Santhosh's Blog (2009-2018)

Introductory Note Hello readers! Here's wishing you all a very happy 2018, and wish you all the very best for the coming year! 2017 was not much of a good year for the blog (or my creative outlets), but here's hoping to be more regular on my own website. Apologies for the delay in putting out this post, because of which I cannot do the usual detailed mini-reviews for each of the entries featured in the post. But still thought of compiling the respective lists. (Because who doesn't want to let go of their good yearly habits, right?) So here you go! Feel free to mention your thoughts and feedback! And Happy New Year once again! Cheers :)

Note: the link to the soundtrack jukebox, and the soundtrack credits are featured at the end of this post. Review The title track Uff Yeh Noor sung by Armaan Malik feels like something different from his usual style of songs, and he nails this one as well. The track has a very peppy and light feel to it, also featuring some interesting instrumental portions towards the second half of it. Sukriti Kakar gets behind the mic for Jise Kehte Pyaar Hai , and does a great job at giving it the finesse and subtlety required, for what is a fresh breezy and sweet composition. The sargam portions are a really nice touch, nicely executed by Sukriti. Amaal Mallik keeps it simple for this one, and it ends up creating a feel-good and happy song. Prakriti Kakar gets an ace of a composition through Hai Zaroori , which is my second-most favorite song of the album. Following the style and feel of songs like Tujhe Bhula Diya from Anjaana Anjaani and Mitra from Band Baaja Baaraat , this on...

Hello one and all! Here's wishing everyone a very Happy New Year, and wishing you lots of happiness, good health, and success this year! Despite posting this a tad later than desired, I did not want to miss out on writing my usual Year In Review for Bollywood post, as it has been a ritual on this blog for the last few years. This post is sort of like my personal Bollywood guide on what I felt to be the best movies of 2016, and the movies to look forward to this year. A quick side note: It has been kind of annoying to read on a few Indian media websites things like "2016 having been a bad year for Hindi cinema" or "2016 not having too many good Hindi movies" - when there have been a good number of well-made movies this year! So here we go, hope you enjoy the following lists, which includes the movies I watched and enjoyed, as well as the movies I couldn't watch but heard good or great things about them. Here we go!

Hello all! As this year comes to an end, here's reviving my blog yet again to write the usual year-end posts; it is indeed a personal "ritual" I do not want to lose, and these posts are usually among the most popular ones on my blog. So why change a winning formula, right? The first one of the year-end posts will be my pick for what I deem to be the best Bollywood songs of the year. And wow, this has been yet another great year for Hindi music generally! Thus it was obviously a rather difficult list to compile, as it is every year - I am indeed expecting some feedback on the lines of "Why did you leave out THIS song?" and the likes. This list is based on my personal choices, but I'm hoping you will enjoy it. I have featured a playlist at the bottom including all these songs mentioned in the list. Here we go!

(The link to the soundtrack jukebox is featured at the end of this post) Review Alizeh features really good vocals from Arijit Singh, Ash King and Shashwat Singh, and an interesting church song-like arrangement. Beyond that it doesn't impress all that much, but it remains a decent melodious listen. Cutie Pie is a goofy song with whacky lyrics, but it is effective. Sung by Nakash Aziz and Pradeep Singh Sran, his voice goes really well the mood of the song. The song having a nice Punjabi flavor to it boasts of an extremely catchy beat. One would think a song which features the line "breakup song" over and over again may be a bit too much, but The Breakup Song actually works as a song. Jonita Gandhi brings it to life with her powerhouse vocals, and does a great job to match the energy of Arijit Singh's voice. The rap by Badshah is also a nice inclusion in this one. Featuring a really nice element of rock with some really good use of guitar, Bul...

(The link to the soundtrack jukebox, along with the soundtrack credits, are featured at the end of this post) Review Pakistani singer Bilal Saeed's Khair Mangdi which was originally composed in 2011 by himself and Dr. Zeus gets re-used for this soundtrack (re-christened Teri Khair Mangdi ). A small sidenote: this track will appeal to the British Asian music lovers - as this was a viral track there. Lovely track, but doesn't score many points in my assessment since it's not an original composition in this soundtrack. Kaala Chashma is a cool and interesting take on the Punjabi dance number by Amar Arshi from the 2000s. As mentioned above, this one would also be well-appreciated by the British Asian listeners, for the same reasons. However it does better, as Badshah's rap portions are very catchy and effective, and Neha Kakkar's inclusion works. Unlike in a lot of other songs with Badshah, this time the rap portion doesn't sound like it was forcefully...

Hello all! Here's the FINAL Bollywood blog post I will be posting for the year. These are my 30 favorite Hindi songs of this year. I must admit, this was a tough ranking to come up with, as there were plenty of great Bollywood tracks this year, so there were some tough choices to make. Moreover, I don't really like the concept of "ranking" tracks - some songs just cannot be compared with each other, as the genres differ. So please see this more as a "list" than a "ranking" - although the Top 5 are probably my five most favorite songs of the year. So here goes, the Top 30 Bollywood Songs of 2015 , with a Youtube playlist at the bottom. ( CLICK ON READ MORE TO CONTINUE READING )

Hello all! As it is almost a "yearly practice" for me on this blog, this post will be a comprehensive review of the year that was for Bollywood. Thankfully, this time I was in Bengaluru till this month, which means I could catch most of the year's biggest blockbusters in the cinema. (Sidenote: I am back in Geneva, as I decided to leave Bangalore. Will post a Lifeblog post on this topic soon.) On the whole, I must admit, 2015 has been a really good year for the Hindi film industry! There have been quite a few great movies, to watch on the big screen. This mega-post will be divided in the following parts: 2015, Year in Review Watched, and liked/loved Not watched, but highly acclaimed Special mentions 2016, the Releases to look forward to Concluding Note So here goes! Hope you enjoy this post! Do leave a comment, if I have left out any movies, or if you agree/disagree with my choices. Click on READ MORE to continue reading

Soundtrack Credits MOVIE: TAMASHA MUSIC: A.R. RAHMAN LYRICS: IRSHAD KAMIL MUSIC LABEL: T-SERIES YEAR: 2015 (The link to the soundtrack of Tamasha is featured at the end of the post) Review Mika is behind the mic for Heer Toh Badi Sad Hai , singing a genre that is different from his dance numbers. Not too fond of this one, very average, despite many listenings. Sung by Sukhwinder Singh, along with Haricharan and Haripriya, Chali Kahani is a very impressive composition, but not a track that is very "enjoyable". Very situational, so it would obviously be enjoyed fully when watched on the big screen. AR Rahman comes up with an instrumental titled Parade De La Bastille which is extremely well done. Lots of interesting elements used and blended in, also featuring the tune from Matargashti (will come back to this track shortly). The album's "better side" starts off with Wat Wat Wat . An infectious and catchy beat, with superb vocals from ...

Yolo is the first Himesh track in this soundtrack (sung by Sreeramachandra). Decent, catchy, but gets monotonous after a point. The English rap, however, is top stuff. You ask for a Himesh-Arijit collaboration, you get Baaton Ko Teri . The Himesh fan in me is super happy! What a soulful song – the kind you can imagine Himesh singing, but Arijit does the job for him. Himesh’s best one in this album is Tu Milade . Take Ankit’s energetic vocals, and Himesh’s powerful tune, and goosebumps are sure to follow! Mere Humsafar is “old wine in a new bottle”. The Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak hit song now has a soulful feel, thanks to Mithoon who nails it (yet again!). Tulsi Kumar does great too. The second-best track of the album is Nachan Farrate . I never really got the “Baby Doll” hype (song was great, but was it worth that much hype?), and “Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan” was very poor. But this one is PERFECTION. The Meet Bros rope in Kanika Kapoor one more time, and deliver their b...

Dear Readers, First and foremost, here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2015! May this be a good one for all of us! For those who have been following my blog for the last few years, I have had this habit of doing a big massive review of the year that has gone by, at the end of the year. More specifically, I tend to do a "Maha-Review" of Bollywood for that year. And since I have been doing this from 2010 onwards (I think?), I guess it's only fair that I should continue to do this, as it is also one of the posts that gather among the most views on this blog. But apologies for this post coming so late. "Better late than never", and all that, I guess? In the "Year in Review" posts for previous years, I used to split the article by putting the movies in three categories. Now I have changed that to only two main categories: Watched and Appreciated (Liked or even Loved) Highly recommended (Not watched, but recommendations based on c...

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Preface And I SAY WHAT A YEAR this has been! Well, okay, to be fair, we still had quite a lot of nonsense this year... but hey, you know we're speaking of Bollywood. With the "Great" comes the "not-so-good" movies! On that note, let's proceed to the Top 10 highest grossers of Bollywood this year (List taken from Wikipedia on 29 December 2013 ) Chennai Express Dhoom 3 (still running at the time of the writing of this post) Krrish 3 Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela Bhaag Milkha Bhaag Grand Masti Race 2 Aashiqui 2 Special 26 Which ones, for you, were deserving to be in this list? You can think about it, and most importantly, keep it for yourself . Ponder for a minute over what just happened. For all the undeserving ones, replace them with some new Hindi flicks you wanted to see there. Got my point? That is what criticism is all about. It is not about giving a movie 4 and half stars for the sake of the box office. Espe...

Hello Readers! Now that I've caught your attention, please continue to read ok? (Hehe) This is one is mainly dedicated to my sweet father, my passionate mother and my awesome sister. And obviously to all those well-wishers all around me. I have been working on these two covers since quite some time. Check it out, and get back to me when you can. Love and regards to all of the ones who mean a lot to me. Let me list them here, by name if possible: - Those who make me smile - Those who make me laugh - Those who have been there for me (for a long time, or for a short period) - The people who bonded with me on a very fun level - Those who made me cry, but made me feel light and gave me a shoulder to cry on - Those who inspire me - Those who support my family - Those who make my parents happy - Those who make fun of my sister in order to make her smile - Those who call me Santa, and who know the importance of such a nickname eventually Well I did say "if possible...

Hello readers! First of all here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2013 ! Hope you all have a brilliant year ahead.. So, for the first blogpost of this year (before I return back to hibernation again), here's giving you my opinion as to what were my personal pick  of the good (and not-so-good) Hindi movies of 2012 . Yet again, this is just my opinion, and I am not here to start any debate as to "which movie was better than the other one", or any such war of words. So let's fly back to 2012, and allow me to justify these choices with mini-reviews for each of them. Note: the following two enumerations are in chronological order, starting from the earliest flick released in 2012, ending with the latest one. The appreciated movies Agneepath - The first hit of the year, and an interesting remake of the classic Amitabh Bachchan revenge saga of the same name. The movie purely belongs to the actors, who give powerful performances making this a cap...