The Good ol' Music Videos

First Published on Passion4Cinema

There was a flurry of pop songs and music videos during the 90's and some of them were really great . The thing that surprised me was the production standards that were maintained in those videos which were much higher than the movies of those times . Some of them had a nice story to tell and it worked fine with the music . There was no lack of creativity and they could be considered as nice short films . So I went down my memory lane and tried to recall some of those music videos that were both creative and visually interesting . Here's a list of them (in no specific order) ...

Vande Matram (A.R. Rehman) : This video produced by Bharatbala productions celebrating the 50th anniversary of Indian Independence did more for Rehman than what his film scores before together could do . This video gained him immense popularity and he became a known face from Music Industry which was a rarity in those days . I remember vividly that Sony Entertainment Television (SET) was the only channel where you could catch it initially and they ran it at full length several times a day . The song was great anyways but what added to its phenomenon was the video directed by Ganpathy Bharat (AKA Bharat Bala) who showed the spirit of India in a splendid way . Rajasthan never looked so beautiful as it did in this video and production standards were way high than the movies of those days . The huge Tricolor in the video made us feel more proud of the nation we live in . I was personally fascinated with the Helicopter shot of the flag and people running towards the flag . This video left everybody saying "Maa Tujhe Salaam" .

O sanam (Lucky Ali): This was the first of many Lucky Ali videos that feature on this list . Probably the first video ever to be shot in the exotic locales of Egypt around the Pyramids . I have no idea who directed lucky ali's videos but all of them had a great concept that very well matched with the songs and Lucky Ali's persona . This video also had Lucky's first wife in it who looked very beautiful . The video had an element of mystery and probably Egypt was the best location for this . This video became immensely popular and ran on MTV's charts for 60 weeks .
Lucky Ali also got popular and his different style of singing and video became an instant hit .

Dekha Hai Aise Bhi (Lucky Ali): If O Sanam captured the mystique of Egypt , the video of Dekha Hai Aise Bhi captured the life of America in it . Lucky Ali is a wanderer by nature and this was quite evident in this video . The concept in this one again was a bit different and had a nice little story in it . The video tried to show the two different shades of women in it . Lucky always featured himself in his videos and in my opinion nobody else could have done justice to the videos apart from him . There is always an element of sadness and loneliness in his videos which makes them very different from usual stuff and also leaves a lasting impression .

Aur Ahista kije Baatein (Pankaj Udhas): A very beautiful song and had nice simple video which added to the beauty of the song . The video was based on the famous short story of O. Henry , "The Gift of Magi" , that we all have read in our school days . It featured Sameera Reddy and a foreigner along with her . The video was pretty simple but what worked was the chemistry between Sameera and that guy and made this romantic song even more romantic . Sameera looked really beautiful and got a lot of attention . The beauty of the video lies in its simplicity and its story which very well matched with the song .

Aankhon Mein Tera hi Chehra (Aryans) : This video captured the innocence of first crush really well . This one released alongside my first crush so came very close to my heart in those days . Hrishita became my dream girl and her smile killed me . The whole concept here was also beautiful and Shahid very well enacted it . Shahid looked good as a nervous young kid who falls for the girl next door . And Hrishita was the perfect girl next door . The whole sequence where he buys a nighty for her from the lingerie section was very funny and also cute in a way . The video not only reminds us of first crush but also of first heart break very well . Aryans got lost somewhere but their video is an all time classic .

Duba Duba Rehta Hun (Silk Route) : This is probably the only music video to be shot entirely under water . I couldn't quite figure out the concept but still loved its novelty . The video was shot really beautifully and the images of the car under water are still strong in my head . The silk route also got drowned after this hit song and never came back with a hit . Overall , the video was more beautiful than the song and had a very different concept . Whoever the Director was needed to be applauded for daring to go under water with this crazy concept .

Made in India (Alisha Chinoy) : Well this is the reason why music videos came into existence in India and I had to mention it . For the first time , India got a Sexy and beautiful female singer who also sung very well . If she proved an eye candy for the guys , the video also had Milind Soman flaunting his body for the girls . The video released when "Made In India" tag was considered to be a substandard . Alisha's dream of becoming an Indian Madonna got some ground through this video and she became quite popular . Most of her other videos were good but none became as popular as this one .

Maaeri (Euphoria) : This song from the second album of Euphoria is one my favourites and it also has one of the best videos . I am not sure but I think Pradeep Sarkar (of Parineeta) directed this video and he did a fine job with it . Pradeep has a thing for trains and this video very beautifully captured the spirit of Indian Railways . The Railway Journey is one of the most beautiful ways to experience the real India and Railway stations always provide with some beautiful scenes from life . The video also had a nice story to tell with Palash and Rimi Sen in the lead . This was probably the first break for Rimi Sen and she looked good along with Palash . There's a girl towards the end of this video , Sonal Sehgal , who I really adore and soon she would also be seen on screen along with John Abraham in Nagesh Kukunoor's Aashaiyen . Overall , both the song and the video are great and one of my all time favourites .

Ghar Aaja Soniya (Shazia Manzoor) : I am not sure how many of you remember this one but this was a beautiful song in my opinion and had a really sentimental video . The whole story of the video was fabulous and touches your heart . Our heart goes out for the beautiful girl in this video who is dumb and deaf and loves her husband very much . Shrabani Mukherji who is also cousin of Rani Mukherjee played the girl and she did a great job . Sameer Soni was her husband in the video and he also acted well . The music of this song had a haunting feel to it and Shurobi Saigal who directed the video captured that feel well in the video . This video , though a sad one , still is one of the all time best . Strangely, despite such a beautiful song neither of the associated people made it big in the glamour world .

Dil Kya Kare (Instant Karma): Though this was a remixed version of old hit song but still it is not of the "Kaanta Laga" league and had some standard . This one sung by Shaan had a beautifully shot video which made a nice use of still photography too . The video was one of its kind and the level of production was again quite high . The cinematography of this video was a real visual treat and it became an instant hit . Both the models in this video were great looking and added to the beauty of the video . The music was by Shankar Ehsaan Loy and they really did a fabulous job in remixing yet preserving the originality of the song .

Ir Bir Fatte (Amitabh Bachchan) : The song didn't make much of a sense but as a young kid I loved the song and so did my fellow friends . I remember trying to memorise the song because of its fun lyrics . Though it was a disaster , the video still was interesting enough to be mentioned here . Amitabh tried to show some of his moves in this video along with the kids . Shot mostly in Black and White it still looked good and was a fun video for me as a kid . I tried to find this video on internet but couldn't get it .

Anjani Rahon Mein (Luck Ali) : Another of Lucky Ali's great videos , this one captures his journey back home and shows the beauty of India . This video is like "Mini Swades" and tries to show the real India and how people of India value love more than anything . The whole concept here also was great but the cinematography wasn't as good as it was in his previous videos . The Director should have shown India in a more beautiful way . Still , what mattered was the concept and that part was good . The video aimed at projecting the love for our nation and that came across quite well . I miss Lucky Ali and his videos , don't know when he plans to make another one of these .

These are some of the videos that I could recall and there were several others by Raageshwari , Asha Bhosle , Jagjit Singh and Sonu Nigam etc. which were also good . I really miss these videos and now the whole Pop scene is empty . We now only get to see and hear film music . These videos were nice little stories and also gave singer a chance to show what he/she feels . The music companies are not interested in dong this any more when they are making such huge profits with film music . I can say that I was lucky to grow in a period when pop music was at its high and got to see such beautiful videos while growing .

There's a good chance that I might have missed some in this list so do tell me ...

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna --- Movie Review

I've finally watched Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna almost two years after its release and the first thing I thought was that why didn't I watch it earlier . Strangely this is a film that I always wanted to watch but somehow I just couldn't but I think things happen for good . The film is definitely for a mature audience and I can say that though I would have liked it if I had seen it back then but probably I liked it even more today since I am a bit more mature than what I was two years ago . And I am sure as I would grow old this film might come even more close to my heart . I know there are very few people who would actually agree with me and going by the IMDB ratings of just 5 out of 10 based on some 3000 odd user votes , I am sure I am on the wrong side or probably the right one .

When it comes to relationships there is probably no one better than KJo who shows them on screen and though his films are always type-casted as "Candy-Floss Entertainment" and several other such Media terms but the truth is that his films have always had a good story to tell . So what if his style of story-telling is a bit larger than life .KANK in my opinion is not at all larger than life . What I mean to say is that the basic story of the film is not at all larger than life . It can happen anywhere in this whole world . A "Sexy Sam" might be a bit larger than life but an emotional father who pretends to be happy and live life to the max is not at all larger than life . In similar manner all other characters are very much real and its just that their packaging is a bit glossy which probably makes it feel a bit unreal . But I won't blame Karan for this , I mean despite the characters being "interesting" the audience didn't like them . Imagine what would have happened if they would have been very simple and quite boring .

Talking of film , the first half of the film is quite entertaining and is nicely paced . It introduces the characters and their lives in an entertaining way and also shows the nature of the relationships between them .This film is very different from Karan's prior work and there are no Emotional Dialogues and Melodrama for majority of the film's part . One thing that struck me in a pleasant way were the dialogues which were quite ordinary and there was no use of a very heavy Vocabulary . I almost felt like I've heard such dialogues in daily life . The verbal arguments amongst both the couples were kept pretty short and mature and there was no excessive screaming and "Rona-Dhona" . The film was kept as less dramatised as possible . The first half has some nice comic sequences which provide some nice light hearted entertainment along with some beautiful and rocking numbers . The film strangely comes from Karan who is still a bachelor and he for sure has seen some similar relationships in real life and probably very closely . The way he handled the entire Infidelity issue in a mature way shows that he has got a very close view to similar relations .

The film has almost a perfect cast with every actor very well suiting his/her character . SRK's portrayal of a frustrated and a bit crazy "Dev" is really worth praising . His craziness though looks a bit nasty but has an element of Honesty all through out which makes it something special .SRK very well enacts a guy who is frustrated because both his Dreams and Relationships are shattered and weak . SRK very well understood the mood of the character and portrayed it in a great way . All other actors were perfect in their roles and even the small kid of SRK and Preity was cute and acted well .

The final part of the film which didn't quite went down well amongst the majority of audience , in my opinion , is quite apt and is again a mature one . The audience just needs to understand the point of view of Karan on the whole issue of relationships and if one can understand that , I am sure he/she would like the film . This film though got famous because it talked of Infidelity but I think that more than infidelity the film talks more about relationships and how they should be .One can learn so much about relationships from this film .It is quite a modern take on institution of Marraige and Karan puts forth his point very well with no sugarcoating . Strangely when commercial actors do a slightly different and an honest film like this one it is not appreciated at all . Again , Karan was criticised that he always makes family films then why did he make such a film . If you ask me it is still a family film for any family living in a metro . The adult humour is not at all vulgar and if you have a modern family you can certainly watch it together .

The cinematography of the film is also good and New York Life has been shown in a beautiful way . The music of the film adds so much to the film and it is one of the albums that impresses me all throughout . The Dialogues by Niranjan Iyenger as I said earlier were very daily conversation types and that also added to the beauty of the film . The film has a gloomy and depressive feel all throughout in its underbelly and ironically it represents all those relations which look all happy and perfect from outside but have a lot going on beneath the surface . Karan has written a fine story and along with Shibani Bhatija he has done a good job on screenplay too . The film talks about relationship issues which we Indians mostly prefer to discuss only in hush tones . Karan knows how to direct and there is no question about that . His style is a bit different and I think he should not be undermined by classifying him and his films into various various categories .

Overall , its a real nice film and probably Karan's best work till date . The film needs to be appreciated for its honesty and maturity . I hope Karan feels the same way for his next film as he did for this one and that one is also as honest as this one . The stars also need to be appreciated for standing by Karan to make such a film and they should do more such films .

Film Rating : Four out of Five ; for its honesty and good story .