Bajirao Mastani Beats Dilwale- Feature by Shoby

Bajirao Mastani Beats Dilwale- Feature by Shoby

So 2016 has started with the biggest news related to 2015 from Bollywood. Believe it or not Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Bajirao Mastani has been successful in grossing more collections in domestic circuit than its opponent Rohit Shetty's SRK- Kajol starrer Dilwale. Dilwale managed to collect approximately 132.63 crore in 13 days whereas Bajirao Mastani's collections for the same number of days are 136.5 cr.

It came as a surprise (read almost a shocker) for everyone as the much hyped Dilwale from the master of blockbusters Rohit Shetty eventually lost audience interest inspite of having a dream cast with Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan & Kriti Sanon. Even biggest stars of comedy like Johny Lever, Boman Irani & Sanjay Mishra couldnt save it reason being a weak script and not so believable story line & screenplay.

Here's presenting the day by day collections of both the films for a comparison:

Dilwale:

Day 1 (Fri) 21
Day 2 (Sat) 20.09
Day 3 (Sun) 24
Day 4 (Mon) 10.09
Day 5 (Tue) 9.42
Day 6 (Wed) 8.79
Day 7 (Thu) 9.26
Day 8 (Fri) 8.11
Day 9 (Sat) 6
Day 10 (Sun) 7.12
Day 11 (Mon) 3.25 (Estimates, final figs. awaited)
Day 12 (Tue) 2.75 (Estimates, final figs. awaited)
Day 13 (Wed) 2.75 (Estimates, final figs. awaited)

TOTAL (NETT) 132.63

Bajirao Mastani:

Day 1 (Fri) 12.80
Day 2 (Sat) 15.52
Day 3 (Sun) 18.45
Day 4 (Mon) 10.25
Day 5 (Tue) 9.40
Day 6 (Wed) 9.21
Day 7 (Thu) 10.52
Day 8 (Fri) 12.25
Day 9 (Sat) 10.30
Day 10 (Sun) 11.75
Day 11 (Mon) 5.60
Day 12 (Tue) 5.40
Day 13 (Wed) 5.05

TOTAL (NETT) 136.50

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016 from SHOBYWOOD...

Wishing all the lovers & followers of ‪#‎Shobywood‬ ‪#‎HappyNewYear‬ May this year brings a lot of you and fun in your lives... 

Stay blessed and keep enjoying the very best of entertainment at shobywood.blogspot.com Cheers :-)

smile emoticon

Ufone's Incisive Response to Mobilink... Article by Shoby

Ufone's Incisive Response to Mobilink... Article by Shoby

Just a few days back, we have seen social media going mad and bombarding against Mobilink and some media groups in response to its below the belt advertisement campaign featuring Bollywood model/ actress Nargis Fakhri. What considered as provoking & morally unethical, hash-tags like #ShameMobilink & #MobilinkSharamKaro were all over the twitter, Facebook & other social media platforms.

Ufone has always been one step ahead in creating novel ideas for its advertisements and USP of Ufone’s ads are sit-coms designed beautifully to highlight an issue & to provide a suitable solution of the same. Right after Mobilink’s campaign go wrong in front of public, Ufone brought yet another awesomely designed campaign in the newspapers showing celebrated face of comedy in Pakistan Faisal Qureshi in a very desi attire, promoting Ufone’s branded 3G handset Smart U 5-A.

The referred Ad did not only provided basic information regarding Smart U 5-A like its price & processor, it also beautifully showcased the unique element of comedy that is a hallmark of Ufone’s advertisements.

Not only Faisal Qureshi’s posture & facial expressions were hilarious, even one of the foot notes reading “Ishtyehaar bhi chup kar dekhney ki zarurat nahi” brought a lot of appreciation & applauds from the public. People enjoyed the campaign thoroughly and many of them took Twitter & Facebook to tell how Ufone has easily managed to convey what Mobilink tried with its vulgar campaign.

Top 5 Bollywood Dance Numbers of 2015- Picked by Shoby

Top 5 Bollywood Dance Number of 2015- Picked by Shoby

Its time to recall some of those Bollywood tracks that forced us to hit the dance floor and have a bindaas dance & party.

Number 5: Chittiyan Kalayian from Roy- Kanika Kapoor the most wanted singer of item numbers in this era sung this party number with all the nakhraas required. What we may safely call the second version of Baby Doll from Raagini MMS 2, Chittiyan Kalaiayn was equally entertaining.

Number 4: Tipsy Hogai from Dilliwali Zaalim Girlfirend- Dr. Zeus composed this highly electrifying track sung by Miss Pooja & Rajveer Singh and it went almost viral for its highly party oriented lyrics & musical arrangements. It became a must played song in the playlist of all the party lovers.

Number 3: Sayyian Superstar from Ek Paheli Leela- Tulsi Kumar sang this Amaal Malik composed peppy composition and it made brighter by some awesome dance moves by Sunny Leone. It was not only beautifully arranged & composed but also had supremely loved lyrics as well.

Number 2: Tukur Tukur from Dilwale- Year ended with SRK- Kajol's starrer Dilwale and it had some awesome tunes composed by maestro Pritam. Tukur Tukur was an full on energetic track in which SRK & Varun Dhawan along with the leading ladies of the film brunt the dance floor.

Best Party Song of 2015: Banno from Tanu Weds Manu Returns- Banno was undoubtedly most loved party & wedding track of 2015. Composed by Krsna Solo and penned by Rajshker this track was awesomely crooned by Brijesh Shandllya, Swati Sharma and at the top of everything, it was one of the best bindaas performance of Kangana Ranaut which made this song one of its kind.

Tevar's Superman, Welcome Back's Tutti Boley Wedding Di, Tanu Weds Manu Returns Ghani Banwri & Maari Galli, Dil Dharakney Do's Gallan Goodiyan, Bajrangi Bhaijan's Selfie Le Le Re, Ek Paheli Leela's Desi Look, Gabbar Is Back's Aao Raja and Phantom's Afghan Jalebi were other great party numbers that remain on our playlist while prtying. 

Biggest Bollywood Disappointments of 2015- Picked by Shoby

Biggest Bollywood Disappointments of 2015- Picked by Shoby

As the year is just going to be concluded, let me tell you about those Bollywood movies that have turned out to be sheer disappointment to me. It is a custom that expectations are always attached to the bigger names & brands in the business and if someone having a huge name gets wrong somewhere, it is simply not tolerated. So here is my list of biggest disappointments.

Disappointment Number 5: Prem Ratan Dhan Payo- Sooraj Barjatya is a name synonym to house hold cinema and his Rajshri productions has enjoyed the status of a highly respected banner when it comes to family oriented sagas. He along with his iconic character Prem (played by Salman Khan & some other actors) have given us some biggest family dramas of Indian cinema in likes of Main Ne Piyar Kiya, Hum Aap ke hain kaun, Hum Saath Saath Hain and others.

When he announced the movie PRDP with Salman (as the return of Prem) with Sonam Kapoor and Neil Nitin Mukesh with the sound track of Himesh Reshammiya, it instantly grabbed the attention of everyone. But unfortunately film itself did not come out as something to cherish. It might have worked wonders in 90's or even at the start of this century, but this was not at all a product made for today's era. A sluggish script with old fashioned dialogues and helpless family drama (which looks much artificial) and an ignorable sound track. Even the persona of Salman Khan couldn't save it.

Disappointment Number 4: All Is Well- Umesh Shukla, the celebrated director of  critically acclaimed & commercially successful Satirical Comedy OMG (Oh My God) brought together Bachchan Jr (Abhishek) with Rishi Kapoor in this hardly entertaining comedy. Although film had some solid sequences but they were so few that film couldn't make any mark in its totality and went almost unnoticed for me.

Disappointment Number 3: Tamasha- Combination of Imtiaz Ali, AR Rehman sb & Ranbir Kapoor with Deepika Padukone & Irshad Kamil is a dream team and if they all get associated with one project, it should turn out to be a mighty one but one of the most versatile directors of today's' time Imtiaz Ali has failed to keep the legacy of Rockstar & Highway. Although Ranbir & Deepika gave their heart out and performed exceptionally well but week script and not so authentic screenplay ruined the party.

Disappointment Number 2: Hamari Adhuri Kahani- Everyone expected Mohit Suri to make something even more bigger & better than his last two hit flicks (Aashiqui 2 & Ek Villain). But he came up with such a "not so interesting" thing which looked like as an incomplete entertainer as its name. Two brilliant actors Emran Hashmi & Vidya Balan were wasted brutally and even its decent score couldn't help anything.

Biggest Disappointnemt of 2015: Dilwale- Now what should one expect from the hit machine Rohit Shetty when he brings together one of the most cherished Jodi of Bollywood (SRK & Kajol). This half backed so called action rom-com was not at all impressive. With a very mediocre script, unconvincing screenplay,  cliché dialogues and not for good sort of comedy sequences, this one appeared as a junk. It took me by surprise SRK did a project with such an ordinary writing. Even its collections in box office are depicting how audience have rated this movie. SRK should have a re-think about the projects he choose after acting in movies like Happy New Year & Dilwale. At the same time, Dilwale should work as an eye opener for Rohit Shetty too.

Apart from above listed, films like Tevar, Alone, Dharam Sankat Mein, Welcome Back, Hero, Calendar Girls, Shaandaar and Mr. X were also not up to the mark, conisideriung the fact that these all movies were either from some big banners or a talented director or they featured some supremely talent cast. Specially high expectations were attached with Hero, Calender Girls & Shandaar but they couldn't lived up to the expectations. 

Bollywood At The Heels of Copying Tunes... Feature by Shoby

Bollywood At The Heels of Copying Tunes... Feature by Shoby

Music has always been an integral part of Bollywood movies and one can not think of a trademark Bollywood film without songs & dances. Although Indian film industry has always produced gem of artists (musicians, lyricists & singers) but they have also never been shy from copying foreign tunes.

Music of some upcoming films are also heavily inspired (read copied or derived) from Pakistani & other songs.

Airlift- Akshay Kumar's upcoming thriller Airlift has music by Armaal malik and he has borrowed two tunes from Soch & Didi.

Soch Na Sake- This is a re-do of a beautiful number Soch  from Pakistani band's Soch. Although Arijit & Tulsi Kumar have sung it with all the soul required but the original version of Soch has already made its mark to the fullest and therefore I cant really enjoy the latest version. Armaal Malik should have come up with a fresh composition, not a copied version of an already hit track.

Dil Cheez Tujhe Dedi- Now this one is a real surprise as two sensations Arijit & Ankit come together for a track that apparently looks like being inspired (read derived) from Pakistani pop semi classical icon singer Sajjad Ali's hit Babiya, which was itself a re-do version of Khaled's Arabic song Didi. Dil Cheez Tujhey Dedi is a fun track & has the flavour of Arabian music with a lot of foot tapping instrumental play.

Kiya Kool hain Hum 3: Jawaani Le Doobi seems being highly inspired from a Pakistani old song Shoukan Mele Di from the film with the same name released in 1975. the original song was sung by Naheed Akhtar. However, latest version of song though looks steamy & use of modern instruments & Kanika's voice make it a fun song.

List of Winners- Stardust Awards 2015

List of Winners- Stardust Awards 2015

Best Actor Of The Year (Male)
Amitabh Bachchan (Shamitabh)

Best Actor Of The Year (Female) 
Deepika Padukone (Piku)

Best Director Of The Year
Aanand L Rai (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)

Best Film Of The Year
Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Acting Debut (Male) 
Sooraj Pancholi

Best Acting Debut (Female) 
Bhumi Pednekar

Best Debut Couple
Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty

Power-packed performance of the year
Aishwarya Rai (Jazbaa)

Breakthrough performance by a child artist
Harshali Malhotra (Bajrangi Bhaijaan)

Best Actor/Actress In A Comic Role
Kartik Aaryan (Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2)

Style Icon Of The Year Award
Parineeti Chopra

Best Lyricist
Varun Grover ('Tu Kisi Rail Si' - Masaan)

Best Playback Singer (Female) 
Palak Muchhal (Prem Ratan Dhan Payo)

Best Playback Singer (Male) 
Armaan Malik ('Main Hoon Hero Tera')

Best Music Director
Amit Trivedi (Shaandaar; Bombay Velvet)

Best Music Album
T-Series (Roy)

Best Screenplay
Varun Grover (Masaan)

Editor's choice performer of the year (Female)
Richa Chadda (Masaan)

Airlift- Music Review by Shoby

Airlift- Music Review by Shoby

2.5 Hearts out of 5

Music of Airlift is released and here is my analysis on this Akshay Kumar, Nimrat kaur's starrer.

Soch Na Sake- This is a re-do of a beautiful number Soch  from Pakistani band's Soch. Although Arijit & Tulsi Kumar have sung it with all the soul required but the original version of Soch has already made its mark to the fullest and therefore I cant really enjoy the latest version. Armaal Malik should have come up with a fresh composition, not a copied version of an already hit track.

Dil Cheez Tujhe Dedi- Now this one is a real surprise as two sensations Arijit & Ankit come together for a track that apparently looks like being inspired (read derived) from Pakistani pop semi classical icon singer Sajjad Ali's hit Babiya, which was itself a re-do version of Khaled's Arabic song Didi. Dil Cheez Tujhey Dedi is a fun track & has the flavour of Arabian music with a lot of foot tapping instrumental play.

Mera Nachan Nu- This full on Punjabi bhangra track is designed for some Bhangras & dance moves. Akshay Kumar is famous for his Bhangra moves & you may agree with me that we love him doing these bhangra dance steps in one of the tracks in him films and this this is a no different case.

Tu Bhoola Jise- Today, we rarely get to listen the magical voice of KK and here he joins hands with Armaal for this soft number. A sad number that has all the emotions enriched within. It has a feel of Tadap Tadap (from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam).

Soch Na Sake- Album of Airlift has an all Arijit Singh's version of Soch Na Sake as well in the end.

Overall, this album is another addition to the great numbers already given by Armaal malik, however this one apparently look to be inspired from some already hit works like Babiya & Soch.

Wazir- Music Review by Shoby

Wazir- Music Review by Shoby

2  Hearts out of 5

Bejoy Nambiar (David fame) is all set to release his next directorial venture titled as Wazir, starring Amitabh Bachchan & Farhan Akhtar in lead roles along with Aditi Rao Hydari, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh & Manav Kaul in supporting roles. Music of the film is composed by various artists & similarly songs are also penned by different lyricists. A brief review of each song is given below:

Tere Bin- Album starts of with this typical Shantanu Moitra type of melody sung by maestro Sonu Nigam & Shreya Ghoshal. It has a feel of Piyo Bole (from Parineeta) where the soothing melody & use of traditional instruments like Tabla and flute takes you in an altogether different world. To me, this is perhaps one needy tune that one would love to listen all alone in order to get rid of noise pollution that today's world carries with it.

Tu Mere Paas- Yet another slow tempo track sung & composed by Ankit Tiwari in his very own style. The track builds up as it moves ahead. Although lyrics are nice but over all song fails to leave an impact on first hearing which is very unlikely of Ankit's songs.

Maula- Yet another Sufi/ Qawali based track sung by Javed Ali in his natural style. It is very much inspired from the likes of Mauala Mere Maula, Kun Faaya Kun and many others which have been a hit. It may go well with the film's theme however it lacks the appeal may be because we have already heard plenty of same sort of compositions in recent times.

Tere Liye Mera- Sung by Gagan Baderiya & Prashant Pillai, it appears to be a Hamd in which Almighty is praised while accepting man's limitations and asking the Help & Blessings from GOD. In the heart of this track, there lies a nice rock sound with use of heavy metals that sounds good.

Khel Khel Mein- After Pidli (Shamitabh) Amitabh Bachchan is once again behind the mic to croon this track. It mostly consists of bols of Tabla. Big B utters some nice lesson based lines in his heavy voice. Although it is not one of those traditional tracks that our ears are fond of listening, but still this one is a winner as it is composed beautifully by Advaita (band) in classical ragas. It will be a best pick for background score of the film.

Wazir Theme- It is an instrumental thematic number and must work good as the bg score for the film.

Overall, Wazir has a so-so sound track that may appeal the audience once heard along with the movie in the theatres. My picks are Tere bin & Khel Khel Mein.

Sanam Teri Kasam (2016)- Trailer Review by Shoby

Sanam Teri Kasam (2016)- Trailer Review by Shoby

Pakistani TV actress Mawra is featuring in her debut Bollywood movie Sanam Teri Kasam along with another relatively new comer Harshvardhan Rane. Trailer of the film is released and here is my take on it.

It starts of showing Mawra as a naive glam-less sort of girl meeting Harshvardhan by chance and then they start enjoying the company of each other. As the trailer progresses you get to see some complex & confusing sort of love-ignore relationship is building between them. A couple of shots depict some sort of action is also present in the film somewhere.

Overall, it is looking like a fair job done on the part of Mawra whereas Harshvardhan is also looking nice in his rough & tough looks. Only one issue that I may point out here is that these sort of Situational romantic stories are risky as they may or may not leave an impact in totality when they emerge on bigger screens, reason being expectations of the viewers and experimentation by the film makers.

Its music is composed by Himesh Reshammiya and Thanks GOD that he has not sung any song in the movie. Likes of Arijit Singh, Ankit & Neeti Mohan will surely be a good combo with this brilliant composer. 

Top 5 Songs of Bollywood 2015- Picked by Shoby

Top 5 Songs of Bollywood 2015- Picked by Shoby

Music has always been in integral part of Bollywood cinema and it has always managed to bring unforgettable melodies. This year was no different as Indian films brought some outstanding songs & sound tracks. Bollywood is changing and same is being depicted in background scores & sound tracks of the movies.

This fourth episode of Best of Bollywood deals with the best of the songs that cinema has provided us in 2015 . This is perhaps most difficult to choose as many compositions have truly been loved by all of us.

Number 5: (Khamoshiyan Title Track from Khamoshiyan): A soothing composition crooned by Arijit Singh in his natural melodious voice. This track started the calendar 2015 on a perfect note. Nice lyrics by Rashmi Singh depicting pain & emotions that someone goes in love is beautifully shown with the use of symbolic poetry. Jeet Ganguly composed this track in a terrific way.

Number 4: (Tu Hai Ki Nahi from Roy): One of the most novel & fresh tunes we have heard recently was this Ankit Tiwari's melodious compositoin sung by him in an extra ordinary manner. Penned by Abhendra Kumar Upadhyay, its lyrics magnificently elaborated the feel of passionate lost love. One of those tunes that I personally found myself humming at times and I am sure most of you must have also hummed it throughout the year.

Number 3: (Moh Moh Ke Dhaage from Dum Laga Ke Haisha). Papon beautifully sung this semi classical track in his unorthodox voice, for which lyrics were penned by Angaraag Mahanta. It explains the true emotions of love & sadness which one goes through in the life. Beautiful use of Urdu words in this song made it one of the most beautifully penned songs in recent times.

Yeh moh moh ke dhaage... Teri ungliyon se ja uljhe... Koi toh toh na laage... Kis tarah girah ye suljhe...

Number 2: (Humari Adhoori Kahani from Humari Adhoori Kahani). This was one of the highlights of year 2015. Arijit sung this sad song in his natural voice with lots of emotions. Not only a perfect voice but also emotions were required to display the pain and same was perfectly excited by Arijit. Beautiful use of instruments made the grief quite visible through this track.

Best Song of 2015: (Deewani Mastani from Bajirao Mastani): Sanjay Leela Bhansali made Shreya Ghoshal sing his own compositoin, a classical mujra track with a feel of Sufi & qawali music in his cult classic Bajirao Mastani. Written by Siddharth–Garima, this track had the sufi touch in lyrics like Zakham aisa tu ne lagaya... Deewani ho gai... Marham aisa tu ne lagay, roohani ho gai. To me, it is undoubtedly the best track of the year.

Apart from above listed let me highlight some other notable songs we heard this year. First of all it was a sort of comeback from 90's icon singer Kumar Sanu as he sang two songs Tu & Dard Karara for Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Jee Karda & Jeena Jeena from Badlapur were beautiful. Anushka Sharma's production NH 10 gave us Chill Gaey Naina, a hard rock track with excellent emotional lyrics. Mohit Chauhan's Khuda Bhi for film Ek Paheli Leela was awesome. Teri Khushboo & Tu Jo Hai from Mr. X were also hit. Humari Adhuri Kahani gave splendid music especially its title track & Hasee. Tanu Weds Manu Returns had a phenomenal music especially its track Ghani Banwri sung in Haryanvi accent by Jyoti Nooran was awesome.

Agar Tum Sath Ho from Tamasha was a signature AR Rehman's composition. Sun Saathiya from ABCD 2 was melodious. Bollywood continued with its spree of re-doing the old hits. In this regard, Aey Mere Humsafar from film All is Well & Tumhain Apna Bananey Ka Junoon from Hate Story 3 deserves a mention. Mohe Rang Do Laal & Ayat from Bajirao Mastani were classical & semi classical music at their best. Janam Janam & Gerua from Dilwale were soothing love ballads.

Pardon me if I missed any song of your choice as the list was quite long and it was nearly impossible to mention each & every beautiful piece.