Music, Movies and Joblessness!

(Originally published on December 11, 2008 at 10:31 p.m.)

As I start typing out another post, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m getting on your nerves, but then I take solace in the fact that you have the choice to shut out this page, or worse, just scroll down and comment for the heck of it.

 

Carolisa Monteiro’s mesmerising voice in Phir Dekhiye is playing in the background, and I’m sitting on my first-ever computer chair after a long while- the actual length I can’t seem to remember. This blue chair is nice, lets me stretch my back, although it creaks now, thanks to ageing. Ah! The song’s over. It’s Farhan Akhtar’s... erm... once-fresh voice that’s being heard now, in Pichle Saat Dinon Mein. Rock On had one brilliant soundtrack, and two reviews for the movie from Dela and Lefty come to mind. Interesting they were. I still haven’t seen the movie- and judging by the reviews I’ve got from various sources, I get the feeling this SRK fan might like it, and earn a few more scoffs and scowls from the people who’ll probably jump to comment on this post now itself. I seriously wonder if we do need to take our brains to movies, at least, Hindi movies. I agree that the times they are a changin’, but there’s been enough evidence and experience in the past for us not to! I’ve grown up enjoying David Dhawan no-brainers and SRK entertainers, and I guess that’s exactly what we try to do when we go to the movies- try to put aside one’s issues and have a good time. But starting this debate does put my existence at risk, and I agree the latest David Dhawan movies are utter embarrassments, and Priyadarshan has lost it after Hera Pheri.

 

A conversation with a long-lost friend over movies did raise a valid point, by the way. Gone are the days when one could go out on a free Saturday night to watch the last show of a movie with the family-not a single movie now comes without moments where you’d wish you simply disappear from your seat when that non-veg joke was cracked, or when that item number began, or worse, the actor starts doing an Emraan Hashmi. These moments, resulting in an awkward shuffling in the seat, uncomfortable silences, sudden pretence of getting a phone call, or plain staring at the feet, aren’t exactly pleasurable experiences, and are definitely not memorable! The song that just finished playing was Haule Haule from SRK’s next, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, and I must say, it’s a charming little number, and the music right at the start, is very catchy. Anyway, I was talking about uncomfortable situations at the movies, and one thing jumps up to mind. The last three movies I saw with Ma, Pa and Big B in a theatre, were Salaam Namaste, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, and Fanaa- all of whom had their fair share of scenes which made me do one of the aforementioned, apart from the third, as I didn’t have a cell-phone then. Lucky Big B. I remember breaking into a loud laugh when Jaaved Jaffrey, in his legendary role in Salaam Namaste, commented “Short-term mammaries, huh?” (sic). I was busy laughing to notice my parents staring at me, until Big B pinched me, signalling to stop. The silence after the movie wasn’t fun, trust me. When I was watching Dostana with Lefty, I was silently very pleased that I hadn’t forced my unwritten clause at home to watch every single Karan Johar movie with the family! The film industry would like to say that they’ve matured and are making more realistic movies to explain such moments, but it pains me to think that apart from Sooraj Barjatya movies, which I wouldn’t exactly like to spend two hundred-odd rupees and three-plus hours on for crying, movies worth watching with the family are very rare nowadays. I almost feel sad that I saw Khosla Ka Ghosla alone, and Taare Zameen Par only with Big B and his friends. But, to be honest, I can’t just blame the present lot of filmmakers- Qurbani was playing the other night when Mom and I were in Noida, and I could only hum the songs while peering hard into the laptop, avoiding a scantily-clad Zeenat Aman on the television screen.

 

My playlist has gone way ahead, meanwhile, going past a haunting Mar Jawaan from Fashion, a catchy Ride It from Jay Sean’s new album, and another catchy, but rather long-drawn, Tu Hi Meri Dost Hai from Yuvvraaj. The track playing now is another nice one from Fashion, Kuch Khaas Hai. I’ve come to hear all these pretty late. I guess some of you must be wondering what I’m doing listening and talking about these now-stale songs, or just giving me that baansi khabar look! I’ve just gone past one page on Microsoft Word again, with the word count past 800 and inching towards 1000 for the third post in a row- a feat which I barely am able to complete half of, when writing for the magazine! Darn... another post which will force me to give a few hmph’s. Hmph.

 

Hope you’ve enjoyed my playlist so far- I tend to play Bollywood music at home, more diplomatic! I can’t go around playing Black Sabbath or Dire Straits at full volume, now! Plus, I love it when Mom loves a song and starts humming along- with, more often than not, the wrong lyrics! I love it, too, when my aunt says she loves listening to the music, and then falls asleep! Khuda Jaane, from, needless to say, Bachna Ae Haseeno had finished playing before Jaaniye from Dus Kahaniyaan started- bustling number, this one. Separating this into paragraphs is going to be a tough job; so is waiting for an Internet connection 40 kilometres away, to publish this. I seriously don’t know why I’m going to publish this post; I just don’t have anything better to do than type away, now! Just hope that isn’t bugging you, and preventing you from enjoying your holidays/ preparing for your exams/ doing anything else, in any way. If I have managed to waste five minutes of your precious time with my incessant blabbering, I beg your pardon, and hope to serve you, oh dear reader, better with my next offering, which considering my present frequency, shouldn’t be too far away! I think I’ll sign off now, with Kahin To Hogi Woh from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na playing, and Phir Dekhiye queued up once again, before I set out for a good night’s sleep. So long!

 

P.S. - You might as well thank me if I’ve given you a nice song to hum for the rest of your day- or the next. Or you might as well pat yourself on the back for having heard- and hummed for a day, maybe- all of the tracks on my playlist! I wonder if this belongs on this page but can’t help typing- J .