Chaiyya Chaiyya

One of the best things about Spike Lee's Inside Man, okay besides Denzel, is the soundtrack by Terence Blanchard. And the best thing on the soundtrack is the opening/closing track, "Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint," which had K and I dancing Bollywood style all the way out to the car (yah, we wished). I thought we'd be able to download the song from iTunes as a single, but they're only selling the album. Even the clip they use at iTunes is lame, because it's just the intro and doesn't get to the catchy riff that apparently has the music discussion boards swamped with people wanting to know how to download it.

So... my apologies to those Google searchers landing here looking for "Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint." What I can give you is the link to the original Bollywood hit, "Dil Se," which Blanchard beefed up for the movie. (See Blanchard's interesting discussion of scoring the soundtrack and working with Spike Lee here.) The original version lacks some of the urban-power Blanchard added to it, but the irrepressible catchiness is all there. What's more, this has the video from the Bollywood movie! It's a Bollywood dance number atop a moving train through the countryside - hilarious! And fabulous. How Lee and Blanchard transposed this sound to the downtown Manhattan setting of the movie is a tribute to their creative minds. Anyway, go check it out. (Credit for the link goes to a commenter at this woman's work blog.) Be warned - you won't be able to get the tune out of your head.

May be inappropriate for the office - not for the language (who knows what they're saying, but I doubt it's offensive), but because you may feel compelled to get up and dance. Hell, play it out loud and you could have your whole office doing a Bollywood ensemble dance number.

Comments

[Ssshhhh]

It's great to see the beauty of Bollywood spreading across the world :-)

You may want to visit my blog if you want to get into Bollywood further!

Chaiyya Chaiyya - Fantastic tune!

[leslee]

Heh. Thanks, Ssshhhh. I'll check it out. Thanks for stopping by.

[MB]

"okay besides Denzel" — wonderful aside! Sounds interesting!

[leslee]

Very enjoyable movie. I usually have to travel to go to the independent movie houses. Nice to have one in the cineplex that's worth seeing.

[St Antonym]

It's a good tune, from a fine soundtrack. If you really want to get involved in Bollywood tunes, I'll have to hook you up with a disc when next we meet. There's certainly a lot of dreck out there, as in any genre, but there are also some extremely fine songs. The likes of Ismail Darbar and A.R. Rahman (his "Chupke Se" from "Saathiya" is a current favorite of mine) keep the quality high.

I do love remixes though, and I'm looking forward to hearing what Terence Blanchard's done with "Chaiyya Chaiyya."

[leslee]

Yes yes!! Bring a mix of your faves and we'll get everyone in the spirit. As for Blanchard's version, I found I could listen to the whole song on a headset at my local Border's. The soundtrack is good, but nicer with the movie than as something to play at home, to my feeling.

[udge]

Thanks for the tip, I shall look out for this when/if it arrives in Germany.

[leslee]

My pleasure.