Movie Review: Sri Ramarajyam

After the stupendous success of its music, the expectations from Sri Ramarajyam movie were pretty high and I can safely say that the movie did not disappoint. Here is a look at the positives of the movie:

1. Good Script: The script of the movie is based on the Uttara Kaanda of Ramayana after Sita comes back to Ayodhya and the movie has no unnecessary deviations. Veteran director Bapu gets on with the story with no fuss or interruptions. The sanctity that such a great epic deserved is intact and full credit to the director and his team.
2. Acting: Almost all the characters have done a professional job of their respective roles. Special mention to be made of Balakrishna (as Rama), Nayantara (as Sita, her career-best role), Valmiki (the legendary A. Nageshwar Rao) and the Lava-Kusa kids. This is the first time I saw a Balakrishna movie and I was impressed with the dignity with which he carried the role and Nayantara exuded such grace and poise that she almost lived the role. There is no overacting as there was a lot of scope in this story.
3. The Sets/Costumes: The sets and costumes were very grand and it lent a lot of authenticity to all the characters. One niggle was the graphics, which looked a little out of place and this is a small drawback in the movie considering that almost all other aspects were very good.
4. Music and Background Score: The picturization of all the songs were wonderful and the background score was awesome. The song sequences are so good that even when we watch them on DVD we would not be able to forward them. Ilaiyaraja using the Budapest Orchestra for the BGM’s added the required grandeur to the great story. The outstanding BGM’s are in the climax and the end-titles after the movie ends.

One of the main reasons why I loved the movie was the courage and initiative of the producers and the director. It takes immense passion and hard work to make a movie based on mythology and to make it so well (in this age of commercial masala movies).

I am just waiting for the original DVD of the movie as it is not a one-time watch but a movie to be watched and savoured again and again for its great message and brilliant music.

Tags: bapu, ilaiyaraja, ramarajyam

Sri Ramarajyam: Divine Ambrosia

Ilaiyaraja after composing music for 30+ years needs something remarkable to bring him back to his genius ways. The normal movie nowadays does not extract the best from him as he has composed a zillion tunes for the same situations. It was divinely destined that Ilaiyaraja should compose the score for Sri Ramarajyam, a Telugu movie based on the Ramayana.

I can say that Ilaiyaraja literally reinvents himself in this OST. When I first heard that the Maestro was composing for this movie, I was cautiously optimistic but now am delighted! The best thing about the OST is that the synth-usage is minimal and there is a generous usage of Live instruments, something akin to Uliyin Osai. I loved almost all the songs in the movie but the below ones deserve a special mention:

1. Jaganandhakaaraka: This Shuddhadhanyasi-based tune gives a flying start to the album and as expected SPB/Shreya Ghoshal are in top form. The tune is top notch and is supported by Veena and flute interludes.
2. Evadunnadu: This short song of 2 mins captures our attention for its variety and great rendition by SPB again. If you understand Telugu, you would also appreciate the superb lyrics praising Lord Rama.
3. Sri Rama Lera: This is the ultimate gem in this album. The lyrics are in such chaste Telugu that it almost sounds like Sanskrit at many places. The interludes, the singing (Sriram Parthasarathy/Shreya) and the two differently-tuned charanams, all add up to the magic of this song. It is set in Pantuvarali raga and is probably the best composition of Ilaiyaraja in this raga.
4. Seetha Seemantham: Set in Hindholam raga, this song has an old, oriental feel to it. You would imagine the Seemantham ceremony on hearing this song.
5. Rama Rama: This folk song is a welcome change in this album. I loved the use of the traditional, native percussion instruments. As usual, the tune is amazing with unpredictable, Raja-style progressions. Special mention must be made of the good Telugu pronunciation by the singer Shwetha Mohan.
6. Kalaya Nijama: This tune will captivate you the very first time you hear it. It is one of the best songs sung by Tippu and his voice shows how much he has improved in the last few years. I am very happy that Ilaiyaraja chose this underrated singer for this song and Tippu has delivered and how!

The greatest triumph for this album is the pure, poetic and pristine lyrics by Jonnavittula. The music and lyrics are clearly made for each other and they also sound different than the usual “devotional” albums. When the songs are played the scenes will play in your mind, such is the marriage between the tune and the lyrics.

Hats off to Ilaiyaraja/Jonnavittula/the director for coming up with such a masterpiece of a soundtrack. It is a welcome change in this age of run-of-the-mill commercial albums.

Tags: ilaiyaraja, jonnavittula, ramarajyam, sriramarajyan

UNIQUE songs from Ilaiyaraja

In film music, the opportunity to innovate is quite limited for any composer as the situations for most the songs will be mostly romantic and lucky are those composers who get good directors who challenge them to compose something out-of-the-box for some uncommon situations. Maestro Ilaiyaraja has been extremely luck to have worked with many types of directors with different sensibilities, who have used the genius of the man to get some great music from him. I list down a few songs from Ilaiyaraja which have something different about them.

1. Enna Samaiyalo-Unnal Mudiyum Thambi-A song having cooking as a situation and Raja uses four raagas in this song viz. Mohanam, Kalyani, Vasantha and Madhyamavathy. The lyrics by Kavingar Vaali are too good where the lyrics match the swara sung in the song exactly. This is a perfect example of two geniuses (Ilaiyaraja and Vaali) working together and complementing each other.
2. Naan Porandhu Vandhadhu-Maaya Baazar-This is a stupendous song  from the Maestro having only human voices and nothing else. The vocals, interludes and everything in the song is done only by human voices. This concept is quite common in western music but Raja shows that he is the master of almost any genre by composing and orchestrating a song like this. You must hear it to understand the masterly arrangement of human voices making all kinds of sounds including the astounding use of rhythmic laughter! This song came in 1995 when A.R.Rahman was ruling the charts and hence was not noticed by many people. As we say “Class is permanent”, Raja composed such a song even in his supposed “bad days” when people almost forgot him as Rahman was producing some brilliant music.
3. Om Sivoham-Naan Kadavul-Ilaiyaraja shows again here that he can compose a competent sthotram-like song but only that this is more intense according to the situation in this dark movie. To quote my favourite movie critic Baradwaj Rangan: “This song is six minute detonation of musical fury.” It is composed in Pantuvarali raaga and the best thing about it is the live percussions used which make you almost feel as if Lord Shiva is doing a Shiva Thaandavam. Special mention must be made of Kavignar Vaali who has written wonderful Sanskrit lyrics extolling the various virtues of Lord Shiva. This is the quality of geniuses that they continue to surprise us when we do not expect anything from them.
4. Aalamadankala Mythavanalle-Pazhassi Raaja-If the previous song was for a devotional situation for Lord Shiva, Raja now cooks up a musical feast for an Islamic devotional song and this is as authentic it can get with all the Islamic chants. When I first heard this song, I forwarded it but when I saw it in the movie, I was stunned as it sounded so perfect in the movie when all the Islamic priests gather together to pray for the well-being of the country. This song will make you imagine the old Arabic tales, it is so haunting, hats off to Ilaiyaraja!!!
5. Agandhaiyil/Kallil Uyir-Uliyin Osai-I have already written about the music of this movie and these songs are still in my playlist. This is the heights of classical mastery where Ilaiyaraja uses the concept of Gruhabhedham in these songs. Gruhabhedham is the process of shifting the shruthi (scale) to another note in the raaga and arriving at a different raaga. It is not as simple as it sounds and recently eminent violinists Ganesh-Kumaresh had brought out an album using this concept. Ilaiyaraja has used this concept as early as 1985 but I feel these two songs are simply outstanding examples of this concept.

Tags: ilaiyaraja, ilayaraja, unique songs

Movie Recco: Pazhassi Raja

I saw the Malayalam movie Pazhassi Raja (well-directed by Hariharan) recently after many months of planning and it was a case of better late then never. To begin with, I found the movie literally flawless and giving a pretty realistic portrayal of an unsung freedom warrior. Here are a few reasons why you should not miss Pazhassi Raja:

• There are no unnecessary deviations in the story (like romantic angles, too many songs etc.) and it is an engaging account of a king who was courageous to revolt against the British empire.
• The acting was stupendous and each character fitted the respective roles perfectly. Notable mentions were the normally-typecast Sharath Kumar, who was a revelation in his role (as the deputy of Mammotty) and Padmapriya was brilliant as a strong woman who has learnt the traditional fights and fought for Pazhassi’s army. Even the foreign actors who acted in this movie have done their roles extremely well.
• Needless to say, Mammotty was all class and elegance in the main role as Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja. His body language and dialogue delivery is seen-to-be-believed. Not once did he look like an actor in his 50′s!
• The cinematography and locations were fresh and appropriately suited to the time in which the movie is set. Even the traditional ethnic costumes of the actors looked so natural amidst the backdrops.
• Ilaiyaraja has bagged the National Award for best background score for this movie and the Maestro’s subdued BGM’s further elevate the scenes to another level. The songs in the movie too, were picturized beautifully and no song seemed out-of-place.

I would rate this movie as good as The Legend of Bhagat Singh, which in my opinion is one of the best movies on India’s freedom struggle. Any story about India’s freedom struggle is not easy to make and these 2 movies have set benchmarks in this unique genre. Credit should go to the whole team and especially the directors who dared to take up such themes and come out victorious!

Tags: kerala varma, pazhassiraja

Madraspatnam:Pure Music

It’s a little rare nowadays to find a music album where almost all the songs are pretty good and its rarer to listen to an album where almost all the songs are melody-based. Madraspatnam is an album which would surely fit into that category. It is definitely one of the best albums to come out in recent times and it is like a whiff of fresh air in Tamil music. The best thing about it is that it has all kinds of songs: A soft number, an inspirational number, a classical-based one, folk numbers etc. G.V.Prakash has demonstrated in the past that music is in his blood and here he further vindicates this fact strongly. GVP is also lucky to get a period-movie like this where he gets to compose all kinds of tunes and he has made the best use of it, credit also to director Vijay for giving scope for good music. Madraspatnam has 5 songs and 2 instrumental pieces and my favourite songs are:

• Pookal Pookum Tharunam: A wonderful classical song based in Darbaari raaga, well-sung by Roopkumar Rathod & Harini. The english portion in the middle (sung by Andrea) is also well done as it does not sound out-of-place. This song is very melodious and has very soothing interludes notably the santoor pieces.
• Kaatrile: A fantastic song performed with LIVE MUSIC and superbly sung with energy by Hariharan. The charanams also have a nice tinge of melody in them and GVP has used so many instruments: trumpets/trombones/french horn/strings section. Kudos to him as such songs have become quite extinct now.
• Aaruyire: A very slow pathos-like song in Charukesi raaga sung by Sonu Nigam and Saindhavi. It starts lazily making us dismiss it as another boring number but slowly turns out to be a beautiful composition, especially in the part where the singers go high. Sonu Nigam is a very good choice for this song.
• There are 2 other folk numbers which are good to listen and they will sound better when seen on-screen.

GVP gets everything right in this movie and the choice of singers is spot-on. The tunes too are very good and they stand on their own even without the orchestration,thats the real test of a good album.

As a music-lover, I wish he gets to do more movies like this which gives scope to show his talent as his strength is melody.

Tags: g.v.prakash, gvp, madraspatnam

To Dear A.R.Rahman

Dear Rahman,

First things first, I am one of yours & Ilaiyaraja sir’s biggest fans’! My childhood was spent in listening to your awesome music when I used to rush to buy your new film cassettes (Tamil & Hindi) in an obscure city in North India. I have literally grown with yours & Raja Sir’s music, which has shaped my musical tastes strongly and forever.

I was elated and over-the-moon watching you get the Oscar award, when a zillion fans in India waited with bated breath to know whether their demi-God would bring back the coveted trophy and you made us proud Indians and put India in the global music map. I am aware that you have come up in life and music after so many sacrifices, trials and tribulations and you deserve every bit of this global popularity and more. Your life story is awe-inspiring, musical, melancholic and yet magical. I cannot forget how you gratefully thanked your Mother, while accepting the Oscars.

But, at the same time, I have mixed thoughts now as I am delighted that you have become a global phenomenon but I also feel (strictly personal opinion) that your music is missing its magic off late. This is with reference to songs in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya & the recent Endhiran. In Puli, I did see the flashes of brilliance in songs like Amma Thale/Power Star/Namakame. This is because:

1. The music is overpowering the human voice e.g. Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya songs
2. The tunes don’t seem to stand on their own legs but the orchestration seems to prop-up the tune e.g. Most Endhiran songs
3. To put it simply, I am not able to simply “hum” your tunes as they are increasingly sounding over-experimental and complex to me
4. Your music is not appealing to me in the first/second instance but maybe after multiple listenings only

I am afraid that I will lose my Rahman to the West. But, amidst all these thoughts I am also aware that every composer/artist goes through these peaks & troughs where even the greats are not spared. So I hope and pray that this is only a passing phase for you and you will be the same Rahman whose songs were like medicine to me.

I also feel, maybe it is me who is feeling this but I have heard it from many of my friends’ too and I believe we as fans have that possessive right to express our frank opinion about our Idols’ because only those who love will chide/criticise.

As a fan, my expectations are very simple, I don’t expect a Roja in every album but I just want your music to touch my heart and lose myself to it!

Tags: a.r.rahman, legends

Rajini Intro Songs

One of the things that has become an integral part of any Rajinikanth movie is the “Rajini Intro song”. It is an occasion for which the Rajini fan waits with bated breath. It is the first time that the fan can see his “superstar” first time in the movie. So, if you are at a theatre watching a Rajinikanth movie then you will see a lot of frenzy during the intro song, when the fans whistle and jump in joy. So, composing an intro song is quite a tough job for a composer as he has to please the zillion fans of the superstar. Considering this, almost all the composers have done a fabulous job of it. If I remember correctly, this concept started with Annamalai movie and since then has become the indispensable part of every Rajini movie. The different intro songs in Rajini movies’ are:

1. Vandhendaa Paalkaaran-Baasha-Deva
2. Uzhaippaali Illadha-Uzhaippaali-Ilaiyaraja
3. Naan Autokaaran-Baasha-Deva
4. Singa Nadai Pottu-Padaiyappa-A.R.Rahman
5. Adhaanda Ithaanda-Arunachalam-Deva
6. Oruvan Oruvan-Muthu-A.R.Rahman
7. Dippu Dippu-Baba-A.R.Rahman
8. Devuda Devuda-Chandramukhi-Vidyasagar
9. Ballelaikka-Shivaji-A.R.Rahman

I like most of these intro songs but Oruvan Oruvan and Ballelaikka are my favourites. The unique feature of these intro songs apart from their energy are that though they are fast and thumping, they still sound pretty melodious. Moreover they generally have very good philosophical and inspiring lyrics. I feel Rahman has done a wonderful job of composing amazing intro songs for the superstar as its no mean achievement to please the superstar’s fans’. Credit must also go to S.P.Balasubramaniam for singing these songs beautifully. Only one intro song among these is sung by Shankar Mahadevan for Baba movie, which was just an okay song.

I am now waiting the intro song in Endhiran, Rajini’s next movie for which ARR has composed the music.

Tags: intro songs, rajini intro

Azhagi Title Score: Heartwarming

Ilaiyaraja has given innumerable title scores for movies which have become like a textbook lesson for many other composers as to how they should handle background scores. It is quite difficult to pick which are his best BGM pieces among the 900-odd movies for which he has composed the BGM’s. Whatever be the situation or emotion: sadness, happiness, fear, chase, naughtiness, reunion, death, separation , you name it, Raja exemplified the emotion of the scene with his music score.

One particular BGM that has fascinated me from when I have heard it is the Azhagi title score which is a variation of the Oliyile Therivadhu song. This is where Ilaiyaraja shows his versatility by making the BGM sound very different than the song, though both are almost same. He adds such beautiful layers to the BGM that it almost melts your heart every time you hear it. The primary flute piece with the keyboard piece, backed up by the western classical violins/violas/cellos (playing fantastic counters) sounds so divine and pure. This piece is so wonderful, it definitely deserves a post for itself.

Tags: azhagi theme, BGM, ilaiyaraja

Vishwa Vinayaka:The Divine Symphony

Many of think that devotional music would be something sounding always the same with a few common instruments like keyboards, bells and cymbals. But one album completely changed my perspective about this genre—Vishwa Vinayaka, an album on Lord Ganesha.

It was released around the year 2001 but still is a best-seller as I see its copies in all music stores even today. The  uniqueness of this album was that it seamlessly integrated verses/mantras with grand, symphonic music. The credit for this magnificent effort should go to the composer duo Ajay-Atul, who have incidentally won the National award recently for a Marathi movie’s music score. This album had 2 great singers singing the main verses—S.P.Balasubramaniam and Shankar Mahadevan. Apart from them it had a wonderful group of Childrens’ Chorus, Chorus and Western Chorus! There was not one discordant note in the album as even all the chorus singers did a fantastic job of it giving tremendous support to the main singers’ voices.The orchestration and arrangement were so stupendous that you will be awestruck and proud that an Indian symphony group (and composers) have created such nectarine music.

All the 6 tracks of this album were too good but one outstanding track was the Sri Ganeshaya Dheemahi sung by Shankar Mahadevan, one of the best tunes I have ever heard. You must hear it to believe it.

Vishwa Vinayaka is one CD which any lover of music must have and added to that the divine verses make it a wholesome and blissful experience.

Tags: ajay-atul, Indian symphony, Lord Ganesha, vishwavinayaka

Ilaiyaraja:Raja of Raagas-I

One of many reasons why Ilaiyaraja is considered a genius is because his songs are a perfect example for showcasing the beauty of a raaga. Take any song in a raaga, we can see that the song explores all the dimensions within a raaga within the 5 minutes of the song. Also, multiple songs in the same raaga do not sound same at all! It takes God-gifted genius to do this repeatedly for 3 decades! Many other great composers have also done this but the sheer number of raagas used by Raja (more than 120) places him in a higher pedestal. One of the seeds for this post was that I had a raaga-obsession every week when I felt like listening to specific raagas and invariably Raja’s song’s satiated my thirst the most.

Let’s see some raagas where the song composed by Raja is THE perfect demonstration of the essence of that raaga. I have also included a few raagas where other composers’ songs stand out as they too have done a wonderful job. Read it as Raaga-Song-Movie.

1. HAMSADHWANI-Poo Mudithu-En Purushandhaan Enakku Mattumdhaan-Not a simple song (a relatively common raaga) as the notes touched by Raja are as usual complex but P.Jayachandran has sung it with alarming ease!
2. KEERAVANI-Malaiyoram Veesum-Paadu Nilave-A very tough choice as Raja has composed a zillion Keeravani’s but according to me this one beats all. The maestro uses minimal orchestration in the charanams to show the genius of SPB. What a rendition!
3. DHARMAVATHY-Meendum Meendum Vaa-Vikram-When I first heard this song a few years ago, I dismissed it as another love song but recently I went back to this and started loving it. This song is a sheer beauty oozing Dharmavathy.
4. PANTHUVARALI-Enna Varam Vendum-Nandavana Theru-Panthuvarali is a very intense raaga and this song with a great tune and greater backing vocals presents Panthuvarali in all its splendour.
5. CHARUKESI-Thaiyatha Thaiyatha-Thiruttu Payale-Composed beautifully by Bharadwaj and sung very well by Sadhna Sargam. Another equally good Charukesi is Aahista Aahista by A.R.Rahman from Swades.
6. MADHYAMAVATHY-Kuyile Kuyile-Aan Paavam-A nectarine song that makes you imagine the countryside!
7. SHANMUGAPRIYA-Thakita Thakita-Saagara Sangamam-A legendary song showing why SPB is one of the greatest singers ever.
8. AMRUTHAVARSHINI-Thoongaadha Vizhigal-Agni Nakshathram-This song has become synonymous with the Amruthavarshini raaga. Raja has composed a few more in this raaga, KaathirundhaMalli and Vaanin Devi both of which are also very good. Not many composers have not touched this raaga as its quite complex.
9. VASANTHA-Minsaara Kanna-Padayappa-The one song that shows that Rahman CAN compose classical tunes and do it very well too. This song is unique also because the 2 tunes in the charanams are different. If you don’t get goosebumps after hearing this song then there should be something wrong with you!

I will take up more songs in the next part of this post.

Tags: ilaiyaraja, Music Composers, Raagas

Blogs on Ilaiyaraja

Indian music has been blessed with MANY talented music composers. To name a few that I know—Naushad, S.D.Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan, R.D.Burman, M.S.Vishwanathan, Raveendran etc.

But there are two more composers who are not part of this illustrious list but they literally have a Demi-God status, you definitely would have guessed it, they are Ilaiyaraja and A.R.Rahman. Two absolute geniuses who have completely different styles of composing yet they are acknowledged as Legends of our time. Both these have many blogs and websites dedicated to them by their raving fans.

I would like to focus more on the Ilaiyaraja aspect because there are a few blogs that have dissected the works of the Maestro beautifully. These blogs are not only a goldmine for any Ilaiyaraja fan but for any lover of music in the world. They discuss in detail and in simple language, many musical concepts, so that we can appreciate not only Ilaiyaraja’s music but ANY music. They list out and show (backed by perfect examples) how the genius has made innumerable innovations in his monumental 30 year career. It is an astounding read which clearly show that music is indeed a great art, where there are no limits to one’s creativity. These blogs have been written by very knowledgeable people (who have learnt music) who have taken the pains to illustrate how Ilaiyaraja has continuously redefined his music and set new benchmarks. The word “Maestro” is no small word and it is attributed only to a select few like R.D.Burman, Ilaiyaraja and A.R.Rahman. The following are the FANTASTIC, MUST-READ blogs on Ilaiyaraja which any music lover will enjoy. they deserve all the credit for their hard work.

1. Violin Vicky’s blog
2. Ravi Natarajan’s blog
3. As we feel Raja
4. Ragaranjani
5. Apoorva Ragam

Tags: blogs on ilaiyaraja, ilaiyaraja blogs

Melodious Fast Songs

“Melodious Fast” song is almost like an oxymoron because generally fast songs are not expected to be very melodious but they will be foot tapping and dance-worthy. Indian music especially Tamil music has many fast songs but 90% of them are very noisy and they don’t last long in the minds of the listeners.

Thankfully amidst all this din, there are are many songs which are very peppy and also melodious. Such songs show the true class of the composers because they are not easy to compose because you have to keep the beat pretty fast and yet make it pleasing to listen. Here I am listing some beautiful such songs across languages in random order, read it as Song-Movie-Composer.

1. Ooru Vittu Ooru Vandhu—Karakaattukkaaran—Ilaiyaraja—A kuthu-like folk in Shanmukhapriya raaga, the charanams are sheer joy with amazing variations by Malaysia Vasudevan, the singer.
2. Meherbaan—Perummazhakaalam—M.Jayachandran—A Malayalam marriage song, extremely catchy with fantastic harmonium interludes.
3. Kajraare—Bunty Aur Babli—Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy—A super-hit song, spanning multiple genres.
4. O Ranga Srilanka—Singaaravelan—Ilaiyaraja—One song to show the modulation abilities of SPB, fabulous stuff.
5. Kay Sera Sera—Pukar—A.R.Rahman—Begins like a disco song but becomes a mellifluous Hamsadhwani in the charanams.
6. Prayam Nammil—Niram—Vidyasagar—A song I discovered quite recently, set in Madhyamavathy raaga, sung with gusto by P.Jayachandran & Sujatha especially at the end of the charanams.
7. Varaaga Nadhikkarai Oram—Sangamam—A.R.Rahman—One of best-sung songs of Shankar Mahadevan.
8. Peigala Nambaadhey—Mahanadhi—Ilaiyaraja—Set in Jog raaga with awesome ghatam beats and sung well by Kamalahaasan.
9. Thanni Thotti—Sindhu Bhairavi—Ilaiyaraja—You can’t believe that Yesudas sang this number!
10. Jogi Mahi—Bachna Ae Haseeno—Vishal & Shekhar—A catchy Punjabi-flavoured number which becomes very melodious in the charanams, Shekhar is indeed a very good singer.
11. Soona Soona—Classically Mild (album)—Deepak Pandit—This Hindustani-meets-rock song is sung amazingly by Sonu Nigam, who does every possible vocal gymnastics.
12. Unakkum Enakkum—Sri Raghavendra—Ilaiyaraja—Can a song sound sensual and catchy and melodious too, maybe it can when the Maestro composes! Credit also to Malaysia Vasudevan & S.Janaki, who have sung it brilliantly.

There are many more such songs, have just listed a few of them. These songs are what we call today “fusion music” and many of these have been composed many decades back, only that they were not called as such.

Tags: catchy melodious, melodious fast

Legend of Bhagat Singh:Great movie with marvellous music

Legend of Bhagat Singh is a movie directed by Rajkumar Santhoshi which released in 2002. It starred Ajay Devgan as Bhagat Singh and he ultimately won the National Award for the best actor for living the role of the historic character. The beauty of the movie was that the facts were shown as they happened, sans any other unnecessary distorted deviations. This is because the script of the movie was validated by none other than Kultar Singh-the younger brother of Bhagat Singh. I remember we saw the movie in the open-air theatre of our hostel and after the emotional climax everybody had tears in their eyes. Even the other supporting actors playing the roles of Chandrashekhar Azad, Rajguru, Sukhdev etc did a fantastic job of it. It may have been providence that the movie was able to have some of the finest performances thereby paying a fitting tribute to the great martyr who sacrificed his life for the country.

Special mention must be of the eye-catching and appropriate sets used in the movie to depict the British Raj times (the cars, tongas, buildings) by art director Nitin Desai. The cinematography was also wonderful by K.V.Anand. One of the major factors for the success of many movies is the music-especially the background score and the Mozart of Madras-A.R.Rahman gave a masterful music score for this movie winning a National Award for the best background score. The songs of this movie too were splendid especially Desh Mere, Mera Rang De, Mahive, Jogiya and Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna (sung by Hariharan and Sonu Nigam!). All-in-all Legend of Bhagat Singh was an all-round good movie excelling in all the departments.

Tags: a.r.rahman, ajay devgan, bhagat singh

Meaningful Cinema: True purpose of art

There are many views about what is the real objective of cinema is—entertainment, making us laugh, conveying a message, adding something to our lives etc etc. According to me, any good film will try to do all these things (and maybe more) thereby maintaining a holistic balance between the three. Films should definitely entertain us and ALSO make us think and at the end of the day there should be some good takeaways which will add value to our lives. There are many such outstanding movies that I have come across and I thought of listing them here. All these movies are those that I have seen many times. In this post I will only be referring to Indian movies spanning two languages-Hindi and Tamil.

1. Sholay-A classic, high energy movie much ahead of its time with a stellar cast. A unique action-oriented story, beautifully shot!
2. Golmaal-A lovely movie with witty dialogues and a wonderful cast of  “actors” Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt.
3. Chak De India-A case study for effective leadership. This is one of the movies where Shahrukh Khan truly showed that he is a good actor. The sports scenes were picturized perfectly making it look like live matches.
4. Dil Chahtha Hai-The most unassuming movie I have seen. So real and so natural. Farhan Akhtar showed that a simple story of three friends can make a great story.
5. Taare Zameen Par-Brilliant, moving cinema. An unconventional, heart-warming story about the relationship between a teacher and his student.
6. Lagaan-This movie portrayed beautifully the life of the simple people in rural India and added the plot of galli cricket to make a gripping story with magical music.
7. A Wednesday-This is movie-making at its best. Probably one of the most hard-hitting movies we will ever see! The message to shun terrorism will linger in our hearts for the rest of our lives.
8. Mouna Raagam-A simple story of a couple going thro’ emotional upheavals and finally realizing their love for each other. The music and the background score by Ilaiyaraja elevates it to another level.
9. Anjali-The cult classic in children’s movies, again Ilaiyaraja makes you literally cry with his violin cascades in the BGM’s.
10. Thenaali-A humourous, comic entertainer shot in Kodaikanal. The Kamal-Jayaram-Crazy Mohan team never disappoints, watch out for the next one!
11. Panchathantram-The best comedy I have ever seen! Killer dialogues that will make you run a laughathon! I don’t know how many more times I will watch this one.
12. Thavamaai Thavamirundhu-An unlikely, unexpected entry in this list. A very realistic movie on the relationship between a son and his father and very engaging too. Probably one of the best movies of Cheran with super music by Sabesh-Murali.
13. Mozhi-One of my recent favourites, a simple, witty love story set against the backdrop of music. Prakash Raj always produces very watchable movies. Vidyasagar’s music too was splendid.

Tags: cinema, indian cinema, top movies

Collaborations with Professional Orchestras

The real test for any music composer is the ability to work with a full-fledged orchestra and create music by collaborating with them. Its a challenge because, any of these professional orchestras will have at least about 75 players playing instruments like violins, violas, cellos, flutes etc. There are very few composers in India have collaborated with orchestras abroad—Ilaiyaraja, A.R.Rahman, Yuvan and Sonu Nigam recently collaborated with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for the Rafi Resurrected album.

Ilaiyaraja has collaborated with the Budapest Symphony orchestra of Hungary twice—once for composing for Guru (Malayalam movie) and the second time for Thiruvasagam in Symphony and I believe he is working with them again for Pazhassi Raja, a Malayalam film. A.R.Rahman has worked with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra of Czechoslovakia for Subhash Chandra Bose (fantastic songs with awesome orchestration). Yuvan worked with the Budapest orchestra for Pudhupettai. When we hear the songs of all these movies, you will find a totally different sound which is grand and all-encompassing. It is because the orchestras play the music live and this live recording is mixed with the singer’s voice later or sometimes it is done together. It’s a good change from the normal electronic sound we get to hear these days. Now, I am eagerly waiting with bated breath for the music of the magnum opus—Pazhassi Raja, starring Mammooty where Ilaiyaraja has again used the Budapest orchestra, am sure it will be worth the wait!

Tags: a.r.rahman, ilaiyaraja, symphony music, yuvan