REVIEWED!!!!

TUM MILE - Hindi Music Review

2009-09-28T03:31:00.000-07:00

Film : Tum Mile

Director : Kunal Deshmukh
Music : Pritam Chakraborty

*ing : Emraan Hashmi, Soha Ali Khan.

With more than a half-a-dozen of his music releases, Pritam has had quite a year till now. However, not all his films of 09 till now are bestowed with his best scores. Well you can say Love Aaj Kal was the saving grace of the whole lot till now. That said, I don't mean its his best score of the year, or till date. Its good, and thats it.

Tum Mile on the other hand, reintroduces you to the Pritam who gave us wonderful albums like: Gangster [06], Bas Ek Pal [06], Life In A Metro [07], Jab We Met [07], etc. Its safe to say that Tum Mile is easily one of Pritam's best works, and one of the best albums of 09.

The album kicks off with Neeraj Shridhar's version of the title, Tum Mile (I'm specifically pointing out that its Neeraj Shridhar's version, because there are 2 more). While being pretty addictive and fast paced, the track is a more like a bubblegum, sweet at the starting, tasteless in the end.

Next is the romantic Dil Ibaadat sung by K.K. In fact Dil Ibaadat actually kicks off the album, rather than the mediocre "Tum Mile". The lyrics are very meaningful and the music, outstanding.

Javed Ali. The guy who gave us last year's gem, "Jashn-e-Bahaara" gives us another gem in the form of Tu Hi Haqeeqat. In one word : AWESOME. In fact, this song gets its of-another-dimension appeal not because of its music (which by the way, is good), but because of Javed Ali's vocals, which are still extremely fresh, appealing and something you can't get enough of., especially when he sings his love songs, like this one.

Just when you thought Pritam has been very experimental in this album, he returns with a sterotypical (for him), routine number : Iss Jahaan Mein. Sung by the latest craze Mohit Chauhan, the song, per say isn't a bad one, it is pretty good. But given the standards the other songs of the album have set, it justs fades somewhere.

Javed Ali, again. And he enthralls you, again. And its the title track, again. Tum Mile [LOVE REPRISE] is Javed Ali's version of the title track, and boy does he charm you with his vocals! Lower on the tempo when compared to the original version, and much better than it. You actually understand the beautiful lyrics here.

K.K returns to the mic with one of the best tracks of the album, O Meri Jaan. Its extreme addictiveness and lyrics make it a must listen. Just go for it!

The rock version of Dil Ibaadat sung by K.K, is again a must listen.

The rock version of the title track Tum Mile sung by Shafqat Aman Ali, is pretty good but again fades in comparison to Javed Ali's verison.

The album ends with Soul Of Tum Mile, which apparently is the theme track is pretty good, if not out-of-the-world.

Finally, Tum Mile as I've already said is easily one of the best albums of the year, and an out and out love extravaganza. In my opinion you should seriously consider buying the music, because trust me, you won't be dissapointed.

The REVIEWED !!!! Rating : 88%

[DOWNLOAD LINK]

BLUE : Hindi Music Review

2009-09-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

A R Rahman.

In fact the man seems to be synonymous with the film itself. For the first time Akshay Kumar has been over shadowed by none other than the genius ARR himself. Well the hype seems to be pretty justified, because it is his first film after he won the double academy awards for last year's Slumdog Millionaire(Still if you ask me, not his best album to date).

One thing most of you must be aware by now is, any A R Rahman song grows on you, and is not like Pritam Chakraborthy's composition (with due respect) to have that instant appeal. It slowly but surely sinks in. And once it does, you know you're experiencing musical nirvana.

But yes, back to Blue.

Blue is one of Rahman's more commercially inclined albums. The songs are enjoyable and most of them fall into the fast category of songs.

The album opens with the already popular Chiggy Wiggy. Kylie Minogue's voice add that "seduction" appeal to the song. Midway along, Sonu Nigaam joins in and converts the semi - slow, semi - item number into a bhangra. In fact A R Rahman's genius is at work here, where he shows how well he can infuse the elements of East into that of the West. Towards the end you almost get the feeling that the song itself is a mash-up of Kylie Minogue and Sonu Nigaam.

Next up is the weakest song of the album (yes, way too weak for an A R Rahman album), Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai. The song itself starts on a weird note : "Aaya Sa, Maaya Sa , Jaaya Sa" and what not! Despite the song boasting vocals of singers like Shreya Ghoshal and Sukhwinder Singh, it fails to appeal. You may enjoy it if it is playing in the background but not at all if your seriously listening to it, because it suffers from melody issues. Give it a listen after all, to each his own.

Rahman's compensates for the previous song with his interesting composition, Fiqrana. Despite the song having a lot of "thumping" and dance elements, underneath lies the essence of a romantic number. An extremely enjoyable track elevated with the presence of Vijay Prakash (Manmohini Morey - Yuvvraaj) and Shreya Ghoshal's vocals (though she hasn't much to do here).

Vintage ARR. A song only a person like Rahman can compose is Bhoola Tujhe. As I had previously mentioned, it is one of those ARR tracks that take time to sink in. Once they do, you know what ARR's capable of. The vocals by Rashid Ali (Kabhi Kabhi Aditi, Kahin To Hoga.. - JTYJN) are truly enticing. One of the best songs in the album and truly the creme da le creme of the lot.

The Blue Theme, is a highly energized dance number. With lots of electronic beats and thumps and sung by a whole lot of singers (Blaaze, Raqueeb Alam, Sonu Kakkar, Jaspreet Singh, Neha Kakkar and Dilshad), the Blue Theme is awesome!!

Rehnuma is again that kind of fast yet slow romantic number only Rahman can compose. The song is at its peak when the chorus comes. Another mast composition that is highly enjoyable.

The OST ends with the best song of the album, Yaar Mila Tha. An all out folk infused track with the typical A R Rahman westernized beats. It again falls into the Vintage Rahman category. Udit Narayan and Madhushree's vocals are very good with that "teasing" element. A must listen!!

The rest of the tracks are the remixes. I wouldn't comment on them, because remixes seriously aren't my cup of tea.

Blue is one of those A R Rahman albums which will appeal to the classes and masses alike (of course Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai is still issue, and pulls the album down a bit. They aren't too arty, neither are they too Sajid - Wajid - ish. The man amazes you with his sheer versatility and music prowess. Blue, certainly isn't a Delhi 6 or a Jodha Akbar, but that said it is certainly one of the best albums of 09's second half........

The REVIEWED !!!! Rating : 80%

Though I'd insist you buy the music, still for all you "poor people and paupers" ;-)

Here's the DOWNLOAD LINK.

New Divide : Linkin Park : Transformers 2 (2009) Review

2009-07-26T05:29:00.000-07:00

Genre : Nu-Metal/Alternative rock

Album : Transformers-Revenge of the Fallen OST

Track Length : 4.30 s [approx.]

Performed By : Linkin Park

reviewed!!!!

"New Divide" marks Linkin Park's comeback after more than 2 long years. The song has all the elements of the movie's central Sci-Fi theme. Sung by Chester Bennington, in his screaming, soft yet melodious voice, New Divide is Linkin Park at its conventional best. It easily reminds you of their unconventional [for them, at least] album, "Minutes to Midnight", which by the way is a good sign. So its pretty obvious that all those LP fans out there will have a ball with this track, and all those who aren't fans, will either way enjoy it.

Rating : 4/5 [highly entertaining]

2009-06-06T05:35:00.000-07:00

Angels & Demons(2009) Movie Review

Genre: Mystery/Thriller (Film Adaptation)

Release Date: May 15, 2009 (United States)

May 29, 2009 (India)

Running Time: A little above 2hrs (138 min)

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor

reviewed!!!!

So! here I am reviewing the much hyped film of this year,

Starting off, Angels & Demons isn't a bad movie. But that said, it isn't a great one either. Mainly speaking, its a movie that falls into the good-as-long-as-it-lasts genre. But in terms of direction, the director has done a good job.(i.e; relatively speaking, to The Da Vinci Code) In fact, The Da Vinci Code, despite being a fantastic thriller novel lost its glory, in the same director's hands, as a film.

Coming back to Angels & Demons, the movie is not long and its length doesn't hurt, at a little over 2hrs. In fact the pace at which it moves makes it pretty watchable. There are no moments whatsoever in the film that actually drag. The director has tried to stuff in it as much as possible from the book, and he succeeds(well, almost).

One drawback of the Angels & Demons, which The Da Vinci Code didn't have, is the presence of a captivating storyline. My meaning here doesn't quote the former's as a boring or irksome story. The story just doesn't contain in it, that spark or that believable unbelievability that made The Da Vinci Code such a success.(Despite the fact that its director, failed to exploit this spark efficiently). Its storyline is interesting. Note that here, I'm using the word, "Interesting", not "edge-of-the-seat", and certainly not, "stupefying".

Heck! I can go on and on with these adjectives, but that obviously is not the reason, why you, my reader is reading this.

Despite all this, Angels & Demons does its job as a film, carrying forward Dan Brown's story onto celluloid, bereft of (as i already said) its original glitz & glamour.

With the cast playing their roles with sufficiency(especially, Tom Hanks's wry humour interludes), the background score & cinematography being pretty good, Angels & Demons is watchable.

On a concluding note,

Angels & Demons, invariably is one of the most highly anticipated films of '09. If answering the final question of whether it has lived up to all its hype is a possible veridict, then here it is:

yes and no.

Yes, because its a fine film for a person who hasn't read its book(and mind you, that is a prerequisite) its pretty fresh in terms of script, and you have fine acting by its protagonist, Tom Hanks.

No, because its averagely made(given the amount of potential the director had for a story like this) , and its a bit too fast (in fact, by the time you understand one scene, the next would have started, and so on...)

Criticisms aside, watch Angels & Demons sans its pre-release hype (especially, if you haven't read its book)

If you have, then don't bother.....

Rating: 3/5 [above average]

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2009-06-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

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