Searching in FB...

I logged in, only to sign out again;

To watch yet another day pass, hoping in vain.

Still I kept searching for that nameless profile,

In the midst of countless fakes and guesses futile.

I witnessed minutes turning into hours straight ,

While I embarked on my endless wait. 

I 'liked' things in the pretense of finding her,

I 'shared' things in the pretext of reaching her;

In escaping the brutal truth of the real world that I forsook,

I ended up to see myself lost in these mazes called 'Facebook'.

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C - Am - F - G: Papa Kehte Hain 


Some songs seem so melodious that those keep ringing in our ears even when we have switched off the TV set hours before.


So, what exactly, sets down the tone of the song?


What makes the public perceive a certain song as a sad song or a happy one?


In music theory and science of sounds, it has been explained in terms of difficult-to-get fundamentals and rules.

As someone in a very initial stage, what I get is...all that matters is ‘Chord Progression’.
This defines how the over-all texture of the song going to be.


Wikipedia defines this as below:
A chord progression (or harmonic progression) is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing (or contradicting) a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships. Chords and chord theory are generally known as harmony.


Chord Progression can be of numerous types.
In general, major chord progression (one that contains major chords) sounds like a happy tune.
In contrast, minor chord progression can have elements of tragedy.
Likewise, 7th chord progression can evoke tones of suspense or thrill (Like in a James Bond Movie).

How I first got interested into this boring-appearing stuff is a long story, which you might enjoy as well.
When I heard the famous song “Back To You” by the legendary Bryan Adams for the first time, I started liking it intensely, even though it is not as much a popular one as his other more famous songs. I started thinking and just could not place anything concrete on what exactly attracted me so much. Just listening to it would cause nostalgic pictures float in my mind, something that I could never understand.
Years later I managed to realise that it shares the same chord pattern with my all time favourite song ‘Papa Kehte Hain’ from the movie QSQT which had caught my childhood imagination for years.
I started digging further and got across invaluable music theory of Chord Progression.


OK. So much of boring stuff.
Let’s get started...

  
In the popular music scene in the 50s and 60s, one particular chord progression is widely considered as the piece that turned around sort of a revolution and became to be known as the most widely used progression till now.
The code of this progression is: I iv IV V
If we set it around the key note of C major, then it turns out to be: C Am F G.

This is considering the 7 notes of music: C D E F G A B (alias 'Sa-Re-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni' in Indian classical and same as 'Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti' in Western classical), which has surprisingly been consistent throughout the world, from Indian classical music to Western hard rock.

Just another example of how strong the unifying power of music is!


A few well-known examples that have used this progression:


The Penguins' "Earth Angel" (1954)
Gene Chandler's "Duke of Earl" (1962)
Green Day's "Jesus of Suburbia"
The Bangles 1989 hit "Eternal Flame"
The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" (1967) and thousands so.


Hundreds of popular hindi film songs also come in this category.


Saying this, I am sure if you happen to listen any of the above, you would notice surprising similarity between all, even though tempo/beats can vary.
So now we know, it's not magic! Just plain old chord progression pattern.


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A few words on ‘Papa Kehte Hain’:


Sometimes, I feel no college farewell/get together will be complete without a rendition of Papa Kehte hain in some sort or the other. This is how it has caught the popular imagination of the Indian youth and catapulted Amir Khan into a star and chocolate hero image over night. This song and also all others in the movie are often credited to have made careers out of Udit Narayan and Anand-Milind.


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Artist: Udit narayan


Music: Anand-Milind


Lyric: Majrooh Sultanpuri


Duration: 05:53 (original), 03:58 (sad version)


Trivia:
1. This is picturized on Amir Khan, the lead of the movie. Interestingly, his then wife Reena Dutta appears in a cameo in it. Amir went on to publicly announce their marriage after the movie went on to be a super hit.


2. Two different endings were shot for the movie and showed to a test audience for their reactions.The elders liked the one with happy ending. And the younger crowd appreciated the sad one and particularly the sad version of “Papa Khete Hain’ in the background. And the makers went with the later decision and this resulted in the now famous Romeo-Juliet style tragic ending against a setting sun.


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Chords:
Here I am not going into details of chord shapes. Both open and barre chords can be used.
I would try to specify the notation for the song in ‘fingerstyle guitar’ technique, which is a combination of solo/lead and rhythm at one go.
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C (5 2 3 4 2 3 4)
Am (5 2 3 4 2 3 4)
F (4 2 3 4 2 3 4)
G (4 2 3 4 2 3 4)
The above means, when playing finger-style for Chord C, first shape the chord in your left hand and strum the strings as noted inside parenthesis in your right, and likewise for other chords.
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Stanza in notation: 2(3) means 2nd string at 3rd position
===========================
1(0) 1(0)
2(3) 2(1) Am(2 3 4 2)
3(0) 3(2) F(2 3 4 2)
1(1) 1(0) G(2 3 4 3 2 1)
===========================
1(0) 1(0)
2(3) 2(1) Am(2 3 4 2)
3(0) 3(2) F(2 3 4 2)
1(1) 1(0) G(2 3 4 3 2 1)
===========================
3(0) 3(2) 2(0) 2(1) 2(1)
C(5 2 3 4 2 3 4)

2(1) 2(1) 2(0) 3(2) 3(2)
Am(5 2 3 4 2 3 4)

3(2) 3(2) 3(0) 4(3) 4(3)
F(4 2 3 4 2 3 4)

4(2) 4(3) \\ 4(5)
G(4 2 3 4 2 3 4)
============================
C Am F G


My composition using TuxGuitar:

And Of-course, the Lyrics!

Papa kehte hain bada naam karega
Beta hamara aisa kaam karega
Magar yeh to koi na jaane
Ki meri manzil hai kahan

Papa kehte hain bada naam karega
Beta hamara aisa kaam karega
Magar yeh to koi na jaane
Ki meri manzil hai kahan
Papa kehte hain bada naam karega

Baithe hain milke sab yaar apne
Sabke dilon mein armaan yeh hai
Baithe hain milke sab yaar apne
Sabke dilon mein armaan yeh hai
Wo zindagi mein kal kya banega
Har ek nazar ka sapna yeh hai
Koi engineer ka kaam karega
Business mein koi apna naam karega
Magar yeh to koi na jaane
Ki meri manzil hai kahan
Papa kehte hain bada naam karega

Mera to sapna hai ek chehra
Dekhe jo usko jhoome bahar
Mera to sapna hai ek chehra
Dekhe jo usko jhoome bahar
Gaalon mein khilti kaliyon ka mausam
Aankhon mein jaadu honthon mein pyaar
Banda ye khoobsurat kaam karega
Dil ki duniya mein apna naam karega
Meri nazar se dekho to yaaron
Ki meri manzil hai kahan
Papa kehte hain bada naam karega

There are numerous sources in internet if you would like to learn how to play using tabular format (lead) or in rhythms.
This is just my humble attempt at the finger-style rendition of the same combining both forms. I learned it by referring to many youtube videos and also there can be other variations of the same.


Hope you enjoyed this and this surely brought up some nostalgic moments back to your memory!

Sunset Se Sunset Tak...

Sunset Se Sunset Tak........

Three sunsets that changed 2 lives for ever, are what the essence of this really is; this is at least what my heart says so.

The First Sunset: Beginning of the End

Location: Sunset point, Mount Abu

Oblivious to a bloody past running across in family history, they meet each other for the first time in a beautiful evening against the backdrop of a crimson red setting sun.

Raj and Rashmi.

Both hailing from conservative middle class families believing strongly in so-called traditional virtues and with equally determined and un-yielding parents, chance upon each other in the famous sunset point in Mount Abu during family visits.

While trying to capture the beautiful setting sun in her frames, Rashmi accidentally captures Raj as well in her photographs. While Raj muses on how everything in world looks the very best of themselves in the last rays of Sun, indirectly pointing to enchantingly simple beauty of Rashmi, she becomes equally enamoured of him; as if the gods had planned this all along for the mere mortals.

Later on, Raj tells her of this superstition of people having shorter life if pictured against the setting sun, which Rashmi dismisses as just frivolous.  Looking forward to what lies ahead in store for them; this is nothing more than just brutal irony.

A series of fateful coincidences bring the two innocent fresh bloods closer.

While at first, when enquired by Raj, Rashmi shyly and suggestively accepts that she has no more wounds that are curable by dettol only; but by the end of their first meet, she sincerely puts her feelings out when she requests Raj to make at least a false promise that they would be continue to see each other so that she would have at least a false pretext for waiting for him forever.

It is then that they start believing that the inevitable has already happened; they are in love.

  

The Second Sunset:  Inevitability Of Destiny

Location: Sita Nagar (possibly Sita Mata Wild life Sanctuary near Mt. Abu)

Now painfully aware of the bloody history of family feud catching up, Rashmi wonders about the consequences that lie ahead for both of them and innocently ruminates over her destiny on how it was Raj alone in the whole world that she could ever fall in love with.

Raj assures her that they would be facing their all trials and tribulations in life together, no matter what. He has to now separate from her for indefinite time so as to not raise any suspicion by their respective families, until they come out with a plan. As they reiterate their love for each other, they promise that nothing in the world would ever come between them.

Rashmi is reluctant at first as she cannot bear the separation anymore. But at this, Raj shows her the setting sun and tells her that from that day, each time she is looking at the setting sun; she can be assured that Raj would also be watching the same sun going down at the same time, thinking about her.

He reminds her that it was at a sunset that they first met with each other and it will be a sunset that will bring them together forever.

What an irony and inevitability of destiny!

The Last Sunset: Inseparability Of Love

Location: Some deserted hill range supposedly on Delhi – Indore road

Unable to convince their stubborn parents of their true love for each other, Raj and Rashmi have no other way but to go against the society and the so-called ancient establishments. They set out for an unknown place for an unforeseen future, far away from their known universe of blatant ego, feuds and parents’ daunting pre-set milestones.

While they believe that they have left all the pain and trails behind, unfortunately, their true and innocent love alone is not able to withstand the bloody turbulence of family feud.

In a secret plan by Rashmi’s family to supposedly rescue her and eliminate Raj in the process, the plan actually boomerangs. Learning that she has been betrayed by her family, when Rashmi rushes to warn Raj, the henchmen hired to kill Raj end up shooting an unsuspecting Rashmi instead as she runs to come to Raj’s rescue.

Rashmi breathes her last in Raj’s laps urging him in her final agonizing words not to leave her alone. A disconsolate Raj takes this tragedy to heart intensely as everything he has lived for till now is now lost with Rashmi no more. He ends his life with the very dagger that Rashmi had once presented him proclaiming his true love to Rashmi in his dying breath and that nothing in the world could separate them now from each other. The last rays of setting sun shines down on them both as they lie dead embracing each other.

Defeated in their battle against prejudices of family and undue violence, they actually emerge victorious in their unscathed and undying love for each other.

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Disclaimer:

This is just my honest attempt at re-telling the story-plot of the simple yet heart-touching movie ‘QSQT’. I never intend to make the mistake of claiming the references to original plot and images as my own, as these are solely copy-righted by the respected makers of ‘QSQT’.

Movie Review - Part 1 (QSQT)

In a time like now, where there is a literal deluge of movie reviews being forced down the mouth of the average audience, one can find it really tasking to know whether to actually surrender his/her decision making for movie-watching to such reviews or not. All most each of these, supposedly by the great honchos or so-called movie industry watchers, finally ends up manipulating the audiences’ actual view and feelings.

Here I set out for writing my first ever movie review, hoping not to repeat the above. As my ideology is that a true review should always be neutral, non-manipulative and should bring out all sides of the subject in light. Then the decision is always, as it should ideally be, with the common audience only, who doesn’t make frequent rounds of Cannes film festival; rather goes for his/her common instinct and feelings.

OK, so much for ideologies and standards; let us get started.

So which movie is it?

No, it’s not the movie releasing this Friday for which I was invited for a sneak preview, nor is the highest grossing ‘Avatar’ already having tonnes of reviews. It’s again not ‘Mother India’, India’s first ever Oscar entry, or the trend setting ‘Sholay’ which has found a place in millions’ hearts over time.

It’s ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’, the movie that came nothing less than a fresh breathe of air at its time and swept across prevalent movie-going nation like a landscape-altering storm and which an entire generation of audiences began to identify with thereafter. Something that lies closer to my heart than most others.

Again reminding that, this is not a formal review; but just my humble way to put forth my feelings that go with this movie, in an original way.

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Movie: Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT)

Directed By: Mansoor Khan

Produced & Written By: Nassir Hussain

Starring: Amir Khan, Juhi Chawala, Dalip Tahil, Alok Nath

Music By: Anand-Milind

Cinematography: Kiran Deohans

Release Date: 1 March 1988 (exactly 24 years from now)

Running Time: 163 mins

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So...a whole generation of us has grown up witnessing the stage performance of ‘Papa Kehte Hain’ song become a staple of almost all college welcome and farewell parties, even decades later.

And probably this alone summarises the timeless impact of QSQT in the minds of countless youth. It stands for the average Indian young man’s coming of age, the usual apprehensions about future, parents’ daunting pre-set milestones and above all, the dreamy freshness and innocence of young tender love which does not yet know the consequences in a rough brutal universe.

QSQT is quintessentially a sweet-tragic love story of 2 star-crossed lovers; a rendition of Romeo – Juliet against the backdrop of contemporary Indian middle class family values.

The name literally means...'apocalypse to apocalypse', or 'destruction to destruction' highlighting this theme through-out. 

The movie unfolds with the sub-plot that makes 2 warring rajput thakur families taking their violent vows against each other. Unaware of the bloody history that is running across, Raj and Rashmi are 2 innocent sweet young people from the families, who fall in true love with each other in a series of fateful coincidences. The plot moves on with their families getting the knowledge of this eventually and indignantly deciding to stick to their ancient feud instead. Unable to convince their respective elders, Raj and Rashmi, quietly decide to go against the world and promise to face their trials and tribulations together. But unfortunately, their true and innocent love alone is not able to withstand the bloody turbulence of family feud. They lose their struggle in life, but remain unscathed in their love for each other.

So...what is there in this less than ten-liner story plot that made it stand out as a cult classic against dozens of replicas?

What the movie lacked in number of lines or in depth of plot, made up more than it in expression, melodic rhythms, a fresh take of love stories and social relevance.