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Balle Balle! Amritsar to L.A.
By Joginder Tuteja, Sept 27th, 2004 - 1030 hrs IST
There were crossover films and there will be crossover films. But one crossover film that has literally 'crossed' over boundaries in the realms of commercial domain, stars the most admired beauty in Bollywood and has been in news for months before it actually came on floors is 'Bride and Prejudice' a.k.a. ' Balle Balle Amritsar to L.A. ' (BBALA) in Hindi. A film by Gurinder Chadha ( Bend It Like Becham ), it is a Kintop Pictures presentation that has an impressive starcast of Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Naveen Andrews & Indira Varma (both of Kamasutra fame), Anupam Kher, Namrata Shirodkar, Sonali Kulkarni and Meghnaa Kothari. With music by Anu Malik, lyrics by Javed Akhtar and Ranjit Barot in charge of the music arrangements, BBALA is the first ever crossover movie to have full blown Bollywood music setup.
Anu Malik catches the pulse of Punjabi wedding flavor wonderfully in ' Balle Balle ', a holds-no-bar Punjabi track sung with aplomb by Sonu Nigam and Gayatri Iyer. Special mention to the chorus track that takes you directly to the wedding arena and you don't get a feeling of hearing something 'filmi '! A mix of folk and traditional, lyrics by Chaman Lal Chaman create a celebration scene that you just can't resist joining in.
Javed Akhtar's lyrics are a key point in Anu Malik's romantic melody ' Tumse Kahen Ya, Hum Na Kahen '. A soothing love song, it has ever-youthful vocals of Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik who maintain a mushy feel throughout. A western classical touch is given to this number towards the end that adds to its classy touch. Alka Yagnik makes a solo appearance in the sad version while Craig Pruess does the instrumental .
All the four sisters in the movie come together for the fun number ' No Life Without Wife ', where they are discussing about what they want in their prospective husbands, what are their likes and their dislikes. A jazzy number, it is sung amazingly well by Gayatri Iyer, Sowmya Rao and Nisha Mascarenhas. A number that fits well into the situation, it should look good on screen.
Another groovy number is ' Payal Bajaake ' by Gayatri Iyer (again!). The strength of this number, written by Paul Mayeda Berges and Dev Kohli, are it's beats and the seductive appeal that should be popular amongst the teenagers once it arrives on the screen.
Shaadi-byaah number makes an appearance again with ' Lo Shaadi Aayi ' that takes various twists and turns ranging from exotic vocals to 'bhangra beats' to the chants of ' balle balle ' to Anu Malik's 'pundit' act. Everyone ranging from Kunal Ganjawala, Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan and Gayatri Iyer play their parts well and the result is a nice lively ' dhoom-dhadaka ' number that doesn't make you feel bored for a moment.
' Dola Dola ' is a 'garba' track written by Anu Malik that may not be mistaken for ' Dola Re Dola Re ' from Devdas, in spite of Ash featuring in both the tracks. 'Gayatri Iyer' shows her versatility once again in this solo track by her that should be an instant hit in Gujrat-Maharashtra belt due to its festive feel.
BBALA is a quality product that will have cross over appeal and should be picked up by both the masses and the classes. The only factor that may go against is the relatively little gap between the promos on the air and the release of the movie due to which the songs may not reach the peak of their popularity (as was the case with Fida recently). On the plus side; lively music, presence of Aishwarya Rai, aggressive publicity and a catchy title; should help the album reach out to the music lovers and hence be popular.
Rating: ***
Balle Balle! Amritsar to L.A.
By Joginder Tuteja, Sept 27th, 2004 - 1030 hrs IST
There were crossover films and there will be crossover films. But one crossover film that has literally 'crossed' over boundaries in the realms of commercial domain, stars the most admired beauty in Bollywood and has been in news for months before it actually came on floors is 'Bride and Prejudice' a.k.a. ' Balle Balle Amritsar to L.A. ' (BBALA) in Hindi. A film by Gurinder Chadha ( Bend It Like Becham ), it is a Kintop Pictures presentation that has an impressive starcast of Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Naveen Andrews & Indira Varma (both of Kamasutra fame), Anupam Kher, Namrata Shirodkar, Sonali Kulkarni and Meghnaa Kothari. With music by Anu Malik, lyrics by Javed Akhtar and Ranjit Barot in charge of the music arrangements, BBALA is the first ever crossover movie to have full blown Bollywood music setup.
Anu Malik catches the pulse of Punjabi wedding flavor wonderfully in ' Balle Balle ', a holds-no-bar Punjabi track sung with aplomb by Sonu Nigam and Gayatri Iyer. Special mention to the chorus track that takes you directly to the wedding arena and you don't get a feeling of hearing something 'filmi '! A mix of folk and traditional, lyrics by Chaman Lal Chaman create a celebration scene that you just can't resist joining in.
Javed Akhtar's lyrics are a key point in Anu Malik's romantic melody ' Tumse Kahen Ya, Hum Na Kahen '. A soothing love song, it has ever-youthful vocals of Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik who maintain a mushy feel throughout. A western classical touch is given to this number towards the end that adds to its classy touch. Alka Yagnik makes a solo appearance in the sad version while Craig Pruess does the instrumental .
All the four sisters in the movie come together for the fun number ' No Life Without Wife ', where they are discussing about what they want in their prospective husbands, what are their likes and their dislikes. A jazzy number, it is sung amazingly well by Gayatri Iyer, Sowmya Rao and Nisha Mascarenhas. A number that fits well into the situation, it should look good on screen.
Another groovy number is ' Payal Bajaake ' by Gayatri Iyer (again!). The strength of this number, written by Paul Mayeda Berges and Dev Kohli, are it's beats and the seductive appeal that should be popular amongst the teenagers once it arrives on the screen.
Shaadi-byaah number makes an appearance again with ' Lo Shaadi Aayi ' that takes various twists and turns ranging from exotic vocals to 'bhangra beats' to the chants of ' balle balle ' to Anu Malik's 'pundit' act. Everyone ranging from Kunal Ganjawala, Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan and Gayatri Iyer play their parts well and the result is a nice lively ' dhoom-dhadaka ' number that doesn't make you feel bored for a moment.
' Dola Dola ' is a 'garba' track written by Anu Malik that may not be mistaken for ' Dola Re Dola Re ' from Devdas, in spite of Ash featuring in both the tracks. 'Gayatri Iyer' shows her versatility once again in this solo track by her that should be an instant hit in Gujrat-Maharashtra belt due to its festive feel.
BBALA is a quality product that will have cross over appeal and should be picked up by both the masses and the classes. The only factor that may go against is the relatively little gap between the promos on the air and the release of the movie due to which the songs may not reach the peak of their popularity (as was the case with Fida recently). On the plus side; lively music, presence of Aishwarya Rai, aggressive publicity and a catchy title; should help the album reach out to the music lovers and hence be popular.
Rating: ***
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