Chamku — Music Review

After the Musical Hit Album of Saawariya last year , Monty Sharma is back with Chamku this year . The fact that he has talent has been proved last year and his music still occupying the space on Music Channels proves the point further . He is back with Chamku , a film starring Bobby Deol and Priyanka in the lead and Produced by Dharmendra . The film is Directed by Kabeer Kaushik whose first Film Seher (starring Arshad Waarsi and Mahima) was a box office disaster .He is starting afresh after that with this film whose Music has been given by Monty who is also one film old .

Talking a little about the album , it consists six tracks in total with five originals and one remix version . The First track on the album is Aaja Milke which is a romantic number and on air these days . It has a very nice romantic tune in it and hence it is getting a little popular . The song has been mainly sung by Shreya Ghoshal in her sweet voice and supported by Shail who gives her good company . The song has very beautiful and soulful lyrics by Sameer who has done a good job . There is very fine use of Saxophone pieces in between the verses of this song. The tune basically has nothing new but the lyrics and soulful singing of Shreya have done the trick and it makes the song appear quite new and romantic . Monty has very well understood the mood of the song and has provided full justice to the lyrics and the song in general . Shreya is brilliant as usual and steals the show in this one .

Then comes the best track on the album , Kithe Jawan , by Richa Sharma which is a core Punjabi track with a sad feeling attached to it . This song reminded me of the hit song “Lambi Judaai” from the film Hero (and not the latest one from Jannat) . That song is one of the best song which is based on “Judaai” (Separation of Lovers) . But what was best was the way in which that song had been sung by Reshma . That song had a very sad feeling attached to it and was sung very passionately by her . This song also belongs to that genre where Richa Sharma has done the job . Richa is a terrific singer and she sings Punjabi songs really well . The last time I remember that Richa had done such a fine job was in “Ni Mein Samajh Gayi” from Taal which is an exceptional song . Richa has once again spread the magic of her voice and done an exceptional job in this one . The lyrics of this song by Sameer are again great and much better than Sameer’s usual work . Monty has given fabulous treatment to this one and has understood the mood of the song very well . He has given it very modern yet contemporary treatment which makes it a treat to listen . Kudos Richa , Monty and Sameer for this one .

Next comes Gola Gola by Abhijeet and Vaishali Samant . This song also reminds you of those folk songs from Rajasthan which are quite fun to hear and also sometimes have great lyrics . This song has an Authentic Indian tune and even the singers have sung it in typical folk style . The song though doesn’t have that powerful lyrics yet the tune and singing style are enough to carry the song on their shoulders . The song wouldn’t hinder the pace of the film and if shot beautifully the song would be treat to watch . This song might not get that popular but would certainly look good in the film .

Next comes a trance music by Monty with vocals by Saleem , Soumya and Anaida . It has a very nice trance feel in it according to its name and probably for the first time I have heard an Indian Trance Music. The song very well incorporates some fine Indian instruments into the Trance music of the west . The vocals in between are also quite good and the song would look good in Background . The Arabic lyrics have been very well sung by the Singer and the whole song would really sound great on a good music system and even better in the Multiplexes .

After the Trance music comes “Bin Daseya” which is a lounge version of Kithe Jaawan . Since the original is such a great song even this one sounds good . This lounge version might appeal to certain people more than the original one but I prefer the original one . This version is quite nice and nothing fancy about it . It would sound good at a Lounge or a Pub . Monty has put in some nice effects in this one and hence has done a good job once more .

Then comes the last song on the album Dukh Ke Badri  which is again a slow song but that doesn’t make it anything less . It is again a fabulous song and has a very different music than other songs . This one doesn’t sound like typical slow songs and has nice music pieces in it . The song has been sung by Kalpana and Parthiv and Shail have given her company . This song sounds really nice and might look even better in the film . The singing by Kalpana is of top quality and she gives a nice competition to Richa’s song . The song has some very nice Lyrics and they have been given full justice by the singers and the composer .

Overall , this Album is highly recommended and Monty has once again proved that though he works less but he is going to stay for a long time in Bollywood . After a long time an album has came that has all the songs quite slow and soulful . If you love fast  music and music with beats then this one is not for you . This is very much on the slower side and yet it is a great album . The film has not much of a Hype around it and even the title is little weird and hence the music won’t gather that much audience . But after sometime the songs are bound to work especially after the release of the film . The music is fabulous and I just hope even the movie is as good as the music . I hope the script of the film is as strong as the Music .

Album Rating : Three and Half Stars out of Five , Quite Different then the usual that we get to hear these days .

Mumbai Meri Jaan — Movie Review

This year has been quite dry when it comes to the quality of films that have been produced . In fact there were just 2-3 films that satisfied me and made me think it of as a brilliant piece of cinema . The interesting thing to note is that the Two films that I found great this year (Aamir and Khuda Ke Liye)were both based on terrorism and its aftermath . The third film this year that has impressed me is again having a terrorist background and that is Mumbai Meri Jaan . This film should not be called a film , it is more of a docu-drama sort of film which has depicted the reality of Mumbai and Mumbaikars , their problems and their Life in general covering all strata’s of Society. This film is almost like a Reality Special Report that a channel like NDTV makes with real stories and real characters which makes us realise how tough life can be and how nobody gives a damn how tough your life is . You have to sort it out yourself .

The film though is based on Mumbai Blasts but neither it focusses on the plan of Blasts nor does it focus on catching of criminals . As the name suggests it is about the life of Mumbaikars and how their life gets affected by a terrorist activity .The film is has no common story but has strong characters and each character has a story of his own . The film focusses on various issues that are surrounding us apart from the big Terrorism issue . It makes a black humour of those issues that we don’t take up seriously but terrorism is the Baby of those small issues itself . It portrays that if we sort out those small issues in our life then automatically the big issue of Terrorism will end .

The film focuses on lives of Five Peoples who belong to different sections of society and all live in Mumbai . Soha Ali Khan who is a Journalist , Kay Kay who is a simple computer assembler looking desperately for some work ,Irrfan Khan who is a Tea Vendor , Paresh Rawal who is a Police Constable and R. Madhvan who is working at some organisation on a high post and pay scale . Soha Ali Khan is a typical Television Reporter who just cares at giving news and tries to sensationalize everything like every typical channel does . She is a famous reporter and is ready to get married with her fiance who doesn’t like Media because of their irresponsible behaviour .

Kay Kay is an Educated Struggler who struggles for existence and has lot of debts on him . He doesn’t like Muslims at all and thinks that all of them are Terrorists . He is very radical about religion and practically hates every Muslim .Madhvan is an upper middle class guy who works and earns but still prefers to travel by Local Train because he thinks that more the people travel by public transport , the more organised the traffic of Mumbai would be and basically cares about our country and loves Mumbai and India a lot . He declines all his offers to go abroad because he likes Mumbai and India a lot .

Irrfan Khan is a very poor and innocent Tea Vendor from south and he tries to adjust in Mumbai with just bare necessities of life . He too wants to go to Malls and Multiplexes and live a life like many people live in Mumbai but he can’t . Then there is Paresh Rawal who is a corrupt Police constable who is just about to retire . He is good at heart and quite honest at heart but he also gets involved in the system and can’t do anything about it because he is too small a person to do anything about it .

Amongst all of these only two get affected directly from the serial Train Blasts , Madhvan and Soha . Madhvan’s friend gets injured and loses his hand and Soha loses her fiance in the blasts . The plot of Madhvan shows how he gets terrified after the blasts as he just narrowly escapes those blasts . He gets scared a lot and he starts having Mental Anxiety problems and his love and trust for Mumbai and India also starts shaking . After the blasts Kay Kay starts probing into blasts himself along with his friends because he has suspicion on some Muslim guys that regularly visit a restaurant but are missing after the blasts . After the blasts the Police start their usual routine of High Alert in the town and try to tighten up the situation of the city . Soha gets the shock of her life and takes a break from her job but her channel decides to do a byte on her . She gives them the permission and faces the same questions that she used to ask early and realises how hard it is . She gets to face the other side of her profession and her perspective changes . Irrfan in order to take his revenge from rich people spreads rumours of Bombs in Malls and watches them run for their life . While doing this he doesn’t realise that how much problem he is causing and his rumour can get dangerous .

The whole movie revolves around these different plots with Mumbai being common in all their plots . How they slowly recover from the blasts and how they realise their mistakes and also the fact that though the city has many problems but still it is the spirit of the city that makes them still live there . The whole movie is a mirror image of our society and its happenings . But as they say sometimes others have to show you the mirror to you so that you realise that what flaws you have . The same job has been done by Director Nishikant Kamat who has shown us what we see daily but act like blind people who haven’t seen anything .

The film is not made like a typical film that moves according to a single story . This one moves in a random way and portraying each story simultaneously .Each story has something to offer and sends out a message in general . The movie starts off with archive footage of Mumbai and how it has changed over the years . The beginning of the movie is quite strong and creates an impact on the viewer’s mind . But it is after sometime that the movie comes into its true element which it has maintained for the entire length .The plot of Irrfan Khan though was quite moving but still it was unnecessary and could have been avoided . Most of the time the film has Serious tone but some scenes have still been dramatized and some being over-dramatized . Especially the scene where Irrfan lifts his both hand and looks towards the sky while a heavy background score is played is quite out of the place and frankly speaking a little stupid also . The movie though surrounds the Mumbai blasts yet it has talked very less about the blasts . The Mumbai blasts have been used more as Publicity tool to attract the audience . Black Friday as we all know is an exceptional film and not only does it focus on the Mumbai Blasts of 1992 but also in the process sends out a strong message .

Talking a little about the acting , the film has some of the finest performances by all the actors in it . Especially Kay Kay and Irrfan who were at their best . Kay Kay is one of the best actors in the Industry yet he has done very few roles and that too mostly in Multi-starrer films . He is one of those actors that get under the skin of the character effortlessly and are quite natural about it . His acting just mesmerizes me and I am a huge fan of him since his Television days . The other fine performance is by Irrfan . His plot though wasn’t that strong yet he delivers his best and it is because of him that his plot can be seen . Soha has also done a fine job but she can do much better . Paresh Rawal is a seasoned actor , he also gives a fine performance . The character of a Marathi Constable suits him perfectly . Madhvan’s role wasn’t that good but he still acts quite well . He also can do much better than this .

Overall , the film is very good but it lacks that cinematic approach and hence would please only selected audience . The Director Nishikant has worked more hard on the scenes rather than the complete film . He has shown some of the most finest scenes and has created several moments throughout the film but there was no common thread that could hold all these moments and hence you have a feeling after watching the film that something was missing . The Acting , Direction , Cinematography and Background Score were all good but that soul is what was missing . But still , the film is different type of cinema and it should be appreciated for its effort . The film though might not work that much but has certainly won all the accolades that it could have .

Indian Audience has seen such type of cinema very few times and Documentaries have also never got popular in India thats why this film also won’t work on a commercial level . The Director has worked differently on the Five Stories of Five People and if you are ready to accept that then only you can watch it .

Still , the film is recommended from my side because it has very strong messages in it that have been presented in an excellent manner . The film has some of the finest acting performances and number of moments that make it worth a watch .The film also shows the life of Mumbai and Mumbaikars in a very realistic manner so it is a must watch for all the Mumbaikars . The film ends with the Famous song “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahan , Zara Hatke, Zara Bach ke, ye he Bombay meri Jaan ” which very well puts up the entire lifestyle of the city .

Movie Rating : Three and Half out of Five Stars ; Fabulous acting and some great moments .