National Awards for Vishal and Rekha Bhardwaj and others (Ishqiya)

The 58th National Film Awards (for 2010) were announced today.

Vishal Bhardwaj won his 2nd National Award for Best Music Direction (Songs) for "Ishqiya". His citation reads: "for blending rustic flavour with the Indian classical tradition. Earlier, Vishal had won this award for "Godmother" in 1999.

"Ishqiya" also won Rekha Bhardwaj her first Best Playback Singer - Female prize, the citation reading "for a sensual and evocative rendering of a heart longing for the beloved." (probably for "Ab Mujhe"). Two "Best Audiography" awards went to the film, to Kaamod Kharade (Location Sound Recordist ) and Debajit Changmai (Re-recordist of the final mixed track).

Unfortunately, Gulzar did not win his third award for Best Lyricist, losing out to Vairamuthu (who now has the most Best Lyricist awards at six). Incidentally, Suresh Wadkar, a long-time associate, won Best Male Playback Singer (for "Mee Sindhutai Sapkal")

(Readers will note that "Ishqiya" was a Vishal production. Previous National Awards won by Vishal and people associated with his films are listed here.)

Abhishek Chaubey: "Inside the Mind of Vishal Bhardwaj" (OPEN Magazine)

Abhishek Chaubey knows a thing or two about what makes Vishal tick, having assisted him and having directed a film under his production. OPEN magazine has an interview with Chaubey on his mentor.

(Link courtesy Ajay Bhat)

The music of "7 Khoon Maaf": track and credit listing

Posting on behalf of George

1. darling*: usha uthup/rekha bhardwaj
2. bekaraan: vishal bhardwaj (violins: ganesh-kumaresh) (a nice flourish that, if i may add)
3. o mama: kk (rap: clinton cerejo) [vishal does a PAANCH for himself :)]
4. awaara: master saleem (sitar: niladri kumar) [saleem does rahat]
5. tere liye: suresh wadkar (mohan veena: pandit vishwa mohan bhatt) [lucky charm wadkar?]
6. dil dil hai: suraj jagan
7. yeshu: rekha bhardwaj
8. doosri darling*: usha uthup, rekha bhardwaj, clinton cerejo, francois castellino
9. o mama (acoustic): kk

*original russian folk song 'kalinka' composed by ivan larionov (1860); additional russian lyrics: aditi singh sharma

An interview in The Hindu with Rekha Bhardwaj

The amazingly talented Rekha Bhardwaj, who recently performed (riffed?) in the Rajasthan International Folk Festival, speaks of her singing, Vishal's direction, singing "Namak", and how Vishal romanticises the fact that he took up music just to woo her in college. The full interview here.

The original "Dhan Te Nan" (Gubbare) version

In an earlier interview (also posted on this blog before by Abhishek), Vishal had mentioned that "Dhan Te Nan" was reworked from an episode of the same name dfor "Gubbare" (Zee TV, 90s). The episode was one of the early directorial forays by Vishal and by most accounts was quite badly made :-). The video of the opening has surfaced now (Gaurav & Salil pointed to it), and features some bad choreography, a rocking train, and an even more juvenile Sharman Joshi.

Quoting from the interview:

“Dhan te nan was not designed specially for Kaminey. I had first used it in a telefilm called Dhan Te Nan. I had used that catchphrase and the tune in that telefilm.

Dhan te nan is a phrase that belongs to our film and music culture. For us Indians cinema is the biggest cultural entity. We often borrow illustrations and speech patterns from our films. Dhan te nan is used during bedtime stories for dramatic effect.

Whenever I used to tell mey son Aasman stories I’d go ‘Dhan te nan’ to create drama. This phrase remained with me.”

I have always wondered how Vishal's baby steps in film making would have been. Here's an example. Thankfully, he's become much better :-)

Here's the video (sung by Suresh Wadkar & Roop Kumar Rathod, and humming by Rekha Bhardwaj):

Vishal talk

Rekha Bharadwaj speaks about her background, her singing career and of course, the other Bharadwaj.