Tuesday, 20 April 2010

Kalyanji Anandji: Commander (1981)

20.4.10    18 comments

Commander

Kalyanji Anandji's 'Commander' is one of those highly sought after soundtracks that many collectors are/were willing to shell out a sizable amount for. Myself included at one point, although luckily I managed to keep my cool until a reasonably priced copy came along.

So what's all the fuss about? Besides a fantastic looking cover, it's essentially the two electro tracks, 'Itni Jaldi Kya Hai', and 'Dance Music'. And while I do quite like both, I suspect I belong to a minority that considers them somewhat overrated. Not at all bad, just not the hyped-to-high-heavens killers I was expecting. Asha's is quite laidback and loungy, has a cool rhythm pattern and some nice synth bits, and there's an airy vibe to it that I appreciate, but it's dragged down by a mediocre melody. And a most unconvincing male chorus. The instrumental has Donna Summer written all over it, not entirely dissimilar to her 'Love To Love You Baby'. Faked orgasms, sound affects (bird noises) and a cool groove, but lacking in... something. Momentum perhaps. And the same daft sounding chorus, doing its best to quash any sense of eroticism.

As for the rest of the score, it's fairly standard stuff. 'Duniya Wale' is quite pleasant though.

Download and disagree with me.

Track listing:
1. Manhar Udhas & Chorus: Duniya Wale (Part 1)
2. Asha Bhosle, Sushma Shreshta & Mahendra Kapoor: Tu Pappa Ka Beta Hai
3. Dance Music
4. Asha Bhosle & Chorus: Itni Jaldi Kya Hai
5. Kishore Kumar, Anwar & Chorus: Mere Yaar Bina Pyar
6. Manhar Udhas & Chorus: Duniya Wale (Part 2)

18 comments:

  1. MFT3F20 April 2010 at 23:40:00 CEST

    http://lix.in/-74e793

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  2. Reza21 April 2010 at 01:09:00 CEST

    imo an album to kill for, so good
    I hope everyone enjoys as much as I have

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  3. Unknown21 April 2010 at 02:58:00 CEST

    I loved those two most popular tracks... I remember the dance music was posted on Phil's blog a while back, and litlgrey put me on to the "Itni Jaldi" track which was on a Disco Hungama compilation LP that was upped somewhere else. I'm sure the rest is diametrically different from these two tracks as is typical in Bollywood soundtracks, but I'll grab it and see. Thanks a bunch for this one PC!

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  4. Anonymous21 April 2010 at 04:18:00 CEST

    Alright :)
    Gonna check it out now! I do like the Title Music though.

    Harshi

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  5. Mister Naidu21 April 2010 at 13:01:00 CEST

    Thanks PC. Sounds interesting...and gotta love the cover with...gasp... the uncovered navel of Aruna Irani in full view. Where were the Indian censors? :)

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  6. dynamite ham21 April 2010 at 19:20:00 CEST

    Gasp! I just discovered your blog yesterday and I've been plundering it ever since. Simply put, it's one of the best sites in the history of the internet. Astonishing!

    I don't know much about Bollywood music except that I love listening to it. I look forward to discovering many treasures you have posted already and ones in the future.

    Thanks so much for your effort.

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  7. MFT3F22 April 2010 at 01:22:00 CEST

    Thanks for the lovely feedback; glad you found the blog and are enjoying it.

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  8. Sanket Vyas22 April 2010 at 04:45:00 CEST

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. I have (quite literally) been looking for this album for the last 30 years. Saw this movie when it first came out when I was thirteen and recorded 'Mere Yaar Bina Pyar' with my handheld cassette player up against the tv.

    Every time I have been to India or anyone I know goes I send them on an almost mythical quest for this album be it Ahmedabad, Bombay, Delhi or Madras. And everyone comes back empty handed much to my dismay. Suffice it to say I had given up hope of ever getting this, ever.

    I don't remember anything about the movie or the other songs - in fact the movie was quite terrible from the few memories I have of it. But I am the world's biggest Kishore Kumar fan as well the world's biggest Amitabh Bachchan fan. AB popped up as a guest star for this song (in an unbilled performance) and just knocked it out of the park. It happens at the 3:48 mark when it turns into a bhangra (the only known bhangra that Kishore has ever sung).

    Anyway, you made my day with this and just wanted to pass along my thanks :)

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  9. Veen22 April 2010 at 04:55:00 CEST

    Hey PC, love the cover with Aruna Irani and also 'Itni Jaldi Kya Hai'. Apart from that, not my cuppa of tea, I must admit. Looking forward to your next instalment though.

    VG

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  10. MFT3F22 April 2010 at 10:02:00 CEST

    Happy to be of help, Sanket. Is the movie itself obscure/hard to find as well? I couldn't find a single clip from it on Youtube, that's quite rare.

    Veen, I just noticed your blog and downloaded the Burman soundtrack (check it out folks) - great stuff!

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  11. Sanket Vyas22 April 2010 at 15:47:00 CEST

    Yep, movie is just as hard to find. I was going to do the ol cassette player to computer trick that I had tried years before to get that song but as you noted - it's just not available anywhere. If you do find then please write me back about it - the Amitabh cameo is well worth the price of the DVD!

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  12. Veen22 April 2010 at 23:54:00 CEST

    Thanks for the rap PC. Much appreciate it.

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  13. memsaab23 April 2010 at 00:05:00 CEST

    Thanks for all you do, PC :)

    Veen---Parveen Babi is one of my favorites. You have an excellent namesake!

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  14. Blago26 April 2010 at 22:20:00 CEST

    Well, to me, longtime fan of the more trad pre-80ties Bolly, this disco/electro stuff is quite a surprise - a laugh-out-loud-one! Tnx; I keep discovering new stuff all the time here.

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  15. Steve27 April 2010 at 01:59:00 CEST

    Thanks thanks thanks...

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  16. isfahani28 April 2010 at 18:11:00 CEST

    Thanks for bringing this to the masses.

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  17. Unknown8 June 2010 at 01:30:00 CEST

    Video for "Itni Jaldi Kya Hai" if anyone's interested in seeing how it was picturized: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppa4ujLHqpw

    You know, for me the twisted visuals kind of enhance my enjoyment of the song, lol!

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  18. MFT3F16 June 2010 at 09:02:00 CEST

    You're right Symaster, they do. The male chorus doesn't come across as any less daft though.

    Cheers for that!

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