Omkara, kabhi alvida na kehna....!!

Using the much abused expression 'I am experiencing a writer's block' seems to be the perfect way to start. I might not write huge sagas, witty columns, or even short stories but since I do write occasionally on blogspot, the categorization is not that far off the mark. The last two months have been a flurry of activity. I travelled a lot, watched a few films, actually shot for a short film (courtesy SAPTV) and met up with some friends in London. All this and more should have given me enough to write about. But there it is: zilch, nada, nothing! May be I'll just jot down my current favourites in books, movies and music.

I picked up audio CDs of Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (KANK) and Omkara. KANK's music is very predictble, has a serious KHNH (Kal Ho Na Ho) hangover. 'Where's the party tonight' takes off from where 'Its the time to disco' ended. 'Rock and Roll Soniye' reminds me of 'Pretty Woman'. The title song is melodious and quite hummable. But the gem is 'Mitwa'. And for this song alone I would recommend buying KANK soundtrack. Shankar Ehsaan and Loy have composed this breezy folk fusion number and given the supremely talented Shafqat Amanat Ali a fantastic break in the Hindi Film Music Industry. The album also has a remixed version of 'Mitwa', but I am partial to the original.

'Omkara's music is different. There's the 'Beedi' item number which is for the masses. The haunting and romantic 'O Saathi Re' is mindblowing. The rustic 'Lakad Jalke' introduces new talent Rekha Bharadwaj (any connection to Vishal Bharadwaj, I wonder?). But the most important song that conveys the theme of jealousy and passion is Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's 'Naina thag lenge'. Pay close attention to the lyrics. Suresh Wadkar makes a comeback with the lori type 'Jag Ja gudiya' (not that he had really retired, but I haven't heard him sing for a mainstream Hindi film since Maachis. Wonder why the industry ignores him. His unforgettable 'Sanjh dhale' from Utsav is my all time favourite). Over all, a good album, but might not be liked by everyone. The reviews of the film are very good and I read glowing words of tareef for Saif's perfomance, but that will have to wait till the pirated version of the DVD is available in Frankfurt.

While on movies, I watched Golmaal recently and it was really really funny. My conclusion - any movie that Arshad Warsi is a part off will definitely be a notch above the others. His comic timing is fabulous. Ajay Devgan has the main role, but the others have enough screen time to showcase their talents. Sharman Joshi makes a good follow up act to 'Rang De Basanti'. His character is believably sincere. Paresh Rawal is efficient and Sushmita Mukherji is the perfect match to his charater. She is almost like Nirupa Roy (remember her eyes blinking furiously in the Big B's hit 'Mard' where she plays a blind woman?), only, a lot funnier! The surprise package is Tushar Kapoor. Without revealing too much, I'll just say that Tushar didn't leave anything unsaid! The film is definitely paisa wasool!

I am desperately trying to find out which movie halls here would be screening KANK. I know it will be candy floss, Karan Johar Style, peppered with the who's who of fiimdom. And I know it will be one big senti drama. But I still want to watch it first day second show, and its not possible here :-(.

Nowadays, I am reading 'Eldest', the sequel to 'Eragon' which is the story of a boy and a dragon. I liked 'Eragon' very much. Hard to believe that the author was only 16 when he wrote it. I am looking forward to the big screen adaptation. I read Mary Higgins Clark's latest 'Two Little Girls in Blue' and was quite disappointed. It was preditable and the theme of twins being telepathic was not sufficient to make the full novel engrossing. I found a second hand version of 'Death on Cape Cod', which is a short stories collection by the same lady. I am optimistic that this one will return my faith in Ms Clark.

August is the month of vacations in Europe and I am going on one too. Next week this time I will be in Bergen in Norway. More on this later!