Song I'm madly in love with

Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi Me Yun Hi Koi Apna Lagta Hai
Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Woh Bichad Jaaye Toh Ek Sapna Lagta Hai
Aise Me Koi Kaise Apne Aansuon Ko Behnay Se Roke
Aur Kaise Koi Sochle Ki Everything'S Gonna Be Okay

Kabhi Kabhi Toh Lage Zindagi Me Rahi Na Khushi Aur Na Maza
Kabhi Kabhi Toh Lage Har Din Mushkil Aur Har Pal Ek Saza
Aise Me Koi Kaise Muskuraaye, Kaise Has De Khush Hoke
Aur Kaise Koi Sochle Ki Everything'S Gonna Be Okay

Soch Zara Jan-E-Jaan Tujh Ko Hum Kitna Chahte Hain
Rotay Hain Hum Bhi Agar Tere Aankhon Me Aansun Aate Hain
Gaana Toh Aata Nahi Hai Magar Phir Bhi Hum Gaate Hain
Hey Aditi Maan Kabhi--Kabhi Saare Jahan Me Andhera Hota Hai
Lekin Raat Ke Baad Hi Toh Savera Hota Hai

Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi Me Yun Hi Koi Apna Lagta Hai
Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Woh Bichar Jaye Toh Ek Sapna Lagta Hai

Hey Aditi Has De Has De Has De Has De Has De Has De Tu Zara
Nahi Toh Bas Thoda Thoda Thoda Thoda Thoda Thoda Muskura

Tu Khush Hai Toh Lage Kay Jahan Main Chaiyi Hai Khushi
Sooraj Nikle Baadalon Se Aur Bantay Zindagi
Sun Toh Zara Madhosh Hawa--Tujhse Kehne Lagi
Ki Aditi Woh Jo Bichadte Hain Ik Na Ik Din Phir Mil Jate
Yeh Aditi Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na Phool Phir Khil Jate Hain

Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi Me Yun Hi Koi Apna Lagta Hai
Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Who Bichad Jaye Toh Ek Sapna Lagta Hai
Hey Aditi Has De Has De Has De Has De Has De Has De Tu Zara
Nahi Toh Bas Thoda Thoda Thoda Thoda Thoda Thoda Muskura

This song is from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, composed by none other than A.R. Rahman and sung by his guitarist, Rashid Ali. Usually it takes a few listens to start liking a Rahman song. But this one I loved it the instant my wife played it to me. Ever since, its been playing in our car, our home stereo and my work laptop.

You gotta listen to it to see what I mean.

Oh yes, I'm a married man and how that went will follow in a separate post. But if you are interested in seeing the wedding pics, checkout our website (under Pictures->Wedding).

Movie Review: Taare Zameen Par

I wasn't really sure what to expect about Taare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan's directorial debut. I knew it was about kids and I liked it's songs, again an excellent job by the trio of Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy.

But the movie was really good. I mean, really, really good. He has taken on a topic that's taboo in India and that too head on - the topic of a child's education in India. I grew up in a family of teachers. My dad, my mom, aunts, uncles & even my cousins are teachers. So I know what parental and competitive pressure mean :).

Taare is about a kid named Ishaan (fantastically portrayed by Darsheel Safary) who's always distracted and never good at his academics. He gets bullied by his classmates and his playmates. He is both forgetful and absent minded. Excellent camera work shows how his mind wanders around while in class. I wasn't too sure why the 'dyslexia' angle was needed as I thought it could deflect the real issue of parental and peer competitive pressure that's so rampant in India. Anyways, the kid gets himself ejected from the 'regular' school and angers his dad who promptly puts him in a boarding school.

Oh yeah, the kid has got a brother who's like super-brilliant. I know that feeling, too. My younger sister was super-brilliant herself and she learnt (riding a bicycle, hindi, typewriting etc) extra curricular things before I did and every one around me used to tell me 'Your elder sister knows how to do X, how come you don't know?' I was furious because (a) she's my younger sister and (b) why do I have to learn things that she does?. But in this movie, the elder brother is shown to be caring and genuinely loving. But I thought they could have explored more on how Ishaan felt about his 'dada'.

Then, Aamir comes in - not a forceful entry but a very fluent one. He's the "temporary" teacher who believes as the movie's tag line says 'every child is special'. He also happens to spot the dyslexic behavior in Ishaan right away as he himself had experienced it as a child growing up. Sometimes that's all it takes for a kid to have a bright future. That one teacher could make the difference between success and failure in life. I liked how they showed Ram Shankar Nikumbh took personal interest in Ishaan and pled his case with the principal and was able to treat him special. I've had a few such teachers myself in my student life who've been crucial in making who I'm.

The rest of the movie is about how Ram makes Ishaan realize his true potential and makes the parents realize the mistakes they have been making. Some of the dialogue exchanges between Ram and Ishaan's dad were powerful and touching. I hope parents in India watch this movie and realize that not every child can be first in their class and give them time to figure out what they're good at and let them pursue it. Although, in middle class indian families, it's going to be near impossible for that to happen. I know first hand, in a lot of families I know, parents want their son/daughter to become a doctor or a professional. Self development requires financial backing a lotta patience which are hard to find in middle class families.

Back to the movie, brilliant acting by the child actor Darsheel Safary, very effortless acting and non-intrusive directing by Aamir. Very efficient use of colors and location. And those kids - and there are a lot of them - are charmers.

An absolute must-see movie and probably the best movie I have seen in a while. I was able to relate to a lot of things that happened in the movie and reminisce. I'm sure you will too.

Recently added to my iPhone

Here are some of the songs/albums that I recently added to my iPhone and my quick hit rant/review of them:

1. Cheeni Kum - somehow listening to classic Ilayaraja's songs in newly remixed versions and that too in Hindi sound really nice to me - wonder why he doesn't do this often. My favorite song has gotta be 'Sooni Sooni' which is a adapted from one of my all-time favorite tamil song - 'Mandram Vantha'. But why does Shreya Ghoshal have to sing 4 of the 5 songs in the album?

2. Justin Timberlake - I know, I know -- he's the symbol of the chewing gum pop generation, but listen me out. I miss those fast-paced disco songs that came during the Michael Jackson era with elaborate arrangements and an amazing music video to go with it. Watch and listen to What Goes Around / Comes Around and you'll know what I'm talking about. Its got none of the nasal screeching stuff but is very different and good. Another good song from JT is LoveStoned / I think She Knows.

3. ATM - Well, I just found this tamil album from the Vijay movie with music score by none other than A. R. Rahman last night and can't stop listening to the song 'Nee Marilyn Monroe'. The lyrics go like this:

'Nee Marilyn Monroe cloning-aa? illa
Jennifer Lopez-oda scanning-aa?
One-day mattum girlfriend-aaga variya?
Hey rock-and-roll-il kilaaadi
Rap song-ilae minnae(?) munodi
Saturday night party-ku pogalaam variya?

It's sung by Benny Dayal and Ujjayinee who I have never heard of before but Ujjayinee sounds really crisp and fresh. Especially the hook 'variya' is quite catchy and will certainly be a hit. Other songs on the album are also great. Overall, Rahman is kinda back to his best in this album, I should say.

That's it for now. If you haven't figured it by now - Yes, I listen to music from all three languages - Tamil, Hindi and English. It helps keep my music thirst satisfied ;)...