Ricky Kej, the Bengaluru-based Indian music composer, won his second Grammy award in the Best New Age Album category for Divine Tides at the 64th edition of the Grammys. The event held on Sunday also saw Bruno Mars-led Silk Sonic, Jon Batiste, and Olivia Rodrigo win the top honours.
The song Naam gum jayega conveyed both the morphing tendency of time and immortality of the singing voice, all the time present underneath this amazing film about what lasts and what does not.The subtle distinction between a living past and a dead history that cannot tolerate questions provides, through the comic spirit, a profound understanding of not only Aarti but also her predicament in negotiating with time gone, and time to come.
What distinguishes a respectable person from a less respectable person? It’s not written on anyone’s forehead, says a paan-shop owner to Hameed. Hitherto, Hameed and Salma had felt thankful to the paan-wala for procuring for them a house; and providing an opportunity for them to escape the slums they had lived in. However, this question is a response to Hameed’s accusation at him for giving them a house whose previous occupant was a courtesan named Shamshad. The dream of a ‘clean’ house and ‘clean’ neighbourhood – the home of sharif/respectable grihastha/householder family comes crashing down for the young couple when every night someone or the other knocks at their door asking for Shamshad.
From this playful charge of the senses, the song introduces a stanza when the male voice reminds the female lover that if she makes a habit of leaving everything halfway, adhoori raat, adhoori baat, how would they go through different ups and downs of life?The duet manages to do what duets are meant for; keep the song an ongoing and inconclusive mode of communication, reminding us that all questions need to be answered immediately, and who gets tested and who passes these tests in the examination of life always remains to be seen.
Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, who died on Wednesday at the age of 98 after a prolonged illness, will be laid to rest with State Honours at Mumbai’s Juhu cemetery at 5 pm on Wednesday.
Raamlaxman, the Indian music composer who lent his tunes to popular Salman Khan-starrer films like Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989), Hum Aapke Hain Koun…! (1994) and Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999), died of a cardiac arrest at his residence in Nagpur on Saturday, reported PTI.
Shashikala Om Prakash Saigal, the Padma Shri awardee film and television actor who was best known by her first name, died on Sunday at her Mumbai residence.
February was an eventful month to say the least, in terms of social media and internet. The month commenced with a controversy related to the farmers protest and ended with a rule being passed to regulate social media, OTT platforms and digital news. To truly ascertain what the implications of these events will be, is something we will have to wait and see.
The film invests considerable time on Veena (played by Nargis) spending time with her new friend Dileep (played by Dilip Kumar), getting to know him better, listening to him sing, playing tennis with him, and even gently flirting. As audiences, we are led to believe that the frisson between them was mutually felt, and perhaps it was.
Several members of the Indian film fraternity and sportspersons took to social media to voice their opinions after the Ministry of External Affairs’ issued a notice soon after notable international celebrities tweeted in support of the ongoing farmers’ protest in new Delhi.
However, love becomes more expansive when intimacy is not about being there, but being able to cry on someone’s shoulder, of being held when long travels of life are conveyed.That Sanjeev Kumar could have pulled off the role of being a husband who takes a step back to wait and watch the unfolding of political ambition and success in his wife’s life is also particularly appropriate.
The song Mere khwabon mein tum is alluring even visually, with Kishore Kumar singing both on and off stage; and Meena Kumari (as Mala in the film), joining him, waltzing and dancing, and expressively looking into his eyes.The disjunct I experienced was one of trying to fit a pre-Partition voice to the modernity of another film, or creating a seamlessness between long-suffering looks and the sweetness of Mangeshkar’s voice – both of which Meena Kumari escapes in Naya Andaz.
Duaaye do mohabbat, hamne mit kar tumko sikhlaa di na jalti shamaa mein to parvaane kahaan jaate (To the lover who has been jilted, the female voice says you need to thank me for teaching you how to love; had flames not annihilated themselves, where would the moths go?Na milta gham to barbadi ke afsaane kahaan jaate, agar duniya chaman hoti to viraane kahaan jaate (If we were not to receive unhappiness what would happen to tales of destruction, had the world been a beautiful garden what would happen to deserted lands).
Veteran actor Sean Connery died on October 31 at the age of 90. The actor, who immortalised the role of British secret agent James Bond, was reportedly unwell for some time.
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister wrote a letter to the centre, with a request to confer the Bharat Ratna on legendary playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam, who died at a private hospital in Chennai on September 25 due to complications from Covid-19.
The ones seeking solace and exaltation of their own struggles must necessarily go to another time. It is not surprising that waqt in Urdu means at least four things – time and opportunity; occasion and season.
We gravitate to songs that reflect our waqt; not our times.
Evocatively the song says, ‘Jab Bhi Khayaalon Mein Tuu Aaye/Mere Badan Se Kushbuu Aaye/Mehake Badan Mein Raha Na Jaaye’, which translates as ‘Whenever you enter the thoughts, my body gives out a fragrance, and the fragrant body is hard to live with. ‘ This is intense desire in a married couple that finds hard to have a dwelling in which love-making could find its full expression.
Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor passed away this morning in Mumbai succumbing to Leukemia after a two-year-long struggle. The 67-year-old actor who made his debut as a lead actor with Bobby in 1973 alongside Dimple Kapadia was admitted to the HN Reliance hospital on Wednesday morning after his health had reportedly deteriorated.
On Friday, April 10, actor Akshay Kumar donated a sum of 3 crores to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks, rapid testing kits and more, owing to the spike in the number of patients who tested positive for COVID19. The actor had earlier donated 25 crores to the Prime Minister Cares Fund after Narendra Modi put out a tweet asking for funds to help the people of the nation.
The 65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020 was held at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Sarusajai, Guwahati on 15 February. The event was hosted outside Mumbai for the first time in six decades. Karan Johar and Vicky Kaushal hosted the night of the awards ceremony.
IPS officer D Roopa Moudgil, who exposed the special treatment given to the then AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala in Bangalore Central Prison, has turned playback singer for the upcoming Kannada film Bayalaatada Bheemanna, starring Ravichandran in the lead.
A tribute to Jaya Bachchan on her birthday
The Indian Singers’ Rights Association (ISRA) held its first meeting in Hyderabad on August 8. The association was established in 2013 to act as the Performers’ Right Society for singers and ensure that their rights are protected as per the guidelines of the Copyright Act.
Michael Scott, famous for making films based on Christian faith under his Pure Flix banner, announced that he would soon make a film based on the Thai cave incident. The incident has also inspired Bollywood duo Abbas-Mustan – the directors have reportedly tied up with the producers of the 2016 Korean film, Tunnel, for its Hindi adaptation.
The trailer of Fanney Khan is out and it unveils the bittersweet stories of a quirky set of characters. The film is an official remake of Everybody’s Famous! (2000), an Oscar-nominated Dutch film produced and directed by Dominique Deruddere, which narrates the tale of a young girl whose father goes to fatal extents to make her a singing sensation.