Deepika and Ranbir for instance enjoyed an enormous amount of limelight as a couple while the movie Bachna Ae Haseeno was rolling in the movie theatres. Everyone was curious to see the intimacy between the flaming pair before their eyes on the big screen. Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani which placed Ranbir and the gorgeous Katrina Kaif together did not fly well with Indian cinemagoers. Hence the need to create a fanciful love story between the two to capture and retain audience’s interest in the couple. Then trotting came the Biggest Bollywood Block buster of the year 2010 so far, Rajneeti. A depiction of intense political drama, with the stunning starlet Katrina Kaif once again cast opposite the ever charming Ranbir, Rajneeti did particularly well at the box office. With the dissolution of the relationship between Ranbir and Deepika, brand new scandals were fabricated involving the Rajneeti duo.

]The drama surrounding celebrity affairs is always a guideline for producers to decide who to castt in their film and although it is growing tiresome and cliched it’s still a big draw for cinemagoers!

Photo Credit: Sneha Mehta, New York Times

and Mujhse Dosti Karoge, released in 2001 and 2002 respectively, encompassed twisted love triangles which mystified Indian viewers, many who secretly longed to run around wearing saris on the snow covered Swiss streets-at least, at fifteen years old that’s exactly what I thought my life would turn out like, but as it turns out, I wasn’t alone.

A recent craze of indian couples has finally found some time to make their dreams come true. Many made the trip to visit Switzerland and track down the places they admiringly watched on television. The trek to Switzerland has become so popular that Swiss travel agencies are now releasing tours marketed towards those desiring to pose as Shahrukh Khan and Kajole in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and although, I probably won’t become a Bollywood actress anytime soon, it’s nice to know that I could be a superstar for just one facebook profile picture.

Colden Center, Queens saw a spectacular performance by Atif Aslam on Friday July 2^nd.

 Atif seemed pretty hyped up to perform to a massive milieu of fans-fans who had gathered outside the venue two hours before the show time, outrageously defying the conventional behavior of  the time enslaved New Yorkers. Wow Atif! What a colossal fan base! I’d seen people lose their wits over Atif’s concert in Pakistan but seeing that that’s where he originally hails from, I was never quite surprised. But I must admit that I was astounded to witness the passion of such a massive fan crowd for a young artist like Atif and that too in a foreign country. Atif has indeed won millions of hearts across the globe with his recent Bollywood ventures.

Atif performed tracks from his superhit albums Doorie and Meri Kahani along with his Bollywood hits Tu Jaane Na, Tere Bin, Aadat as well as Jal Pari from the famous Pakistani Television Series Coke Studio.

Security staff at the event was particularly flustered having to push away an over enthused audience that flocked towards the stage periphery every other minute. Teenage girls, dressed to impress, chanted utterly romantic beats like Pehli Nazar Mein (Race) and Tu jane Na (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani) after their heartthrob who seemed very gratified as some of his fans punctuated his performance periodically with slogans like ‘We love you Atif!’  Now which 25 year old, fetching artist wouldn’t be thrilled by that? And of course our dear friend Atif being no exception relished every bit of the love that the fervent New York audience showered on him. A thundering applause from the audience at the end of every song that set the whole auditorium reverberating must have been really heartening for Atif as he just couldn’t stop smiling.

Anyway, I grabbed my phone and scrolled down to read the message, all I could make out was the word Bollywood and Liz Phair. Liz Phair? The 90’s musician Liz Phair? What does she have to do with Bollywood?

Well readers, this is what she has to do with Bollywood, http://www.lizphair.com/ 

Please I encourage you to click the link and visit her site and stream  her newest song called, yes you guessed it, Bollywood.  Ok at first, I was delighted - wow, I thought, I can’t wait to hear what Liz has written about or what the track sounds like. I really enjoyed her music. She was like the Taylor Swift of the 90’s - Pop songs that were more like great art. Dont you remember “Why Can’t I” ?

This song is not art. I am not sure what it is - the track opens with a bhangra beat mixed with a banjo? bhangra + banjo not a good sound and then Liz starts rapping. The lyrics are awkward and the whole song just made me really uncomfortable.

My question is - Why is it called Bollywood? It has nothing to do with Bollywood.  Am I missing something? Did Liz do this just to show up in my google alert?

Please readers who are not of South Asian descent and dont regulary listen to Bollywood DO NOT, I reapeat, DO NOT think that this is what Bollywood music sounds like. Instead I urge you to visit www.saavn.com and click on one of the currently playing playlist to get a real taste of Bollywood.

I wonder why it’s being released five years later…maybe that sudden breakup has something to do with it? Hm…

Also does anyone else see the irony in the title of this film, “Milenge Milenge?”

Ok my apologies for the banter time to FOCUS

Let’s look into the music of Milenge Milenge. I got all excited when I first heard that the music was by none other than Himesh Reshammiya. You know who he is right? The multitalented music director/singer of songs like ‘Aashique Banaya Aapne’, ‘Jhalak Dikhlaja’ and ‘Aap Ka Suroor?’ He is probably the only singer who is so well known for his nasal voice. According to me, a lot of Himesh’s songs have very catchy music and are different and cool.

If you are into the typical 90’s style hindi songs then Milenge Milenge will definitely appeal to you. Each track is soothing and melodious. The album has five songs, five remixes and one other additional song. Most of the songs are slow or moderately fast paced. The title track ‘Milenge Milenge’ has a very different kind of tune. There are two versions of the song and each has its own unique charm. I love how Himesh made remixes of all the original tracks. I have always been really fond of Himesh’s remixes. He can really turn slow, soft songs into something upbeat.

The track ‘Kuch To Bakee Hai’ is a solo piece by Himesh in which he uses his very own signature style. Besides Himesh, the album also has Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik, Shreya Ghoshal and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in the vocals, and lyrics by Sameer, creating a whole package which is a treat to the ears.

Overall, Milenge Milenge is a great album and each song is so catchy it’ll stay in your head for days!

Track 1: “Milenge Milenge,” Singers: Alka Yagnik and Jayesh Gandhi

Track 2: “Kuch To Bakee Hai,” Singer: Himesh Reshammiya

Track 3: “Ishq Ki Galee,” Singers: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Jayesh Gandhi

Track 4: “Tum Chain Ho,” Singers: Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik and Suzanne D’Mello

Track 5: “Milenge Milenge,” Singers: Himesh Reshammiya and Shreya Ghoshal

Track 6: “Yeh Haare Kaanch Ki Choodiyan,” Singer: Alka Yagnik

Track 7: “Kuch To Bakee Hai (Bright Mix),” Singer: Himesh Reshammiya

Track 8: “Ishq Ki Galee (Dance Mix),” Singers: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Jayesh Gandhi

Track 9: “Milenge Milenge (Lounge Mix),” Singers: Himesh Reshammiya and Shreya Ghoshal

Track 10: “Kuch To Bakee Hai (Dark Mix)” Singer: Himesh Reshammiya

Track 11: “Tum Chain Ho (Unplugged),” Singer: Vineet Singh

Of all the songs, I like ‘Ishq Ki Galee’ the most. Apart from the beats and the melody of the song, it’s Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s captivating voice that makes the song so amazing. Milenge Milenge is definitely a great album to check out. So don’t waste anymore time and go hear it for yourself and let me know what you think!

-Reme

Both Ruiz and partner were dressed in bright colored costumes and had a great deal of energy (dare I say..too much). The moves were in sync and sharp and the audience was in an uproar. Ruiz said he hadn’t even heard of Bollywood before this  (it shows).  The judges loved the overall performance - they were blown away.

My thoughts:

Both Ruiz and his partner Kathryn McCormick are very talented and have great ability. They did a fantastic job as dancers BUT didn’t do justice to Bollywood.

Bollywood dance is all about expressions - facial expressions. They were moving so quickly and jumping around so much I couldnt see their faces. They needed to slow it down. For me, it lacked grace. I am very happy they included a Bollywood song in the competition but just wish they had done more research on this form of dance.

All in all,  I am happy Marjaani Marjaani got some spotlight on SYTYCD.

Oh- the genie theme, really?

Ok those are my thoughts - tell me what YOU think! Let’s compare it to Kareena & SRK

SYTYCD

Marjaani Marjaani

After a two year hiatus Mani Ratnam is back and he seems to be taking audiences right to where he left off, Abishek and Ashwariya.

In 2007 Ratnam astounded viewers with Guru and now he is trying  to create similar magic with Raavan. Although both Abhi and Ash don’t exactly play lovers in Raavan people are still excited to see the on screen chemistry. I sure am!

But we aren’t here to discuss the star cast and legendary director. We are here to talk business, to talk about the music. The composer is none other than AR Rahman. You must have heard of him? He just won a Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe. If you haven’t heard of him then you must have been living in a tightly sealed cave for the past ten years.

I have some advice for you, GET OUT OF YOUR CAVE.

Go immediately to www.saavn.com and type in “Dil Se,” “Guru” or “Slumdog Millionaire” and get some musical education.

Ok back to Raavan – the soundtrack is typical Rahman fashion, extremely good. The music is a nice mix of folk and traditional with a few fast paced tracks. With Raavan AR brings a diverse set of songs. The lyrics are by genius writer Gulzar and are much like free flowing poetry.

Here are all the tracks:

Track 1: “Beera,” Singers: Vijay Prakash, Mustafa Kutoane

Additional vocals: Keerthi Sagathia

Track 2: “Behene De,” Singers: Karthik

Additional vocals: Mohamed Irfan

Track 3: “Thok De Killi,” Singers: Sukhwinder Singh, Am’nico

Track 4: “Ranjha Ranjha,” Singers: Rekha Bharadwaj, Javed Ali

Additional vocals: Anuradha Sriram

Track 5: “Khili Re,” Singers: Reena Bhardwaj

Track 6: “Kata Kata,” Singers: Ila Arun, Sapna Awasthi, Kunal Ganjawalla

My personal favorites are “Behene De” and “Ranjha Ranjha”. “Behene De” is a moderately fast melodious piece and I love the distinct beats in it. I find it quite similar to Rahman’s “Chupke Se” from the film Saathiya. “Ranjha Ranjha” is a beautiful duet and I really like its overall composition. Specifically, I like the female singer’s expressions in the song. I could imagine it being used in the couples’ dance competitions in Star Plus or Zee TV.

Be sure to listen to all tracks at saavn.com and let me know what you think!

- Reme

It was a fantastic evening at Pranna in NYC with Bollywood beats provided by DJ Bhav Aman Singh from MTV India’s Splitsvilla and dance performances by St. John University’s RAAZ. Check out the photos.

We’ll see you at the next party!

And the markets soared! Let’s be sure to invite them back soon.  But with My Name is Khan releasing next week, I’m sure SRK will get a good pay day no matter what happens in the market. I can’t wait to see it and I’m sure I’m not alone.

Bindu Kholi Shreenath Group is hosting Zara’s Miss International. Priyanka will be the chief guest and will be help honor this years Miss International. A pretty glamorous way to spend a Saturday night if you ask me. Tickets are still available!  So just click the links!