I recommend voting for BJP if you’re undecided. BJP governments are scrutinized a lot more than others resulting in better outcomes for citizens. Eg: Aadhaar privacy issues, recurring outbreaks of encephalitis in UP and the existence of a state called Tripura
Follow
Param Arunachalam
@taparam
Music, movies, TV, travel, food, Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Kerala. Chronicle Hindi film music . Writer/compiler of the BollySwar book series.
Param Arunachalam’s posts
How normalised is Hinduphobia in the Indian society? A journalist, Abhisar Sharma, openly uses गौ मूत्र as an epithet months after the Pulwama bomber Adil Ahmad Dar used the same slur in a video justifying the killing of 40 Indians.
Quote
Phd करके कोई फायदा नहीं होता, अगर दिमाग मे गौ मूत्र भरा हो। ये साकेत उसकी मिसाल है। अरे भाई गाली देना, किसी मृत व्यक्ति को अपशब्द freedom of expression नहीं होता। खैर तुम तो बोलोगे ही। वर्ना टिकट कैसे मिलेगा चुनाव लड़ने के लिये । ये तो qualification है संस्कारी पार्टी की। twitter.com/BahugunaSaket/…
Rishab Shetty deserved a better “appreciation letter” for Kantara than this. “I’m a godless man”? “Compassion is lacking in gods”? “Dravidian stock”? “Testosterone father”? What a pile of bs this is by Kamal Haasan!
I get things like media speaking truth to power, questioning establishment, etc. But play opposition? Who elected media?
No biggie. Learn from India. Just ban firecrackers and the air will clear up.
Quote
BREAKING: New York City currently has the worst air quality of any major city across the world due to Canada fires
Ethnic cleansing 2.0 in progress.
Quote
#BREAKING: Two more non-local traders shot at by Pakistani terrorists in Trenz area of Shopian in South Kashmir. Charanjeet Singh shot dead.
Sanjay Kumar is injured. Both brought to Pulwama district hospital. Sanjay Kumar now being rushed to Srinagar. More details are emerging.
Sharing a thread of some interesting opening credit frames from Hindi films of the 1960s - dedications, messages, and unusual credits; from deeply personal to bizarre to political to preachy.
Aas Ka Panchhi (1961)
Observe carefully how “anti-establishment” journalists cover Karti Chidambaram’s arrest.
Hint: Karti Chidambaram is establishment.
Tanmay Bhatt has been on a deleting spree. Recording his "roast" of north-east folks for posterity
Not a quote I would use for this occasion. “Conquer” betrays arrogance. Also, this remark was insensitive - Mount Everest is sacred for the Sherpas, the people who helped Edmund Hillary scale the peak eventually.
Quote
After a failed attempt to conquer Mount #Everest Sir Edmund #Hillary remarked, “I will come again and conquer you because as a mountain you can’t grow, but as a human I can.” Rest is history and lesson is to keep trying until you achieve your #dream.
Arijit Singh has sung Hindi film songs for more than 50 MDs including Pritam, Jeet Ganguly, Amit Trivedi, Mithoon, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, A.R. Rahman, Vishal-Shekhar, Vishal Bhardwaj, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
There are hundreds of Pakistani songs that are plagiarised from Indian songs. Nobody knows about them because nobody listens to Pakistani songs.
Sid V will throw Devesh under the bus. The Wire kool aid drinkers will praise Sid V for his bravery/honesty/integrity. Sid V will win some firang journalism award. The Wire will get more funds. Meta will emerge untainted by the allegations. Win-win.
Couple Buys 300 Acres Of Barren Land, Converts It Into India's First Private Wildlife Sanctuary. indiatimes.com/news/india/cou
Replying to
Here’s one reason why Rohin and that DickheadMax fellow are blaming the Centre - to pre-empt the blame that will eventually be assigned to the entity it truly belongs - the Kerala state govt. Make no mistake, this is a man-made disaster.
Quote
‘Gradual dam water release could have contained #KeralaFlood crisis’ toi.in/8-Q04Y/a24gk via @TOICitiesNews
Wordcloud of the most prominent Hindi film music artists of 2011-2020. Size of name denotes number of songs to their credit. (Slight adjustments were made to make everything fit)
Quote
Sooner or later Pritam will be considered a legend (by those who don’t already do so). No composer in the last 20 years has been as consistently good as him while also being prolific.
In case you hadn’t heard, Madras High Court’s ruling on the Lavanya case has a reference to Serious Men. :-)
The Gandhi-Gowda clans are laughing and the joke is on us. They get all the power with none of the tiresome accountability. Gotta give it to HDK for being candid about it though.
Replying to
Another travesty - Kishore Kumar did not win a single National Film Award for singing in a career spanning 40+ years. Naresh Iyer won it for his debut song.
People moving from Twitter to Mastodon will result in two social media platforms free of toxicity. Win-win. 😈
We discussed it in a music group and we concluded that this is a made up story floating around on WhatsApp. This version is there in the film. Mukesh was always meant to sing for Raj Kapoor. Kishore was Randhir’s voice.
youtube.com/watch?v=9WT0VF
Going for my first Arijit Singh concert next month and printed myself a t-shirt for the occasion. Probably the most fanboyish thing I’ve ever done. 😊
A story to remind how vacuous Bollywood activism is. It is from a little less than a decade ago when the film Rockstar was about the be released. A.R. Rahman's spectacular music had created a lot of buzz around the film. #FreedomForTibet
The Supreme Court erred on Sabarimala. SC didn’t grant women devotees’ the right to pray in the temple (they’ll continue to abstain), it gave Hinduphobes a chance to desecrate Sabarimala.
There seems to be a correlation between BJP coming to power and citizens getting better informed and more engaged.
Replying to
Go for an Arijit Singh concert, get a crash course on Indian music. By my count, the man sang more than 60 songs. Other than his songs, he sang Pancham, Varaha Roopam, half the OST of Dil Se, Pasoori, and a lot more. Unless I missed something, this is the selist:
From an Indian perspective, Trump is emerging is a far better alternative to the American Democratic nut cases. I hope he wins his re-election bid. Better to squabble with America on trade issues instead of security.
Quote
"India’s action [in Kashmir] is unacceptable and the communications blockade must be lifted immediately, and the US government must be speak out boldly in support of international humanitarian live and in support of a UN backed peaceful resolution" @BernieSanders #isnacon
Another day of WhatsApp groups obsessing over migrating to Signal. I have no idea why people who share their deepest secrets with Google every day are freaking out about the policy change of an encrypted messaging service. Herd mentality?
Sounds like Kangana Ranaut has knocked it out of park again with Thalaivi. Will make for some very unhappy film critics/reviewers. :-)
A little less than 5% of all of Pancham’s Hindi film songs were plagiarised. SDB was the top plagiariser in the 1960s (9%). Some of the greatest MDs of Hindi film cinema plagiarised. IMO it didn’t define them. Your loss if you let it overshadow their fantastic work.
Replying to
A thread of unpopular opinions to counter other unpopular opinions on Indian music.
Rooting for Suman over Lata is rooting for the less talented underdog over a legend. Touching, but horribly wrong. 😀 twitter.com/somnath1978/st
This post is unavailable.
What Postcard does is reprehensible but fact checkers are doing a good job of dealing with them. I’m not sure using the law against them is the right thing. What if every journalist who “promoted enmity between religious groups” with fake "church attacks” news were arrested?
The older we grow the more we become like our parents. One example- we hoard like them. Here I am sitting with a box of cassettes I’ll never use but can’t let go of.
Replying to
Unlikely we’ll agree on this but I’ll just say this as withdraw - while BJP tends to use communalism for votes, Congress institutionalises it. Eg: RTE in the centre, Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, ant-superstition bill, Lingayat minority status in KA
Kesariya sweeps Filmfare Awards.
Congratulations to Pritam, Amitabh Bhattacharya and Arijit Singh.
Also - 1 minute silence for haters of “love storiyaan”. 😀
I knew Rajendra Krishan was a prolific lyricist but was a little surprised to learn just how prolific. He wrote the highest number of Hindi film songs between 1951-1970, almost 300 more than the next most prolific lyricist, Majrooh Sultanpuri! Partial list:
Replying to
People respect principles or power. Now they have neither.
Shreya Ghoshal in Ilaveyil from Marakkar is so good. The opening specially is 🔥
youtube.com/watch?v=-KT-rA
27 year old Shah Rukh Khan on his experience of shooting with Mani Kaul. 😄😄
Replying to
It’s been 3 days since the GK Pillai/Ishrat Jahan/Chidu revelations and there are a number of journos & pub. that still haven’t covered it.
Journalists: “Leveraging our superior intellectual ability, analytical skills and understanding of people and current events we predict that X will not happen”
X happens
Same journalists: “Exclusive. Our lack of capacity for shame helps us explain how and why X happened”
Tu Hai Mera Sunday is a hidden gem on Hotstar. A charming film with an excellent ensemble cast and lovely music. Feels like a sincere homage to Basu Bhattacharya.
youtube.com/watch?v=L2njfa
People who have been on Twitter for long will probably remember Bhupinder’s version of Is Mod Se Jaate Hain. There are days - like today - when I prefer this version over Pancham/Lata/Kishore’s. Listening to it now. 😢
That harmonium riff in What Jhumka is insanely catchy. Pritam has done this before with the Nagin been sampling in Twist / Haan Main Galat. He knows what works and the brilliance of the source material helps.
This Lata Mangeshkar tribute by Arijit Singh is so beautiful and heartfelt. Love the Hindi-Bengali transitions. I think he made an attempt to keep his natural “kharash” in check - worked really well. He should try this more often.
Made a playlist of the hit Hindi film songs of the 1960s (1961-1970). 200 songs - 20 songs per year.
Replying to
Today’s gyanis - “Arijit Singh is so overused. He is single-handedly destroying Hindi film music and stealing opportunities from past legends and current talent”.
20 years later - “Nobody like Arijit Singh. So sad he is not getting enough songs now. He has so much more to offer”
Replying to
Tim Cook wants to sell iPhones so badly that he let himself be entertained by a Bollywood actor who just delivered a flop.
I’ll have to think about the analogy a bit but this is a wonderful articulation of how film music has changed in the last few decades.
Quote
I don’t think this is a problem with just individuals. Urban life and lifestyle has been a major culprit in this. We have been able to increase our standard of living but not the standard of life. Let me compare this to a phenomenon that I observed in Indian film music. -1 t.co/s8O8YvqeX0
Replying to
Also, how can I not highlight their effusive praise for Arijit Singh. 😎
“Greats like Shankar and Arijit make it sound easy.”
“His voice is touched from above, like Kishore da’s.”
What is this silliness going around that students can do no wrong even in the face of video evidence of their hateful, violent conduct?
Swachh Bharat Mission: A remarkable transformation - Heartening to read this success story! livemint.com/Opinion/T6KY7k
Replying to
Pretty malicious how this cartoonist is blurring the line between Modi/BJP “bhakts” and Ram bhakts.
A thread to counter the lazy critique that Arijit Singh sounds the same in every song. IMO Arijit experiments with his singing style more than most singers. At times, he risks a lot and the results produced are not great – but I think it’s admirable that he puts himself out there
Replying to
Kamal makes a reference to Nirmalyam. There are similarities between Kantara and Nirmalyam of course - both are journeys of a man’s faith, the protagonists undergo a shocking climactic transformation in both. However, they are completely different films:
Replying to
Ameen Sayani introduced Ye Dil Kisko Doon (1963) by asking people to take a break from the war and chill. 😀
Says someone who has never heard Mohit Chauhan live. Mohit has excellent voice texture but he would have remained an obscure, one-hit indie artist without the help of modern sound production and some fantastic tunes by MDs who value texture more than the ability to sing in sur.
If people can have strong opinions on plagiarism/remixes/“re-creations” of film songs, what’s wrong with people having a strong opinion about the plagiarism/remix/“re-creation” of Thyagaraja krithis?
Breaking - ARR has disowned Jashn-E-Bahara. Says he had nothing to do with the song.
Hm. Anyway this is the tweet that got my goat and why:
Replying to
Moral:
Nostalgia is a potent hallucinogen. Use it for succour but don’t let it shape your worldview. Be in the moment. Make the most of what life has to offer today. Don’t pine away for the past, don’t lose hope for the future. Be happy. :-)
Replying to
The left's bigotry comes with a presentable facade - secularism, liberalism, anti-majoritarianism, atheism, communism - take your pick.
Where Sonu Nigam does “Heere motiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…….” like Anup Jalota till the audience claps.
Quote
Aisi laagi lagan.. beautiful rendition by Sonu Nigam.. although, Anup Jalota version will remain the most classic forever.. youtube.com/watch?v=8R3yb6
Replying to
Friends from Infosys Mangalore shared this pic of a stunning pookalam they made for Onam.
Replying to
Rakhi (1962) was a remake of the Tamil film Pasamalar (1961). Sivaji Ganesan, who played a lead role in the Tamil film, presented Rakhi (1962) and appeared in its opening.
Good point. Cutoff jalane ka hona chahiye, phatne ka nahin milord!
Quote
wo pathakhon ka kya hoga jo acting to karte hain immediately phatne ki par phat'te 2 minute baad hain overacting karne ke baad.. matlab, kisi ne aag lagayi 9:59 ko aur patakha phata 10:01 pe.. twitter.com/ABPNews/status…
Replying to
Ganga Ki Lahren (1964) did not credit any of its actors. Instead, it simply carried the legend - “With Top Stars”. No idea why they did that. Perhaps the actors fought for bigger billing?
Arijit gets special love from me in this zone.
Two Rajesh Roshan songs 16 years apart with the same tune for mukhda, one by Lata Mangeshkar and the other by Sonu Nigam. I think Sonu sings this better. 🙈
Replying to
Japan was a cast member in Love in Tokyo (1966).
Replying to
People who compare artists of different generations don’t understand pop culture… or music.
Quote
Udit Narayan > Arijit Singh twitter.com/Music_Vichaar/…
Replying to
Abraham Lincoln’s “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time” via Bluff Master (1963) #bollygif
I’m trying to analyse/validate some observable Hindi film music trends of the 2010s (2011-2020) with data. Listing some trends here. Would love to hear your thoughts.
The Wire files an FIR against Devesh Kumar. If Kumar were a regular techie/journalist, he would become a whistleblower and spill the beans on Siddharth Varadarajan and co. However, he appears to be a hard-core ideologue who will be willing to sacrifice himself for the cause.
Superb analysis. Looks like the present CJI is following the policy followed by the past CJIs. So why are the four judges complaining now? m.timesofindia.com/india/super-se
Revisiting some MM Keeravani/MM Kreem favourites to celebrate his Golden Globe award.
Kshana Kshanam was my introduction to Keeravani, although I didn’t know it was him at the time. Love Jaamu Raathiri -
South India has plenty of playback singers who can pull off classical singing with aplomb, singers who are comfortable singing songs of diverse genres. Bollywood has very few of them and so it’s special when Arijit Singh sings Mere Dholna.
Replying to
This is an issue when a film gets so much praise - it tends to raise our expectations big time. I have a feeling you’d have liked it better if you had seen it earlier. (I loved it despite high expectations!)
Quote
Need to watch Andhadhun before expectation goes out of whack based on all the positive reviews coming out.
Replying to
People are tired of being preached upon. There is a pattern of campaigns guilting Hindus and telling them they’re flawed. #Holi has been demonized quite a bit already- water waste, molestation, etc. This new ad is seen as another angle of criticism.
Replying to
All that talk about toxic masculinity, anger issues and women who put up with it reminded me of this interview. openthemagazine.com/article/art-cu
Thanks to RMIM, I was extremely privileged to see and hear from a living legend - Sudha Malhotra. At 84, she can still sing wonderfully. She was charming, witty and spirited. Here’s Sudha ji talking about the only Hindi film song she composed Tum Mujhe Bhool Bhi Jao
Replying to
Tejpal’s friends (Anurag Kashyap, Manu Joseph, Seema Mustafa and now Alyque Padamsee) have had a free run with using the tapes to defend Tejpal all these years. The Times Now report levels the playing field by getting public opinion in favour of the victim.
Replying to
Quite enjoyed this change. Must be causing severe burn to the communist historians who cooked up the earlier version.
Replying to
Digressing a little. I don’t hold anything against Bombay Ka Chor (1962) for being inspired by North by Northwest but this crop duster scene was a little too much. 😀
Replying to
Made a 75 song playlist of Yogesh. Check it out -
