Music snippets

1. Jha’s item girl: Prakash Jha's Apaharan is unique in that it has only one song. What is even more unique is that it is an item number in the Bipasha Basu-Nana Patekar starrer Aaoji babuji kuch baatein karenge which is scheduled for a December 4 release. The item girl chosen for this song is sizzling newcomer Mrinalini Sharma from Delhi. The lady has already been seen in ads for top brands like Westside and Motorola. Sharma was initially reluctant to do the number since she was not interested in being just another item girl. Still, she says that she loved the opportunity of working with Jhan. That and the money - right, Mrinalini?

2. Rajshri's next: Here's some news, folks - Sooraj Barjatya’s next movie Vivah, we understand, is a 'musical love story'. But then, any movie released from the Rajshri stable is a musical love story, right? Or are we just being cynical and jaded? Enlighten us. Anyway, the movie stars Shahid Kapur and Amrita Rao. Ravindra Jain, an old Rajshri favorite, will be composing the music but you already know that. The story is a boy-meets-girl love story but you already know that. However, what you may not know is that this is the 51st film from the Rajshri production house.

3. Prime Minister sings: Dev Anand, India's evergreen star was full of beans during the music release of his forthcoming film Mr Prime Minister. Dev Anand enthusiastically sang a number from his latest production. Lyricist Anand and music director Bappi Lahiri had fun too. Dev Anand's production house Navketan which launched the likes of Zeenat Aman and Tina Munim in its heyday has produced a string of flops lately. They have done nothing to diminish Dev's enthusiasm. We pray that the powers up there reward his faith by making this one a hit. Please!

4. Threesome for Datt: Aaditya Datt, whose debut film Aashiq Banaya Aapne was a musical hit, is also the grandson of the late lyricist Anand Bakshi. He has been signed by T-Series to direct three films. The grandson of the legendary is understandably thrilled. Great going Aaditya!

5. Upcoming music launches: SaReGaMa-HMV will be launching the music of two upcoming films - Pooja Bhatt’s Holiday on November 15 starring Dino Morea, Onjolee Nair and Kashmira Shah followed by Bluffmaster on November 17 starring Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Priyanka Chopra and Nana Patekar. Music aside, the films' cast sounds pretty interesting too.

6. Hot music video: After all the hype, Garam Masala is not a hit. Sad but true. Sadder still, it had hotties Akshay Kumar and John Abraham in it. And it is pretty funny too. Still, the music by Pritam and singing by Adnan Sami in the music video are certainly something worth remembering. Add sexy babes in bikinis emerging from the pool Bo-Derek style, sleek cars and the yummy hotties mentioned earlier, and you have a great music video.

7. Item Boy!  We finally have an official Item Boy - and a male hunk at that. None of the usual jaded Bollywood heroes who-were-once-young dancing with babes young enough to be their daughters. Arjun Rampal will be doing an item number in Ek Ajnabee which stars the Big B and Perizaad. The song has been choreographed by Caesarand and was recently shot in a Mumbai club. Arjun sported long hair and tattoos for the song and must have looked rather delicious to the accompanying 22 firang female dancers who were eyeing him. But no, Rampal would have none of that and why would he when he is married to the lucky Mehr Jessia? Hey, why are some guys lucky all the time and the rest of us have none?

8. Sing along with Sana: Do you remember Amit Sana? Amit Sana, the one who sang through Indian Idol? You do? Well, if you'd like, you can get a chance to sing with him. He has done the predictable and recorded songs for the Bollywood film Sun Zara. The promotional campaign for the film states that all you do is purchase an original audio CD (not pirated version, mind you) of the movie and send your voice sample along with a completed form to the makers. Dusic director duo Jatin-Lalit and Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen will select the talent from the entries who will get a chance to sing with Amit Sana in their next album.

9. Splitsville: The talented music composer duo Nadeem-Shravan is splitting after a two decade strong partnership. Remember their music from movies like Aashiqui, Raja Hindustani and scores of others? Nadeem states that Shravan was busy with his sons' careers and not giving their music his best shot. Nadeem will work by himself and also work on his perfume business. Shravan is quite composed about the split and states that it was probably the distance (Nadeem operates from London) and their high asking price. Ironically, the last film they will be working on is Suneel Darshan's Dosti - Friends Forever. Whatever the reasons, a loss for the music industry and music lovers.

10. A shock to music lovers: Shocking but true. 25 yearas after his death, the grave of legendary singer Mohammad Rafi at Mumbai's Santa Cruz crematorium has been demolished by the trustee. Veteran playback singer Anwar got a shock when he went to pay his respects to Rafi on July 31 before a performance honoring Mohammad Rafi's death anniversary. He says that fans of the late singer are ready to pay for the area where Rafi was buried but the trustee was not willing to listen.