I think that was my mistake when I went to see Kurbaan. I wanted things to be perfect, but expecting perfection from a debutant director is not always a good idea. Still, the movie is overall good and in some places even outstanding. At least when u r sitting in Saif’s class.

Kurbaan starts with a quick love story where Saif makes Kareena fall in love with her with his ever-so-smart techniques, just like Ek Hasina Thi or Love Aaj Kal, though this time it was not that good. Still SRK’s teachings from Kal ho naa ho work and he gets Ladki in within some days if not six. Then a marriage that happens nowhere in the movie, and direct to US. There she comes to know about Saif even before Interval and people wonder what lies ahead. Still the movie goes on with the purposes of saving bombs from exploding while a love story goes on, entangled in bombs’ wires.

The beginning of the movie is a bit too fast or rather some things are missing, at least from the perspective of Indian audiences, so things look a bit strange there. But as the movie progresses in the US, things get somewhat thrilling and ultimately the director remains successful in keeping the viewers’ attention. Entry of Vivek Oberoi makes things interesting and you get to see a role well performed by him, without becoming a ‘bhai’. Climax is good, and so is the love story, though you can find a minor, but impossible flaw during the climax about the FBI chief/officer/whatever. Also, the end is kind of abrupt and might not suit the needs of some viewers. Also, Saif’s class is one thing in the movie that stands out and you might remember it even after the movie gets over.

Saif is good, but not always as good as expected. Kareena has been better than her previous self and even Saif. Vivek Oberoi is really good, probably better than Saif again. Om Puri is natural, while Kirron Kher is outstanding, in her intensity and mostly in accent too. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is easily forgotten because of his small role. Diya Mirza has got almost no role but she looks fine in whatever given.

Salim-Sulaiman’s music is definitely good. And even better, songs have been placed where they should have been, except in the first half hour while two early songs get a little bit too much. In fact mostly songs have been cut short in order to maintain pace while Ali Maula in the movie has lyrics different than those in the album. And yes, Rasiya has been shot really wonderfully. Keep your children away.

Overall, the movie is good. The best part of the movie is that the story keeps you interested throughout and even when things seem odd, you find yourself wondering ‘what next?’.  The bad thing is that Rensil D’Silva has left the movie with way too many flaws, though minor, that weren’t really expected from him even in his debut movie. All I would say is, go, watch the movie, but lower your expectations. Don’t demand perfection, and you’ll probably like it. Maybe love it too. After all, it’s way too good from the standards of Dharma Productions.

Now I do not know what La Fatah Illah means, although the words sound praying to the God. Also, I’m wondering how the song that says ‘Himmate ata karo, o madadgaar Maula, ali maula’ can be offensive to people.

Anyways, for now, the news is that Producer Karan Johar, Director Rensil De Silva and lead actors Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, along with the lyricist for the song, Irfan Siddiqui, have been sent a notice by the court, to which they have to reply. Interestingly again, the reply has to be sent by 14th January, that is almost two months after the release of the movie. So for now, enjoy the movie.

Shukran Allah… [No pun/offence intended, the words say thank God]

But somehow, the top movie of almost every week remains the same other than on 18th when there will hopefully be a movie to watch, that is Raat Gayi Baat Gayi of Saurabh Shukla.

Now my list includes Kurbaan on 20th (hopes, though not huge), De Dana Dan on 27th (not really high on hopes there), Radio on 3rd December (suicide mission), Paa on 4th (high hopes, very; of course), Rocket Singh on 11th (Shimit Amin’s name is the only big hope), RGBG on 18th (hopeful as the movie has got Best movie Award at New York South Asian Film Festival recently), and finally 3 Idiots on Christmas Day. No, no high hopes from the last one either, just hope it’s ‘good’.

But then, other than these big guns, there is more. While Amit Rai’s Road to Sangam, boasting of Paresh Rawal and Om Puri in lead roles, is a movie based on a Social, Patriotic story, Anant Mahadevan’s movie Red Alert – The War Within, starring Sunil Shetty, Naseeruddin Shah, Vinod Khanna, Seema Biswas and Makrand Deshpande, is another movie on a strong subject, Naxalites’ issue.

Both these movies are likely to release in December-early January if things remain as they are (which is quite rare actually). While I’m somehow not very hopeful with Red Alert even with its strong cast, Road to Sangam is looking promising right now. Since both the movies have not yet got their release dates fixed, I still do not know when the movies will release but I’m in a waiting mode for Road to Sangam already. Also, the movie has Peace Activist and Great Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi in a guest appearance.

First, Kurbaan hua is not Nazara hai. Even though we have same composers and singers, the composition is more mature and low-pitched notes have a better balance here. Second thing, that was completely missing in Nazara hai is lyrics.Kurbaan hua boasts of some meaningful lyrics while lyrics of Nazara hai hardly have one.

And finally, the best part of Kurbaan hua is its end. From the point Vishal starts rendering marne ka sabab slowly, the song reaches a peak very few songs are able to find. That is the part of the song I wait for every time listen to it. Those are the lines on which.. Kurbaan hua..

Lyrics:

Kurbaan hua teri Tishnagi[1] mein yun kurbaan hua
Teri aashiqui mein yun
Bekhudi mein, bekali[2] mein, bekasi mein hua
Tujhko har dua di Har daga di Aur fanaa[3] hua
Kurbaan hua .. Kurbaan hua
Adaa pe, wafaa pe, jafaa pe
Kurbaan hua .. Kurbaan hua

Rubaru tu magar Tanha hai ye jahan hoo vo
Jal uthe meri kufr[4] se
Saanson ka ye sama hoo vo
Kya hua pal mein jaane kho gaya kyun
Tu mila aur judai maa hua yun
Bekhudi mein, bekali mein, bekasi mein hua
Tujhko har dua di Har daga di Aur fanaa hua
Kurbaan hua .. Kurbaan hua
Adaa pe, wafaa pe, jafaa pe
Kurbaan hua .. Kurbaan hua

Marne ka sabab[5] maangta raha dar badar
Mitne ko to dil pal mein raazi huaaaa…
..Poori hui har aarzoo har dastan meri
Ke tum shuru hue jahan main khatam hua
Kurbaan hua .. Kurbaan hua
Adaa pe, wafaa pe, jafaa pe
Kurbaan hua .. Kurbaan hua

1. Tishnagi=Thirst
2. Bekali=Restlessness
3. Fanaa=Destroyed
4. Kufr=Blasphemy
5. Sabab=Reason
   

Shukran Allah: You hear the chorus, you love the music. You hear Sonu, you love the song. A wonderful love song by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal with a beautiful chorus and Salim Merchant for backing vocals. Listen to this and you’ll be found trying to sing the words Shukran Allah Walahamidulillah soon.

Dua: In dua, Salim-Sulaiman bring the Fatak combination, Sukhwinder Singh and Kailash Kher along with Marianne DCruz Aiman for background vocals. Dua hai dua hai is again a good song with music lying somewhere between a spiritual song and a dance number. In fact the same can be said about the song’s lyrics too.

Ali Maula: In the third song, Ali Maula, that happens to be the only song in the album with a remix, Salim Merchant has done almost a Maula mere le le meri jaan again. Though, this time he doesn’t have a Krishna with him and he has sung the song alone. The lyrics of the song are a bit more Urdu-ish than Maula mere. But the song goes deep and will turn out to be one with longer shelf life. Good again.

Rasiya: Background music is important. Not just in movies but in songs too. Yes, the specialists of background music have almost added background music to a semi-classical song sung by Shruti Pathak. The song will be liked in its own time and not everyone is going to like this part-classical thing. But I’d have to say, Salim-Sulaiman are great.

Kurbaan Hua: Even if it’s not rock, it’s rocking. Vishal Dadlani sings this rock-like-Bollywood-song for Salim-Sulaiman this time and I can tell you, not after listening to the song but after seeing the trailer itself that the song is going to be a hit.

Ali Maula Remix: I generally don’t write about remixes nowadays but since Kurbaan has just one remix and fashion had some good remixes, I was tempted to write this one. Well, the remix starts bad, but as it nears the mid of the seek bar, it goes a bit better, and then starts going bad again and experiments done don’t save the remix. In short, the remix by Abhijit Vaghani was not much was required, not at least with the song. They could have better done it with Shukran Allah but they probably wouldn’t have not tried to take that risk with the superb song.

Overall, with just five songs, Kurbaan is a wonderful album which has not just good songs but quite a variety available. Where Shukran Allah is a love song as good as Jatin-Lalit used to make, Ali Maula gives the album a serious tone and Rasiya gives the album a light classical touch. And finally it all completes with a rocking song by Vishal. Ten on Ten. Can say that.