Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Top 10 Bollywood Sad Songs

There are times we would be sad about something, mourning over someone's loss, missing a beloved or feel agony for an unfortunate event. While it is scientifically proven that crying when you are sad helps you get past depression, the best way for most of us to let out the melancholic feelings of a heavy heart in such a situation would be to hear a sad blue song.

So I decided to create a list of top 10 new-generation sad songs, to match your mood and provide you with an excuse to let out your inner gloomy emotions through your tears.



1. Tanhayee
Movie: Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
Singers: Sonu Nigam
Music By: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Lyricist: Javed Akhtar



Lyrics Overview:
"Dil Ke Raaste Mein Kaisi Thokar Maine Khaayi
Toote Khwaab Saare, Ek Maayusi Hai Chhaayi
Har Khushi So Gayi, Zindagi Kho Gayi
Tumko Jo Pyaar Kiya Maine To Sazaa Main Paayi
Tanhaai, Tanhaai, Milo Hai Phaili Hui Tanhaai"

Featured in the blockbuster and cult-favorite movie DCH, starring Aamir Khan, this is a heart wounding song with words signifying the feelings of a person who's heart-broken in love and feels regret of falling in love altogether.

Notable line: "Kal koi, Tha yahi... Ab koi bhi nahi"




2. Chhodo Na Mujhe
Movie: Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula (2003)
Singers: Kunal Ganjawala
Music By: Sandesh Shandilya
Lyricist:  Subrat Sinha


Lyrics Overview:
"Chhodo na mujhe, yu bekarar sa
Kar bhi do izhar tum apne pyar ka
Tumhare dil ki he ye manzil, mera deewana dil
Bolo tum bolo"

This song is from the movie Rules starring TanujaMilind Soman and Meera Vasudevan. Though not a very famous song or movie, the song has remained my personal favorite since it's release due to it's lighthearted and straight forward lyrics. The simple lyrics and the slow gloomy tune makes this song one of my top favorite sad songs.

Notable line: "Dil se mere tum, khud ko nikalo... Ya fir mujhe hi apna bana lo."



3. Juda Hoke Bhi aka Aadat
Movie: Kalyug (2005)
Singers: Atif Aslam
Music By: Anu Malik
Lyricist: Goher MumtazSayeed Quadri, Asim Raza

Lyrics Overview:
"Juda Hoke Bhi Tu Mujh mein Kahi Baaki Hai
Palkon Mein Banke Aansu Tu Chali Aati Hai"

From the thriller movie Kalyug, starring Emraan Hashmi and Kunal Khemu, this song is sung by the male protagonist in memory of his late wife, who he lost due to unfortunate happenings. Sung by the very famous Atif Aslam (this song is actually derived from the original song "Aadat" composed by the Pakistani Band Jal, which shot Atif to stardom), this song is sure to mirror your feelings of sadness.


Notable line: "Saans Lena Bhar Hi Yaha Jeena Nahi Hain... Ab Toh Aadat Si Hai Mujhko Aaise Jeene Mein"


4. Tu Jo Nahin
Movie: Woh Lamhe (2006)
Singers: Glenn John
Music By: Pritam
Lyricist: Neelesh Misra



Lyrics Overview:
"Tu jo nahi hai to kuchh bhi nahin hain
Yeh maana ki mehfil jawaan hain haseen hain"

This song is from Woh Lamhe, starring Kangna Ranaut and Shiney Ahuja, based on the lives of yesteryear glam-queen, the late Parveen Babi and the film-maker Mahesh Bhatt. The song appears at the beginning of the movie when the main protagonist is missing beloved immensely. Styled like a Ghazal, everything about this song is tear-jerking, be it the music, the lyrics or the loneliness portrayed by the lead actor in the song's video.

Notable line: "Mujhe fir tabah kar, mujhe fir rula jaa... Sitam karne wale kahi se tu aja."



5. Maa
Movie: Taare Zameen Par (2007)
Singers: Shankar Mahadevan
Music By: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Lyricist: Prasoon Joshi

Lyrics Overview:
"Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin
Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa
Yun To Main, Dikhlata Nahin
Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata,,Meri Maa"

The song is from TZP, starring Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safary. It is such a song that whenever I hear it, tears pool into my eyes. The song is an expression of the feelings of a small kid separated from his mother. If ever you miss your mom and want to cry it out, just GO for this song.

Notable line: "Bhej na, itna door mujhko tu, yaad bhi tujhko aa na pau ma"



6. Alvida
Movie: Life in a... Metro (2007)
Singers: KK
Music By: Pritam
Lyricist: Amitabh Verma

Lyrics Overview:
"Alvida, Alvida, Abb Kehna Aur Kya
Jab Tune Keh Diya, Alvida"


This is a song from the multi-starrer movie Life In A Metro, starring the likes of  DharmendraShilpa ShettyIrrfan KhanShiney Ahuja and Konkona Sen Sharma. It mirrors the feelings of a heart-broken person who's loved one left him. The main lines meaning- "You left me saying goodbye, so what else's left for me to say...". Try it if you hold feelings betrayal or abandonment.

Notable line: "Kash mere sang aaj, hote tum agar... Hoti har dagar... Gulsitan"


7. Kuch Kam
Movie: Dostana (2008)
Singers: Shaan
Music By: Vishal-Shekhar
Lyricist: Vishal Dadlani

Lyrics Overview:
"Kuch kam... roshan hai roshni, kuch kam gili hai barishen
Kuch kam... lehrati hai hawa, kuch kam hai dil me khwahishen
Tham sa gaya he, ye wakt ese, tere liye hi thehra ho jese"

From the movie Dostana starring Abhishek BachchanPriyanka Chopra and John Abraham, this song is about missing a loved one and how the whole world seems dull without that person.

Notable line: "Tham sa gaya he, ye wakt ese, tere liye hi thehra ho jese"


8. Mar Jawan
Movie: Fashion (2008)
Singers: Salim MerchantShruti Pathak
Music By: Salim-Sulaiman
Lyricist: Sandeep NathIrfan Siddiqui

Lyrics Overview:
"Mar jawan... Mar jawan...
Tere ishq pe... Mar jawan..."

From the super hit movie Fashion, starring Priyanka ChopraKangna Ranaut and Mugdha Godse, this song is about the sadness felt when we miss someone. Even though the lyrics might signify feelings of part love and part sadness, the song surely will be good to keep company to a person with a down mood due to its slow melancholic tune.

Notable line: "Soche dil ke esa kash ho... tujhko ik nazar meri talash ho"


9. Tu Jaane Na
Movie: Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009)
Singers: Atif Aslam
Music By: Pritam
Lyricist: Irshad Kamil

Lyrics Overview:
"Milke bhi, hum na mile
Tumse na jaane kyun, milo ke,
Hai phasle tumse na jaane kyun
Anjaane, hai silsile
Tum se na jaane kyun, sapne hai
Palko tale tum se na jaane kyun…
Kaise batayein, Kyun tujhko chahe, Yaara bata na paayein
Baatein dilo ki, dekho jo baaki, Aake tujhe samjhaye
Tu jaane na..."

A super hit song from the comedy flick APKGK, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. It is about unrequited love. Awesome music, amazing lyrics and another on this list that's sung by Atif. If you are wounded by unreciprocated love you might want to check out, not only the audio, but the song's video too.

Notable line: "Kaise batayein, Kyun tujhko chahe, Yaara bata na paayein... Baatein dilo ki, dekho jo baaki, Aake tujhe samjhaye... Tu jaane na..."



10. Bin Tere
Movie: I Hate Luv Storys (2010)
Singers: Shafqat Amanat AliSunidhi Chauhan
Music By: Vishal-Shekhar
Lyricist: Vishal Dadlani

Lyrics Overview:
"Hai kya ye jo tere mere darmiyan he, Andekhi ansuni koi dastaan hai...
Lagne lagi hai, ab zindagi ye... Khaali...
Lagne lagi hai, ab saans bhi ye... Khali...
Bin tere... 
Koi khalish hai hawao me bin tere"

From the rom-com movie IHLS, starring Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor, this song is about the feelings of a person missing his loved one. The song appears when the hero starts realizing that he is in love with his best friend and starts missing her while she goes away after misunderstandings arise between them.

Notable line: "Ho gayi ansuni har dua ab meri, Reh gayi ankahi bin tere..."



Other tracks not included in this list, but you may like: 


Bollywood has been famous all over the world for its melodious tunes and harmonious music. There are tens to hundreds of movies released each year in India and so thousands of songs yearly. Among these I mistakenly might have missed out some noteworthy sad songs. But I hope you enjoy this short list anyway.

Enjoy!! 

Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Why Fifty Shades is overrated

A month ago, I witnessed the new hype about this book which talked about BDSM communities. So, I decided to give it a try. So I read the first two books… “Fifty Shades Of Grey” and “Fifty Shades Darker” by E. L. James. Here is what I felt while reading it.

With the latest hype about the book describing the kinky aspects of the bedroom, I decided to try the FS series, as the subject caught my attention. With what started off as a seemingly romance novel, I was introduced with the world of a 21 year old undergraduate Anastasia Steel who’s too beautiful, but too “innocent” and the 27 year old disturbed(or so the book tries to portray), excessively handsome and excessively wealthy Christian Grey, and their falling in love(and sex) despite their dissimilar sexual tastes.

Towards the end of the book my soaring interests and expectations were betrayed but I was hooked enough to go through the second book too which turned out to be an even bigger disappointment. Needless to say, it surely is entertaining, but for those looking to get a good quality-read or those who are already familiar with the genre, the book might come as a disappointment.

1. It makes the BDSM community look like sadists and psychologically disturbed.
The book’s main protagonist Grey is the one with the kinky interests who introduces it to his too “innocent” to be true lady love Miss Steel, which is a revelation to her. The problem here is not that after discovering his unique tastes she assumes him to be disturbed, but the problem is he actually has been shown to be disturbed, specifically by his history of abuse and his phobia of being touched. So those not familiar with BDSM might assume the same, which is actually far from the truth. Esp. in the end of the first book, Grey is shown to have deeply sadistic needs, which may add to the unfair treatment of the genre because though Sadism is included in BDSM, not all BDSMers are as sadistic or abusive as Grey. Not all BDSMers are disturbed or need psychiatric help. In fact it is a proven fact that BDSMers on an average have higher IQs than non-BDSMers.

2. The book gets repetitive after some time.
The book does not go beyond portraying more than 2-3 styles of practicing BDSM into the bedroom(or as shown in the book, mandatorily in a “play room”). BDSM is a very varied and vast genre in which many styles can be accommodated. It includes role play, training, denial, etc. but the book rarely tries to try something new. Though the second book does try to experiment with new ways of practicing BDSM, it eventually gets more soft(or should I say “Vanilla”) than the first one. In fact the erotic writing got so ho-hum that I had lost all interest in reading the third part.

3. It is not smartly written

With all the jargon about the “contract”, which self-contradictorily is made irrelevant in the second book, the book seems to be childishly written. It gets so silly that I started thinking that the writer is trying to increase the word-count by just blabbering about irrelevant things. In fact, the most funny, boring after a point and even irritating after a later point is the mention of the “Inner Goddess” and more so the personification of it . The logic of the whole concept completely escapes me.

4. It borrows heavily from Twilight
Though this can’t be considered to be a relevant negative point, but for readers, who are twi-hards, this book will come as an unsatisfactory side version of “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer. Though the book originated as a fan fiction for Twilight, there is a difference between writing for online fan-fiction and writing for an internationally published book-trilogy. There are many similarities between the two, like the low self-worth of the lead protagonists(like Bella and Ana thinking they are not good enough for the glorious men), similar family backround of the main characters, etc. This made me wonder if the writer eventually gave any serious thought about “original” writing.

The FS series might work well for those who seek erotic entertainment, but otherwise, it does little to the readers, weather a BDSMer or non-BDSMer.