Original Soundtrack - Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars & Sitars (LP)

All Music Guide

This collection of tracks comes from the bungalow of legendary Indian masala film director Anandji V. Shah after sitting and rotting for nearly 25 years. The director, along with his brother Kalyanji, not only wrote and directed dozens, perhaps several hundreds of films (no none knows for sure, not even them), and scored them as well throughout the '60s, '70s, and '80s. These were not just any Bollywood movies -- these were masala "mixed spice" films, the Bollywood version of cheap action and blaxploitation movies, B-movies, or James Bond-type thrillers. What is so remarkable about these tracks is how well Kalyanji and Anandji were able to take the old traditional and folk melodies of Rajastan and combine them with the deep grooves prevalent in their American and European, and even Caribbean, counterparts. To that end, these tracks are remarkable, works of groove genius, non-incidental even though they are incidental music that reflects the '60s and '70s movies they came from. Producer... Dan the Automator had DJ Josh Davis and Nana Simopoulos add some nu-groove beats and a few extra sitars to the already drenched in groove and rhythm tracks. It wasn't so much to update them as to celebrate what was already happening in the music. Here is surf music, blues, go-go, discothèque, psychedelia, cheesy RB, and exotica all wound together with spoken bits from the films that accent the wildness of these pieces. Tough, freaky, and completely enjoyable, Bombay the Hard way is a celebration of a particular kind of mad genius, the kind it takes to throw everything into a mix and make it work no matter what the circumstances or outcome This is truly groovy, funky, tripped-out music from the movie capitol of the world, and showcases how the Americans and the Italians may have invented the noir and cheap thrill movie soundtrack, but the Indians took it to a whole different level. Oh yeah, some of the titles: "The Good, The Bad, and the Chutney," "My Guru," "Ganges A- Go-Go," "Fists of Curry,"" and "Punjabis, Pimps, and Players." The package is killer, too. I'm telling you, you need this - Thom Jurek, All Music Guide Read more Less