February 16, 1998

First Love -- Shekhar
(Archies music; Rs 75)

Regular mush and not much else. Musically the attempt is at combining elements from the West with a basic eastern sound. Composed, arranged and sequenced by the singer himself, things on this front are better than the lyrics and, for that matter, the singing itself. The good news is that Archies seems determined to come up with fresh faces, a welcome development. As for this album, it's just about okay.

All My Tomorrows -- Grover Washington Jr
(Sony Music; Rs 100)

Basically a rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, Grover Washington Jr is in the groove also on the trombone and trumpet. Of course, the saxophone remains his forte. Listen to When I fall in love, For heaven's sake and I'm glad there is you on this album, and you'll be strongly recommending it to all your friends.

Bada Din
(HMV; Rs 30)

It's such a shame that a talented duo like Jatin-Lalit should do this. Suno zara, charmingly rendered in this album by Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik, is little more than a copy of the ever-popular You needed me. So when you listen to the rest of the songs you can't help but wonder: Have I heard this before?

CINEMA

Kama Sutra -- A Tale of Love
(Directed by Mira Nair; Starring Sarita Chaudhary, Indira Varma, Naveen Andrews, Rekha)

After a year of lawsuits and controversies, Kama Sutra hits the Indian screens with three minutes of cuts. The country of its origin is the last in the world to view Mira Nair's treatise on sexual politics, but we weren't missing much. KS, peopled by decadent kings, sex-starved queens and expert courtesans is sumptuously shot but badly written, with cardboard characters and dialogues stilted enough to be unintentionally funny. KS is just an X-rated Amar Chitra Katha.

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