RAAVAN - Music Review

Beera, in true Rahman style, takes a spirited, free-flowing life of its own; the energizing tune, completely fresh vocals of Mustafa Kutoane’s literally African sound and Vijay Prakash’s spritely rendition…it all adds up perfectly. Behene de is gorgeous! Resembling the style of Taj Mahal’s Kuliridhu is a massive advantage, even as it takes many fascinating turns midway. Karthik is in dazzling form in this track!

Thok di killi’s exotic sounds and energy have it in great stead even beyond those occasionally predictable Arabic’esque phases, thanks in large doses to the energiser bunny-level liveliness of Sukhwinder Singh. The way it ends, in almost a frenzy, is a nice touch! Ranjha ranjha, with its methodically ascending orchestration and earthy vocals by Rekha Bharadwaj, offers instant gratification.

Add to that, Javed Ali’s polished vocals, some scintillating interludes and sheer lyrical drama by Gulzar – this is a clear winner! Khili re is Rahman-template in every note…that semi-devotional, heartfelt rendition by a lady – sounds functional, but is also the sole mildly-appealing track. Kata kata is a euphoric victory, but immediately catchy and hummable, with enough mindboggling layers hidden to unravel on multiple listens. Mani, as always, continues to bring the best out of Rahman!

REPORT CARD

Mastii-kustii tracks down five actors and five actresses whose careers have reached a dead-end with no salvation in sight.

DIA MIRZA

She may have a few films in hand, but nothing that she can go ga-ga over. She has been a prominent member in Sanjay Gupta's films since a few years, but that's about it. She needs to look for better projects opposite bigger stars, rather than work with Arshad Warsi in his first home production.

HRISHITAA BHATT

Where is Hrishitaa Bhatt? For the girl who started her acting career alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Asoka and Abhishek Bachchan in Shraarat, she seems to have reached a dead-end. Not so long ago, she was seen in an item number in My Name is Anthony Gonsalves, but neither her bindaas act nor the film itself was great shakes. In fact My Name is Anthony Gonsalves was the first official box-office disaster of 2008.

JOHN ABRAHAM

Almost all of John's films, after his debut film Jism, have flopped and the buzz in the trade is that distributors are wary of projects that star him. Excessive display of brawn in Dostana doesn't seem to have done wonders to his career. He sailed through in Dhoom and Kabul Express, but Ravi Chopra's Babul and Anurag Kashyap's No Smoking were disastrous. Aashayein has failed to find a release date as yet. Worse still, the trade buzz is that his film Hook Ya Crook has either been shelved or the producers have asked him to reduce his fee by 60 per cent. And we will now see him in Abbas Tyrewalla's next opposite Tyrewalla's wife, Pakhi!

AKSHAYE KHANNA

After his father launched him in Himalayputra and he followed it up with Border, he was seen as the next best thing. Dil Chahta Hai earned him compliments - 'effortless' was the word used to describe him. In spite of some commercial hits - Humraaz, Deewangee, Hungama and Gandhi My Father (which won him critical acclaim) - Khanna is at a dead-end. His reputation of being moody and keeping his producers hanging, doesn't help.

AMISHA PATEL

Amisha Patel is on a career high these days, that's what her friends are screaming from the rooftops. Well, she has nothing much in her kitty except Kannav Puri (Vikram Bhatt, are you grinning?). She was banking on Mangal Pandey - The Rising (she kissed an unknown guy) and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (where she donned a skimpy swimsuit). None of that skin show has producers queuing up at her door.

FARDEEN KHAN

Fardeen has seen a complete professional drought. None of his films have worked at the turnstiles. Frankly, his father Feroz Khan launched him with a dud - Prem Agan. In spite of working with filmmakers like Boney Kapoor in Khushi and Ram Gopal Varma in Pyar Tune Kya Kiya, Jungle and Bhoot, he failed to impress the audience; even his western looks and twang have not helped him. Critics don't give him any brownie points for his acting skills. With dad Feroz Khan not in the best of health, his plans of remaking Qurbani with Fardeen have been put on the backburner.

ZAYED KHAN

Where did he go wrong? He's still scratching his head. After a decent start in Chura Liya Hai Tumne, Zayed has hardly any film in his kitty. Main Hoon Na salvaged his pride, thanks to the tough taskmaster, Farah Khan. Apoorva Lakhia's Mission Istanbul could have benefitted him. The actor even put on 11 kgs to increase his weight to 75 kgs so that he could match up (physically) to the baddie of the film, Nikitin Dheer. But Mission Istanbul bombed and now Zayed finds himself in no man's land.

SUSHMITA SEN

Sushmita Sen has absolutely no films on hand. She has turned director, and we hear, her ambitious directorial debut, Jhansi Ki Rani has no financers. What happened to that strong performer of Samay, Main Hoon Na? She seems to have spent much of her time putting her personal life in order (Vikram Bhatt, Bunty Sachdeva, Randeep Hooda and now Mudassar Aziz). Incidentally, Mudassar is penning her Jhansi Ki Rani.

ESHA DEOL

Nothing has worked for her so far, not even her skin show in Dhoom. Mama Hema is extremely worried about her career but Esha has not been helping her cause. She usually selects wrong films. The fact that she obeyed her mom in dumping Aftab Shivdasani is another story. Her last film Hijack was, to say the least, disgusting.

ABHISHEK BACHCHAN

Abhishek has had his share of hits like Dhoom, Dhoom 2, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Bunty Aur Babli and Guru. But Sarkar Raj and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom prove that Bollywood still counts on stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan. Would Dhoom and Dhoom 2 have been runaway hits without John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan respectively? Would KANK have set the cash registers ringing if Karan Johar hadn't roped in his best friend SRK to play the main role? Would Bunty aur Babli have registered if Big Daddy and ‘Kajra Re’ weren't in it? And, hasn't he made a big mistake by doing Drona?

Abhishek escapes the Delhi blasts

Small B narrowly escaped the deadly Delhi blasts on September 13 due to a traffic jam that had kept him from attending an event in the capital`s famous Connaught Place. His father, Amitabh Bachchan, wrote on his blog, `Shattered and shocked he called to say he was alright. Abhishek had left in the afternoon for New Delhi and was on his way to Connaught Place for a function he had to attend. Minutes away from there, the traffic became a snarl and he knew he would not make it in time so he asked to turn back. And the blast happened just then,` Amitabh wrote on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com.

We wish Junior well and also express our relief in the incident.