Milliblog Annual Music round-up 2010

Here we go again…at the end of another calendar year…another annual round-up. 2010 was a phenomenal year for Hindi film music and Indipop; an average year for all 4 South Indian language film music.
The lists here are in order of preference.

Hindi

Mainstream Hindi film music had a wonderful year, yet again. It was clearly Amit Trivedi’s show..a fact that he sealed with a national award for Dev.D! The other composers who really made a mark include Vishal and Shekhar. Their consistency in making highly listenable music was marred only by the kind of projects that came to them. And, some of the most unheard, underrated music made its mark too, at least on Milliblog – soundtracks like Soch Lo, for instance. When it comes to listing the top 3 soundtracks of the year, Uddan tops the list clearly for me – it was a triumph of a fantastic film and even better music by Amit. Vishal Shekhar’s Anjaana Anjaani may be have drubbed severely as a film, but it was one of the few soundtracks of the year that was listenable back to back, almost every single track of it. I also had a tough time choosing the 3rd one – it was a difficult toss between No One Killed Jessica and Striker, but I choose to go with the latter because of the sheer vibrancy a multi-composer soundtrack like that offered.

Break ke Baad reviews 2.5 stars so far

LA Times Indian romcom has engaging performances. Too bad the script 
doesn't live up to them.

Imran Khan and Deepika Padukone star in the Indian romcom "Break Ke Baad."                  (Reliance Big Pictures)

Komal Nahta, RadioSargam 2/5 Break Ke Baad is for the youth in the cities; its  reasonable price is an asset. Nikhat Kazmi, TOI 3/5 Nothing dramatic, just fresh: Break Ke Baad is the other  flavour of romance. One that you don't find in run-of-the mill Mills and Boon.  Blessy Chettiar, DNA2/5 If you don’t fall in the 20-30 age bracket, the events  unfolding in front of your eyes on the screen might leave you asking: ‘what the  hell is happening here?’ Sarita Tanwar, Mid-Day2.5/5 When you attempt a romantic comedy, you need to  abide by two rules -- it needs to have the freshness quotient and a twist in the tale ....Watch it only if you are addicted to romcoms. Anupama Chopra, NDTV 2.75/5

.. shows promise and sparkle but eventually doesn't deliver the goods.

Rajeev Masand, IBN  2.5/5 As romantic comedies go "Break Ke Baad", starring
Imran Khan and Deepika Padukone, is arguably more engaging than recent films
of this genre - "Aisha", "Anjaana Anjaani" and "Jhootha Hi Sahi".

Sukanya Varma, Rediff 2.5/5 Call it tribute or inspiration, the prospect of zero 
individuality in a creative medium is hardly a deal breaker. And it's definitely not cool 
anymore.   

What went on my iPod in repeat mode this month!

Every month or so I collect the recent tunes that I have listened to in repeat mode. That way I have a whole playlist of songs that I can listen to over and over again until I am finally tired of them :-)

So what was playing in repeat mode this month and why?

1. Munni Badnaam hui from Dabangg! Yes, I know it is not an original but is a redoing of an old nautanki tune, but it retains enough of the earthiness and raw appeal that such a song should have! So Munni stays for a few more weeks, and I have a spring in my step as I listen to it: