Euphoria: My Favourite Songs

Euphoria is one of my favorite bands. They say they created the genre of Hindrock. I don't know what that means, but their songs are enjoyable and the videos (lot of them directed by Pradeep Sarkar) are exceptional. So here is a list of my favourite Euphoria Songs in no particular order:

1. Dhoom Pichuk:
The one that started it all. I guess this saved Archies Music (I think they eventually folded up) from bankruptcy. The video was awesome, Shubha Mudgal's vocals in the end took the song to another level, so did the setting, Benaras (I decided I will go there after seeing this video and it is still pending). Here is the video:




3. Kaise Bhoolegi Mera Naam
This song is average but video is awesome! It tells a story in 3 minutes and does a good job at that. Boy Pradeep Sarkar has some talent (why on earth did he make the idiotic Laaga Chunari Mein Daaga? ). So this video shows Vidhya Balan's marriage which is messed up and in typical Bollywood style, Palash Sen jumps in and saves the day!. I particularly like the cut at 3:23 mark. Nice job! Here is the video:




2. Hum (Rok Sako To Rok Lo)
This is one of the relative unknowns. I remember this song was used in one of the Maruti Adverts. I love the song due to minimal (or no?) usage of electronic instruments. It features "Miss India" Mehnaz. So here is the video:




4. Sha Na:
Features Neha Dhupia in her pre-Bollywood stardom days. The song is pretty nice! Most impressive is the chorus which means nothing but I find myself repeating days on a trot.




5. Phir Dhoom:
Another Pradeep Sarkar Gem, this video was the first one of the second album. And boy it was number 1 for a long time! I remember this Veejay on Channel V cribbing that artists need to make better albums just to unseat Euphoria!




6.Mantra:
This was India's first single album. Just one song, 2 versions for Rs. 20. The concept failed miserably, but the song was solid. In the starting of the video, there is this producer type person who is depressed that the video doesn't have girls and the band doesn't want to go to a foreign localtion for shooting! The song is great but the Guitar Solo at 3:10 takes it to the next level (and brings it in this list:) ). The best part about the video is that the common man stars in this, not the band. Awesome.




7. Tum:
This video features Michelle (the same female in the Dhoom Pichuk video). This time though, the song is much better than the ultra depressing video. Don't have much to write except I prefer happy endings




8. Maaeri:
Masterpiece, the video and the song. Have nothing else to say.




9. Bhoola Sab
Highly Underrated, but I like it due to good guitars, the whistle and a totally unconventional video.

The Indipop revolution of the 90s

In the Big Bang Theory, one of Sheldon's dreams is to invent a time machine. Well it has already been invented. YouTube.

YouTube takes you back to the glorious days when 21 inch CRT television was the greatest thing and you had 25 different channels! Also there were no pesky DTH services, there was the cable-wallah dude who used to mis-report his numbers so that he could keep monthly charges low for consumers. God bless him!

You can see all the old ads, tv serials, songs, opening titles for all your favorite series as kids (Rant: There was a Pepsi Advertisement, Freedom to be Azaadi Dil Ki which I can't find anywhere! Please help!)

So basically randomly visiting different eras on YouTube I realized that one species of entertainers has disappeared from the scene, the Indian Popstars. The 90s were the golden days of Indipop. We had slew of "stars" from Baba Sehgal or Alisha Chinoy or Suchitra Krishnamoorthy or Raageshwari or Saagarika or Anaida or Mehnaaz or Altaaf Raja (god this is a long list!)

What differentiated these guys was that they didn't usually go for Playback singing and published their own albums. More so because they had their unique voices which weren't suitable for actresses (Alka Yagnik anyone?).

The videos that were made in those years were pretty slick and match up to the international videos of that time. I guess in those years, Pop was a niche product and hence these guys were not catering to the auto rickshaws but the cassette players in the cars and hence they were a class product.

What happened to these guys? Well here is my Hypothesis. Sonu Nigam happened. This dude who started with Gulshan Kumar belting out average (not bad though) imitations of Mohammed Rafi (in my opinion the greatest singer ever!) was rising in Bollywood. At the same time he had a hit TV show going on. In middle of all this, he came up with his blockbuster album Deewana. I think that's when pop started dying a slow death, though there were sporadic groups like Bombay Vikings or Euphoria (no they are not rock!) which came through. But the great days of Indipop were over.

Roadrunner

One of my favorite cartoons is the Road Runner Show. It features Wile E Coyote who wants to capture this (in my opinion irritating) bird Roadrunner. So Mr. Coyote launches all these elaborate schemes to capture Roadrunner and has a spectacular failure rate of 100%.

Coyote buys these nifty gadgets from Acme Industries. If it was for real, the owner would be the richest man on this earth and Acme would be the largest corporation on the planet. Sadly, that is not the case. Well, the only issue with the products is that they end up failing spectacularly at the critical moment. Anyhow, this is one show where I wanted the Roadrunner to be caught and be eaten. It was an irritating creature, and somehow never was able to get my sympathy (like Jerry the mouse in Tom & Jerry).

Looking back (am I that old? Seriously?) I realize Coyote represents all of us. We think we can plan for everything life throws at us, and catch the Roadrunner. But somehow, Roadrunner (life) finds a way to mess up these plans or at the critical juncture something (Acme Industries’ products) gets messed up and we are left hanging in the canyon with only one option, to fall down with a helpless shrug.

To summarize, careful planning is no match for dumb luck.

I just hope Coyote catches that damn road runner and roasts it slowly and eats it!

Titan Watches

Q. What is common to the following famous people: Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherji, Mozart, Sheetal Mallar, Aishwarya Rai, Tara Sharma, John Abraham and Minisha Lamba, Maria Gorreti, Praveen Dabas, Rahul Bose and Saira Mohan?

A. They all have been featured in Titan Watches advertisements.

Ever since I can remember watching TV, I remember the Titan Jingle. Today browsing through YouTube videos, discovered that there is a Titan Industries Channel ) which has advertisements going way into the past.

Seeing old advertisements to a new one is like seeing evolution, from the long 2 min advertisements in the eighties to the 30 sec advertisements we see now (which is a testament to either decreasing viewer attention span or increasing rates of airtime). In case of Titan, right from their first advertisement (Introducing Titan Quartz) to the latest ones, barring a few exceptions, all commercials have been less than or equal to a minute. Which I think is awesome.

I also realized the growing power of star value. Sure there is an Aishwarya Rai advert, but when she wasn’t THE Aishwarya Rai. In fact she has been shown as a wife in that advertisement; I guess she started playing a wife on screen recently only. Nowadays, you have Aamir Khan, Rahul Bose, Rani Mukherji, Saira Mohan and John Abraham endorsing various Titan Brands.

Titan has had the same music for the incredibly long time, few people will know that it is Mozart’s 25^th symphony. This consistency in branding I think is something Titan should be proud of.

Here are few of my Favorite Titan Adverts through the years:

So many things spoken with music and no words

And again.

I remember this ad when I was a kid, since it had only one word, Papa. Superb!

CID

Sony has this long running program, CID. I neither like nor hate this show, but over the years (it has the Longest running crime investigation serial award, Wikipedia informs me), we have found some common things that happen in every single episode of CID. These include:

1. ACP Pradyuman (third from left, in the suit) has this line, in which camera zooms into his face, his eyebrow snaps up and he says, "Ab dekhta hoon yeh mujrim mujhse kaise bachta hai"
2. If there is any dangerous work, like going up an electric pole or diving underwater for some thing, Inspector Fredricks (second from left in the picture) always does that. 
3. Inspector Daya (extreme right in the picture) slaps the criminal and the scene cuts to the crime branch (this happens in every episode I have seen)
4. The team finds some common thing (paan stain, pesticide etc) and ACP Pradyuman says "Jaao, poore Mumbai shehar mein __________ (insert the item from the list above) ki dukano mein jaake dhoondo ki kisne _______ (date of crime) tareekh ko yeh samaan khareeda tha". The funny thing is that the shopkeepers ALWAYS keeps records of the people coming in and going out!

Long Live CID!!!