Hindi
Watching Jhootha Hi Sahi is an ordeal
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| Director: Abbas Tyrewala Producer: Madhu Mantena Cast: John Abraham, Pakhi, Raghu Ram, Alishka Varde, Manasi Scott, Anaitha Nair, George Young, R Madhvan |
MUMBAI: Jhootha Hi Sahi is one more film about losers: so called youth with low threshold willing to fall in love in the morning and ready to commit suicide by sunset. So in the era of ‘ phone sex’ here is a phone romance.
A suicide helpline people are so dumb they print John Abraham’ s phone number on their handbill (how can one trust them to save lives is anybody’ s guess!). The gentle soul in John agrees to join the volunteers taking calls of suicidal callers and talk them out of the desperate act.
Soon enough, he gets a call from Pakhi, a girl who is about to pop pills as she is miserable about her mother’ s suicide and boyfriend’ s absence. It is a matter of few calls before some weird love triangle takes shape; she still loves her boyfriend, Madhavan, is also attracted to her counsel on the phone while being wooed by a clumsy lad, again Johan Abraham, who sells books and pickles with his two buddies. If one is trying to figure out what is going on, no sense doing so; the ones on the screen as well those behind the scene seem to have no clue either.
While the love or rather who loves whom, is doing its merry go round, the feel good factor comes through this bunch of desis, Indian and Pakistani and again there is no sense trying to figure out whose house is which or who lives with whom! If they are having fun, you are not invited because their jokes are purely personal and you feel like having gate-crashed into old boys’ reunion.
Performance-wise, John Abraham is ordinary. Pakhi looks too mature to be playing a suicidal young girl; her story for the film is bad enough not to add by acting it out too. Of the rest, Manasi Scott and Anaitha Nair are good while Raghu Ram and George Young are passable.
Why is the film based in London? Isn’ t anybody sure of his/her own mind before wanting to know another’ s feelings? The dialogue is corny; the one gem that beats all: the suicidal girl telling her counsel “ If I can’ t lessen my pain, at least I can end it” or something to that effect!!
With poor story and screenplay, direction is poor too. Music has no appeal.
To sum it up, watching Jhootha Hi Sahi is an ordeal.
Rakht Charitra fits no sensible genre in film entertainment
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| Director: Ramgopal Varma Producer: Sheetal Vinod Talwar, Madhu Mantena Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Shatrughan Sinha, Zarina Wahab, Sushant Singh, Ashsi Vidyarti, |
Rajendra Gupta, a low caste loyalist of the local high caste politician, is the eyesore of the politician’ s other aides. And he pays the price for his close proximity to the politician with his life. He guarantees the low caste vote bank for his mentor. But his mentor’ s mind is soon poisoned and Rajendra Gupta is killed, making his elder son, Sushant Singh, and followers take to arms and go on a killing spree.
Both sides compete to outdo each other for body count till Sushant Singh is killed by corrupt policeman. Enter younger kin, Vivek Oberoi: His killing spree starts right at the police station killing the corrupt policeman who killed Sushant on the rivals’ behest.
A couple of more killings later, one does not care who is killing whom or if the same junior artiste is being killed twice, thrice or as many times as he can be killed during single shooting shift! There are some more unnecessary angles like bringing in a lady cop, a conversation with Intelligence officer and such, which bear no relevance to the story.
As the film progresses, it changes its theme from under privileged to vengeance to politics to biographical to idolization of Vivek Oberoi and, in doing so, it becomes ridiculous; Vivek Oberoi sending lunch invitations to all dreaded goons of the city at home with his wife and mother cooking and serving, no less and ‘ orders’ them to stop illegal activities!! They just bow their heads!!
As one nears the end, director Ram Gopal Varma loses whatever little grip he had; the revenge on the most sinister of villains is delegated to a no face actor. Then again, the film or story is not really ending; Ramgopal Verma spends last 10 minutes threatening you with a sequel!
The film has an Andhra village backdrop about local politics and low cast. The subject generates no interest in Hindi moviegoers, however much it may be dressed up with blood and violence. What is more, the subject being dry, instead of making a compact fast moving film, Ramgopal Varma attempts to turn it into some sort of an epic.
Sadly, most of the film seems to have been directed by action master who lacks imagination and is repetitive; what Varma has directed is bad and he depends heavily on oral narration (in a guttural, loud voice) to further the story. For music, the film provides some chorus chants. Visually, it is mostly gross.
Performance by Vivek Oberoi is good in parts till he is shown as a normal, self- respecting man, not able to handle the larger than life persona that the latter parts try to make out of his character. While all the actors from Telugu film are typically that: heavily accented and loud, Shatrughan Sinha, Zarina Wahab, Ashish Vidyarthi, Sushant Singh, Sushmita Mukherjee etc are also moulded like them.
Rakht Charitra fits no sensible genre in film entertainment and waits to be rejected.
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
