Bollywood Fresh Vol. 2, (2005)

Now, let’s be honest here – reviewing a songs DVD is not going to be easy. There’s no plot to pick apart, no characterization to worry about; really, there’s little thinking involved at all. They’re simply compilations of music videos or film songs, so I’ve broken it down into categories for review: Highlights, Un-Highlights, and Honorable Mention for Dumb English Lyrics. So let’s move on to our first songs DVD, shall we?

(As an aside – all the songs DVDs I’m reviewing this week are released by Eros Entertainment and do have subtitles, unless otherwise stated.)

Bollywood Fresh Vol. 2

I’m not quite sure how I missed Vol. 1. This songs DVD contains songs from more recent releases. All kinds of songs are included – dance songs, sad songs, love songs, etc. – from a variety of movies with a variety of stars.

Highlights:

“Tinka tinka” from Karam
Okay, so I’ll grant that the picturization is slightly strange – Priyanka in red singing on a dais in front of a crowd, supported by two background dancers dressed as… butterflies? Fairies? I’m not sure. But the tune is haunting and the cinematography is intriguing. Now I’m wondering if Karam is a good movie to see; the other songs (“Tera Hi Karam” and “Le Jaa”), although incorporating my fake-pretend boyfriend John Abraham looking particularly emo, have some serious WTF elements – cross-dressers snorting cocaine and playing with guns, violence against women, electrical torture, wrist-slitting, and KISS makeup.

All the songs from Socha Na Tha
This movie stars no one I’ve seen, although the hero is Abhay Deol, Esha’s cousin and Dharmendra and Hema Malini’s nephew. All of the songs are cute and energetic, and I’m particularly intrigued by the beginning of “Yaara Rub,” which starts “It was a match that everyone approved of… still, they eloped.” Sounds interesting, at least.

“Chunri re Chunri” from Insan
Okay, so the titular chunri from this song is absolutely seizure-inducing (think kindergarten finger-painting in neon blues, purples, and yellows), but I love this song because of its silly choreography. Akshay Kumar comes across as very old-school Shammi Kapoor, wearing a goofy grin throughout, and it seems even more time-warpy when Esha looks just like her mother. Not going to lie, I watched this one twice just now to write this little blurb.

The songs from Main Hoon Na
If you don’t like these songs, I don’t know if we can be friends.

The songs from Shabd
I like these songs – they strike an interesting contrast between the colorful world shared by Aiswarya Rai and Zayed Khan and the dark, isolated world of Sanjay Dutt. The songs are appealing, and some of them incorporate this neat special effect of letters falling thingy. And Zayed looks adorable. But I’ve been discouraged from watching this movie, I guess it’s the slowest story ever. “Sholon Si” for its salsa dance vibe and the throaty way the male singer sings.

“Piya Bawri” from Deewaar
This song makes me laugh and laugh and laugh because it seems so ridiculous and yet so cute. Petite Amrita Rao does her best to get into Akshaye Khanna’s pants, and it amuses me to no end to see her pin him on the stairs, against the wall, etc. – she’s so little and he’s so frightened! But he does a really good job holding out (he must have Beth on his mind) until it starts to rain. Oh, rain – it’s gotta ruin everything. It’s clear the heroine has one thing on her mind, but the song ultimately comes across as more silly than sexy.

“Pyar Mein Sau Uljhanein” from Kyun! Ho Gaya Na
So this movie wasn’t… well, it wasn’t that great, but I love this song. It sounds and kind of looks like it belongs in an old Hollywood musical, and it’s got this great kind of energy. I wonder why, anytime I go to the bar, the choreography doesn’t turn out this good.

Un-highlights:

The songs from Kisna
This movie could have been so good, but it was so not. The songs are beautiful, but their picturizations are marred by poor direction, lackluster cinematography, Vivek Oberoi badly pretending to play a flute, and sometimes random images juxtaposed against one another (Horses? What?).

The songs from Bewafaa
Not only does this movie feature Akshay Kumar in my least favorite avatar (that of aspiring celebrity), but the movies seem like they were written in the wrong decade. I can’t help but think these songs are suffering from serious eighties-itis, and the picturizations reflect that too. The only actor who seems completely comfortable with this is Anil Kapoor, perhaps because he was actually making movies in the eighties. Kehta Hai Kabutar

“Raatein Badi Hain” from Asambhav
Please don’t watch this song if you’re epileptic, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. The split-screens, the cuts between Naseeruddin Shah and Priyanka Chopra, the unremitting use of animal print in interior decorating - it’s crazy. On a positive note, it does have Arjun Rampal. Wet. No shirt. Plus fire.

Honorable Mentions for Dumb English Lyrics

“Hamnasheen” from Dobara. Example: "Moment to moment, let's live this moment" and "Life is once, only once, time and tide wait for none."

“Rain Rain Rain” from Insan. For starters, they’re indoors.

“Teri Kurti Sexy Lagti Hai” from Vaada. A tamer version of “I’m Too Sexy for My Kurti,” I suppose. While Arjun Rampal seems fixated on Amisha Patel’s clothes, they are the most un-sexy that I have ever seen. One thing I like that its insult-joke comedy appeal – “Your face is sexy.” “Oh yeah? Well, your mom is sexy.”