One of them is the new Ali Zafar album Jhoom. I promised myself I would keep an eye on the boy, and yet somehow the album fell off my radar. But I am so happy I was reminded of it, and to make up for my tardiness, I have been listening to it non-stop since I got it.
And I swear it's not just this video that makes me happy (ok, it is a pretty darn sexy video, so it definitely helped)! But beyond the video I was swept off my feet by the silent strength of the slow songs and the understated joy of the more bouncy ones.
If I had to associate one word with each song, it would go like this:
Jhoom - peace
Tu Janay Na - teenage love
Jab Se Dekha Tujhko - cherry blossoms. By the way this is one of my favourites, and I suspect it's not because it's the greatest song of the album (because it's not) but because I can actually understand the lyrics (for the most part). I have a special relationship with the songs that don't require hours of looking up translations, so, good or bad, there are a few I love just for giving me this satisfaction. What can I say, it's tough listening to music when you don't know the language. It makes for a completely different type of listening.
Jee Dhoondta Hai - haunting. I swear I woke up with this song ringing in my head more than once. It's so beautiful!
Koi Umeed - longing
Jaan-e-Mann - photography. Don't laugh, it's probably the title, or the piano, but I can see this track rocking in a Bollywood movie with a picturization in sepia or something old and a tad blurry...
Nahin Ray Nahin - flight
Yar Dhadhi Ishq - home. It sounds a little Turkish, a little folk, very Eastern. I want to dance to it!
Dastaan-e-Ishq - summer sunrise. My other favourite.
And this one not because I get it, because truly, I don't understand a word outside the title and a few verses about halfway through. Really guys, Hindi is difficult enough, when you throw Punjabi at me too... it's just not fair! But this song is so amazing that I don't even need to know what it's about (well, not that I wouldn't want to, don't get me wrong, so any help is appreciated).
Allah Hu - silence. I know, it's odd for a song to evoke silence, but somehow this one does.
I deleted the RnB remix of Jhoom as soon as I listened to it, it just doesn't belong on this album in my opinion, but I very much appreciate the dhol version of Dastaan-e-Ishq. There is no such thing as spoiling a song by adding a bit of drums.
Yes, Jhoom makes me happy in a very serene way. Especially since I never saw this coming listening to Ali's previous hits. A lovely surprise!
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And because everything has to be balanced for me, the other thing that makes me smile these days, and this one in a very exuberant way, is Allu Arjun's wedding. Which coincidentally is taking place as we speak (give or take a few hours). But seeing all the pre-wedding functions practically live on youtube and in pictures, and knowing that the main event is broadcast live on TV gives me such a kick. It's like being there!
Lots of sparkle, some incredible jewellery, some fabulous traditional outfits for both the bride and the groom for every one of the events in the past few days, my favourite so far for Arjun being the midnight blue one from the Sangeet. Unfortunately, none of the 672 photographers present had the common sense to take a picture of it, so it can only be seen in video form. Not that I mind very much...
And after all the glamour and glitz, and after all the talk about it being an arranged marriage, imagine my surprise when I find this picture of the soon to be happy couple lying around on the Internet.
Ah, so cute! Wishing them both all the best!
Yes, the strangest things make me smile these days. And to show my appreciation for both people making me smile today, I end this by doing that gesture where you bless someone by catching their face in your hands and then hanging it by your own ears. Er... yes, this is probably the most ridiculous way to describe it, but I'm sure most people can figure out what I'm talking about... I hope... well, I'm doing it anyway! In my culture I'd be symbolically spitting them to protect them from the evil eye, so trust me, this is better!
13 comments:
just now finished watching the marriage live on tv.The set for the marriage called "mandapam" is humongous n i think it may be the biggest n costliest mandapam ever.the one erected for chiru's elder daughter marriage is talked to be a huge one,but this one is atleast 3 times larger than that one.i think this may be the first time a marriage is telecasted live in its entirety on tv in india.also,the time for the telecast can be assumed to be bold bcoz,there's cricket world cup going on in india(cricket is a religion in india) n that too on the day of an indian match.the marriage ceremony is quite long(it's usual) n boring in parts.but that's an indian marriage for u.also,there has been large crowd on the mandapam blocking us to view the couple.in spite of all these,hope their marriage life rocks.
Oh wow, thank you so much for the update kekamohan!!! :D How exciting that you were watching it. I can't wait for the pictures to surface online, and probably youtube clips. This is so cool. :)
And so funny, I never even knew about the cricket world cup, but as far as I'm concerned not even the FIFA World Cup would be more exciting than this to watch ;)
Thanks for coming by to share! :)
Even Canada cricket team is participating in world cup. We expect you to know everything about India (inluding cricket) :-) . Atleast pretend that you know about it. :-) :-)
I saw your post on Jhoom when I am listening to some of my favorite Hindi slow songs.
couple of them here. (you may already knew them)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XjlrxHfVsA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Fwl1hI_3Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvAPcNPXVDQ
Tolly
I was a total geek, and watched the ceremonies on youtube this morning. As @kekamohan noted, it was pretty slow and boring, so you're probably better off waiting for an edited version to get posted.
That last picture is like the cutest thing ever.
@ Tolly: but of course I know the most important things about cricket! I know to cheer for India when they play against England, and I know who Sachin Tendulkar is! :D
I have to watch those songs you posted there, I didn't know any of them (how sad: I know more about cricket than about Hindi songs :P). Thank you for sharing and nice to see you around!! :-*
@ Liz: ahem... yes... I won't lie, I also watched a big part of it online. But... I lost my patience and fast forwarded through quite a bit. Props to you for watching the whole thing. That half hour wedding montage in Varudu seems positively rushed in comparison :D
Bunny and Sneha did look adorable though! :)
That photo of Bunny & Sneha was from a pre wedding photoshoot by Joseph Radhik:
http://www.itsatoz.com/2011/03/bunny-sneha-photoshoot-by-joseph-radhik.html
You know, the first time i heard jhoom, my reaction was "meh! whatever!", but it has somehow sneaked into my brain ever since and lodged itself there like a musical itch that i can't seem to shake off!I'm forever singing it inside my head! But my favourite of the lot is Dastaan e Ishq... isnt the flute-violin bit in the middle just heavenly? And i totally dig Ali Zafar's intense furrowed-eyebrows look! :)
PS: Have you checked out his earlier (whackier) music videos yet? Please do, I love them!
Hey Jyothi, I did, I did watch the whacky stuff! :) Well, a lot of it anyway. My conclusion was that he really wants to be a ganster and that he should star in the next Tashan :) Oh, and the other conclusion was: gosh he's pretty! :)
But the older stuff looks like high school photos compared to the more mature sound and look of Jhoom, hai na? And you're so right about Dastaan-e-Ishq: the whole song is heavenly! I love it beyond superlatives! :)
So glad it's getting love from you too! :)
@ Anonymous - I can't see your link :( But I managed to dig up the artist's website :D I can't wait for the whole shoot to be up there. Though I have a feeling that pic will remain a favourite, even if it was a deliberate "pose" :)
I should say, FML! I posted a long reply and forgot to copy the comment. With an error, i lost it all. Rookie mistake. Anyhooos
Well, there were signs from Ali Zafar from the past two three years that he is going to the "mystic-music" route. It started off with Season 1 of Coke Studio where he collaborated with Tufail on Allah Hu (which is also on the album). In the next season of Coke Studio he took on Dastaan-e-Ishq (and Yaar Dhadee and Nahin Re Nahin). Dastan-e-Ishq's Coke Studio version is on my playlist ever since! Its amazing, and it holds, 2 years after he performed it..
(Yaar Dhadee is one the most famous folk songs in the Saraiki language, in Pakistan. Ali roughly translated the song into Punjabi, and the song features of my fav musician on the banjo.. thats another story)..
I appreciate the fact that he has done something different, but I really wish he had some more fun filled songs as well, because Pakistani pop music tend to me more serious, and less Sheila-Ki-Jawani-usque.
I did write something last year, before Tere Bin Laden came along.
http://dishoomdishoom.wordpress.com/2010/06/19/so-who-is-this-ali-zafar-guy/
Oh noo! I'm so sorry for your lost post, dishoom! It never comes off quite the same the second time around, does it? :( But still, very enthused that you took the time to rewrite it :)
I read your post, I have to comment on that later (seriously, what's with all the haters?) :) And hey, he did pretty good with TBL, no? I love that movie so much it's embarrassing :D
You know, I read a few reviews of Jhoom and everyone seemed to just brush off the Coke Studio tracks, which I could not understand for the life of me. Is it because they're not original compositions? Or because they're not technically new, people have heard them before? I don't know, but because I'm hearing them for the first time on this album, they pretty much rock my world. That's my take and I'm sticking to it. :) But it's nice to know little details about where they come from, so thank you for that! I will try to dig up some originals, just out of curiosity, I saw one posted on your blog too.
Oh, and I see your point about Pakistani pop music, but because I don't listen to a lot of it I can't agree or disagree. I get Sheila ki Jawanis galore from Bollywood & Tollywood, you know, so I don't miss them on an Ali Zafar album. Even though, to your point, there is something to be said about how much fun his first two albums were (even if you were a hater :P). But fun or serious, I do know that I'll be all over his next album, whatever it ends up being :) Love the guy!
Ok, time to stop ranting. Thank you for the visit, dishoomdishoom! And for the link! :)
Hey!! I haven't heard Jhoom yet :( But now I have to! As for Arjun's wedding - totally understand girl!!! I'm a die hard cricket fanatic and yet cdnt help but switch to his wedding coverage everytime there was a break in the match much to my husband's disgust...lol!!! :D and whoaaa!!! that totally cool pic of him and sneha??? love the chemistry!!!!
LOL Swati, I can so picture the scene with you and your husband fighting for the remote and him shaking his head in disapproval at your wedding watching. Haha!! That gave me a good laugh when I envisioned it :)
I love that pic to pieces too (it could be totally staged for that photshoot, but I don't care). And I liked their chemistry in other little moments during the wedding too. I hope to see more of that in the future :)
And on to more important things: you HAVE to listen to Jhoom!!! :) It's great music for cooking: the title track would make you spin that spoon in the pan without even realizing you're doing it :) I keep catching myself spinning my head whenever the chorus starts :P
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