| |
MUSIC:
MUSINGS
Women's
Songs
As indi-pop reaches its saturation point, Mann Ke Manjeere comes
as a fresh mutation. "It is a musical journey denoting women's dreams
and aspirations for the new century," says producer Mallika Dutt,
founder of the NGO Breakthrough which has funded this album. The
10 songs come in different flavours: from the raw strength of a tribal
Rukmabai to the impassioned articulation of an urbane Shubha Mudgal.
 |
| Mann
Ke Manjeere; Sony Music; Rs75 |
Rukmabai,
who is polio-stricken, is the first woman from the Manganiyar community
to perform in public. With her soaring voice, she has sung the ubiquitous
maand Kesariya baalam. It's a woman's plea to her warrior lover/husband
to return safely from war. The other folk voice is that of Diwaliben,
a Bhil from Junagadh, Gujarat. Her clear, ringing tones bring to life
another famous song, Aiva aiva, from the repertoire of the Kharwa
fishing community. Again it describes a woman's wait for her husband to
return, this time from the sea. The eternal viraha (waiting) of the Indian
woman, it would seem, is to last well into the next century.
The other
singers include Mudgal, Antara Chowdhury and Mahalaxmi Iyer
of E-ajnabi from Dil Se fame. Shantanu Moitra's
music successfully blends Indian folk and western sound. "I want
to elevate myself to world music," says Moitra. Ahem! Although Dutt
wants to spread the message of the New-Age woman through popular music,
the question remains: will this album reach the downtrodden woman in the
desert or will it remain an urban drawing-room experience?
-S.
Sahaya Ranjit
|
Offbeat
|
| Tips
Industries is going public. In a blaze of publicity the company, which
manufactures and markets blank cassettes, pre-recorded cassettes and
cds, is offering 30 lakh shares of Rs 10 each. A majority of these
(27 lakh shares) are to be offered through what is known in stockmarket
jargon as the bookbuilding route. Simply put, it means that this Initial
Public Offering (IPO) will be open to bidding by financial institutions
and companies through a securities management firm. However, one hopes
tips fares better than other media and entertainment companies which
went public but were unable to sustain their IPO prices, leading to
huge capital erosion. |
Promising
Voice
Lara Fabian - Lara Fabian
(Sony; Rs 125)
It isn't often that you can pick an album and have the luxury of saying:
"This voice has a future." For Lara Fabian you'd say more than
that: she has a present. With this eponymous album-her first in English-this
Italian-Belgian singer proves herself to be a diva-in-the-making. So she
belts out I will love again with all the gusto and pizzazz of a Cher (it's
no coincidence, perhaps, that the song has been produced by Brian Rawling,
the same man
who worked with Cher on last year's superhit single Believe); powers her
way through Adagio with a voice that reminds you of seasoned romantic
Celine Dion's range; then moves to the soft and lilting Yeliel, all with
consummate ease. As for the lyrics, sample this: "I don't know where
to find you/I don't know how to reach you/I hear your voice in the wind/I
feel you under my skin/Within my heart and my soul/I wait for you/Adagio".
Not intellectual gems, but not sweet nothings either.
-Anna
M.M. Vetticad
Screen
n Surf
 |
| Pairing-up
in Piya Basanti |
Classical
types, it seems, are all scurrying to hitch a ride on some pop-wagon or
the other. In the just-released video for the album Piya Basanti (Sony),
sarangi maestro Ustad Sultan Khan pairs up with Chitra to
foray into the world of music-videos.
And mind you, here his vocals take precedence over his many-hued instrument.
Shot around Kotgarh in Shimla district, it features a girl's search for
her lover. When she does find him, trouble strikes. He is wanted by the
police. The story continues in two subsequent videos. Melody combines
with melodrama as music video director Pradeep Sarkar crafts his product
as superbly as ever.
-S.
Sahaya Ranjit
Top
|
|
Is
the market right in backing cartelisation by cement companies, asks India
Today Associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar in Au ContrAiyar 