AR Murugadoss arrested !!!!

I always wonder why the movies I have huge expectations on gets into some sort of trouble. Rang De Basanti had some issues with animals being ill treated. Then it was Fanaa which had problems releasing in Gujarat. Then Jodha Akbar for lot of unwanted reasons and film getting banned from Rajastha and MP. And down south Godfather movie was stalled for a long time before getting released and becoming huge hit. Now its the turn for Tamil movie remake Ghajini starring Aamir Khan. Director of the movie, AR Murugadoss, was arrested yesterday by the Salem police for reasons best known to movie industry folks.

Full news here - Behindwoods

Ofcourse this is going to hamper the progress of the much awaited movie. But after watching Taare Zameen Par, my confidence on Aamir as a director has double, tripled...quadrupled. I sincerely hope the issue regarding director's arrest is resolved soon, and if not, it'd be more interesting and exciting if Aamir takes up this project and completes it himself. I think he'll do a tremendous job, considering the fact that the second half of the Tamil version was badly directed by Murugadoss. Lets wait and watch...

Tamil writer Sujatha no more..

Sujatha ( S. Rangarajan ). May 3, 1935 - Feb 27, 2008

He was one of the most inspiring and influential Tamil writers I've known till date. He was known to be the person who made Science and technology meet common people through his science fiction novels and short stories. A versatile writer and an engineer by profession, not many know that he was also the classmate of A.P.J. Adbul Kalam in college. He was also the key person behind Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) which is now used in elections throughout India.
His association with Mani Ratnam and Shankar gave us some amazing movies such as Roja, Iruvar, Kannathil Muthamittal, Aayitha Ezhuththu, Boys, Anniyan, Indian, Mudhalvan, and Sivaji. I was keenly waiting to witness his work in Shankar's Robot, as that was his forte, Science fiction genre. Its just shocking to know that he's no more.

Sujatha...You'll be deeply missed.....

Jodha Akbar - why these controversies and contradictory news ?

Whats this now..few days ago on 22nd Feb I read @ Rediff site this exciting news about Jodha Akbar makin over 34 crores in India and that its gonna make more and today I read on the same site that Jodhaa Akbar stumbles in India, races ahead abroad. Why can't a website stick to what it proclaimed and give the right news to people ? I don't want to read one day that Mr.X is dead in an unfortunate accident. And the next day in the same site I read Mr.X was saved by people in the last minute and he's healthy. And the 3rd day I read Mr.X died on the way. I mean we just can't trust the site anymore...Some news are damaging for people..and these kind of news items are really damaging for the movie.

First news --> Money spinning Jodha Akbar - http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/feb/22ja.htm

Next news --> Jodhaa Akbar stumbles in India, races ahead abroad-
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/feb/26jodha.htm

According to a release from Imagesmiths, the public relations firm that was handling Jodhaa Akbar for UTV, the film made Rs 52.70 crores in India in 10 days, and Rs 21.30 crores in the overseas market. And the movie was produced for Rs. 40 crores. I don't think I'm that stupid, but to me it looks like...mmmm...lets see...Rs. 52.70 + Rs.21.30 = Rs. 74 crores which is more than 40 crores. So how in the world Rediff says Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa Akbar would have become a loser at the box office if it had not done brilliantly overseas.

All this even when the movie isn't released in Rajasthan, where the stupid govt. banned the movie for the fact that they don't agree Jodha was Akbar's wife, when they shamelessly accepted Mughal-e-azam which showed Akbar and Jodha happily married. God save the ignorant people !!!

I'm reading many complaints against the movie in several sites and I think I have an answer for most of them if not for all as some complaints are just stupid and based out of ignorance.

1) Akbar's wife was not Jodha, it was Maan Kunwar - You think Ashutosh was stupid to make a movie about them without even researching this one story ? Or do you question the historians who wrote about Akbar and Jodha ? Before the start of the movie, Ashu clearly states that there are many versions of the story and this is his version. He also says there are many names of Jodha in several books and he's stuck to Jodha. What more do you want ?? You'll boycott the movie for this insignificant thing ????

2) There is no mandir in Agra Mahal - I don't know about that. But I felt that was a very noble gesture. Ashu just potrayed Akbar as a benevolent king. Whats wrong with that ?? I remember reading in my history class that he was the only Moghul who was tolerant of many religions. This was one way to showcase that and I thought it was not bad. And honestly, once the movie went in the love angle between Jodha and Akbar, I was just lost in it...I didnt freakin care about any historical inaccuracies.

3) Akbar never married jodha as hindu girl,they forced her to accept Islam - Well again...several historians have several versions of the story...Historians who hated Akbar and Moghuls in general would have potrayed him in that way. Personally I think if they had shown Jodha as forced to get married, then movie would have surely not been released or the screen would have been set on fire. Is that what we all want ?

4) Rajputs were shown as loser(in reality they were great warriors) - I think this is the big one. This must have been the main cause for folks in Rajasthan not able to see the movie. Well truth does hurt. Its inevitable. Rajputs might have been great warriors, no doubt. But under circumstances they had to do things to save their territory, their people. In that way I think Raja Bharmal was a great king. He could sacrifice his own daughter to save the land and millions of people living in his land. Find me another person in these times who did that.

5) Hrithik did not suit the role. Directors should choose more suitable actors for such roles instead of their star value - I strongly feel Jodha Akbar got that initial rush at Box office mainly because of Hrithik. He was charismatic as Akbar and carried off well. Sometimes star value does help in movies like such. That will make people go and watch them on big screen. Else they'll be avoided no matter how good the movie is. Remember Bose..the Forgotten Hero !!! How it became Bose..the Forgotten Movie.

6) The length of the movie - I watched the movie 2 times. Believe me I never felt it was long. I didnt care much for the initial 20 mins which had the history going. But I loved each and every moment of the love story between Jodha and Akbar. I loved the sets, palaces, costumes, grandeur, acting and most importantly the MUSIC. There was something going on everytime. In these fast moving times I know its hard to even press talk button and wait till the other person picks up his / her fone. Instead we do SMS and keep going. But I think once a while it's really worth to sit back and enjoy beauty at its own pace.

So there you go...those are my 2 cents. I personally felt the movie was very good. I thought Hrithik did a brilliant job. AR Rahman's music was heart-warming. Aish looked graceful. And even the rest of the cast were perfect like Kulbhushan, Punam Sinha, Sonu Sood, Ila Arun and Akbar's brother in law ( forgot his name ). The pace of the movie was just right. Please don't watch this movie to complain about any historical inaccuracies. I'll tell you a better way...complain about inaccuracies in movies like Dhoom2 where Abhishek was able to stay under water with his Jet Ski turned on for a long time, or movies like Partner where a toy rocket designed by a kid could almost kill Salman and he had to let Govinda leave the yacht.

I loved 300 for its sheer painting like visuals. For its awesome effects, slow motion fights and superb acting.
I loved Troy for Brad Pitt and his brilliant potrayal of Achilles and once again for its effects and music. Also for Hector potrayed by Eric Bana.
I loved Gladiator for Ridley Scott's amazing direction, Russell Crowe and the unique subject which also had entertaining fights like chariot fight, fights with Tigers and ofcourse the finale in Rome.
And finally I loved Jodha Akbar for Hrithik, AR Rahman's music, grand sets and costumes, Azeem-o-shaan's choreography and Ashutosh's potrayal of the beautiful love story.

Jodha Akbar gets 4 stars from IndiaFM !!!!!

Wowwwww...Quite unbelievable...4 stars out of 5 coming from Taran Adarsh, that too for a good movie !!! I mean c'mon he's the same guy who gave Swades 1.5 stars, Rang De Basanti 2.5 stars when he gave Heyy Babyy 4 stars and the disgusting Kabhi Alvida naa kehna 4.5 stars.

So should we believe him or not ??? I think its in best interest for everyone to judge a movie from their own perspective. I'm kind of following the trend of how Taran rates the movies and looking back at history he gives high marks for big banners and entertaining movies, but low marks for experimental or sensible movies, which I think is just absurd.

However I'm very glad that JA has turned out to be an outstanding movie. I was very very skeptical after watching the first trailer on youtube and lack of proper promotion. Although I did have some confidence on Ashutosh and Hrithik. Even ARR had told in an interview that he was very proud to be part of this movie. And what a perfect timing...Jodha Akbar would be my valentines day movie :).

By the way is it time someone shows Mr. Jogindher Tuteja the door ? Note how he finished the music review for this movie :

"Jodhaa Akbar disappoints, and how! Though the music of Lagaan was good (catching on more after the film's success), Swades was always a few steps behind. However, Jodhaa Akbar does not have much to cheer about and fails to go an extra distance. "

On Jashn e bahara song he said "However, one misses the kind of punch as expected from the first romantic song of the album and the final outcome turns out to be little lackluster with not much in the song pulling a listener for a repeat hearing."

And he gave 2 stars to the album.

Now Taran says "A.R. Rahman's music is not the type that you take to instantly, but yes, it gels beautifully with the mood of the film. 'Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah' and 'Jashn-e-Bahara' are the best tracks in terms of tune."

Can we ever get more contradictory statements than this in the same website ??? Didn't Jogindher know the music was for a period movie or did he just expect some club songs or techno songs ???

The Dark Knight's Joker is Dead !!!!!

I can't believe this happened. When my friend, Shankar, told me that Joker is dead, the only thing which came to my mind was that he dies in the movie "The Dark Knight". But then he kept saying that Joker is dead in real life. And then I saw the news, the tragedy. Damn man...at the age of 28 ??? thats way too young...He was one of the best and rising actors in Hollywood :(. This was absolutely unexpected and unbelievable. After watching The Dark Knight promos I was really looking forward to seeing more from him.

When I heard this news the first thing I remembered was Brandon Lee's death. I don't know why. May be because even he died when filming for the movie, The Crow, where his character had similar get up as Heath Ledger's Joker. Even he died just before the filming was over. And coincidently both of them died at the age of 28.

May your soul rest in peace brother..

Jodha Akbar Music Review

Huh !! Finally Jodha Akbar's audio has hit the stands. I believe it got delayed in India for some reason. However Sony has released it worldwide and believe me, it was totally worth the wait. After listening to all the songs including instrumentals, I feel there can be only two words that would be apt to describe the album -Pure and Eternal.

Ashutosh and AR Rahman combo has got another winner in this album. Its got 5 songs and 2 instrumentals all of which are class apart and beautiful in their own terms. There was a time when I felt only Mani Ratnam knew how to extract brilliant music from the Musical Wizard. With the arrival of Lagaan that view changed and I was very happy that ARR had got another good director who has a very good ear for music and who appreciates good soulful music. In Jodha Akbar we get to hear ARR in his best creative form who's taken his own time in coming up with some extraordinary music for yet another period film. I didn't just want to write a review, rather I wanted to share the musical experience of Jodha Akbar, because not so often we come across albums like these. So here it is..

The album opens with Azeem o shaan shehenshaah. Right when you hear the sounds of horn followed by the thumping sound of drums, you get transported musically to the era which you've only witnessed in history books. In no time the blood starts to gush inside your veins and you feel like going with the crowd Azeem o shaan shehanshah Farmaan awaah..hamesha hamesha salaamat rahe.. Just when you are already captivated by the mukhda and the very catchy chorus chan chanananana line in the antara and want to keep hearing it again and again, you are grabbed and put right in the middle of battlefield where you hear clanging sounds of swords which form the interlude. Everything about this song is so perfect, so grand, so appropriately placed, in other words so Rahmanesque. Its just amazing how Rahman brilliantly matches his music with the essence of the situation, the idea, the thought and the event of Glorifying Emperor Akbar... a composition which even Akbar would be proud of. Marhaba..O..Marhaba...

We all have heard innumerous melodies offlate. Very easy on ears, quite understandable in the first hearing, and immediately on our lips. But Rahman reminds us every now and then that melodies can also be complex, unconventional and yet be scintillating and pleasant to hear. In Lamhon ke is one of those compositions. Its a mesmerizing song sung both beautifully and soulfully by Sonu Nigam, who's for sure reserved a nomination this year. If the first song was about people singing praises to Akbar, this one goes a bit further by digging into the heart and mind of Akbar and his realization of Love...hmmm Ishq hai saari hawaaon mein...The antara portions induce lot of goosebumps with the high crescendo regions and the intoxicating choral renditions..and then arrives Madhushree with her nightingale voice..the way she sings can be best described like a painting...a painting of a river..a free flowing river that meanders happily and ends up in a lake...where everything comes to a standstill..and then we hear Sonu whispering to us...
Mere khwabon ke is gulistaan mein, tumsehi tum bahaar chaayi hai ..
phoolon mein rang mere the lekin, inme khushbu tumhi se aayi hai...
a moment of absolute bliss. I don't want anything more from this album. I've got it all in this one song. The song where you get filled with peace and harmony and Javed saab drowns you in his poetic ocean. A mellifluous number which would be remembered for a long time.

The first thing we notice when we hear the next song Jashn e bahara is Javed Ali's laid back casual singing style. I couldn't believe he's the same guy who earlier sung another chartbuster song "Kajra re". After this song, I'm sure he'll be placed on par with other top singers of our country. Credit goes to none other than ARR for bringing out the best from him. This is a lilting melody and an instantly appealing song. It brings with it a whiff of fresh air. Javed Akhtars lyrics are top notch here. Give close hearing and you'll observe intricate details and brilliance throughout the song, various layers with different instruments producing pleasing sounds. All put together very carefully by Rahman who manages quite effortlessly to produce a beautiful romantic melody. A strong contender for the song of the year.

Later in this album we also have an instrumental of the same song with Naveen's flute replacing Javed Ali's vocals. Notice closely and you'll find that the entire song is not just played with one flute. Both the antaras have different flutes used, I guess to break the monotonous feel, and it works pretty well. A very soothing melody, the power of which you can only realize when you switch off all lights in your room and give it a hear. An amazing instrumental.

The next song is a spiritual qawwali number Khwaja mere Khwaja written by Kashif. ARR's already proved that he's the undisputable king when it comes to spiritual numbers with songs like Piya Haji Ali and Zikr. With Khwaja mere Khwaja, he's added one more to the list. Throughout the song he does some great rendition moving easily from ultra mild to high pitches. The mukhda part is extremely catchy and the entire song is backed strongly by one instrument, tabla, the sound of which is crisp and vibrant. The arrival of Oboe instrument in the interlude signals a serious moment which we might only understand when we watch the movie. Its a number which truly belongs to Rahman.

The album also comes with Khwaja mere Khwaja instrumental version which surprisingly sounds very different from the vocal version. Oboe instrument dominates the full song with subtle orchestration in the background. Parts of the song reminded me of the Bose theme, but that might also be due to the instrument itself. The whole song has a mystic feel to it and its a song which one can hear in repeat mode. I just wished it was a bit more longer. Brilliant, just brilliant instrumental.

Ashutosh - ARR combo album is incomplete with a bhajan song. And so we have Mann Mohana which surprisingly has a very rich orchestration in its interludes for a devotional number elevating the song to higher levels. The song also has a haunting melody which takes time to sink in. For me its few levels above his older devotional numbers like Pal Pal hai bhari and O Palanhare. The orchestration with flute tune still reverberates in my ears even after I finish listening to this song. Believe me...give it sometime and you'll get submerged in this song. Special mention has to be made on new singer Bela Shende who's sung this song very passionately.

And so the album ends on a strong note, with all the tracks being gems, with every track having an identity being the best possible song in its own category. Not often do people make movies such as Jodha Akbar in India. And for that I really respect Ashutosh in coming up with this movie in which he's invested a lot of time, money and effort. To compose music for such a film needs lot of dedication, imagination, research and understanding of directors vision and Rahman pulls it off with great élan. I can't imagine anyone else coming up with such a score which not only compliments the movie so well, also raises the bar for Ashutosh to make the visuals even more enticing. And for that reason alone this album truly deserves 5 stars. I think a lot more is in store for us when we actually witness the movie, in the form of BGM.

Every year starts with a Rahman's album which goes on to grabs numerous awards. By taking historical facts into account and adding Rahman's consistency and his dependability factor, I think he's got it this year as well. Also going by the hype and the promos with music, I have a strong feeling Jodha Akbar is going to be a classic film. I hope Ashutosh doesn't disappoint me. I don't have to specifically mention that this is a must have album or its better than this and better than that...Here's the fact -

There is good music, there is great music and then there is AR Rahman's music.

Do I have to say more ??? Go grab your CD right away...

Tata Nano - A promise made, A promise delivered

Ratan Tata finally unveiled perhaps the most-hyped four-wheeler of the year, the Rs. 1 Lakh car ($2600) Tata Nano on the Wednesday's Auto Expo in New Delhi. It was just a promise few years ago and now it has been delivered. Quite frankly I'm very pleasantly surprised that it didnt turn out to be a dumb looking model with no roof or a three wheeler car. It was actually a cool and cute looking car !!!


And even the specs were pretty appreciable for such a low priced car -

624 cc, 33 HP petrol engine which meets Bharat Stage-III emission norms and can also meet the Euro 4 norms. 30-litre fuel tank and four-speed manual gearshift, air conditioning, and most importantly a mileage of 20 kmpl in city and 26 kmpl on a highway.

I mean c'mon thats almost like 55 mpg in US, a mileage which Toyota Prius gives which is priced $ 26000 !! 10 times the price of Tata Nano.

Mr. Ratan Tata...please take a bow for making the dream of millions of Indians a reality.

Also according to him, the car is 8% smaller bumper to bumper, than the Maruti 800 but at the same time 21% larger in its interiors and can sit up to four people. And it would come in one standard version and two deluxe versions with AC.

What more would a common man in India ask for ? I know some of my family members who were pretty excited at the news and who are planning to sell their motorbikes and buy this. Even my mom loved this car and said that she might force my dad to sell our Santro, priced 3 times higher, and get this.

However it looks like the Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil isn't quite happy with the new car as he feels it'll clog the roads and increase pollution. Well thats true...so what's he waiting for ?? Why doesn't he push the Govt. to build more roads, flyovers ? Why doesn't he develop the infrastructure rather than sitting and grumbling about it ? Oh I know...its because now he has to do more WORK...actually the WORK for which he's paid for. What a moron...

Jodha Akbar mp3s out on web - Don't be Fooled

Today my friend scrapped me on orkut saying that mp3 songs of Jodha Akbar have been released. I was really surprised because I've been closely following every event related to that movie, and to my knowledge only the audio launch took place recently and they were releasing the audio on 15th of this month. So I googled it immediately and downloaded the mp3s, you know...just for curiosity sake :). I do intend to buy the original as I always have. I was shocked when I heard the first song "Khamoshi se Pukar".

This ain't Jodha Akbar...its Warriors of Heaven and Earth song by AR Rahman..a Chinese movie. Damn whoever posted these songs on web. This is ridiculous. And added to that people who have downloaded these songs were praising the uploader. I hope atleast after they hear the songs they'll realize that this is not the official songs from the movie. Even the rest of the songs are mere audio rip offs from the movie trailers and audio release function.

So PLEASE...PLEASE DON'T DOWNLOAD JODHA AKBAR MP3s....It ain't real...

The only real and latest news are these videos from the Audio launch :

Jashn Bahara almost Full song :~


In Lamhon ke daaman mein :~


Kwaja mere kwaja :~


Mann Mohanaa :~