Bollywood and Beyond! Sunday June 15th

If you're in SF, come rock it at my Bollywood and Beyond Bonanza at the Argus Lounge! I'll be playing luscious Bollywood hits from the 60s-80s, and mixing it up with Tropicalia, Italo-disco, German pop, Cambodian Surf-Rock and more! Sample one of Visa's analeptic drink concoctions and enjoy the music...

Jara mudke mila aankhe

The 1982 hit Disco Dancer is easily one of my favorite Bollywood films. It's in that rare category of movies where nearly every musical number amazes and fascinates me. It follows the rise and trials of a disco singer whose stage name is "Jimmy". In this song, "Jara mudke mila aankhe", Jimmy is just getting his start, but he's already earned an enemy, Rita, who is protesting his performance with a cadre of shoe-throwing girlfriends. Unfazed, Jimmy confronts Rita with his seductive, vaguely threatening dance moves. It turns out the throng is easily swayed by Jimmy's ability to lead them in aerobic Dancercise, and he seals the deal with an impressive bit of dancing lying on his back like David Byrne.

Enjoy the clip, and if you're in the Bay Area, come check out my Bollywood night tomorrow at the Argus Lounge!

Bollywood Bonanza returns - Sunday May 18th

If you're in the San Francisco area, come check out my next Bollywood night at the Argus Lounge. I'm mixing it up a bit this time with some Bossa Nova, Italo-disco, Cambodian Surf-pop and more. Come sample one of Visa's amazing and horripilating drink concoctions and enjoy the music...

Chura Liya Hai

So I just had my first "Bollywood Night" where I played some Bollywood music and videos at a local bar. The set went pretty well despite my nervousness, and I connected with one true fan of vintage Bollywood movies, so all told I think it was a success. I'll be doing this again in a few weeks - on May 18th, a little later, from 9-11 PM. Hopefully that'll mean a slightly bigger crowd - it was pretty empty today at 7 PM but picked up from 8 to 9.

Anyway, here's one of my favorite songs, Chura Liya Hai, from the 1973 film Yaadon Ki Baaraat. It features the always lovely Zeenat Aman and lots of very unconvincing mock guitar playing. There's one point about four minutes in where I swear it looks like the guy is about to clock her with the guitar.

It's interesting, with Bollywood songs, to enjoy them divorced from their context in the film - I feel that this is perhaps something that is much more pronounced for a Westerner, who may have much easier access to compilations of Bollywood music than to the actual films. I first heard this song on an excellent compilation called Bollywood Funk, and when I listened to it I never imagined anything quite like this video. I think the image in my mind's eye was much racier - a smoky bar, a scantily clad singer - but perhaps that's the suggestive undercurrent that this movie has to tread around.

Incidentally, this song also has the personal distinction of being the only Bollywood song I've ever attempted in Karaoke form. I'm sure my pronunciation was horrible, but as my audience consisted of middle-aged Santa Cruz bowling alley patrons, I think that was far outweighed by the effect of my sheer joy in performing this song, which I confess was considerable. I hope one day to revisit the potential of Bollywood Karaoke... perhaps in the future I'll have the foresight to document it here.

Oh, and here is a translation of the lyrics:

FEMALE:
You have already stolen my heart
Do not steal glances
Having changed my life
Do not change a bit, sweetheart
Oh, you took my heart, oh my heart
Oh, taking my heart don't humor me
You have already stolen my heart
Do not steal glances
Having changed my life
Do not change a bit, sweetheart

Becoming spring I will come sometime in your world
May this day not pass in just this wish
You are mine, you are mine
Today go making this promise
You have stolen
You have already stolen my heart
Do not steal glances
Having changed my life
Do not change a bit, sweetheart

MALE:
Oh, I will decorate your body's branch
I will give my heart's blood to your lovely red lips
I will decorate your body's branch
I will give my heart's blood to your lovely red lips
What faithfulness is, to this world
One day I will show them madly
You have stolen
You have already stolen my heart
Do not steal glances
Having changed my life
Do not change a bit, sweetheart
Oh, you took my heart, oh my heart
Oh, taking my heart don't humor me
You have already stolen my heart
Do not steal glances

Bollywood music this Sunday

A ridiculously persistent cold and other distractions and general malaise have kept me from posting recently... I promise I'll be posting more videos soon. In the meantime, I wanted to post to let anyone in the San Francisco area know about this event I'll be having at the Argus Lounge this Sunday. Should be fun!

Commercial break - Tilda Basmati

I'm taking a break this week. In the meantime here's a funny commercial for Tilda Basmati. Enjoy.

Ganga Meri Ma (guest post)

This week I'd like to introduce my lovely girlfriend Danielle, for a guest post on the patriotic song "Ganga Meri Ma," from the truly odd 1969 film Tumse Achha Kaun Hai.



Thank you Mr. Gilder, and thank you for inviting me to contribute to your web log. This particular number struck me, even on the first listen, as being a strong candidate to replace India's current national anthem, which, after several minutes of grueling Wikipedia research, I discovered was composed to honor George V of England as the "Dispenser of India's destiny." This number is a little more rollicking and a little less colonial-riffic. That said, it's also just plain catchy. Bollywood numbers from the era covered by this particular blog seem so foreign, so kitschy and absurdist, but after a quick listen it seems as if these melodies are only one enterprising producer away from being re-casted as America's next pop phenom, or at least a backing loop to a rhythmic spoken word song about the perils of the streets and the joys of amassing great fortunes.

But unlike Jay-Z, Shammi Kapoor has a spastic sweetness, sort of Joaquin Phoenix meets Jimmy Kimmel, and his gestures are unrivaled. As he dips his head into the glacial waters of the Ganges, I can't help but think to myself, "Damn that water looks cold," but he just shakes it off, like a stone-cold badass. He throws an apple AT HIMSELF and then CATCHES IT, in ANOTHER PART OF THE COUNTRY. At 3:11 into the clip, he answers the eternal question "Which Vastness?" And then there's a stunning cameo of Ghandi-as-Buddha at 3:20. As a procession of floats roll by, representing the various unique cultures and regions of India aka Hindustan, I again am amazed at Mr. Kapoor's ability to maintain his goofy-cool while dancing through a copious fog of diesel fumes.

The accumulated evidence makes the conclusion inevitable: you cannot fuck with this guy. His mother is the Ganges, and his father is the Himalayas. As a Southern California native, all I can really put up against that is that my mother is the Los Angeles River, and my father is Mt. Wilson. For those who do not know, my geological parents are plainly lame in comparison. The final bit, with its neat rows of uniformed schoolchildren forming a living map of India, made me patriotic for a country I have never even visited. I spent even more grueling minutes researching performances of India's present national anthem, and I firmly believe that homemade floats, clapping schoolchildren, and a spastic pudgy man dancing like a lunatic in a field full of purple saffron crocuses is a tad more appealing than shots of a barren landscape, slow-motion pans of armed forces, and helicopters laden with Ghandi-knows-what.