Music release of J. P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan - III

In comparison (very unfairly though), Aishwarya Rai is not even a patch on Rekha. I know that she’s the most beautiful woman on this planet (an oft used expression for Aishwarya Rai) and that she’s the most recognizable Indian faces on the world stage and all that rubbish. However, personally I don’t rate Aishwarya Rai very highly, both in terms of looks as well as performance. But then that’s me and I may be in minority.

Another very irritating fact that I noted is that in all the interviews that Aishwarya Rai gave to the sound-byte-hungry news channels, she seemed to put on such a fake stiff upper lip accent and tried to sound extremely intelligent about her interpretation and take of role of Umrao Jaan in J. P. Dutta’s interpretation of Mirza Hadi Ruswa`s novel. It’s the best “most fake and pretentious” interview that I’ve heard in recent times.

Music release of J. P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan - II

The two songs that have been released don’t seem to be very impressive. The first song “Salaam” which is a solo song picturised on Aishwarya Rai and I think it’s sung by Alka Yagnik. There is another duet song that is already on air these days and it’s picturised on Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. I think it’s sung by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. Honestly, I wasn’t too impressed with either of the songs.

In all fairness, I must admit that when I hear the songs of J. P. Dutta’s Umrao Jaan, I invariably end up comparing it with the music of Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan which was composed by Khayyam which songs have been made deeply etched in my memory with the soulful voice of Asha Bhosle and the timeless Rekha.

Music release of J. P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan - I

Very recently, the music of J. P. Dutta’s Umrao Jaan was released on October 3, 2006 and the music videos of couple of songs from the movie have started appearing on television. The music of J. P. Dutta’s Umrao Jaan is by Anu Malik and lyrics are by Javed Akhtar.

Cannot resist but make the following observations.

According to the filmmaker J. P. Dutta and his lead actors, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, this film is not a remake of Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan that was released in the year 1981. According to J. P. Dutta, his film is based on Mirza Hadi Ruswa`s novel Umrao Jaan Ada, published in the year 1904 and was probably one of the first Urdu book that was ever printed and it is J. P. Dutta’s interpretation of the Ruswa’s novel.

Khosla Ka Ghosla - V

Coming back to Khosla Ka Ghosla, the movie however totally belongs to Anupam Kher. He has said in one of his interviews to a newspaper that he is grateful to one of his friends father on whom the character of Mr. Khosla was based. Anupam Kher is totally in his elements and evokes empathy from the viewers immediately upon his entry on the screen. Right from his dialogue delivery to his body language, each and every way, Anupam Kher is your regular simple service class man who is meek and timid and can be easily bullied by somebody. His love for his kids especially Parvin Dabas, his concern for his family and his wish to build a big family mansion in the plush South Delhi locality are all very sweet.

All in all, I thought the movie was pretty good if you go by the normal parameters of judging a film i.e., simple story line, good story telling by the director, good performances in the film, not too long and above all, no melodrama or over the top acting. Check it out if you have not already!!!

Khosla Ka Ghosla - IV

Amongst the performers, Boman Irani as the builder Kishen Khurana is his usual self, brilliant! Although the length of his role is not great, but he does manage to pack a punch into the character of Khurana, especially with his mannerisms of threatening Mr. Khosla during their first meeting, his adjusting / scratching his crotch everytime he got out of the car, his weakness for women etc.

Parvin Dabas was decent and Tara Sharma needs to take serious (and immediate) course on dialogue delivery. Kiron Juneja was also endearing.

However the surprise packet of the film is Ranvir Shorey as the good for nothing older son of Mr. Khosla. His sincerity comes effortlessly on screen and his Punjabi dialogue delivery is first rate. Equally effective is Vinay Pathak as the visa agent (and one who was working for the builder Khurana and knows all about the tricks of his trade) is in good form as well. As an aside, these two talented actors, i.e., Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey are hilarious in a stand up comedy show on Star One called "The Comedy Show Ha Ha Ha" which was earlier known as The Great Indian Comedy Show. Sometimes the humour is flat but generally these guys are quite funny. If anyone of you has not seen them yet, I’d strongly recomment it. The show is aired from Monday to Wednesday at 10.30 pm on Star One.

Khosla Ka Ghosla - III

The movie is entertaining with good performances. Most importantly, the story and concept of the film is simple and the director has ensured that the script, screenplay and the narrative of the film also stay as simple. And he has managed to achieve this task, which it seems (looking at the movies that are being released these days) is something most of the directors are missing. Dibakaer Banerjee seems to be from the KISS school of film-making viz., Keep It Simple Sweety!!!! And the result is for everyone to see. From the reports in the media, the movie is doing good business although I don’t know the figures.

The USP of Khosla Ka Ghosla is that its characters are very real and believable and the bad experience that the Khosla family goes through could easily have been experienced by any one of us and we do indeed get to hear or read about these stories day in and day out. This is where the director Dibaker Banerjee may have struck a chord with the middle class.

Khosla Ka Ghosla - II

Mr. Khosla invests all the savings of his lifetime that he had accumulated over a period of thirty years, into a plot of land in plush South Delhi, where he wants to build a plush home for his family. However, he’s swindled by the broker through whom he buys the plot and the plot is now fraudulently encroached upon by the shark-like builder Kishren Khurana, played effortlessly by Boman Irani.

Thereafter, the builder Khurana asks Khosla to buy that plot of land for half the cost (which was paid by Khosla to buy the plot in the first place). The plot of the film is about how Khosla’s two sons, alongwith able assistance with some common friends and a visa agent, try to turn the tables onto Khurana and get back the plot by playing the same game as the builder Khurana.

Khosla Ka Ghosla - I

About two weeks back, I managed to see the small budget flick Khosla Ka Ghosla made by debutant Dibaker Banerjee and written by Jaideep Sahni. The ensemble star cast of the movie is being led by the experienced Anupam Kher alongiwth Boman Irani, Parvin Dabas, Ranvir Shorey, Tara Sharma, Vinay Pathak. The music of the film is by Bapi – Tutul and Dhruv Dhalla.

The premise of the movie is fairly straightforward and simple. Mr. Kamal Kishore Khosla played by Anupam Kher is a very simple-about to retire-service class man who is in his late 50’s and has two sons and a daughter and a nagging but loving wife. His older son is a high school drop out and the younger son (who is also Mr. Khosla’s favourite) is a software engineer who is on his way to the United States of America, much to his father’s disappointment.