Who is Amitabh Bhattacharya?

Well  Amitabh Bhattacharya is someone who does not have his wikipage yet, but yeah the man has absofuckinglutely awesome work under his belt.  He is lyricist and here is look at some of his creations....if someone looking for variety, your hunt stops here. Amitabh Bhattacharya take a bow.


The first striking work was of course DevD, if someone can come up as weird as below mentioned, you got to say it's different.

Yeh dil pighla ke saaz bana loon,dhadkan ko awaz bana loon,smoking smoking nikle re dhooan.Seene mein jalti hai armanon ki arthi,Arrey what to tell you darling kya hua.Arrey sapne dekhe jannat ke,par mitti mein mil jaen,phooken re ghar baar ki duniya..ko bole good bye..Chad jae haye Allah,jisko bhi yeh bukhaar,Tauba Tera Jalwa, Tauba tera pyar,Tera Emosanal Attyachaar!

A typical YashRaj chhap Band Bajaa Barat song, and still he makes his signature felt with..

Ho baalon ko main set kitta gel mal ke
Chaati chaudi dolle sholle dand pel ke
Kudiya haraya tune chaal chal ke
Baaton waali basket ball khel ke

and absolutely delightful line to describe status of sachha aashiq  as Chai mein dooba biscut ho gaya :)


But my latest favorite is the one from I Am, the Kavita Seth's rendition for Bangur song

Phirti Thi Hawaaon Mein, Par Lagte Thay Paaon MeinZindagi Band Pinjron Mein Kiyun Aaj Rehti HaiNeendon Ke Sandooqon Mein Kabhi Sone Ke Sapne ThayAaj Peetal Ke Tukrron Ko Mohtaaj Rehti Hai

The perfect depiction of uncertainty and fear of unknown in Udaan song

Aankhon ke pardon pe pyaara sa jo tha woh nazaraDhua sa ban kar udh gaya ab na rahaBaithe the hum toh khwabon ke chaon ke taleChod ke unko jaane kahan ko chaleKahani khatam hai ya shuruwaat hone ko haiSubha nayi hai yeh ya phir raat hone ko hai

The down and dusted Sabrina Lal's state of mind described superbly in No One Killed Jessica's aitbaar song

Jhulsi hui iss rooh ke, chithde padeh bikhre hueUdhdi hui ummeed hai ooRaunde jinhe kadmo tale, badi beraham raftaar yehBejaan si iss geed ke ooJal bhun ke raakh hua aitbaarGanda mazaak hua aitbaarChidhta hai, kudhta hai, sadta hai raaton mein

And just when you think he can't get any more classy, he hits you back with crassly written

Volume kam kar papa jag jayega from Housefull and Baburao Mast hain from Once Upon a time in Mumbai

Here is the list of my 3 most favorite chhapri songs in AB style.

Character Dheela Hain from Ready

Kise hai love se matlabYeh yovan sant leela haiFark padta hai kya baahon meinMunni hai ya sheela haiIshak ke namm pe karte
sabhi ab raas leela hai
Main karoon toh saala
Character dheela hai

The Mutton song from Luv ka The End

Mera jism jism
Mera badan badanArre main hoon taaza mutton muttonTu khol dilonkeTu khol dilonke button buttonMera jism jismMera badan badan

And the cherry on the cake Bhag DK Bose from Delhi Belly

Daddy Mujhse Bola , Tu Galti hai MeriTujh pe Zindgaani , Guilty hai MeriSaabun Ki Shakal Mein , Beta Tu to Nikla Keval JhaagJhaag , Jhaag , BHAAG Bhaag Bhaag D.K.BOSE D.K.BOSE D.K.BOSE

P.S. By the way he sung for my all time favorite Iktara...remember the soulful 'kise hai pata' line? That's him again.

It's So Simple, It's So Silly....

Now no matter how cool you are and you sound in your movies, Ranbir Kapoor, your TATA DOCOMO ads are one stupid thing. Please kill the writer who has written those stand up acts,
I did not even smile for one of those ads. And every time those get aired in STRATEGIC timeouts I cringe to the core.

World Cup 2011 - wrap up

Oh there are lots of happening around, and I just could not catch it all here. So thought of writing a mixed post of all the hoopla around world cup 2011....yes the same we won couple of weeks back [Looks like long past thing isn't it?] the moment Dhoni hit that last Six [the shot that he kept in his safety vault for at least 3 years now] I thought of writing an open letter to him. I have been hating Dhoni ever since he became a captain of Indian Cricket team, but on 2nd April he was awesome...or in Erik Cartman's word SOOOPER OSSUM. Let's accept for once Dhoni was great captain ON THAT DAY [LOOK, I did Sangakkara here!]
We hardly realize that Srilanka has always been our little jealous neighbors and beating them in World Cup finals was real treat. We won the world cup by winning over Australia, Pakistan and Srilanka....that's just honey to the ears,
Sadly there wasn't much out of stadium drama, however Shahid Afridi did provide our NEGATIVE MEDIA ample MATERIAL to run their special reports on "AFRIDI NE UGALA JEHAR". OK, Afridi we may not have big hearts as you people, but we have 2 world cups :P Period!
The best match for me was obviously the tie between India and England, the best finish was England Vs Ireland [Totally unexpected and the climax was real fun, proves again that how much we love underdogs winning the match], India Pak was obviously a cracker and thankfully it did not dispoint it's fans. New Zealand and RSA chocked again, England's dream run ended up as a nightmare in Srilanka, and the downfall of Australia is confirmed yet again.
It's strange but none of us felt bad when Virat Kohli said that we won this cup for Sachin, mind you! not for the country but for him. We all agree, because he is worth it. Pathan gave his best performance by lifting Sachin on his shoulder all by himself and gave a him victory lap....something that we all will remember....Thanks Kohli   for not taking off his pads and standing in pavilion for rest of the match. [Yes, we all did our tiny superstitious deeds for India to lift the cup]
On 3rd Morning it was great feeling to wake up as a world champions.....woa!!...Nothing much to say, because already a lot has been said and done. To all the Indians and Indian Cricket lovers...congratulations!

When someone wish to end corruption...Finally!!

hazaaro.n Khvaahishe.n aisii ki har Khvaaish pe dam nikale

bahut nikale mere armaa.N lekin phir bhii kam nikale

There are thousands of ambitions that each such wish could consume my life

My desires , and I experience them all intensely, aren’t enough for this one lifetime.

Guest Post: Patriotism; Nationalism; Sport

Yet another guest post, This time from Tuhin - Argumentative as ever; Indian by birth; Australian by nature. And for me an asshole by all means...anyways as he says about himself  "i'm a brilliant writer..... dil se likhta hun... when i actually get excited to write about something..." here is something straight from his heart.

Nationalist Jingoism disgusts me. While I can understand and identify with the feeling of patriotism, and often find myself feeling patriotic towards two countries that I have been (or am) a citizen of; I try my best to not get carried away in the nationalistic fervour that grips each nation every so often. I'd rather assess the goods and the bads, the pluses and the minuses of a country in a rational manner, and be disturbingly blunt in talking about them. 

Those close to me will know this wasn't always the case. Just ask Abhijit about the countless hours spent discussing Gandhi, Baabri Masjid, Mumbai Riots, Godhra and every other event that happened in India between 1990 and 2004. More often than not, I along with almost everyone else but Abhijit used to be on the extremist end of the argument. Abhijit being the self appointed voice of rationalism (then again, he's always been a psuedo-intellectual, and acts as such)!  Looking back, those were great arguments to sharpen ones persuasive skills, and gathering the ability to debate an issue without conceding your point of view, however pointless the debate might be. Always a good corporate skill to have :D 

The reason for this post? I found myself oddly divided while watching a cricket match last week, and yet, felt feelings of jingoistic fervour yesterday, which I promise myself I seldom will. 

24th March 2011; India v Australia; Ahmedabad : Never before has a cricket game had me so divided within myself as this one. Being a big fan of Tendulkar, I've been waiting for this world cup ever since the final was announced to be held in Mumbai. Watching SRT lift the World Cup in front of his home crowd will be a moment to savour for years to come. Yet, as a fan of the Australian cricket side since before I became an Australian; it was not possible to wish that they lose. One of the two teams had to lose that day, and my only wish was, whoever wins that game better go on to win the damn World Cup.

I've always enjoyed the intensity, the aggression (and yes, the arrogance), thekhadoospana; with which the Australians play their cricket. I've been a fan of that side when they were steamrolling opponents, and I'll continue to support them when they are down and out. God knows my support for the Australian side has given myself, Abhijit and Sumit many a moments to sledge each other to kingdom come. As much as I am a fan of the Australian side, I don't really have a favourite player (save for, perhaps, Steve Waugh - but that has a lot more to do with his persona - both on and off the field - than his cricketing skills and technique). 

On the other hand, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is and and will remain my favourite cricket, yet I rarely if ever get excited about the Indian Cricket Team. (The Khadoospana might also explain why I'll follow Mumbai in the Ranji trophy regardless of where I live!)

Delving deep into my own psyche, I feel the reason why I can be a fan of Australia and SRT to the same degree yet never bring myself to get excited about the Indian cricket team lies in the way Australian team as a whole, and SRT as an Individual, go about their game. They are accomplished, aggressive, play to win at all costs, and never take a backward step. This could also be a reason why every Australian wishes for Tendulkar to score a bucketload of runs every time India comes touring. The man is a delight to watch. And I count myself lucky to have watched him score 151* at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The only time I will get excited about the Indian cricket team, is when they are playing Pakistan. And when that happens, I don't just want Pakistan to be defeated, but I want them to be destroyed, demolished and butchered (metaphorically, of course ;) or maybe not ;) )

30th March 2011, Mohali was when that opportunity presented itself. No other matchup in any sport anywhere gets my hackles rising as India facing off against Pakistan in a cricket match. Make that in the World Cup Semi-Final, and the intensity reaches a whole new level. It is the only occasion where I'll leave rationalism aside and become entirely jingoistic towards a country that I am not ashamed to criticize at other times. But this match up makes everything else irrelevant. Consider the two messages I received before and after the game from two friends who shall remain nameless.

Kangaroo ki maari hai; ab kutton ki baari hai

Indian cricket team has done what Indian intelligence couldn't. Prevent Pakistanis from going to Mumbai.

I guess that sums it up better than I ever could, what exactly this game means to millions. And the nervous tension that I felt the night before this game, is a good reason to believe that while I'll happily sing "Advance Australia Fair" for the rest of my life, I will, always, remain - just a little bit Indian.