My short tribute to Mrinal Sen

Here is the link to my tribute on Mrinalda:

Thus Leaves the Third Musketeer

 

Mrinalda you would be missed.

 

 

Wonder Woman-A Review

So after a lot of delay I finally got the chance to watch Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot in the titular role alongside Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis and others. This movie has the privilege of being the first superhero movie directed by a female director (Patty Jenkins). It is heralded as an embodiment of women empowerment and displaying female characters more than as a sex icon. For the moment let us look upon the movie as a cinematic work. But first of all I would like to clarify that I am not a reader of Wonder Woman comics so anything written in this review has been written from a stand-alone point of view.

The movie starts with Diana Prince reminiscing her formative years in the hidden city of Themyscira inhabited by the warrior women race of Amazon created by Zeus. Their prime objective is to protect humankind and also defeat Ares, the God of War, who was put down by Zeus himself for corrupting mankind and waging war among them. Ares shall rise again and wreak havoc and this time the duty befalls on the Amazonians who must defeat him with the help of ‘God Killer’, supposedly a bright shiny sword. Diana, alike her fellow Amazonians, trains hard in war craft much to the disgruntlement of her own mother, Queen Hippolyta who for some reason does not want her to face the hard side of mankind. All is fine till American spy Steve Trevors’ plane crashes into the sea. He is rescued by Diana. Through him the Amazonians come to know about the Great War to end it all and it is upon the moral duty of Diana, being an Amazonian, to end the war by killing Ares who she believes is the reason mankind is fighting. This ensues her journey to London and then to Germany and how she kills the God Ares.

Well, the story is pretty straightforward. There is a white character (by nature I mean) tugged against a dark villain. It is a fight of white vs black but only in the backdrop of grey. But who knows whether Ares really exists or not and man is the sole culprit to blame. But whether Ares turns out to be real or not there are other elements in the movie that makes Diana into a hero. For instance, she does not think for a second to venture into the No Men’s Land to save the village people. She is repeatedly forced against in doing so by Steve Trevor but nonetheless she enters into it. Spine of a hero, huh? The movie shows her evolving as a person. She is a rule breaker truth to be told. She does not adhere to what Steve says but we may forgive her for that saying what she did was follow her own heart and judgement.

 

In terms of power there is not much of a growth from the start to the end but what evolves is her own belief system. She believes that Ares is the only person responsible for the war only to be this belief shattered by Trevor that mankind might be the true Ares. It is the choice she makes that makes her a hero. She finds the little glim of light inside the dark mankind, despite experiencing all the destruction around her, is what we can expect from a hero. To this point I nod to the story. But the movie has its serious flaws as well.

 

Diana’s picture that Ares being the main baddy is shattered when Trevor confronts her from the point that what if Ares is does not exist and man is the real villain. This point looks exact and makes sense only to be killed by Ares appearing himself. So what does that mean? Humans are not to be blamed completely for the warfare or they are blamed with little accusation to Ares? And if Ares IS really the reason for the war, is killing him is the actual solution to the problem the world faces. The whole film centres on the point of man killing each other but only in the climax it shifts from the human mentality of greed and violence to the single entity i.e. killing Ares. Even if we suppose Ares seeded some ideas of destruction into the mind causing destruction, it still does not end the war.

So if we look at the big picture Ares was like a catalyst in a big chemical reaction. And just like eliminating a single catalyst does not end the chemical catastrophe, Wonder Woman’s killing the God of War bears tiniest change to the global scene. I am not saying killing Ares was insignificant to the story but watching in lieu of the rest of the movie it seriously shifts the focus to something else. In addition to that the one thing that really bothered me is the fight between the two Gods was so mortal. The guy who could not even be killed by Zeus was defeated in such a simple manner. They are Gods for god’s sake. They transcend from the mere physical dimension on what humans survive. And it also seems quite peculiar that Ares was hidden since such a long time amongst the same humans that he despises. I mean why he really lives as a human among the human since he can fulfil his purposes by flying invisible in the air whispering chemistry ideas to half-faced scientists.

But beside these flaws the whole movie is enjoyable and kind of refreshing in a sense that the humour unlike the MCU is put in at the right time and not at critical emotional scenes thus eroding them of their sentimental tempo. Chris Pine in his role as an imperfect man is really nice. They have not tried to show him as an always righteous perfect kind of guy which at times seems to happen in a female centric movie. David Thewlis unfortunately is not amusing in his role as Ares. There could be some more layers to his role.

The music is nicely integrated into the storyline which is at a balance. The action feels nice to the eyes except at times when the CGI of the fighting characters is too obvious. On this front DCEU needs more work.

Rating – 3.5/5

Verdict – Overall Wonder Woman is a nice movie to be enjoyed by both a feminist and a non-feminist alike. Superheroes are anyway above the confinement of gender.

1. If you are thinking I didn’t much say about Gal then she is already fabulous and really suits and does justice to the iconic character of Wonder Woman. Plus I am a big fan of hers

 

• A Review by Rim Pacific

 

 

Some Random Thoughts on Songs of 2014

So, 2014 is coming to an end. As usual, this year too, the factory known as Bollywood & indi-pop churned out its usual quota of songs. Some hit the mark, some didn’t. Here are my thoughts on some of them. Read at your own risk though. :D. And yes, Parental Guidance needed :p

Disclaimer- This post is meant to be taken in good humour. No offence is meant towards anyone or anything. This is simply for fun.

 

• A for aao re aao, B for Bhao na Khao, C se chillake gao, D se daro peete jao ( Yaariyan)

Why the hell were nursery classes sooooo boring in my childhood L  Today’s kids are soo lucky to have such beautiful nursery rhymes like this one from Yaariyan :p  Anyways this is a pretty cool way to store ‘daru’ in a fruit and drink it through a straw like the guys above.

 

• Baby Doll mein Sone Di ( Ragini MMS 2)

India may not be the ‘Sone ki Chidiya’ of the world anymore. L  But atleast in Sunny Leone, we have got a ‘Sone Ki Gudiya’. And this is something to be proud of. Jai Hind  😀

 

 

• Chaar Botal Vodka, kaam mera roz ka, Na mujhko koi roke aur na kisi ne roka ( Ragini MMS 2)

Teri ko kyu rokega koi bhai?? Tu pi pake tunn bhi ho jaye, toh  bhi kisi ka kya jate hain.. Hamare paas aur bhi kaam hai, vele ni hai bhai teri tarah. L :p

 

• Main alcoholic hun ( The Shaukeens)

Given Honey Singh’s penchant for drinks and wines , I am pretty sure that if Amrish Puri was Honey Singh’s father, he would have said something like this-

 

Jaa YO YO, Jaa Peele apni zindagi..

• Yehi doobe din mere, yehi hote hai savere, yehi marna aur jeena, yehi mandir aur medina…Teri Galliyan mujhko bhave galliyan teri (Ek Villain)

It is quite clear that this fellow is an out-of-work, unemployed guy, who has nothing more to do in his life than to roam around . But beware girls!! This guy has already reached your streets (galliyan) and it won’t take him long before he reaches your home too.. Somebody  plzz stop this BLOODY STALKER!!

 

• Main tenu samjhawan ki naa tere bina lagda jee, tu ki jane pyar mera, main kara intezar tera (HSKD)

You are waiting for her ( Main kara intezar tera), no response from her n Babaji ka Thullu for you.  She doesn’t understand your love ( Tu ki jane pyar mera). Another Babaji ka Thullu for you.  Yet u are trying to make her understand (samjhawan)..   Bravo!! Apparently your  IQ seems to be even less than that of Alia, boy !. :p

 

• Ho sari raat besharmi ki height, ik tu….ik main…aur ho dim-dim ye light (Main Tera Hero)

Now this song makes few things , which we already suspected to be true, very clear i.e  India is a land of poor lighting, severe powercuts (dim dim light) and poor population control ( besharmi ki height). :p :p

Btw this song would make a wonderful tagline for ummmmm…… Ranvir ‘Rex’ Singh are you listening?? :p

• Main Grammy le aunga (Isey kehte hain hip hop-YYHS)

Rahman Saab you are not alone now. YO YO buoy is here to give you some competition!! Last heard that Danny Boyle has signed YO YO for his next  ‘The HIP-HOP Millionaire’, set in the by-lanes of Ludhiana. :p

 

• Engine ki Seeti mein maro bum dole (Khubsurat)

Who needs bhangra ,Hip-hop, disco beats, when simply the sound of an engine can make u shake ummm……  I mean dance. Dancing to engine ki seeti has its economic benefits too you see. For those who can’t afford the costly discotheques n clubs, just make a trip to the New Delhi Railway Station. It’s the most happening place in town yr :p :p

 

• Je mainu yaar na miley tey mar jawan, je mainu pyar na miley tey mar jawan (Kick)

This girl is a suicidal freak, I tell you. Baat baat pe marne ki dhamki deti hai yaar L

 

• Sweeta…. Tujhsa ni koi meetha (Kill Dill)

When, I heard this song for the first time, I was pretty sure that this film was a love story between the children of the owners of ‘Bengali Sweets’ and ‘Aggarwal Sweet Corner’. I mean with all that Sweet-aa and Meethaaa, it seemed soo natural to think this way.  But boy, I was wrong.  It was only later that somebody told me that it was Gulzar saab’s way of telling us that India is the home to highest number of diabetes patients in the world. 😀

 

• Musafir hun main duur ka, deewana hun main dhoop ka, muje na bhaye…. Na bhaye na bhaye chaanv re ( Manwa Lage-HNY)

 

Now, the title ‘Manwa Lage’ is a misnomer. The Song should have been titled ideally ‘Aag Lage’, for that is what was happening precisely throughout the song.  Now this is something that many people noticed. But what many didn’t notice was that, Irshad Kamil saab gave a very scientific explanation for all that fire happening, in the song itself.  You  See, the guy is a big fan of heat ( Deewana hun main dhoop ka) and avoids shade and anything cold at any cost (Muje na bhaye na bhaye na bhaye chaanv re).  And with That horrible India  & Dubai Heat, it’s not a surprise that fires are broke out :p

Somebody call the Fire Brigade plzzzz

 

• Suna tere college mein mere gaane ban hai, padhne likhne ka tera na koi plan hai, paas kara dun phone ghuma dun, teri principal bhi baby yo yo ki fan hai ( Blue Eyes-YYHS)

This is for all those girls who keep on studying like there is no tomorrow and make life for  study-allergic guys like me miserable L Get a life,girls.. Hurry up ..Go and find your ‘Honey’ now and make life easier.Both for urself and for us. 😀

 

• Bin puchhe mera naam aur pata,Rasmon ko rakh ke pare, Chaar kadam bas chaar kadam, Chal do naa saath mere (x2).Bin kuch kahe, bin kuch sune, Haathon mein haath liye,Chaar kadam bas char kadam, Chal do na saath mere ( Chaarkadam-PK)

Why is this guy so ‘secretive’ ?? Are you a Raw agent brother?? Or even worse a kidnapper-in-disguise-of-a-lover??.. Highly suspicious, I tell you.

 

• Chhora chhori fark na samjhe mare sabpe chhalang…..tharki chokro ayo re ( Pk)

This song is an anthem ,not just for the ‘tharkis’ but for the bisexuals as well ( Chhora chhori fark na smjhe mare sbpe chhalang :p). Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all in support of LGBT community and their causes, in all earnestness. But the thing that makes me wonder is that although Pk has earned a lot of appreciation for tackling many pertinent & sensitive issues in a very entertaining way, why on earth didn’t this song get accolades for bringing such a sensitive issue like bisexuality to the fore??  Maybe many people didn’t notice that. But don’t worry Aamir, Raju, Amitabh verma , Sanju,Vidhu etc.. this song definitely is the fav song of LGBT community. : D

 

• Nacho sare G phaad ke ( Happy ending)

Now before you let your imagination fly, let me tell you this –the makers of this song have themselves clarified that ‘G’ stands for Govinda, not for something else  :p .  Now, please don’t ask me what sense Govinda Phaad ke makes. I know it doesn’t make any. But why bother, let all of us dance ‘G-Phaad ke’. :p Okay kuch bina phaade bi nach skte ho re 😀

 

• Paaji tussi such a pussycat, ullu da patha total spoilt brat (Happy Ending)

Now, the father was on owl ( Ullu da patha) but the son is a cat (paaji tussi such a pussycat). Now what kind of evolution is this?? Any Darwins out here, who can answer me?? L

 

Wishing you all a very happy new year. Tc.. enjoy..

 

Raunak Joy, 31-12-2014…

 

Disclaimer-All the images have been taken from the internet.  I do not own the copyright for any of these images. All copyright reserved with their rightful owners.

 

Manna Dey-A Humble Tribute (Part-5)

Now so far, we have talked about Manna and his bengali and Assamese songs and also the fact that Manna Dey was a fine cook. But Here i am going to write about that Manna Dey was  very much interested in Sports. In fact he was a wrestler during his college days.

Manna Dey actively exercised. So much that he had a really well toned body and was seen with great respect by his neighbours in Matunga, Bombay. And do you know who were his neighbours?? The Kapoors. Watch the video below where Shammi Talks about Manna Dey and the Relationship he shared with him.

Infact  i would tell you to watch all the episodes of Shammi Kapoor Unplugged on youtube. It’s a wonderful journey down the memory lane with none other than Shammi himself!!

Hell i don’t even need to tell these things to many of my fellow bloggers who are crazy about Shammi Kapoor unlike me.

Well, with this post on Manna Dey-The wrestler, I conclude my tribute series on the great Manna Dey. Mannada u will always live in our hearts and souls.

I hope you enjoyed the tribute. Hope to see you soon in the future again.

Manna Dey-A Humble Tribute (Part-4)

I had already once mentioned in one of my comments on my Mentor Dustedoff  blog that unknown to many, Manna Dey was a very good cook too, just like Madan Mohan. Yes, Manna Dey-The Cook!!

So much that  there is even a massively popular song which goes like ‘Aami shree shree bhojohori Manna’ which roughly translates to I am The Cook Manna in english. This song is so popular that even a food chain is named after this song!!

Well the story behind the song goes like this. One day the famed lyricist Pulak Bannerjee went to Manna Dey’s house. Manna Dey’s wife was not at home, so Manna Dey told Pulakda to wait for some time as he was cooking chicken at that time. The fragrance of chicken being cooked made Pulakda write a whole song about Manna Dey’s  culinary skills in flat 20 minutes, the time that Mannada took to cook the delicious chicken dish!!

Later on the song was set to tune by the genius Sudhin Dasgupta and used in the superhit film ‘Prothom Kadam Phool’ and picturised on Samit Bhanja. Watch the song and  enjoy

Cheers.

Manna Dey- A Humble Tribute (Part-3)

In the last two posts, I blogged about Manna dey and his Bengali songs. In this one i am going to write about Manna’s songs in a language which quite close to my heart-Assamese as my mother is from Assam.

Manna Dey unlike Hindi or Bangla, did not sing too much in Assamese. But what he sang was like usual class. I had earlier raved about Sudhin Dasgupta as a composer and his fatal combination with Mannada. So it’s little wonder that when Sudhin composed music for an assamese film, he got Manna Dey to sing which remains till date one of the most popular Assamese film song ‘Dinor Pohar Rangchangia’ from the film Aranya, 1971. Watch the song below-

The first link is that of an audio version while the second one is the film version. A great song, it is one of my personal favorite.

Sudhin also made Mannada sing some album/non-film songs in assamese. Out of these, this is my fav’ Kajol Lota Tumare Naam’. Watch the song below-

Though off topic, there is another song from the movie Aranya, which though not sung by Manna Dey, is a very popular and beautiful number. Sung By Arati Mukherjee of ‘Do Naina Ek Kahaani’ the song goes ‘ Xila Xila Theka Khale‘. Watch the song below-

All three songs listed here are composed by Sudhin Dasgupta with Lyrics by Keshab Mahanta.

Enjoy.

Manna Dey- A Humble Tribute (Part-2)

In my last post, i listed my 10 fav songs of Manna dey from bengali films. So what should i do in this post, when i am already done with Mannada’s bengali film songs and as i have already said before  i wont do a list of his hindi numbers. Well, it’s quite simple if one knows about the bengali music scene- A list of my fav Manna Dey bangla album/non-film songs.

Unlike Hindi, Tamil or Telugu music industries, where popular music is invariably film music, Bengali music is more  about non-film album songs then film numbers. Infact  album songs are way more popular than film songs in Bengal. During the golden period from 1950-1980, many bengali films even did not have any songs but songs from bengali albums, especially those which were released during Durga puja (known as Puja shonkhar gaan) would literally burn the bengali music market, selling like hot cakes.

So it’s quite logical that if one has to make a list of Manna dey’s ( or for that matter any Bong artist) best bengali songs, then one has to take into consideration his album songs. Moreover, it is in the album songs that Mannada showcased his true versatility as an artist i.e. not just as a singer only but also as a composer of excellent merit.

Yes, u heard it right-Manna dey the composer!! Bollywood afficianados do know that Manna in his earlier part of his career was an assistant to acclaimed  composers like Khemchand Prakash & S.D.Burman and also co-composed the music for some films with these two. But it is only in bangla that Manna dey’s talent as a composer truly came into fruition. His Hindi works as a composer aren’t at all impressive, but the bengali ones…oh boy aren’t they just gorgeous??

So here i go again. It’s quite a conscious decision on my part to divide this list into two-First Part featuring my fav five Manna non-film songs which are not composed by Manna Dey & the second part featuring my fav five songs composed by Mannada himself. So here it goes

Songs that are composed by other music directors and not Manna himself

5) Coffee houser sei addata aaj aar nei ( Music by Suparnokanti Ghosh & Lyrics by Gouriprasanna Majumdar)- Now this is a hugely popular number among the bongs. For many, it’s the ultimate bangla song. Sung with great feelings by Mannada, the song boasts of some really great lyrics. If i remember correctly, this song was voted as the 4th greatest bengali song ever in a BBC poll. I love this number too but there are other songs of Manna that i like more.

Watch the song-

4) Rim Jhim Jhim Jhim Brishti ( Music by Ratu Mukherjee & Lyrics by Pulak Bannerjee)– Whenever it rains, i listen to this number. And even when it does not rains but i feel that it should or must rain, i listen to this number again. A beautiful rain song indeed.

Watch the song here-

3) Ek Jhank Pakhider Motu Kicchu ( Music & Lyrics by Sudhin Dasgupta)- Manna  Dey & Sudhin Dasgupta are a deadly combo & this song is no different. Beautiful sung with equally effective lyrics and music. Lovely…

Watch the song-

2) Abar Hobe toh Dekha ( Music by Ratu Mukherjee & Lyrics by Pulak Bannerjee)– Goosebumps is what i get when i listen to this song. A song about hope,this one is awesomely rendered by Mannada.

Watch the song-

1) Ami Tar Thikana rakhini ( Music by Sudhin Dasgupta & Lyrics By Pulak Bannerjee)- Just like Manna dey is among my fav singer of all times, Sudhin Dasgupta is among my fav music composer of all time. Infact i rate him at par with the likes of Burmanda, Madan Mohan, Panchamda etc. Someday i will do a series on Sudhin Dasgupta, but for today let just stuck to Manna dey. Coming Back to this song, this song would have retained it’s numero uno position as my fav number even if i had decided to do a combined list of Manna Dey album songs, composed by him & others. Yes, this is a song that i just love…

Watch the song-

Now let’s start with part-2 i.e songs composed by Manna dey himself. When one listen to these songs, one realises that Mannada could compose fairly complex songs but were also easygoing and beautiful. Often these songs are characterised by mukhadas & antaras, which while being beautiful themselves seemingly do not join together. But Manna Dey could join these small short gorgeous fragments and mold them into numbers which would flow as smoothly as a river does and produce a divine mesmerizing impact on the listeners. Another Interesting thing to note is the minimal use of orchestration, which although subtle would always, without fail, create the desired result. So here are the songs-

5) Rongini Koto Mon- watch the song below

4) Er e Naam Prem/Amar Na Jodi Thake sur-watch the song below-

3) Sei Toh abar Kache Ele-watch the song below-

All three songs composed by Manna Dey with Lyrics by Pulak Bannerjee.

2) Ami Sagorer Bela-Music by Manna Dey and Lyrics By Pranab Roy. A number that i just Love. Infact love is an understatement.

Watch the song-

1) And the number one song is….. Aamar bolar kichu Chilona-Sung By Haimanti Shukla with music By Manna Dey & Lyrics by Pulak Bannerjee.  Now if u thought that Manna Dey could only compose great songs for himself only, then you are wrong very wrong. This song sung By Haimanti Shukla is among the greatest bengali numbers of all time and without a inch of doubt, Haimantidi’s best song, which is quite a feat considering that Haimantidi is a hugely popular singer in Bengal with many lovely songs to her credit. Gem, Jewel, Classic, words are few when one has to describe the greatness of this number. Let’s just say it’s an awesome song and my favorite and also that of my Mom!!

Watch the song-

With this song, i conclude my Part-2 of the tribute series to Manna Dey. But there is more to  come with parts 3, 4 in the pipeline!! Till then cheers..

With love to everybody.

Manna Dey-A Humble Tribute (Part-1)

Let me start at the very beginning that i am not a writer per see. Infact my writing skills are pretty bad. That probably explains why i am blogging after almost a gap of two years.

Well,  then what actually made me write again? Other than the fact that I am a huge Mannada fan, is the  thing that i, in my  very own humble way, want to bring to the fore those hidden gems of Manna Dey , about which many people aren’t much aware of.

Manna Dey, well as everybody knows was a great great singer of Bollywood film music. As far as i am concerned Mannada is the best singer Indian cinema has ever produced alongwith Rafisaab & Kishoreda. But here i am not going to talk about Mannada’s Bollywood songs or his innings in Bombay (oops Mumbai!!). Instead here i am going to talk about the songs of Manna Dey in his native language i.e. Bangla.

Yes, though not many people aren’t aware of this fact, but Manna Dey also sang with great ease, aplomb & success in many others languages of our great India apart from Hindi. Every Malayali still fondly remembers his song from the beautiful  film Cheemeen. But here as i said before, i am going to focus on his bengali songs & not on his songs from Hindi or other languages, primarily because of these two reasons:-

1) Because Bangla is  Manna dey’s mother tongue &

2)  It is in bengali, that Mannada’s contribution  as a musician is the most, even more than Hindi. And that’s why this post so that people (if indeed,by chance I am able to get any visitor this time!!!!), come to know about his Bengali jewels which probably because of less popularity  and reach of Bangla than Hindi, have been restricted to Bongs only.

So here i go. In the first part of this tribute, I am going to list my Fav Mannada songs from Bengali films in my order of preference from 10 to 1, alongwith their youtube links. I sincerely hope the links work this time as those people who know me, very well know that i am terribly good at posting invalid youtube links!! Anyways let’s start and hope for the best.

10) Baje Go Binaa ( Marjina abdulla, 1972)-Music & Lyrics by Salil Chowdhury.– Considered by Many to be the best Manna song composed by Salilda in bengali, this is a beautiful classical based song. Just listen to the song and you will realise how effortlessly Manna Dey could sing such tough classical songs. and yes give an ear to those gorgeous interludes and just marvel at the genius of Salilda!!

9) Na Na Na Aaj Raate Ar Jatra Shunte Jabo na (Nishipadma-1970)-Music by Nachiketa Ghosh & Lyrics By Gouriprasanna Majumdar- This song when released way back in 1970, became a rage among the bengalis. Almost every bengali would say ‘  Bhujle natobor. Tumi o Jabe Na, Aami o Jabo na’ and think of themselves as Uttam Kumar!!. The film too was a huge hit and is still considered as one of the best bengali film of all time. Little wonder then that this film was later remade by the legendary Shakti Samanta in Hindi,  as the masterpiece known as Amar Prem In 1972.

Watch the song and dance alongwith Mahanayak Uttam Kumar. Yes Uttam Kumar dances in the song, though not much and at the very end of the song, but in a very entertaining manner!! Also giving him Company is the great Jahar Ray.

Another thing- Manna Dey won the National Award for the best Male playback singer for another song of this movie ‘Ja khushi ore bole boluk’. I did not choose ‘ja khushi’ because i like Na na na aaj more and also because i had decided beforehand that not more than one song will be selected from a movie while compiling this list.

Anyways, an important thing that one should know about ‘Ja khushi’ song is that when Amar prem was made, the lyrics of this song were translated into hindi as the now iconic song ‘Kuch Toh Log Kahenge’. Indeed a great tribute from one master Anand Bakshi to another master Gouriprasanna Majumdar. Watch the Ja khushi song below

8) Ami kon pothe je Choli ( Chhadmabeshi-1971)-Music & Lyrics by Sudhin Dasgupta. Well again a Uttam-Manna combo in the superhit film Chhadmabeshi, which by the way was later remade in Hindi as Chupke Chupke by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. While Chupke Chupke is a better film in my view,  Chaddmabeshi’s soundtrack win hands down over Chupke Chupke’s  any day. Coming back to this song, this one is a joy to hear. Combine with the fact that it is also awesomely picturised, what you have on your hands is a complete winner all the way.

7) Ke tumi ke tumi Shudhui dako ( Jeebon Rahasya-1974) Music by Abhijit Bandhopadhyay & Lyrics by Pulak Bandopadhyay- This is a beautiful song. Another classical based song, this one again shows how Mannada could make you think that singing such classical based song was cake walk only for you to realise later that how tough these songs are when u yourself try singing them!! Interesting thing about this song is this that it’a a meeting together of two giants, two of my faves, two Dadasaheb Phalke winners Manna Dey & Pran. Yes Pran did act in some bengali films. A truly versatile actor, Pran saab like Mannada passed away earlier this year and in the process broke my heart.. Anyways here’ my tribute to Pran Saab.Watch this song below

6) Lag lag lag velkir khela (Gali theke Rajpath-1959) Music by Sudhin Dasgupta & Lyrics By Pulak Bandopadhyay- A truly Rollicking song, this was the first time that Mannada did playback for Uttam Kumar. And man, what a beginning!! I bet that no can help but shake a leg to this super infectious number, helped generously  by Manna Dey’s superb vocals. Watch the song and by the way please pay attention to the damn entertaining dance performed By Jahar Ray, who steals the show in this song though the lips are given in the song by Uttamda.

5) Ami jamini tumi soshi hey ( Antony Firingee-1967) Music by Anil Bagchi & Lyrics by Gouriprasanna Majumdar. Well this film and songs started it all. Though Manna Dey had playbacked for Uttam Kumar earlier in Gali theke Rajpath & Sankhabela, it was effectively with Antony Firingee songs that Manna replaced Hemantda as the voice of Uttam Kumar. It’s altogether different matter that Kishoreda later replaced Mannada as Mahanayak’s voice with Amanush in 1975. Coming back to this song, this song is just sheer melody. Infact all the songs in this movie are gems so to choose one was difficult but this one is my favorite. Also, Antony Firingee is among Uttam Kumar’s best performances, Infact he won the National Award for best actor for this film. Watch the song below and if possible watch the movie too, it’s perfect in almost every department-be it story, direction, acting or the songs. And yes Manna Dey makes the best voice for Uttam’s Antony Firingee.

4) Emon Bandhu Aar Ke Ache ( Deep Jele Jai-1959)- Music by Hemant Kumar & Lyrics By Gouriprasanna Majumdar. One of my all time favorite song with fabulous lyrics, music and of course Manna’s singing from a movie which ranks among the best films made in India ever-Deep Jele Jai. Later on This film was remade in hindi as Khamoshi (1969) and this song too was remade/used in Khamoshi as ‘Dost Kahan Koi tumsa’. Sadly the Hindi version of this song lacks the magic of the earlier bengali one. Picturised on Anil Chatterjee, a superb actor.

3) Ei eto Alo eto akash ( Alo Aamar Alo-1972) Music By Pabitra Chatterjee and Lyrics by  Pulak Bandopadhyay- A wonderful song. An absolute gem  from a movie which was one of the last superhits of the most romantic on screen pair of Indian Cinema  Uttam-Suchitra!!

Wonderful orchestration too by Pabitrada. I myself feel like flying in the sky after listening to this song.

2) Hoyto Tomari Jonno ( Teen Bhubaner Pare-1969) Music & Lyrics by Sudhin Dasgupta. About this song what can i say other than the fact that this is one of the most beautiful romantic number i have ever heard in my life. Every bong knows and loves this song, even  those who are in their 20’s today. For most bongs, this is the best Manna dey song ever. And why Not, it’s almost even mine. The lyrics, the music, the singing are all just out of this world.

Watch the song from any of the above two links, though i personally feel that neither of these two links are of very good quality and infact do not do justice at all to how beautiful this song is both terms of video & audio.

Note- The earlier link has the full video.

By the way, there is an another song in this movie ‘Jibona Ki Pabona’ which till date remains a bengali party favorite. I myself love this song and would have placed it as my fav no.3 had i not set the criteria of not including more than one song from a movie. Coming back to  ‘Jibone Ki Pabona’, it’s a total bindaas song with great vocals by Manna Dey backed by even better dancing/twisting By the legendary Soumitra Chatterjee, one of the finest actors of all time in Indian Cinema.

Watch the songs and if also try to watch the film as it is one of the most romantic film made in India ever.

1) Ei duniya te bhai sobei hoye ( Ekdin Raatre-1956) Music & Lyrics By Salil Chowdhury. Now this is my favorite song that Manna Dey sang in for Bengali films from a film which i consider to be among the top 10 greatest movies ever made in India & possibly even in the world!! The 1956 masterpiece Ekdin Raatre. Based on the bengali play of the same name, the writers of the play Amit Moitra & Shambhu Mitra themselves directed this film to bumper success. A few months later the hindi version of Ekdin Raatre, directed by the same directors was released-Jagte Raho!! Ekdin Raatre is notable also for being the only Bengali film that the showman Raj Kapoor acted and produced.

Well, i while talk about Ekdin Raatre &  Jagte Raho  in more detail shortly when i review both the films here, but for now i would just say that if u love Jagte Raho then you should watch Ekdin Raatre as it is even more better than Jagte Raho for it effectively removes all those little flaws that Jagte Raho  suffers from.

Coming back to the song, it is beautifully written & composed by Salilda. A very tough song to sing, especially the humming parts. But when u listen to the song it does not feel so . But then that’s  the hallmark of the genius singer Manna Dey!!

The Hindi song that comes in jagte raho in place of this song is the equally wonderful ‘Zindagi Khwab Hai’. While Motilal was outstanding in Zindagi Khwab Hai, Chhabi Biswas is even better in ‘Ei duniya te Bhai’. It’s not just for nothing that Chhabi Biswas is considered the greatest character actor ever of Indian Cinema by many.

Watch  Ei duniya  here-

Watch Zindagi Khwab Hai here-

Watch Humko Samjh Baithi hai (The hindi version of ei duniya’s tune in chaar dewari. reused by salilda himself)-

With this i conclude this post of mine. I know that i might have missed songs which are very popular but then this  is my list of Manna favs!! A point to be noted is that while making this list, i had set myself only two criteria-1) That all the songs should be Manna solos.

2) Not more than one song will be taken from a movie as i have already mentioned earlier.

Even with just these two small criteria that i had set for myself, it was a very challenging task for me  pick 10 fav Manna bengali film songs considering the fact that Manna Dey sang so many  songs for so many bong films, out of which many are just outstanding numbers. Still I hope i did a good job.

Well, all said & done, I hereby conclude my Part-1 of Manna Dey tribute series. Hope you like it provided you read this!!

‘Regional To National’ songs

It’s after writing five posts in this series ‘Regional to National Songs’ ,that i finally realized that i haven’t mentioned what this series is all about.

So,what is this all about.Well,’Regional to National songs’ is a series of posts in which, i would introduce people to songs from regional languages like Bengali,Malayalam,Tamil,Telugu etc.In fact from every Indian language other than hindi.These languages are as important part of our culture and heritage as hindi is.And there are some very great songs produced in these languages,which sadly many people are not aware due to language constrictions.So,through this series,i would bring to fore many beautiful songs which are craving for recognition.Looking forward to a great time and hoping that i became successful in my endeavour to brings these gems to the forefront.

Will surely be able to do so with the love and affection of all the people.

Elliruve Manava Kaduva Song

This one is a full on mast-maula number.Ecstatic & totally frolic is this song from Kannada film Bayaludaari [1977].A little bit in Panchamda genre,this one is laden with beautiful guitar riffs.

Sung by SPB brilliantly,it is composed by Rajan-Nagendra with lyrics by Chi Udayshankar.The song is quite well picturised also.The movie itself was quite a good watch,even though it too had a typical filmi storyline.The starting lyrics goes like-

Yelliruve manava kaaduva rupasiye
bayakeya balliya naguva huvada preyasiye
bayakeya balliya naguva huvada preyasi neenu yelliruve
manava kaaduva rupasiye

HERE’S THE LINK-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPvPOkkw-lc

LISTEN AND ENJOY.THIS ONE WILL DEFINATELY MAKE YOU FEEL HAPPY.