The nation is rocking to it, are you?

I have been meaning to write this post for a long long time but unfortunately, I had not been able to obtain a proper image to give this topic the feel that it deserves. Now that I undoubtedly have a deserving image, I must say what I have been wanting to, ever since I watched Bunty aur Babli. Apart from the movie itself which was, at least to me, value for money (in the manager's lingo) and fulltoo timepass (in the tapori's lingo), the sizzling appearance of Aishwarya Rai and a one over another performance by the Bachchans was something completely else.

"Kajraare Kajraare mere kaare kaare naina" goes Aishwarya Rai in a costume that suits the character and the song to the tee. Unusual in a modern movie and yet, all the more enjoyable for the reason, the song pictures a bar dancer in the garb of a courtesan singing an old timers' qawwali. Although I admit that Aishwarya Rai would not have been on my mind when I imagined the set up for the first time but then again, she has done a fantastic job of looking suitably bar dancer-ish and raising her eyebrows and biting her lips ever so theatrically to give an original (though not very natural) feel to the song.

The point at which the song begins is a classic case of perfect placement in itself. As the cop and the thief sit gulping one drink after the other (with some of the drinks equivalent to tickets to the moon), the belle starts off with a couplet and follows it up with a tantalizing display of skin, all for the eyes of the senior (with a capital S, perhaps) member of the cop-thief gang. As she sways in her back-less choli and lehenga to the winsome tune, the junior B is shown making an absolute ass of himself while the senior seems to be unaffected.

Till this instant, the song is like just another song, but for Aishwarya's antics that have just started to make themselves felt. As soon as the Big B makes an entry, however, things change dramatically. Abhishek's dumb act becomes all the more effective and Aishwarya's lip biting even more pronounced as Amitabh Bachchan jumps on to the dance floor with his own brand of hip shaking and hands stretching. Combine that with the UP and Bihar feel of the lyrics and the singing style and you get Bachchan Sr. on his home turf and on his home turf, the legend does not disappoint at all.

As the song picks up steam and the two Bachchans come into their element, even the skin show of Aishwarya seems to move to the background and all that the viewer is focused at is the fast pace of the song, the expressions of the three actors and of course, the relaxed at times and yet pacy at others rendition that has more modulations than I have seen in any other recent song. In fact, by the time the end comes and the song reaches its crescendo, the feeling is almost surreal and any hopes of catching the meaning behind the song (if at all there were any) are utterly and completely lost.

It has been a long time now since the song hit the TV screens but its popularity does not seem to subside any more than it did in the initial few days. Of course, those who did not like the song did not like it right from the word go and the day one but those who did, still swear by it as one of the best songs to have hit Hindi Cinema in recent times (whether it be in terms of music or picturisation). I know of at least one place where the song has almost become an anthem and that is Room no. 8 of G Hostel of an institute called IIM, at a place called Kozhikode.

As the still continuing promos on some channels say, the nation is truly rocking to it.