Satyagraha: Music Review

Music Composers: Salim-Sulaiman, Aadesh Srivatava, Indian Ocean

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Kareena, Kapoor, Ajay Devgan, Arjun Rampal

I honestly had no idea about Satyagraha till its music release. Its a pleasant surprise to see that this movie has such a huge star cast for a movie which such a meaningful .  I'm also pretty excited to know that this is  another creation  from the Salim-Sulaiman duo, as well as the other talented composers. Since this is a modern political thriller, my expectations are low about the quality of the music. Expect many many situtational numbers.

The first song on the soundtrack, is the title track, Satyagraha, a twist on the traditional song, "Raghupati Raghav Rajaram".  We can hear various stylistic approaches. At first we hear rock and then the song simmers down into a mellow melody. In the back is a touch of electronica, over the classical singing. Our artists, Rajiv Sundaersan, Shweta Pandit, and Shivam Pathak sound as if they are singing three different songs. This song is interesting approach to a traditional song , but it seems scattered in its initiation . 3.5/5

It seems these days all music composers are concerned with is producing some kind of techno/electronic music. This second song Aiyo Ji falls into this craze. Sharda Pandit gracefully croons this number all the way through, and Salim Merchant comes in at intervals to say "Aiyo Ji Aiyo Ji".  The beat overpowers this song, as well as Salim Mechant's parts. A calmer beat would have been a better alternative. 3/5

Salim-Sulaiman steps aside for a little bit, and lets composer Aadesh Srivatava take over for Raske Bhare Tore Naina. This song saves the Satyagraha with gifted singers, Shafqat Amanat Ali and Arpita. With the delicate vocals and restrained rhythm this song is exactly the beautiful refinement the other two songs were lacking. Complete with pianos and Indian instrumentals, Shafqat Amanat Ali's voice is truly exceptional.  With gorgeous classical intrusion from Arpita in unison with the instrumentals, this song is just perfect. 5/5

Janta Rocks, let's say unexpected, in Satyagraha. While the other songs are somber and serious in quality, this one is strangely upbeat. The Meet Brothers and Keerthi Sangathia team up for this odd number which stretches for an unbearable seven and half minutes. Weird. 2/5

Composed by Indian Ocean, Hum Bole The, is our rally song in our political thriller. Its hard rock, with one of the most interesting guitar arrangements I have heard this year in Bollywood. The singers Rahul Ram, Amit Kalam, and Himanshu sound justly angry and bitter. This song will go well with the political unrest that will be featured in Satyagraha, but it may tend to annoy the listener if listened without the backdrop of the movie. 3/5

Aiyo Ji (Remix) takes the whole techo beat further, and makes it little better. It doesn't really change the outcome of the mediocre quality of the song. Raske Bhare Tore Naina (House Mix) introduces in a techno element as well, taking away from the restrained quality of the first song. The moaning in the beginning doesn't help the case either. 2/5

In the end Satyagraha doesn't really find its footing off screen The music has the potential to work well along with the film, and it is not definitely up to the Salim-Sulaiman par anyone is used to.  The songs escape into the techno realm too often and don't leave a lasting impression.

My Picks: Rakse Bhare Tore Naina, Satyagraha

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Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai: Film Review

On the cusp of the release of Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Again/Dobara, I figured I would watch the first Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, a seventies era film.This movie is rumored to be loosely based on real-life gangsters,  Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim.What drew me to this movie was: Emraan Hashmi, Kangna Raunat and the soundtrack. After the disaster that was Himmatwala this year, I didn't really want to see Ajay Devgan's face again, but I reluctantly dug into the past and pulled this movie out.

 Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai begins with a cop, Agnel Wilson (Randeep Hooda) who tries to kill himself by driving his car into a river. When he is taken in by his commanding officer for questioning he narrates our movie to us. It begins with a young orphan,Sultan Mirza, (later played by Ajay Devgan) who shovels coal for just a few rupees a day. Pretty soon he begins to smuggle for rich men, and then bham, he is now the biggest underworld don.

Our little gangster has a crush

Sultan is a benevolent don. He divides Mumbai into four regions, refraining from giving one person total power. He also does not smuggle contraband, so therefore he is looked at as having higher integrity than the others like him. Our big bad white suit wearing gangster Sultan, however has a childlike crush on leading actress Rehana (Kangna Raunat). He does ridiculous, but amusing things to get her attention. He buys a guava for 400 rupees and presents it to her, he waits for her for 18 days at her favorite restaurant, and he even eats bitter gourd for her. What a guy! So they eventually fall in love, hence Rahat's Tum Jo Aaye Zindagi Mein. Their love story is the cutest part of the movie, but its fades away so quickly as Agnel closes in and our second star, Shoaib Khan (Emraan Hashmi) surfaces.

So we see our Dawood Ibrahim, Shoaib, as a bratty child in the beginning, starkly contrasting Sultan's demeanor at a child. He is a defiant, hot-blooded young thing who likes to steal change out of pay phones with his chubby accomplice. He threatens the man who reports him and takes him to his police officer father. When Shoaib grows up he is an even more disgusting person. He harasses customers at the store where love interest, Mumtaz (Prachi Desai) works and commits with robberies.

I think you should dress up like Dimple Kapadia from Bobby. Do it.

 His police officer dad for some ridiculous reason asks Sultan to take take Shoaib under his wing. This when the trouble starts in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai. Shoaib's character is barely endearing besides the scene where he buys Mumtaz liquor and a snack mix with his first paycheck, claiming that this is what he does with his friends, and he doesn't know what to do for girls. So, basically Shoaib being the disgusting person he is, tries to overthrow Sultan to take over power.

The events in the Once Upon a Time in Mumbai pan out realistically and the acting is top notch. The women unfortunately aren't essential to the plot, but they did add some romance and release of tension. Ajay Devgan is easily the most likable character. It is almost as if he was tailor made for this role. The best part about Sultan's character is that he was flawed, but still lovable. Hashmi's character, on the other hand, was so easy to hate and so hard to love. So in the end, the music was fabulous, the plot moved quickly, and the acting was great. The downside was that all police mama drama gets a little boring sometimes, but give it a chance, you won't regret Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai, like I regretted Himmatwala.

BB