Archive for the ‘Songs of 2020 (2021 to 2030)’ Category
Dilkash sazaa ye deeje
Posted on: March 28, 2024
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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5732 | Post No. : | 18254 | Movie Count : |
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‘Gulmohar’ (2023) was produced under the banner of 3 film production companies – Star Studios, Chalkboard Entertainment and Autonomous Works and was directed by debutant Rahul Chittella. The cast included Sharmila Tagore, Manoj Bajpayee, Simran, Suraj Sharma, Kaveri Seth, Utsavi Jha, Santhy, Jatin Goswami, Gandharv Dewan, Chandan Roy, Anurag Arora, Devika Shahani, Shriharsh Sharma, Talat Aziz, Vinod Nagpal, Danish Sood, Tanvi Rao, Abhinav Bhattacharjee, Tripti Sahu, Nargis Nandal, Varun Narayan, Kanishk Seth, Puja Sarup, Deepak Bagga, Kavita Seth, Angad Sharma etc. Amol Palekar made a guest appearance in the film. The film was released on OTT platforms on March 23, 2023.
The story of the film is about Batra joint family staying in their family bungalow ‘Gulmohar’ in Delhi for decades. The family is required to vacate the bungalow after sale for its redevelopment and are in the process of shifting to apartments. At this point of time, each family wants to be independent leading to the potential break-up of the joint family. The matriarch of the family is shifting to Puducherry for her own reason. The family has only 4 days to stay together in Gulmohar until the Holi festival. During a get together party, many secrets of the family come out creating some discord among the family members. It is now a testing time for the family on the secrets of their past, creating the tensions for the present and the future uncertainties for the family as a single unit.
The film is available for viewing only on one of the OTT platforms. The story of the film is as under:
Batra family consists of Kusum Batra (Sharmila Tagore), the matriarch of the family, her son Arun Batra (Manoj Bajpayee), his wife, Indu (Simran) and their son, Aaditya Batra (Suraj Sharma), his wife, Divya (Kaveri Seth) and their daughter, Amrita (Utsavi Jha). Arun Batra runs a family business started by his father which is doing very well. They all stay together in their Gulmohar Bungalow in Delhi which Arun’s father had bought 30 years back so that all the family members stay together. Arun’s wife, Indu is a perfect housewife who takes care of the family without any hiccups.
Under pressure from a builder, their bungalow has been sold for redevelopment and the family is in the process of shifting to a hotel as a stop-gap arrangement before they think of shifting to an apartment. It appears that it was at the instance of Sudhakar Batra (Amol Palekar), the uncle of Arun that builder has pressurised Kusum to sell their Gulmohar Bungalow as he is bitter about Kusum who persuaded his brother (and her husband) to move to Delhi. The bitterness between Kusum Batra’s family and Sudhakar Batra has been continued for a long time. Nonetheless, Arun has financially helped his uncle, Sudhakar for the higher education of his grandson.
The film actually starts with Kusum Batra, the matriarch of the family hosting a get-together, being the last one in Gulmohar, for the family members and her close friends during which she reveals two things. First, the family would shift from Gulmohar after 4 days, that is, after Holi celebrations so that the entire family leaves Gulmohar with good memories. Secondly, she would be shifting to Puducherry where she has already bought a house. With Arun’s son, Aaditya having already decided that he and his family would live independently, with his mother’s revelation, Arun is tremendously disturbed but refrains from reacting to his mother’s decision.
Arun’s son, Aaditya wants to become an entrepreneur on his own strength without the help of his father. However, he is not able to get the investors. He is looking for a separate house on rental, but he is not able to afford a high rental. His wife, Divya suggests him not to give up on his dream of becoming an entrepreneur and suggests him to take the financial help from his father who is willing to support him.
During the packing of the moveable items from the bungalow, Indu finds a file containing a will written by Arun’s late father. She hands it over to her husband, Arun. After reading the will on which he finds his mother’s signature also, he calls a meeting in Gulmohar in which he invites his uncle, Sudhakar Batra (Amol Palekar) and his son. He reads out the contents of the will which states that after his death, his brother, Sudhakar Batra and his son would be the owners of the bungalow. Kusum can stay in one part of the bungalow till her last after which that portion of the bungalow will also devolve on Sudhakar and his son.
Arun feels very bad about the will, not because he was not one of the beneficiaries of the will but because his late father has regarded him as his adopted son. He has always regarded his mother and father as real parents even after he came to know about his adoption. Kusum invites Sudhakar and hands over the property papers to him. While drinking water from a glass, Sudhakar accidentally spills the water on the property papers obliterating the signatures etc. Watching the spilling of water on the will, Kusum says to him that whatever has happened is good for the family.
There is another secret getting out in the open. Aaditya’s daughter, Amrita who is a budding singer, returns home from the song rehearsal after getting upset with her boyfriend. After some time, Deepika from her singing band visits her. The fact is that both Amrita and Deepika are in love with each other, and their closeness is witnessed by Kusum who, instead of reprimanding them, starts telling her own story of her college days when she was in love with Supriya who later become a popular singer.
Devasted by his father’s will, Arun leaves Gulmohar and checks into a hotel. Indu comes to the hotel to meet him. During the conversation, Arun tells her that he has located his real father and has visited the area a number of times but did not meet him. He runs a tea shop. On the insistence of Indu, Arun meets his father for the first time without revealing his identity. He tells him that like any father, he also wished to provide the best for his son but felt incapable of providing what his newborn son deserved to get during his life span. At this juncture, Arun realises as to how lucky he was to be adopted by Kusum and her husband.
On the last day before the final shifting, Batra family meets for the last time in Gulmohar on the day of Holi celebrations. Indu convinces Arun to return home for Holi celebrations. The Batra family celebrates their last Holi in the Gulmohar with every member of the family enjoying the Holi celebrations leaving their worries behind. The film ends with Avinash (Talat Aziz) telling Kusum who is getting ready to leave Gulmohar for Puducherry that Supriya the popular singer is also staying in Puducherry after her retirement. Amrita who is listening to the conversations, looks at her great grandmother, Kusum who winks at her. Now, it dawns on Amrita as to why Kusum has chosen Puducherry to stay independently.
The film is an emotional family drama in which inter-personal relationship forms a core issue. The changes in cultural ethos of the three generations of the family add to the complexity in a joint family system. Despite the crumbling of joint family system, the film stresses the importance of family bonding even during the inter-personal stresses. There are sub-plots in the story like lesbian relationship and romance of two house-keeping staff more as a by-product of the changing scenarios in the high society.
All the main actors have given their best performances. However, it is Manoj Bajpayee who stands tall with his stellar performance in the film. Kudos to debutant director, Rahul Chittella who is also the screenplay and dialogue writer, for making the film engrossing to watch. I also liked the tagline at the end of the film which says:
घरोंदे जो हम बनाते हैं
रिश्ते जो इनमें बसते हैं
The film had 7 songs of which names of the lyricist are available for 5 songs – Shellee (4) and Hasan Kazmi (1). There were 5 music directors – Sidharth Khosla (1), Sidharth Khosla-Alan Demoss (3), Talat Aziz (1), Maadhavan Bhattacharjee (1) and Mukhtiyar Ali (1). I am presenting the first song from the film, ‘dilkash sazaa ye deeje’ to appear on the Blog. The song is written by Shellee (real name: Shailender Singh Sodhi) which is set to music by Sidharth Khosla. Talat Aziz sings for himself. The orchestration of the song is soothing.
This is the opening scene of the film depicting a get together of the family members and a few close friends of Kusum (Sharmila Tagore) in their bungalow, Gulmohar. Avinash (Talat Aziz) is a family friend who renders a ghazal in the get together. It is interesting to note that while Avinash is singing and family members seem to enjoy the party, the undercurrent is a bit tense within the family members. Kusum is worried as to how to break the news that she is going to shift to Puducherry. Arun (Manoj Bajpayee) is disturbed by the decision of his son, Aditya (Suraj Sharma) and his wife, Divya (Kaveri Seth) with their daughter, Amrita (Utsavi Jha) to live separately. Aditya also has a worried look after watching the message on his mobile because for his start-up business, he is not getting investors. Even maid servant and her fiance, a security staff of Gulmohar shows worried look. Everyone is afraid of their secrets which eventually comes out as the film’s story progresses.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Dilkash sazaa ye deeje (Gulmohar)(2023) Singer-Talat Aziz, Lyrics-Shellee, MD-Sidharth Khosla
Lyrics:
dilkash sazaa ye deeje..ae
jurm e haseen haay keeje
dilkash sazaa ye deeje..ae
jurm e haseen haay keeje
hai kabse mureed tumhaare
nazaakat ye uspe ishaare
younhin naaz uthaayen
qurbaan huye jaayen
inaayat yahee bas keeje
dilkash sazaa ye deeje..ae
jurm e haseen haay keeje
dhai aakhar preet kaa hai jo
atar mein liptaa mehkaa mehkaa
tumsaa ho koi yaa mujhsaa deeewaana
har ek gharonde mein jaadoo saa chehkaa
younhi muskuraayen
har pal jiye jaayen
ye sohni si zehmat to keeje
dilkash sazaa ye deeje..ae
jurm e haseen haay keeje
dilkash sazaa ye deeje..ae
jurm e haseen haay keeje
pyaar wo kissa aisi kahaanee
rukti na jiski sadiyon rawaanee
dar ho ghar ho
jeewan safar ho
har shay mein milti jiski nishaanee
ye lamhe haay yaadon ke saaye
tohfe mohabbat ke leeje ae
dilkash sazaa ye deeje ae
jurm e haseen haay keeje
hai kabse mureed tumhaare ae
nazaakat ye uspe ishaare
younhi naaz uthhaayen
qurbaan huye jaayen
inaayat yahee bas keeje
dilkash sazaa ye deeje..ae
jurm e haseen haay keeje
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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5675 | Post No. : | 18186 | Movie Count : |
4884 |
‘Nazar Andaaz’ (2022) is produced by T Series and Kathputli Productions and is directed by the debutant Vikrant Deshmukh. The main cast includes Kumud Mishra in a protagonist’s role of a visually impaired person with Divya Dutta and Abhishek Banerjee. Rajeshwari Sachdev makes a special appearance in the film. The outdoor shooting of the film took place in Mumbai and in Kutch (Gujarat). The film was released on October 7, 2022, in a very limited theatres without any marketing. In Mumbai, the film was released in two theatres only and that too the single show. Because of this, the film went largely unnoticed. After a month or so, the film was released on the OTT platforms. I watched the film on the OTT platform.
I was hesitant to watch the film after knowing that it was about a visually impaired man. It is distressing to watch the hard and the struggling life a visually impaired person. But a song of this film compelled me to watch this film. I was pleasantly surprised that the visually impaired man in the film was a ‘happy go lucky’ person who was smart, humourous and romantic. His life’s motto was ‘zindagi khoobsoorat hai, farak sirf nazariye kaa hai’ (Life is beautiful, the only difference is how you look at it). It is an off-beat film of light comedy genre with a message. The film’s story is as under:
Sudhir (Kumud Mishra) is a middle-aged visually impaired person since his birth. He has been brought up by an artist who after his death has bequeathed all his wealth to Sudhir who now lives in a comfortable house in Mumbai. His housemaid, Bhavani (Divya Dutta) had come to him for work after running away from her home in Haryana because of the ill-treatment from her stepmother. Sudhir thinks that she is cooking food for him as per his choice. The fact is that she orders food on-line for delivery at home.
One day, Sudhir rescues a petty thief (Abhijit Banerjee) from the crowd when he is caught stealing a mobile phone. He brings the thief to his home and gives him a job and shelter in his house on the assurance that he gives up thievish work. Since the thief does not have any fixed name, Sudhir gives him a new name, Ali. Both Bhavani and Ali treat themselves as competitor and try their best to outsmart each other. The reason is that both have set their eyes on Sudhir’s wealth after they secretly overhear his talks with a lawyer to prepared a Will with two names as beneficiaries. Since, Sudhir has no one as successor to his wealth, Bhavani and Ali think that they are the two whose names would be in the Will.
Sudhir plans a visit to Mandvi to recall his childhood days. Bhavani and Ali join him. After check-in a hotel, Sudhir takes Bhavani and Ali to his friend, Mohan’s house. Mohini (Rajeshwari Sachdev), his crush in his childhood, opens the door and is shocked to find Sudhir who is visiting after decades. Mohan also comes out and welcomes the visitors. Mohini prepares Khandvi, a Gujarati snack which is the favourite of Sudhir and serves him and his friends. In the evening, all the three visit a river front and enjoy the evening. After Bhavani and Ali have left for a walk, Sudhir sits alone as he is not in a mood to walk, At that time, Mohini visits him and angrily asks him as to why he had left her without a trace for so many years. He could have taken her also with him. Sudhir tells her that there is a difference between giving a company to one antoher and spending a whole life with one another.
The next day, Sudhir takes Bhavani and Ali to his house which is now in shambles. He tells them that from the childhood, he wanted to run but could not run even a few feet. Thereafter, they visit beach, take camel rides and even take plunge in the sea. Sudhir says that he is very happy that whatever he wanted to do in his life has been fulfilled. Ali says that he has to do one more thing. In the evening, they take him to Rann of Kutch where he can run to fulfil his desire. They walk on the Rann of Kutch and both of them tell Sudhir to run as much as he wants as there is no one except the three of them. He happily starts running, enjoying for the first time that he has run so much. However, after some time, he falls down. Both Ali and Bhavani rush towards Sudhir and tries to make him sit but in vain as he has died of heart attack. Both pleads to Sudhir to wake up. They do not want any wealth from him but want to see him as a simple Sudhir Bhai.
Both Bhavani and Ali return to Mumbai. Sudhir’s lawyer takes them in his car and reads Sudhir’s Will while proceeding to their destination. Sudhir says in the Will that he has brought both Bhavani and Ali to his house with a well-thought purpose. He has observed them in close quarter in his journey. Whatever the world may say about them, he has come to the conclusion that both have skills, abilities and humanity. So, he has given them an opportunity to serve the visually impaired children by bequeathing his wealth and property to a blind school. He has requested Bhavani and Ali to look after them in the same way as they have looked after him. The film ends with both of them hugging the visually impaired children with moist eyes signifying that Bhavani and Ali would fulfill his desire.
After a long time, I get to watch a realistic film which is absorbing thanks to its tight screenplay and dialogues which, at times, are witty, philosophical and motivational. All the four main actors – Kumud Mishra, Divya Dutta, Abhishek Banerjee and Rajeshwari Sachdev have given their best performances in the film. But top credit goes to Kumud Mishra who, in the role of a visually impaired Sudhir, has given a brilliant and heart-touching performance. That Sudhir’s face lingered in my mind for quite a long time after I finished watching film is the testimony of his realistic performance. In my view, Kumud Mishra role was worthy of a National Film Award.
The film is also a feather in the cap of the debutant director, Vikrant Deshmukh who has well-handled a sensitive story written by him jointly with Laxman Utekar. The last about 15 minutes of the film covering pre-climax and climax scenes are heart-touching. Unfortunately, the film flopped and it has almost become an ‘obscure film’ within a year of its release.
The icing on the cake is that all the six songs in the film are very melodious and to my liking. Kudos to the lyricist, Raj Shekhar and the music director, Vishal Mishra for composing one of the finest albums of the recent films.
I am presenting the first song from the film whose audio clips were released as two songs with the same tune and different lyrics. The song is ‘aaj kal aisaa lagtaa hai’/’ikk aadhi kahaani thhee’, rendered by Parampara Tandon/Jubin Nautiyal. The songs are written by Raj Shekhar which are set to music by Vishal Mishra.
In the film, only one stanza each of both the songs have been picturised and appear one after another. The video clips of both these songs released by T Series contain the actual song picturisation of the first stanza with additional stanzas of the songs being covered by video montages from the film relevant to the songs.
There is an interesting background to this song. Mohini (Rajehswari Sachdev) meets Sudhir who is sitting at the river front, and angrily asks Sudhir (Kumud Mishra) as to why he had suddenly left his house for Mumbai leaving her alone. Sudhir replies ‘ek doosre kaa saath dena aur ek doosre ke saath zindagi bhar bitaanaa, donon mein farq hotaa hai‘. In other words, Sudhir felt about their relationwhip what Sahir Ludhianvi had said – ‘wo afsaana jise anjaam tak laanaa na ho mumkin, usse ikk khoobsoorat mod de kar chhodnas achchaa‘. Just to divert the subject, Sudhir remembers that Mohini used to sing in her childhood and asks her whether she still sings. She responds by singing this song after which she goes back home. Sudhir, now alone, continues singing the song in the same tune. This is a piognant song highlighting the status of their short-lived romance. But they console themselves because ‘tum kabhi mere thhe bas ye bhi gawaaraa hai‘ (gawaaraa=acceptable).
The piognancy in the lyrics of Raj Shekhar in the song have been well captured by the singers, Prampara Tandon and Jubin Nautiyal with the soft piano orchestration. I am happy that in the current styles of Hindi film music in vogue, songs like the one under discussion also find place in Hindi films.
Female Version
Video Clip:
Male Version
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Aaj kal aisa lagta hai..ik aadhhi khaani thhi (Nazar Andaaz)(2022) Singer-Parampara Tandon/ Jubin Nautiyal, Lyrics-Raj Shekhar, MD-Vishal Mishra
——————————–
Lyrics – Female Version:
——————————-
aaj kal aisa lagtaa hai
thhodaa zaadaa sanwarte hain
aisa lagtaa hai aangan mein
chaand taare utarte hain
chaand taare utarte hain
kyaa inhen jaadoo se tumne hi utaaraa hai
kyun meri aankhon mein teraa hi nazaaraa hai
kyaa inhen jaadoo se tumne hi utaaraa hai
hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm nazaaraa hai
mann ki daraazon mein
khat likhe kitne
khat maine kyon phir se
yaadon ki shaakhon mein
dard ke kitne gul khile
kyun phir se
phir milenge hum pehle se
baat ye naa zaroori hai
aadhe aadhe rahen hum par
na kahaani adhoori hai
na kahaani adhoori hai
tum kabhi mere thhe
bas ye bhi gawaaraa hai
aa tujhe dil ne bade dil se pukaaraa hai
hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
hmm hmm hmm
———————————-
Lyrics – Male Version:
———————————-
ik aadhi kahaani thhee
jo milke sunaani thhee
hamen milna thhaa fursat mein
hasrat ye puraani thhee
hasrat ye puraani thhee
aa tujhe dil ne bade dil se pukaaraa hai
tu meri sooni si aankhon kaa nazaaraa hai
aa tujhe dil ne bade dil se pukaaraa hai
tu meri sooni si aankhon kaa nazaaraa hai
mann ki daraazon mein…
adh-likhe kitne khat miley
kyun phir se
yaadon ki shaakhon pe…
dard ke kitne gul khiley
kyun phir se
phir milenge hum pehle se
baat ye naa zaroori hai
aadhe aadhe rahen hum par
na kahaani adhoori hai
na kahaani adhoori hai
tum kabhi mere thhe
bas ye bhi gawaaraa hai
aa tujhe dil ne bade dil se pukaaraa hai..
hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
hmm hmm hmm
ha aa aaa
ik aadhi kahaani thhee
Sarkaar bidhwaa banaawale
Posted on: November 8, 2023
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day : |
5591 | Post No. : | 18065 | Movie Count : |
4846 |
Azamgarh district lies in the Purvanchal part of Uttar Pradesh (UP) which is identified by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as one of the 34 backward districts of UP. In the absence of medium and large industries in the district, the main source of income for the inhabitants is from the agricultural and allied activities. So, the size of the landholdings becomes a crucial part in generating income for the landowners. With the divisions in the large-sized joint families, most of the landholdings have got fragmented. Hence, there is motivation for those who continue to stay in the district to augment their landholdings, if necessary, by dubious ways, especially from the close relatives who have migrated to cities and have become the absentee landowners. One of the dubious ways of grabbing the land is to bribe the district revenue officials to declare the absentee landowners dead and grab their lands.
There is a true case of Lal Bihari, a farmer of Amilo village of Azamgarh district who was officially declared ‘dead’ in 1975 in the government records and remained ‘dead’ until it was rescinded in 1994. He came to know this only while applying for a bank loan for which, he visited the District Revenue Office to get a proof of land holding. His uncle had bribed the official to declare him dead to get his landholding of less than one acre to his name. He had to fight with the bureaucratic red tapes for years. During this period, he added ‘Mritak’ to his name to highlight the problems of hundreds of persons who are alive but have been declared ‘dead’ for the same reason. He also formed a association of such ‘dead’ persons and unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha election against Rajiv Gandhi in 1989 just to prove that he was alive. His case has been extensively reported in Indian newspapers. Even TIME magazine covered the news. Finally, in 1994, Lal Bihari got his ‘life’ back from the Government and land back from his uncle. However, he was magnanimous in giving the land back to his uncle who begged him for forgiveness.
Based on Lal Bihari’s case, Satish Kaushik wrote the story for the film ‘Kaagaz’ (2021) which was produced and directed by him with Salman Khan joining as joint producer. The cast included Pankaj Tripathi and Monal Gajjar in the lead roles supported by Mita Vashisht, Amar Upadhyay, Brijendra Kala, Neha Chauhan, Vijay Kumar, Satish Kaushik, Sandeepa Dhar etc. The film’s major shooting was done in Kanduni village in Sitapur district of UP. There were locals who acted in the film in smaller roles. Due to Covid Pandemic, the film was premiered on 07/01/2021 on the OTT platform. Thereafter, it was to be released in a few theatres. However, due to second wave of Covid, the film did not get the full-fledged theatrical release.
The film’s story has, more or less, followed the sequences of the real story of Lal Bihari with some dramatisation of associated characters. The biographical film has been presented as a satire on the bureaucratic system. The story of the film is as under:
The story of the film begins around 1975 when Bharat Lal (Pankaj Tripathi) who runs a musical band, wants to upgrade his professional needs for which he seeks the bank loan. For this purpose, he requires to give a collateral of his one acre of land to bank. Bharat Lal visits the district office to get a certificate of his land holding. However, the official tells him that on office records, Bharat Lal has been dead for a decade and the ownership of his land has been transferred to his uncle. Surely, the official recognises Bharat Lal as he was his classmate, but he is helpless as according to him, Government paper (Kaagaz) does not lie. Obviously, a decade ago, his uncle has bribed the revenue official to make him dead on Government records.
For Bharat Lal, more than the bank loan and the ownership of his land holding, his immediate concern is how to prove himself not dead but alive.
Even after taking all remedial actions including writing letters to DM, Police and the local MLA (Mitha Vashisht), Bharat Lal has not been able to change the Government record of he being alive. He is so frustrated that he feels that in India, more than Prime Minister, it is the official of the District Revenue Office who is the most powerful person.
Sadhuram (Satish Kaushik), a lawyer takes pity on Bharat Lal and tried to help him. He suggests that his wife, Rukhmini (Monal Gajjar) claims pension for widow as per the Government scheme. By claiming widow pension, the government officials will be forced to correct the record of her husband, Bharat Lal from dead to alive. But when Rukhmini goes to the district revenue office to claim the pension, she is driven away by saying that she is not a widow as she has mangalsutra in her neck and she had put vermilion on her forehead. The official can see her husband, Bharat Lal standing outside. Rukhmini feels so insulted by the treatment she received from the revenue official that she leaves Bharat Lal alone and shift to her maternal uncle’s place with her two children.
Bharat Lal takes this challenge as a matter of principal more than reclaiming his land from the uncle. Just to invite attention, he arranges his own mock funeral. He sets up an association of persons all over from India called ‘All India Mritak Sangh’ who has been declared dead on Government records, but they are alive. His movement gets attention from the media. He even unsuccessfully contests Lok Sabha election against Rajiv Gandhi because the acceptance of his nomination as a contestant itself is a proof that he is alive. He goes to visitors’ gallery of UP Legislative Assembly and drops leaflets for justice to those who have been declared dead on government records but are still alive. He is reprimanded for his act. Still, the red tapes in bureaucracy refuse to budge.
It is once again the lawyer, Sadhuram who brings a good news to Bharat Lal who was leading a huge procession, breaking the barricades and entering the record room of the district revenue office to get hold of his land holding file. The good news is that the Chief Minister has issued an ordinance declaring Bharat Lal alive and ordering the deletion of his death from the Government record. The film ends with reel hero, Bharat Lal (Pankaj Tripathi) travelling with the real hero, Lal Bihari on their cycles to his village.
The film has to be watched for the excellent performances of Pankaj Tripathi and Monal Gajjar. The serious issue has been well presented as a satire on the system of bureaucracy. The entire film gives the audience a feel of the real rural setting. This was the last film directed by Satish Kaushik but unfortunately not his best. Probably, he may have been too tied up as a producer and actor, besides as a narrator in the film.
The film has 6 songs (excluding a reprise song) of which only 4 songs have been released on the album a the time of the release of the film. The songs have been written by 5 lyricists which have been composed by 3 music directors. I am presenting the first song from the film which is written in Bhojpuri dialect by Lal Bihari ‘Mritak’ and set to music by Pravesh Mallick. The song is ‘sarkaar bidhawa banaawele’ which is rendered by Sharda Sinha.
The song is picturised as a background song when Rukhmini (Monal Gajjar) is advised by the lawyer (Satish Kaushik) to claim widow pension against her own wish. Sharda Sinha’s poignant rendition of the song makes one feel as to how Rukhmini has been put into a piquant situation when her husband is alive but she has to claim the widow pension just to make the bureaucratic system to realise their folly.
Sharda Sinha is a well-known folk singer in Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili and Hindi. She has been conferred with Padma Bhushan and she is often called as ‘Bihar Kokila’. It is said that no Chhath Pooja is complete without the rendition of Sharda Sinha’s folk songs on Chhath Pooja day.
Incidentally, Sharda Sinha also faced bureaucratic red tapes after her retirement as a music teacher from Lalit Narayan Mithila University in 2017. Her pension remained unreleased. The Patna High Court has recently ordered the immediate release of her pension amount.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Sarkaar bidhwaa banaawale (Kaaagaz)(2021) Singer- Sharda Sinha, Lyrics-Lalbihari Mritak, MD-Pravesh Mallick
Sharda Sinha + Chorus
Lyrics (based on audio clip)
sarkaar bidhawa banaawale
ki pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
sarkaar bidhawa banaawale
ki pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
zinda re sakhiyaan
ki zinda re sakhiyaan…
zinda re sakhiyaaan
ki zinda re sakhiyaan
ki pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
sarkaar bidhawa banaawale
ki pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
sarkaari abhilekh mein mritak dikhaawale
sarkaari abhilekh mein mritak dikhaawale
jiyat pati ke morey murda banaawale
jiyat pati ke morey murda banaawale
ki pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
sarkaar bidhawa banaawale
ki pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
Bharat Laal Mritak sang shikaai le
Bharat Laal Mritak sang shikaai le
kaaryalay nyaaylay mein
khoob daudaawale
kaaryalay nyaaylay mein
khoob daudawale
ke pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
sarkaar bidhawa banaawale
ki pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
zinda re sakhiyaan
ki zinda re sakhiyaan
ki pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
sarkaar bidhawa banaawale
ki pati morey zinda re sakhiyaan
This article is written by Peevesie’s mom, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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5468 | Post No. : | 17887 | Movie Count : |
4780 |
Hullo Atuldom
For this post I have a song from an absolutely new film. I thought it was a brand new film, but as of 24th June, the movie is an year old. I didn’t know it was already a year since it released. The movie was on my wish-list, and I don’t know what happened, why I didn’t go to a cinema hall to see it. I am sure a few in Atuldom would have seen it.
This family-comedy-drama (as per some sites on the internet) was directed by Raj Mehta and produced by Dharma Productions (meaning Hiroo Johar & Karan Johar) and Viacom18 Studios (a joint venture of Paramount Pictures & Network18). It had a cast headed by Anil Kapoor- Neetu Kapoor (nee Singh)- Kiara Advani- Varun Dhawan. Maniesh Paul, Prajakta Koli (debuting with this film), Tisca Chopra (special appearance), Varun Sood & a few more actors whom ardent television/ OTT watchers would be familiar of but whose name we would not know.
A note about Maniesh Paul & Prajakta Koli. Both are very good at comedy. I have seen a few videos of Prajakta Koli on YouTube, she is also a host on a chat-show. She is a graduate of Mass Media & has interned on FM channels. And Maniesh Paul is an RJ, VJ, actor, singer, anchor, model, TV presenter and other things.
The songs of the film were composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Kanishk & Kavita Seth, Vishal Shelke etc. (all new names for me). Similarly, even the names of the song writers are new to me viz. Abrar-Ul-Haq, Ginny Diwan, Dhruv Yogi, Shamsher Sandhu & Tanishk Bagchi. This Tanishk Bagchi’s name appears in the list of playback singers too. The other singers used in the film were:- Gippy Grewal, Zahrah S Khan, Romy, Kanishk & Kavita Seth, Guru Randhawa, Asees Kaur, Simiran Kaur Dhadli, Swati Sharma, Shreya Sharma, Lisa Mishra, and Diesby (someone whose name I am unable to pronounce). I would like to find out more about all these new entrants to the world of Hindi film music.
A classic thumri originally sung by (late) Shobha Gurtu was recreated & sung for this film by Kanishk & Kavita Seth. Similarly, an original romantic number by Ghulam Mohd. Khavar was translated by Kumaar, set to tune by Vishal Shelke & sung by Guru Randhawa- Asees Kaur – Lisa Mishra. Hope to get these songs too on to the blog at some point.
For today, we shall have a song in the voices of Tanishk Bagchi, Romy, Zahrah S Khan, & Gippy Grewal. It is tuned & written by Tanishk Bagchi. On screen we can see the Saini family comprising of Geeta Saini (Neetu), Bheem Saini (Anil), son Kukoo (Varun Dhawan), bahu Naina (Kiara Advani), daughter Ginny (Prajakta Koli) shaking a leg at some happy occasion along with Maniesh Paul and all those known faces whose names we don’t know (that I wrote off in the introduction para).
I am sure that I don’t need to explain why this movie was on my wish list– of course the unique jodi (pair) of Neetu Kapoor & Anil Kapoor. This would have been one eye-soothing jodi if they had been cast together in their younger days (IMO). But Neetu had stopped acting or rather stopped accepting fresh assignments when Anil Kapoor decided to take his first steps into films. And, may I be allowed to warn readers from making comments like ‘she would have looked older opposite him’ or ‘she was past her prime’ or ‘the pair would have not looked good together’. Just to put these comments to rest, I would like to say, that in reality, actually Anil Kapoor is the older of the two. But these two are people who have looked after themselves well and look nice together.
I rest my case. 🙂
This is the link to the opening of the film where Neetu Kapoor has been given first place in the credits.
Let us enjoy this song and wish our pyaari Sonia a.k.a Neetu Kapoor (nee Singh) on her birthday. May she glow like this forever.
Song-Naach punjaban naach punjaban naach punjaban naach (Jugjugg Jeeyo)(2022) Singers-Gippy Grewal, Zahrah S Khan, Tanishk Bagchi, Romy Lyrics-Abrar Ul Haq, MD-Tanishk Bagchi
Lyrics
hoy
hoy
hoy
hoy
hoy
hoy
hoy
hoy
aha aha
jitne bhi nach de ne saare
koi naiyyo tere jaisa lagda
gir gaye aasmaan se taare
na bindiya tu aise chamka
jee kalle kalle raina mainu achcha lagdaa
jo bhi tu kahe saara mainu jhoothha lagdaa
na mere jaisa mille carribean tu kutch
Angrezi music mein de de tu Punjaabi touch
naach Punjaaban naach Punjaaban
naach punjaaban naach
naach punjaaban naach punjaaban
naach punjaaban naach
hoy aaja sajke aajaa
oye aaja kamar hilaa jaa
ho saare mood jamaa jaa
hoy mausam taaza taazaa
saaree duniya mein jee hit hai punjaabi saaz
naach punjaaban naach punjaaban
naach punjaaban naach
naach punjaaban naach punjaaban
naach punjaaban naach
hoy
hoy
hoy
hoy
laga le jee kaalaa teeka
najar na tainu laage
sona sona rang ye tera
mar jaawaan gud khaake
hoy
hoy
lag lo jee kaala teeka
najar na tainu laage
sona sona rang ye tera
mar jaawaan gud khaake
tu jo naache saare tainu
dekhen jee paglaa ke
are paaga paaga
are paaga paaga
are paaga paaga paaga paaga
paglaa ke
je tu naache howe dhamaaka jee too much much much
naach punjaaban naach punjaaban
naach punjaaban naach
naach punjaaban naach punjaaban
naach punjaaban naach
hoy aaja sajke aaja
oy aaja kamar hilaa jaa
ho saare mood jamaa jaa
hoy mausam taaja taaja
saaree duniya mein jee hit hai punjaabi saaz
naach punjaaban naach punjaaban
naach punjaaban naach
naach punjaaban naach punjaaban
naach punjaaban naach
hoy
hoy
hoy
hurra
hoy
naache naache naache naache
naache naache naache
naach punjaaban
naache naache naache naache
naache naache naache
dekh teree chaal
meree jaan jaandee hai
hil jaaye dil tu jo paas aandee hai
arre dekh teree chaal mere jaan jaandee hai
aha
arre hil jaaye dil tu jo paas aatee hai
naach punjaaban naach punjaaban
naach punjaaban naach
naach
naach punjaban naach punjaban
naach punjaaban naach
naachee naachee
oy naach
naach punjaaban naach punjaaban
naach punjaban naach
hila hila ke
naach punjaban naach punjaban
naach punjaaban naach
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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5393 | Post No. : | 17689 | Movie Count : |
4746 |
In this article, I propose to explore the film ‘Mimi’ (2021) which was a remake of a Marathi film, ‘Mala Aai Vhhaychy!’ (2011) [meaning, I want to be a mother]. The film is about surrogacy. The Marathi film was produced by Samruoddhi Porey, a lawyer in Bombay High Court. The story was based on one of the surrogacy cases she handled in the High Court. The film won the National Film Award for the best feature film in Marathi. While the Marathi film was a complete melodrama, ‘Mimi’ (2021) added some situational comedy elements to reduce the impact of melodrama.
‘Mimi’ (2021) was produced by Dinesh Vijan under the banner of Maddock Films and was directed by Laxman Utekar. The star cast included Kirti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Sai Tamhankar, Manoj Pahwa, Supriya Pathak, Evelyn Edwards, Aidan Whytock, Jacob Smith, Jaya Bhattacharya etc.
The film was majorly shot in Mandwa in Rajasthan during October to December 2019 and thereafter in around Jaipur in February-March 2020. When only 5 days’ shooting was required for completion of the film, the imposition of first coronavirus lockdown on March 25, 2020, derailed the completion schedule. The leftover shooting could be completed only in January 2021 and the patchwork shooting involving the foreign artists for continuity purposes were completed thereafter. Film was planned for a theatrical release in May 2021 when the second wave of coronavirus forced the authorities to clamp lockdown from the mid-April 2021. So, ‘Mimi’ (2021) got released on the digital platforms – Netflix and Jio TV on July 27, 2021.
The gist of the story of the film, ‘Mimi” (2021) is as under:
Mimi (Kriti Sanon), a dancer in a small town in Rajasthan is aspiring to be an actor in Bollywood. For her aspiration to become true, she needs to earn money for the preparatory work in becoming an actor which she tries to do so by her dance programme. But this does not give her enough money.
An American couple are in India who are looking for a surrogate mother. When staying in a hotel in Rajasthan, they watch Mimi’s dance and zeroes on her as the possible surrogate mother. They entrust their driver, Bhanu (Pankaj Tripathi) as a middleman to convince Mimi for surrogacy. After initial reservation, Mimi agrees to become the surrogate mother for the American couple for Rs.20 lakhs which will more than take care of her preparatory expenses to become an actor in Bollywood. She signs the contract of surrogacy. After a successful surrogacy procedure in a hospital, Mimi is declared pregnant. The American couple is happy. They take care of Mimi’s financial requirements for the next few months before they depart for the USA.
Now, the problem for Mimi is how to conceal her pregnant tummy from her parents and the rest of society in her town. Mimi lies to her parents that she is going to Mumbai for 9 months for a film shoot. She shifts to stays with her friend, Shama (Sai Tamhankar) who is her singing/dancing partner for the dance shows and stays in the other part of the town. On the instructions of the American couple, Bhanu also joins her.
After few weeks, the American couple returns to India to check the progress of Mimi’s pregnancy. They take her to the doctor for a check-up which reveals that the child is likely to be born with some deformity. Both Mimi and the American couple are shocked. The American couple returns to US without informing Mimi and advises her through Bhanu that she should get the child aborted. Mimi refuses to do abortion and instead she and Bhanu return to her home town in Rajasthan. Now the pregnancy is known to her parents as well as the town. To hide her surrogacy, Mimi tells her parents that while in Mumbai, she got married to Bhanu and the child in the womb was that of Bhanu. After some hesitation, Mimi’s parents accept to take care of her.
Few weeks later, Mimi delivers a baby boy with fair skin, blue eyes and the blond hair. People make fun of Bhanu as to how he could be father of such a fair skin and blond boy. In the meanwhile, Bhanu’s real wife and mother also comes to know that he has a son from a different woman. Bhanu, however, successfully convinces that the boy is born out of surrogacy, and he has only lent his name as Mimi’s husband to hide the truth. Due to his unique unusual appearance, the boy is loved by all around him. Both Mimi’s and Bhanu’s families accept the baby boy. They are all happy with a growing child around them. Raj is now 4-year-old.
After watching a viral short video of Mimi dancing with Raj, the American couple visits India and land in Mimi’s house. They demand the child back as per the contract. Mimi, who is now emotionally attached to Raj, refuses to part with Raj to the American couple. They plead that his wife, out of depression, tried to commit suicide and only the child would bring happiness in her. Neither Mimi nor their family is ready to hand over the child. The American couple decide to take the legal course to settle the issue. Mimi’s family also consults a lawyer who tells them that to fight the case, Raj would need to be present in the court for every hearing. Mimi does not want 4-year Raj to go through such an ordeal and confuse him further about his status. She decides to handover Raj to the American couple.
The film ends with the entire Mimi and Bhanu families unanimously agreeing to handover Raj to the American couple only to be told by them that they have already adopted an Indian girl child as they feel that Raj would be happy with Mimi, his biological mother.
The film raises the important issues – social, emotional, and legal, concerning surrogacy. After watching the film, the audience would be forced to think as to how far surrogacy is morally and ethically right due to its commercial nature. Anyway, in India, under the new Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022, the commercial surrogacy has been banned. Even for altruistic surrogacy, there are very tough conditions to be met before getting approval for a surrogate mother.
The film was critically acclaimed. Kirti Sanon was appreciated for her performance as a surrogate mother. Pankaj Tripathi’s performance was excellent. Other actors fitted very well in their respective roles. Due to coronavirus, the entire financial arithmetic of the film’s budget went awry, first because of the delay in release of the film and secondly, it did not get the theatrical release. With the passage of time, the film has stated to have not only recovered the cost but has also earned some profit as per box office report.
The film has 7 songs, all written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and set to music by A R Rahman. I present the first song, ‘chhoti si chiraiyya udke chali kis gaaon’ to appear on the Blog. The song is sung by Kailash Kher. This is a very emotional song played in the background when Mimi and her families starts the day’s activities waking up Raj from the bed, getting him bathe and feeding him. He is ready with his new dress and the baggage to travel. There are melodramatic scenes involving Mimi, her family and neighbours during the duration of the song. Raj, unaware of the his final disconnect with his biological mother and the family, is in a happy mood. The family travels in the car with Raj and reach the premises to hand him over to the American couple as the background song comes to an end.
The prelude and interlude music have some shades of Carnatic style which add to the poignancy of the song.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Chhoti si chiraiyya udke chali kis gaaon(Mimi)(2021) Singer-Kailash Kher, Lyrics-Amitabh Bhattacharya, MD-A R Rahman
Chorus
Lyrics
chhoti si chiraiyya aa
chhoti si chiraiyya
udke chali kis gaaon
chhoti si chiraiyya aa
chhoti si chiraiyya
udke chali kis gaaon
reh gaya daana
reh gaya paani
sooni bhayi amuwaa ki chhaaon
muniya mori
sooni bhayi amuwaa ki chhaaon
chhoti si chiraiyya aa
chhoti si chiraiyya
udke chali re kis gaaon aan
ajab niraali moh ki maaya
samjhe samajh nahi aaye
angna se tohri chehak to jaaye
tohri mehak nahin jaaye
nain samandar saath bhale par
bhare na karejwaa ke ghaav
muniya mori
bhare na karejwaa ke ghaav
chhoti si chiraiyya aa
chhoti si chiraiyya
de vidaayi mein tujhe kya keemti saamaan
de jaa nindiya rain ki subah ki le muskaan
bhar ke apni chonch mein
le jaa hamre praan
aa aa aaa aa
chhoti si chiraiyya
chhoti si chiraiyya
udke chali kis gaaon
reh gaya daana
reh gaya paani
sooni bhayi amuwaa ki chhaaon
muniya mori
sooni bhayi amuwaa ki chhaaon
muniya mori
sooni bhayi amuwaa ki chhaaon
Naacho Naacho
Posted on: April 3, 2023
This article is written by Gajendra Khanna, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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5372 | Post No. : | 17620 | Movie Count : |
4736 |
13th March 2023 proved to be a very special day for the Indian diaspora all over the world. It was the iconic Academy Awards aka Oscars night and all eyes were glued onto the stage awaiting the results. Indian film industry saw three nominations from it’s side and its winning two that night was something we will always remember.The Oscars are considered to be the top awards in the world by many. In my opinion, It is primarily an American Award primarily about American films and aimed at the American audience. In fact, most of the jury is also indeed American. Since, some time, it is however seen as aiming to be more ‘inclusive’ with one seeing awards beyond the usual suspects. We are seeing winners from around the world and artists of all kinds of backgrounds. Usually there are many entries sent from around the world for various categories and obviously it is not possible for all to make it to the final selections or winners. But whoever, reaches there is definitely something special.
Before talking about it further, let me talk about the awards themselves for a historical background. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures. The Academy’s corporate management and general policies are overseen by a board of governors, which includes representatives from each of the craft branches.
As of April 2020, the organization was estimated to consist of around 9,921 motion picture professionals. The Academy is an international organization and membership is open to qualified filmmakers around the world.
The Academy is known around the world for its annual Academy Awards now officially and popularly known as “The Oscars”. The Academy had been formed on May 11, 1927 and it’s purpose in its own words is, “To recognize and uphold excellence in the motion picture arts and sciences, inspire imagination, and connect the world through the medium of motion pictures”. It is headquartered in Beverley Hills, California.
The notion of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) began with Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He said he wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes without unions and improve the film industry’s image. He met with actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo, and the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers, Fred Beetson to discuss these matters. The idea of this elite club having an annual banquet was discussed, but no mention of awards at that time. They also established that membership into the organization would only be open to people involved in one of the five branches of the industry: actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers.
After their brief meeting, Mayer gathered up a group of thirty-six people involved in the film industry and invited them to a formal banquet at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on January 11, 1927. That evening Mayer presented to those guests what he called the International Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Everyone in the room that evening became a founder of the Academy.Between that evening and when the official Articles of Incorporation for the organization were filed on May 4, 1927, the “International” was dropped from the name, becoming the “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences”.
Several organizational meetings were held prior to the first official meeting held on May 6, 1927. Their first organizational meeting was held on May 11 at the Biltmore Hotel. At that meeting Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was elected as the first president of the Academy, while Fred Niblo was the first vice-president, and their first roster, composed of 230 members, was printed.That night, the Academy also bestowed its first honorary membership, to Thomas Edison. Initially, the Academy was broken down into five main groups, or branches, although this number of branches has grown over the years. The original five were: Producers, Actors, Directors, Writers and Technicians .
The initial concerns of the group had to do with labor.” However, as time went on, the organization moved “further away from involvement in labor-management arbitrations and negotiations.” One of several committees formed in those initial days was for “Awards of Merit,” but it was not until May 1928 that the committee began to have serious discussions about the structure of the awards and the presentation ceremony. By July 1928, the board of directors had approved a list of 12 awards to be presented. During July the voting system for the Awards was established, and the nomination and selection process began.This “award of merit for distinctive achievement” is what we know now as the Academy Awards.
The initial location of the organization was 6912 Hollywood Boulevard. In November 1927, the Academy moved to the Roosevelt Hotel at 7010 Hollywood Boulevard, which was also the month the Academy’s library began compiling a complete collection of books and periodicals dealing with the industry from around the world. In May 1928, the Academy authorized the construction of a state of the art screening room, to be located in the Club lounge of the hotel. The screening room was not completed until April 1929.
With the publication of Academy Reports (No. 1): Incandescent Illumination in July 1928, the Academy began a long history of publishing books to assist its members. Research Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences trained Signal Corps officers, during World War II, who later won two Oscars, for Seeds of Destiny and Toward Independence.
In 1929, Academy members, in a joint venture with the University of Southern California, created America’s first film school to further the art and science of moving pictures. The school’s founding faculty included Fairbanks (President of the Academy), D. W. Griffith, William C. deMille, Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalberg, and Darryl F. Zanuck.
1930 saw another move, to 7046 Hollywood Boulevard, in order to accommodate the enlarging staff, and by December of that year the library was acknowledged as “having one of the most complete collections of information on the motion picture industry anywhere in existence.” They remained at that location until 1935 when further growth caused them to move once again. This time, the administrative offices moved to one location, to the Taft Building at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, while the library moved to 1455 North Gordon Street.
In 1934, the Academy began publication of the Screen Achievement Records Bulletin, which today is known as the Motion Picture Credits Database. This is a list of film credits up for an Academy Award, as well as other films released in Los Angeles County, using research materials from the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library. Another publication of the 1930s was the first annual Academy Players Directory in 1937. The Directory was published by the Academy until 2006 when it was sold to a private concern. The Academy had been involved in the technical aspects of film making since its founding in 1927, and by 1938, the Science and Technology Council consisted of 36 technical committees addressing technical issues related to sound recording and reproduction, projection, lighting, film preservation, and cinematography.
The Academy Award statuette’s nickname, “Oscar,” has three possible sources. Actress Bette Davis claimed that the name derived from her observation that the backside of the statuette looked like that of her husband Harmon Oscar Nelson. Columnist Sidney Skolsky maintained that he gave the award its nickname. The name has also been attributed to academy librarian Margaret Herrick, who declared that the statuette looked like her Uncle Oscar.
Oscar Awards have evolved with passage of time. With time, the number of categories has gone up to quite an extent and even new segments have been added. At the same time, many categories that were earlier a part of Oscars have now been removed. In short, there have many inclusions and exclusions in Oscar categories, according to changing times. Presently, the Academy Awards ceremony has 24 categories, in which winners are announced. Apart from that, yet another set of award, known as the Students Academy Awards, is also presented by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, separately.
Several Indian individuals and films have received or been nominated for the Academy Awards in different categories. As of 2023, 20 Indians have been nominated and 10 have won Oscars including in the scientific and technical category.
At the 30th Academy Awards, Mehboob Khan’s 1957 Hindi-language film Mother India was India’s first submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film category. It was nominated alongside four other films and lost to the Italian film Nights of Cabiria (1957) by one vote. In 1982, The National Film Development Corporation of India was instrumental in co-producing Richard Attenborough’s biographical film Gandhi. At the 55th Academy Awards, Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to win an Academy Award for designing the costumes. Ravi Shankar was nominated for Best Original Score for the same film. As of 2023, three Indian films have been nominated for Best International Feature—Mother India, Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Lagaan (2001).
In 1992, legendary Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray was bestowed with an Honorary Academy Award, becoming the only Indian to date to receive the honour. Resul Pookutty and A. R. Rahman won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing and Best Original Score, respectively, for the 2008 British film Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman also won for Best Original Song alongside lyricist Gulzar for the song “Jai Ho”, becoming the first Indian to date to have won more than one Academy Award. Rahman also holds the record for most nominations for an Indian with five total nominations to date, followed by Ismail Merchant with four nominations (three for Best Picture and once for Live Action Short).
Several Indians and Indian Americans have received the Oscars in the technical category like Rahul Thakkar, Cottalango Leon and Vikas Sathaye.
This year (2023) we had three Indian nominations. Shaunak Sen and Aman Mann’s “All That Breathes’ had been nominated for the best Documentary feature but unfortunately failed to win the Oscars though it has won several other noted awards. The film follows siblings Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who rescue and treat injured birds in India.
The second nomination was for Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ which won the Oscars for Best Documentary (Short Feature) category. The Elephant Whisperers is a 2022 Tamil-language Indian short documentary film directed by documentary filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves in her directorial debut. The documentary is about the bond that develops between a couple and an orphaned baby elephant, Raghu, who was entrusted to their care. The Elephant Whisperers tells the story of an indigenous couple named Bomman and Bellie who are entrusted with an orphaned baby Indian elephant named Raghu. They take great pains to ensure that the fragile, injured infant survives and grows to be a healthy juvenile. A strong bond develops between the couple and the elephant. They adopt another elephant Ammukutty and eventually have to give up Raghu. Set in the Mudumalai National Park in the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states of India, the documentary also highlights the natural beauty of the location. It explores the life of the tribal people in harmony with nature.
The film is not just a heart-touching story of a bond between animal and human and co-existence, but also showcases Indian culture and tradition of environment conservation. Kartiki Gonsalves spent five years following human-elephant blended family belonging to Kattunayakan tribe to make this documentary. The beautiful film is available on Netflix for those interested. The win will prove to be a great inspiration for Indian women film makers.
The third nomination which won is “Naatu Naatu” from the film RRR for Best Original Score. It was great to see the composer M M Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose receive the award. They received it with so much dignity and it was so nice to see Keeravani sing a loved Carpenters song during his speech while accepting the award. There is a lot to say about M M Keeravani (aka M M Kreem to Hindi film audiences) and I am already planning a post with his song ‘Khoobsurat Hai Woh Kitna’ from the movie Rog (2005) which was recently introduced by Sadanand ji. I will talk about his work in that article and today we will focus on RRR and “Naatu Naatu” instead today.
“Naatu Naatu” (transl. Native, Local, Wild) is an Indian Telugu-language song composed by M. M. Keeravani, with lyrics by Chandrabose and recorded by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava for the soundtrack album of the 2022 Indian film RRR. It was released on 10 November 2021 (released on YouTube as a lyrical video song) as the second single from the album, through Lahari Music and T-Series. The full video song, featuring visuals directly from the film, was released on 11 April 2022 on YouTube.
The song was also released in Hindi as “Naacho Naacho”, in Tamil as “Naattu Koothu”, in Kannada as “Halli Naatu” and in Malayalam as “Karinthol”. The hook step dance involving N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan – the lead actors of RRR – became popular. “Naatu Naatu” became the first song from an Indian film to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as the first song from an Asian film to win the former.
Today’s post will of course feature the Hindi version “Naacho Naacho”.
Before we talk about the song, It would be appropriate to talk a bit about the movie first. RRR is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language epic action drama film directed by S. S. Rajamouli, who co-wrote the film with V. Vijayendra Prasad. It was produced by D. V. V. Danayya of DVV Entertainment. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, and Olivia Morris. It centers around fictional versions of two Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rama Rao), their friendship, and their fight against the British Raj.
Rajamouli came across stories about the lives of Rama Raju and Bheem and connected the coincidences between them, imagining what would have happened had they met, and been friends. The film was announced in March 2018. Principal photography of the film began in November 2018 in Hyderabad and continued until August 2021, owing to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was filmed extensively across India, with a few sequences filmed in Ukraine and Bulgaria. The film’s soundtrack and background score were composed by M. M. Keeravani, with cinematography by K. K. Senthil Kumar and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad. Sabu Cyril is the film’s production designer whilst V. Srinivas Mohan supervised the visual effects.
Made on a budget of ₹550 crore (US$72 million), RRR is the most expensive Indian film to date. The film was initially scheduled for theatrical release on 30 July 2020, which was postponed multiple times due to production delays and the COVID pandemic. RRR was released theatrically on 25 March 2022 in the original Telugu as well as Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. With ₹240 crore (US$30 million) worldwide on its first day, RRR recorded the highest opening-day earned by an Indian film. It emerged as the highest-grossing film in its home market of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, grossing over ₹415 crore (US$52 million). The film grossed ₹1,200 crore (US$150 million) – ₹1,258 crore (US$160 million) worldwide, setting several box office records for an Indian film, including the third highest-grossing Indian film and second highest-grossing Telugu film worldwide.
RRR received international praise for Rajamouli’s direction, writing, performances (particularly Rama Rao and Charan), soundtrack, action sequences, cinematography and visual effects. The film was considered one of the ten best films of the year by the National Board of Review, making it only the second non-English language film ever to make it to the list. In addition to the awards already mentioned, RRR also won the Best Foreign Language Film and the Best Song award at the 28th Critics’ Choice Awards.
The plot of the movie is as follows:-
In 1920, during the British Raj, Governor Scott Buxton and his wife Catherine visit a forest in Adilabad and there abduct Malli, a young girl with a talent for artistry, from the Gond tribe. Enraged by this, the tribe’s guardian Komaram Bheem embarks for Delhi to rescue her, disguising himself as a Muslim man named Akhtar. Elsewhere, the Nizamate of Hyderabad, sympathetic to the Raj, warns Scott’s office of the impending danger. Undeterred, Catherine enlists A. Rama Raju, an ambitious officer in the Indian Imperial Police, to quell the threat. Seeking clues to Malli’s whereabouts, Raju and his uncle, Venkateswarulu, attend several pro-independence gatherings where he feigns to support independence.
Months later, Lachhu, Bheem’s gullible aide, is taken in by Raju’s ruse and attempts to recruit him into Bheem’s plot, but then discovers his true identity and flees. A short while later, Bheem and Raju encounter one other, unaware of their opposing allegiances. In the course of working in concert to save a boy from a train wreck, they form a friendship and over time grow close. Raju then assists Bheem in courting Jenny, Scott’s niece, unaware that Bheem plans to infiltrate Scott’s residence. When Jenny takes Bheem to her residence, Bheem locates the room where Malli is being held captive; he meets Malli and promises he will free her. Meanwhile, Raju deduces Lachhu’s true identity and apprehends him. While being interrogated, Lachhu goads a banded krait into attacking Raju, then warns him of his imminent fate and that the antidote is only known to the Gonds.
Dazed, Raju approaches Bheem, who immediately tends to him. Noticing similar religious features between Lachhu and Bheem, Raju deduces his true intentions. Nevertheless, Bheem divulges his tribal identity and his mission, still unaware of Raju’s true identity. At an event held in Scott’s honor, Bheem’s men barge into his residence with a lorry filled with wild animals, which creates havoc among the assembled guests. The animals maul Scott’s guards, allowing Bheem to briefly fight; however, Raju arrives and tells him Scott intends to kill Malli; he surrenders out of obligation. In the aftermath of the incident, Raju is promoted for thwarting Bheem, yet he is absorbed with guilt over his own actions, recalling his own pro-nationalistic background and his actual alter-ego as a mole within the police; he was seeking a promotion in order to gain access to shipments of guns to smuggle to his village.
At Bheem’s public flogging, Raju attempts to persuade him to recant his actions; Bheem chooses to be flogged instead. Bheem sings in defiance of his injuries, which incites the assembled crowd into rebellion. The riot further enlightens Raju, who finally realizes the recklessness of his actions. Determined to save his friend, he persuades Scott to execute Bheem in secret while preparing an ambush to rescue him. Scott figures out this scheme. While managing to rescue Malli from Scott’s men, Raju is grievously injured. Bheem, who had also managed to free himself, mistakenly interprets Raju’s actions as an attempt to kill Malli; he bludgeons him and escapes with her. Months later, Bheem, who is hiding out with his group and Malli in Hathras, is cornered by the colonial authorities. He narrowly avoids being exposed when Sita, Raju’s fiancée, repels them by claiming a smallpox epidemic as a pretext.
Unaware of Bheem’s identity, she reveals Raju’s actual, anti-colonial objectives and of his impending execution. Crestfallen upon realizing his own folly, Bheem vows to save him. With the assistance of a sympathetic Jenny, Bheem infiltrates the barracks where Raju is detained and frees him, defeating the many soldiers he aroused in the process. The pair retreat to a nearby forest, where they decimate more soldiers with the use of a longbow taken from a Rama shrine. Taking the fight to Scott, they hurl a flaming motorcycle into the barracks’ magazines, setting it afire. The subsequent explosion kills many within Scott’s company, including Catherine. Having finally cornered a wounded Scott, Raju has Bheem execute him with a British rifle, fulfilling their respective objectives. They steal a cache of Scott’s weaponry and reunite with Sita and Jenny.
To mark the completion of their missions, Raju asks Bheem to make a wish he can grant; Bheem asks Raju to provide education for him and his community.
So this was about the film’s story. Now we come to the song itself. The entire process of producing the song took over 19 months. Keeravani composed 10 to 20 different tunes based on that particular point in the script. Later, the team finalized this particular tune based on a voting process from their inner circle. The Telugu word naatu variously translates to ‘native’, ‘local’, ‘countryside’, ‘raw and rustic’, ‘ethnic’. Chandrabose wrote the lyrics based on his childhood memories. According to Chandrabose, he wrote 90% of the song in half a day but it took 1.7 years to write the remaining 10%. The word ‘naatu’ would be similar to word ‘Desi’ and it is not a surprise that the song is introduced as ‘Desi Naach’ in the Hindi film introduction.
The composer Keeravani likened the sound to the traditional beats of folk songs in Indian villages. Keeravani used duffs, an Indian skin drum for the instrumentation and added in mandolins for the melody. The song features a beat popular in South Indian music and “distinctive” to the dappankuthu genre of popular music.
RRR director Rajamouli conceived “Naatu Naatu” as a kind of fight sequence in which the Indian duo outdance their British counterparts. He also used the song as a foreshadowing for the climax sequence. “I think the biggest achievement for me was incorporating how the song comes into the film, without breaking the narrative,” he noted. Rajamouli described the sequence as “the story behind the story” and is like a short film of its own with different sub-plots.
Prem Rakshith choreographed the dance sequences. Rajamouli wanted steps “that would look great with two people doing it together, but not so complicated that no-one could do it.” Rakshith choreographed 110 moves for the hook step.
“Naatu Naatu” was shot in August 2021 in Ukraine as a part of the final leg of shooting of RRR. Filming took place at the Mariinskyi Palace, the official residence of the president of Ukraine in Kyiv, a few months before the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The song picturization took 15 days. The music video featured about 50 dancers and 300 to 400 extras.
The music video is a direct clip from a scene in RRR, which features Ram (Ram Charan) and Bheem (Rama Rao) singing the lyrics and out-dancing the rich British men at a fancy British party, encouraged by Bheem’s love interest Jenny (Olivia Morris). By the song’s climax, Ram and Bheem ignite a dance battle between themselves and the British men, who each fall down one by one as they fail to keep up; and despite being cheered for, Ram pretends to injure his leg and falls over to allow Bheem to win the battle and impress Jenny.
Within 24 hours of its release, the song crossed over 17 million views in Telugu (becoming the most-viewed Telugu song), and 35 million views in all five languages on YouTube. It also became the fastest Telugu song to cross 1 million likes. In February 2022, the song crossed over 200 million views in all languages.
The song received positive reception from audiences, praising the music. The hook step, performed by Jr NTR and Ram Charan, went viral on social media. Charan and Rama Rao often recreated the viral portion of the dance in the film’s promotions, as did director Rajamouli at the film’s success party with encouragement from Rama Rao.
In an article, Brenda Haas of Deutsche Welle referred to the song as a “global sensation”. She further opined and wrote that, “the song’s international popularity also underscores the fact that language is no barrier to enjoying music across borders”.
At Edison, New Jersey in 2023, numerous Tesla cars were assembled to have a show of light & sound, set to the music of this song.
We of course had a live performance at the Oscars by the singers of Naatu Naatu, Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava (who is also Keeravani’s son) with lots of dancers which was introduced by Deepika Padukone.
The combination of good music, lyrics, dance steps along with a back story featuring anti-coloniolism theme definitely struck a chord with the audience worldwide which explains the song’s huge popularity and the many awards it has been getting. In addition to the music and lyrics, As a youtube commenter observed The choreography, co-ordination of the actors’ moves, energy output and positive vibes from the actors is just outstanding. Another has observed This song belongs not only to India but to the world. The Hindi version Naacho Naacho has successfully conveyed the same emotions. Here Vishal Mishra replaces Kaala Bhairava in the singing department and the lyricist is Riya Mukherjee.
Here is the video of the song for your viewing pleasure, definitely a song to be seen and heard. Hats off to the team who created it.
Detailed credit courtesy Youtube Video
Music Director: M. M. Kreem
Lyricist: Riya Mukherjee
Singers: Vishal Mishra, Rahul Sipligunj
Choreography by: Prem Rakshith
Programmed by: G. Jeevan Babu, Siddharth S
Mixed and Mastered by: G. Jeevan Babu
Recorded at JB Studios.
Song-Naacho naacho (RRR)(2022) Singers-Vishal Mishra, Rahul Sipligunj, Lyrics-Riya Mukherjee, MD-MM Kreem
Lyrics(minus the dialogues by Riya Mukherjee)
Bail Jaise Dhool Uda Ke, Seeng Utha Ke Tum Bhi Naacho
Baaje Jam Ke Taal-Dhol, Beta Raju, Ud Ke Naacho
Teeron Se Bhi Tez Koi Kar Sake Jo Bhed Naacho
Astabal Mein Ghode Jaise Baag-Dor Chhod Naacho
Mitti Jota, Rot Mota, Mircha Khaa Ke Aise Naacho
Haan, Aaja, Chhore
Haan, Aaja, Gore
Haan, Aaja, Chhore
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho, Veere, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho, Yaara, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Kachchi Keri Jaisa Khatta Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Bichchu Kaata Laage Aisa Naacho
Goonje Dhol Aise Dekho Dhan-Dhana Ke Rogi Naache
Shor Sun Lo Hai Dhamaka, Jaise Sher-Haathi Naache
Dekho, Dil Ka Ye Mela, Yaara, Apne Saath Naacho
Ediyon Ke Joron Pe Dhoom-Dhadaak Desi Naacho
Who Paseena Maathe Ka Chamke-Damke Aise Naacho
Haan, Aaja, Chhore
Haan, Aaja, Gore
Haan, Aaja, Chhore
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho, Veere, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho, Yaara, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Aa Dobaara Raag Chheda, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Usne Chakha Laage Teekha, Naacho
Jhoome Gaon, Hai Rela, Ooncha Paon Yun Patka
Hai ye Desi Ek Mela, Kaisa Raha Yakayaki
Naacho, Naacho, Naacho, Aa-Ha, Naacho
Are, Dhoom-Dhoom Thirke Jaa, Paaon Mein Jaan Jaga
Dhumuk-Dhumuk Naache Ja, Duniya Hila De Saari
Naacho, Naacho, Naacho
Dhink-Chaka
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
Haan, Wahi
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
———————————
Devnagari script Lyrics (Provided by Gajendra Khanna) (minus the dialogues by Riya Mukherjee)
——————————–
बैल जैसे धूल उड़ा के, सींग उठा के तुम भी नाचो
बाजे जम के ताल-ढोल, बेटा राजू, उड़ के नाचो
तीरों से भी तेज़ कोई कर सके जो भेद नाचो
अस्तबल में घोड़े जैसे बाग-डोर छोड़ नाचो
मिट्टी जोता, रोट मोटा, मिर्चा खाके ऐसे नाचो
हाँ, आजा, छोरे
हाँ, आजा, गोरे
हाँ, आजा, छोरे
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो, वीरे, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो, यारा, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, कच्ची केरी जैसा खट्टा नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, बिच्छू काटा लागे ऐसा नाचो
गूँजे ढोल ऐसे देखो धन-धना के रोगी नाचे
शोर सुन लो है धमाका, जैसे शेर-हाथी नाचे
देखो, दिल का ये मेला, यारा, अपने साथ नाचो
एड़ियों के ज़ोरों पे धूम-धड़ाक देसी नाचो
वो पसीना माथे का चमके-दमके ऐसे नाचो
हाँ, आजा, छोरे
हाँ, आजा, गोरे
हाँ, आजा, छोरे
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो, वीरे, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो, यारा, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, आ दोबारा राग छेड़ा, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, उसने चखा लागे तीखा, नाचो
झूमे गाँव, है रेला, ऊँचा पाँव यूँ पटका
है ये देसी एक मेला, कैसा रहा यकायकी
नाचो, नाचो, नाचो, आ-हा, नाचो
अरे, धूम-धूम थिरके जा, पाँव में जान जगा
धुमुक-धुमुक नाचे जा, दुनिया हिला दे सारी
नाचो, नाचो, नाचो
ढिंक-चका
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
हाँ, वही
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
Jhoome jo pathan meri jaan
Posted on: April 2, 2023
This article is written by Gajendra Khanna, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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5371 | Post No. : | 17615 | Movie Count : |
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While browsing the songs posted for various years on the Atul’s Song A Day website, I realised that the current year 2023 is still to make it’s debut on the blog and decided to make a post from the movie which is being reported as the biggest hit of the year so far – Pathaan.
Pathaan is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Siddharth Anand and written by Shridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyrewala, from a story by Anand.
This is the fourth movie in the YRF (Yash Raj Films’) Spy Universe. YRF Spy Universe is an Indian shared universe centered on a series of spy action-thriller films, which feature various fictional RAW agents. It is produced and distributed by Yash Raj Films. The franchise is commercially successful by having grossed ₹2,422 crore on a combined budget of ₹635 crore, thus becoming the second highest-grossing Indian franchise. The shared universe, initially started out as a single movie series, later was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.
The first film Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and its sequel Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) centre on a fictional R&AW agent played by Salman Khan. War (2019) tells the story of a RAW agent played by Hrithik Roshan who goes rogue. Before making War, producer Aditya Chopra and director Siddharth Anand came up with the idea of merging these films and creating a shared universe by crossing over the characters who all belong to the RAW. However, War was still made as a standalone film without directly connecting to the first two Tiger films—supporting the idea of creating a proper foundation for the War characters before a proper crossover. The fifth movie of the series, Tiger 3 starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif is scheduled to release on 10 November 2023, coinciding with Diwali.
Pathaan (2023) starring Shah Rukh Khan as the titular character and a RAW agent, directed by Anand, is the first film to have characters appearing from both the Tiger franchise and War. It is the fourth film in the SPY Universe and the first YRF film to have a crossover.
Pathaan which released on 25th January 2023, on the eve of the Indian Republic Day is reportedly breaking all sorts of box office records. Some reports claim that it has already crossed 1040 crores of revenue worldwide. The day the movie released, I happened to be on Bengaluru’s M.G. Road for some window shopping. I saw that the Fame Symphony cinema had a huge crowd in front of it thanks to the release of this film. This was quite an anticipated movie for the audience since Shah Rukh Khan was appearing in a film after 4 years (Zero had last released on 21st December 2018). There was a huge publicity campaign for the movie’s release which had got even more accentuated due to a controversy over Deepika Padukone’s orange bikini featured in the video and lyrics of the film’s hit song ‘Besharam Rang’. Before, I share my views on the movie let me share the movie’s plot below:-
In 2019, the Indian Government revokes Article 370, which grants special status for Jammu and Kashmir. The news impacts a cancer-ridden Pakistani army general, Qadir, who decides to exact vengeance against India. He signs a contract with Jim, who leads “Outfit X”, a private terrorist organization. Meanwhile, Pathaan, a former RAW agent, and his senior officer Nandini Grewal open a unit dubbed the “Joint Operations and Covert Research” (JOCR) unit, to recruit former RAW agents who were forced to retire due to past trauma or injury, but want to serve the country.
With RAW joint secretary, Colonel Sunil Luthra’s acceptance, Pathaan and his team head to Dubai to stop Outfit X’s plans of attacking the President of India at a scientific conference. However, they realize that their actual plan was to kidnap two scientists, Dr. Farooqui and Dr. Sahani instead and the information they received about the imminent attack on the President was a ruse to mislead them. Jim attacks the scientists’ convoy and Pathaan tries to stop him. A fight ensues, where Jim manages to escape with Dr. Sahani. At the debrief back at the agency, Luthra reveals that Jim was a former RAW agent and Kabir Dhaliwal’s partner, who was awarded with the Vir Puraskar for his bravery after the agency could not find his body when Somalian terrorists killed his wife and unborn child in a negotiation gone-wrong. He had apparently faked his death in order to seek vengeance against the agency and country for not saving his family.
Meanwhile, Pathaan learns about the codeword dubbed “Raktbeej” and also that the dead people in Dubai were ex-agents and their money was transferred from the account of Rubina “Rubai” Mohsin, a Pakistani doctor in Spain. He travels to Spain and is captured by Jim’s men, where he also learns that Rubai is an ex-ISI agent. When Jim leaves his hideout, Rubai attacks Jim’s men and escapes with Pathaan. Rubai reveals that Raktbeej is in Moscow, where they travel to steal it before Jim does. However, Rubai betrays Pathaan and has him captured by the police. It is revealed that Jim used Rubai to make Pathaan steal the Raktbeej for himself. Pathaan is captured and taken to prison by train, but is saved by Avinash “Tiger” Singh Rathore.Three years later, Pathaan travels to Africa and captures Jim’s henchman Raafe. He meets Nandini and reveals about Jim purchasing two saber missiles, while Nandini reveals Rubai’s location in Paris. Pathaan meets Rubai, who reveals that the Raktbeej is a mutated smallpox virus, which was forcibly developed by a captive Dr. Sahani under Jim’s orders. She also expresses guilt about betraying Pathaan without knowing that her country would plan such an heinous attack. They travel to Jim’s lab in Siberia and manage to recover one orb containing the virus with great difficulty, while Jim escapes with the other orb. Luthra and Nandini reach Jim’s lab to take the orb back to the Indian Institute of Contagious Diseases (IICD), in India in order to develop a vaccine. Luthra also has Rubai arrested for having questionable loyalties.
At the IICD in India, Dr. Farooqui demonstrates the orb to Nandini. Jim calls them and reveals that the orb has already spread the virus in the facility. The infected scientists, along with Nandini die in the facility by shooting themselves, to curb the spread of the virus. Later, the facility is destroyed in a controlled blast. Jim provides an ultimatum to evacuate Indian soldiers out of Kashmir within 24 hours. Pathaan interrogates Raafe about the location of the missile, and learns that the missile is situated in Afghanistan. After rescuing Rubai, they lure Jim’s associates into a trap, and attack Jim’s base. Qadir is killed by Rubai before activating the missile containing the virus. Pathaan chases after Jim with a jetpack and they both crash land into a cabin.
Meanwhile, Rubai deactivates the missile, but finds that Raktbeej is not in the missile, but instead in a passenger-bound airplane, which is about to land in Delhi. She informs Pathaan, who finds that Jim has the detonator. Luthra calls the air traffic control to prevent the plane from landing in Delhi. In the cabin, Pathaan and Jim fight brutally, resulting in the cabin begin sliding off a cliff. Despite getting stabbed by Jim, Pathaan steals the detonator, deactivates Raktbeej and throws Jim out of the cabin as the foundation is about to break. While Jim holds onto a plank, Pathaan takes away his Vir Puraskar, deeming him unworthy of it. He stomps and breaks the plank Jim was holding onto, resulting in him falling to his apparent death. Afterwards, Pathaan is reinstated into RAW and made as the head of JOCR, while Nandini is posthumously awarded with the Vir Puraskar for her bravery.
In a mid-credits scene, Pathaan and Tiger are seen pondering about retiring and suggesting young agents who can replace them, but eventually decide to keep fighting the threats themselves.
So that was the movie’s ‘plot’. From the reviews of colleagues I gathered that the movie is a total masala film and moviegoers are going to see Shah Rukh’s latest outing on the big screen after a long time. I got mixed reviews about the movie from colleagues and due to my busy schedule at the time could not manage to walk it in the cinemas. Finally, I was able to manage to watch it on 22nd March on Amazon Prime when it released there as it happened to be a holiday.
Now, why was it a holiday may be a surprise to some people in some parts of India but it is a very normal annual occurrence for us here in Bengaluru. Let me take the opportunity to talk a bit about the ‘holiday’ here, on occasion of ‘Ugadi’. This day is very important as per our Sanatana Dharma. This is the day our Vikram Samwat calendar starts. King Vikramaditya is recorded to have started this calendar in 57 B.C to commemorate his victory over the Sakas. His kingdom had many important Geographers like Varamihir and it was based on their calculations that the calendar was made. The calendar or ‘panchaang’ had been calculated as per precise time calculations in those days. As per their calculations, the moon travels through the twelve Raashis (constellations) in 354 days. Thus, the moon travels each constellation in 29days, on the basis of which the calendar year was divided into twelve months. It was for the first time in the world that a year was divided into twelve months. In the calculation, the year is counted on basis of the sun’s movement while the months are calculated as per the movement of the moon. This same principle was also adopted by the Greeks, Arabs and the British later. It is also interesting to note that in comparison to the western calendars, here the names of the months of the calendars is quite scientific. While the western calendars are named according to the names of kings, queens or Gods/Goddesses, our Hindu Navsanvatsar technique names the months according to the Nakshatras the moon is in at the time of the Poornima (full moon). For example, if it is in Chitra, it is called Chaitra, in Vishakha it is Vaishakh, In Shravan it is Shraavan and when in Phalguni it is Phalgun. Thus our calendar’s months are not only scientific but they also consider the natural changes in the solar system. Due to the speed of the Sun and moon, every year, a difference of ten days occurs due to which they also catered for an ‘Adhimaas’. The original British (Gregorian) calendar had only ten months and due to which every year the time of Christmas used tochange. Due to such discrepancies, European countries had taken inspiration from the provision of 12 months in our calendar.
This new year day falls in the Chaitra month and there is a lot of significance of it. Some people may be surprised and ask that why does the ‘new year’ start fifteen days into the Chaitra month. The western calendars normally start on the new year after all, isn’t it? Like the calendar, there is a rational explanation for this too in our Sanatan philosophy. The belief is that during the Krishna Paksh due to the decline in the moon for 15 days the sky starts to become dark. Our Sanatan Dharma is based on moving from darkness to light (the principal that the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad mentions as Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya -which incidentally was my school’s motto too- which means From darkness, lead me to light). Due to this reason, in Chaitra after 15 days in Shukla Paksh due to increase in size of the moon, the brightness of light also increases and on the Pratipada tithi we celebrate the Hindu New Year.
This day marks the beginning of the Chaitra Navratras which are considered very auspicious. Chaitra Navratri is the first of four navratris of the year and being the first is very important. During these navratris in Punjab and other areas where the Shakti philosophy is followed, the nine forms of the Goddess Shakti, Durga, Shailputri, Brahmcharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skand Mata, Katyayini, Kaal Raatri, Maha Gauri and Siddhi Daatri are prayed to by the Devotees (Bhakts). According to traditional kathas, Devi Durga had descended from the heavens to visit her paternal home (Maayka) and spend time with her devotees on this day. People undertake fasts on each day praying to the specific form of the goddess for the day and finally it ends the Chaitra Navmi (Also celebrated Ram Navmi or Vasant Navratri). Kanjak or Kanya Poojan, also called as Kumari Pujan, is a significant ritual related to the Hindu festival of Navratri done on the Ashtami in which little girls, preferably nine girls (called as Kanya – Kanjak in Punjabi) are worshiped in the nine form of goddess Durga. Many people think there are only two navratris in the year, one this Chaitra Navratri and the other before Dussehra but there are actually four navratris as per our ancient practices with the other two being ‘gupt’ or secret Navratris. The second Navratri and the first gupt Navratri is the Aashaadh Navratri celebrated during the Krishna Paksh of the Aashaadh month (which occurs around June-July) during which the Goddess is made happy by tantra sadhna. The third Navratri is the Sharadiya Navratri which is celebrated during the Shukla Paksh of the Sharad month (which occurs around September-October) till the Navmi which is considered the beginning of the winter season and the nine forms of Goddess Durga are prayed to during the nine days. The fourth and final Navratri of the year is the Magh Navratri (second Gupt Navratri) which is celebrated during the Shukla Paksh of the Paush Maas (December-January) during which prayers for secret Siddhis are done.
Here in Karnataka and Andhra-Telangana we celebrate the new year by the name Yugadi or Ugadi is derived from the Sanskrit words yuga (age) and ādi (beginning): “the beginning of a new age”. Yugadi or Ugadi falls on “Chaitra Shudhdha Paadyami” or the first day of the bright half of the Indian month of Chaitra. The Telugu, Kannada, Kodava and the Tulu diaspora in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu celebrate the festival with great fanfare; gatherings of the extended family and a sumptuous feast are ‘de rigueur’. The day begins early with ritual showers, rubbing the body with perfumed oil, followed by prayers.
Ugadi Pacchadi is a symbolic dish prepared by Hindu people on this festival.
Preparations for the festival begin a week ahead. Houses are given a thorough clean. People buy new clothes, including dhoti, and buy new items for the festival, decorate the entrance of their houses with fresh mango leaves. Mango leaves and coconuts are considered auspicious in the Hindu tradition, and they are used on Ugadi. People also clean the front of their house with water and cow dung paste, then draw colorful floral designs. People offer prayers in temples. The celebration of Ugadi is marked by religious zeal and social merriment. According to Vasudha Narayanan, a professor of Religion at the University of Florida:
The pacchadi festive dish symbolically reminds the people that the following year – as all of life – will consist of not just sweet experiences, but a combination of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter episodes. Just as the different substances are bound together, one is reminded that no event or episode is wholly good or bad. Even in the midst of bitter experiences, there are sweet moments. One is also reminded that the experience of taste is transitory and ephemeral; so too, is life, and one has to learn to put pain and pleasure in proper temporal perspective.
Special dishes are prepared for the occasion. In Karnataka, foods such as Holige or Obattu, and mango pickles are made. In addition, a speciality of yugadi in Karnataka is to create “bEvu-bella” a mixture of neem and jaggery. This symbolizes life’s own experiences with a little bit of bitternes and a hint of sweetness. In Andhra Pradesh, foods such as pulihora, bobbatlu (Bhakshalu/ polelu/ oligale), New Year Burelu and Pachadi, and preparations made with raw mango go well with the occasion. Of these, pachadi (or Ugadi pacchadi) is the most notable, and consists of a chutney-like dish which combines ingredients to give all six flavours of food (ṣaḍruculu) : sweet (tīpi), sour (pulupu), salty (uppu), spicy (kāraṁ), bitter (cēdu) and astringent (vagaru). This festive Hindu food is made from tamarind paste (sour), neem flowers (bitter), brown sugar or sweet jaggery (sweet), table salt (salt), green chilli (spicy) and raw mango (astringent). It is a symbolic reminder of complex phases of life one should reasonably expect in the new year.
Maharashtran Hindus refer to the festival, observed on the same day, as Gudi Padwa. The Sindhis celebrate the same day as Cheti Chand, which is the beginning of their calendar year as well as the Jayanti of Bhagwan Jhoole Lal. Manipuris also celebrate their New Year as Sajibu Nongma Panba on the same day.
The Hindus of Bali in Indonesia also celebrate their new year on the same day as Nyepi. Ugadi is one of the five Hindu national public holidays in Mauritius.
As per our scriptures, there are other significances of this day too. It is said that it was on the day of the Chaitra Pratipada that Brahma ji had created the universe. Thus, Satyuga had started on this day and it was the first day of the Kaal Chakra. Bhagwan Ram had killed Bali on this same day and it thus marked an important milestone towards his endeavour to bring back Sita ji from Lanka. It was also the day on which Yudhishthir had become the King. (Thus it is an important day both in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata). Finally, the Arya Samaj had also been established on this day.
After all these asides, I come back to how I had a holiday on 22nd March on occasion of Ugadi which also happened to be the day Pathaan was released on OTT platform Amazon Prime. After a solid lunch with some excellent puranpoli (sweet and savoury variants), I along with a close family decided to finally catch the movie. I have already talked about the plot above. The story line as such is fairly limited and I feel in terms of story depth and screen play there was a lot that could have been done (wish someone like Neelesh Mishra from Ek Tha Tiger could have been there to firm it up). The film keeps you seated but it is not a very pleasant experience. An ISI agent who helps India, A Raw Agent against India, Really?? Lots of elements remind you of the Mission Impossible series as well as Matrix and probably other Hollywood movies too. Shah Rukh and Deepika Padukone make their presence felt as does Salman Khan in this guest appearance as Tiger. However, for me, it is John Abraham as the villain Jim and Dimple Kapadia who plays Nandini Jaiswal as head of JOCR (not Joker but Joint Operations and Covert Research. We, the audience are the jokers!) who stand out in the acting department for me. They both played their roles very well and give an emotional depth to the movie. Without these two, I probably wouldn’t have sat through the whole movie. The animation standard could have been better (never mind the inspirations from the Hollywood movies I already mentioned) and leaves one missing the finesse one is used to in Hollywood blockbusters. Pathaan’s real name is not revealed (unlike Tiger’s whom we know as Avinash Singh Rathore though we do get the back story as to how he got the name due to an act of ‘bravery’ in an Afghan village) as is the quality storyline which one would have expected. Over all, I would say that if you have nothing else to do and like these actors, Go ahead and watch it. To say that it would be worth multiple watches is too much of a stretch. It is a one time watch masala film. SRK isn’t just a word! It’s an emotion for millions of fans across the world and will be loved by his die hard fans. For the rest, It doesn’t have that redeeming quality which defines timeless movies. Never mind the huge box office (if true).
I would now like to leave you with the lyrics of the title song, Jhoome Jo Pathaan. It is a nice dance number which is being loved by the kids (just the other day saw cricketer Irfan Pathan’s cute son dance to it with his father on Twitter) and is set in posh locales with good choreography. Worth seeing definitely as evident from the 402 Million views the song has already got on Youtube.
The hummable lyrics are by Kumaar who is a popular lyricist from Punjab known for his danceable songs and the music is by the Vishal-Shekhar duo. In some post in the future, I will discuss a bit about their careers. The composer duo are joined by Arijit Singh (flavour of the season or is it decade?) and Sukriti Kakkar in the singing department. I am sure this song will be playing in discos and all over for a while.
Here is the link to the video:-
Song Credits:
Music: Vishal and Sheykhar
Lyrics: Kumaar Singers: Arijit Singh, Sukriti Kakar, Vishal and Sheykhar
Director of Choreography: Bosco-Caesar
Recording At: YRF Studios (Abhishek Khandelwal, Chinmay Mestry, Dileep Nair)
Mixed By: Abhishek Khandelwal (YRF Studios), Dileep Nair (Assistant Mixing Engineer – YRF Studios)
Mastered By: Gethin John (Hafod Mastering, Wales UK)
Additional Music Credits:
Song Editor: Adele Pereira
Song Arranged By: Meghdeep Bose
Guitar: Meghdeep Bose
Video
Audio
Song-Jhoome jo pathan meri jaan (Pathan)(2023) Singers-Arijit Singh, Sukriti Kakar, Vishal, Sheykhar, Lyrics-Kumaar, MD-Vishal-Sheykhar
Lyrics
Tumne Mohabbat Karni Hai
Humne Mohabbat Ki Hai
Iss Dil Ke Alawa Kisi Se Bhi
Na Humne Ijaazat Li Hai
Hunar Hai Yeh Bhi Ishq Ka
Kisi Kisi Ko Aata Hai
Jaan Luta Ke Dushman Ki
Humne Hifaazat Ki Hai
Baat Karte Hain Hazaron
Hazaaron
Hai Tajurba Humein Yaaron
Haan Yaaron
Baat Karte Hain Hazaron
Hai Tajurba Humein Yaaron
Aisi Hai Ada
Bandh Loon Hawa
Mujhpe Woh Khuda
Dil Se Dua Barsaye
Jhoome Jo Pathaan Meri Jaan
Mehfil Hi Lut Jaaye
Dede Jo Zubaan Meri Jaan
Uspe Mar Mit Jaaye
Jhoome Jo Pathan Meri Jaan
Mehfil Hi Lut Jaaye
Dede Jo Zubaan Meri Jaan
Uspe Mar Mit Jaaye
Muqabla Kaise
Hum Karte Hain Yaar
Abki Baar Tareeka Hum Batayenge
Tareeka Hum Batayenge
Kaise Dushman Pe
Hum Marte Hain Yaar
Abki Baar Tareeka Hum Batayenge
Tarika Hum Batayenge
Yaar Karde Jo Ishaara
Ishaara
Dil Main De Doon Dobara
Dobara
Yaar Karde Jo Ishaara
Dil Main De Doon Dobara
Pyar Ka Nasha
Aisa Hai Chadha
Hoke Yoon Fida
Dushman Gale Lag Jaaye
Jhoome Jo Pathaan Meri Jaan
Mehfil Hi Lut Jaaye
Dede Jo Zubaan Meri Jaan
Uspe Mar Mit Jaaye
Jhoome Jo Pathan Meri Jaan
Mehfil Hi Lut Jaaye
Dede Jo Zubaan Meri Jaan
Uspe Mar Mit Jaaye
———————
Devnagri script Lyrics (Provided by Gajendra Khanna)
———————
तुमने मोहब्बत करनी है
हमने मोहब्बत की है
इस दिल के अलावा किसी से भी
न हमने इजाज़त ली है
हुनर है ये भी इश्क का
किसी किसी को आता है
जान लुटा के दुश्मन की
हमने हिफाज़त की है
बात करते हैं हज़ारों
हज़ारों
है तजुर्बा हमें यारों
हाँ यारों
बात करते हैं हज़ारों
है तजुर्बा हमें यारों
ऐसी है अदा
बाँध लूँ हवा
मुझपे वो खुदा
दिल से दुआ बरसाए
झूमे जो पठान मेरी जान
महफिल ही लुट जाए
दे दे जो ज़ुबान मेरी जान
उसपे मर मिट जाए
झूमे जो पठान मेरी जान
महफिल ही लुट जाए
दे दे जो ज़ुबान मेरी जान
उसपे मर मिट जाए
मुक़ाबला कैसे
हम करते हैं यार
अब की बार तरीका हम बताएँगे
तरीका हम बताएंगे
कैसे दुश्मन पे
हम मरते हैं यार
अब की बार तरीका हम बताएँगे
तरीका हम बताएँगे
यार कर दे जो इशारा
इशारा
दिल मैं दे दूँ दोबारा
दोबारा
यार कर दे जो इशारा
दिल मैं दे दूँ दोबारा
प्यार का नशा
ऐसा है चढ़ा
हो के यूँ फिदा
दुश्मन गले लग जाए
झूमे जो पठान मेरी जान
महफिल ही लुट जाए
दे दे जो ज़ुबान मेरी जान
उस पे मर मिट जाए
झूमे जो पठान मेरी जान
महफिल ही लुट जाए
दे दे जो ज़ुबान मेरी जान
उसपे मर मिट जाए
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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