THE WOMAN IN DREAD
Kangana Ranaut is possessed by a spirit in an efficient eco-horror film that’s also an effective morality tale.
JAN 25, 2009 – IF A BUTTERFLY FLAPS ITS WINGS, will the message of tolerance embedded in a Kabir couplet resonate in a horror movie? The answer, going by Mohit Suri’s Raaz – The Mystery Continues, is the affirmative. The film opens with the renowned doha that goes Bura jo dekhan main chala, which stresses that before we point a finger at others, we look within ourselves (or, put slightly differently, people in glass houses, etc.), and a little later, Nandita (Kangana Ranaut, once again playing a fashion model prone to catwalk calamities) muses about chaos theory and the long-ranging implications of apparently insignificant actions. (Needless to say, she remains silent about the not-quite-insignificant action of titling a film along the lines of an earlier horror hit, with the long-ranging hopes of luring the audiences that flocked to the former.)
From the point of view of the horror-film viewer, the return on investment in a movie ticket is determined by the number of times you leap out of your seat – and by that yardstick, Raaz delivers a reasonably high quotient of boo! moments. But paisa-vasool considerations apart, what’s impressive in this eco-horror story – about the what-why-how of Nandita’s possession by a spirit – is how Suri chooses to focus as much on the person as her predicament. The standard horror film dispenses with characterisation in a few hurried brush strokes, but Raaz – thanks largely to Ranaut’s empathetic portrayal of a damsel in ghastly distress – registers almost as much as a Faustian morality play enacted in today’s greed-is-good universe (whereby the connection to Kabir and chaos theory).
If I’ve made this unapologetic (and delectably mounted) B-movie sound loftier than it is, that isn’t my intention – and I certainly didn’t buy Suri’s attempts at aggrandising his material with a slew of high-minded religious references. (At one point, he invokes Yada yada hi dharmasya and the Bhagavad Gita. Elsewhere, we see aghori ascetics and a madman with a bloody Om carved on his chest.) At least some of this loftiness, you feel, could have been sacrificed at the altar of character development. When Nandita discovers she’s pregnant – Yash, the father, is played by Adhyayan Suman with the physical grace of a stick of chalk – and when she loses the child, she doesn’t seem at all affected. Is this bad writing, or are we witnessing her selfish relief that her career remains unhindered?
But the story threads come together satisfyingly. When Yash hands Nandita the keys to their new, tastefully appointed home, during a song sequence, it appears to be just another romantic moment, and when Yash is revealed to be the brains behind a television show that debunks superstition, I was worried that we’d be in for some heavy-duty irony. (As in: Look, he doesn’t believe in ghosts, and there, right before his eyes, she’s possessed by one!) But these developments are dovetailed nicely into the mystery behind Nandita’s plight. I wished that the character played by Emraan Hashmi – a boozy artist with premonitions about Nandita – had induced fewer giggles, what with his electroshock hair and furrowed-brow attempts at actorly gravity, but aren‘t unintended laughs an inextricable part of the horror tradition too?
Copyright ©2009 The New Sunday Express. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
B.H.Harsh
January 24, 2009
First time totally disagreed with your review, Sadly though…
It didnt scare a bit, and was aboud with all sorts of cliched predictable horro gimmicks….
Ugly faces, Screechy doors, Bad quality lights etc. etc.
I am pretty surprised what made u feel its not avoidable!
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Anon
January 24, 2009
Efficient Eco-Horror thriller? Effective? Effective? Seriously. I would put it along the same lines that watching Padikkathavan made you come with renewed respect for Simbu!
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Hari
January 25, 2009
“If I’ve made this unapologetic (and delectably mounted) B-movie sound loftier than it is, that isn’t my intention – and I certainly didn’t buy Suri’s attempts at aggrandising his material with a slew of high-minded religious references. (At one point, he invokes Yada yada hi dharmasya and the Bhagavad Gita. Elsewhere, we see aghori ascetics and a madman with a bloody Om carved on his chest.)”
This reminds me of the final scene of ‘1920’ in which the Bishop is unable to chase away the spirit but the lead protagonist, in a sudden re-discovery of his theist self, chants Hanuman Chalisa and succeeds.
I wonder, have the Bhatts suddenly started drawing their inspiration from our own mythologicals rather than Hollywood thrillers?
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Raj Balakrishnan
January 25, 2009
This movie should, probably, have been titled Raaz – The Torture continues.
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brangan
January 25, 2009
B.H.Harsh / Anon: With some films, you go in with minimal expectations, and you come out with those minimal expectations having been met. That’s sometimes enough for a time-pass situation.
Hari: I missed 1920. So according to what you’re saying, a Hindu God was able to accomplish what a Christian God could not? Dear God! Talk about a point of controversy 🙂
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Hari
January 25, 2009
Yeah…..I guess that’s was Vikram Bhatt was trying to prove, wonder how the audience missed that…..good that you missed it-it was nothing but ‘raaz’ remixed-the only difference-it pretended to be a period film and the ghost was male 🙂
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raj
January 25, 2009
Appo what were your expectations while entering Padikkadhavan? That Dhanush would have replicated his father-in-law’s act of a similar name?
Surely, not…
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AN
January 25, 2009
man, tough luck having to watch and review raaz and kaash mere hote..you should review ‘oye lucky’ to balance these out- it’s a must see
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Aditya Pant
January 25, 2009
Hari – I didn’t miss that deliberate attempt at our god v/s theirs in 1920. That spoilt an otherwise passable film for me.
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jeevan
January 26, 2009
what a sick thought!
in 1920 towards the end the priest loses faith in his god and throws his holy scarf down. remember he said that the spirit will cheat and lie but we must not lose faith? and he LOST HIS FAITH IN THE LORD! THE SPIRIT EVEN SAYS THAT! AND THEN ATTACKS HIM. AND WHILE THE HUSBAND IS CHANTING THE HANUMAN CHALISA THE WIFE BITES HIM, KICKS HIM, KNOCKS HIM ON THE HEAD WITH A CANDLE STAND, HITS HIM! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT. HE DIDNT GIVE UP. IT PROVED THAT LOVE WAS ALL THAT WAS NEEDED . THEY DID NOT SAY ANY GOD WAS INFERIOR!
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sfauthor
January 26, 2009
Nice posting. Do you know about this edition of the Gita?
http://www.YogaVidya.com/gita.html
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B.H.Harsh
January 26, 2009
Rangan sir :
Got your point. But still, It was too cliched and predictable to work for me.
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brangan
January 26, 2009
Am i imagining this, or did Kumar Sanu really get the Padma Shri? 🙂 Does anyone know if anyone from the Rafi/ Talat/ Mukesh/ Kishore generation were awarded anything similar?
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raj
January 26, 2009
BR, yeah, Lata Mangeshkar got that little thing called Bharat Ratna.
Kumar Sanu was popular in Bollywood hence the Padma Shri. Nothing out of the way. You shouldnt be surprised at all. The formula works like
Perceived worth of Bollywood stars and starlets = 10000000* actual worth of them
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Arif Attar
January 26, 2009
At least Rafi got the Padma Shri.
This is what Raju Bharatan has to say in his piece titled ‘How fair were they to Mohammed Rafi?’
“That was the genuine humility of the man. Even Lata had been taken on by Rafi only after continuing provocation. If only Rafi, likewise, had so stood up for his place in the sun where it came to accepting a mere Padma Shri! It is all very well to argue that the State was not fair to Rafi in the matter of the extent to which it chose to honour him.
Yet the fact remains that the Padma Shri was a citation Rafi could have politely spurned. Indeed Lata had quietly done just that — until they bestowed her with a Padma Bhushan in 1969. But Rafi, as a simpleton, allowed himself to be persuaded that to refuse the Padma Shri would be to insult a government specifically honouring him. A magnitude of offence Rafi could ill afford to give, as one belonging to the minority community. Sadly, Rafi fell for this line of thinking.”
http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2006/aug/23sld1.htm
Arif
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Vijay
January 26, 2009
BR, have you checked out Delli-6 and Connections the album from Rahman? The latter also has that Kural in rap song 🙂 On a quick listen 3 tracks were impressive. Have to listen to them again leisurely. With all the Slumdog fever going on, Connections seemed to have been a pretty lowkey affair
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Vijay
January 26, 2009
Here is a link for the tracks :
http://desiramp.com/download/2008/conne.html
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Aditya Pant
January 26, 2009
From what I recollect:
Rafi – Padma Shri
Talat – Padma Bhushan
Manna Dey – Padma Bhushan
Asha Bhosle – Padma Vibhushan
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brangan
January 26, 2009
Vijay: Thanks for the Connections link. I thought they were releasing it only on phones or something.
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Aditya Pant
January 26, 2009
Arif – While there is no question about Rafi’s humility and goodness, I would take what Raju Bharatan says with a handful of salt. What he says in his articles is hardly credible.
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raj
January 26, 2009
Basically, I believe the padma awards work on recommendation from state govts. So, if P Suseela has to get it, either AP or TN govt has to recommend.
I suppose Bengal govt might have recommended Sanu. And does Jharkand even have another choice other than Dhoni? Mark that man, he has the pleasant accident of birth to get the fastest padma vibhooshan or something.
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raj
January 26, 2009
Nothing proves that hype works better than anything else in Bollywood more than the fact that the Mangeshkar sisters are more decorated than Kishore Kumar and Mohd. Rafi.
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Tambi Dude
January 26, 2009
raj – Perhaps in your musical world, KK and Rafi had the same ability like the Mangeskhar sisters, or they achieved the same.
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Shankar
January 26, 2009
The awardees this year also include Vivek, Akshya Kumar, Aishwarya Rai, Helen etc…while one true genius languishes in Padma anonymity!! 🙂 Sorry, it’s my pet peeve!!
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brangan
January 26, 2009
Tambi Dude: I think raj is simply talking about the “hype” aspect — not the talent. [If he is, however, making a case that the Mangeshkar sisters are mere hype, then I’m outta this argument :-)]
But that said, I think KK and Rafi were quite celebrated in their own right. And with respect to the sisters, I think hype is a problem only if there’s no talent to back it up. And with two such extraordinary singers, that’s hardly an issue.
As an aside, I was listening recently to the fantastic soundtrack of Reshma aur Shera, and in ‘Tu chanda’, after the opening lines in that piercing high pitch, when Lata dissolves into the very definition of gentleness in ‘Tu badal, main bijuri…” They don’t make songs like that anymore, nor singers.
Shankar: Then imagine the plight (aadhangam?) of diehard fans of, say, G Sudarsanam and TG Lingappa, even whose names aren’t remembered anymore 🙂
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raj
January 27, 2009
BR, yes, they are no doubt talented. But I am not going to buy the argument that the Mangeshkar sisters were way ahead of Mohd. Rafi, for God’s sake. Anecdotal evidence is not fair still just hear the Lata and Rafi versions of Ehsaan Tera hoga mujh par to see the difference in class. Even Mukesh beats her fair and square in Chandan sa badan.
L.Mangeshkar wasnt ahead in talent of P.Suseela.
Sometimes, people just dont understand the argument. Lata is not all hype but with all things bollywood, there is a formula at work where the perceived talent is ‘n’ times the actual talent, where n is a fairly large integer. So, if Lata is merely as good as P.Suseela, she gets hyped as the greatest singer of Indian films etc. So, I can clearly say that though she is humongously talented, there has been extrapolation in her case compared to Suseela or Rafi. Even SPB is humongously talented as her, but people will cry shame if I said he is as good as her. This is what my grouse is against Bollywood where there poor gets a mediocre tag, the mediocre get called good, and the good get called very good and the very good get called great, and the great are called the greatest. That is a fair comment, if you think about it. I need not vent or feel bad because hype only works in current times – Mozart was ill-appreciated during his time – probably the court singer at that time was a more famous musician. But look who survived. Similar case with Kambar and Ottakoothar.
Shankar, yes I have the feeling about IR’s lack of Padma decoration but then two points
1) A padma shri at this point will be an insult to him
2) Even MSV doesnt have one. I suspect Salilda or SDB dont either
3) So, I would rather he is in this company than the Asha Bhonsles of the world. He is definitely a cut above the Asha bhonsles when it comes to contribution to Indian cinema music.(I.e.) I am sayign even a Padma Bhooshan is not enough to honour him. Let it remain so. Sivaji Ganesan never got a NA. That is the loss of the award rather than him. Let the padma awards remain tainted by not being conferred upon MSV and IR
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raj
January 27, 2009
BTW, it is R Sudarsanam not G Sudarsanam. It is G.Ramanathan, btw, if that is who you were after.
I dont think RS or TGL were ever in the same class as MSV or IR. Vidyasagar is good but he is not in the same class as Rahman. Saying that is not blasphemy.
G.Ramanathan, if that is who you were thinking of, is another matter. An acclaimed genius, he sadly is highly under appreciated. Think C Ramachandra for a corresponding Hindi Cinema figure(and actually multiply by 10)
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Tambi Dude
January 27, 2009
“Sometimes, people just dont understand the argument. Lata is not all hype but with all things bollywood, there is a formula at work where the perceived talent is ‘n’ times the actual talent, where n is a fairly large integer.”
And who decides the hype ratio of perceived talent vs actual talent? YOU !!!!
May we know your credentials before we waste our time further on your so called arguments.
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raj
January 27, 2009
TD, if you argue with me, then it is rather obvious that I put in my point of view. If you want to argue with me, you shouldnt worry about my credentials. If you dont want to, then you need not worry anyway. I am not going to worry about ‘proving my credentials’ to you. You take it or you leave it – got nothing to do with me.
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Aditya Pant
January 27, 2009
I see, if I have understood Raj correctly, the value of n for everyone in ‘bollywood’ except the Mangeshkar sisters (Rafi, KK, et al) is either a ‘very low integer’ or might even be negative.
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raj
January 27, 2009
Pant, it cannot be negative for obvious reasons. So, yes, it could be a low integer.What it certainly would be is less than n, the number for Mangeshkar sisters.(and within that itself, some people feel that n for Lata is a greater number than n for Asha!)
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Tambi Dude
January 27, 2009
Raj, you are free to put your POV like music of film A is not as good as film B. that’s personal opinion and we can leave it at that. But when one takes a swipe at the whole industry (like you did above) it is a different matter. More so when viewed in the context of your incessant anti bollywood or bollywood personality remarks.
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Shalini
January 27, 2009
Sorry to gang-up on you, Raj, but as you yourself note, “anecdotal evidence” is a very shaky base to build a case on. It’s also an invitation to an unending loop of counter-examples. For instance, I could cite “kuhu kuhu bole koyalia” or “gori tore nain” as examples of songs where the two sisters leave Rafi in the dust.:-) This game could go on forever with no consensus or conclusion reached.
BR – interesting that you picked “tu chanda main chandini” to highlight Lata’s greatness.:-)
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raj
January 27, 2009
Shalini, feel free to gang up against me :-). Agree on Kuhu Kuhu. But the basic point I make is the way Bollywood makes it seem today, Lata and Asha are way above Mohd Rafi. If I am not wrong, you and Aditya made statements in as many words sometime back. That is not fair at all. Lata’s best years were atleast 30-35 years back. She just has the good fortune of being alive and being tolerated for 30-35 years more. Rafi et al were unfortunate in one sense that they passed away too early so the legend couldnt build as much as Mangeshkars, and fortunate in another sense that they werent exposed in their old age, which would have taken away notches from their legend, as it has done for me w.r.t Mangeshkar sisters. But thats just me – a large part of the country lazily assumes that Mangeshkar’s contribution to film music in India is WAY ABOVE others(how do I assume this – well there hasnt been protests on her Bharat Ratna right? 🙂 ). That is grossly unfair to legends like Sr Burman, Salilda, Rafi himself, Ilaiyaraja, SPB, MSV, P Suseela, Ghantasala, not to mention KJ Yesudoss, Devarajan master and others in Malayalam. I am not so sure but Naushad probably can be added to that list. So, again the point boils down to “if someone is Level n in Bollywood, they are hyped to be Level n+1 or n+2”. Certainly, that is true of the Mangeshkar sisters
TD, as I see it, I dont agree with you that it is okay to take potshots at a particular film but not a whole industry. BTW, I am not taking potshots at Bollywood but Bollywood hype. You didnt find me sneakily dismissing Rajat Kapoor in the Mithya Review of BR. You didnt find me dissing A Wednesday or Naseeruddin Shah(for anything ever!) or Aamir(the movie). You didnt find me dissing Irfan Khan, or Konkona Sen Sharma or Omkara. You did find me dismissing Rishi Kappoor(with a snigger, remember), Anil Kappoor, Ranbir Kappoor and the alleged “best thing since sliced bread” Imran Khan.
If I think Shahrukh and Aamir are overrated, if you view it objectively, you can agree – not because they arent talented but because howsoever talented they are, they get more hype than they deserve. I explained this earlier, too.
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raj
January 27, 2009
Ok, BR, here’s something from your pending assignments list:
Vijay said in one of his comments:
“As an aside, why dont you list movies that you have disliked despite them being critically acclaimed”
Baradwaj Rangan replied:
““As I mentioned in my comment to Vijay, I’ve already earmarked that suggestion for a future Between Reviews column.”
Also, the BGM piece. I will keep reminding about that until I die or until you write it 🙂
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Aditya Pant
January 27, 2009
Shalini – Remember exactly a year ago, we had a similar discussion? 🙂
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Aditya Pant
January 27, 2009
Raj: Go back to a similar discussion a year back and you will find that neither Shalini nor I made any statement to the effect of Lata and Asha being “way above” Rafi.
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raj
January 27, 2009
Something along the lines of “Lata’s contribution is way above others’ to indian film music”
Now, who wants to deny that they made a statement to that effect?
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Anand
January 27, 2009
BR: The timing of R2 is such that the Pdama awards are announced now- it had led to another of your post being hijacked 🙂
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raj
January 28, 2009
“All I said was that Lata’s contribution to Indian Film Music exceeds anyone else’”
Does the person who made this statement want to own up? If not, I will post who it is 2 days later.
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raj
January 28, 2009
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=zHd-uQz7j44&feature=channel_page
Baradwaj, here’s IR talking about folk music prior to his entry in TFM. While I agere that his rustic voice brings a special quality to the ‘villageness’ of his ‘village’ songs, here’s the man himself talking about pre-IR folk music usage in TFM. Also, much more.
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Santosh Kumar T K
January 29, 2009
BR,
Since all the comments on your blog are moderated, don’t you feel the need to cull out those comments that are not related to the subject of the post. I wish to add that these comments are of great value by themselves, make no mistake about that, but add NO value to the actual post. The lack of any substance in the movie being discussed (in this case Raaz)should actually not qualify the need for “other” comments at all.
If not, isn’t it a time waste for those who religiously come back to this site expecting newer comments and newer perspectives no matter how trash-worthy the movie is?! It is high time, the other readers are respected. Come to think of it almost every music related post of yours eventually turns into an IR propaganda. Not that IR requires any by any distance, but this frequent mess drives people up the wall, and I am on the ceiling right now. How many more posts will be hijacked? Why not have one final definitive war on one dedicated post so that other articles will be free from these incessant battles?! There will be a thousand comments then but at least they will all be related to the actual post there. It would really make it easy for us to decide, whether to read on or give it a miss.
Don’t we deserve better?
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Manoj
January 29, 2009
Anyone who knows music and is unbiased knows that Rafi is/was miles ahead of Lata, Asha, Kishore, and other Bollywood singers. No amount of media propaganda can change the mere facts. Just the body of work that he has left behind speaks for itself.
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Shalini
January 29, 2009
I don’t want to derail this post further, so I’ll just make a quick and final comment on the topic of Lata Mangeshkar. In my personal opinion, Lata has a unique place in Hindi film music and I certainly believe that her contribution to HFM exceeds that of any other HFM singer. The basis of this belief is that Lata changed the *sound* of HFM. She was a paradigm shift in the “voice” of the “Hindi film Heroine.” As talented as they were, the legendary male playback singers like Rafi, Kishore, Mukesh, etc. didn’t herald a revolution in HFM.
Okay, I’m done with this topic.:-)
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brangan
January 29, 2009
Santosh Kumar T K: The only moderation that is done here is to ensure that things are kept at a civilised level. Beyond that, if commenters wish to digress, there’s nothing I can do about it — though I do understand where you’re coming from. Besides, if I start setting rules for what people can talk about and what they can’t, moderating those conversations will become extremely difficult.
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Anand
January 29, 2009
Santosh Kumar: Even in official meetings, where an agenda is set, digression happens. IMO, a blog is like a discussion between a group of friends, where there is no control at all. Sorry dude, you are expecting too much out of us 🙂
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hari ohm
January 29, 2009
Rahman to perform in oscars – http://www.musicindiaonline.com/n/i/top_stories/2842/
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Pradyumna M
January 29, 2009
Looks like product placement is out and self referencing is in these days in Bollywood no wonder almost every director is doing it frequently these days be it Rock on!!,Dostana,CC2C or now Raaz-The mystery continues.Though I think it was subtle in Rock On!! and Raaz while compared to the other two..
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Tambi Dude
January 29, 2009
I agree fully with Shalini’s message # 44.
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raj
January 30, 2009
Just for the record, the person who then said that Lata’s contribution is bigger than anyone else’s and now says he never said Lata is better than others is none other than our Aditya Pant. However, I contradict myself sometimes so I do recognise his inalienable right to change his stance. So, as I see it, Aditya, you are not sticking to your earlier stance now?
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Vikas Bhargava
January 30, 2009
Hmm, I sometimes feel your expectations about a film cloud over your ultimate impressions of a movie. Of course its a natural thing for anyone to do but usually it results in unnecessary hair splitting over a decent film like TZP or Slumdog or unnecessary euphoria over an average film like Raaz.
But I think it would be just me who expect more of “cinematic” virtues and experiences in a review rather than anything else.
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Aditya Pant
January 30, 2009
Raj: you don’t get it, do you? Here’s what I had said earlier.
“Looks like we’re mis-reading each other’s views because of our own personal beliefs and biases. Not for once did I say that lata is “superior” to anyone else nor did I deify her. I strongly believe that in the field of Arts there is nothing like a numero uno. I also did not dismiss any other “giant” of Indian Music. If I honestly want to rate people on the basis of their singing alone, I would also rate Rafi and Sehgal higher than Lata. All I said was that Lata’s contribution to Indian Film Music exceeds anyone else’s and hence she deserved the Bharat Ratna. Clearly, you disagree with that and I respect your opinion.
In the field of Arts there are many exceptional people and it is difficult to pick one as superior to another. So if one person gets an award there will always be a number of equally deserving candidates – that’s the reality of ANY award. If you really look at the list of Bharat Ratna receipients, it is fairly evident that it is mostly politically motivated. I believe that if there have been instances of this award being given to people from the fields of Arts and Sciences I would rather celebrate it than get into arguments about who deserves it more.”
If you still feel I’m contradicting myself, so be it!
End of discussion from my side. If you want to continue, you’re free to come to my blog. there are plenty of Lata related posts there for you to rip apart!
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Kiruba
January 31, 2009
BR, as if Kumar Sanu was not enough, the awards committee also honoured Vivek with a Padmasri!! This is all the more stupid when you consider someone like Nagesh was not considered at all anytime.
Hope you’ll write your thoughts abt this legendary actor soon.
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brangan
January 31, 2009
Kiruba: And this legendary actor just passed away.
May he rest in peace, and thanks for all the decades of laughs.
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KPV Balaji
January 31, 2009
BR: Sir expecting an article about Nagesh soon. Its an irreplacable loss. Rest in peace.
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Hari
February 1, 2009
I am shocked to read this, I still remember reading an interview of his in ‘the hindu’ last year accompanying images of him engaged in his various antics.
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raj
February 1, 2009
Aditya, apologies. I hadnt noticed the full paragraph you quoted here before. I was stuck up on the blanket Lata has contributed more statement. Fine. My mistake.
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