giselle monteiro : harleen kaur of ‘love aaj kal’

This brazilian beauty captured the imagination of cine-goers as the demure ‘harleen kaur’. Seeing her in the movie, nobody would ever believe that she is not indian. Her simplicity was her USP. She had some of the best scenes in the movie, like sipping black-tea; the expression on her face was fabulous. She emoted well, of course the ‘adaa’ was missing because that is a little difficult to adapt. Anyways, loved her in the movie.

 

movie review : love aaj kal

the movie is finally out and i am waiting to watch it. i can do that only tomorrow as i returned late from work. but i did the next best thing…read a whole lot of reviews of the movie. all the reviews have been positive and that gives me hope that the movie will be good. more often than not, the critics get it wrong and i hope they are right this time.

anyways, let me just list out a few excerpts of the review for u:

one review says exactly what i feared, that the movie is just good when it could have been so much better.

Love Aaj Kal is a harmless, watchable film — sad, because it could have been truly special. It has its moments in the first half, while the second half is an over-melodramatic drag.

the same review also has good things to say

Ali uses a very interesting device by casting Saif himself in the Kapoor flashbacks: Kapoor tells Khan how the boy reminds him of his youth, and so the Sikh Saif isn’t Kapoor as he used to look, but Kapoor as both he and Saif can visualise him as the tale is narrated. It’s a clever move even though Saif struggles rather laughably with his Punjabi early on in the film, and it doesn’t help how the narrative inevitably flips back and forth between that and the overslanged Lay’s-salesman Saif of today. A good move overall, though.

the entire review can be found here

here are words from another review that raves about the movie

After making the much loved Jab We Met, Imtiaz Ali succeeds in giving us an extremely different love story that we have never witnessed before on Indian screen. He scores high on his writing and his treatment of the film. In the initial 10 minutes he successfully establishes Saif and Deepika’s relationship and their character quirks. He surprises you then by putting a melancholic song (Ye Dooriyan) as opening credits role showing montages of various important twists of the plot that lie ahead.

and some more appreciation for the movie

Making the film extremely relatable to everyone who has ever been in love and broken off with his/her partner, Imtiaz takes it notches higher by his dialogues that sound simple but convey a lot. Plenty of scenes stay with you as you come out.

this review can be found here

i am booked for tomorrow, make sure that you watch it too.

 

love aaj kal OR love aajkal

Aaj kal and aajkal have two different meanings. While aaj kal is a reference to today & tomorrow, aajkal means now-a-days. I am sure Imtiaz Ali has handled both meanings, aaj kal and aajkal.

Here’s the dope on the movie. It begins with Saif and Deepika being in love with each other. But love is not what can keeo them together. They are ambitious genX youth who have ambitions which are of higher priority than love. So, taking a totally practical approach they part ways seeking their own paths. That’s love aaj for you, the frivolous love of today’s times.

Rishi Kapoor, who plays Saif’s dad, narrates his lovestory. So, while the lovestory is of Rishi, Saif plays it out. Hence we see the sardar get-up of Saif, who is the younger version of Rishi. His dad narrates how his was love-at-first-sight. The moment he saw her, he just flipped. That’s love kal for you, the love which drives people totally crazy and the love which makes them do anything for it.

Now that the comparison of aaj and kal is done, we are left with aajkal. Saif takes a leaf out of Rishi’s book and chases Deepika Padukone. He realizes how love is the stability that he has been looking for and that she is the one with whom he can be happy forever. That’s the love aajkal for you. Today, yesterday and the now-a-days…all find a place in this movie. I am just itching to watch it, you too watch out!

 

Music Review : Kaminey

This is the best music album until now, and I am quite sure that it would be the best for this year. Vishal Bharadwaj is at his experimental best and Gulzar is just amazing with the pen.

The song Dhan Te Nan is already doing the rounds in disc and the video is allover the music channel. The song has high decibel energy and is sung with great enthusiasm by Sukhwinder Singh and Vishal Dadlani. The lyrics are amazing … read this :

koi chaal aisi chalo yaar abke
samandar bhi pul pe chale
phir tu chale us pe ya mein chaloon
sehar ho apne pairo tale

The music is really racy and the energy gets to you. Vishal Dadlani has surprisingly matched Sukhwiner’s verve.

Trust Gulzar to whip people and drive home the message on AIDs and he does it verbally, fatak! That’s the song – fatak. He belts the lyrics with great sensitivity and talks about the spreading germs:

jitna bhi jhoot bole thoda hai
keedon ki basti da makoda hai
raaton ka bichoo hai kaatega
ye zehrila hai zeher chaatega
darwazon mein kunde ko
dafaa karo ye gunde
ye shaitaan ka saaya re
fatak

Sukhwinder Singh and Kailash Kher give a folksy touch to the song. And then comes the Ghalib take on ye ishq nahi aasaan and this is how Gulzar modernises it:

ye ishq nahi aasaan
aji AIDS ka khatra hai
patwaar pehan jaana
yeh aag ka dariya hai

His pen has the magic to weave words on any topic, and he does with with such beauty. Observe the way he uses patwaar to mean the word condom. It drives home the message, loud and clear. I just wonder how this song will be picturised in the movie.

Vishal Bharadwaj himself takes up the mike to belt the title track of Kaminey. Its a solemn song about lost dreams, lost friends and unfulfilled hopes. And Kaminey is not just a reference to characters but the ambitious dreams, untrustworthy pals etc. Its a soliloquy.

meri aarzoo kameenee
mere khwab bhi kaminey
ik dil se dosti thi
yeh hazoor bhi kaminey

After the Delhi-6 song of Genda phool, Rekha Bharadwaj is back again. This time, singing to her hubby’s tunes and the song is Raat Ke Dhai Baje. Its a fantastic fusion of western music and rustic lyrics. The song is rendered by 3 other singers – Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala and Suresh Wadkar. It has a fine rhythm that gets to you slowly. A nice song indeed.

ishq mein jalte hue
saans tezabi lage
raaz khulta hi nahi
koi toh chaabi lage

chikne chikne lachhe hain
reshmi se phande
chupdi chupdi baaton mein
bhole bhale bande

tanhai ne fursat di hai
arey pehli baar mohabbat ki hai
aakhri baar mohabbat ki hai

Mohit Chauhan finally gets to sing Pehli Baar Mohabbat Ki Hai, which is nice romantic ballad. After his ok-dokie song in Love Aaj Kal, this sounds refreshing. He should sing more often. This song may sound like reprise of Raat Ke Dhai Baje, but its not. The similarity lies only in the lyrics. The mood is different, the song is different. I think there must be a reason for the similar sounding words, though.

thode bheege bheege se
thode nam hain hum
kal se soye voye bhi,
toh kam hain hum
dil ne kaisi harkat ki hai
pehli baar mohabbat ki hai
aakhri baar mohabbat ki hai

The album also has the remix of Dhan Te Nan and Raat Ke Dhai Baje. And then there is a small musical instrumental piece called Go Charlie which is a medley mix of other songs. All in all, its a great album with awesome music, great vocals and fantastic lyrics. Its a must-buy!

 

Music Review : Love Aaj Kal

After the huge success of Jab We Met, Pritam and Imtiaz Ali are back again to entertain us. And not to forget the lyricist Irshad Kamil, who wrote some really good lyrics for JWM, is also a part of this bandwagon. The expectations from this movie and the album are big. Its one of the biggest releases and most awaited movies of this year. The movie is yet to come but the album is here and it delivers. Its a great mix of folk, punjabi songs, remix, soft romantic song and foot-tapping numbers; all in one album. There are 10 tracks overall, but 3 of them are remixes; so we have 7 chartbusting numbers.

Twist – Neeraj Sridhar : The album opens with this fine fusion of the 1954 classic Man Dole Mera tan Dole and Neeraj Sridhar doing what he does best, rap inane lyrics. But it makes for a nice hearing, especially because Pritam knows exactly what can set the foot tapping.

Let’s have some ranouk shaunak
Let’s have some party now
Let’s have some rolla rappa

Round de chak hey
Round de chak

Let’s have some dhol dhamaka
Let’s call the dholi now
Let’s have some matti tappa

Chalo chalo ji lak lak ga lo
Chalo chalo ji mauj mana lo
Chalo chalo ji nach lo gaa lo
Pakad kisi ki wrist

And we twist
We twist

This number is already quite popular and it sure will go on to be a big hit with the FM stations and discs. Both, the original and remix versions, are good.

Aaj Din Chadeyya – Rahat Fateh Ali Khan : A soulfully romantic song by Rahat after such a long time. The last I liked him was in Teri Ore from SiK. The lyrics are very sweet:

Phool sa hai khila aaj din
Rabba mere din yeh na dhale
Woh jo mujhe khwab mein mile
Use tu lagade abb gale
Tenu dil da vasta

The strumming of guitar is a nice introduction, making it sound like a fusion between sufi and country music. And as usual, Rahat hits those high notes with such ease.

Baksh gunahon ko
Sunke duwaon ko
Rabba pyaar hai
Tune sab ko hi de diya

Meri bhi aahon ko
Sunle duwaon ko
Mujhko woh dila maine jisko hai dil diya

Its a melodious track and will be remembered for a long time.

Aahun Aahun – Neeraj Sridhar : Another song by the rapper, this time borrowing the tune of a popular Jazzy B song. Its remixed well by Pritam, the way he keeps shifting between the genres of punjabi folk voice of Jazzy B and Neeraj Sridhar’s fast paced words is fabulous. This song is bound to be another superhit, it has a nice rhythm and will find much favor with DJ’s. This song is also accompanied by its remix.

Chor Bazari – Neeraj Sridhar & Sunidhi Chauhan : This is a weak song and seems to be a worn out effect of Pritam. Its quite a laborious work, trying to come good but that never happens. The singers have given their best but the lyrics and the pedestrian music lets them down. Its just about passable. The song also has its remix version which I was not very convinced about.

Ye Dooriyan – Mohit Chauhan : A lazy effort by Pritam, the song lacks soul. Mohit’s voice suits the song, but its undone by lacklustre tune which suffers from a hangover of Tumse Hi from JWM.

kyun koi paas hai
door hai kyun koi
jaane na koi yahan pe

aa raha paas ya
door main ja raha
jaanu na main hoon
kahan pe

ye dooriyan..

in raahon ki dooriyan
nigahon ki dooriyan
hum raahon ki dooriyan
fanaa ho sabhi dooriyan

Its a song about the pangs of separation and a hope of re-uniting again; about distance and spaces between people. The tune could have been much better with a little bit of rework, nevertheless its very hummable number. Mohit is carving a niche for himself with such romantic tracks which gives him the freedom to croon.

Mai Kya Hoon – KK : An electronic-keyboard driven number offered by Pritam, to which KK does complete justice. It has a nice tune which KK takes to a crescendo and ends in a yoddle. The fast and pacy beats is the highlight of the song. Lyrics is the weak link of quite a few songs, this one included; but not many care for it. So, enjoy this typical KK number; he does not disappoint.

Thoda Thoda Pyar – Sunidhi Chauhan : Another heavily loaded punjabi song, it has a folksy tune starting with sangeet situation and Sunidhi gives it the much needed rustic touch. This song will be quite popular in the northern belt for sure. It has some naughty lyrics as well, which are synonymous with lots of folk songs, and Sunidhi renders it with gusto.

Saif Ali Khan, being the producer of the movie, must have really worked hard alongwith Imtiaz Ali and Pritam to bring out the best. After some lacklustre music in Billu, Pritam has come into his own and brought in a freshness. Whatever people may say about him, copy or no copy, he has a good sense of music. This album is a winner, go get it.