MANJHA!!!

• So, all of you must have seen my relentless marketing for “Slumdog Millionaire” , by having it as my orkut title from November 2008 till Feb 2009 until the day it got an oscar. Something in this movie struck a chord and before watching it i knew it would be a sensation, there was this shear energy around this movie, starting from the toronto film festival. So, the other day i rented out the blu-ray version to check out director comments, behind the scenes and also a short-film included in the blue-ray version called “MANJHA”.
• I first read abt manjha at passionforcinema.com. This is a marathi movie made by Rahi Anil Barve. The film was running around in the indian film festivals but it got noticed by danny boyle through anurag kashyup(director of DEV D, No Smoking). We must really thank danny boyle to showcase indian talent at a world stage coz this movie is THE BOMB.
• A hard-hitting in the face drama abt child molestation. Its uncompromising to say the least and the mood doesn’t alter for a second. This is the kind of cinema indians should embrace.These kind of topics are conveniently put aside in the indian society as if it doesn’t exists, as if we are all at a higher level from the world, have a better culture from the rest of the world, and all these are not for india. Well, because of this ignorance and pride of our culture coupled with poverty and illiteracy that india is such a vulnerable place for children.
• We are scared to talk about these issues and so we pretend they don’t exists. People must be educated about these sensitive issues especially in a country like india and efforts have to be done to reduce poverty and illiteracy.
• You can start educating yourself by watching this movie. Unfortunately this movie is available only on the Blu-ray disc of slumdog millionaire.

Thanks to danny boyle for discovering india and help us rediscover it.

Rick Ross - Deeper Than Rap

Yo! Yo! Yooo! Wasss’up Y’all . OK! i’m here to write abt Hip-Hop and how it has unknowingly taken a lot of my listening time. Why i like Hip-Hop? Everything abt it is freaking cool man, from the bling, the whips, the rhymes and of course the beats. Recently i was listening to Rick Ross’s new outing “Deeper Than Rap”.Here's my take on it.
Listening to a couple of songs in the album you’ll immediately understand the signature thing of RR. The songs are filled with all these fairy, rich, dreamy synths/keys/melodies making the music sound rich. Literally you are feeling rich and wealthy listening to it. Pump up that music in your car and you feel like ur in a Maybach, living the rich life. Well, That’s a very good way of selling records, and the immense publicity from the beef with 50 cent helped the album too.
For me, the break out song is “Magnificent” feat John Legend , though “Mafia Music” is running around the stations more. I dont like “Mafia Music” coz the tune of the song is very similar to “Runaway Love” by ludacris feat Mary.J.Blige .I like Magnificent coz of its punchy beats and all the bells & whistles going around it as in any other RR song from this album. Though I dint dig John Legends Hook, which apparently he tuned it by himself, the arrangement of the song saves it.The next song for me is “Maybach Music” feat T-Pain, kanye West and Lil Wayne. The hook here is amazing, i luuuv the tune and the vocals of this. This is again accompanied by the signature touches but, would have loved if the beats were more punchy, they seemed soft for my taste.
You’ve got a parade of artists collaborating for this album as is the general norm of Hip-Hop artists these days. It’s a good thing though coz you’ve got variety in the album with a lot of inputs coming in from different talents. Overall a very good album, chk it out!

P.S.: 50 cents has left Interscope and signed a deal worth 100 million with Live nation.