Once upon a time, long before television was invaded ( read:screwed over) by kanjeevaram sari clad women with jewellery as heavy as themselves, witchcrafty make-up, mean plans and super-repetitive close-up shots (or in other words Balaji Telefilms), was the era of Doordarshan’s Prime Entertainment. And that was when, long before becoming the Bhabhi of the Nation (singing Lo Chali Main  with Salman Khan in Hum Aapke Hai Kaun), Renuka Shahane entered our lives as the Lady with the Electrifying smile, greeting us “Namaskar” every Sunday Night with Siddharth Kak on SURABHI. CINEMA VISION INDIA’s production, Surabhi brought information packaged in an entertaining 30 minutes box like never before. It wowed us to the core. Children, adoloscents and adults across the nation were glued to the half hour of culture explosion that ranged from dizzying heights of Ladakh to Aleppey’s backwaters, from the fields of Paan cultivation to remembering the greatness of cinema legends like Raj Kapoor and K.L.Saigal. Surabhi was my Indian Wikipedia; even better, it was on Television and I competed with my Dad in answering the Sawaal Jawaab.

Surabhi’s entire decade of impeccable dedication to exploring the magic of India makes it truly one of the defining programs of Indian Television. When I am faced with the question from someone who wants to know about India (yeah, someone who just saw Slumdog Millionaire), I wish I could make him sit through each episode of Surabhi to get a glimpse of the variety and gigantic diversity of the magic that is India. Surabhi brought the dry Thar desert and the extremely wet Cherrapunji to the comfort of our homes. It taught us the cultivation of spices and the Hyderabadi Biriyani directly from the Nizaam. And it captured our history, our culture, tradition and also showed a glimpse of our future (Remember, Sushmita Sen’s first TV interview after winning Miss India, right before she was to compete Miss Universe. The rest as they say, is history). Renuka Shahane and Siddharth Kak’s popularity soared and Surabhi was a national success. 

Amul became the official sponsors of the show and till date is known as the Taste of India; all thanks to Surabhi. The advert featuring Manthan’s “Mero Gaam Katha Parey” first premiered in Surabhi and Surabhi also did a story on Verghese Kurien, the Milkman of India. Another phenomenon spawned by Surabhi was the Competition post card, which was sold at Rs.2 (previously, post cards were sold at 15 paise) per postcard. The popularity of Surabhi’s Sawaal Jawaab was never seen before in Indian Television, donno the exact figure of audiences replying on to the Competition Questions (but this was way before the age of email and SMS). As far as my memory goes, I remember Surabhi breaking the Limca Book of Records for Highest Measured Replies from Viewers – and the question that week was a visual of a factory where workers (all female) were kneading dough (and then some more), and the question was to identify the product. And the answer was – Sri Mahila Griha Udyog, the manufacturers of Lijjat papad. 

Surabhi’s essence comes alive in its title music- a video which travels through traditional Indian Pottery to the Murli, Tanpoora and a classical Indian dancer (now I am confused if that’s Kuchipudi or not) and then the famous shot of Jantar Mantar. I just feel short of words when I hear it even today, and the pakhawaj beats just mesmerize me. (Watch it below).

I watch the title track of Surabhi and I miss the “Namaskar” in chorus by Renuka and Siddharth that follows it . The second best thing I miss about Surabhi is the big list of prizes for Sawaal Jawaab, sponsored by the various State Tourism. I can vividly remember one of my teachers winning a holiday in Goa, and when her name was announced on TV, the next day, she was the school’s star of the day. The questions in Sawaal Jawaab were extremely educational and one of the questions that just flashed into my head was of this lock, which had no keyholes in it. But it had three keys. The question was to guess how to open the lock. I still don’t know the answer coz there was a load-shedding on the next Sunday when the answer was aired. 8-( And of course, the format was Renuka would ask the question and Siddharth would end the show with a slight hint which kept all of us guessing. Surabhi is etched in our memories , especially in guys n gals of my generation coz it gave us the sense of pride and showcased it, and how brilliantly so. Surabhi for us, is in the true sense of the term -IMMORTAL.

I am just a bit late for this post. But may be just in time. The Oscars nominations were announced last night, and as expected Slumdog was there on the top nominations list along with that Button movie. And surprisingly no nods for The Dark Knight. But all of that has nothing to do with this post. Well, just a bit. Coz, with Oscars comes the Razzies, but here on OKS it is Bolllywood style. It is the cream of the crap that we award each year. Last year (read the post here), we ‘awarded’ amongst others, Himmesh Reshammiya, Jia Khan, and RGV Ki Aag. This year, though the competition has been fierce, nothing has come close to the fire of Aag. However, we shall not tolerate any sort of discrimination against these maati-ke-laals who have tormented us this year. These movies of Bollywood deserve nothing less than rotten eggs and the toxic waste courtesy – Mumbai Mahanagar Palika. We received a lot of nominations from OKS readers worldwide, and we have narrowed it down to the following nominations, and we give you the reason why the winners are the Looohooo….Saaahaaars !!! ( Just the way Mr.Jim Carey says Losers in Ace Ventura).  So join me as we announce the Nominees and the Winners of this year’s Bollywood Razzies as they proudly walk down the Yellow Carpet.

Pathbreaking Performance by Male: (Jimmy)Mimoh

Nominees:

Harman Baweja comes close, but loses at the worst category as well. Poor guy, he doesn’t win this too. Yeah, he kinda tried hard to be Hrithik, with the correct aping of Duggu’s accent, dance moves and over-acting, but well 2050 is where he should be -a man who is way ahead of time. 

Sikander Kher: Yeah, he is the son of Kirron Kher and Anupam Kher. But that is it. Woodstock Villa came and went like a fart. That’s why we call him Gone with the broken wind.

Himmess (Karzz): How could we forget last year’s winner? Himmess will remain a permanent addition to the nomination list as long as he has thoughts of featuring in a movie, even in a cameo.

The Haal –e-Dil thing: Nakul whateva and Whateva Suman. Pffffffft !!!!

WINNER: MIMOH (Jimmy). Okay, I am gonna keep it simple because I am done with my adjectives when I think about writing something intelligent about Mimoh. He is outright crap, immensely non-talented and the worst actor ever. He is so worse at this that it actually makes me laugh. He’s got the voice that resembles a male Rani Mukherjee. But judging by the way Rani’s career boomed rather than bomb after Raja ki Aayegi Barat, can we hope that Mimoh will lose some loadsa weight, get some ‘acting’ in his script and make his Papa proud?

Pathbreaking Performance by Female: (Karzzzz) Urmila

Nominees: 

Kareena Kapoor (Tashan): Off screen she hooked up with Saif. And onscreen she showed her tushy in a green bikini. She did the Shakti Avatar and killed Mahisasura (Anil Kappor’s nickname) who comes on a rick-shaw. She doesn’t mind being called the B word and even sports a blonde wig. She came very close to winning this, but just quite missing it.

Priyanka Chopra (Love Story 2050, Drona): Yes, she gets double nods for a futurstic Love Story with a very yesteryears’ actor (considering Kaho Na Pyar Hai happened in 2000). The other is of a movie which should’ve been released with either Krrish or Koi Mil Gaya. Piggy Chops even manages to do some good movies amongst all this shit viz. Fashion and Dostana. Hmm, ain’t nobody like Desi Girl.

The remaining bunch who don’t deserve to be talked about.
Rani Mukherjee (Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic)
Kajol (U me aur hum)
Last year’s winner Jia Khan had Ghajini this year. Not too bad.

WINNER: Urmila (Karzzz) She revives the immortal role of Simi Garewal from the original Karz. She does with red-der lipsticks and a wooden performance. So basically, she brought back the spirit of Kamini back to life, only to bury her back in a totally different location. She seemed underpaid and totally unhappy with Satish Kaushik. Surprisingly, Himmess and her made a good pair. Urmila’s performance in the movie is one of the key reasons why Himmess’ performance got overlooked. That’s what we calling stealing the Thunder.

The Rip-Offs of 2008:

Ugly aur Pagli- from the Korean rom-com hit, My Sassy Girl. While Hollywood made a straight to DVD remake of it, starring Elisha Cuthbert nonetheless, Bollywood’s un-official version had Miss Mallika Sherawat with Ranbir Shourie. And yes, it had the slaps, the drinks and all the gags, only not funny.

God Tussi Great Ho-from Bruce Almighty- Salman Khan filling the shoes of Jim Carey and Amitabh Bachhan doing a Morgan Freeman. Featured songs like Aksa Beach Guma Doo. And oh, Jennifer Aniston equals Priyanka Chopra. 

1920-Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted meets Exorcist meets nothing, not even the audience. Better rent a VHS of the Ramsays. 

GANG BANG HONOR:

This has nothing to do with anything remotely sexual. This is all about chaos that prevailed on the screen and was brought to us not by a single individual, but by a group of living organisms. e.g. Last year’s nominees, RGV ki Aag, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Salaam-e-Ishq et al. This year’s nominees are:

C Kkompany: Featuring Tusshar Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Celina Jaitley and in cameo appearances -Karan Johar and Mahesh Bhatt. It is indeed quite hard for me to say as I didn’t watch this one, but by the looks of it, all this movie is lacking is some Tanushree Dutta and some Rakhi Sawant.

Tashan: A nonsensical Hindi to Angreji dictionary, a call-center guy, Bachhan Pandey, Bebo in Bikini and “Naseela Naseela tore Nainaa”. Tashan had it all going for it. NOT

Mission Istaanbul: The cast list is just wonderful to read. Featuring the who’s who of Junior Bollywood in a way. Vivek Oberoi, Shabbir, Sunil Shetty, Zayed Khan. Did anyone go to watch this?

WINNER: Krazzy 4. Rajpal Yadav, Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi and Suresh Menon. All established actors, and great comics in their own space. What happens when they share the same screen? The answer is BONKERS and not in a good way. Had three item numbers-SRK, Rakhi Sawant and Hrithik Roshan. Ended up with a controversy of plagiarism for Music Dir Uncle Roshan for lifting the tune of the Krazzy 4 item song from a Sony Ericcson advert. Does it get anymore chaotic? 

Tortueux de FILME’:-

Jimmy doesn’t qualify for this award as it proved out to be way more entertaining than it promised to be. For the review read this. The nominees are: 

Tashan: Yash Chopra Films had it all set. A stellar cast, a blazing soundtrack and Kareena in bikinis. Wish they could have found a good script. For the complete bashing, read the review here.

Karzzz: Satish Kaushik’s public butchering of a Subhash Ghai’s masterpiece (of course it is a masterpiece). The highlights of this movie are when Himmess is told to recall the tune and play it on his guitar. The expression on Himmess’ face makes him look like he’s in desperate need of some Isabgol (the Ayurvedic substitute for Laxatives). The music is very third class even for the tastes of the Auto Driver’s Association and Urmila as Kamini should be read as Kamini , not Kaamini. 

Love Story 2050: Sach Kehna, Sach Sach Kehna, How much Hrithik charge by the hour to coach ya? 

WINNER aka LOSER: DRONA

Abhishek Bachhan continued with his mono-expression from Sarkaar Raj, wore some not so funky gold plated clothes, and went around fighting an over-the-top KayKay Menon. Jaya Bachhan was turned into wax, Priyanka Chopra acted like wax and Abhishek Bachhan grooved to Oop Oopcha Oop Oop. Wonder if that’s what Goldie Behl was doing after he made the movie. What could have possibly saved this movie from being a torture. A 5 minute feature on the making of Jo Haal Dil Ka featuring Mrs. Behl-Sonali Bendre. 

Drona is by far, the worst movie of the year and should get all the rotten tomatoes, slashed, bashed, bisected, dissected and any TV channel showing it should be made off-air for a minimum of 2 days, by order from the Minsitry of Information & Broadcasting. That’s what is the honor that this year’s Razzie winner gets.

Last Honors no-one cares-about:

Dino Morea: For getting reincarnated as Himmesh Reshammiya

Anil Kapoor: For portraying Prof. Rajan Mathur (Subhash Ghai’s Black& White), Deven Yuuvraj (Subhash Ghai’s Yuuvraj), Lakkhan Singh urf Bhaiyyaji (Tashan) and Slumdog’s Prem Kumar, all in one year. Phew!

Hansika Motwani, Tanushree Dutta, Celina Jaitley, Aftab Shivdasani, Govinda, Upen Patel and everyboy in that league (you get the idea) for staying low key, and making us enjoy the average Bollywood even more. Cheers to Bollywood!!!

I have already announced the Bollywood Razzies for this year, but my heart refuses to stop at this. C’mon, it’s January and time for the Bollywood awards season. As the Screens,Filmfares and Zee Awards get ready to roll out the nominees, I have the opportunity to squeeze out every “unconventional” and “special” award for this year’s Bollywood releases. The first category is the Bollywood Special Awards, ones which can also be called The Good Ones. Read on to know the Bad ones, and of course don’t miss the Ugly ones. So here they are-

THE GOOD :

Duniya Jaaye Tel Bechne( Let the world sell oil, I mean no holds barred) Dance:
Undisputed Winner:-Kay Kay Menon, high and stoned, grooves to the foot-thumping Sajanaji Vari Vari, and even does a Naagin Dance. We all loved it.

Acapella Vocals:
Contenders-Krishna: Maula Mere Le Le Meri Jaan (Chak De India)
Kailash Kher: Ya Rabba (Salaam-e-Ishq)
WINNER:Sonu Nigam: O Re Paakhi(Khoya Khoya Chand)

Can’t ask for more Dialogue( The most repeated/discussed dialogues at workplace)
Contenders:-
Picture abhi baaki hai (Om Shanti Om)
Nahi Sir…main Samajhdaar Hu(Life in a Metro)
Kya Idiot Insaan nahi Hote?( Bheja Fry)
Sattar Minute( Chak De India)
WINNER:Ek Suhaagan ke Sar ka Taaj hota hai…..Ek Chutki Sindoor (Om Shanti Om)…

Glued to the Dance Floor tracks:
Contenders:
Naughty Naughty- Cash
Mauja Mauja-Jab We Met
Soni De Nakhre-Partner
Sajnajee Vaaree Vaaree – Honeymoon Travels

WINNER: Hare Raam Hare Raam-Bhul Bhulaiyya

THE BAD :

Mummy Kya Bolegee (What will Mom say) Kiss:
Shahid Kapoor and Kareen Kapur, Jab We Met. Now that’s why they broke up? Boy, the girl wanted onscreen confidence. Duh!

Worst pick up Line:-
Rani Mukherjee in Laaga Chunri Main Daag :-Hi I’m Natasha. Ughhhhh!!!!

Chemically Composed Name:- CK2MK- That expands to Carbon -Di-Potassium..whatever. It’s Chain Khuli ki Main Khuli. Some movie poster I saw next to the Men’s room at Inox.

Sawaal Dus Crore Ka(Biggest Onscreen Question):-
(Bheja Fry)What is a Tharkee? (What is a nymphomaniac, oops I just gave you the answer, where’s my cheque?)

THE UGLY :

Apocalypse Now ( The one which will totaly Nuke the spirits of Javed Akhtar and Gulzar):
Thakur in RGV ki Aag:- Kab hai Diwali? ( When is the Diwali? translates to – Be prepared for the fireworks, source: Chak De India)

The Full Monty:-
You know this one. No it’s not SRK for Dard-e-Disco. Neither Shekar Suman who inspired his 6-packs. It’s Ranbir Kapoor. I’m actually tired of cracking jokes on him.Seriously.

Disturbia:
Smriti Mishra and her sagging belly,jutting out of the cotton saree-Dil,Dosti etc.
Superbad:
Joint winners:- Rakhi Sawant for Budhha Mar Gaya, and Nisha Kothari as Ghungru for RGV ki Aag.

What a year it has been. Yeah, you might be saying, Sujoy, you are complaining too much. Fine. I’ll be right back with the list of Bollywood’s best,ASAP. Till then, Ciao.

As 2007 comes to an end, its time to roll out the red carpets, open the envelopes and beat the pulp out of those movies that kept on coming back to you and haunted you this year and made you shiver with disgust at the most odd hours of the day/night.These movies go down in the history of this list as the Bollywood Razzies, aka the Worst Movies of the Years as well as Performances. It is no easy job to make it to this list. You need to be utterly creative in some way, as in if you actually intended to make a tragedy, you ensure it looks like Mr.Bean’s Holiday. And if the original script pitched plans of a comedy, the end product should make all of the crew weep. Now that’s what we call (F)ART. Only few movies have been able to qualify for the coveted “award” this year, and choosing the righteous winner among them has been a tiring effort for me. It has taken me sleepless nights, intense hours of soul searching and some barrels of Budweisers to arrive at the “Winners”. So here we go.

Breakthrough Performance of the Year Male:-

The Shaved and Waxed chest, a Peek at what’s behind the Diesel Cap, The Nasal takes a big leap beyond the lands of Narnia, and well, He finally smiles. Ladies and Gentlemen, bow to his Majesty, Himessssss….Surooooor….Reshammiya. A Star is Born? Ahem Ahem! Sorry, I just choked on me words.

Fighting for the Throne:-
Dil Dosti Etc.Immad Shah’s “impotent” portrayal of a DU-ite in , which included dialogues like Safed Jheel, sharing the screen with Shreyas Talpade and Smriti Mishra ( as the saggy bellied Delhi hooker), and still manage to screw it all up. Man, so close to win the award.
Saawariya.Ranbir Kapoor does a “topless” Mere Khwabo Main Jo Aaye. A Breakthrough in Indian cinema nevertheless.
RGV ki Aag.Amitabh Bachhan butchers, screws the immortal spirit of Gabbar, Babban style in RGV way. Thou shall face the wrath of Gabbar one day.
The Deols flexing their “Dolles” in Apne, if that counts as one.
Salman Khan whisphers to Ali Larter in “purrfect” accent- Marigold is whack!!
Upen Patel- Shakalaka Boom Boom. ROTFL. I don’t have any idea what was I going to say about this one.

Breakthrough Performance of the Year Female:-

Nishabd:Jia Khan, ahem! actually her left leg. Ramu loves her left leg the most. More than her right leg. If Ramu has some sort of affinity towards her left leg, how could we be left behind. Jia’s left leg from 12 ft, from 6 ft, and from 6ft under. Now that’s breakthrough lensing, I guess. Wait, where’s the performance. Aah! I remember the trailer, where she says “ I think I am having feelings for you”. You do?

Fighting for the Throne:-
The team of Lara and Priety in Shaad Ali’s Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Actually I cannot comment much on these ladies, coz I walked out of the audi in 10 mins flat.
Laga Chunri Main Daag:“Hi, I’m Natasha”. No you are Rani. WTF are you doing? You are supposed to be good and not replay Mumtaz’s Shalini Shastri (Aaina- 1977) in the flavour of the 1970s. God, YashRaj Films, dekho Bubli ka Kya bana diya.
Aami Monjulikaa—That’s breakthrough. For the one’s still confused” Hare Raam Hare Raam”
Honeymoon Travels:The entire bunch of mad ladies- Ssilpaa shouting to a leather jacket long haired Rampal- Jignessssss, Minissha Lamba to Abhay Deol in a speedo suit- Aspi—-Zaaara,..and Raima Sen showing some Matrix moves in a Sari. Indian cinema hasn’t seen anything like this before, for sure.

Okay, I guess, since I have been talking of ensemble casts as performances, I shall have a separate award for it. What the heck!

THE GANG BANG (in a very vegetarian way):-

Big B as Babban, Devgan as Jai or is it Veeru, that guy as Veeru/Jay, Nisha Kothari as Ghungru, Sushmita Sen as the flat faced widow, Mohanlal Anna as Thakur and RGV as the tormentor. This is RamGopal Ver”Ma” ki Aag.

Dus Kahaaniyan- The list is like Bollywood’s B List, plus the honchos of Indian “meaningful” cinema . It unites India’s finest actors Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi after …( when was the last time I saw them sharing screen space?)..I donno when. It even boasts of 6 directors from Rohit Roy to Meghna Gulzar to Sanjay Gupta to Apoorva Lakhia. This is just hoch poch at best.
Buddha Mar Gaya. Just have a look at the list of the people involved here.
Anupam Kher, Om Puri,Ranbir Shourie and guess who’s next-Rakhi Sawant. LOL
Salaam-e-Ishq tries to recreate Richard Curtis’ “Love Actually” in a marathon love epic saga which might even give Devki Nandan Khatri (of Chandrakanta fame) to shame. The chandeliers were more polished, the choreography more Bhangra and more Lehengas and more Sherwanis , and the emotions ..aah…exhausting with Kailash Kher’s Ya Rabba playing on a loop. (Nikhil) Advani jee didn’t have Mr.Johar to tell him where to stop.
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Yep. I guess Shaad Ali was high, Abhishek Bachhan was stoned, and Bobby Deol was busy watching Apne’s Moser Baer DVD. Oh wait, Big B in El Capitano Jack Sparrow’s avatar in Paris. Now, what did I smoke?

PUT THE PARSLEYS ON:-

Cacophonix de Honors:- Himesssss. Undisputed Heavyweight King of the Bantamweight Auto-rickshaw Drivers Music Club. “Hits” include—Jhoot Naaee Bolna, Assalaam Walekkum and the constipated Tanhhaaaiiiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Fighting for the Throne:-
Shakalaka laka laka laka laka laka laka Shakalaka Boom Boom
Rafta Rafta Dekho Dekho Pyaar Ho Gaya Raftaa Dekho Raftaa
Tadap Tadap Tadap Ho Tummmmmmmmmmmmm….
Ae Taambe Tu Kaun Si Maut Marega Re.
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom – the Retro Funk Lethal Attack v16.7 mix. WTF.

Tortueux de FILME’:-

And the “honor” goes to RGV ki Aag.This movie left me sleepless for nights together. If you want to read my heartfelt appreciation of the movie, you can read it here. But it has been quite a journey for the entire crew (must be). It must have taken them quite a few cleansing sessions at the Ayurveda clinics in Kerala, and of course a Ganga Snaan too. But lemme tell you, that shouldn’t be enough to rid you of the sins you all have committed to have tormented all of us with the 70mm of torture. In the words of the great Chandler Bing “Okay, it was like she was torturing me for information. And I wanted to give it up I just—I didn’t know what it was!” RGV just deserves this and may be a Public Abuse Session as well. That should serve as a clinical session for his mental disturbance. C’mon, he couldn’t have made this movie if he was sane or in his complete senses.

Fighting for the Throne:-
Aaah. Not a very Long List here. Coz it actually takes a lot to match the genius of RGV ki Aag. Nevertheless, it’s here.

The Blue Film of the year- Bhansali’s Saawariya.
Dil Dosti Excreta, I mean Etc.
J-BJ. That’s Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.
Nikhil Advani’s tribute to Yashraj’s entire filmography in a single film- Salaam-e-Ishq.
Himmesss flirting around 16 year old Hansika and manages to escape pedophile charges. Actually, the lady gets swept off her feet by the waxed chest and…you know what, I’m tired of the nasal jokes. But when it comes to Himess, what else can you think of?

Aah. I’m done finally. Where’s my Bud?

Bollywood Music has just left me drained completely. This has been a year where I got variety , versatility and above all, quality music that transcends all definitions and spans across all possible genres from Qawwali to Rock to Jazz to Blues to even Hindustani Classical. This has been a year which has excelled all of my expectations, mostly in the later part of the year with the kicking in of the major blockbusters accompanied by their equally explosive soundtracks. It has been quite a journey for me listing out these gems and in no way I can accurately opt for the winners, but then, some are more equal than the others.

So well the Nominees are:-

A.R. Rahman – GURU

From the Arabic belly dancing ritual number, Mayya Mayya, to the very Folk –Barso Re Megha, the signature Rahman sound in Tere Bina , the heart melting Hairat-e-Aashiqui which transforms into a Scottish Pipers song and then back to a Ghazal, and to top it all, a Soul Stirring choir singing in unison – Jaage Hai Der Tak Humein….GURU had it all. Bow down Mister, to the current GURU of Music.

Pritam – Life in a Metro

This is Bollywood makeover into the Rock image. And by Rock, it’s like \m/ ROCK accompanied with a “Hell Yeah”. Be it Alvida in its two avatars from KK and James, O Meri Jaan with the wild drumming, and the heart wrenching falsetto, or the extremely intoxicating and addictive In Dino which still continues to be on my playlist, Metro’s soundtrack didn’t feature a single star track, instead it’s a constellation out here.

Sajid Wajid –Partner.

If Metro brought Rock in, Partner brought the house down with Hip Hop, desi style. Thanks to the onscreen chemistry between the lead pair-Govinda and Salman, and to the immensely catchy tracks- Soni De Nakhre and My Love. Partner has to feature on this list. Who doesn’t want some breaks in between? Gaddee Po Po Po……

Shankar Ehsaan Loy –Taare Zameen Par

I swear I didn’t appreciate this soundtrack before watching the movie. After having watched the movie now, I listen to the songs in a very different light. It has definitely grown on me, and there is no doubt that this is by far Shankar,Ehsaan and Loy’s best work since Dil Chahta Hai. My favorite track here – Kholo Kholo and the Adnan Sami track- Mera Jahan accompanied by the sweet chorus from the children choir.

Shantanu Moitra – Khoya Khoya Chand

No one knows Jazz, Blues and Rock n’ Roll better in Bollywood than Shantanu Moitra. If anyone does know better, no one knows how to implement it in Bollywood music more perfectly than Mr.Moitra. He did it with Parineeta’s “ Kaisi Paheli”. And he does it again in a bigger and a better way in Khoya Khoya Chand’s “ Ye Nigaahein” and “Khusboo Sa”. He even reminds us of “Mann Ye Baawra” with his Qawwali rendition of “Khoya Khoya Chand” and gives Sonu Nigam, the biggest space to explore his vocals in “O Re Paakhi”.

Vishal Shekhar – Om Shanti Om

Any music which can elevate the presence of Deepika Padukone onscreen is definitely worth mention. Ajab Si ruled the charts but my personal favorite here is “Main Agar Kahoon”. The clubs dug Dard-e-Disco and well, Deewangi Deewangi proved out to be the ITEM NUMBER of the year. More than a hundred reasons to be nominated.

Narrowing it down to one winner this year is just next to impossible. And so, the Best Music of the Year goes to Shantanu Moitra – Khoya Khoya Chand and Pritam for Life in a Metro. Whom did you find to be this year’s Music Mughals?