Besharam music is fun.Ranbir Kapoor is now synonymous with fabulous music

Though the soundtrack of Besharam doesn't quite match expectations, it is still fun and peppy and keeps you engaged, feels Joginder Tuteja.

There are huge, really huge, expectations from the soundtrack ofBesharam.

After all, Ranbir Kapoor is now synonymous with fabulous music. His last three releases Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Barfi!and Rockstar are testimony to that.

Moreover, filmmaker Abhinav Kashyap's Dabangg had boasted of some chartbuster music too.

For his Besharam though, he decides to do away with Sajid-Wajid and instead ropes in Lalit Pandit, as the sole composer. Lalit had scored the blockbuster song Munni Badnaam inDabangg.

It is tough to digest title song Besharam at the first listen. With lyrics like Paidaa Nangaa Hua To Kaahe Ki Sharam, this Shree D sung track tries to be cool, peppy and fun.

However, despite a club setting to it, one takes time to warm up to it. Unlike Batameez Dilwhich had a similar appeal, this one with Ishq Bector rapping Besharam (it also appears in a remix version) loses its steam during the antara portions. Himanshu Kishan Mehra has penned the lyrics.

There is an attempt to bring on element of fun in a quintessential nok-jhonk number Tere Mohalle.

For a change, Mamta Sharma sings for a heroine instead of crooning for an item girl. She does well, with Aishwarya Nigam for company. With a small town appeal to it, this desi number, written by Nikhat Khan, has a racy feel to it.

Up next is Love Ki Ghanti, which is the unofficial desi version of Italian number Bella Ciao. One can't deny that in spirit, it has a very Kishore Kumar feel to it, right from the mukhda to the portions that follow. A Rajeev Barnwal written song which has a conversational appeal to it, it also has Sujeet Shetty singing like Kishore Kumar, especially in the 50s/60s.

Leaving aside the 'inspiration', Love Ki Ghanti (which also appears in a 'remix version' and has Ranbir Kapoor and Amitosh Nagpal being heard as well), is some good fun for sure.

'Inspirations' continue to make their presence felt, this time quite loud and clear, in Dil Kaa Jo Haal Hai. Starting off as Jo Haal Dil Ka, which was Jatin-Lalit's composition from Sarfarosh, it soon takes a turn with the sound that is straight out of Na Kar Deewana, a chartbuster track by Pakistani band Roxen, which was later (officially) heard again in Tera Mera Rishta [Awarapan].

Now if one is willing to leave behind the 'heard before' factor, this Abhijeet and Shreya Ghoshal number written by Rajeev Barnwal makes for a good hearing indeed, first as an original (!) and the later in the 'remix' format.

Just when one wondered whether a true original number would follow soon, there arrives Tu Hai, which is a sweet love song that has Shreya Ghoshal beginning the portions.

Now this one has a vintage Jatin-Lalit feel to it, though it is only the latter half of the jodi which is at the helm of affairs here. No, one is not looking at the next chartbuster in the offering here but from sheer 'serene' quotient that comes in, Tu Hi does well, especially once Sonu Nigam comes at the helm of affairs, albeit belatedly. One wishes that this Nikhat Azmi written song came earlier though later an 'unplugged' version makes up for it.

After a couple of love songs arrives Aa Re Aa Re which has Rajeev Barnwal returning as a lyricist. First things first, this is one song which is basically for those who have loved Govinda songs in the 1990s.

With the kind of high beats that this yet another nok-jhok number in the album enjoys, especially in the 'remix', it has Mika Singh coming behind the mike with Shreya Ghoshal joining him. One can safely say that with Salman Khan in there, it could well have been a Ready orBodyguard moment. Now with Ranbir in there, expect the youngster to be seen in a new avtarhere, especially with lyrics like Dil Mera Engine Hua Re.

The album began with a club song Besharam and ends with one too as Chal Hand Uthake Nachche arrives next. One of the rare instances where Daler Mehndi and Mika Singh come together, this Kumaar written number has Sunidhi Chauhan joining them as well. Expected to be a song that would play in the end credit title rolls, this one actually gets into the Pritam territory. Aided by some vibrant picturisation and high octane promotion, this one could well cover some distance.

Ever since the promotion of Besharam has begun, some flak has come its way for various reasons. Now though the soundtrack isn't quite the kind that matches up to the kind of high that one was expecting, it still is fun and peppy enough to keep you engaged right through the duration that it plays. 

Bigg Boss : Season 7 - House Rules

Bigg Boss : Season 7 - Elli Avram Sangram Singh's Entry

100 cr for Grand Masti would be a great benchmark for adult comedies: Aftab Shivdasani

Grand Masti is doing huge, actually real huge business. The film is being patronised in a big way by the adult audience, both in multiplexes as well as single screens. With 60 crores already coming in 6 days, the film is seeing some good sustenance at the box office. No wonder, it has 
turned out to  be the unlikeliest candidate of 2013 to actually take a serious shot at gaining an entry into the 100 crore club. No wonder, Aftab Shivdasani, whose last release 1920 - Evil Returns was successful too, is ecstatic to the core.
A superhit already and en route to be a blockbuster. How did you guys make it possible Aftab? 
By not carrying any pretence whatsoever! Induji (Indra Kumar), Riteish, Vivek and I - all of us understood that we had to do the film with full conviction. If that wouldn't have been the case, Grand Masti wouldn't have worked. Of course all of us had apprehensions around the jokes. What you see is the end result but there was a lot that went behind making sure that none of us ever appeared in any kind of doubt whatsoever.

Weren't you apprehensive ever of jokes, most of which were below the belt and practically stayed there forever? 
No that wasn't the case since we knew from the very beginning that the film was not meant for children under 18. Yes, we were conscious of the fact that a small section may find the film vulgar. But then to please them, we didn't want to deceive our target audience. See, we were in the middle of one of the wildest college reunions that you have seen on screen. It is also the funniest and that is something that was made possible since our communication with the content was very clear. We were not making any bones about what we were doing. 

From the maker of Dil, Beta, Raja and Ishq, were you expecting something like that? 
But then I have worked with Induji in Masti and Daddy Cool as well; they had his brand of comedy so I wasn't really surprised. I know the kind of flavour that he likes; his kind of comedy is not subtle. Moreover, he is so good as an actor as well. It is very important to follow him well. In case of Masti, we had a seven day long workshop. For Grand Masti, even though we couldn't unfortunately have a workshop, the precedence had been set from the days of Masti. Induji felt that it wasn't necessary for us to do any rehearsals and just be spontaneous.

Before its release, a stay was put by a single-judge court in Punjab and Haryana, over allegations of vulgar dialogues and obscene content, besides scenes that degrade women. However, later the Punjab and Haryana high court gave the nod for its release as per its schedule. The movie starring Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh and Aftab Shivdasani is a sequel to Masti, which was released in 2004

Hackers offered cash, booze to crack iPhone fingerprint security

 Hackers are gearing up for iPhone 5S release with a contest to crack the device's first-ever fingerprint scanner, a high-tech feature thatApple Inc says makes users' data more secure.

A micro venture capital firm joined a group of security researchers to offer more than $13,000 in cash along with bottles of booze, Bitcoin currency, books and other goodies to the first hacker who breaks the device in a contest promoted on the website.

Arturas Rosenbacher, founding partner of Chicago's IO Capital, which donated $10,000 to the hacking competition, said that the effort will bring together some of the hacking community's smartest minds to help Apple identify bugs that it may have missed.

"This is to fix a problem before it becomes a problem," he said. "This will make things safer."

Meanwhile, Forbes.com reported that a 36-year-old soldier living in Spain's Canary Islands, Jose Rodriguez, has already uncovered a security vulnerability affecting iOS 7, which Apple began distributing to existing iPhone and iPad customers on Wednesday.

The publication said that it is possible to bypass the lock screen of those devices in seconds to access photos, email, Twitter and other applications. It included a video demonstration on its website and advice on how users could thwart the bypass technique:

Among those gearing up for the fingerprint reader hacking contest is David Kennedy, a former US Marine's cyberintelligence analyst who did two tours in Iraq and now runs his own consulting firm, TrustedSec LLC.

"I am just waiting to get my hands on it to figure out how to get around it first," the founder of the DerbyCon hacking conference told the Thomson Reuters Global Markets Forum this week. "I'll be up all night trying."

Why worry?
Security experts worry about the implications of using the module to grant access to sensitive data on the phone and potentially enabling mobile purchases.

The fingerprint scanner on the top-of-the-line iPhone lets users unlock their devices or make purchases on iTunes by simply pressing their finger on the home button. It has been hailed as a major step in popularizing the use of biometrics in personal electronics.

Security engineer Charlie Miller, known in hacking circles for uncovering major bugs in the iPhone as well as circumventing security in Apple's App Store, said it could take fewer than two weeks for Kennedy or some other smart hacker to get around the new lock.

Once they're in, they could gain access to the cornucopia of data typically stored on a user's iPhone and might potentially be able to buy goods from iTunes and Apple's App store.

Apple declined to comment for this article.

To be sure, experts say they know of nothing intrinsically wrong with Apple's fingerprint reader, based on what the company has so far disclosed. Reviewers this week gushed over its ease of use and reliability.

The reader's sapphire crystal sensor is embedded in the phone's home button and reviews the fingerprint as a user touches it to verify his or her identity.

Data used for verification is encrypted and stored in a secure enclave of the phone's A7 processor chip. No information is sent to any remote servers, including Apple's iCloud system.

HD Moore, a well-known hacking expert and chief researcher with the security software maker Rapid7, said such protections mean "the bar is a little bit higher," but that certainly won't discourage hackers from trying to break the new technology.

"This is definitely something to target and something people will want to go after," he said.

Nothing personal
Apple shouldn't take hackers' enthusiasm personally.

All major electronics products are subjected to similar scrutiny as new features are rolled out, including devices from Google, Microsoft and Samsung Electronics.

For example, in 2012, Charlie Miller led a team that demonstrated techniques for taking over smartphones running Google's Android software through their use of near-field communications, or NFC, a wireless technology used for sharing data or making purchases at point-of-sales terminals.

Bugs are often disclosed by "white hats," hackers who unearth flaws and report them so manufacturers can repair them, preventing criminal exploitation. The hope is the good guys find them before "black hats" uncover them for nefarious purposes.

White hats have found multiple security issues with iPhones, iPads and in the App store since Apple launched its first smartphone in 2007. They say that scrutiny has helped make it one of the most secure devices on the market today.

Apple executives said at last week's iPhone launch that the new fingerprint reader, dubbed Touch ID, will help make phones far more secure by dint of its ease of use.

About half of all smartphone users don't bother to use current screen-locking technology because of the inconvenience of keying in multiple-digit passwords. Apple is betting users may be far more willing to avail themselves of a solution that requires a single finger-swipe.

"The technology within Touch ID is some of the most advanced hardware and software we put in any device," Dan Riccio, senior vice president of hardware engineering, said at the event.

Kennedy said he needs to examine the new iPhone to figure out how to best attempt an attack.

He said his choices include hacking the software that analyzes the fingerprint data, or physically opening up the phone and connecting it to a custom-built device that would impersonate Apple's fingerprint reader.

He added that it might be possible to lift a user's fingerprint from elsewhere on the device and somehow make a clone of it.

Rich Mogul, an analyst with the security research firm Securosis, said he planned to use it and expects it to be widely adopted despite the fact that hackers are circling.

"Nobody has gotten their hands on it to see what the weaknesses are and how easy it is to crack," Mogul said.