‘Taal’ Music: Out To Mesmerise The Nation

KOMAL NAHTA

Gosh! Can you believe it? I went to Delhi last Saturday (12th June) for the music release of Subhash Ghai’s Taal and now, exactly seven days later, I don’t remember what happened there. I can’t recall who formally released the album. I can’t recall who made speeches on the occasion. I can’t even remember the venue in Delhi, where the audio was released.

But who cares? What you readers should care to know about is the quality of music. You do remember that A.R. Rahman is the film’s music director, don’t you? You also know that Anand Bakshi has once again penned all the songs of this film of Subhash Ghai, don’t you? If I were to tell you that the music of Taal is brilliant, par excellence, would you be keen to know more about it or about the function that marked its release? If you opt for the latter, I’m sorry because, as I said earlier, my memory fails me. If you opt for the former, here we go.

Undoubtedly, the music of Taal is the best of 1999 so far. My hunch says, it will be difficult for any other filmmaker and music director to surpass this music this year at least. Listen to the opening track. Ishq bina kya jeena yaaron… It mesmerises you. It has mesmerised me. Ah yes, that’s why I’ve forgotten what the hell happened in Delhi. A.R. Rahman’s music composition matches the excellent lyrics of Anand Bakshi. This song, in days to come, will be heard in every car on the street and, yes, in every discotheque. It is slow, then fast, then slow, then fast. But it is the best song of the album.

Or maybe, it isn’t. Because Taal se taal mila, the next number, is equally wonderful. This one also has you in a trance. The more you listen to it, the more you want to listen to it. Is it the magic of Rahman, Bakshi or singers Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan? I think, it is all of this plus the Midas touch of Subhash Ghai.

Ramta jogi is another extraordinary composition. Sukhwindara Singh is in great form and so is Rahman. Dance on this number and you, too, will be in form! Yet another super-hit song which will make inroads into the discotheques in the days to come.

Kahin aag lage lag jaaye has Asha Bhosle at her sexiest best. Accompanied by Aditya Narayan and Richa Sharma, the veteran singer could put most of the younger ones to shame, such is the sharpness of the voice and her flawless rendition. Nahin saamne tu is a very slow number but don’t underestimate its power. It will grow on you slowly but surely. Full marks to Hariharan for the rendition and to Sukhwindara Singh for the l-o-o-o-o-ng aalaap!

Ni main samajh gayee and Kariye na are the other two songs in the album which also has the title music (called Beat of Passion) and another music piece (Raga dance). In the film, there will be a total of six music pieces. And are they superb? You bet!

The music of Ghai’s Taal is bound to mesmerise the nation. Contrary to A.R. Rahman’s trademark South flavour, the music of Taal has a predominantly North Indian flavour. This may then well become the first Rahman album which will set the music market in North India on fire first and then spread to the rest of the country. It should become a rage in Overseas countries too.

I remember Subhash-ji often telling me how he had had to keep awake for nights together for the recordings of Taal because Rahman prefers to record at night. Well, all those sleepless nights have been worth their while. No, don’t just go by what I am saying. Ask Kumar and Ramesh Taurani (Tips) and they’ll inform you that they’ve released an all-time record 15 lakh audio cassettes in the first lot. They may, however, not tell you that they’ve got repeat orders in just three days of the first release! They’d hide this fact because, maybe, they are apprehensive of the evil eye. But they will tell you that they’ve pressed 40 to 50,000 CDs when the usual quota for a big film is 10,000…..

…….Oh, oh, oh, I remember now. This is what Ramesh Taurani revealed at the press conference in Delhi last Saturday. I remember how Anil Kapoor politely refused to answer any questions which did not relate to Taal, saying that it was the function of Taal. I recall Akshaye Khanna expressing a lot of concern for our army jawans, and Aishwarya offering any help for them, whenever needed. I remember seeing the audio-visual of Taal, prepared for the occasion. I remember Ghai calling on the prime minister to extend an invitation to him to attend the music release function that evening. Yes, I do remember now, that the release function was held at Siri Fort auditorium. I also remember that Kavita Krishnamoorthy sang a song of Taal. So did Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Hariharan and Sukhwindara Singh. I also remember Ahmed Khan’s troupe giving dance recitals. I remember Ramesh Taurani telling me that Anand Bakshi had not come to Delhi as he has a phobia of air travel. Yes, I remember also that Anil Kapoor had the presence of mind to reach the dais alongwith the other artistes and unit members of the film when the VIP, who was to present the audio cassette of Taal to Ghai, was reported missing. The entire unit, instead, presented the cassette to Subhash Ghai who was visibly touched. I remember Subhash Ghai puffing cigarettes nervously before the start of the function at Siri Fort. I also remember Amrish Puri making the atmosphere light whenever he opened his mouth. I remember some clown of a Master of Ceremonies conducting the function and describing Satish Kaushik as art director, and A.R. Rahman as poet and lyricist. I recall the wit of Javed Akhtar who jocularly chided the master of ceremonies for having called Rahman a lyricist but not having addressed Javed as a music director. Thank God, he did not need to call out my name. Otherwise, he may have mistaken me to be the hero of Taal. And then both, Anil Kapoor and Akshaye, would’ve felt bad. Of course, Aishwarya, I’m sure, would’ve loved it….

…Just as music lovers are going to love… Come on, you know what I mean — the music of Taal, of course!!

LATEST POSITION

SIRF TUM, a small film, has surprised the trade with its good business in the first week. …This week’s HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM has opened to bumper houses in many parts.

Sirf Tum has done excellent in Bombay, Delhi-U.P., Orissa, Rajasthan, Nizam and Mysore. Is good in East Punjab, Bengal, Bihar and C.P.C.I. At places (like Jaipur, Ajmer), the film picked up phenomenally as the week progressed. 1st week Bombay 14,66,415 (91.04%) from 3 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,69,351, Baroda 94,738 (90%); Pune 4,74,577 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur (matinee, 5 days) 52,900 (100%); Delhi 17,14,749 (79.01%) from 4 cinemas; Lucknow 3,77,653, Agra 3,99,618, excellent, Allahabad 1,67,363, Meerut 2,36,540, Bareilly 1,27,607; Nagpur 3,62,470 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 99,251, Amravati 1,53,970, Raipur 1,02,265, Bhilai 70,050, Jalgaon (6 days) 79,291, Chandrapur 1,80,828; Bhopal 78,506; Jaipur 3,16,251; Hyderabad (gross) 5,61,820 from 2 cinemas (1 in noon).

Safari has done poor. 1st week Bombay 19,74,097 (42.13%) from 10 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 3,36,034 from 5 cinemas (2 unrecd.), Baroda 58,606, Jamnagar (matinee) 18,052; Pune 4,87,851 from 6 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 81,662, Solapur 1,43,984 from 2 cinemas; Delhi 13,39,629 (26.72%) from 9 cinemas; Lucknow 57,240, Agra 65,400; Nagpur 2,64,323 from 4 cinemas, Jabalpur 56,245, Akola 72,702, Dhule 63,627, Bhilai 66,674 from 2 cinemas, Jalgaon 72,188, Bilaspur 92,232; Bhopal 88,000 from 2 cinemas; Jaipur 3,18,017 from 3 cinemas; Hyderabad (gross) 13,17,411 from 10 cinemas (2 in noon).

…………

Biwi No. 1 is still very strong. 3rd week Bombay 63,38,121 (86.75%) from 13 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 10,11,421 from 5 cinemas, Jamnagar 70,000; Pune 12,67,727 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Kolhapur 2,03,847, Solapur 1,77,927 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee), Miraj 76,223; Delhi 55,21,384 from 11 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Lucknow 5,40,013, Agra 2,20,442, Allahabad 1,72,192, Bareilly 1,04,870, Hardwar 65,600; Nagpur 4,66,899 from 5 cinemas, 2nd week Jabalpur 2,11,974, total 4,92,118, 3rd week Amravati (6 days) 1,83,992, Akola 1,56,457, total 5,29,372, Raipur (6 days)1,21,002, Bhilai 72,296, 2nd week Jalgaon 2,27,932, Wardha (6 days) 68,509, Chandrapur 1,71,119; 3rd week Indore 1,90,136, Bhopal 2,20,102 from 2 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Jaipur 4,72,674 from 2 cinemas, Bikaner 40,000, Udaipur 1,47,000; Hyderabad (gross) 10,10,652 from 6 cinemas (1 in noon).

Sarfarosh 7th week Bombay 18,31,572 (65.61%) from 7 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 1,08,336 (1 unrecd.); Pune 7,13,044 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 1,17,197 (6th 1,20,803); Delhi (TF) 15,34,247 from 7 cinemas; Lucknow 1,97,723, Agra 34,560, Allahabad 72,413; Nagpur 86,457, 4th week Jabalpur 1,32,986, total 7,31,470, 7th week Amravati 73,517, Akola 37,867, total 5,63,578, Dhule 7 weeks’ total 4,46,113, 7th week Raipur 29,355, Bhilai 21,972, 1st week Rajnandgaon 80,000; 7th week Indore 1,10,000 from 2 cinemas, Bhopal 50,000; Jaipur 5,50,392; Hyderabad (gross) 5,17,832 from 2 cinemas; 1st week Guntur (gross) 98,852.

WARRANT ISSUED AGAINST NANDU TOLANI

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate of the Girgaon (Bombay) court, S.P. Gaikwad, has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against film producer Nandu Tolani for his failure to repay a Rs. 35 lakh loan taken from Kotak Mahindra Finance Limited. Tolani has yet to be arrested as the Khar police has not yet executed the warrant.

The producer had applied for a car loan amounting to Rs. 35 lakh in the name of his firm, Sapna Arts, in 1996. Kotak Mahindra sanctioned and disbursed the loan that same year and Tolani used the money to purchase a Toyota Supra. Tolani had surrendered 25 post-dated cheques to Kotak, which managed to realise only Rs. 5 lakh of the loan amount, since a year later, the cheques began to bounce. When the company made no headway, it filed a criminal complaint with the Girgaon metropolitan court in 1998. However, Tolani failed to appear before the court and the case was adjourned several times. The producer had also ignored repeated summons.

Finally, on May 29, 1999, the court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against the producer, directing the Khar police to produce Tolani before the court.

Tolani, on his part, has denied defaulting on any payments.

YOU ASKED IT

What is the expected business of Daag The Fire and Kartoos in Bombay and Delhi-U.P.?

– DAAG THE FIRE is expected to do over 2 in each of Bombay and Delhi-U.P. KARTOOS will do less than that in Bombay as well as in Delhi-U.P.

Who are the stars to watch out for this year?

– Make a note. 1999 will belong to the two A’s — Anil Kapoor and Aamir Khan. Anil has had two releases so far this year and both (HUM AAPKE DIL MEIN REHTE HAIN and BIWI NO. 1) have clicked. Aamir’s solo release, SARFAROSH, is also a plus fare everywhere.

Despite giving so many hits, why are advance trade reports of David Dhawan’s films invariably bad?

– Maybe, because the trade people don’t take David’s comedies seriously. But the audience seem to be loving and lapping them up — and that’s what is important.

DO YOU KNOW?

* Even before the release of its music, one song of KOHRAM — Hum hain Banaras ke bhaiyya — regaled the audience abroad at Amitabh Bachchan’s shows. Amitabh performed on the stage to this song-dance number at all his 16 shows. Bachchan and Viju Shah took special permission from producer-director Mehul Kumar to use this song.

* Such was the encouraging response to SIRF TUM and cold response to SAFARI at the new City Pulse cineplex in Gandhinagar that SIRF TUM was shifted from the smaller screen 3 (229-seater) to the bigger screen 1 (385-seater) mid-week. SAFARI, consequently, was shifted from screen 1 to screen 3. Both, SIRF TUM and SAFARI, are distributed in Bombay circuit by Vimal Agarwal thru R.M. Ahuja & Co.

* Distributors of SIRF TUM had gone very slow with the film’s release. But looking to the lovely response of cinegoers, most of them have taken additional prints in 2nd week itself. The Bombay distributors have taken 7 extra prints, the Delhi-U.P. distributors have added 4 prints in 2nd week, the Nizam distributor has taken 1 more print, and the Overseas distributor has also taken an additional print. Next week, the Delhi-U.P., West Bengal, Bihar, C.P. Berar and Overseas distributors will take 2, 1, 2, 1 and 1 additional prints respectively.

* The Mauritius distributor of SIRF TUM has ordered for two extra prints of the film. The film is doing wonderful business in the island country. In fact, it is the first big success there after KKHH.

* Besides West Bengal, SOORYAVANSHAM is also doing well in Bihar. According to Sudhir of Chandra Sudhir Films, the distributors of the film for Bihar, “SOORYAVANSHAM will definitely prove to be a commission earner in Bihar.”

MIX MASALA

HAPPY TO LOSE

Delhi-U.P. distributor Tolu Bajaj has lost a bet of a cellphone to his manager, Sanjay Ghai. And he is happy that he has lost the bet. When his Sirf Tum opened at Agra’s Anjana cinema last week, Sanjay Ghai had predicted that it would collect 4 lakh in the first week. The figure was on the higher side and Tolu thought, it would be impossible to touch the figure of 4. He betted a cellphone and although the film collected just Rs. 382 short of 4 lakh (due to rains), Tolu has decided to give a cellphone to Sanjay.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

‘Biwi No. 1’: Unknown Facts

Some inside information about David Dhawan’s latest success, Biwi No. 1. The name of Tabu’s Punjabi character in the film — Lovely — was suggested not by the writer, director or even producer Vashu Bhagnani but by Tabu herself. Tabu’s son (Piloo) in the film is played by Vashu Bhagnani’s nephew (sister’s son). Although this is the child’s first film as a child artiste, he has done a damn neat job and is evoking laughter in the cinema halls. The second climax in the film — involving Anil Kapoor (Lakhan), Tabu (Lovely) and their child (Piloo) — was, at one point of time, to have been shot differently and in a milder way. But Anil Kapoor is said to have put his foot down and insisted that the climax of the original Tamil version (Sathi Leelavathi) not be changed. Why, Anil is said to have convinced the makers to stick to the original and even told them, he would not have agreed to do the role if he had known that the climax would be diluted. The makers saw reason and obliged. The rest, as they say, is history.

FFI Trains Gun On Pramod Mahajan

The Film Federation of India’s meeting on 8th June in Madras ended with an almost unanimous feeling of disapproval over Pramod Mahajan’s tenure as the union information and broadcasting minister. Sources in FFI disclose that Mahajan seems to be eternally busy with party work and has ignored the industry. Moreover, he also seems to have developed a sudden aversion to the film industry and its problems, say FFI spokespersons while citing examples of Mahajan visiting Bombay every week and yet ignoring representations made by the premier association of the film industry. Well, must say that there is some force in FFI’s demand for Mahajan’s head, then.

Hit Song

Producer Babloo Pachisia and director Rahul Rawail have a winner on their hands in the Gherdar ghaghro, lachhedar chunadi song in their Arjun Pandit. Dilip Sen Sameer Sen’s foot-tapping music will have music lovers dancing to the beats of the song. On his part, choreographer Lollypop has made Juhi Chawla dance and how! The picturisation of this number is excellent — just like the song itself! Two more songs — one picturised on Daler Mehndi and Juhi, and the other (Paagal paagal) picturised on Sunny Deol and his friends — are really good. Also good was one scene which Rahul Rawail showed us earlier this week in the editing room. The scene shows Sunny Deol (who is in police custody) single-handedly fighting an army of policemen who are holding his hands tight, to pull a terrified Juhi Chawla into a police van standing in the court premises. Sunny locks the van from inside and pleads with Juhi even as the policemen outside, standing in pouring rain, try to break open the door of the van to rescue Juhi and take Sunny in custody again. Rahul Rawail’s handling of the scene would leave the viewer wide-eyed… and moist-eyed too. Yes, the scene does get tears to your eyes.