roupspace: August 2007

A superstar for a friend, an already established director for a sister, actor friends and producer buddies. Thats all you need these days to make a film. This was my first thought after watching 'heyy baby'.
Sajid khan should be kicked for making such a film. And we should be kicked harder for watching it.
Vulgar, cheap, obscene and crude is what the movie is and the dialogues are worse.
Frankly, its just what one expects of sajid khan since his sense of humor is pretty much the same. Not that sis farah is any better,except that she has learnt the art of packaging the film better and choosing her cast wisely so that she is assured of commercial success and ceetees.
Her 'mai hoon na' debut venture was quite stupid to say the least and so was the story.
The movie had sick humor and lousy music. What worked for her was SRK and fans went to watch it for him and im sure this is what will happen again this time for her secong film the promos of which are very sad and dismal. In fact its surprising that SRK, with his sharp sense of business could pass off such a promo.
Coming back to sajid..akshay kumar should be ashamed of doing such roles at his age and mouthing the crudest of dialogues. Not that he has displayed much dignity in any of his work so far. Yet its disappointing to see that some actors never seem to want to grow, to experiment, to evolve.
And what is worse is the fact that the viewers lap up such nonsense. I doubt if this country really understands comedy. Buffoonery is all they relate to.
The film is a lift of a hollywood movie with some insanity thrown in and presto, suddenly a c-grade stand-up comedy artiste becomes a director.
There couldn't be a bigger tragedy.

ALL FOR A SONG...

After a long long time, SA RE GA MA PA has finally got back its lost form. After the dismal show by amaan and ayaaan ali bangash, the show had for a while lost its glory. Though Shaan did a commendable job, somehow the programme could never come into its own.
This season, however introduced a batch of some very talented singers and the best artistes were chosen from pakistan and usa too.
Apart from ismail durbar and vishal shekhar, the less said the better about the commitment and seriousness of the mentors in encouraging and guiding fresh talent.
Lets take a look at the more talented of the lot.

RAJA HASSAN
Raja Hassan has come a long long way.
Eight years of struggle suddenly seems to have been well worth it if the current popularity, the thunderous applause, the lavish praise, the numerous smses are anything to go by, this SA RE GA MA PA CHALLENGE 2007 contestant is already a star..

Having been closely associated in many such reality shows, i admit to never having seen such an amazing fan following.
Quite the under dog, rajas' meteoric rise can easily be attributed to the kind of person he is. Clean, straight, honest, warm, radiating positive energy. At the risk of sounding like his PR person, may i add that i have been working with and writing on music for ages besides being a trained vocalist and filmmaker myself. The boy has been blessed with the purity of heart that comes across in his voice which is not exactly the best in the show nor is it the most flawless in terms of technicalities. Whether it stems from his humble upbringing or the long struggle when he has had to sing at humble restaurants to pay for his meal and walked miles to save the bus fare...whatever the reason be, its clear that raja has used each obstacle to his advantage- learning from the mistakes many aspirants have made and the most amazing thing is that none of this has made him cynical or manipulative. If anything he has only grown, as a human being which in turn has helped him grow as a singer. No wonder his renditions seem to tug at your heartstrings despite the very visible flaws.

POONAM

Truly a volcano of talent, poonam is very skilled and whats more she is blessed with a deep voice that seems to come from the very deep recesses of her heart. The lack of style and finesse add to the raw pain in her voice.
The simplicity lies in the way she uses her voice to convey the meanings behind the lyrics.
The quiet but sure killer instinct exists alright. Poonams' biggest strength is her
humble upbringing. She seems to desperately want to succeed and change things for herself hence the focus never wavers. Even while singing a simple song like 'dil to paagal hai;, she brought in the correct mix of emotion and technique.
However, the pressure did seem to get to her at one point when she couldnt get the song right and went blank. After which when she did resume, she had a winner. There was pathos and a deep longing that was simply outstandingly mature. It was 'hamesha tumko chaha ' from DEVDAS.
She is the only mature female singer in the show that is any competition but her mentor needs to give her more confidence and nurture her so that she stops fighting and begins enjoying her music.

ANEEK

If there is any one singer who is truly deserving of being the winner, it is Aneek. The sheer command over style, technique, emotion and expression is flawless.
Honestly speaking, he is way above all competition of this level.
The only worry is his devotion to sonu nigam that can unconsciously spoil his own style.And full marks to him for not losing his nerve when salman khan ripped his shirt off. One seriously wonders why the organizers of the show don't object to such crude behaviour. No one- not even the mentors objected. Dear salman probably forgot that he was gracing a contest where the careers were at stake. All dignity was dispensed with as salman made a laughing stock of himself as well as aneek- and the poor child was made to sing without a shirt.
Which actually makes me wonder what the point is of getting these stupid film stars ato 'judge' such shows when none of them have the faintest idea of music. Oh yes- the promotions...the programme is used to promote forthcoming movies which is forced upon by the channels which in turn makes it hilarious. Can you imagine a sajid khan commenting on the finer nuances of music? its equally upsetting to watch a pathetic diya mirza 'judge' these so very talented participants- at least shamita shetty was gracious enough to shower praise and admit she knew nothing of music.

Doesnt anyone realize that these participants are roughing it out away from their loved ones, rehearsing all day, exhausted from performing at small towns and colleges to promote the show and garner votes while most of these shows are actually done only to promote the channel and NOT to promote the artistes. The poor kids are trained to give the appropriate sound bytes- the programme heads are clearly not the decision makers here but the channel is...and after the nail biting, anxiety ridden shoots that last for endless hours, the kids are subjected to irresponsible comments by arrogant and ill informed films stars.
Can no one stop this nonsense in such a prestigeous programme that has over the years acquired the honor of being truly devoted to the cause of music?

As if this isnt enough, even the mentors continue to make an ass of themselves.
Himesh reshammiya should stop resorting to cheap publicity by creating a supposed 'love triangle' out of nothing and subjecting the poor viewers and contestants to inane remarks about it in EVERY SINGLE episode.
Add to that all that empty talk of promising work to contestants- does he actually realize what he sounds like? Like some wannabe desperate for publicity. Please someone tell him that he can be as dignified about his promises as vishal shekhar are. And must he speak so much? Must he shower such annoying praise on the directors and producers and stars on the show? We understand why its being done...and its so obvious.To get work , to please and flatter them. But please, mr.reshammiya, you are a metor so kindly maintain the dignity and class expected of one.

And mr.bhappi lahiri. Its sad to watch a musician of such high calibre being reduced to doing what mr.reshammiya is doing. Begging the stars to give work to the contestants. And i use the word 'beg' coz thats exactly how it sounds. Requesting someone once in a while when the singer has sung superbly is quite another thing but why this? Besides, he seems to be very fobd of encouraging and defending his students alone and promoting them. Its cheap and disgusting to see that such a world class musician can be so small hearted. He needs to learn a lesson or two from young vishal shekhar who are truly large hearted and gracious. Fair in praise and promises that they know how to keep.
I would say tese are the real musicians - the ones who understand music.

MUSARRAT

Such amazing talent has never been witnessed before on this show. Musarrat, a student of maestro ghulam ali, is classically trained and is undoubtedly the expert as far as classical knowledge is concerned. And it shows. His rendition of 'piya saanware' from BANDIT QUEEN was, by no means a small feat.
It was a superb attempt and displayed an expertise, a practised ease, a certain comfort that comes from years of honing a skill. Musarrats' limitation though is that he can sing only in one particular genre and that is where mr.reshammiya has been absolutely right. The moment musarrat tried his hand at other styles, he failed but there is no doubting his credibility in his genre. He is here to stay.

The same goes for mouli dave who is great in her own hip style and needs to stick to it so please guys, give these kids a break and guide them wisely. Let them choose their own kind of song and don't push them over. They are after all here to create music not indulge in mudslinging politics. Keep the younger generation out of this muck that has kept true music away from you. Let them falter, learn and master. They need to grow on their own so let them be.
These are really are hope for the future. Lets not try and get cheap publicity by targeting pakistan now. For gods' sake, the viewers are least bothered. They are only interested in listening to soulful music. So if you want to resort to cheap and vulgar publicity gimmicks try not to blame the media and press for one.
Do not poison young, impressionable minds. It affects their work and the reason they are on the platform.