Dont take it too seriously and you will like it
Rajan M. | Calcutta & San Jose | 09/01/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Being Indian, I was curious about how a non-indian would interpret our current music. To a serious listener, the music may sound weird and maybe even bad. But if you stay back a little, then the funky twists can be catchy.
Maybe this is part of the Fusion that some people are talking about. If our Bollywood films and music spread over the world, then other people will make their own interpretations and enrich us all.
"
Still A Favorite 6+ Years After I Bought It
F. Levine | MD, United States | 08/24/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I first heard cuts from the CD on the University of St. Cloud (Minnesota) radio station (corporate radio isn't going to touch it!) and was intrigued, so I got the CD in 1999 and have loved it ever since.
A prevous reviewer didn't like the modern remixing of or overlays on many of the songs, but this doesn't bother me (it doesn't seem heavy-handed) and it might make the CD a little more accessible to people who aren't familiar with the genre.
The tracks are alternately "groovy", mellow, James Bond-ish, chase-scene-ish, sinister, romantic...basically a late 60's/early 70s adventure movie extravaganza with an Indian twist and a bit of 90s DJ mixing. Somehow all of it flows together, though I suspect the songs come from different movies.
This brings me to just a couple of minor gripes: although there is a great little booklet in the package that explains the sometimes odd and dangerous world of Bollywood, there are no notes about the movies these tracks came from, which leaves me curious, especially since there are some odd sound bites of actors speaking dialogue in Hindi and English--I'd like to know the context! Actually, I'd rather have the movie notes and no dialogue, because it just disrupts the flow a little for me.
This is one of the most unusual CDs I have, and it's great to work to. People who see it on my CD rack or hear me playng it are inevitably curious about it. I love it! If you're curious about the genre or like sountracks or mod/funk sounds in general, this is a nice compilation."
Funky 70s Bollywood samplers
D. Sengupta | 07/23/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Mesmerising collection of sampler tracks from the composer duo Kalyanji-Anandji. Interspersed with corny dialogues from the movies, which inject humor. Amitabh Bachchan does the honors in Tracks 5 and 9.
The additional beats add to the tempo of the tracks. Good to see such material unearthed from inane, forgotten movies from India. Should be a breath of fresh air to the western audiences looking for something different."