you probably know best his songs from Singh is King and the Desi Boyz
but he’s got many more goodies hidden under his sleaves..and here are some of my favorites:
IBn-E-Batuta
Desi Beat – Bodyguard
Ganpat
Watching Namaste America (the only Bollywood program available on my optimum cable, Saturdays at 10 am on channel 48) there was a segment on Mika Singh, one of Bollywood’s top playback singers. You can’t help it but dance to his bouncy songs..
in case you missed him in Singapore at the IIFA 2012
so I looked him up on wiki and walked away IMPRESSED. I know very little about the playback singers and songwriters in India but I have heard their songs of course. I try to catch them live, very often I hear too late about their US appearances. Mika I have missed. Apparently he was on a US tour. Too bad. I got to catch him on Youtube :-)
from his wikipedia page:
Mika is a singer, composer, performer and songwriter. He is considered[by whom?] an acclaimed musician and most of all the ‘Powerhouse Entertainer’.[citation needed] Amongst a wide catalog of smash hits, the prominent ones remain “Singh Is King” (Singh Is King), “Mauja Hi Mauja” (Jab We Met), “Idn-e-Batuta” (Ishqiya), “Dhanno” (Houseful), “Dhin Chika” (Ready), “Desi Beat” (Body Guard), “Subah Hone Na De” (Desi Boys), “Pungi” (Agent Vinod), “Ganpat” (Shootout at Lokhandwala), Gabru (album) and Sawan Mein Lag Haye Aag (album), to name a few. He is also famous for “Jaatan (Jat) ka chora” song which is based on Jat clan (Haryana)Rani tu mi RajaSon of Sardaar.
Early life
Mika was born on June 10, 1977 at Durgapur, and brought up in Patna, Bihar with his brother Daler Mehndi. Although born and raised in Bihar, he is a Punjabi. His father, Ajmer Singh Chandan, was a classical musician and amateur wrestler. His mother, Balbir Kaur, took interest in folk music and is a state level amateur wrestler. He is the youngest of six brothers.
I loved Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana!! I watched it right after Sandy hit New York. Like any self-respecting Bollywood addict, would I miss a chance like that? Storms, floods, gasoline shortage.. screw that! :-) I loved the preview of LSTCK. Anything Kashyap will get me off the sofa and out of the house, even if it’s only a producing gig. I know I will be gloriously entertained.
And I am a big fan of Kunal Kapoor, whose eyes are burning with a warm fire. Or a dangerous fire. As needed. A criminal who redeems himself or the good guy who will turn bad, or just the reluctant romantic hero. Always a tad off-beat, which allows him to switch into different avatars, playing out all shades of a searching and uncertain soul. That’s what he is. A soulful actor. I always feel Bollywood doesn’t know where to put him. He doesn’t fit into categories and thus he is being sadly underutilized and underrated as an actor. Under the right direction and with the right script his qualities start shining. And THIS was a GREAT role for him, for instance!
Punjabi-born Omi (Kunalji) gets into the hands of some ruthless money sharks in London, can’t pay off his debts. In order to buy time he promises them that once he gets back to India he’ll be able to get them back their cash. Lands in India, goes back to his village in Punjab, absolutely hapless how to make good on his promise. Well, we learn that he had left India in a hurry with money he stole from grandpa. Pretends he made it big in London. Falls for his ex girlfriend, Harman, who has become the village doctor (played by Huma Qureshi). First she rejects him, but we know how it goes… Huma, too, doesn’t fit the glam Bollywood heroine mold and that was a pleasant surprise. She played her role with earthy and maternal grace. Loved it. The characters felt real. The supporting cast was well-chosen.
Most of all, I could reach out with my hand and touch India. Unabashed. Rural. You could almost smell the earth, the spices and taste the food.
Finally a foodie movie coming out of India. If you love food and magic ingredients, don’t miss this one. Well, in the theaters you might have missed it already, but by all means, go and buy the DVD.
Directed by Sameer Sharma
–
–
Good interview on ndtv movies with Kunal Kapoor. But besides writing, he seems to have set his heart on racing too. So go and check out the link underneath and go to the ndtv movie page, it got more about him…
–
–
Kunal Kapoor to focus on writing
Press Trust of India | Sunday, November 18, 2012 (New Delhi)
–
–
Kunal is also set to star in Kashyap’s film, where he will play Raj Comics’ superhero Doga. He will also appear in Chamkila, a biography of controversial Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila.
Right from its inception, Kunal Kapoor was actively involved in the writing process of his recently released film Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khuranaand the actor says he wants to take his new found interest forward. Kunal, 35, is currently busy putting together few scripts for films.”I have been working on something like I did in Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khuranato put together a project that I believe in. I am writing and there are three to four stories that I have been working on. I am not writing a whole script, I am somebody who is more like a bouncing board, who ideates and puts together things. So, hopefully things will fall into place soon,” Kunal told PTI.
–
When asked if he plans to turn director any time soon, the actor said, “Directors have to pamper egos and actors get their egos pampered. Right now I am happy being pampered and have no plans to direct a film.”
Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, co-produced by Anurag Kashyap and UTV Motion Pictures and directed by newcomer Sameer Sharma, was made within a budget of Rs 3 crore but managed to set the cash registers ringing. The film set around a chicken recipe, also starred Gangs of Wasseypur girl Huma Qureshi.
“It is a film I believed in very strongly. Sameer and I have known each other for a while. We used to keep talking about the sort of films we’d like to do. We started the process two years back, we took it to lot of people,” said Kunal, who was in NCR recently to launch the new men’s soap series by Fiama Di Wills.
“We were doing something different from what Punjab is perceived as and nobody wanted to take a chance with it. But Anurag did and now to see the film having the effect that we wanted, is absolutely amazing,” he added.
Since making his Bollywood debut with Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities in 2005, Kunal has acted in ten films – Rang De Basanti, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Welcome to Sajjanpur, Lamhaa to name a few. Last year he starred alongside superstar Shah Rukh Khan in Don 2.
When asked why he is seen so less on the big screen, Kunal said, “I am not choosy. If I had the chance I would do five films in a year. But the films have to be exciting. There is no point going to the sets of a film and thinking why am I here? And also for the last one and half years I was putting together Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana. That took a lot of effort and time. It is not like I want to do one film a year but it is just that I want to do quality work.”
Kunal is also set to star in Kashyap’s film, where he will play Raj Comics’ superhero Doga. He will also appear in Chamkila, a biography of controversial Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila.
“Doga is very far away. It is a very big film and very expensive and you need a lot of money for it. Next year Anurag will start shooting a film called Bombay Velvet. So Doga will start after that. Chamkila is something I am very excited about but it being developed. We are working on putting the script together,” he said.
I must admit, I’ve been watching Bollywood movies for the past SEVEN years now, but I always passed on the opportunity to watch regional Indian cinema. Jatt & Juliet is a Punjabi movie and as such it doesn’t get much advertisement here in the US. The bigger Bollywood productions will show trailers of upcoming releases months in advance, but regional flicks are treated as the underdogs. They are the side-kicks and I am ashamed to say, I buy into it. Who says these movies cannot be as entertaining?
So I decided tomorrow, before they take it out again, I am going to watch my first Punjabi romcom. And I will be back, just like Schwarzenegger, not with a loaded machine-gun but with my comments to the movie.
Starring Diljit Dosanjh and Neeru Bajwa
Directed by Anurag Singh ( Dil Bole Hadippa!)
my favorite song:
So, I went to see Jatt and Juliet. The good news, it’s a very sweet movie. The bad news, it was in Punjabi with no subtitles. Therefore I can’t review it. However, it’s an old love story formula which never seems to get old. The story has been retold in variations countless times and yet, this take on it had a fresh feeling altogether. The acting was superb. Scenes of (a slightly romanticized) rural India were interspersed strategically, which made a wonderful contrast to the narrative which took place in Canada. Without understanding a word of dialogue, I will still give this movie thumbs up. I shall go on the quest now to find a DVD with English subtitles to see what I missed out on.
Jatt & Juliet was the last night playing and Bombay theater in Queens was almost sold out. I loved the atmosphere. People were whistling in unison, clapping and enjoying every twist and turn of the story. The reaction of the patrons was just as enjoyable as the movie itself.
I would recommend anyone who loves a good romantic comedy to watch Jatt & Juliet. . And I would like to recommend to the distributors to add subtitles to regional Indian films so it can be enjoyed by firaqi and Hindi speaking audiences.
thebollywoodaddict 