Lalooji - our Railway Minister in Shahrukh's Programme!

Last night we saw Shahrukh's 'Paanchvi paas se thez hain?' You can watch it in 'you tube' now. Laloo Prasad participated in this episode. He is game for everything! As usual, he was in his spirits! I loved his reply about Rabri - she is a simple lady, never uses make up or lipistick (!), because of her he has come this far in life etc.

He said Hema has promised to give him a role in her film for which he is still waiting! Shahrukh promised to make him act like a don in his film!

Though some questions were very very easy (5th grader questions!), some were not so. Everyone knows that he is too intelligent and has a very good sense of humour. Wherever he goes, whether here in India or abroad, you can see his photo with people laughing around him. Now enjoy some parts of his episode with Shahrukh in Star Plus programme, 'Kya aap paanchvi paas se tez hain?':



I couldn't get the video from the start of this episode, Anyway, what we are able to see, is enough for laughing! Lalooji explains in detail what 'lac' means. Shahrukh says'you should be the teacher here, not me, for which Lalooji answers, 'I'll be a Vice Chanceller instead'! Shahrukh says Lalooji is a walking encyclopedia - Lalooji says 'haan'!
: Here, he explains about the festival, holi. He sings some lines from a holy song too!

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Jantha ka saval- Public question: You had been a hero in Railway Ministry and politics, which role would you like to act, if Shahrukh offers you a part in his film and Lalooji replies in his own manner that discussion is still going on about this, but first Hama Malini's film and then Shahrukh's! When he was asked which hero was his favourite, pat comes the reply 'you'! Then Dilip Kumar! He was asked to repeat his children's names - he has got 7 daughters and 2 sons and he takes his time to recite them!
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This is the last part and he wins Rs.1 Crore without taking any help from the children who are there to help him - all the children are famous for their role in advertisements and films. The participants can take help from them as a child (!) like cheating copying from them! Laloo did not use any! He dances with Shahrukh for 'Chayya chayya song' also. We enjoyed Laloo and Shahrukh. Now, you enjoy!

Dasavataaram - Movie

I am a bit upset! 'Dasavataaram' was not as good as I expected it to be. I am a great fan of Kamal. He has taken lot of effort to make a good/different movie. It happened like this in 'Alavandaan' and 'Hey Ram' too. We went to these movies also with great expectations. I think he must give his ideas to a good director and just act. Whatever type of nuances you do, the story line should be catchy. Continuation should be there. So many avataars of Kamal are coming and the link to the story is very very feeble. The story is like episodes.

I loved the starting story of the 12th century. The Shaivite King tried to destroy the Ranganathar (Vishnu) idol and Kamal as Rangarajan (Writer Sujatha's original name and Kamal is a great fan of his, so he must have used this name) tries to save the idol. The grandeur was superb, photography was superb and Kamal was there in full form. Then the bio-chemical weapon story started and it could have been a good story line. Hmmm. Then the last 'tsunami' scene - simply superb. The photography is too good. That's it. I don't remember anything else today - just one day after watching the movie.

I must say Asin was good. I remember a dialogue of Bush - an official tries to explain Bush about the bio chemical weapon and says 'it is a bit complicated'. Bush replies immediately 'then don't explain'! Hey, I remember this dialogue!

I am not able to understand Kamal's thoughts. In this movie, Kamal tries to save Lord Vishnu's idol, but fails. The idol is in the sea. Then, in the 21st century, the god saves mankind by destroying the chemical weapon, in the shape of tsunami -the tablet form is swallowed by one villain character, Fletcher(Kamal) and he oozes blood in different colours, on the sea coast of Nagappattinam. The chemical can be destroyed completely only with NaCl, which is in abundance in sea water. Does he say God will come and help the world, when in trouble?! He also asks Asin why her god let people to create bio- chemical weapon. Confusing, indeed.

I loved his films - Anbe Sivam, Guna, Mahanadhi, Nayakan, Devar Magan and comedies like Thenali, Sathi Leelavathi and many many other movies. I am particular about seeing his movies in the theatre too. Now, I will wait for his next good movie! I know he will not fail his fans!

Dola re Dola - Dance by Western women for the Bollywood song!

Dhola re Dhola re by a Western woman:
I came across this video in 'you tube' today. Couldn't stop writing about it! A western woman, dancing for the 'Devdas' song 'dhola re dhola'! Couldn't believe my eyes! The dance is very very tough. The song is a beautiful song. Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai had danced for the song in the movie 'Devdas'. Madhuri is a Kathak dancer. The dance steps are very very difficult. This woman has tried her best and dances quite well.

Dhola re Dhola re by Indian and Western women (click on Dhola re):
In another video, an Indian woman and a western woman dance for the same song. The Indian woman obviously looks like a dancer. She is superb. The westerner must have been trained vigorously! She does her best. This seems to be a home video! Very nice.

It is nice to know that our songs and dances - Bollywood ones(!) are becoming popular everywhere in the world. Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh, Aishwarya and now Aamir Khan (Tare Zameen par) have become very famous and familiar over there, especially in the US and the UK. No tension(!) in our movies. Just song and dances. As Sanjay Dutt says in 'Munna Bhai MBBS, ' tension nahin karne kaa' (No need to get tensed up!). Just relax with a Bollywood movie, everyone feels nowadays, in these tension filled days!

Bollywood has started producing movies, just for the oversea movie goers! And Punjabi based songs are very very popular in the party circle, because of their rhythm and tunes (we feel all Punjabi songs sound similar!). Anyway, it is good for us, Indians!

One more video of 2 western women dancing for the same song! Enjoy!

This is the original:

Kaun Banega Superstar - Grand Finale!

At last, my favourite show has come to an end and as usual, like all the 'grand finale' shows, the last episode was was dragging and boring. The best part was Sonu Nigam was there and he is becoming like an icon now. Everyone was praising him and admiring him - and he is one of the chief guest in this show, where he was the anchor, when Gajendra Singh started this type of music talent search programme in the history of television. The quality/standard of the participants is very high. They should be classically trained, should be able to sing at least 10 ghazals, some 20 film songs of all types etc.etc. Once they are selected, they have to stay in Bombay and their lives changes step by step, to the better, if they are genuinely good and prepared to go through their vigorous training programme. The competition is very very highly rated one. If the participant comes up to the finals itself, is graded as first grade playback singer and opportunities start coming for him/her. The judges are, mostly, music directors and by the time the programme comes up to the 'grand finale', they start making the singers sing in their films. Toshi, Vineeth and many others have already sung in films.

Now, about the 'Grand Finale'! I had predicted (!) Debojith (Debu da) will win the Superstar trophy. My brother said Rahul Vaidhya will win and he was right! I agree, Rahul Vaidhya is equally good. Somehow, Debu has got depth in his voice. But I am not very unhappy about Rahul. During a previous show, Ishmith, a participant, who was making lot of mistakes, won the trophy, when Harshith like singers were shown the door. Harshith was very upset - he came third. Well...these things have to be faced when you participate in a competition. But the recognition is already there and Harshith, Debojith and Prajaktha will definitely become good playback singers, one day. This type of shows, nowadays, depend on public votes and the public sometimes fancy the singers for other reasons also, like looks, the way they talk, dance, etc. The quality of singing, which should be the main quality, goes to the back seat.

Good Luck to all the 5 finalists! We will remember all of you always for good music!

Chatri Chor - The Blue Umbrella!

Now...what shall I write about this film, Chatri Chor? I am still 'overwhelmed', will be the right word, I feel. When I started watching the movie, I was feeling sleepy after 10 mts. Went inside and slept! Started watching again. And again, I felt sleepy. This has never happened to me before.

Then the real story started to unfold. The story is based on the story of Ruskin Bond - anyone know the name of the story? The location is Himachal Pradesh (very good photography) and a Japanese tourist gives a beautiful blue umbrella to a village girl in exchange for a lucky charm which has two claws of a bear. The umbrella is so beautiful that everyone in the village wants to have it. One man, Nandkishore Khatri (veteran actor Pankaj Kapoor), who runs a tea stall 'Khatri Chaai stall' becomes so obsessed with it, he lures the girl with money, balloons and what not. She refuses to part with the umbrella. After some days, the girl complains that somebody had stolen her umbrella and she accuses Nandkishore of stealing her umbrella. The police search his house and tea stall - actually throws out all his belongings outside, but finds nothing.

Suddenly, one day Nandkishore receives a parcel which contains an umbrella which looks just like the blue umbrella, but red in colour. The whole village was feeling bad about accusing an innocent man as a thief and so now respected him a lot. He was invited for inaugurating a wrestling competition also. Everyone was in a happy mood. A man was shown as dipping clothes in different colours and if needed, changing colours too. Suddenly, it rains heavily and Nandkishore's umbrella's colour started running down and the blue colour started showing out. He was ridiculed for stealing the umbrella and as per the rules of the village, was isolated from the village. And the story goes to show how life changes because of a small mistake and Vishal Bharadhwaj has directed this story very well. I just felt the songs were not relevant and out of focus in this movie and not very memorable also. The girl Biniya (Shreya) has acted very well. There is no word to describe Pankaj Kapoor's acting, simply superb - he uses the accent of the locals fluently.

A must see movie - for serious/good movie watchers. Will I sleep today?! It has affected me deeply. Thank you, Bharadhwaj. Simple story shown very well.

Kaun Banega Superstar! Mother's day special!

I get upset when I think that this music programme is going to end shortly. I am so used to watching it on Sunday mornings and I was looking forward to it all these weeks. I was not letting anyone in the house to change channels! The finals will be shown this week end. I cried with everyone in the show when Vineeth was eliminated. It must have hurt him a lot to be leaving the show. He is a very good singer. He was definitely better than Toshi, though Toshi was good in some type of songs, though,not an all-rounder like Vineeth. Anyway, we know we are going to hear him more in the future as a playback singer - we are already doing it!

The best episode was 'The Mother's Day' Special. Everyone sang well and cried well..., me too! The song selection was too good.

I love the song 'Mein kabhi bathlaatha nahin' from 'Taare Zameen par'. Shankar Mahadevan has sung this song with so much emotion that every time I hear this song, my heart feels heavy and the feeling lasts for sometime. Rahul Vaidya sang this song with the same level of emotion like Shankar Mahadevan. This is the best song of the year, I bet. And my son likes it too!!!

Prajakta is the only girl remaining in this show. It happened in 'Star voice of India' show also. The girls didn't come upto the finals. I wonder why. She sang 'Ajee rootkar ab, kahaan jaayiyega' really well. Her mother too sings well. Most of the mothers of the participants attended the show and were invited to the stage also.

One of my favourite participant, Debojit sang Kishore Kumar's (he is an expert in Kishore songs!) 'mere naina, saawan baadhon' - this is a beautiful song and Debuda sang it beautifully. So beautifully that the judges gave him full marks!

Harshit's 'Ek haseena thi' was superb. Abhijeeth sang 'lut gaye' and Vineeth sang 'Lagan lage thumse man ki lagan' quite well. Ishmit sang 'Maasha allah' and the whole crowd/audience sang with him. Really, I am going to miss this programme after the last and final episode next week. Star Plus is going to start 'Star Voice of India' shortly and till it gets interesting, we are going to talk about these participants. Thank you Gajendra Singh for giving us good music and good future playback singers!

Kaun Banega Superstar - Star Plus musical programme

All of us in our family are music addicts. We enjoy any type of good melodious music. Whether it is classical, film music or western - anything will do. Nowadays classical trained boys and girls get so many opportunities to show their talents in the talent search programmes in the television, in all the languages. As far as we know, 'Sa re ga ma' programme, directed by Gajendra Singh, started in the late 90's, started selecting very good singers. Sonu Nigam was anchoring the first show and Shreya Goshal, Ganjawala and many others who competed in that programme are now famous playback singers. You know where Sonu Nigam now is! He is the No.1 playback singer now.

At present Gajendra Singh is directing 'Kaun Banega Superstar' for Star Plus. The candidates are the winners of other similar talent search musical programmes. Now, after the elimination process, week after week, five singers are remaining in the competition. All the five singers are capable of winning the 'Superstar' trophy. The sixth singer, Vineeth, who was eliminated last week was unlucky to go. He was one of the best singers. He has already started singing for Abhishek Bachchan and other leading heroes in Himesh Reshammiya's direction. He has sung in 'Dasavatharam' also. I like Harshith, who is an expert singer of Kishore and Rafi songs (he never smiles!) and Abijeeth Sawanth who sings any type of song very well. Doshi specialist in Sufi type songs is also good. I have to mention Debojith, whose voice is superb and I have got a feeling that he will win the trophy this time.

Well...whoever wants to watch quality, good music, should watch this programme, which is aired at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights by Star Plus. Repeat is on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.