My Favourite Bollywood Songs of 2011

Yes, Its that time of the year again, where I round up the top 10 11 songs that kept me excited, warm and had me feeling a whole lot of different emotions in 2011. I barely blogged as much as I'd have liked to, but my music channels as well as the bollywood  blogosphere helped me keep in touch with all the latest tunes, now without further ado, here are my favourite songs of 2011

11. 'Shake it Saiyaan' from Rascals I love Sunidhi , I really do, and this bouncy R'n'B number despite coming from what i hear is an awful film, almost makes me want to watch it.


10. Dance like Punjabi from Love Express This lovely dancey number from this small scaled film always made me shake a bone, it reminds me of one of my favourite dance floor classics 'Rock this party' by Bob Sinclair (Can you hear the similarities?)


9. Jalebi Bai from Double Dhamaal Asides from being a Malik Sherawat lover, how could I not just love a song that comes with a dance move that actually mimics making a Jalebi, 'hmmm, jalebi bai' it is indeed


8. 'Subha Hone Na De' from Desi Boyz  What shall we call this song, is it Bollywood Euro-pop or Bollywood trance, whatever it is i loved it and I couldn't stop myself from going 'tu mera hero oh oh oh, hero oh'


7. 'Mekhi Mekhi' from Game Game was one of those movies I caught on the big screen last year, not a masterpiece by any means but i quite enjoyed it and a major highlight from the film was this lovely number picturised in a slightly S&M style (what with all the scantily dressed dancers, leather and chains)


6. 'Bekaraan' from Saat Khoon Maaf One of my favourite thing to do on my days off is put on easy listening cds and just unwind, this song from Saat Khoon Maaf helps me do just that.


5. 'Senorita' from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Its no surprise that a song from one of my favourite movies from last year would be in the top 5, I had a hard choice on what song to pick as it was between this and the breezy 'Khwabon ke Parindey' but alas  Senorita won me over for its blend of Spandi (Did I just coin that term?  In case you're wondering what Spandi is, its a belend of Spanish & Hindi)


4. 'Aadat se Majboor' from Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl Here's one song I couldn't help but sing along to, i loved it so much that after a certain point I could sing the chorus word for word without even looking up the lyrics on the internet. My favourite bit is when the lyrics go 'huzoor huzoor main hoon aadat se majboor'


3. 'Mallo Malli' from Mausam What's not to love here, from Shahid in a fitted suit to his awesome dance moves and Tochi Raina's slick vocals, J'adore!


2. 'Chammak Challo' from Ra.One Despite this movie being a dud of sorts, this one song made it all worthwhile. I love everything from Akon & Hamsika's vocals to the groovy dance moves, which i couldn't help but recreate on the dance floor of my local bollywood joint


1. 'Ooh la la tu hai meri fantasy' from The Dirty Picture Of course this song just had to be number one didn't it, as a lover of all things 80's bollywood plus Bappi Lahiri, I just couldn't help but be delighted by this song

Raja Jani (1972)

I think its high time I invest in a quality laptop, the thought of coming back home and sitting for hours on end on a desktop blogging after a long hard days at work is seriously discouraging and tiring which is why I've been missing in action for a while, but I've seriously missed blogging as well as reading all my favourite blogs so much that I've designated my weekly days off preparing posts that will be automatically set to publish. My first movie review is this Dharema (thats Dharmendra & Hema Malini) romcom which i couldn't help but fall in love with

Wealthy Ranimaa (Durga Khote)  the queen of Taragarh lives in constant agony and anticipation that her long lost granddaughter Ratna who was kidnapped years ago will return to reclaim her throne

Her right hand man Diwan Gajendra Singh(Premnath) takes advantage of situations and recruits suave mobster Raja (Dharmendra) to help him find a girl who'll fake being Ranimaa's granddaughter who'll in turn hand in all the treasures to them once she's been crowned

Raja stumbles upon Shanno (Hema Malini) a street dancing village belle but Diwan thinks she's too much of a commoner to play the role of the long lost princess Ratna

Thus Raja forgoes Shanno as an option but circumstances brings them together again when Shanno escapes after murdering a leacherous man her guardians had sold her to, she finds safety in raja who takes her home  and decides upon presenting her as the lost princess Ratna

Thus begins a makeover as Raja  transfroms Shanno from Country bumpkin to city slicker, he also teaches her lovely manners

All this results in Shanno not only being fit to play a part of the lost princess but she also falls in live with  Raja (something I do not blame her for). Shanno's love for Raja turns into heartbreak when she realises all that grooming and lessons he had been giving her was all in the name of getting her to deceive Ranimaa

Shanno decides to live but is stopped by Raja's assistant Imartilal (Johnny Walker) who tells her about Raja's past scorn in the hands of an unfaithful lover (Bindu) who had cheated on him

Seriously Bindu???? cheating on Dharmendra with Manomhan

Imartilal persuades her to stay as she is the only one who can bring Raja back on the straight and narrow. Shanno listens and decides to play along as Ranimaa's long lost daughter Ratna while also harbouring plans to reform Raja and win his love

But things aren't so easy as Shanno's conscience starts getting the best of her, will she manage to deceive Ranimaa in time so that Raja and Diwan Saheb  get the treasures? Who is the real Ratnaand what will happen if she does indeed arrive? Plus will Shanno succeed in her attempts to make Raja fall in love with her? For this and many more delightful 70's bollywood retro goodness watch Raja Jani

With the exception of some minor gaping plot holes especially in the form of Shanno's murder case never been concluded, this is a cool, fun, charming and delightful retro romcom with fantastic chemistry between Hema and Dharmendra, seriously this two are at their best here, I absolutely loved them and its no surprise they went on to marry, they win my award for best filmi jodi of all time (sorry Sharukh and Kajol). Plus it was nice to see a decisive heroine even though a big part of her decision centred around gaining a man's approval to win his love but hey!! that's minor from all the goodness this film offers, there's a bit of romance, drama, thrilling moments (like the scene below) and action all packaged nicely into an endearing entertaining flick, everyone who likes their retro bollywood movies should watch this

Plus have i mentioned how fabulous the fashion in this film is, all those interested in retro bollywood fashion should see this film to learn how its done. From Hema Malini's pearly beaded top and flared trousers to her funky belted tunic with paisley headscarf she had an amazing wardrobe, head over to my other bollywood blog which I've been ghost writing for some time now to see her full looks

Dharmendra too had some lovely threads in this from his lovely bright blazers to his sharp Double breasted suits, I've never seen him look so stylish, head over to my other bollywood blog to see his other looks from the film

 And Prem Chopra was styling too, i love that blazer though i think I'd change a few things before wearing it

You also get some fab interiors  in the form of giant swiveling doors and quilt padded walls (oh how i love how you pay attention to details 70's bollywood)

Vah!!Kya Baat hai Dharam ji ladies and some of you Gents, stop drooling please

And finally the music from Laximant Pyarelal is delightful, from the amazing 'jani o jani' sung beautifully by kishore Kumar with a suave looking Dharmendra during the title credits to the infectious 'duniya ka mela' to the cheeky 'ABCD chodo' (check out the outfits in this) and then there's the lovely 'mubarak o tujhe' with an appearance from Helen simply dancing around Hema, and the flirty 'Kitna mazaa raha hai' . The song I've chosen to embed however is aaja o aaja simply because of how gorgeous Hema and Dharmendra look in the song


Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10

My Favourite Songs of 2010

Its that time of the year again, where i round up the top 10 songs that kept me excited, warm and had me feeling a whole lot of different emotions in 2010. I barely went to the cinema to see much last year but having bollywood music channels plus Raj & Pablo's Love Bollywood show and of course the blogosphere helped me keep in touch with all the latest tunes. Now without further ado, here are my favourite songs of 2010

10. Kajraare from Kajraare (2010) While Himmesh Reshammiya might not be the best of actors, there's no denying the fact that the man is a talented music director, his Kajraare in which he duets with one of my favourite Hindi film playback singers Sunidhi Chauhan kept doing the rounds in my head, great catchy track and great composition from Himmesh, gotta love that double bass loop at the beginning

9. Hey ya from Karthik calling Karthik The first thing that came to mind while listening to this song was Charles and Eddie 'would i lie to you', this mellow song reminds me a lot of Charles and Eddie so much so that i refer to it mentally as the bollywood Charles and Eddie song (I'm not saying they copied or anything, it just reminds me of Charles & Eddie)

8. Udi from Guzaarish As i have said numerous times and i'm saying it again, Sunidhi Chauhan is quite simply one of my all time favourite playback singers and i love her range in this song, what makes it extra special is Aishwarya's miming and flamenco or should i say spanish style dancing

7. Adhoore from Break ke Baad Vishal & Shekhar came back with a bang this year and this is one of their many tunes  i couldn't help but sing along to especially the 'Adhoore ho ho ho, adhoore tum ummmm, adhoore ho ho bin tumhare' bit

6. Ainvayi Ainvayi from Band Baaja Baarat Whenever this song came on i couldn't help but join in singing the ainvayi ainvayi part a bit too enthusiastically much to the dislike of onlookers

5. Bahara from I hate luv story's This is yet another Vishal & Shekhar song that kept doing the rounds in my head, giving me many a sleepless night, especially Shreya Goshal's reptition of 'bahara bahara bahara'

4. Behene De from Raavan I loved the sexy chilled but yet groovy vocals and composition of this tune, i haven't seen the movie but this song whatever i feel after watching the film, will be enough for me to forgive whatever flaws it might have

3. Mora Piya from Raajneeti Another sexy chilled song that i couldn't help but love especially the bit where goes bhole 'mora piya mose bolat hai' (my beloved isn't speaking to me) i absolutely love

2. Chaan Ke Mohalla from Action Replayy This year Aishwarya grew on me like no other, and Action Replayy is one of the few movies i actually paid paisa (money) to go see in the Cinema. I loved it though i can see why many people hated it but the songs, the retro stylings, and Akshwarya plus this song made it all worth it

1. Zor ka Jhatka from Action Replayy Very controversial i know right, having No. 1 and 2 from the same film but I'm a sucker for any song that has accompanying dance moves for two reasons

a. it makes for a good work out

b. it makes the song easy to sing along to (well, sort off)

So there my lovely ones, are my favourites tunes of 2010 that kept me distracted, feeling, dancing and humming through the year, other songs that almost made the list are the songs of Dabang, 'Wallah re Wallah' from Tees maar Khan, 'Surli ankhiyon re' from Veer, 'Suno Aisha' from Aisha, 'Pee lo' from Once upon a time in mumbai, 'Dil to baccha hai ji' from Ishqiya

Insaf Ka Tarazu (1980)

Writing my first review after such a long time feels weird which makes me proclaim 'away from me writer's block and be gone, be gone I say'. Insaf ka Tarazu is a movie i had planned to review on Zeenat Aman's birthday last month on November 19th, but as time did not allow, i thought it'd be the first movie i review now that I'm back in the swing of things.

Directed by the master of socially relevant bollywood films 'B.R. Chopra', Insaf ka Tarazu (The scales of Justice) is notable for being the first bollywood film that dealt head on with the subject of rape, it's also widely considered by many as one of Zeenat Aman's landmark performances. The film has been observed by many as a remake of the 1976 hollywood film 'Lipstick', which I'm yet to see, hence i shall not be able to comment on how much it rips it off, but this bollywood adaptation is a great watch, and is very much a bold film for its time

Our movie starts at a beauty competition where the audience decides who gets crowned the winner

(bollywooddeewana's note: How very forward thinking isn't it, voting for the winner is all the rage these days on Television shows)

Fashion model extraordinaire Bharti (Zeenat Aman) raises temperatures so much that a fan in the audience scores her a whopping 200 out of a possible 100. Bharti wins the competition and

the fan in question turns out to be wealthy industrialist Ramesh (Raj Babbar). As a reward for his enthusiasm he's called to crown Bharti, which he feels very honoured to do

Ramesh falls for Bharti and despite knowing she has a boyfriend of her own called Ashok (Deepak Parashar), he's hell bent on wooing her. Part of his attempts include hosting a special V.I.P birthday bash for her

Bharti goes along to the party with her boyfriend and sister, but Ramesh notices all his advances are being shunned by a rather childish Bharti in favour of her boyfriend Ashok

While Ramesh is nursing his broken heart/ego, Ashok and Bharti's relationship moves onto the next level when he takes her to his parents, Bharti's in laws approve of her and plans are made for them to get married

Ramesh still bent on wooing Bharti, calls her requesting to bring pictures from the party he threw for her, he's given the go ahead by Bharti. Ramesh goes that extra bit further and gifts her a present which Bharti in a rather childish and rude manner ignores in favour of her boyfriends call. Ramesh is furious and proceeds on raping Bharti

Bharti's sister Neeta (Padmini Kolhapure) walks in on them & thinks the sexual act between her sister and Ramesh is consensual

(bollywooddeewana's note:surely she should have seen the bruises & scars on her sister's face as well as the fact that she's tied up,or did little Neeta probably think her sister was indulging in some S&M fun, i'd fear to think so)

Violated and shattered, Bharti is determined to get justice

(bollywooddeewana's note:I must admit that i do rather like this painting revealing Bharti's inner state of mind)

despite the lawyer's (Simi Garewal) warning of the emotional turmoil and humiliation the court case will very likely bring, Bharti insists on taking the case to court

(bollywooddeewana's note: I actually find the film quite feminist in this regard as she (Bharti) stood up and made her voice heard rather that fear being ridiculed and as a result keep schtum)

True to the lawyer's word Bharti is subjected to all sorts of humiliating questions from her attire she was wearing before the rape to providing proof she was raped and many other mundane questions, she's eventually accused of luring Ramesh to bed & attempting to cover up the whole incident with the intention of remaining angelic in the eyes of her younger sister

Bharti loses the case mostly in part to the dubious lawyer Mr Chandra (Sreeram lagoo) whom Ramesh had bought out plus various pictures which showed them enjoying each other's company was enough to convince the judge Bharti was lying

Devastated and humiliated at losing the case Bharti's world comes crumbling down, What will happen to Bharti, will she ever be able to get justice? What will society make of her now? What will happen to her career as well as her relationship with Ashok? Watch Insaf Ka Tarazu (scales of justice) to find out

On the whole Insaf ka tarazu is a taut and gripping drama/thriller, it had me engrossed right from the get go and the film only begins to falter in my opinion in the quite tedious court scenes, and as usual my complaint with many a bollywood film that includes a court scene rears its ugly head here once more (see previous complaints here and here). Why is it that the court is always a place of jesting and other hijinks, for example raucous laughter is allowed to go on numerous times in the court without the judge shouting 'order'

But my complaints are far and in between as this film is a major winner for me, mostly in terms of its feminist stance in the form of Bharti not being afraid to seek justice at the cost of what might become of her reputation in society , that along side the injustices in the judicial system regarding rape which was echoed in the much later and rather over the top Zakhmi Aurat, makes this film a must watch, i definitely recommend it and i recommend reading the magazine scans at the end of this post too.

Looking back and judging by the rape and Judicial system in modern day India in the magazine scans at the end of this post, it seems a lot of the things i was angry about while watching this film happens in real life like Bharti's sister being asked to come and stand trial and then being shouted at by the lawyer. All these points and arguments which the article at the end of this post raised made me like this film all the more and made it even more relevant to our present times. As for the flat/rushed ending many imdb commenters seem to be unhappy with, alas the director had to bridge the gap between making a socially relevant film and making money at the same time, not a bad thing in my opinion.

I'd recommend this film as a must watch for all Zeenat Aman fans, i found her portrayal of Bharti passionate albeit a bit uber melodramatic and without sounding shallow she looked utterly gorgeous

Raj Babbar whatever you think of him doesn't really matter, as i think this is one if not the best role he ever played, he brought a certain creepiness to his Ramesh character so much so that you can't help but hate him, infact I've come across numerous people who hate him because of his role in this, but i say well done Raj for a great performance

Deepak Parashar another actor who gets schtick for being wooden , i actually found quite cute in this and he and Zeenat made a lovely pair

And lest i forget Padmini Kolhapure, she was nothing but great as Bharti's chirpy little sister this young actress who i believe was only a wee teenager at the time showed she was capable of handling melodrama whilst showing some restraint while doing so

Honourable mentions to Simi Garewal, Ifthekar and Sreeram Lagoo as well

Garam Dharam makes a special guest appearance

Lovely music from Ravindra Jain on this, i simply love this soundtrack and i've included links to all the videos with English subtitles, from the restrained title track 'insaf ka tarazu' to the playful 'yeh ho gayi' , my two favourites though are 'Hazaar khwaab haqeeqat' a wonderful love song by Mahendra Kapoor and Asha Bhosle

and 'log aurat ko' is definitely amongst my top three Asha Bhosle songs of all time

Paisa Vasool rating: 7/10

Magazine scans on rape the state of Rape and Justice in India

Click on image to enlage

Click to enlarge


Article courtesy Femina Magazine

Padosan (1968)

I had to bring my V. Shantaram week to an end as the notes i made on Geet Gaaya Pattharone (1965) made no sense, its one i feel i'll need to re-watch before i can do write up. Anyway moving on from V.Shantaram week, and just before i get my Rekhatober posts ready i thought i'd do a short post on one of my favourite movies Padosan (Neighbour) an adaptation of 'Pasher Bari' a bengali book by Arun Chowdhury, rumour has it that a remake is in the works with Sanjay Dutt and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles but in honesty i 'd prefer it if this film was left alone

Bhola (Sunil Dutt) decides he's comes of age at the ripe old age of 26, and decides his days of celibacy are over

He meets and falls for a young, energetic lass Bindu, following his decision to move of of his uncle's house into his aunt's, he finds out that none other but Bindu his newly found love is his neighbour

Bhola is eager to win Bindu's love but soon finds out he has competition in the form of Bindu's dance master Pillai (Mehmood) noticing she's in awe of her masters dance and music

Not to be left behind, Bhola enlists the help of his Guru(Kishore Kumar) and other friends to help him in wooing Bindu. In a rather clever use of the filmi idea of playback singing which involves Guru singing while Bhola mouths the words, Bindu is in awe of his talent and falls for him

Now that Bindu seems to have fallen for Bhola, things take a turn when his fake singing act is outed

Overall i enjoyed this rather silly and over the top but undeniably fun comedy (depending on your sensibilities). For me the exaggerated facial expressions and histrionics of the characters of Kishore Kumar as Guru, as well as Sunil Dutt's 'Bhola' act kept me entertained and had me in stitches.

On a deeper level (if you so wish to delve that deep), filmi philosopher 'Philip Lutgendorf' notes on his write up of the movie that Mehmood's character as Pillai the Tamil Brahmin dance instructor "invokes every politically incorrect North Indian stereotype of southerners". As interesting an observation it sounds, I really couldn't take this on board as i'm not aware of what these perceived stereotypes are in the first place

Also interesting is the way the film uses framed voyeuristic style shots from the perspective of Bhola and his friends while spying on Bindu

Performance wise everyone is on their fun, playful hammy best, i loved Sunil Dutt as always and Saira is really one of my favourite Bollywood diva's, i love how she was styled in this, in fact i always love Saira's style in all her movies

love the head scarf and cherry blouse, very Parisian chic

Leopard Print Salwar kameez with matching scarf,. she pulls it off so well


perfectly lined eyes and pouty lips, You go Saira

The songs by R.D. Burman made this film a favourite of mine and one i can watch over and over again, i can go on and on about them forver but my favourites are 'Mere samne waali khidiki' 'kehna hai', 'main chali main chali', love Manna Dey's lingering vocals on 'sanwariya sanwariya' the song i've chosen to embed is the flirty 'Bhai bathur', Lata sounds ever so lovely and i love the fun picturisation, this song pretty much sums up Saira Banu

So fab was the picturisation of 'Bhai Bathur' that The 1981 telugu adaptation of this story 'Pakkinti Ammayi' literally copies it frame by frame. Saira Banu wins hands down for me

Now head over and I can't wait to do so myself to My Movies Music and Mutterings blog for a write up of the soundtrack as well as to get the music for free, trust me this is a classic bollywood soundtrack album you don't want to miss getting your hands on

Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10

Buy the dvd here