Mansi

I was very eager this morning to blog about the soundtrack of the movie - Parineeta (Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan) and in my search on the net to find the details of each soundtrack, I came across a review that is really spot on! Spot on with what I have to say at least... So go HERE to read the soundtrack review for Parineeta.

And Yes, I will still go ahead and repeat all that the review above says, that I also agree with. And though initially I wasn't going to speak about the movie, I now am going to do that too.

Why should you go to see this movie?
- To catch Rekha's item number. If ever a woman has defied age and had all the current kittens run hither, it is our ever dependable, ever gripping female avatar of the Big B - Rekha! Some months back, I caught her on the cover of a popular magazine and just like everybody else had just one word shape my lips - WOW! I just wish she had used her full name and didn't just go by her first name. (it makes her sound like a product than the classy actor that she is and will always be)
- To lose oneself in Vidya Balan's eyes. This actress can carry a whole film with just her eyes. Despite the patchy direction of a very 'expansive' story, Vidya through her eyes conveys every single lesson learnt in love - Be it fondness to predator possessiveness to that all embracing love that is not just for a lover but for humanity itself.
- To see Sanjay Dutt finally get to do some drama and wield it with oozles of charm and sensitivity - - what a dream character for Sanjay to play and except for in bed, everywhere else I think he brings it home for all of us.

What if I don't want to see the movie?
- Then go and buy the soundtrack. While none of the picturization hit me as special or spectacular (WHAT AM I SAYING - - EXCEPT FOR REKHA ..I MEAN YOU KNOW I MEANT EXCEPT FOR REKHA RIGHT????), this is a soundtrack for our ears, and our ears only.

I'd like to start with Chitra who the review says is probably the most under rated Bollywood female singer. Were this observation true it upsets me and should you too.
Chitra has the most haunting voice at a pitch where other singers get pitchy, tight or just too shrill (a la Kavita K). With Chitra, these oh so high notes are where she begins her climb. Her voice is deep on notes that will have my voice crack and that's where I mark 'high' when my mouth is open, my voice box vibrating but there's no sound coming out. But what I like about Chitra the most, in almost all of her songs and especially in Raat Hamari To (in Parineeta) is the emotional roller coaster she sets us off on. She doesn't really need instruments. Her voice bobs up and down all by itself and will have our cells doing the same jig inside our ears. And it doesn't stop there. With texture and her breathing, she breathes life into each note. Listening to this song, you will feel your stomach tugging or your heart fluttering or your head swimming like you're totally rockers on love, alcohol or just plain life - - The Simon Cowell in my head would say - great song choice!

Then there's Sonu Nigam who I am getting tired of BUT BUT BUT who with sheer work can take a song and blow! You can't miss him in this soundtrack (as much as you might want to). I am not trying to take anything away from his talent or his work. I am just tired of hearing him in every movie. In this song, Soona Man ki Aangan, Sonu blows in his so punjabi way, making us want to reach for some tissues...except for... and I'll get to this just after the surprice.

Surprice Surprice -- If you thought I was missing someone, yes, it is Saif himself. He does get to sing a bit in this movie and I liked what I heard. This man has a nice voice (now who would have thought that). He also plays that guitar and the piano (all very authentic - as compared to Mr. Dutt who gets 5/10 for musical skill and 8/10 for acting effort --but then who really wants Mr. Dutt to be musically talented, he's adorable without). Saif and his guitar - We've seen so much of that in ads, film festivals and now finally in a movie where it fits in really well with the role that he plays. But remember that exception I talked of earlier, yes, I was referring to Saif and how Sonu Nigam has no business singing for Saif. Soona Man ki Aangan is the song of a man who's heart is being wrenched out in every which way. As much as Saif tries to express all that melodrama (thank you Sonu), with all of his 5/10 acting skills, he fails. Melodrama is not Saif. Melodrama isn't the guitar either, now is it? But, that aside, we can listen him to sing 'la la la..hey hey hey ..mmm... you are mine.. .mmm ...la la la.... heyheyhey... say you mine' and then gladly give the rest of the song to Nigam (awful transition from Saif's deep voice to Sonu's sweet but younger one) and Shreya Ghoshal. I don't know about this woman (yes my ignorance is legendary!) but the review says that you can't have a Chattopadhyay novel without Shreya Ghoshal.

Piya Dole is dessert. If I were you, listening to the soundtrack for the first time, I'd save Piya Bole for the very end. Remove the terribly grandstanding instrumentation, and you have two lovely voices dancing about each other, like the pitter patter of rain just as the first monsoons arrive at your doorstep. This reminds me of Balan herself, in this one scene, where she lets the rain fall on her face and as she turns around with water on her face and shoulders (and in places you might want to find out for yourself even!)...here is where we will understand why Vidhu Vinod Chopra chose her over Aishwarya (Miss living with my parents is such a topic) Rai. While I don't normally resort to Rai bashing on my blog, Chopra's choice against Ms Rai was the best decision he made with Parineeta. We all know how familiar Ms Rai is with bengali movies - what with Devdas and then Raincoat (which she butchered) - one would have thought that she would be on the list of actresses Chopra had. Rightly she was. However, sense prevailed and the ice maiden was allowed to go do her dance somewhere else.

Vidya Balan, even without her eyes, is so warm and in some scenes downright hot! She does not flaunt her figure, she does not even acknowledge it. Her sensuality is all around, engulfing, almost like a ghost that adopted this body for awhile. Credits to Chopra too for not exploiting that. I think Chopra likes to capture beauty that is unconscious. Who can forget Manisha from 1942, with her pearls and her laundry chores? Chopra tries the same with Vidya Balan but gives up. He then steps back and lets Pradeep Sarkar, the real director (Chopra is just producing ...yup, believe that if you will!)let Balan be, and she does a fine job, all on her own.
While I still maintain that the direction was decidedly choppy, the storytelling was not. It captured some wonderful themes. First off fate and how one can never really be prepared for what we are in store for in our lives. Second of unspoken truths, here Sarkar captures the essence of what is going on between these characters. Each character in this film says far less than what they mean - like it is in our lives too. We can't verbalize things, we don't even want to. We don't articulate ourselves when we need to even. We are all about silent messages, hidden contexts, sublimal signals...and for good or bad, this movie captures that. If you're wondering how - by being overtly directorial. In every scene of this movie, you can hear the director breathing over your back. However, he's not breathing down on you - he's just doing his best to push you forward, till you've got your nose pressed to the screen and you're also doing what you normally would, not listening or seeing or touching or smelling but just feeling and inhaling it all into some strange part of us that actually makes sense of it all.

And who gets the last word (certainly not me!) - - It's Big B himself who graciously sneeked up on us again, as the narrator. (How does he find his (some small, some BIG) way into so many films?? Ms Rai's PR firm - please take note! Then again, from an ardent movie goer, please don't, don't, don't - pretty please?)
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And some more last words (hehe) - The direction, sets had a shade of that chap who did Black and Devdas. The music did at places seem A R Rehman inspired. However, last and never least credits are due:
Novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhaya
Produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Directed by Pradeep Sarkar
Music Directors & lyricists - Shantanu Moitra & Swandand Kirkire
Singers: Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Chitra, Swandand Kirkire, Saif Ali Khan, Sunidhi Chauhan (Kaisi Paheli Zindagani - Rekha's item number), Rita Ganguly ( who did this wedding song, that we missed..must have been in the first two minutes of the movie)
Performance - Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Sanjay Dutt, Rekha (one item song but it was one HELL of a performance!)