tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post6112111572129976901..comments2023-11-10T08:26:51.182-06:00Comments on Beth Loves Bollywood: Palate Cleansers: SoundtracksBeth Loves Bollywoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-89167519536934893202012-07-04T10:40:12.374-05:002012-07-04T10:40:12.374-05:00Ah,TAAL! Even after all these years the scores of ...Ah,TAAL! Even after all these years the scores of DIL SE and TAAL remain the gold standards for Rahman and - by extension - for Bollywood. I still consider DIL SE the best Bollywood film ever. But I'm probably fonder of TAAL for a number of reasons. I was already an Akshaye fan. I jumped on the bandwagon in '98 when he was the fastest rising male star on the scene. The teaming with Aishwarya in "AA AB LAUT CHALEN" sealed the deal for me. Also solidifying my enthusiasm for Aishwarya. So when word got out that their re-teaming (TAAL) was going to be shooting a sequence in Toronto (my hometown), I was beside myself. There was a call out for people to fill the Skydome "playing" the audience for the scene. So I took the day off work to be Johnny-on-the-spot. Result: I got to spend 8 hours or so watching Subhash Ghai, Aishwarya and Anil Kapoor in full creative mode. The main thing being filmed was Aishwarya's solo reprise of "Ishq Bina". And throughout the day, Ms Rai exhibited incredible concentration, patience and grace - with hair stylists, make-up retouchers, technicians and lackies constantly buzzing within inches of her (but just out of camera range). All the time, of course, she was going through mini-increments of the song and keeping track of her marks, ever-shifting camera movements and a barrage of instructions from Ghai. "Ishq bina" was new to all of us them. But by the time we piled out of the auditorium, it had become everybody's favorite song. Imagine getting to watch Aishwarya for hours between takes interacting (charmingly) with fellow cast and crew members. Talk about the ultimate voyeuristic Bollywood high! The film opened that summer. And I caught its Imax premiere at Toronto's massive Cinesphere (with an excited capacity crowd, pretty much all Indian except for me). We loved it! Seldom have I been so looking forward to a film - and been so undisappointed. These were the years when Bollywood star shows regularly came to Toronto. And around New Year's 2000, Akshaye and Aishwarya headlined one. They recreated several numbers from TAAl to dreamlike effect. Needless to stay, in star shows - as in the movies themselves - the vocals are dubbed. And everybody's quite okay with that. After all, we still get to experience the beauty, charisma and dancing prowess of the stars. But - and I still can't believe this happened - Akshaye elected to sing "Nahin Samne Tu" live. And he was terrific. Over the years, I've seen several Bollywood stars take a fling at live singing. But I only recall three who were actually good at it - Juhi Chawla (accomplished enough to be a professional playback singer) plus Priyanka Chopra and Akshaye, both of whom revealed excellent pop voices. Anyway, for these - and so many other reasons - TAAL remains for me a seminal experience and a magnificent memory.Kennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-1741367574809659502012-06-27T04:06:02.295-05:002012-06-27T04:06:02.295-05:00Sneha Khanwalkar is awesome - you should check out...Sneha Khanwalkar is awesome - you should check out this series on MTV India where she travels all over India to create songs from local sounds - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2PXi2wpKFMNeeravhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280469577343297261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-79135327217480215942012-06-26T23:58:01.574-05:002012-06-26T23:58:01.574-05:00Oh, I love the music of 'Taal'. Full-blown...Oh, I love the music of 'Taal'. Full-blown fantasy. :)Bannohttp://batulm.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-88675185709672533942012-06-26T08:14:24.981-05:002012-06-26T08:14:24.981-05:00You're determined to keep me from working this...You're determined to keep me from working this morning huh? :) For me, it's any of the following:<br />- Munbe Vaa from Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. Shreya Ghoshal does such a good job with the Tamil (one of my peeves w some other singers), and the song is so mellow.<br />- Bhanwara mann from Hazaaron Khawaishen aisi. <br />- Maula Mere le le meri jaan from CDI<br />- Hum bekhudi mein tum - SDBurman really hit it out of the park on this one, at least for me.<br />- Jaane Kaise sapnon mein from<br /> Anuradha - Ravi Shankar. <br /><br />- MaithAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com