Luck By Chance — Music Review

The year is almost over and just before the end has come the music of Luck By Chance which gives a good end to the year which has been not so good in terms of music that has released . Luck By Chance is the second film as an actor for Farhan and from the promos this one looks to be more promising than his first one .The film starrs some big names like Konkana Sen Sharma , Juhi Chawla ,Hithik Roshan,Rishi Kapoor,Sanjay Kapoor,Saurabh Shukla,Dimple Kapadia,Isha Sharvani etc. etc. The film’s plot revolves around a struggling actor and his journey to make his dreams come true . And as a result the songs are very much related to dreams and life that one wishes to have . Such songs always work among the audience because everybody has a dream and it results in an instant connection with the songs. Remember “Aashayein” of Iqbal . Well this album is pretty much similar in terms of content . The film is Directed by Farhan’s sister Zoya Akhtar and hence the music is also by brother’s favourite Shankar , Ehsaan and Loy .

The first song on the album is “Yeh Zindagi Bhi” which is a nice slow track with some really nice lyrics . Jaaved Sir always pens down some fine lyrics when it comes to the films that his son/daughter make . This song is a nice opening track and gives a nice insight of life . This song might mark the start of Farhan’s journey in the film . The tune that SEL have used is really very nice and keeps the whole song pretty simple and melodious and letting the lyrics do their job . In such songs the lyrics are always the strong point and the job of the music director is to highlight those lyrics even more with the proper tune . In all its a good slow track that very well sets up a mood to listen the further tracks . Both the singers Loy Mendosa and Shekhar Ravjiani do a good job with the vocals .

Just after the slow and soulful track comes a very upbeat and sufiana track “Baawre” . This one is a treat who love Sufiana sort of tracks and also like pure Indian folk tracks . The lyrics here are also great by Jaaved sir and Loy does a fantastic job in singing the sufiana parts . The track though belongs to Shankar for most of the part and he does a great job as usual . In this track contrary to first one the Music takes the lead and dominates the track . The lyrics are good but it is the fantastic use of different instruments and the whole rhythm that makes this song one brilliant track . SEL have done a fantastic job on this one and given full justice to the song . The song interestingly describes a Circus scenario but ironically it refers to life only in general especially of the film world .

The third track on the album is a Slow Romantic number “Pyaar Ki Dastan” . Here both lyrics and music take a very safe mode and lack the newness . The music in this track has been kept very simple and nothing new has been tried . This one is just an average track and good thing is that it has been kept simple only and would work in the film . The male singer on this one isAmit Paul . Remember him ? The guy that came second in the last Indian Idol because of some unfair regional voting for the guy that won the show . Well I wont call it a superb entry into the music scene but he is at least with good guys (SEL) and I am sure they will help him in future also . His voice though sounds quite fresh and he needs to sing a lot many songs and then only any judgement can be passed on his singing . This one was a simple track so nothing to praise about .Mahalaxmi Iyer is an established singer and she does her job well as usual .

Then comes “Yeh Aaj Kya Ho Gaya” which is a nice guitar based track with Sunidhi Chauhan giving the vocals . It is a good short track with nice use of guitar throughout . This one is also a basic track with nothing fancy about it . The lyrics on this one are not as good as compared to the other songs . It is not a weak track yet it isn’t a strong one either . The song would look good along with some situation in the film and probably would featureKonkana .

Then comes the Best track on the album and one of the best released in this year , “Sapno Se Bhare Naina” . One brilliant track with some of the finest Lyrics Jaaved Sir has ever written . Just pay heed to the first line – “Bagiyan Bagiyan Baalak Bhaage , Titli fir bhi haath na laage , Is pagle ko kaun samjhaye……Sapno se bhare naina to neend hai na chaina ” . Anyone who has a passionate dream that he/she sees for his/her life would just love this track and would instantly identify himself/herself with it . Not only the lyrics are great but even the music that the trio has given is just fabulous . And who else than Shankar himself could have sung it better . His strong classical base matches the passion that is required to sing the song . Overall , a brilliant track and probably one the best in the career of both SEL and Jaaved Sir . I can keep on praising it .

The last original track on the album is “O Rahi Re” . SEL return to the simple soulful mood that is there on the first track . The music and lyrics both are great on this one too . The tune is great and reminds us of the music of the old times . Shankar sings this one also in his immaculate style and does full justice to the lyrics and tune . The lyrics in this one are again very philosophical sorts and talk of life . Music lovers would definitely like the song . Overall , its a really nice track keeping the theme of the entire soundtrack intact . A perfect song to end the soundtrack .

There is one Remix version of Baawre in the end that is probably the only song with heavy  techno beats . It is a nice remix and people who won’t like the original version would certainly like the remix version . For guys like me still the original one is better any day . But still , the remix is a nice one and not just adds extra bass and ups the tempo . It makes it sound completely different than the original one and would definitely work .

Overall , it is one of the best albums of the year and it was really nice to end the year with such a fine album . Great lyrics packed with some good tunes and singing .SEL and Jaaved sir together have done a much better job on this one than they did on Rock On . I just hope that this film also meets all the expectations I have with it . Go buy it if you are a true music lover .

Album Rating : Four out of Five Stars ; Great Package in total for music lovers .

Ghajini — Movie Review

Ghajini is exactly what I was expecting and probably even better and before you jump to any conclusions let me tell you that I was expecting Ghajini to be Masala film with lack of logic and some mindless action . And this is what I got , a big disappointment . I was still hoping against the hope that may be there would be just mindless action and still it would have an intelligent story but as it turned out it just had mindless and logic less action with a story that had been borrowed from west and some Indian Masala added to it . Do you remember those old action films of Amitabh and others of that era that had that typical Revenge (Badla) plot with hero running after the villain and in the end beating 50 odd people on his own and taking his revenge . Well , Ghajini is exactly that kind of formula cinema .

What has struck me even more is the fact that Critics like Rajeev Masand (IBN) and Mayank Shekhar (Mumbai Mirror and TOI) have rated it much higher than Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi . Most of the critics argued while reviewing RNBDJ that they found it hard to believe that Anushka doesn’t identify his husband just because he shaves off his moustache . And those critics probably left their brains at home while watching Ghajini which from start to end has a long list of logical flaws in it which don’t make sense at all . Those critics didn’t even keep in mind that at least RNBDJ had an original plot and not an inspired one whereas Ghajini has many similarities with Memento . I mean how biased are these critics , leave aside Taran Adarsh (of IndiaFM) who thinks Ghajini deserves 4.5 stars out of Five . Mind You , he has given Taare Zameen Par 4/5 and Chak De India a mind boggling 2 out of 5 .

Leaving the critics aside , I thought that Indian films and audience were finally getting more intelligent and liked only those films that were a little different and didn’t have that formula feel to it . But I was maybe wrong because the films that worked in 2008 like Race , Singh is Kinng , Golmaal Returns etc. are all masala entertainers having all those emotions with very less emphasis on story . Though Ghajini has been marketed as an Action film but let make it very clear that it is a Masala film with a little more of Action .

Frankly speaking , Ghajini is not even worth comparing to Memento . If Memento was a brilliant film then there is no shade of brilliance in Ghajini . Any young upcoming Director from south could have made this film who has grown up watching films of Rajnikanth in which he is always a superhero with no superpowers and yet he beats a group of people to bring justice . The only similarity is the basic theme of the protagonist and rest all is Indian Masala that too with a lot of inspiration from South Commercial cinema .

The film in the first place jumps from Romantic angle to Intense angle almost suddenly many times leaving a mixed feeling . The worst that suffered from this was the Romantic super hit song Guzarish . The song almost starts instantly after an intense situation where audience is in a thinking mode . There is no Romantic build-up before the song and hence the only good song in the film also got a little wasted . Leave aside the other songs which were more of item numbers with no link to the film . Can you believe Jia Khan does an Item No. sort of song (Lattu) at a College Function in very glamorous costume which by the way is a Medical College . Jia becomes a detective from a doctor and all of sudden starts investigating Aamir’s case . How real is that ? Well , I can mention several such loop holes in the film but I don’t want to , you can see them yourselves . When I heard Kaise mujhe on the album I thought it would be in more of a sad situation but Aamir is all happy when this song is there . The song didn’t go along with his mood but the Lyrics did .

Asin is a pleasant surprise and acts quite well and has good comic presence . Though she acted well but I felt that she was just overdoing in some of the scenes which is quite a turn off . She can act but the Director would have to make sure that she doesn’t start over-acting . Her role was adorable but not so much believable . In any case the whole film is a bit over the top so you won’t mind Asin’s acting also . She was cute but didn’t make such a good pair with Aamir and the chemistry was a little less . Jia doesn’t have much of a role and hence was kept out of the publicity .

One more thing that makes it a typical Formula film is the length of the film which is just about 3 hrs and the pace with which it moves is also of the 80’s and 90’s . The hammering background score makes sure that no one gets asleep while watching the film . In some parts the score is good but for most of the parts it is a bit over the top . There is also a vague Character of a Police officer who serves nothing in the film or story apart from adding a little bit of action .

The only one positive was the Cinematography which was great and Ravi K. Chandran needs to be applauded for that . The director A.R. Murugadoss also does an average job and he at least made sure that film doesn’t become unbearable and kept it a little entertaining . The art direction didn’t impress me that much but was still not that bad . I hope Murugadoss comes up with a little less commercial film and more of an original one , the next time .

At last coming to Aamir Khan who according to several critics acted quite well and it is completely his film . Well , there is no doubt that it is completely Amir’s film but the acting part isn’t that good . I am also an Aamir fan and I’ve seen him act at least Ten times better than what he did in Ghajini . Such roles first of all don’t suit him and I hope he never selects such a character in the future . I am sure nobody would remember Aamir in Ghajini in the future . They might remember Ghajini because of Aamir’s 8 packs though . Aamir can do so much better than what he did in this film . Shouting and Killing like an animal doesn’t suit him that much if you ask me and for that matter it wont suit any actor of today .

There is no doubt that Ghajini would be blockbuster and you can also watch it to see Aamir in a masala film for a change . But I just hope that with the success of films like Ghajini , Golmaal Returns and Singh is Kinng the producers don’t get encouraged to make such cinema more often because it took almost three decades to come up till hear for the industry and I hope it doesn’t push itself back to its roots . If this trend continues then we would get to see Superstars getting together and pulling off a blockbuster for a similar story every time .

Movie Rating : Two and a Half out of Five Stars ; Aamir in a Masala film to its core is one thing that I don’t want to watch .