Sunday, April 14, 2013

Of The Quest For An Entertainer, Diamonds, Capella Cover, Badtameez Dil, The Dewarists And Songs...

Hmmm...

Long time no see.. this week followed the same old typical things..

As I do not know how to write, I have become a collector of articles. So, this week Ranvir Shorey wrote a very interesting piece in Pragati. He talks about how to make an entertaining film without thinking of the 100 crore club. He says,

On the other hand, creating an entertainer or a project (in common film industry parlance) is mostly about logistics and market trends, an endeavor with no soul but fanfare. Ironically, it then becomes unfair to expect the entertainer to entertain in the true sense of the word. Without creative labor, making an “entertainer movie” is redundant. It only portrays the want of a hit rather than a desire to create a product of creative inspiration for the audience. Many leading makers of All Out Entertainers are terrified of failure, which is the reason why they make only those kind of movies. They shy away from taking a risk or putting in the hard work required to portray their own creative voice onto the big screen.

The complete article here:
The quest for an All Out Entertainer

My friend D is going to propose to his girlfriend. So he ordered a diamond which he will put in a custom-made ring. For the first time in my life, I saw a diamond in the shape of diamond. And since he has become an expert in diamonds, he told me there are four characteristics that differentiate one diamond from another. These are called the 4Cs - Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat. My knowledge of diamond is limited to the first chapter in Class 10 Chemistry book on the differences between diamond and graphite. Question: Why is diamond a bad conductor of electricity while graphite is a good conductor of electricity :) It is exactly ten years to the Class 10 board exams. It was 2003 I remember. And now it is 2013! The funny thing is anything after 2000 still feels so recent but it is thirteen years since 2000. I am getting old. More on the 4Cs of diamonds here

AR Rehman on his Twitter posted a link. At first I thought what is so special about it. Later I realized my foolishness in not noticing it. I only realized when the song went viral and I looked carefully. It is fantastic. This is basically called capella singing: singing without musical instruments. The person singing makes all the sounds and combines it later. It is simply brilliant. This is the song Jiya Jiya Re from Jab Tak Hai Jaan. This guy Alaa Wardi has made a number of other covers including that of Pehla Nasha. Check out YouTube.


Jiye Jiya Re

But my favorite cover was a song by Adele. I loved it. 


Rolling In The Deep

People are just brilliant.

Talking of videos, Badmateez Dil from Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. I don't know how many times I will say this but Ranbir Kapoor is a rock-star. He is just brilliant in the song. The choreography has some Shammi Kapoor touches. Ranbir has just terrific screen presence. He has a knack of picking excellent roles. That guy will go places. There was some surprise in media circles when he refused Kai Po Che given that it has done so well. But you cannot blame him, sometimes your intuition fails . But I must confess Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani hasn't got me crazily excited like some other films but I am eagerly awaiting for it. He is one of my favorite actors.


And since Downton Abbey finished, I have now started to watch The Dewarists. Why didn't I watch this earlier! It comes on Star World India. It is an excellent concept in which two musicians from different parts of the world come together to make a song. It shows how the musicians collaborate to come up with a song, all for the love and passion of music. They do not have to meet expectations of anyone for this, so they come up with their best song. All the episodes are available on YouTube. It is hosted by Monica Dogra of Dhobi Ghaat fame, who herself is an artist. I loved the episode Kya Khayal Hai in which Swanand Kirkire (of Bawra Man fame), Shantanu Moitra, Zeb and Haniya get together to make a song. You will fall in love with Swanand Kirkire's humility in the episode. I was just amazed by him in the show. He writes all his songs in the toilet. That is the brilliance of the show... the artists are just driven by one thing and that is their passion for music.


Kya Khayal Hai: The Dewarists

And I don't know what has happened but since the last few days, a terrible feeling of loneliness has engulfed me. I was, in fact, in a cheerful mood a few days ago but I don't know what has happened. That feeling when you realize your incompetence in every thing, when you realize that time is running out, when you realize that you will never be what you want to be, when you realize that happiness is something so far away, that everything is just so hollow. I don't know what is it? Perhaps the weather that has been in single digit temperatures for the last six months. Perhaps the homesickness that has finally seeped in me. Mom is very worried these days. 

It is so strange that love and loathing, joy and distress, quietness and noise, all eventually blur and one is left wondering where one started and the other ended. In our life, my mother once told me because we cannot alter our kismet, we must know a way to tide through its ruthless currents. And the songs are that one device.
 - Anuradha, The Last Song of Dusk

When will I sing my songs? Or will I ever?

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