Jo Bhi Main

Today I just wanted to talk about music.

I think music is so important yet I myself sort of lost it for a few years.

At one point I had music on all the time but when I started my grown up life- there suddenly was no time for it. A lot of my day went in office and on the commute one listened to the news and the spare time was spent with family and friends.

I think the biggest unnoticed loss we suffer when we work ( if you are the standard going to office worker) is the lack of free time where you think or listen to music or just be. I actually think my happiness and a lot of my personality came from that.

So now- having had this epiphany I have music on for maybe- 13 of the 16 awake hours a day- and in the words of Mickey D " I'm Lovin'it!"

I would encourage you to listen to at least 15 minutes of music a day- you'll see the difference it makes.

Also my appreciation for the talent out there is unbounded. Somehow if someone can play the guitar really well- it trumps a lot of skills.

Which is in a way unfair- but the world rewards different skills differently and C'est La Vie!

Talking about music I think the music industry  in Bollywood is a bit shortchanged.

There is so much hype about the movies themselves and the videos' associated with them that the lyrics and the actual musicality get lost sometimes. Sometimes one could have liked the music if the actors on screen weren’t so irritating.

I discovered this recently when I heard the music for two movies- without having seen them or any music videos as you are apt to when in India. "Rockstar" and "London Paris New York".  I loved a lot of the songs though I must admit the music of Rockstar is more enduring. What I discovered is that the songs I liked best were not the most famous songs of the movie and when I saw the movie- I barely noticed them. What's also interesting is that both movies average. L-P-NY a 5.5/10 and Rockstar a 6.5/10 If Rockstar had had a different actress who could actually act it probably would have been a good 7.5 or maybe even 8!!

So If I had based my opinion on the movie of the way they were marketed I would have lost some remarkable songs- the biggest example being my current favorite-" Jo Bhi Main" from Rockstar.

This song- in fact most of the songs in Rockstar have such poetry in them and this song in particular is so deep! Rockstar music has the perfect combination of a great poet/lyricist (Irshad Kamil), music director(THE AR Rahman- will talk about him another time) and voice (Mohit Chauhan- of the erstwhile Silk Route band- dooba dooba- no training for his voice- will talk about him later too J)- where unlike typical Bollywood movies the same singer sang the male voice songs.

Lyrics with translation( done my me- the ones online seemed to lose some of their meaning in an attempt to be literal- am not translating the ooo yay yay yay- its the same in both languages!!)

Jo bhi main, kehna chahoon
Barbaad karein, alfaz mere, alfaz mere

Whatever I want to say

Are ruined by my words (my words)

Kabhi mujhe lagey ke jaise,

saara hi yeh jahaan hai jadoo
Jo hai bhi aur nahin bhi hai yeh,

fiza ghata hawa bahaarein
Mujhe kare ishaare yeh
Kaise kahoon, kahani main inki

Sometimes I feel that

this whole world in Magic

that it is there and it is not there too

Seasons, clouds, wind, the blossoms

they make signs to me

How do I to tell their stories

Jo bhi main, kehna chahoon
Barbaad karein, alfaz mere, alfaz mere

 Maine yeh bhi socha hai aksar

Tu bhi main bhi sabhi hai sheeshe
Khudhi ko hum sabhi main dekhein
Nahin hoon main hoon main toh phir bhi
Sahi, galat, tumhara main
Mujhe paana, paana hai khud ko

Often I have thought about this too

You, I, everyone is a Mirror

We just see ourselves in others

I am not but still I am

Right, wrong, yours

Getting/Obtaining me is getting/obtaining yourself

Jo bhi main, kehna chahoon
Barbaad kare, alfaz mere, alfaz mere

So take the time to listen to some music today - if you can J

Just Go with It

So the movie for today is Silver Linings Playbook . Saw the movie today. Enjoyed it. It took a very tough subject and made it not heavy- which to anyone with experience in Bi-polar is quite amazing. It is rated as a comedy and it made you laugh a few times but nowhere near as much as one did in Django Unchained. But then Quentin Tarantino is the only guy who can make overly violent, serio-comedies about Nazi's and slavery that make you laugh out loud !!!!  

After seeing the movie- one realizes that Jennifer Lawrence is REALLY good- very subtle. Of course her two other really good roles are Hunger Games and as Mystique in X-MEN-First Class. She is obviously talented and lucky.

And Bradley Cooper has also come a long way from Alias (which is where one first noticed him!!) He has quite a few good movies but I like the movie Limitless . The whole concept of harnessing more of one's brain then a person typically does is so attractive. Here is something that we possess - that we have at our disposal but we treat it like the appendix.  BUT did you know this is a Myth. Typically we use 100% of brain in the whole day- just not all of it at the same time- DUH!!

My Music for today is this song by a Pakistani group called Strings. Sar kiye yeh pahar.

I have no idea what it means but I love it! Came across it when MTV first entered India in about 1992 and we teenagers had it on the whole time. Great song. The band helps J. Then I rediscovered them about 6 months ago and now- they are actually playing in my city is 4 days!!- I may actually go though I only know this one song and used to hear it 20 years ago!!!

Also- I think I didn’t give proper due to books movies show from yesterday so will add a few more snippets about them. For links please see the older post.

About La Vie En Rose. There is a movie- a biography made on Edith Piaf that is called La Vie En Rose - as  this was her most definitive song. La Vie En Rose means the life of a rose- so lyrical.

My fascination for this started with the Movie French Kiss with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline(who may possibly be one of the best actors of all time) It has the Louis Armstrong version in it and subsequent googling (has this verb been added to the dictionary yet?) familiarized me with both versions.

About House of Cards. This is actually based on BBC drama by the same name about 20 years ago. There is and always has been a trend of movies, show being taken from one culture to another. Mostly the copies don't live up to the original ( another DUH moment) but sometimes they do. This does. Another copy that did a good job was "Just Go with It" which is surprisingly a copy of a Bollywood movie  "Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?"  Which is quite funny despite having Salman Khan. Best song in it- Just Chill

BBC dramas are something else. I really should look up sometime how the funding works for all of BBC as if I'm mistaken they are a public company. What I have noticed recently is that they have a group of favorite actors they use for multiples dramas- overlapping!! A bit like the erstwhile studio contracts or NSD in India

Lastly- about the Golden Compass- actually the series is called His Dark Materials. The story is fantasy and involves multiple worlds  but essentially is adventure a girl called Lyra has. If you can read fantasy- give it a shot but this is one book that truly proves that everyone has many facets to them- and all of them are not complimentary.

With this is bid adieu- hopefully just till tomorrow!!!

La Vie En Rose

So this blog is basically to opine- about books, movies, shows, music and general thoughts.  Some deluded and deluding friends have actually made me believe my opinions may be interesting! so here goes!

I don't really expect much readership but writing is a cathartic and in a previous life I enjoyed it. The tough part is of course is not reading, watching shows movies etc- to write this!

In music I can't get enough of La vie en rose- both the Edith Piaf version and the Louis Armstrong ones. Though what is interesting is that their other music doesn't touch me as these do- they are just so romantic!
Edith Piaf:

Louis Armstrong:

I don't know what defines addiction but am sure I have the personality associated with it- listening to them on repeat 30 times a day - qualifies me. BTW- The links are in the name if you want to hear them!

In shows I am watching "House of cards". I don't know why a show which typifies nasty all pervasive materialism can be engrossing. Is it that it makes us feel holier than thou - "We aren't so nasty" or the vicarious thrill about what the power play will be next? Whose life will be destroyed? In any case- a compelling watch- on Netflix or Amazon Prime instant video.

In books- I am on the third volume of The Golden Compass series by Philip Pullman- the Amber Spyglass.

Now this series- is it seriously supposed to be meant for kids? Seriously?

SO DARK!! And as soon as something nice is about to happen or sometimes at the moment it happens or soon after- something so horrible happens that you wish the nice thing that lead to it wouldn't have happened.

I have been told that it is one of the books with deeper meanings linking to religion- but I was never one to get the connection- didn't get it for "The little prince" either. I read that in 10 minutes.

Does that make me not deep? Quoting Mr. Butler " Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!!"