Living Diagonally In My Parallel World!

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore had composed over 2200 songs. These songs are popularly known as Rabindra Sangeet . Over the years I found that many Bollywood songs had their origins in Rabindra Sangeet. Most of the popular music directors had been immensely inspired and not been able to resist using their favourite Rabindra Sangeet tune in their music. They often took a note here or a strand there and created their own versions. in this blog I have tried to cover some songs created by SD Burman, RD Burman, Rajesh Roshan, Naushad and Bappi Lahiri. SD Burman had great respect for Rabindra Sangeet and though he did not sing any of that he used it many times. In fact, the story is that once he jocularly boasted to his friends that he had even ripped of the national anthem (composed by Rabindranath Tagore) for one of his recent hits! Guess which song? Start humming – Punjab Sindh Gujarat Maratha – and you will end up singing Hum Ne To Jab Kaliyaan … Now was this done intentionally as...

Tumse Milke Aisa Laga The year 1989 was when Parinda was released. RD Burman was in in his worst phase of life. That year his films had average music – Joshilay, Mil Gayee Manzil Mujhe, Dost, Aag Se Khelenge, Parinda and Bahurani. But there were some unforgettable melodies too. Tum Se Milke Aisa Laga and Pyar Ke Mod Pe from Parinda were musically fantastic songs.   Tum Se Milke Aisa Laga has some interesting links. Many musicians all over the world are in love with this tune. Everyone has tried to recreate it with his or her contributions. It is based on Albert Hammond's When I Need You. Hammond had infact based his song on Leonard Cohen’s immensely emotional Famous Blue Raincoat (1971) (hear from 1:20 onwards, check the tune the chorus is singing in the background) https://youtu.be/ohk3DP5fMCg?si=CJtiWnlhSALx_rfk&t=77 Albert Hammond took it forward to present his version of the tune in 1976 with another emotional love song 'When I nee...

My Diary Rahul 2 nd July 2017 So… this is a bit awkward. I have been experiencing some weird things… Things that I cannot share with anyone ‘cos if I did, I’d be branded as a mad man. That’s why I thought of penning down my thoughts in this diary with the name Diary Of A Mad Man! Maybe by reading it sometime in the future, it will help me join all the dots. Else a professionally successful, happily married man in early forties like me would not be experiencing this. For the past few days or rather weeks, I think I have started hearing voices in my ears. This is weird, and initially it freaked me out. It does not happen all the time. I have not been able to put a pattern to it. Sometimes it happens at home when my family is around me, sometimes at the office, once even at the theatre when I was watching a nonsense movie like Simba! Funny? No. I think this is something else and its serious. I can hear voices that speak disparagingly about me. I thought of visiting a doctor...

Aapke Kamre Mein Koi Rehta Hai (1972) I was in a nostalgic mood and thanks to YouTube, I found Sujata (1960). Imagine the most pleasant surprise I got when the titles started rolling. The title song had Asha Bhosle humming and singing an Aalap set to the tune of Aap Ke Kamre Mein Koi Rehta Hai ! Listen at 10 seconds into the song. https://youtu.be/vxFh1q-Jj28?t=10 Now, Sujata has SD Burman as the music director and Jaidev as his assistant. RD Burman is nowhere mentioned in the credits. But since he used this tune in Yaadon ki Baarat , means that he was there somewhere when the title music was being created. Bandha Dwarer Andhakare - a super melodious duet from Rajkumari (1970). The infectious tune took control of me and Sujata took a back seat as I searched for Rajkumari. This song shares the same tune. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j84sbnfm4ko Searching for Rajkumari I also discovered that the tune was also used in the title credits of Rajkumari from 1:01 https:/...

The Innocent Have To Suffer! July is a wet month, but today not only was it wet, it was unusually cold as well. I was not drenched but there was a heaviness in the air that made me feel as if I had just walked out of a shower. It was about half past nine in the evening when I wiped my shoes at the entrance of the pub and entered inside. It was dimly lit, overflowing with people and noisy. It was a surprise that so many people had gathered there despite all the negative news flowing in the media. I glanced around the room and found the person I wanted. He was sitting at his usual place on one of those tall chairs at the counter. He always used to sit somewhere near the corner. I moved across the room and settled on a tall stool next to him on his left. He was in his late forties and medium height. The media was full of news about this psychotic killer who was killing women and making away with their heads. With five headless corpses found in as many months, the public at lar...