Many years ago an eccentric friend of mine, with eclectic taste of music, introduced me to an album I have enjoyed and come back to, simply for being so crazy and funky. Its complete title is Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars, and Sitars. The title already sounds a lot like some B production, from, or at least about India, and at least a few decades back. It could be a type of unwitting self-parody of a James Bond rendition, horribly written with mediocre acting, but certainly high on the coolness scale with enormous sunglasses and drooping mustaches. In short, a movie so bad, that the only reason I'd watch it is to enjoy the numerous cringe moments. As it turns out, however, there IS no such movie! It's actually just a soundtrack of what such a film would sound like... That however, is so well made that I honestly can't get enough of it, even after many years.
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Just Like Good Curry - A Mix of Many Flavors
The project goes back to Dan the Animator who in 1998 used a number of actual Bollywood films from the 1970's, or more specifically the music composed for them, and rearranged them in this crazy remix, which even incorporates a few quotes and spoken words from some of their scenes. The original tunes were composed by the Kalyanji-Anandji duo, two brothers who have created a number of unforgettable hits in their genre, none of which I'm familiar with, since I don't know the first thing about Bollywood. The films where these tracks were taken from include Don, Purab Aur Pachhim, Qurbani and Karmayogi, and I believe the images on the album cover might be from those same movies.
Since I am completely unfamiliar with either of these films, all of which are 1970's action thriller dramas, it would take a bit of looking (and listening) into them to compare their original music with Bombay the Hard Way. One thing is pretty clear though: the arrangement of quotes and sounds give the whole album this overall feel of danger and coolness, while being completely corny at the same time. This is why it has been pretty well received at any party with a bit less conventional guests, plus it makes great kitchen music, especially when cooking up a curry storm!
Gamblers, Pimps, and Secret Agents
Since there is no one movie of this alleged soundtrack, each listener is free to fill in the blanks on their own. Apart from the actual music, which is a great combination of 70's "porn-funk", captivating hip-hop beats, Indian music using sitars and other traditional instruments, and the highly typical movie scores underlying film action, so distinctly recognizable for its era. Listening to it makes you feel like you missed the plot in a movie, but don't care because an eminent car-chase is about to start. The rest is a mosaic of charming heart-breakers pursuing vices and villains at the same time, shady antagonists brooding out shrewd plans to expand their power, and phenomenal dangers raising their threats before being skillfully disarmed.
Check It Out, and Get the Sequel Too!
Unlike my other music review posts in my Monday Music series, I really can't say too much more about this album... other than it's fun to listen to. Now that I've looked a bit into it, I just realized that there is a SECOND such album out there: Bombay 2: Electric Vindaloo. Created three years later, also by Dan the Animator, based on the film music of Kalyanji-Anandji, it is a direct sequel to Bombay the Hard Way. Instead of focusing on 1970 funk, it takes a look at Bollywood in the 1980's, where the electric synthesizer was having its heyday. As I have not even know about that album myself, I am looking forward to the experience, and wonder how much of the overall 80's vibe has been captured by it. In either case, I hope I could point you in the right direction if you were looking for some music that's... a bit different.
