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By Joginder Tuteja, November 12, 2001 - 14:20 IST
When Javed Akhtar's son Farhan Akhtar can direct a
male oriented Twenty First century film like 'Dil
Chahta Hai', then why can't Gulzar's daughter start
her direction career with a female oriented film like
'Filhaal'? As the inlay cover says "Filhaal...is
about friendship, about love, about marriage, about
life..." All these facets of life are brought to
screen by Meghna Gulzar who graduates from hosting
Amul India Show to writing and directing her debut
feature film. Filhaal is the story of two sisters.
Their joys, their happiness and the turmoils they face
in their lives.
Tabu and Sushmita Sen, the actresses who believe in
doing lesser but quality work seem to be an asset to
Filhaal. Especially Tabu who can portray a strong
woman in 'Astitva' as convincingly as a bar dancer in
'Chandni Bar'. Sanjay Suri and Palash Sen play their
love interests. Sanjay Suri was well appreciated in
'Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi'. Also it would be especially
interesting to watch out for Palash Sen - the lead
singer of the band Euphoria of 'Dhoom', 'Phir Dhoom'
and 'Mantra' fame - who makes his screen debut with
Filhaal. Cinematography by Manmohan Singh (who
specializes in the flicks that come from the house of
Chopras) is mesmerizing.
This review took a long time to be written. When one
listens to just one song repeatedly without moving on
further to the rest of the songs, then this was bound
to happen. So after hearing the wonderfully composed
title song by Ashaji for umpteenth number of times, I
finally decided to listen to seven other tracks as
well. Most of the tracks have a whiff of fresh air
around them. One can just close the eyes and feel the
breeze surrounding him.
Now there is a problem!!! That's because now Ashaji
would be surely nominated for at least two songs this
year - 'Kambakth Ishq' which was a cry of a youth in
love and now 'Filhaal' which depicts the mature
emotions of a woman. Tough choice!! Her singing style
and the lyrics by Gulzar in the Title song so very
much resemble the kind of songs that made 'Ijazat'
memorable. Now comparison with Burman Da's score
should be enough reason for Anu Malik - Filhaal's
composer - to celebrate. It must have been a
Herculean for Anu Malik to set the lyrics by Gulzar to
tune but he does a great job in the end. Cheers !!
Instrumental of 'Filhaal' is another bonus.
'Waqt Ka Saaya' and 'Dil Ke Sannate' are sad and
haunting. They both aim at causing a depressing effect
and are successful with that. If the credits wouldn't
have mentioned it, then it would have been difficult to
believe that 'Waqt Ka Saaya' has actually been
rendered by Sonu Nigam. On repeated listening, one
does realize it but nevertheless, he sounds remarkably
different. He sings at the top of his voice which is
so different from his routine style of subdued vocals
as in his albums 'Jaan', 'Deewana' and 'Yaad'.
Jaspinder Narula gives him company in this song which
is about life's philosophy and the twists and turns
that may happen. 'Dil Ke Sannate' is yet another sad
number about loneliness. Palash Sen sings for himself
here. The song is as per the demand of the situation
and Palash does manage to exude the pain of the
protagonist.
'Le Chalen Doliyon Mein' by Roop Kumar Rathod and
Chitra has a South Indian flavor of musical style
attached to it. It is a slow love song but the
orchestra suddenly gathers momentum towards the end.
'Sola Singaar Karke' by Jaspinder Narula gets the same
kick start as another Anu Malik composition 'Taare Hai
Baarati' from 'Virasat'. It is sung on the occasion of
the 'god-bharai' ceremony that takes place at one of
the lead players home. Even it has got the punjabi
elements of celebrations (our filmmakers can't really
escape from the punjabi angle...isn't it??)
Two numbers that are quite similar in overall feel and
style are 'Kyun Baar Baar' and 'Naya Naya'. 'Kyun Baar
Baar' is a beautiful love song set to melodious music
by Anu Malik. Chitra's voice again has that 'coolness'
effect which is wonderfully soothing to ears. Full
marks to Chitra for this one. 'Naya Naya' is another
Chitra number with K.K. who thankfully gets to sing a
romantic number for a change. Otherwise most of the
numbers he gets are the sad intense numbers. K.K.
proves that given a chance he can be excellent in this
genre as well. Great going K.K. And kudos to Anu Malik
too for composing such wonderful melodies. This is yet
another quality product by the combo of Anu Mailk and
Gulzar after 'Asoka'.
Well Filhaal is definitely not for the man on the
streets. Primarily because of the heavy duty lyrics by
Gulzar which are quite poetic in nature. It is
difficult to visualize a common man humming such
numbers (except for the title song). But Filhaal
certainly holds a distinct CLASS appeal which will be
related well by the audience in Mumbai, South India,
other major cosmopolitan and of course the NRI
audience. That's all for now as 'filhaal' I am busy
listening to 'Ye Lamha Filhaal Je Leene De'.
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