DJ Munks.com

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Actor Anil Kapoor’s Film Banner has made some really good offbeat movies like Gandhi My Father and My Wife’s Murder. Aisha looks like another good one to look out for but this time with his very own daughter Sonam Kapoor!

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Aisha is a modern movie based in the high live of Delhi and inspired by the book Emma written by Jane Austen. There is a British connect that the UK audience cannot miss.. and thus the movie will sure be an attraction when it hits the screens here. What would be interesting to see is the execution of Emma by Sonam who has been paired with Abhay Deol who comes from a totally different school of acting with the offbeat touch. This fresh look to onscreen pairs could come only from some fresh eyes that Rajshree Ojha brings being a first timer to Bollywood direction… and the promo shows the freshness to the movie cut.

Let us come to the music side of things.. and Amit Trivedi is the man incharge. I truly admire his work in Dev D, Wake Up Sid and Aamir. Thus I have high expectations from the OST of Aisha. Especially when you have Javed Akhtar doing the lyrics then you definitely know the quality is at the highest of standards. Let us see if this really works for the UK Bollywood music lovers..

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Suno Aisha – The song starts with some excellent keyboard programming and evolves into typical Amit Trivedi sound with the clapping, trumpets and flutes with a super deep keyboard bass. The arrangement of the song is extremely catchy with a very global music appeal that even a west European with no understanding of music loves (this is as per test with a couple of west Europeans). Trumpets, double bass, clarinets and flutes steal the show all together. Amit just loves his wind instruments.. and we love him for that Keep your ear open for a few acoustic guitar strums thrown in here and there with a guitar and trumpet solo for the 2nd bridge.

The vocals are by Amit too and are simply brilliant. Nakash Aziz & UK boy Ash King give additional vocals. The lyrics are simple and good in truly Javed Akhtar style and demonstrate the self obsessiveness of Aisha’s character. Overall I love this song.. and so will you. 8.5/10.

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Track 2 – Gal Mitthi Mitthi - Amit gives this a very traditional start with Ek Tara and Shehnaai instruments that transition beautifully into a very modern funky super deep bass beat. He again further blends this very well with a bit bhangra and shehnaai samples throughout and keys. True genius and master of innovative music blending!! The music definitely has a party appeal and will work well on the dance floor in a mix. Tochi the superstar from the music of Dev D comes back here with Amit giving us yet another hit. The lyrics are designed for a wedding giving the song a perfect fit with lines like “tu kar de ishaara mein dooli le aaoon”. Kudos to Javed saab. A definite hit. 8/10.

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Track 3 – Sham – Welcome new kid on the block Nikhil D’souza in an acoustic avatar with Amit Trivedi and Neuman Pinto on the vocals. He sounds like many other modern acoustic singers but unique in his own way. The texture and harmonies in his voice make you instantly love him. Amit uses only an acoustic guitar in this song and it works brilliantly. If you play the guitar listen to the 2nd bridge of this song for some learning with guitar body tapping. The main thing to watch out for in this song are the beautiful poetic lyrics of Javed saab. It is so romantic that it will make even the strongest heart melt. Perfect for a background song on a romantic hug. 7.5/10.

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Track 4 – Behke Behke – You might remember the rugged voice of girl band singer Anushka Manchanda and also from a number of Bollywood songs lately. She is well in demand but this song doesn’t really work for me. It has good vocal performances by Anushka, Samrat Kaushal, Raman Mahadevan, Suman Sridhar and rap by Robert Omulo. But the Spanish feel with average lyrics and a killer beat is just too much going on. It is not a bad song but it overall doesn’t catch up to you. 5.5/10.

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Track 5 – Lehrein – “Khoyi Khoyi si hun mein, Kyu yeh dil ka haal hai, Dhundhle saare khawab hai, uljha har khyaal hai”.. Simply beautiful poetry with every emotion twirled around simple words. Javed Akhtar is best at sad songs like this where he does not stop emotions flowing through the tip of his pen. Anusha Mani’s vocals are spotless and pure with backing vocals by Nikhil D’souza and Neuman Pinto. Amit lets the music flow keeping it very simple and live band like. The violin solo is perfectly performed in the 2nd bridge. If you close your eyes for a bit and open them looking outside the window at the sky with this song in the background it could literally make you cry even on your happiest days. Simply beautiful. 7.5/10.

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Track 6 – By The Way – This vocal style works better for Anuskha and the fun element can be felt in her singing. A total girl band banging with self obsessed and careless attitude lyrics. The rock music style with dynamic raving electric guitars complements the lyrics and vocals perfectly. The overall arrangement and style work for a girls night out and driving around in an open car celebrating life. That’s the appeal.. nothing more.. 6.5/10.

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Track 7 – Gal Mitthi Mitthi (The Bombay Bounce Dhol Mix) – Time to party and enjoy the best party song on this album in the punjabi dhol with Bombay style beats (Aptly named mix! ). A very good remix by DJ Lloyd and Discreet. It is on my top songs list for DJ’ing already and the crowd loves it every time I play it. Kudos DJ Lloyd! No flashy over-adventurous work. Well done! 8/10.

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Track 8 – Lehrein Remix (The Bombay Bounce Lounge Mix) – Sensational!! DJ Lloyd and Discreet are on fire here. For once the remixes make sense and you love them as much as the original. That is what the aim should be for any remix… but does not always happen in Bollywood This lounge mix is brilliant and relaxes your body and mind. Put it on loud and sink into a hot bathtub to feel the magic of music. 7.5/10.

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FINAL WORD

EXCELLENT & HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – 8/10

In today’s economic climate, when you pay for a CD with 8 songs you would want them all to be good. Amit, Javed Saab and all the singers & musicians on Aisha understand that and give it to you. You can’t ask for more than this. Except one, every song is excellent on this OST. It is innovative with a new sound with perfectly written lyrics and genuine vocals. Aisha matches the movie look, theme and taste of the modern UK audience. The album has a global appeal and is still different from the others. Buy it.. buy it today !! OST available on Sony BMG.

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UK PREMIERE ON THRUSDAY 29th JAN ’09. WORLDWIDE MOVIE RELEASE ON FRIDAY 30th JAN ’09.

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I saw the trailer of Luck By Chance at the Ghajini Premiere in London and I instantly built up really high hopes from this movie. The colourful clips, the texture of the shots, the cast, the music.. it all seemed so well put-together in that one minute trailer… And guess what.. LBC does not let you down !!

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The members of the Akhtar family are known for their talent and effortless brilliance in the Indian film industry. Zoya Akhtar joins the family trade in style !! She has the eye for attention to detail, the sanity for a good story, the elegance for a good script and the touch to sparkle every shot. At the same time she has the class that  every Akhtar has including Shabana Azmi.

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PLOT

This Bollywood movie is about “Bollywood“. Its different from the others made in this genre in story style where it gives you an insight into every character and their little life story.

The movie is mainly about 2 aspiring actors played by Konkana Sen and Farhan Akhtar who want to get somewhere in this hugely notorious industry. Farhan Akhtar falls in love with Konkana during his struggling days. He gets lucky and then plays a little crooked to get the lead role in a movie being produced by a huge Producer [Rishi Kapoor] & his wife [Juhi Chawla] launching his brother as a Director [Sanjay Kapoor] with a new female lead [Isha Shervani] who is the daughter of a famous old Bollywood queen [Dimple Kapadia] which happens when the Superstar [Hritik Roshan] drops out of the movie to do another Karan Johar film.

His life and personal commitments change to favor his career. He leaves Konkana & his friends behind in a circle of lies till reality hits him and he decides to come back to the people who loved him when he was nothing.. only to find they have moved on and left him alone to his stardom.

Let me clarify.. the story is NOT about Farhan Akhtar.. It’s about Konkana Sen.. Surprised..?? Its true.. I hate ruining stories so I will leave the details for you to discover when you watch this movie..

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REVIEW

LBC is a very light, fun, colourful, charming, artistic and aspiring movie with great music. Nothing too brilliant about the story if you notice… It has traces of many movies made to the tune of the Bollywood industry and aspirations + hardships of aspiring actors who will to succeed at any cost in this big intoxicating industry. But what is brilliant about LBC is how simple & light this movie is !! It has no action, few intense emotional scenes and full of light humour making it a great family movie. It shows the different aspects of movies and different characters associated with the industry. It brings out the stereotypes with simple character driven jokes about them that will keep you giggling throughout the movie. The full cast of the movie does a commendable job as fas as projecting their character is concerned but none of them out-stand and share the limelight from the other great actors in the movie. Everyone is equally good.

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MOVIE

- Special guest appearances by the best in the industry. The movie starts with Aamir Khan !! Other names include Sharukh Khan, Kareen Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Vivek Oberoi, Manish Malhotra.. did I miss anyone..??

- Farhan Akhtar & Konkana get along brilliantly as the leads with style and quality acting.

- Rishi Kapoor & Juhi Chawla are hilarious. So is Sanjay Kapoor.

- Dimple Kapadia is intense, strong and charming even now..

- Isha Sharvani is cute and fits the bill well. Hritik is sublime and still very noticeable in his short role.

- The art work and cinematography are colourful and very pleasing.

- Music is the best with Shankar-Eshaan-Loy doing their magic. Even the background score & Sound design are great.

- Zoya has done a great job for her directorial debut and sure can write a good story. Farhan can write some mean dialogues too.

- The twist at the end in the story is totally unexpected and well thought. Also, no character or element of the movie feels out of place. Every thing in the movie fits well with each other like a complete jigsaw.

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LOW-LIGHTS OF THE MOVIE

- Some scenes of the movie seem a little stretched. You do notice 2 hours 40 minutes passing by.

- It is a slow movie, no doubt, and thus will let your attention go off the screen every now and then.

- A few strong emotions and challenging scenes could have made this movie more appealing.

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FINAL WORD

Very Good – 7.5/10 .

Its the second big release of 2009 after a disastrous Chandni Chowk to China and it is a HIT for sure. How big a hit is what we have to wait and watch. Must Watch..

Keep it for a relaxed evening after a quite dinner for light-feel-good entertainment. It doesn’t promise laugh riots but sure will make you giggle and smile every few minutes.. Kudos to the cast and crew.. !! It’s not Luck .. just plain Talent !

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I sooo love the start of this album that it’s difficult to move on….

Let’s start this review again.. [while I play the CD again from the start ]

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Simple fundamental… When Shankar-Eshaan-Loy [SEL] come together with Javed & Farhan Akhtar, history knows that the music is always ground breaking. Be it Dil Chahta Hai or Lakshya or Don or Rock On !! the result has always been pure harmonic melody in an innovative style. This time they had another Akhtar join their fabulous team. Farhan’s sister Zoya makes her debut as a Writer & Director thus making it a complete family movie for the Akhtar’s. The class & grace of this family is evident in the music of this movie and I am sure will very clearly be seen even in the movie when it releases..

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The film is about the struggle of an aspiring actor played by Farhan in his second movie as an actor along with some big names like Konkana Sen, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Kapoor & Hritik Roshan. Here is a spoiler :- We hear there are special appearances by Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salmaan Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty, Rani Mukherji, Karan Johar & many more to name a few !!

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Lets come to the music. As the movie is about struggle, love, relationships, fun & pain the music is about that as well. All these fundamentals work with a listener as everyone can relate to them in some way or the other. Javed Akhtar’s lyrics always deliver the message in the most soothing & perfect way.. and music of Luck By Chance is no different.

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REVIEW

Track 1- Yeh Zindagi Bhi – Its got a very groovy drum break beat start. Very catch & you will want to listen to it again & again just for that start. But wait for Shekhar Ravjiani & Loy’s vocals to come in cause they are equally brilliant with some amazing poetic lyrics typical to the Javed Akhtar style about life & a man’s aspirations. The chorus & bridge of the song are very catch & will get stuck in your head. You will be humming the harmonies for a couple of days atleast. Make sure you stop & listen to the lyrics once atleast as they are deep & meaningful. The repetitive background drum beat music works in favor of the song & thus I don’t see any downside in this song although you can hear a slight similarity to the ‘Taare Zameen Par’ soundtrack. I give this song a 9/10 .

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Track 2 – Baawre – After I finally managed to get past the continuous looping of track 1, the expectations were very high for the rest of the album. “Baawre” doesn’t disappoint you. The Rajasthani ensemble along with Shankar’s vocals is a classic blend of traditional with modern Bollywood music. Although the overall feel is traditional, the song has a very situational feel to it and you wonder what it will look like in the movie. What this album misses is a club tune. This song has the potential to fill that gap depending on how it is shot. Hritik Roshan dancing to the song in a Russian circus environment should do the song good. It will still not become a “Koi Kahe” as it lacks that class. The instruments, the composition, the lyrics, the mixing on this song is very good. I just don’t like the drop that comes in around 3 minutes into the song. This song gets a 8/10 .

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Track 3 – Pyaar Ki Daastaan – You have had a song about life, a fun dance number & now a romantic one. When you get to song 3 you know this album is a complete package with all moods.

Amit Paul delivers some very soulful vocals along with Mahalakshmi Iyer on this song. Lyrics are deep & very romantic with a strong Bollywood flavour to it. The composition is not very different from many other Bollywood romantic songs. Plus it is not very catchy but definitely a good listen. An average song. I would give it a 6.5/10 .

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Track 4 – Yeh Aaj Kya Ho Gaya? – A simple straight forward song sung by the melodious yet powerful Sunidhi Chauhan. A happy feel good factor with a complete live music ensemble. I can imagine the SEL boys performing this song live on stage. Live drums, keyboards & guitars… Minimal synthetic music.  Takes you back to Rock On !!. Great composition and has a light side to it. I like this song. I give it a 7.5/10 .

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Track 5 – Sapno Se Bhare Naina – If you liked track 1 on this album, you will LOVVVVEEEEE this one. This is by far the best song on this CD. You have to listen to this song atleast 5 times to grab all elements of this song viz. Lyrics, Vocals, composition, instruments used and the overall package of each element blending with other. Each element is so grasping that it takes full 5 minutes of the song to relish it. Pay attention to the lyrics from the word go & you wont get enough of it. The aspirations & dreams are picturesque through words alone. The music of this song also forms the background score of the film’s intense moments. It has a dark bassline for it’s start and then goes into a soft Drum n’ Bass beat pattern. Shankar’s voice makes you feel like you are walking on sky. It surely is the best overall work of SEL I have ever heard. I give it a 9.5/10 . Brilliant !!

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Track 6 – O Rahi Re – Another superb soft song. Shankar’s vocals on this song literally touch your soul. This song without any music & just his vocals is good enough to take you on a trip with the amazing lyrics at hand. I think SEL realised that & thus have kept the music to a minimal with an acoustic guitar & a simple beat. Its completely in the style of “Maa” from Taare Zameen Par. I would love to see Shankar perform this live on stage someday. 9/10 .

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Track 7 – Baawre Remix – If you want to do something different from the current trend… THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT !! With the Remixes trend in the market, the team of LBC haven’t kept remixes off nor have they gone the typical way of giving a song to DJ Suketu or A-Myth and the likes…

Midival Punditz are regarded to be the kings of Asian Underground and they make a come back here with a direct entry into Bollywood with this amazing rendition of Baawre. Truly electronic with vocal scatting being the main feature. The production of this remix is simply innovative & new to a style unknown to Bollywood. A rocking 8/10 for this remix.

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FINAL WORD

BRILLIANT – 8.5/10

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Shankar-Eshaan-Loy along with the Akhtar family make a statement and put a milestone at the start of 2009. It is sort of a like a challenge for all music teams to try and out do them. And frankly… I doubt anyone can come close !! You might have bigger hit songs in the forthcoming year but not an album packed with hits like this… Cant wait for this movie !!

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