Top 25 songs of 2007....lets join the countdown

2006 will be over in less than 50 hours from now on. And as the year approches to its end its time to start another countdown is on my blog. :).
For me, the best way to celebrate the year end with my blogging pals has always been related with sharing of my favourite songs of the past 12 months.

In 2005 it was Khul Ke Muskura De Tu from Phir Milenge .
&
In 2006 it was Ratiyaan Andhiyari Ratiyaan from Parineeta which stole my heart.

So what will happen in 2007.....

Its a call to all my music pals to come & join me at Ek Shaam Mere Naam for this year Top 25 countdown.

Gulzar on Pancham Da!

Today is R. D. Burman's death anniversary, a fact which I came to know after reading my fellow blogger Neel's post. A year back in one of the poetry forum I went into great length about Gulzar's poetry & songs. And during my search on net I found quite interesting incidents related to Gulzar's association with Pancham da. On this very day when pancham da left us I will love to share my old post with u!

Dated 12 Feb 2004
Any discussion about Gulzar is incomplete without mention of legendary musician Pancham yani late R.D.Burman sahab.
If songs ofj Gulzar are immortal in our mind the credit must also go to Pancham da apart from poet itself.

Let's see what Gulzar has to say about the making of those immortal songs. This piece was written by Gulzar in Filmfare after Pancham's da sad demise. Here are few excerpts from that article..

..We first worked together on PARICHAY. It was important for me to sit with him on the music sessions. He inspired certain moments which I picturised later, his music was that visual...I went to Rajkamal studio where he was recording a background score for another film. I gave him the mukhDa- 'Musafir hun yaaro/Na ghar hai na thikaana-and I left. That night he woke me up at 1 a.m. and said, "Come, come down with me to the car." He'd recorded the tune on a cassette already. He started driving through the empty streets of Bandra, he played the beat on the dashboard. It was my first song as a director with him.

By the time he composed 'Saare ke saare', he had shifted from home--he was in the process of acquiring a new flat--to Caesar's Palace Hotel. The most beautiful song in the film--'Beeti na bitaai raina'--was also composed in the hotel room. It was based on a classical 'bandish'; it fetched Lata and Bhupendra National Awards for best playback singers.

In all, we did eight films together, as a composer-director team. Besides PARICHAY, there were: KHUSHBOO, KINARA, AANDHI, KITAAB, NAMKEEN, LIBAAS and IJAAZAT. How did 'Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahin' (AANDHI) come about? He was recording Bengali songs for Durga puja around that time. The lyrics were by the renowned Gauri Shanker. I liked the tune that Pancham was composing; I filled it up with Hindi words and said, "Look, I'm going to use this for AANDHI."

As for 'Is moD pe jaate haiN, kuCH sust qadam raste', I gave him the words from one of my poems. He composed the tune instantly. He never took time. Spontaneity was his specialty. If he struggled over a song, he would prefer to abandon it. For instance, 'Ek hi khwab kai baar yuhi dekha hai maine' (KINARA) exasperated him. He found that metre a bit difficult, but two months later I put it before him again. He caught the scanning, and the song was finally recorded.

When I gave him 'Mera kuCH saamaaan tumhare paas paDa hai' (IJAA- ZAT), he waved the lyric aside and said, "Huh, tomorrow you'll bring me the front page of *The Times of India* and expect me to compose a tune around it. What is this blank verse you're giving me!" Ashaji was sitting there, she started humming the phrase, "Mujhe lauta do." He grasped it immediately; from that one phrase he developed the song, which was quite a feat! This time Ashaji and I got National Awards. Poor fellow, he did all the work and we enjoyed the 'kheer'..."

Announcement...

My ANNUAL MUSICAL COUNTDOWN show

has already started!

Hope to see u all there :)

Sa Re Ga Ma Challange 2005 !

I don't see TV that much but when it comes to musical shows its different. And SA RE GA MA is my personal favourite. The talent on display is just superb. Though some of the better contestants are put on threshold by the public votes.

If u r a real music lover don't miss it!
And tell me who is ur favourite till now!

My favourite among the girls right now is
Himani Kapoor
with Twinkle & Nihira at close second
and among the boys
I like Hemchandra & Vineetwith Debojit closely following them.

So right now I am eliminating Ujjaini & Rajeev! Except these two I think all of them really Rock in terms of singing and performances.

What's ur take on these guys & gals :)


Also do tell me which is your favourite war cry! :)
a) Yalgaar Ho
b) Hum mein hai Dum Jam Ke Rakhna Kadam
c) Jay Ho Mangalmay Ho
d) let's rock the world

Update 15.12.05 - As predicted Rajeev is out with Ujjaini & Twinkle barely scrapping thru! Still it was a big achievement from a chowmin shop owner to reach this far .

Update 22.12.05 - Today Twinkle is out! Though she was not the best singer still she deserved to be in the fray ahead of Paresh & Ujjaini. I am a bit sad for her infact I voted for her last week but.... Hard luck Twinkle hope u will make ur mark in future...

Update 23.12.05 - Oh gosh! Star of the day was again Himani, the way she sung Jiya Dhadak Dhadak from movie Kalyug just left me speachless. Great show Himani even Rahat Fateh Ali Khan would have envied ur performance.:)

Update 29.12.05 - Today I am more or less satisfied with the result. Ujjaini crashed out & Himani stood at the top place as she richly deserved that after her soulful performance last week. Though Ujjaini sang well last week still she was a bit lucky to be there at first place. Today I liked the performance of Paresh the young lad from UK. He has definitely improved in last two weeks. May be becoz of presence of her pretty wife :). And last but not the least todays guest of honour was my favourite lyricist Prasoon Joshi who sang my fav song Khul Ke Muskura Le Tu on stage. It made my day..

Update 6.1.06 - Its pretty difficult to single out the next person who will have to leave the show. In girls Himani is the best no doubt about it. But it is in the boys category choice is becoming increasingly difficult . Hemchandra is good. But so is Vineet & even Debu has come with great performance in last few weeks. With slight error in singing Debu may be in danger next week. Let's see what happens next week. Till Then I have to keep my fingers crossed :)