Music has always been one of the ‘must haves’ in my life. Even as I was growing up, music had a big influence in my life. Be it choir lessons [its not the ‘choir’ people come to think of in Indian schools is it? :)] at school….strong influences of Indian and Western classical music at home, Pop, Rap, Hip Hop and what not on the telly; blaring radios [cars or otherwise]..Music was omnipresent. I think at times, it was so intrusive that you learned to turn a ‘deaf ear’ to it. Of course it also brought with it strong likes and dislikes.
Cut to my life in Australia…I have always had a MP3 player/iPod/iPhone in my pocket..and am always hooked on to Music whenever and wherever possible. Actually I always like it most when traveling/commuting. Recently, after a couple of years, there is some real good Hindi [Movie OST] music on show.
Gone are the days….
…with Music Directors ‘acting’ on the sets of a singing bee …
…with AR Rahman’s music being the best,
…with Sonu Nigam/Hari Haran/Udit Narayan/Shaan bagging all [vocally] ‘backing-up’ the honours…[the female scene is still dominated by Sunidhi & Shreya]
…with barely “one” song being the stand out….
…of fall…
Please welcome spring time in Hindi Music :).
This sudden change is a result of multiple factors…lesser movies made in first quarter of 2009 [owing to IPL and other factors], immense competition in the Music Direction Industry in Bollywood…and all and all… better circulation of creative juices and talent on show :).
In these times of change, one name definitely seems to have created a niche…Mohit Chauhan [Band: Silk Route]. I remember the time when Lucky Ali first burst on the to movie scene. A fairly limited singer, who used audio enhancements and gave a few hits. Mohit Chauhan, packs a better punch. But the rustic yet silken simplicity of his voice is what sets him apart. Over the last couple of years he has given many hit numbers…He deserves mention as he has fast become the ‘it’ singer and he sings at least one song for almost every movie [definitely the big banner music movies].
This artist definitely deserves the popularity and acclaim. To be honest, I also feel a sort of kinship with this singer, as I used to kid myself that I could [almost] perfectly mimic his voice and sing ‘Dooba Dooba’ exactly like him 🙂
The (attractive) Mohit Chauhan playlist:
– Dooba dooba, Boondein, Silk Route, 1997
– Khoon Chala, Rang De Basanti, AR Rahman, 2004
– Guncha Koi, Main Meri Patni Aur Woh, Sanjay Jaipurwale, 2005
– Tum Se Hi, Jab We Met, Pritam, 2007
– Is This Love (Kahin Na Laage), Kismat Konnection, Pritam, 2008
– Ek meetha marz de ne, Welcome To Sajjanpur,Shantanu Moitra, 2008
– Kuch khaas, Fashion, Salim Suleiman, 2008
– Aankhon hi aankhon mein, EMI, Chirantan Bhatt, 2008
– Masakali, Delhi 6, AR Rahman, 2009
– Gulon Mein, Sikandar, Shankar Ehsan Loy, 2009
– Haafiz Khuda, 8 X 10 Tasveer, Salim-Suleiman, 2009
– Kuchh Is Tarah, 8 X 10 Tasveer, Salim-Suleiman, 2009
– Jaana Hai, Let’s Dance, Vipin Mishra & Tarali Sharma, 2009
– Tune Jo Na Kaha, New York, Pritam – Pankaj Awasthi – Julius Packiam, 2009
– Ye Dooriyan, Love Aaj Kal, Pritam, 2009
– Pehli Baar Mohabbat, Kaminey, Vishal Bharadwaj, 2009
Ref: Mohit means ‘attractive/mesmerizing’
Virtual Panopticon 
August 2nd, 2009 at 05:24
I agree with you mate.. the music in the movies so far this year has been really noteworthy..
I think every good singer (and music director too for that matter) has a phase in which his/her songs are present in almost all the movies released during that particular period.. and as you said Kumar Shaanu and Shaan are prime examples of that..
The industry always seems to move on to someone new after a few days.. not that the quality of the singer goes down or something.. but as film situations and stories change.. directors seek newer voices.. long gone are the days when greats like Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd. Rafi and Kishore Kumar mesmerized movie-goers for decades in a row..
That said.. the way Mohit Chauhan has rendered his voice over the years has been really nice.. that too after working with different music directors and their varying styles. I remember ‘Dooba Dooba’ came out when I was in school.. and was an instant hit! He surely has come a long way.. that list which you have put up contains a few of my favorites too!
August 15th, 2009 at 19:04
Yeah I agree, Mohit Chauhan is the next big thing. Lets hope the audiences dont get bored of his unconventional voice very soon !!
2009 and the past couple of years have actually been quite sad for Bollywood music though. Somehow I think, there were better songs in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
BTW: i have started blogging again !
January 8th, 2010 at 17:12
All those who aspire to be writers should check the following rules. Although it is meant for script writers, it applies to all forms:
==================================================
So, you’ve bought all of your How-To books, you’ve structured your idea, you’ve consumed thousands of cups of coffee while busily writing your notes and now… now you have to write a script.
So, it’s probably time to give up.
The fact is, the hardest part about writing is the writing part. Anyone can lay out a strong structure for a script — but it takes talent, patience and a little bit of insanity to actually write something good.
It also takes time. You have to learn through trial and error, and you have to figure out what tricks work for you. I’ve been doing this whole writing thing for a while now, and while I don’t pretend to be any kind of writing guru, I am trying to get my writing guru license.
Which is why I have compiled a list of writing tips that I have known to be right and true. I have, because I am, like a writing Buddhist monk, humble, I have titled it simply: The Greatest Scriptwriting Tips You Will Ever Read.
Here we go.
1. Write. A lot.
================
This one seems simple, but it isn’t — fact is, much like most art, you need to be in a mood to write and sometimes these moods are few and far apart. This, however, is no excuse.
You should write every single day – it can be the script you’re working on, it can be other scripts, it can even be fan fiction for your favorite romance novel (“She ran her fingers through his sensually curled chest hair…”) but you need to write at least a page a day. Why? Because writing is a lot like playing a sport. If you play every day, you’re going to get better, you’re going to have the rhythm and timing of the game become reflexive so you can play it at its highest level without thinking. Writing is similar. You want to get into a rhythm, a frame of mind, you want your brain to be ready to open the creative gates and let the writing flow.
So write, write, and write again — it’s what writers do.
2. Don’t Edit Yourself.
=======================
I mean this in two very important ways.
The first: It’s very easy to imagine your mother or father watching the production of your script and recoiling in terror at the sexual innuendo and nude scenes that you’ve stuffed in there for plot development (and to see your actors naked). It’s even easier to imagine your friends all hating you when they recognize your characters’ odd ticks as being their own — but don’t. In fact, stop caring right now. Art can’t be censored, and if what you’re writing is good you have to be faithful to the work and ignore the consequences of it. Frankly, if you want to be a writer, the work is what’s important, and once the work is finished, then you can deal with your parents asking you why it was necessary to title your script, The XXXX.
The second: My brother is a great writer — but it can take him a week to write two pages because he tries to craft the perfect script page by page by page. A lot of good writers do that, and it not only kills any love you have for the idea, it also is about as fun as chewing out your own veins. Finish your script then edit. Life is so much easier when you’ve got a beginning, middle and end. It can be awful, it can be the worst thing you’ve ever read — but you’ve got something to work with and it’s much easier to mold awful into amazing when you at least have awful.
As I would say if I was a sassy black woman — baby, if you start with nothin’, you ain’t gonna have nothin’ to work with.
So finish, then mold.
3. Torture Your Characters.
===========================
A script is the time in a character’s life when something extraordinary happens. It’s the part in their life when they say, “Everything was normal until…” A script is also a time in a character’s life where they learn something, something that changes everything. How do you do this? You torture the hell out of your characters. As long as it matches your plot and idea, there’s no limit to the awful things that you can’t have happen to them. Beat them down, beat them until they’re lost, beat them until they’ve given up, beat them until every decision they make is about life or death (either literally or just to them) — beat them until they are forced to grow and change and struggle and finally, in the end, grow to a point where they can defeat Darth Vader.
4. Find a Writing Space.
========================
Every writing book mentions this and I used to think it was one of those silly suggestions that they all have, like, “Write a note to yourself saying how proud you are of your own script!” …but finding a writing space is really good advice. I write best when it’s raining, jazz is playing and I have a cup of coffee sitting proudly in my Break a Leg mug. I also write well in coffee shops, but they have to be a particular kind of coffee shop — brick walls, good music, a generally cozy feeling. I learned to write from Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, et cetera — so, that might be the reason why my brain begs me to recreate New York in the winter time for the perfect writing environment.
Whatever space makes you feel writer-ey try to recreate it. It seems like fluff advice, but it makes a huge difference. It’s like you’re giving your brain a comfortable therapist chair where it can safely tell you all of its crazy.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Kill Your Babies.
=======================================
This isn’t so much writing advice as it is an important life lesson… kill your babies.
Hear me out.
When I wrote my first full-length play, I put it up at my college and my drama teacher (not Carla Zilbersmith, but a gruff, old man who everyone worshipped but who I thought was a terrible, terrible director) gave me the only good piece of advice he ever gave: “Don’t be afraid to kill your babies.” Just smash their skulls against a rock.
What he meant was, don’t fall in love with your jokes, your precious moments, your plot points — anything (at least I assume that’s what he meant, he could’ve just thought I’d have ugly babies). I’ve found myself thinking of ways to wrap my script around a single scene that I love — only to find out that the script was in fact far stronger when that scene was cut. I’ve written around jokes because I thought they were too brilliant to get rid of. I’ve stuck with a plot point because I thought it was perfect only to realize that, in the end, it was the main problem with the script. Every time I have stubbornly fallen in love with a piece of my own writing at the sake of the rest of the story, I’ve been shown the error of my ways. Namely, the script is far weaker because of it.
Just remember: There’s no joke that is too funny to cut. There’s no moment too good that you can’t find a better one. There’s no line too powerful that it’s worth hurting your script for.
Kill your babies.
6. When Creativity Fails, Get Life’s Help.
==========================================
Life tends to be way more interesting than art — if your brain freezes, look at life for help. Read stories, talk to friends, randomly Wikipedia things, go out and watch people. Let your brain wander and look for motivation and ideas in life — it is, after all, your muse.
7. Talk it Out.
===============
If you’re stuck, talk to someone you trust about the script. I tend to go to my brother when I’m stuck on a script point — there are very few things that he and I can’t brainstorm through. Sometimes, you get stuck in your own brain and it becomes increasingly hard to solve a problem in there. Talk it out. Even if it’s telling people who could care less — it might get your brain working. I find homeless people are perfect for this — they’ll tell you about ‘Nam, you tell them that you’re not sure how to get the two lovers together, and somewhere in the middle, you’ll both figure out the answer to your questions. Which will generally be, “We need more crack.”
8. Know When To Give Up.
========================
You should never give up… on writing. But, sometimes, your idea is just… well, bad. You think it’s great, you think that it’s going to change the world and you’ve already imagined the flock of women/men surrounding your limo, begging for you to sign their breast/testicle — but, somewhere in the middle you may realize that, no… your idea is just terrible.
Don’t give up immediately of course. Write different drafts, show it around, try and change what you’re writing, shake up the story, whatever. Try everything. But in the end, if nothing works — stop. Just… stop.
There are bad ideas. Not all art is art, some art is garbage (and not in that artistic way that people use garbage). So, trash the idea and start over. Perhaps, the genius moments in this script will be even better if used in a new idea, a new concept, a new page. Or maybe not.
If you’ve learned how to kill your babies, you should also learn to drown your full-sized children. But don’t actually do any of that because it would be murder and stuff.
9. Don’t Edit Forever, Know When To End.
========================================
Because brevity is the soul of wit, because you can tinker with a script forever, because it’s only appropriate that I end this article with this simple idea:
Know when to end.
Fin.
Blackout.
Fade Out.
Whatever.
=====================================================
From a very eminent screenwriter’s blog. I shall keep the name secret for the time being.