So I guess its fair enough. More important fact than that is we are now going to face Australia in semi finals. Considering the fact that Yuvraj didnt play today, we must be a much stronger and aggressive team for the semis. This series is turning out to be good for us, especially good for our new lucky captain Dhoni. Congrats team for the superb victory. Indian tigers are all charged up and ready to pounce on Australian Kangaroooooooos :)