Tips Films Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is no 9 on PLANET M charts

The songs from Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani are already on their way to topping the charts. The official PLANET M records state that 'Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani' is on the number 9 position in spite of just entering the charts a week ago.

A source from the label confirms “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani CD’s have not yet reached all zones in India as they were released just a week ago on the 9th October. This is very good news that the film’s music is doing so well even when it has entered the charts just recently. The album has a mix of fun songs, dance numbers and romantic melodies.”

Producer Ramesh Taurani along with Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Director Rajkumar Santoshi unveiled the Music CD’s of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani on the World Smile Day.

Pritam has done the music of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani which is a romantic comedy. Pritam has roped in some of the biggest singers for the album which include Atif Aslam, Kailash Kher, KK, Sunidhi Chauhan, Alisha Chinoy, Hard Kaur. Songs like the romantic “Tera Hone Laga Hoon”, the very hip “Main Tera Dhadkan Teri” and the fun and upbeat “Prem Ki Naiyya” have already become audience favorites.

The much awaited romantic comedy Rajkumar Santoshi’s Akab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani starring Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor will release on 6th November, 2009.

Ganesh Hegde is ready with his next album. His first album, G, was launched 4 years ago.

For a video in this album, Let’s Party, he asked Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra to star in it. They readily agreed and didn’t charge him any money for it. Priyanka finished her part of the shooting and Hrithik has been shooting from Wednesday and will continue shooting for a few more days. Ganesh’s first album was supported by Shahrukh Khan.

Ganesh’s spokesperson has however not given any details and has clearly stated that nothing has been finalized yet and once it is, they will make an official announcement.

 After honouring a Bhangra singer and choosing Sikhs to be her personal bodyguards, Britain’s reigning monarch has notched up another first by hosting a racy Bollywood dance in her gentle royal residence.

Queen Elizabeth II, her husband Prince Phillip and Princess Michael of Kent were among British royals who watched dancers from the British Asian group Nutkhut swing to the throbbing rhythms of Bollywood tunes in steps that could have come right out of a film set in Mumbai.

The event, an advance reception in honour of the October-end visit by President Pratibha Patil, was held Tuesday in the ornate ballroom in Buckingham Palace – the largest of its 775 rooms and one that is more used to hosting stately dinners than Bollywood shows.

Stood under a 30-ft domed red velvet canopy used at the 1911 coronation durbar of King George V and Queen Mary in Delhi, some 350 invited guests watched a dance that was described by its creator as “really sexy and hot”.

One guest called it “progress”.

“I was watching the performance and thinking this is the place where the head of state has sat and received people,” said Meera Syal, a well-known actor of Indian origin.

“And in this hallowed space you’ve got a group of Bhangra dancers. This is amazing, this is progress.”

Nutkhut’s Ajay Chhabra, who jointly choreographed the 15-minute show, titled Bollywood Steps, with his wife Simmy Gupta, said: “We felt the setting lent itself to a film set – the columns, the fabric of the canopy – the bling of it stood out.”

Gupta added: “It is up to date, really sexy and hot.”

After the show, the 83-year-old Queen – who is said to have seen a Bollywood performance once before in the city of Bradford – congratulated the performers.

The British monarch appeared to be in a relaxed mood – Syal’s husband Sanjeev Bhaskar, also an actor, said she liked Syal’s granny makeup for their hit TV show, �The Kumars At No. 42′, and laughed when he replied that no makeup was needed.

The guests – leading British-Indians – included steel tycoon Swraj Paul, cricketers Samit Patel and Monty Panesar, footballer Michael Chopra, television star Jimmi Harkishin, newsreader Krishnan Gurumurthy, Tom Singh, founder of the New Look fashion chain, and restaurateurs Namita Panjabi and Ranjit Mathrani, who own Veeraswamy, London’s oldest Indian restaurant.

Two chefs from Veeraswamy – established in 1926, the same year Elizabeth II was born – helped royal chef Mark Flanangan and his team prepare Indian canapes, including tofu salad rolls, paneer croquets and almond chicken tikka.

The queen included Punjabi Bhangra singer Malkit Singh in the royal honours list in 2008 and enrolled two Sikhs – Simranjit Singh and Sarvjit Singh – as her personal bodyguards in July this year.

Popular channel MTV has decided to drop the term "Music Television" from its logo and is set to explore other genres to keep in sync with the changing tastes of audiences.

The logo, which has been around since 1981 when the channel was launched in the US, will be seen in its new avatar Saturday onwards.

"Dropping the 'Music Television' from under the logo is a big symbolic statement and finally closes the loop on the repositioning exercise MTV kicked off two years back. We were born of music, inspired by music, driven by music - but not limited by music," said Ashish Patil, general manager and senior vice president (Creative and Content), MTV India.

The channel is also creating a new "graphic environment" to back the initiative.

"MTV is about new ideas, new formats, new ways of reaching people in the new places they choose to live in. It is about constant change and it is beyond music, beyond television," added Patil.

Four new shows are being launched by the channel on various mediums other than television.

While "MTV Rant" will be premiered only on mobile phones, "MTV What The Hack" will be available on the web. In a unique initiative, "MTV Acting Classes" will be offered on the channel's voice portal on 5056882.

Another new show "Nuon MTV Making the Cut" will have eight designers and 16 models to hunt for the best in fashion. It will be judged by style gurus and celebrities including Lara Dutta, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Neha Dhupia, Celina Jaitley, Madhur Bhandarkar, Narendra Kumar Ahmed, Dipannita Sharma, et al.

It will be aired every Saturday at 6 p.m. from Oct 17.

Pakistani singer Adnan Sami, who was shooting with Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine for a music video in the sea waters near the Gateway Of India, was seriously injured while shooting.

“Nothing to worry about, though. I’ll be repaired in no time at all,” Adnan told IANS.

The accident took place Sunday when a speedboat speeded a little too fast in the sea waters near the Gateway Of India where the shooting was taking place.

So what happened?

“I guess the man navigating the boat took his job a little too seriously. He was moving too fast through the water and the boat almost toppled over and turned turtle. I was knocked against a hard surface in the boat,” said Adnan.

Adnan’s left hand and thumb were badly injured. “Fortunately there are no fractures. But the pain and swelling were alarming. I couldn’t move my hand. But we had to continue shooting because we had no permission to shoot in that area beyond Sunday.”

“I’m just thankful that Jermaine wasn’t in the boat when it almost capsized. That would’ve been one helluva story he’d have carried back home,” said Adnan.

The shooting started Friday in various parts of Mumbai and Sunday was the last day of shooting.

New Delhi, In the fields of Punjab where he grew up, farmers would sing Sufi songs – even his family sang. That is how popular singer Hans Raj Hans learnt his music. Today, he believes, Bollywood takes liberty with the genre.

“The words and the essence of the ‘kalams’ (works) cannot change, only the orchestra can change. It is a good thing that Sufism and its music are reaching out to the masses, but the music should not detract from tradition. The exponents cannot play around with the compositions of the great saints,” Hans Raj told IANS in an informal chat.

The musician, who has performed with Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, feels, “Bollywood has been taking liberty with Sufi music”.

Hans Raj nurtures a dream – he wants to build an ashram for Sufi music so that the centuries-old genre can be passed on to future generations.

“I want to build an ashram of Sufi music for children. But someone has to set it up for me,” said the noted Sufi musician, who performed at the Delhi International Arts Festival Saturday.

“The road to Sufiana is tough,” Hans Raj says. “Most contemporary musicians want to become stars overnight. It is not possible to achieve instant fame in Sufi music – it takes time to become famous,” the musician said.

Walking down memory lane, Hans Raj says: “I was born in Shafipur, a village near Jallandhar which is home to the dargah of Sufi saint Shafi Mohammed.

“Every year, the shrine hosts a ‘Sufi darvesh’ (live congregation of Sufi saints) that is attended by minstrels from across the country and Pakistan. My village is steeped in Sufi music.

“I was very young, around five or six, when I first heard farmers sing Sufi folk songs in groups while working in their fields. Even my family sang. I followed them around and learned the songs,” said Hans Raj, who grew up in a family of farmers.

He has also been conferred the Padma Shri for his contribution to music. “I have been singing for more than 20 years,” the musician said.

Hans Raj, who spreads the message of “peace and amity” through his music, is known for his “live border concerts”.

“Every year, on the midnight of Aug 14, I visit the Pakistan border and perform at a candle light concert to reach out to the people of Pakistan. Over the years, it has become an important event on Punjab’s Independence Day calendar,” he said.

“This year too, I went to the border and sang in the presence of politicians, performers, journalists and intellectuals, including Salima Hashmi, the daughter of Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. My border concerts have also been attended by (writer-poet) Gulzar and (actor) Raj Babbar,” he said.

Hans Raj, who is passing on his legacy of Sufi and folk music to his two sons, likes to sing “in places where my music is appreciated”.

“People who love Sufi music are always drawn to my concerts. They are blessed,” he said.

The musician has cut several Indipop albums.

“This year, I released an album of Baba Farid’s kalams set to music by Jagjit Singh. I try to bring a classical touch to Sufi folk,” Hans Raj said.

Distinguishing between “Punjabi, Rajasthani and Kashmiri Sufi music”, he said, “Sufi folk from Punjab is very similar to that of Rajasthan in language. They are a blend of Urdu, Hindi and the local language.

“The Sufi songs from Kashmir are mostly in Urdu and the Kashmiri language. But the philosophy is one – to reach god through music,” he said.

The musician is currently working on an album of Punjabi folk songs.