Video

I discovered google videos today, and have spent a chunk of the morning watching Hindi music videos, which I absolutely adore.

Starting off with the the Indian national anthem, "Jana Gana Mana", which I highly recommend, at least for the first 3-4 minutes, which has beautiful instrumentation and showcases classic Indian music. It's also directed by A.R. Rahman who does such a great job of mixing modern styles with classical arrangements and features a who's who of singing talent, including my favorite, Lata Mangeshkar (and actually, the first time I've seen her singing alongside her sister, Asha Bhosle -- who won an MTV award not too long ago).

I really like the actress Kajol, while I couldn't find a video from my favorite, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai," I did find this one from Kabhi Khushi Khabie Gaum" (featuring Kajol with leading man Shah Rukh Khan). This one actually has subtitles too, which is always nice. And oh! It has all the cliches of a Hindi film song -- rapid change in locations! Beautiful costumes changed in seconds! Obligatory wet sari scene! Lots of embracing and touching, but no kissing!

Here's another Shah Rukh Khan song I really like: Chalte Chalte. The actress is Rani Mukherjee (cousin of Kajol). The only video I could find from "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" features all three of them.

Here's Jane Wo kaise from at least 40 years ago. The picture is grainy, but I love the poignant lyricism and 'classic' movie stars from days of yore.

Here's one from Mission: Kashmir, a movie about terrorism (which I blogged about here), but even so there's time for song and dance. Rhithik Groshan, the male lead, is my current favorite Hindi film actor.