EDITed to fix YouTube link.
Last night I attended a South Asian-themed party, deejayed by none other than Good Goose. Naturally, the song selection was impressive – South Asian songs that you’ve got to move to, popular crowd-pleasers and old favorites, all thrown together with attitude.
One of my objectives for the evening was to find some terrific South Asian music, and I did just that! The song above was played early on in the party, and caught my attention. Thank goodness for Shazam – I got the instant gratification of finding the song’s artists and title.
I haven’t seen the movie this song comes from, 2009’s Blue, but it seems that it didn’t get the best critical reception. On the other hand, it’s the most expensive Bollywood movie made to date, so I’m guessing it had to be a Titanic-esque blockbuster. Otherwise, someone lost a lot of money!
However, with tunes like this, I figure it had to have done well in the box office. “Fiqrana” isn’t your mother’s Bollywood song – it’s got a modern electronic/dance sound, and edgy audio and visuals (you wouldn’t have seen dancers in bikinis back then!) I later learned that “Fiqrana” was composed by A.R. Rahman, which was quite the “oh, duh!” moment. You probably remember his award-winning soundtrack for “Slumdog Millionaire“, with the incredible “O Saya” and the ubiquitous “Jai Ho!”
What I love about this track – and A.R. Rahman’s compositions in general – is how it modernizes traditional Bollywood music with electronic elements and beats that are undoubtedly the envy of many producers.
I’m also tickled by that the guy in this video wears sunglasses at night.
Tuneiverse 