Sunday, September 29, 2013

Aaj bus Old Monk rum hai...

























A Keyrun Rao original

Neendon mein ab khwaab kam hai
Meri ye aankhein phir aaj nam hai
Nasha chadh gaya tere pyaar ka ab
Jaane mujhe kis baat ka gham hai

Ye saali aadat jaane kab chhootegi
Gehri neend ye meri kab tootegi?
Tere saath ki shayad ab lat lag gayi
Jaane tu bhi mujhse kab roothegi?

Ek jaam tere naam ka maine piya
Tere ishq mein kuchh aur din jiya
Mere dil ki daulat mujhko lauta kar
Mujhpe ye mehsaan jaane kyon kiya

Zindagi ka ek gehra kash lagaaya
Tumne mujhe phir se jeena sikhaaya
Aise na jaa mujhe chhod ke tanha
Mera aks bhi toh tune mujhe dikhaaya

Aaj bus Old Monk rum hai saath mere
Tu ab na jaane kahaan kho gayi hai
Nasha toh hai tere pyaar ka mujh par
Lagta hai tu kisi aur ki hi ho gayi hai

Phir mil ja chaahe kisi khwaab mein hi
Ya mere dhundhle koi saaye mein hi
Bas duur na ja tu ab mujhe chhod ke
Rooh bhi tera hai ab mujh mein kahin
 
  

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Dil ka ek kona raushan nahin hota...

A Keyrun Rao original,  just for Rani...














Jo tum na hoti, toh main kya hota
Bina tere main na jaane kya hota
Muskaana toh bada aasaan kaam hai
Andhere mein khoon ke aansoo rota

Tere bina yeh kuchh bhi na hota
Dil ka ek kona raushan nahin hota

Rota hua dekha hai tumne mujhe
Meri khushi tumne mujhe lautayi hai
Banjar si meri is veeraan duniya mein
Tum ne itni saari khush-haali laayi hai

Tere bina yeh kuchh bhi na hota
Dil ka ek kona raushan nahin hota

Tanha rehna toh seekh gaya tha par
Mujhe kuchh achcha nahin lagta tha
Teri nazar se maine dekha khud ko
Ganda mazaak sab kuchh lagta tha

Tere bina yeh kuchh bhi na hota
Dil ka ek kona raushan nahin hota

Ab mujhe bas teri hi ek talab hai
Aaj main yahaan hoon tanha-akela
Ghut raha hoon teri yaadon mein
Tu na jaane kahaan aur kidhar hai
Tere bina yeh kuchh bhi na hota
Dil ka ek kona raushan nahin hota

Bas ek tera intezaar hai mujhko har pal
Phir tujhko chhoo loon mujhe ye aas hai
Aaj toh dariya bhi nigal jaaoonga main
Teri mujhko kyon aaj itni badi pyaas hai 

Tere bina yeh kuchh bhi na hota
Dil ka ek kona raushan nahin hota...


Friday, September 20, 2013

The Lunchbox: A brilliant ode to a city, its citizens & cinema above all!

















First things first: I am feeling damn hungry. It was about 1:00am when I left Juhu PVR after watching Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox. I was wondering if I could buy 'bhurji pav' somewhere...

*Struggling writer's sob story alert*

Then it struck me that I have just about enough money to last me for the next few days before some more money comes on the table. I picked up half a dozen pav at the Juhu Circle bus depot. Have some eggs at home, so the sudden indulgent thought of having 'bhurji pav' at Andheri station was curbed.

*Sob story over*

Throughout the way back home, I just kept thinking about Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur & Nawazuddin Siddiqui. And of course, Ritesh Batra, The 'Phata Poster Nikla Director' this weekend!

As usual, this isn't a review; just some thoughts that came up in my mind while I was watching The Lunchbox, and some of those that are cropping up, as I sat down to write this.

I LOVE BOMBAY... Just like the gazzillion others who have found themselves in this city. I am sure everybody who has been touched by this city has his or her own unique story to share about this magical city of dreams. The way I feel about The Lunchbox is somewhat similar to the way I felt after watching my namesake's - Dhobi Ghat: The Mumbai Diaries. Ritesh Batra's love for Bombay is perhaps just as pure & unique (if not more), as Kiran Rao and yours truly as well. Having been in this city for all these years, I have encountered so many people from other cities proclaiming their undying love for Bombay. Some from UP-Bihar, a few from MP, a handful from Delhi and Chennai etc.

If I recollect properly, I have inherited my love for Bombay from my dad. He left this city midway through his career with so much hate, that the love he had for it found its way into my heart. My growing up years were spent in a chawl in Tilak Nagar (Chembur) & legend has it that the only person who could make smile when I started bawling was none other than - Chhota Rajan (who just happened to be our next door neighbour & hadn't hit Big Ticket back then). There's something about Bombay that has seeped so deep down in my soul, I can somehow (mostly accurately) tell if your love for this city is for real, or you are just faking it. At this point I feel I am giving away way too much info that I have been saving for my script, so I will stop this here. Apologies.












It was midway through The Lunchbox, and I was standing out smoking with my friend, waiting for the interval to end. I was gobsmacked and just couldn't believe that something like this could be ever written on paper. My friend on the other hand insisted that everything was written. I asked her, how can  you write how should Irrfan / Nawaz / Nimrat react to a certain cue? And what about the unsaid words,  the unwritten lines... She interrupted, saying, "Everything was written - all that was said, unsaid, written or unwritten. To save face, all I could tell her that it was a 'back-handed compliment'. She grinned, knowing very well that she caught me off guard. Girls I tell you... grrrr

It has been over an hour now since I watched The Lunchbox and I still can't get around to believe that the damn thing was scripted. HOW THE F*%$? I would like to believe that some lucky guy with a high-end spy cam just managed to be there, where things were happening & Lord CineIndra, perhaps pissed by the 100cr blockbusters decided to show us mortals how the hell it is all done. No perversion, no cheap gimmickry, no flying Scorpios or dancing lungis. May be Mr Batra was smoking something interesting that arrived from the hills? He doesn't look like one of those tokers that I have had the misfortune of meeting in the recent past. I think Mr Batra is hopelessly in love with Bombay. Way more than me or my namesake, Kiran Rao.

Don't even get me started about the casting of The Lunchbox. It is the stuff indie wet-dreams are made of. Irrfan keeps getting better, and same is the case with Nawazuddin, but Nimrat took the film to some other level of awesomeness. One would sell a kidney or other vital organ just to see Irrfan & Nawaz in a frame, but who knew I would sell my (sell-out) scripts outside Chai Coffi (Versova) for 100 bucks, just so that I can cast her in ONE film that I make, before I say "Pack up" once & for all. Thanks for Nimrat, Mr Batra!

One of the gazzabazzamillizillion portions that stood out in the film was a sequence when they show a 'dabbawala' being shot while he is going about doing his Harvard-approved-US President-certified daily job. I once got into a scuffle in a local train, and years later wanted to shoot that scene for a short film that I was trying to make. I tried a lot, but then eventually gave up. I thought there is NOBODY who can shoot in a crowded train coming to a halt at a station bustling with people. To accomplish that task, either you should be GOD ALMIGHTY himself, or your last name should be Thackeray, or you should be the love-child of RGV and Anurag Kashyap. If none of those, then I guess you HAVE to be Ritesh Batra at the very effing least.

There are many moments in The Lunchbox... so many of them, that you will feel like revisiting the film for, every now and then. Just the way you feel for a dear old friend who always has interesting stories to tell. There are few exchanged glances, some moments of solitude, some moments of catharsis and perhaps the entire spectrum of magical moments that make cinema what it is for us cinema lovers. I am not talking about the lungi dancers, shirtless super-cop lovers and their ilk. I am talking about those of us, who love cinema in its purest form, the way Gods would have perhaps scripted, shot & edited.

Before I call it a day, I leave you with this pic of my past mid-night snack. Jalo salon! :D








 
  

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Rishton ki sale dekhi?

















A Keyrun Rao original

Mujhse mooh mod kar chali gayi
Itna halka hi tha kya apne darmiyaan
Jaane main kyon itna gehra utar gaya
Teri muskaan mein reh gayi meri jaan

Bas chal raha tha apni raah par akela
Rishton ki sale lagi thi wahin kahin
Sab sasta bik raha tha us jagah par
Pairon taley meri phisal gayi zameen

Paak dil toh kisi ko chahiye hi nahin
Kahaan jaaoon ab sochne laga hoon main
Discount ke naam par dhokhe hi hain
Jaane ye baat kyon na samajh paaya main

Aao sab mil kar sale lagaate hain yahaan
Imaan toh shaayad bik chuka hai sab ka
Chalo dil ki baat karte hain kuchh pal
Dekhein sabse sasta dil hai yahaan kiska

Chalte-chalte rishton ki sale dekhi maine
Mere muskaan ki jaane kitni boli lagegi?
Uski baahon mein simta raha kuchh pal
Kya jaane uski keemat kya deni padegi

Bade sale lagte hain mere shehar mein
Sunta hoon sab kuchh bik hi jaata hai
Shaam tak hisaab kitaab kar lete hain
Rooh mein jaane baaqi kya rehta hai?

Rishton ki sale dekhi kya tum ne bhi?
Toote dilon se badboo aati hai mujhko
Phir se jaane kyon log khareed.te hain
Ek ujdi muskaan khareedni hai mujhko

Dekhi hai kya koi ujdi muskaan tumne?
Bataao kitna discount dogey tum humein?
Mujhe lagta tha kya daam lagaayega koi
Bahut khush-fehmi shaayad thi humein...

Monday, September 9, 2013

Mohabbat ke rang hote hain?


A Keyrun Rao original



















Mohabbat ke rang hote hain
Maine tere sang dekhe hain

Khushi ka ek meetha rang
Teri hansi mein dekha hai
Judaai ka gehra laal rang
Tere aansu mein dekha hai

Ek khaara rang gusse ka
Nigalna mushkil hota hai
Saanwla rang aankhon mein
Jalte-bujjhte bhi dekha hai

Mohabbat ke rang hote hain
Maine tere sang dekhe hain

Tera mere saath hone ka
Ek neele aasmaani sa rang
Tujh se khafa ho jaane par
Gehri andheri raat ka rang

Meethi gulaab pankhudi si
Tere pyaare labon ka rang
 Billi ki bhoori aankhon si
Tere galey par til ka rang


Mohabbat ke rang hote hain
Maine tere sang dekhe hain

Monday, September 2, 2013

Khulkar hanste dekha toh jaana
















A Keyrun Rao original

Kaun kehta hai mujhko deewana
Tujhse milkar maine yeh jaana
Hansne ki wajah kaun maange
Koi bataao itna kaun hai siyaana

Khulkar hanste dekha tujhe toh jaana
Itna bura bhi nahin hai ye zamaana

Hanskar toh dekho tum bhi zor se
Aise dost toh milte hain naseeb se
Humraaz kaise banogey tum huzoor
Uski khushi toh dekho tum kareeb se

Rona toh khatam hota nahin kisika
Aaj kisi ko hanste hue bhi dekh lo
Marte ko rehne bhi do qabr mein
Kisi jeete ko muskuraate bhi dekh lo

Khulkar hanste dekha tujhe toh jaana
Itna bura bhi nahin hai ye zamaana

Hansna toh ek daen hai us khuda ka
Roney mein kya rakha hai bataao
Chaand mein tumko paaya hai maine
Taaron ka kya hai yeh hi samjhaao

Kaun kehta hai mujhko deewana
Tujhse milkar hai maine yeh jaana
Jab bhi tujhko hansta hua paata hoon
Mera har gham ban jaata hai begaana

Khulkar hanste dekha tujhe toh jaana
Itna bura bhi nahin hai ye zamaana
Khuda toh tere labon par rehta hai
Yeh baaqi saara ab kya hai fasaana?