Phir Dekhiye song from Rock On

My favourite song in this movie

Song -- Phir Dekhiye
Lyrics -- Javed Akhtar
Music -- Shankar Ehsan Loy
Singer -- Caralisa Monteiro (She is the one who sings in that ad showing Sushma Reddy frolicking with Limca singing
"Fuhaarein, bauchharein, nazaaare chura lo na,
Kuch boondein chura lo na.....
Sulgati pyaas hai to, machalti pyaas hai to
Ek Limca chura lo na")

Aankhon Mein Jis Ke Koi To Khwaaab Hai
Khush Hai Wahi Jo Thoda Betaaab Hai
Zindagi Mein Koi Arzooo Kijiye
Phir Dekhiye

Hoton Pe Jis Ke Koi To Geeet Hai
Woh Haare Bhi To Us Ki Hi Jeet Hai
Dil Mein Jo Geet Hai Gun Guna Lijiye
Phir Dekhiye

Yaadon Mein Jis Ke Kisi Ka Naaam Hai
Sapno Ke Jaise Us Ki Har Shaaam Hai
Koi To Ho Jise Apna Dil Dijiye
Phir Dekhiye

Khwab Buniye Zara Geet Suniye Zara
Phool Chuniye Zara
Phir Dekhiye…

Introduction to a dance performance

I wrote this on 18th July 2009 ( with ample help from Internet) as a prelude to my section's dance performance. Of course, with the time limit of 20 seconds in which I was to deliver it, it was massively edited. And thankfully so! With me finding it difficult to hold the audience attention in the abridged 20 seconds speech, I think I may not have needed to buy any new footwear for some time, had I continued this original, rambling piece.
---------------------------

We MBAs understand percentages and logarithms better than metaphors and similes. In that case, these are the numbers. 40 million infected. 4.5 million last year alone. 12 million orphans in Africa. 8000 deaths and 6000 new infections every single day. Yes! I am talking about AIDS.

AIDS is a classic example of self-goal scored by the human race against itself. And you know what was done to Escobar who scored a self-goal in 1994 World Cup. He was shot dead. Doesn't that mean the whole humanity should be brought before a firing squad for failing to spread the message of protection and non-discrimination?

Time is not lost. Marketing's STP says that to deliver your message choose your target segment-- 1.)promiscuous men, 2.)young MTV generation and 3.) MSM i.e. Men who have sex with men. Kotlar's fourth P Place says that we need to focus on places like parties, brothels and dance bars.

Different parts of our dance performance show these different target segments and places.

Friends! Let's enjoy the dance but keep the message in mind. Play Safe.

------------------------

An afterthought:-- If you bring the whole humanity before the firing squad, who the hell will pull the trigger? ... :-)

Reference websites:--


Wiki article on Colombian footballer Escobar


Quote on AIDS by Princess Anne Ireland (Rest of the second paragraph of the speech is my idea.)

facts of first paragraph

You run out of superlatives..

..if you try to use them to describe this song by Silk Route...Song uses pretty minimal background music with some whisteling, strings , piano and predominantly guitar...It basically rides on its lyrics which perfectly articulates and puts down in words what is there in everyone's heart....Mohit Chauhan's unhurried voice, clear enunciation of each word and the whole calm, relaxed tempo of the song perfectly suit the words giving the listener time to absorb and imbibe each line of the song...

Zaara naazar uthake dekho
Baithe hai hum yahin
Bekhabar mujhse kyon ho?
Itne boore bhi hum nahin

Zaara naazar uthake dekho
Baithe hai hum yahin
Bekhabar mujhse kyon ho?
Itne boore bhi hum nahin

Zamane ki baaton mein uljho na
Hai yeh aasaan janana
Khud se jo agar tum poocho
Hain hum tumhare ke nahi
Teri aankhon ka jaadu
Poori duniya pe hai
Duniya ki iss bheed main
Sabse peeche hum khade
Sabse peeche hum khade

Mehfile aayi aur gayi
Log aaye aur gaye
Tum jo aaj aaye ho
Dil mein ho bas gaye

Muskarake baat taalo na
Phir miloge jo kahi
Dekhana yahi kahoge
Itne boore the hum nahi

Teri aankhon ka jaadu
Poori duniya pe hai
Duniya ki is bheed mein
Sabse peeche hum khade
Sabse peeche hum khade

Teri aankhon ka jaadu
Poori duniya pe hai
Duniya ki is bheed mein
Sabse peeche hum khade
Sabse peeche hum khade
Sabse peeche hum khade
Sabse peeche hum khade

Irshad Kamil

If you ask me what really is the reason for the 80s to be considered as one of the worst decades as far Hindi music is concerned, I think the blame has to be laid on the song-writers of that decade. I agree that singers ( with great Rafi and Mukesh dead and Kishore Da less frequent, there was a preponderance of Rafi-wannabees with Md. Aziz leading the fray.) and music directors( Bappi da rocking the nation with Disco ) were not exactly making our jaws drop with their creativity and talent. But, then it really takes considerable effort on the part of the music director and singer to lift a song with lines like "Aa gaya aa gaya , halwawala aa gaya..rang jamane aa gaya..dhoom machane aa gaya..". The song writer is Anjaan for the movie Dance Dance ( Bappi Da's music, singer Vijay Benedict). Now we really can't blame him for this. He was just giving what was working at that time. After all, he is the same who gave us these wonderful lines

"Tujh bin jogan meri raaten, tujh bin mere din banjaaran
Meraa jivan jalati buunden, bujhe-bujhe mere sapane saare"
"Nasha sharaab mein hota to nachti botle" 
"Doobne wale ko tinke ka sahara hi bahut hai".

The occasional Gulzar classics

"Jeene ke liye socha hi na tha, dard sambhalane honge
muskuraoon to, muskurane ke karz utaarne honge
muskuraoon kabhi to lagata hai jaise honthon pe karz rakhaa hai"
"Ek Akeli Chhataree Main Jab Aadhe Aadhe Bheeg Rahe The
Aadhe Sookhe Aadhe Geele, Sukha To Main Le Aaye Thee
Geela Man Shayad Bistar Ke Paas Pada Ho
Vo Bhijwa Do, Mera Vo Saamaan Lauta Do")

were like oasis in a desert.

Nineties saw a significant improvement in the quality of song writing with song-writers
like Gulzaar("Woh jo doodh dhuli, masoom kali") and Javed Akhtar
("Jaise Khilta Gulaab
Jaise Shaayar Ka Khwaab
Jaise Ujli Kiran
Jaise Van Mein Hiran ") tightening their belts to stem the rot which had set in.

But the new millennium probably is turning into a golden era as far as lyrics of songs is considered. With arrival of Jaideep Sahni ("Haule haule se hawa lagti hai, Haule Haule se dawa lagti hai, Haule Haule se dua lagti hai "), Piyush Mishra (Bisleri ki botle pike jaise ban gaye inglisman), Prasoon Joshi; veterans like Gulzar and Javed Akhtar also started churning out lines which compared favorably with their already set high standards. Sample these:-- "Aisa koi sagaa nahin, jisko thagaa nahin; Aankhen bhi kamal karti hain, personal se sawaal karti hain (Bantee Aur Bablee, Gulzar) // "Woh ilaichi khilai ke karib aa gaya"(Omkara, Gulzar) // "Chalk se chand pe likh diya, rewa , rewa , rewa (Philhaal, Gulzaar)" // "Radha kaise na jale"(Lagaan,Javed Akhtar). Javed Akhtar especially started raising the bar, so much so that in 2005 all the five songs which were nominees to the Filmfare best lyrics were penned by him. Talk about competition forcing the monopolist to raise the quality of his products :-)

During this period, to be exact in early 2004, Chameli movie came and became famous for reasons other than its songs (that floral print saree "Oh she really looks like one" or the death of original director Anant Balani and then Sudhir Mishra completing the movie). News obeys a law like the Grasham's Law of "bad money drives good money out of circulation" -- "bad news drives good news out of circulation" ( If you doubt the veracity of the this Grasham's law of news, just watch Aaj Tak or India TV for sometime ).

This movie had one of the most meaningful songs to have come out in Bollywood- "Jaane". This song has two versions, male version sung by Udit Narayan and female version by Sunidhi Chauhan (who interestingly sings lines like "ab is tarah usko sochta huun" without changing the gender of the song ).



The writer of this song is Irshad Kamil

"Bheegi Huwi Koyi Shaam Woh
Mehka Huwa Koyi Naam Woh
Bin Baat Hi Hoti Hai Nilaam Woh
Mashhoor Hai Phir Bhi Badnaam Woh
Jaane Huwa Hai Aaj Kya Hamein Na Ham
Jaane Kyun Ham Ko Yaad… Aaye Woh
Ab Is Tarha Usko Sochta Hoon
Guzre Huwe Woh Pal Rokta Hoon
Woh Pal Kahin Kho Gaye Hain Jo Apne
Aur Saath Bhi Ho Gaye Hain Jo Sapne
Jaane Huwa Hai Aaj Kya Hamein Na Ham
Jaane Kyun Ham Ko Yaad… Aaye Woh

Woh Roshni Woh Aag Hai
Ya Phir Koyi Charaag Hai
Jisse Dheere Dheere Hai Jalna
Jisse Is Tarha Hi Hai Chalna
Kissi Mod Pe Woh Aaj Bhi Qandeel Si Jalegi
Shaher Ki Dhoop Si Bewaqt Hi Dhhalegi
Kyun Hamko Yaad…
Bheegi Huwi Koyi Shaam Woh
Mehka Huwa Koyi Naam Woh
Bin Baat Hi Hoti Hai Nilaam Woh
Mashhoor Hai Phir Bhi Badnaam Woh
Jaane Huwa Hai Aaj Kya Hamein Na Ham
Jaane
Kyun Ham Ko Yaad Aaye Woh..."

Next I heard of him in Sochaa na Tha ( with those beautiful lines
"Main sidhe sadhe dhang se kehta huun yeh baat,
Ek ghar basana chahata huun main tumhare saath,
Kya dogi mere haanthon mein tum apna haath")
and Jab We Met
("Tera na hona jane, Kyun hona hi hai"
"Mein kahin bhi jata hoon, Tumse hi mil jata hoon"
"Naina tere kajraare hai, Naino pe hum dil haare hai
Anjaane hi tere naino ne Waade kiye kayi saare hai"
"Chanda ko taaku raaton mein, Hai zindagi tere haanthon mein").

And then comes Chor bazaari from Love Aaj Kal

"Chori!!!

Na re Nanaa re

Chor Bazari do naino ki
Pehle thi aadat jo hat gai

Pyaar ki jo teri meri
Umar aai thi woh ghat gai

Duniya ki to fikkar kahan thi
Teri bhi ab chinta ghat gai

Chanda rre
Tu bhi tu hai
Mein bhi mein hoon
Duniya saari dekh ulat gayi
Tu na jaane mein na jaanu
Kaise saaari baat palat gai


Ghatni hi thi yeh bhi ghatna
Ghatte ghatte lo yeh ghat gayi

Haan Chor Bazari do naino ki
Pehle thi aadat jo hat gai


Tarif teri karna
Tujhe Khone se darna
Haan bhul gaya ab tujhpe din mein char dafa marna

Tarif teri karna
Tujhe Khone se darna
Haan bhul gaya abb tujhpe din mein char dafa marna

Pyaar khumari utari saari
Baaton ki badli bhi chhat gayi

Hum se main pe aaye aise
Mujhko to mein hi mein kat gayi

Ek hue the do se dono
Dono ki abb raahein kat gayi

Na re NanNa RE
Na re NanNa RE
Na re NanNa RE
Na re NanNa RE

Abb koi fikar nahi
Gum ka bhi zikar nahi
Haaan hota hoon mein jis raste pe
Aaye khushi wahin

Aajad hoon mein tujhse
Aajad hai tu mujhse
Haan jo jee chahe
Jaise chahe karle raj yahin
Laj sharm ki choti moti jo thi dori
Woh bhi kat gai
Chauk chawbare gali mohalle
Khol ke main saare ghonghat gai

Tu na badli mein na badla
Dilli sari dekh badal gai

Ek minute mein duniya dari ki
saaari samaj nikal gai

Haan Rang biranga pani pe ke
Seedhi saadhi kudi begad gayi

Dekh ke mujhko hasta gaata
Sadh gai yeh duniya sadh gai

Na re NanNa RE
Na re NanNa RE
Na re NanNa RE
Na re NanNa RE"

Irshad on yahoo news

Looks like that quote in cricket that fast bowlers hunt in pairs is true of Hindi cinema too..Imtiaz Ali-Irshad Kamil , Rakesh Omprakash Mehra-Prasoon Joshi, Vishal Bharwaj-Gulzaar, Ashutosh Gowarikar-Javed Akhtar...

p.s:-- My remark about bad lyrics in 80s movies should not be taken as discounting songs like Neela aasman so gaya. Point is what was the vox populi-- it was "Mera dil gaaye jaa Zoobi Zoobi Zoobi" and not this song by Gulzar "Hazar Rahein Mud Ke Dekhi" (1981 filmfare award winner for best lyrics)

Film: Thodi Si Bewafai (1980)
Singers: Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar
Lyricist: Gulzar
Music Director: Khayyam
Lyrics:

Hazar rahein mud ke dekhin
Kahin se koi sada na aayi
Badi wafa se nibhayi tumne
Hamari thodi si bewafai

Jahan se tum mod mud gaye the
Ye mod ab hi wahin pade hain
Hum apne pairon mein jaane kitne
Bhanwar lapete hue khade hain

Badi wafa se nibhayi tumne
Hamari thodi si bewafai

Kahin kisi roz yun bhi hota
Hamari haalat tumhari hoti
Jo raat humein guzari marr ke
Vo raat tumne guzari hoti

Badi wafa se nibhayi tumne
Hamari thodi si bewafai


Tumhe ye zid thi ke hum bulate
Humein ye ummid vo pukarein
Hai naam hoton pe ab bhi lekin
Aawaz mein pad gayi dararein

Hazar rahein mud ke dekhim
Kahin se koi sada na aayi
Badi wafa se nibhayi tumne
Hamari thodi si bewafai"

Hum Ad Kyon Dekhte Hain?

I had written this in May 2006. I hope that after completing marketing management course of first term, I gain fresh insights into advertisements --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hum Ad Kyon Dekhte Hain? "Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does."[Steuart Henderson Britt, advertising consultant, 1970.] The importance of advertisements for business can never be over-emphasised but the view from our side of the fence is certainly not so charming. Most of you, at some point or the other, while watching ads would have wished for a button on your remote which will allow you to fast forward those annoying ads. But since I have already phrased my title question in such a way, I will write the article defending ads , instead of deriding them. I don't know about you but I watch the ads because they provide me with a heady cocktail of humour, conspiracy and controversy. You want to make a successful ad , then mix humour and controversy in the correct ratio and you have a successful ad (Is that ratio 1:1 or the other way round? ). It only helps me that these days ads on TV have become more wittier and snappier than PODD (i.e. Plain Old DD Days). Seriously, who of you really minds watching that little girl in the Asian Paint's ad saying," Papa!Chintu na pata nahin subah se kya cutting-shutting kiye jaa raha hai?" or that boy asking his mother ," Par dhishum-dhishum to Pepsodent ka kaam hai naa? ". After watching that pug dog follow that boy in Hutch ad , I have become more considerate towards dogs following me. Kya pata kis kutte mein mere mobile ka network ho! Coming back to the reason for my ad watching (which , by some coincidence , also happens to be the raison d'etre for this article), I like those ads which use humour well . Humour sells . Period . If an ad maker manages to tickle his TA's (Target Audience) funny bone, then he has hit the bull's eye. He can just tear those pages from his marketing book that talk about " Brand Positioning, Creating ads which endorse the values associated with the product, Brand Recall", if he knows just one thing - how to create ads that can make others laugh. You can put the Fevicol's ad of "Pakde Rehana Chhodna Nahin" or most of the Amul ads in this category. That paint ad "Wah Sunil Babu Naya Ghar Nayi Gadi" should also come here. Now, before I digress, let me tell you something more about humour in ads , rather the lack of humour in some ads. Some ads are so shabbily conceptualised and egregiously executed that you can find yourself smirking thinking, " Oh! I could have done better than that". During 2003 World cup, Reliance was aggressively pitching their Reliance India Mobile (RIM) . So, they roped in Sehwag. Now, the ad agency made a complete hash of the whole idea. If you remember that ad , it showed Sehwag taking guard and a boy in the stadium getting a call from Sehwag's mother. That boy sprints to the crease, gives Sehwag the RIM and after talking to her mother, Sehwag hits a sixer. Now, no matter how much we Indians love our mothers, there is a limit to the emotional blackmailing these ads can resort to. In short, the ad agency made an apology of an advertisement---a perfect example of how an ad should not be made. On top of that, Sehwag was a complete let-down in that series. So, it was particularly irritating to watch that ad just after Sehwag has been caught in the slips "fishing" wide outside the off-stump. In the final match, Australia was batting first and Ricky Ponting went berserk, hitting fours and sixes at will. Then one of my friends, after watching that Sehwag ad for a dozen times, remarked ," Lagta hai Sehwag ki maa ne Ponting ko phone kar diya hai." Another one said, "Abe baaki network mein to wrong number India mein hi jaata hai...RIM mein lagta hai South Africa tak cross connnection lag jata hai"....:) Another category of ads which I find quite interesting is those mud-slinging ads brought out by two big companies, who dominate the market of a particular product---some sort of duopoly situation.These two companies may decide that the best way to increase their market share is to reduce the market share of their rival. (Looks like they were looking out of the window when their teacher was telling the story about how to shorten a line without rubbing it off---You draw a bigger line above it) . So, they start ads which hit out at their competitors. One of the earliest in this was that blockbuster "War Of The Mints" . We had the Nestle's Polo mint with a well-entrenched market share and a catchy punchline "Mint With The Hole". Now, Candico lauches it's own mint and runs a print campaign showing a guy with a hole in his head . Written at the bottom of the page ," Do you have a hole in your head? Then, why should you eat mint with the hole?". And, their cheeky punchline was "All Mint , No Hole". Then, there are the Pepsi and Coke mutual-stabbing-advertisements. Though there are legions of ads made by them deriding the other, the Sprite ad with " I Want To Do!" was a knock-out. Trust me when I say I stopped "Doing The Dew" after watching that ad. P.B.Shelly will excuse me if I paraphrase his "Winter-Spring" quote as " If ads come, can controversies be far behind?". Indians love controversies and rumours. (You must have heard that joke where a person 'A' tells his colleague that his daughter has joined dance classes. Next day, boss of 'A' threatens him that if he immediately doesn't forbid his daughter from working in dance bar, his job will be in danger!) In fact, the only group which loves controversies more than the Indians are the 24 hour Indian news channels! (If there are any Indian readers of my blog, I hope they will forgive my presumptuousness...:)) So, there was this ad of Naukari.com (Guess, Who Has Just Heard From Us...On a side note, somehow I feel their punchline seems perfect for the endless tele-callers whose calls we receive only to reject the various products they are selling----Idea ka Post-Paid Connection,ICICI ka free Business card,One way ticket to Timbuktu....give me a break!).I am talking about that "Hari Sadu" ad.The first time I saw it, apart from the ingenuity and crispness of the plot, I was particularly impressed by that person playing the role of boss---a perfect picture of arrogance and condescension. So, imagine my surprise when I find this innocuous ad has been dragged in a controversy. Apparently, a boy whose first name is Hari wants Naukari to pull out this ad because he has been teased by his friends. He also threatened a court case. You will agree with me when I say that possibly no one can make a bigger mountain out of the smallest molehill than this boy. Now, let me take you back by a decade , to 1995-96. I was in my teens, P.V.Narsimha Rao was being voted out, Sachin was at his peak in that World Cup and a person carrying Mobile phone in India would have got as many stares as an orange elephant would have got. There was this controversy about an ad featuring MS & MS(no, silly, not Mallika Sherawat and Manmohan Singh...It's for Madhu Sapre and Milind Soman) who were stark naked but for their "Tuffs shoes" with a snake strategically positioned to hide what we all wanted to see.There was a huge uproar and even a court case was filed against them. This is 2005-06. I am of approximately the same age as Aamir is in RDB. PVN has already floated a new political party in heaven. Sachin is struggling with his injuries (Tennis Elbows, Squash Shoulders, Carrom Calves...pata nahin kya kya..). Now, you don't get stared for keeping a mobile phone but for not keeping one. As for the "Tuffs Shoe" like ad, open "once-sugar-now-shit" Times Of India (TOI) any day, you'll see such ads on every page. Last heard MS & MS were thinking about switching over to some other decent newspaper to protect their yet-to-be-born baby from TOI's corrupting influence! Hello! Are you awake? Good. If you have read upto this point , then some of you may have formed the opinion that ads are as meretricious as a peacock's feather-- beautiful to look at but with no practical use. Let me tell you a small incident which took place around two years back to clear this misperception. A gentleman used to provide me tiffin for dinner and used to charge Rs 1000 monthly. Now, all of a sudden, without rhyme and certainly without reason, he raised it to Rs 1200 monthly. This 20% hike was a little too much for me to digest at that time. (Heck, even if you factor in a 5% inflation, 15% is a pretty stiff increment..). So, I told him that I'll stop taking tiffin from him and will ask some other supplier. He tried to convince me and I tried not to get convinced. Our discussions seemed to go nowhere. Finally, after some 10 minutes of rallying the verbal tennis ball, I found a smash return. I said, ''Sir, jab wahi safedi wahi jhaag kam daamon mein mile to koi woh kyon le yeh naa le?" (Ã la Deepika Ji in that Surf ad) . And that was it. (Point-Game-Set-Match and the winner is Bomu). He raised the rate for others but I continued getting at the old rate...:) Now, let me stop here or else this short article will expand like Ram Gopal Verma's new movie announcements. I definitely don't want it intrude in the space of novels. There is far less competition here. Before I go, let me tell you about a good FM ad. It starts with that song from Zeher, " Agar tum mil jaao , jamana chhod denge hum"....And then the voiceover says, " Are Kyon nahin chhodenge jamana...introducing Nestle Fresh and natural Dahi"....:) So, to sum up, I think you would have understood why I so love following ads. And, if you share my passion for understanding the psychology of persuasion, advertisements, their making and adore PJ and PP (Prasoon Joshi and Piyush Pande--Muunchhe hon to Piyush Pande jaisi warna na hon!) , then let me give you an unsolicited advice. The next time someone asks you, " Aap Ad Kyun Dekhte Hain?", you have two answers, two choices, or if you like Matrix, then let me give you two pills (the same which Morpheus gave to Neo...I managed to collect them after the shooting was over..). If you want to be rude, in-the-face , you take the red pill--then you can just dip his head in betel filled water like that Paanwallah does in Chlormint ad and say, "Doobara Mat Poochna!". On the other hand, if you want a less aggressive answer, you take the blue pill--then you can just twist your mouth like that boy eating Melody chocolate does and say , " Melody Kaho Khud Jaan Jaao!". Disclaimer:-- If in trying to be funny, I have somewhere gone overboard and sounded caustic to any group, please remember that I-as- a-person disclaim responsibilty for what is written by I-as-a-writer. So, unless and until you are absolutely sure that you'll catch me writing something i.e. I-as-a-writer, don't come with your loaded guns. You may end up blowing the brains of I-as-a-person, spend your rest of the life in prison while I-as-a-writer may continue writing trashes like this. Also, I know I have a very bad habit of writing long sentences and then punctuating them even more shoddily. So, please don't tell me about my hanging commas, misplaced exclamations and my right brackets wondering, "What the hell I am doing here when there is no opening left bracket?". Perhaps that is the reason "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss is not one of my favourite books.