Raaz - The Mystery Continues --- Music Review

The sequel of yet another film is going to hit the cinema halls pretty soon and this time it is a sequel or should I must say a film in the Raaz series . Raaz if you remember brought back the trend of Horrors and Thrillers in the industry and then followed films like Bhoot,Darna Mana Hai,Saya,Krishna Cottege,Nazar, etc. etc. that all had some supernatural element in it . Raaz was more of a sleeper hit and no one expected a film with the likes of Dino and Bipasha to do well . This time round though the situation is completely different and it is Bhatt camp’s favourites Emraan Hashmi and Kangna Ranaut that are sharing the screen space trying to send a chill down your spine . The director is also different with Mohit Suri in the seat instead of Vikram Bhatt . Vikram Bhatt in any case hasn’t given many hits in his career of 22 films . Though he recently tasted succes with 1920 . One thing that I am expecting out of Mohit Suri is a good original film that need not necessarily be a classic in the genre . I liked his last attempt Aawarapan and he certainly made Emran to act for a change instead of making out with the female lead.

Lets talk a little about the soundtrack and looking at the album it looks like the trend of getting music for each song from different composers is catching on rapidly . The album has Five Original tracks along with three remixes and there are around four different music directors that feature on the album . The first track is ” Maahi ” which is already on air . The lyrics on this one are by “Jiya Dhadak Dhadak ” fame Sayeed Quadri and he does a fairly good job on this one also . Music is by Sharib-Toshi who do a decent job themselves . They have given it a very basic tune and the lyrics along with that tune are good enough to carry the song . This song may not get as hit as the other songs of Emran Hashmi have got in past but certainly would get popular . Toshi the singer also does a decent job and his voice gives a different feel to the song . Overall , it is a nice track that might get much more popular in the coming days .

Next comes “Soniyo” by Raaju . It is also a very simple track and has nothing so new about it that would make it an instant hit . But this doesn’t mean that the song is not good . It has some nice lyrics by Kumaar and vocals by Sonu , Shreya and Neeraj . Sometimes simple tracks get a lot more popular than the others . The track starts off with some nice english singing by Neeraj and slowly Sonu takes over . Then it is Sonu for most of the part yet Shreya and Neeraj support him beautifully . The lyrics by Kumaar have a nice romantic feel to them but I felt that the music composition could have been much better . Still , it is a nice simple romantic track that would be liked by all .

The third track on the album is “O Jaana” is more of a commercial track so a little different than the previous two . Though it is commercial yet it is different . Different because usually commercial tracks don’t really have good lyrics and this one on the contrary has good lyrics . Music is by Raju Singh who does a decent job and doesn’t spoil the good lyrics by giving it a fancy tune or experimenting with it . The lyrics on this one are again by Sayeed and he does a good job again . KK gives in nice vocals like always and overall it is a fun track with some nice content .

Next comes in the Title track “Kaisa Ye Raaz hai” which again has slower tempo like the first two songs and it interestingly has a little rock music sort of feel in it . And since no one sings rock songs better than KK in the film music scene , he does the job effortlessly and in a nice manner . Sayeed writes an average song and the music by Pranay Riijia is also quite average . Some of the Piano based pieces in the begining and in between sound quite mysterious and haunting . These pieces would be very much a part of the Background score. Overall , the song is so so and would probably be liked by KK fans and would certainly make much more sense in the film along with the story line .

Last original track on the soundtrack is “Bandaa Re” which is again more of a Film oriented track and has all those spooky mantra chants , thunder sounds and other such elements to give it a little eerie feel . The lyrics by Gourav Dasgupta in this one are below average and not good as compared to the other songs . The lyrics don’t provide much to the song and neither does the music . The music is also just good enough and would sound better in a cinema hall rather than at your home . This song might hinder the pace of the film a little bit considering it is a five minute track with nothing much to offer . The song would become a disaster and a final nail in the coffin if the screenplay is a little weak and slow . The vocals by Krishna are good but he sings in almost Kailash Kher style and we don’t need one more Kailash , happy with one .

Then comes another version of Soniyo which is labeled as “Soniyo - From the heart” on the album . This one makes my point even more stronger that we don’t need another Kailash . Krishna gives vocals on this one straight from Kailash Kher’s heart . Jokes apart , Krishna is a good singer no doubt but he needs to change his style a bit or else he would get lost somewhere as a copy of Kailash Kher . I liked this one also but I would still prefer the original one .

Then comes a Rock version of Maahi which would be surely made into a promotional music video featuring Emran acting as a rock star . Well this is just a guess but not a wild one and I am positively expecting a music video to soon hit the music channels . This version is also by Toshi and this pne sounds better than the original one . The rock like music that has been composed by Sharib n Toshi is good and it doesn’t feel like the rock version has been made just for the sake of increasing the songs on the album . The song is bound to get popular among the youth which after Rock On expects a rock song in each album . But still , I felt that the tune feels a lot inspired from the western rock songs and I am still waiting for that perfect purely Indian rock song that I didn’t even find in Rock On . Toshi has a voice for such songs and we can expect many such songs coming from him in future .

The last track is a remix of O jaana by DJ Suketu and is labeled as “dance with me mix”. So it is a track that is good for discos etc. and DJ Suketu has done a good job on this one . He is not one of those DJs that add extra bass beats and increase the tempo and label it as a remix . He adds a lot more to the remix and gives it a different feel than the original one .

Overall , it is a good album with almost all the songs being worth listening once . Apart from Banda Re and the title track almost all songs are good enough to make the soundtrack worth buying .

Album Rating : Three and a Half out of Five Stars ; Good songs with not many experiments .

Fashion --- Movie Review

First things first , I am not too much into Fashion nor have I ever attended a fashion show . Still as an outsider I have a perception about Fashion Industry and that perception has been developed only through what I have seen and read in movies and on television . So this review is a comparison of my personal perception of the fashion world and what Madhur has shown in his film .

There is no doubt that Madhur is amongst the best film makers in our country and he has always made some meaningful cinema , mixing facts with fiction . Now what I don't like is the fact that he sometimes fictionalizes more rather than showing the actual truth which in a way makes a very wrong impression of a certain profession on the minds of general people . He has been given a Tag of a person who makes Realistic cinema by the "media" which itself mixes fact with fiction everyday and serves it to the general people . The question is just how much is enough ? Here Madhur is somewhat different from media in general which is just overdoing the sensationalising of news . Madhur brings out a blend which is fictitious enough so that general audience pays a little heed to the point he is making . His cinema can be best called as a "Realistic cum Commercial" cinema .

He has picked some four or five incidences out of the fashion industry and made a film out of it by adding some amount of fiction to it . The problem is that the 4-5 incidences based on which he has made the film are just a one off incidences and are not a regulation in the fashion world and this is what I believe which may be wrong . The biggest thing to note here is that first of all Fashion industry in India is not big enough and nobody cares who the model is in India unless it is a bollywood celeb . The trend though is catching on fast and may be in future we might see a full fledged Industry with a higher presence . The Fashion that is there presently is just limited to Delhi and Mumbai and rest of the people don't care that much about the brands . Still , this film can serve as a great Eye Opener for all the girls that aspire to become a Model and would think twice before taking any wrong decision that could ruin their life .

The fashion industry has always been Women's forte and even this film is very Women centric . Most of the strong characters are female and men are there just playing the supporting characters . But the message that the film sends out applies to all the people , that it is not easy to earn some name and fame in any Industry . You need a lot of Mental Strength rather than the physical to reach the top is what this film shows .

It has been seen in History and also said by many people that when one person rises there is one more that falls along with his/her rise . This is the concept that Madhur has used in his film and it is Priyanka that rises and Kangana that falls . The whole process of falling down is faced by Priyanka also later and she has the mettle to balance herself and regain her position whereas Kangana never makes it again . During the entire story the various steps of any modelling career have been shown by Madhur in an accurate manner but it is the first half of the film that stands out . The first half is very tight and the story moves at a fine pace in the first the half . It is in fact so strong that viewer in a way feels that he has almost seen a film in the first half itself . This point is a positive and a negative in itself . The audience expects an another similar second half but here Madhur fails to an extent and gives a little slow and loose second half . He should have instead cut down the length of the film and made an almost perfect product .

There is a part of the film that also talks about Homosexuality in a serious tone but it also makes fun of it largely which is not so responsible on Madhur's part . But he has shown the truth , in a good or bad way , doesn't matter . All the things that are behind the glamour is what Madhur has focussed on but he has done so with a microscope and picked out something that may not be true in all situations . The stakes are not that high in present situation in Fashion industry contrary to what Madhur has shown in his film . Fashion Industry has always been restricted to a few set of people in India and it still doesn't get enough Media coverage . Though the coverage has increased over past few years it is still restricted to Half Hour specials on News Channels which focus more on Bollywood celebs and that too only in fashion weeks .

Talking of performances , Priyanka gives a fine performance as a model and she represents herself as an upcoming model quite efficiently on screen . Priyanka will feel nice considering few of her recent films were quite a dull affair . She did look like a model rather than a film star and also pulled it off quite naturally . The thing that struck me most was the way Kangna did her role , the crazy part would have been easy for her since she has done such roles earlier also but the modelling part was what surprised me . She worked quite a lot on her modelling skills and she did look like a model . Her character though was a stereotype character and didn't move me that much because everything was very much predictable of her character . In fact the whole film is pretty much predictable and Madhur hasn't shown some secret thing that might blow your mind . Any aware person would know all the things that are shown in the film and it would appeal only to a lay man more . Mugdha Godse had the third most prominent female character and she also acted very well considering it was her first time . The other characters were also played by some fine actors like Kitu Gidwani , Arbaaz and Sameer Soni who do a great job anyways . Harsh Chhaya is one of my favourite actors and he does a very small but a fabulous role as a designer .

The cinematography is good but nothing extraordinary and the art direction is also good . They have shown some of the finest ramps on screen . The extra models were also prominent ones and they also make the whole modeling scenario look quite professional . The direction and script of Madhur were good but not that good . The screenplay is quite loose of the second half and it spoils the show to an extent . Its good that the Producers UTV invested a good sum of money for this film else it would have turned out pretty bad on smaller scale . Madhur does manage to show a more fictional rather than real fashion world but he doesn't over do it which makes it watchable even for a niche audience . Some of things in the film did resemble from some of the sequences in films and TV series of west that surrounded the Fashion industry .

Overall , the film is a good enough to be watched once and a change from the usual films that we see .The second half is little slow yet watchable . Nothing in it makes it a national award wining film but it still might get a critics award in some of the other awards . I don't know what industry is left for Madhur to explore since he has done all of them except underworld which his Guru , RGV, has done so many times and probably in a much much better way . He still can make a film on Politics which is also a Industry in itself more than national service . But I've heard that Prakash Jha is making a film called "Rajniti" so probably Madhur would have to look for some other industry in the economic times . Madhur if you are reading this , I like your Direction very much and I would love to see a Murder Mystery coming out from you ..I think you might pull off a classic in that genre.

Movie Rating : Three and Half out of Five ; for the fantastic first half and great acting performances .

Trailer Review --- Chandni Chowk To China and Fashion

The first teaser trailers of two upcoming movies of the year , Chandni Chowk to China (CC2C) and Fashion are out now and both the trailers show a glimpse of a promising film , one being pure entertainer and other being made for the classes . CC2C is Directed by Nikhil Advani who gave us films like Kal Ho Na Ho and Salaam-e-Ishq , both being mega-budget entertainers and Fashion is by National Award wining director who gave powerful films like Page 3 and Chandni Bar . CC2C is one of the most awaited and mega releases of the year so we'll talk about it first .

CC2C as the name suggests is a film with two cultures and the two most rapidly growing nations China and India . The film is the first ever production of Warner Bros. in India who are one of the Biggest name in Entertainment Sector Internationally . The film Starr's Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone who are looking very different in the rushes and in a pleasing manner . The teaser starts off with two Chinese explaining something to Akshay in Chinese which he doesn't understand and gives a funny look which at once makes one thing clear that this one would be a comic entertainer with lot of jokes on Cultural Differences . Then starts off a series fast moving scenes from the film showing the rest of the cast and also some of the action sequences in the film . The teaser also features Ranvir Shorey and Mithun Chakraborty who also look very much Chinese along with deepika who is looking the best among all . Deepika is also shown doing some stunts so it won't be Akshay alone who would be doing the Martial Arts moves . The martial arts choreography is by Huan-Chiu Ku who has worked on films like Kill Bill and Lethal Weapon etc. in Hollywood . So it looks like we will get to see Akshay in his real avatar on-screen for the first time . The teaser also has a great music piece playing in the background which is a fusion of Hindi and Chinese Music which makes it sound even better . The movie is releasing around Diwali and it looks like the film will definitely have some fireworks for the audiences .

Overall , the teaser is a must watch and it has been attached with Dark Knight (which is a fabulous movie) or you can check the trailer at the official website of the film :
http://cc2c-thefilm.com . Watch out the trailer and leave your comments here on it .

Talking a little about the film , it has a budget of around 50 Crores so the quality of Production would definately be high . The film surrounds a cook from India which is played by Akshay who is mistaken as a re-incarnation of an ancient peasant warrior Liu Shengh by Chinese people . The story looks quite interesting and it has been written by Sridhar Raghavan who has earlier written film like Bluffmaster and Khaaki . Deepika plays a double role in the film , most probably one would be Chinese and other being Indian . She has been given a fantastic make-over which is visible in the teaser . Looking forward to a smash hit this Diwali . I hope it turns out to be full entertainer and better than Nikhil's last attempt .



Now lets talk a little about the trailer of Fashion which Starr's Priyanka Chopra and Kangna Ranaut . The trailer shows shows a glimpse into the Fashion world and the film will try to show whats behind the Glamour of the Fashion world . Madhur is known to make Women centric films and his films have Strong female characters . Fashion is Bhandarkar's most ambitious project with an estimated budget of 22 Crores .

The teaser starts off with a line which says that in Fashion World one has to give up more than one's Morals . The teaser shows Priyanka who is a wannabe Supermodel and Kangna Ranout who is already a supermodel showing their Modelling skills . Priyanka is from a modelling background so she knows a little about it so she would do some justice to her role and Kangna is a fabulous actor . Though she has no Modelling background but still she might end up acting better than Priyanka . I've seen Directors having an edge towards Darker characters and they sometimes make them even better than the Positive Characters . The film will show the fight between an established model and a rising model and the Game behind it .

The teaser has fabulous background music which is a typical Fashion Show music used brilliantly and the scenes also show the glamour of the fashion world . The teaser ends with Priyanka saying that you never know what can happen in Fashion World . The trailer definitely leaves its mark on the viewer quite strong and it does look like a promising film .

Ronnie Screwvala (UTV) is the Producer of the film and he has spend a good amount on the film . They are planning to release around 1000 prints of the film which makes it a big release of the Year . The movie looks good one and might turn out to be a surprise hit of the year like Page 3 did .

Check out the trailer at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHp89J6gaxg