On Sunday night, the stars descended on the red carpet in downtown Mumbai to attend the most-awaited, highly-prestigious, 57th Filmfare Awards Ceremony. What we are interested are the music awards ONLY. Because its music, and music only that matters to us. So why don’t we take a look at the nominations?
FILMFARE AWARDS BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR NOMINATIONS
AR Rahman – Rockstar
Ram Sampath – Delhi Belly
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy – Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Sohail Sen – Mere Brother Ki Dulhan
Vishal-Shekhar – RA.One
FILMFARE AWARDS BEST LYRICIST NOMINATIONS
Gulzar – Darling (7 Khoon Maaf)
Irshad Kamil – Nadaan Parindey (Rockstar)
Irshad Kamil – Sadda Haq (Rockstar)
Javed Akhtar – Senorita (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Vishal Dadlani and Niranjan Aiyenger – Chammak Challo (Ra.One)
FILMFARE AWARDS BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (MALE) NOMINATIONS
Akon and Vishal Dadlani – Chammak Challo (RA.One)
Mohit Chauhan – Jo Bhi Mein (Rockstar)
Mohit Chauhan – Sadda Haq (Rockstar)
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan – Teri Meri (Bodyguard)
Shafaqat Amanat Ali – Dildaara (RA.One)
FILMFARE AWARDS BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (FEMALE) NOMINATIONS
Alyssa Mendonsa – Khwabon Ke Parindey (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Harshdeep Kaur – Katiya Karu (Rockstar)
Rekha Bharadwaj and Usha Uthup – Darling (7 Khoon Maaf)
Shreya Ghoshal – Teri Meri (Bodyguard)
Shreya Ghoshal – Saibo (Shor In The City)
Before we go any further, here is a disclaimer! I personally believe that award shows lack credibility today. A decade ago and before, there used to be some amount of fairness involved in choosing the eventual winner. A friend of mine who has worked behind-the-stage in one of these shows has confirmed the the farcical nature of today’s numerous award shows. In my opinion, Filmfare is the pioneer of Indian award ceremonies and is relatively the most credible award show today. There’s a reason why this award show has continued strong for 57 years!
Phew.
Now, let’s take a look at the winners in each category!
BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR
WINNER: A.R. Rahman – Rockstar
Upon receiving the award, which incidentally was the 2500th diamond studded Filmfare Trophy to be given away, A.R. Rahman said, “I want to thank Imtiaz, and all the singers of Rockstar, and everyone who has worked on the music along with me.”
Shresht’s opinion
Wow. What a surprise! I definitely didn’t see this coming. (FYI: I’m being sarcastic.) Undoubtedly, the music of Rockstar was really good compared to Rahman’s recent compositions (Read: Jhootha Hi Sahi, Raavan, Blue). Personally, I would’ve picked Delhi Belly for Ram Sampath’s sheer musical versatility. To be honest, it was a tough competition. For ‘Bhaag D.K. Bose’ you had ‘Sadda Haq’ as a contender. Sigh!
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BEST LYRICS
WINNER: Irshad Kamil – ‘Nadaan Parindey’ – Rockstar
Shresht’s opinion:
Even though Gulzar sahab was nominated, this award had Irshad Kamil’s name written all over it – be it for Sadda Haq or Nadaan Parindey. Both these songs have brilliant lyrics – my personal favorite being Nadaan Parindey:
‘Kaga re kaga re mori itni araz tose
Chun chun khaiyo maas
Arajiya re khaiyon na tu naina morey
Khaiyon na do naina morey
Piya ke milan ki aas’
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BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (MALE)
WINNER: Mohit Chauhan – ‘Jo Bhi Mein’ – Rockstar
Upon receiving the award, Mohit said, “Thank you so much. It’s really special tonight over here. I want to thank my parents back home in Himachal. I want to thank Rahman sahab for creating such awesome songs for Rockstar. I want to thank Imtiaz for his vision of Jordan, Ranbir Kapoor, Irshad for writing such wonderful lyrics. Thank you.”
Shresht’s opinion:
Ah! A bit tricky – a bit debatable too. No doubt Mohit Chauhan’s singing has time-and-again proved award-worthy, but credit has to be given to Akon for the ease with which he seemed to have sung ‘Chammak Challo’. Managing to grasp the nuances of pronunciation of Hindi words isn’t easy for a non-Indian and Akon, hands-down, did a marvelous job. Amusingly enough, the nomination is for both, Akon & Vishal Dadlani, but Vishal never sang the song. Why the nomination thus?
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BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (FEMALE)
WINNER: Rekha Bharadwaj & Usha Uthup – ‘Darling’ – 7 Khoon Maaf
Usha Uthup broke down while accepting her award and on behalf of Rekha Bhardwaj, and said, “Thank you Filmfare, the mother of all awards in India. In 42 years, this is my first award! It’s unbelievable for me. Thank you to all the music directors, to my family for letting me grow, thank you to Vishal Bhardwaj-ji“.
Shresht’s opinion:
Dddaarrrllliiinnngggg, this one was totally justified! Usha Uthup’s infectious, endearing voice is beautifully complemented by Rekha Bhardwaj’s rustic voice. Skeptics might point out the fact that this isn’t an original song – but hey! We aren’t talking about the best song award, are we?
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RD BURMAN AWARD FOR BEST UPCOMING TALENT
WINNER: Krsna for Tanu Weds Manu
Shresht’s opinion:
Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of Krsna. Do not confuse him with Krishna Beura who’s sung ‘Maula Mere Le Le’ from Chak De India. Krsna debuted as a full-fledged music composer with Tanu weds Manu. That’s pretty much his discography. Here’s to hoping that he proves worthy of the RD Burman Award.
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BEST BACKGROUND SCORE
WINNER: Ranjit Barot – Shaitan
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BEST SOUND DESIGN
WINNER: Nakul Kamte for Don 2
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