100 Days in Mumbai!!!!!!

Today is my 100th Day in Mumbai.

Happy B'day Aamir Khan

Today Aamir turns 44. He's one of the very few perfectionists of Indian Film Industry.

Shreya - My Sweet Heart

Shreya Ghoshal - The one name that makes me Crazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzyyyyyyyyyyyy. I'm just addicted to her voice and herself. Shreya turned 25 on 12th March. Unfortunately I cudn't write a blog due to my hectic work. Belated Happy B'day Shreya!!!

Shreya is one singer who's a blend of Beauty and Talent. I tell my mom that she's my

IDEAL MATCH. She looks better than most of the Actresses. She was well apreciated by the great Lata mangeshkar for th Sweetness of her voice. She was selected by Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the voice of Paro in Devdas after she won the Reality show Sa Re Ga Ma, in Zee TV that was hosted by Sonu Nigam.




She was just 16 when she sang for Aishwarya in Devdas. She got National Award for Best female Playback singer for the song "Bairi Piya..." from Devdas. She also shared the Filmfare award with Kavitha Krishnamurthy for the song "Dola re.." from the same movie. But my favourite song of her from the movies is "Silsila ye chahat ka....". Soon Shreya became popular and started giving more hit songs like "jaadu hai Nasha..." and "Chalo tumko lekar..." from Jism; "Agar tum mil jao..." from Zeher; "Bepanah pyar..." from Krishna Cottage; etc and she got her 2nd National Award in 2006 for the song "Apne Aansoo Peene Ke Liye..." from the SRK starrer Paheli.

I became a fan of hers immediately after listening to her 1st song in Tamil "Chellamaai Chellam" from the movie Album (In 2002). It was really a refreshing voice in Tamil Films which got bored with the voice of Sadhana Sargam. Though her Tamil pronunciation was not good earlier, it was soooo sweet to listen. But very soon she has improved her Tamil diction and her pronunciation of zh/ழ, which is unique for Tamil is the best among the North Indian singers. Even the legendary SPB has appreciated her for her flawless Tamil. Udit Narayan still sings in poor Tamil. Madhushri is hopeless for Tamil. She was critically acclaimed for her rural Tamil slang in the song 'Iayyayo' in the multi-award winning film Paruthiveeran.

Though Karthik Raja introduced her in Tamil, it's Ilayaraja who got used the most of her Talent. She was a key singer in Raja's "Netru Indru Naalai" that was telecast in Jaya TV. Esp, her rendition of "Kaatril endhan Geetham.." from Johnny is still in my mind. She sang ..."kaanaadha onrai thodudhe.." instead of "... kaanadha onrai thedudhe..". But in the end, when she corrected that and sang correctly, the hall was full of applause.

It's "Munbe vaa..." from Sillunu Oru Kadhal that made me fanatic of her voice. It's been an Anthem for most of the youth. She has sung it sweetly and romantically. She got a Filmfare-Tamil for that song in 2006 which she deserved. I was just on cloud nine when she recieved it and sang a few lines.




2007 was one of the Best years for Shreya. She gave more hits in Hindi. She became one of the judges of the Music Reality show "Star Voice of India - Chote Ustaad" that made me crazzzyyyy abt her. She remembered her days as a participant of the show Sa re ga ma. I became a regular viewer of the show only because of Shreya and other two participants Anwesha and Aishwarya.



Ilayaraja came with Cheeni Kum in Hindi in which he remastered his evergreen hits of 80s Mandram Vandha Thendralukku, Vizhiyile Mani vizhiyil, Kuzhaloodhum Kannanukku which are respective equivalents of Cheeni Kum hai, Jaane do na and Baatein hawa. Then came "Yeh Ishq..." from Jab We Met with her ice-cooled voice which hit the chartbusters. Sanjay Leela Bhansali again used her for Saawariya, that was a Musical hit. Her voice added more beauty to the song "Main agar kahoon.." from Om Shanti Om though she rendered just 31 seconds in the whole song.Her classical proficiency was proved in "Mere Dholna.." from Bhool Bhulaiya with her flawless sargams. Only Anwesha could sing the song spledidly afer Shreya. But she was awarded the Filmfare for "Barso re...". I was disappointed as I exp she would get for Cheeni Kum's Jaane do na which is a mesmerising and had been my Hello Tune for a long time and again from 12th March 2009. Again Shreya-ARR combo worked out. She herself expected for "Yeh Ishq" but she stated that her fans like her voice for Ash.




She didnt give much hits in 2008. But her dream was fulfilled by singing for her and my fav Kajol in U Me Aur Hum. "Teri ore.." from Sing is King didnt make an impact on me. Tu hi meri dost hai rom Yuvraaj is ok and Thujhme rab dikhta hai from RNBDJ was good. Where as her voice in "Kaise mujhe tum mil gayi..." from Ghajini is so touching and disturbed me a lot. Have to write a separate blog for that. Eventhough her part is for 92 seconds, it's far better than her "Teri Ore..." for which she got the Filmfare 2008.



Shreya hit Hatrick by winning a Filmfare in Tamil and 2 in Hindi consecutively from 2006 to 2008. Congratulations Shreya!!!
Hope she would hit the hatrick again (In Filmfare Hindi) for 2009 films.
Wishing her all the Best as a Crazzziest Fan!!!!

Here comes my most fave of her in 2008:

Happy Holi!!!

I dont celebrate Holi since it's not a festival in South India. I have seen only in movies till I was in 10th. I have seen some of my Northi school mates celebrating Holi when I was in 11th & 12th but I haven't participated. It was in my 1st year B.E. I celebrated Holi for the 1st time and an unforgettable Holi it was. Still I remember that day every year on Holi.
My father had come to our College. Since he is an Aarva Kolaaru, he responded to the letter sent from college regarding my low marks in the Model Exams and came to meet out HOD. So there was a hard discussion with me, my dad and our HOD post lunch. I sent my dad home and came to class.

My friend Rashmi is a North Indian (settled in CBE) and she brought some colour powders that day. She alongwith Sunitha poured the colours on me and other friends Goldy, Reddy and Sweety. Sweety was scared and screamed when colour was thrown at her. This made one of our lecturers in the next class come to ours. He saw us playing with colours. But Rashmi and Sunitha went to the back bench as if they didnt know anything (Onnum theriyadha paappa madhiri nadichaanga). Rest of us were caught red-handed, no green-handed bcos the powder was green. He asked Sweety who threw colours at her. She tried to save us by telling that she didnt know but in vain. Since our hands were green which was in her cheeks, he confirmed that we applied colour on her face. Atlast we beccame victims. He took us to our HOD. That was really an embarassing moment as just an hour before, I was advised by him in front of my father. He looked at me deeply which meant I would never come up in life (Ivana ellaam thiruthave mudiyaadhu). He made us write an Apology Letter and left us. When we came back to class the real Culprits Rashmi and Sunitha made fun of us. Though it was an Embarassing day, it still stays in my memories evergreen like the Green Colour Holi Powder.


Later it became a custom to celebrate Holi in our college, mostly by pouring ink, colour water and cold drinks. But I use to stay away of the colours as they are allergic.

Interestingly, on Hoil 2006 (14th march), I watched Rang De Basanti in Kolkata with Mithun.

Happy Women's Day

Woman - The Creator. The world would be nothing without Women. "Men" are alwyas inside the Wo'men'. A man can do anything and everything. But he cannot give birth to a child. He can be a Father only after his child is born. But only a woman can feel the Motherhood right from the day when she gets conceived. I salute Womanhood.

Happy Women's Day!!!

காதலித்துப் பார்

Sneak Peek of Ravana/Asokavanam

Maniratnam's bilingual movie (Ravana in Hindi & Asokavanam in Tamil) is based on the epic RAMAYANA but in a modern version. No wonder the protagonist and the key role is the RAVAN character. It's known fact that Mani's Dhalapathy is based on the other epic MAHABHARATA. The speciality in the movie is the same actor plays different roles in both the languages. He's none other than Vikram. In the Hindi version, he plays the character of Ram, where Abhishek Bachchan plays Ravan character. In the Tamil version, Vikram plays the pivotal Ravan and Prithviraj plays Ram. Ash is Sita in both. In most of the remake movies and bilingual movies, the actors play the same characters in all the versions. Like Esha Deol's charcter in both Yuva and Aayidha Ezhuthu. Genelia's character in Bommarillu, Santosh Subramniyam and soon to be released It's my Life. But Vikram acts as Hindi Ram in one shot and the Tamil Ravan in the other shot. In my opinion, Maddy would be better option for Tamil Ram. Prithviraj is much youngr than Ash, but he looks so handsome.

Tail Piece: Priyamani plays Surpanaka character. Prabhu and Karthik also have some interesting roles in Asokavanam

Expecting for both Ravan and Asokavanam

Filmfare Awards - Trivia

1. Filmfare Awards were first called Clares after Clare Mendonca (the Times of India film critic who died the year of the first awards, 1954).

2. Gregory Peck was expected to be the guest of honour at the first ever awards (March 21, 1954 at the Metro theatre, Mumbai). He couldn't make it to the function since his flight from Colombo got delayed. Peck, however, did attend the banquet that followed the award nite.

3. At the first “Clares” Awards function, Bimal Roy’s ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ won the award for the best film; Bimal Roy went home with the Best Director award. Dilip Kumar won the award for the best actor (male) for ‘Daag’, while Meena Kumari won her statuette for Baiju Bawra. Naushad was adjudged the best music director for his mind-blowing songs in the Bharat Bhushan starrer, ‘Baiju Bawra’.

4. Lata Mangeshkar refused to accept her first Filmfare award because the Filmfare statuette was designed in the shape of a woman and “the woman had no clothes on”; the award had to be wrapped with a handkerchief for it to be accepted by the Nightingale.

5. In 1969, Sunil Dutt lost the best actor’s statuette to Dilip Kumar; Sunil organized a party for Dilip Kumar soon after the awards function, starting the trend of post-award parties.

6. In 1975, Yash Chopra's Deewaar swept all the awards except, surprisingly, for the lead actor Amitabh Bachchan.

7. One of Filmfare’s mighty losers has been ‘Sholay’, which won only one award in 1975- for Best Editing!!!

8. Kamal Haasan and Vaani Ganapathy got married on the day of the 25th Filmfare Awards; they attended the award nite with their garlands still around their necks.

9. The award for Best Choreography was instituted only in 1988. Saroj Khan won it for Madhuri’s sizzling “Ek Do Teen…” number from ‘Tezaab’.

10. As the Filmfare award function of 1991 came to an end, the entire crowd ran towards Amitabh Bachchan as he stood up near the pool. One of the planks cracked, and Amitabh Bachchan had to do a filmy style rescue operation to save Rakhee from falling.

11. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Black’ holds the record of winning the maximum number of Filmfare Awards. It won 11 at the 51st Filmfare Awards.

12. Dilip Kumar has been nominated for 19 Filmfare Best Actor Awards in all and he won 8 awards for Best Actor (a record). Shah Rukh Khan has been nominated for 17 times and won 7 times. Amitabh Bachchan has been nominated for 28 Filmfare Best Actor Awards in all (a record) but won 4.

13. Kumar Sanu is the only singer who got the Filmfare award for the Best Playback singer 5 times in a row.

Filmfare Awards - 2009

FILMFARE- The most prestigious Film Awards next to National Awards are given every year. It was 54th Filmfare Awards this year held on 28th Feb 2009 at Yash Raj Studio, Andheri. I'm always curious about the Filmfare Awards. As I'm in Mumbai now, I tried a lot to get a pass to attend the grand function, but in vain. I use to vote online. I voted for most of the categories online. I could predict 80% of the winners like Hrithik Roshan, Asin, ARR (Undoudtedly) , Arjun Rampal, Farhan Akhthar, Imran Khan, Kangna, Javed Akhtar.

My biggest disappointment is "A Wednesday" didnt even get a single award, which is the best movie of 2009. Hope it would get National Award with Naseerudding Shah as the Best Actor. The 2nd disappointment is Kajol didnt get the award for Best Actress for her outstanding performance in "U Me Aur Hum". Priyanka was my 2nd option. Atleast, she could have been awarded "Best Actress- Critics Award". Surprisingly I didnt predict my Sweet heart Shreya would win for Best Playback Singer (F) as I dint like the song "Teri ore.." much. She had sung "Kaise mujhe.." at her best, though ger part is for 91 seconds. Sukhwinder Singh for "Haule haule" is purely becos of his "Jai Ho". Even Roopkumar Rathode for "Tujhmein Rab..." has done better than Sukhwinder's "Haule Haule". I thought Rashid Ali would get for "Kabhi kabhi Aditi" for his cool rendition. Sonu Nigam too deserves that for "In Lamhon ke daman" from Jodha Akbar. Jodha Akbar is not the Best Film in my opinion. Similarly, Madhur Bhandarkar should have got the Best Director Award for Fashion instead of Ashutosh Gowariker. "Rock On" got 6 awards which is worth. I didnt even have any clue abiut "Oye Lucky Lucky Oye" which got 4 awards.

Ironically, "Pappu can't dance Sala" won the Best Choreography award. I expected Javed to win the Best Lyricist award till Ghajini. After Ghajini I expected Prasoon Joshi would win that for his Awesome Lyrics for "Kaise Mujhe tum mil gayi...'. But ultimately Javed got it

The list of winners is below

1. Filmfare Best Film

Jodhaa Akbar
Mumbai Meri Jaan (Critcs Award)
Dostana
Ghajini
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Rock On!!
The 2008 Filmfare Best Film award winner was Taare Zameen Par, directed by Aamir Khan.

2) Filmfare Best Director Award winner:
Ashutosh Gowariker, for Jodhaa Akbar.
Aditya Chopra, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
A.R. Murugadoss, Gajini
Abhishek Kapoor, Rock On!!
Anees Bazmee, Singh Is Kinng
Madhur Bhandarkar, Fashion
Neeraj Pandey, A Wednesday

3) 2009 Filmfare Best Actor award winner:

Hrithik Roshan, Jodha Akbar
Manjyot Singh: Oye Lucky Lucky Oye (Critics Award)
Aamir Khan, Ghajini
Akshay Kumar, Singh Is Kinng
Amitabh Bachchan, The Last Lear
Shah Rukh Khan, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

4) Filmfare Best Actress award winner:

Priyanka Chopra, for Fashion.
Kajol, U Me aur Hum
Skinny Priyanka in Dostana
Asin Thottumkal, Ghajini
Aishwarya Rai, Jodhaa Akbar
Anushka Sharma, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi


5) Filmfare Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Abhishek Bachchan, Sarkar Raj
Arjun Rampal, Rock On!!
Prateik Babbar, Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na
Sonu Sood, Jodhaa Akbar
Tusshar Kapoor, Golmaal Returns
Vinay Pathak, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

6) Filmfare Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Kangana Ranaut, Fashion
Bipasha Basu, Bachna Ae Haseeno
Kirron Kher, Dostana
Ratna Pathak Shah, Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na
Shahana Goswami, Rock On!!

7) Filmfare Best Music:

A. R. Rahman, for Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na
A. R. Rahman, Ghajini
A. R. Rahman, Jodhaa Akbar
Pritam Chakroborty, Race
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Rock on!!
Vishal-Shekhar, Dostana

Filmfare Best lyrics:
Javed Akhtar, Jashn-E-Bahara (Jodhaa Akbar)
Abbas Tyrewala, Kabhi Kabhi Aditi (Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane)
Gulzar, Tu Meri Dost Hai (Yuvvraaj)
Jaideep Sahni, Haule Haule (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
Javed Akhtar, Socha Hai (Rock On!!)
Prasoon Joshi, Guzarish (Ghajini)

9) Filmfare Best Playback Singer (Male):

Sukhwinder Singh, Haule Haule, (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
Farhan Akhtar, Socha Hai (Rock On!!)
KK, Khuda Jaane, (Bachna Ae Haseeno)
KK, Zara Si Dil Mein, (Jannat)
Rashid Ali, Kabhi Kabhi Aditi, (Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na)
Sonu Niigaam, Inn Lamhon Ke, (Jodhaa Akbar)

10) Filmfare Best Playback Singer (Female) :
Shreya Ghoshal, Teri Ore, (Singh Is Kinng)
The other 2009 Filmfare Best Playback Singer (Female) award nominees were:
Alka Yagnik, Tu Muskura, (Yuvvraaj)
Neha Bhasin, Kuch Khaas Hai, (Fashion)
Shilpa Rao, Khuda Jaane, (Bachna Ae Haseeno)
Shruti Pathak, Mar Jaawan, (Fashion)
Sunidhi Chauhan, Dance Pe Chance, (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)

11) Filmfare Best Story : Abhishek Kapoor, Rock On!!

12) Filmfare Best Screenplay : Yogendra Vinayak Joshi, Upendra Sidhaye, Mumbai Meri Jaan

13) Filmfare Best Dialog : Manu Rishi for Oye Lucky Lucky Oye

14) Filmfare Best Choreography : Longinus Fernandes for Pappu Can’t Dance Saala, Jaane Tu…ya Jaane Na

15) Filmfare Best Editing : Amit Pawar, Mumbai Meri Jaan

16) Filmfare Best Cinematography : Jason West, Rock On!!

17) Filmfare Best Action : Peter Hein, Ghajini

18) Filmfare Best Costumes : Manoshi Nath, Rushi Sharma, Rishi for Oye Lucky Lucky Oye

19) Filmfare Sensational debut (Male) :

Imran Khan, for Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, and Farhan Akhtar, for Rock On!!


20) Filmfare Sensational debut (Female) :Asin, for Ghajini

21) Filmfare Life Time Achievement award: Om Puri and Bhanu Athaiya

22) Special Jury Mention for Outstanding Performance:

Prateik for Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, and Purab Kohli for Rock On!!

23) RD Burman Award for New Music Talent

Benny Dayal for Ghajini, Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Na


The novel thing about the Filmfare is the Hosts. Heart-throbs Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan wore the shoes of Shahrukh and Saif where Konkona Sen (Koko) and Deepika padukone (Deepu) joined them.

I'm very eager to watch the show on 8th March 2009 in Sony Televeision at 8 pm.