I am back with the 20th movie of the list and I hope to finish it by this year at least :) As I quipped in the last post, the movie I am going to talk about is the classic of Tamil Cinema. I can confidently say there hasn’t been a movie that can beat the quality of this movie. Mahendran is a master story teller who tried to weave stories that are realistic and he somehow brought the right expressions from his actors.

Udhiripookal (1979)

Udhiripookal is the masterpiece of Mahendran based on the short story titled “Chitrannai” (Stepmom) written by Pudhumaipithan. The movie had Vijayan, Ashwini, Madhumalini, Sundar, Chaaruhassan, Sarath Babu and Bhoopathy with Ashok Kumar handling the camera and Ilaiyaraaja composing the musical score. The movie was produced by Radha Balakrishnan of Dimple Creations.

The story is about a village chieftain Sundaravadivelu (Vijayan), who exploits the village and makes sure that none of them live happy in the village except him. He is married to a good hearted woman (Ashwini), who is prone to illness. Sighting her illness and children as reason, Sundaravadivelu tries to marry her sister too. But her sister (Madhumalini) falls in love with a school teacher (Sundar) who comes to work in a school owned by Sundaravadivelu. The story revolves around how villagers fight against Sundaravadivelu.

Why it’s special?

1. On the first look, the story seems to be a simple good vs evil fight but the specialty of the movie resides in the way the scenes are conceived and directed.

2. Mahendran weaves a poetry on the screen with brilliant screenplay and scene conceptions. He never shows the violence and moves on to symbolism that has far more greater impact than showing the original violence itself. For instance the iconic climax scene where the protagonist is forced to jump in the flowing river is unmatched till date. The viewers end up feeling sympathetic towards the protagonist amidst the rage they have towards his atrocities. The whole movie is filled with such gems of scene conceptions.

3. Mahendran showed that you don’t need pages of dialogues to express the emotions. The film is filled with sharper dialogues mainly uttered by the protagonist’s father in law played by Charuhassan.

3. The fantastic acting of the leads especially Ashwini shows melancholy through her expressions. Vijayan as the protagonist evokes hatred. Master Raja and Baby Anju as the children give us a heart wrenching portrayal. Every actor in the supporting cast are perfectly chosen – even the smallest characters like the hair dresser and teachers in the school make a great impact in the movie. Sarath Babu gives a dignified cameo and Bhoopathy as Sundaravadivelu’s brother makes the casting perfect

4. The music. Mahendran has been collaborating with Ilaiyaraaja for all his movies. The songs in his movies go with the narration but he gives challenging sequences for Raaja to play around in the background score and Udhiri Pookal showed why Raaja is a master composer when it comes to background scores and interludes. The second interlude in Azhagiya Kanne song is the best example that blends the magic of Raaja, the brilliance of Mahendran and the acting prowess of Ashwini

5. Udhiripookal is a perfect movie that combines master class writing, direction, acting and music. It can’t get better than this

Why is it in the list?

1. Udhiripookal is an epitome of what Tamil movies should have been. But we got lost in the process.

2. For inspiring a number of directors to come in to movie making. Udhiripookal invariably stays in the top ten movies list of most of the young and established directors.

3. There hasn’t been a movie that matched the excellence of Udhiripookal in Tamil Cinema

4.Maniratnam famously said “If I get anywhere near what Mahendran did in Udhiri Pookkal, I’ll be a happy man.“ Do you need a better testimonial for this movie?

Trivia

1. As I have quoted earlier, the movie is based on the short story “Chitrannai” written by Pudhumaipithan. He is considered to be the father of short story revolution in Tamil Language. He wrote on progressive themes that became controversial during his time. Although his literary life was short, he is still revered by Tamil authors.

2. One of the teacher characters in the movie is played by Anbalaya Prabhakaran. He later became a famous actor/director/producer. One of his famous creations would be Vaigasi Porandhachu that launched Prashanth

3.Bhoopathy is the son of Manorama. Although quite talented, he never became successful in silver screen.

4.Charu Hassan. elder brother of Kamal Hassan and father of Suhasini Maniratnam had done interesting roles in his tenure. He also won a National Award for his role in a Kannada movie Tabarana Kathe in 1987. It’s very interesting to note that there were 3 National Award winners from the same family in 3 consecutive years. 1986 – Suhasini (Best Actress) for Sindhu Bhairavi, 1987 for Charu Hassan and 1988 – Kamal Hassan for Nayagan.

5. Udhirpookal didn’t win any major awards in the following year. No national awards. No Filmfares. The National Award for Best Tamil film had not been announced for 1980 as per records.  No awards for a movie that could have even fulfilled the oscar dream of India. The movie remains as an unsung classic of Indian Cinema.

Have a look at the complete list in the following link
http://www.sylvianism.com/50-tamil-movies-to-watch-before-you-die/

Movies based on children have always worked in Tamil Cinema. Yaar Payyan, Kuzhandhaium Deivamum, Shanthi Nilayam (inspired by Sound of Music), Anbulla Rajinikanth, My Dear Kuttichattan, Anjali and Pasanga recently have been massive crowd pullers. Some have used children movies to talk about sensitive issues like Achamundu Achamundu (Child Abuse), Mazhalai Pattalam, Kannathil Muthamittal, En Bommukutti Ammavuku,Kannadi Pookal (sibling rivalry, unnoticed brilliance), Nandalala (inspired by Kikujiro), Malli, Nila Kaalam, Kutty (Not the Dhanush movie!!! – that even won a Jury award in Cairo Film festival). Movies on Children are always popular, heart warming and extremely feel good. But when you are taking a sensitive issue to discuss in the movie, you will be running on the thin rope that may twist you in to the web of preachy documentary. Taare Zameen Par of Aamir Khan is the best example of a balancing act. Prakash Raj’s Dhoni is way out of balance.

Dhoni (or Dhoni – Not Out) directed and produced by Prakash Raj takes heavy inspiration from Mahesh Manjrekar’s Marathi movie Shikshanaya Aaiche Go, is a story of a middle class father and his cricket crazy son. Thanks to Prakash Raj for giving original story credit to Mahesh, otherwise this review would have been another Deiva Thirumagal rant.

Karthik (Akash Puri) is a 9th standard student who is crazy about cricket and wants to become a wicket-keeper batsman like his idol Dhoni. Subramaniam (Prakash Raj), his single dad, works as a clerk in Registrar Office and tries to make both ends meet every month by money lending and pickle business. Like every doting middle class father, he believes the only thing he can give his children is education and pressurises his son Karthik to study well. His daughter Kaveri (wonderfuly portrayed by Srijeta) understands her Father’s plight and she tries to be the bridge between her brother and dad. Due to the pressure from School on 100% results in public exams, Subbu stops Karthik from playing cricket against his wishes and coach’s (Nasser) insistence. In a heated argument, Subbu beats up Karthik and he loses conscience as he hits a wooden table. While karthik stays in coma, Subbu understands his son and how the system is flawed against the talented children. How he tries to fight the system and saves his son is said in a languid preachy tone.

Kudos to the premise taken by Dhoni and every middle class parent would relate to the situation of Subbu. The strong questions the movie asks are imperative to the current education rat race and Dhoni could have created a debate like what Taare Zameen Par or 3 Idiots did. Dhoni fails miserably in sustaining interest in the matter. The repetitive dialogues of protagonists, stereotypical melodramatic sequences and overemphasis on 17 tables – I meant the overemphasis on such scenes (I dunno which 9th standard student reads 17 Tables) gets you bored. Even the strong characterisation of Radhika Apte (How beautiful she is!!) seems very stereotypical in this mayhem. When you have such a strong musical genius to back up, why Prakash you can’t think about subtle scenes to portray the sadness instead of never ending dialogues. The final dramatic sequences looks forced and doesn’t gel with the movie, especially the Neeya Naana part.

It doesn’t mean that Dhoni doesn’t have any positives. The simple and restrained acting of Radhika Apte, Gnanavel’s brilliant dialgoues in few moments (“Kanjikke vazhi illa Ranji ada poranam”) and impressive tiny little characters. Prakashraj has scored brilliantly on casting except for Akash Puri. I felt Karthik’s character needed to be little more emotive and at least know the basics of cricket (!!). Prakash Raj got one more thing right, the situations for song sequences and Ilayaraaja has had some wonderful time doing music for this movie. The power of silence in his music shows up brilliantly in apt places. Na.Muthukumar’s words makes you think, laugh and cry. The situation, camerawork, music, rendering and words are in perfect sync for the “Vilayatta padogotti” song

Dhoni, overall lacks the subtelty and focus that other above mentioned children movies had. Prakash Raj could have made an inspiring debut but his overdoing of the script leaves us lot to desire. Expecting more from you Prakash.

A 2/5 for the wonderful thought and few performances

P.S: I am adding the Dhoni Audio Launch video instead of the usual song or tralier. I feel everyone should see this program.

The Best Movies of 2011

The annual round up of Tamil movies and music. I have been blogging about Tamil movies since the inception of this blog. The love for the movies never goes out of me. So let’s see what was 2011 all about in the world of Tamil movies.

5. Payanam – most of the lists didn’t have this movie. Probably, people forgot this one impressive movie of 2011

 

4. Aadukalam – I would not say this one is the best movie of the year. But it definitely made an impact in the national scene. So it does deserve a place here 

3. Mayakkam Enna – I loved this movie. It takes the contrarian view to  what’s normal in the society. It has it’s own flaws but definitely one of the best.

2. Azhagarsamyin Kuthirai – for adapting a short story in to a movie. It broke all idiotic stereotypes of Tamil cinema and for one of the best background scores of this year.

1. Aaranya Kaandam- a lot has been  said, written and discussed about the movie. It’s one of the best movies ever to have been made in Tamil Cinema. If you haven’t seen this movie, you have lost the right to claim that you are a Tamil movie buff.  

The Movies that missed the cut

1. Mouna Guru – loved the concept and acting. A promising start from director Santhakumar
2. Engeyum Eppothum – another promising youngster – Saravanan. It didn’t make the final list because it didn’t affect me much
3. Mankatha – for becoming the first and only blockbuster of 2011. It broke the hero stereotypes of Tamil cinema and a brilliant performance by Ajith. It didn’t make the cut because of logical loopholes.

4. Yudham Sei – wonderfully taken movie but had some blatant errors. A smart movie watcher would have guessed the movie by half time. But the performance of Lakshmi, YG and that boy – surprise
5. Vaagai Sooda Vaa – for taking us back to our roots and history

Disappointments of 2011

1. Avan Ivan – Bala’s worst performance yet
2. Nadunissi Naaygal – Gautam Menon comedy in the name of thriller

3. Ezham Arivu – half baked attempt at historical fiction. Extremely hyped and flawed
4. Deiva Thirumagal – one of the worst copycat movie ever to be made in Tamil Cinema
5. Rajapaatai – I still could not figure out how Suseendran can give the best and worst in the same year. He managed to do so. It’s the biggest dud of the year.

Best Songs/Albums of 2011

1. Nee Korinal (180)- one of the best songs ever. Brilliant composition and rendering – Sharreth Vasudevan. The whole album is a complete delight. The best album of the year but the movie didn’t live up to the expectations.

2. Sara Sara Saara Kaathu (Vaagai Sooda Vaa) – When you listen to the song, you can’t say that this was done by a newcomer. Ghibran is an excellent find of the year. The visualisation of the song accentuates it considerably.

3. Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai (Kuthikkira/BGM) – Kuthikkira is an interesting rendering from Ilaiyaraaja but what more interesting was the background score. It added another dimension to the movie.

4. Otha Sollala (Aadukalam) - Although GV Prakash is on fast track to take the place of Deva, this song has the sweet rusticity that everyone loved. Wonderful rendition and lyrics.

5. Vaanam (Vaanam) – you may find it surprising but this song was lost in the “Evan di unna Pethan” frenzy. The lyrics struck me like a bolt (Na.Muthukumar). Fantastically composed and sung by Yuvan. 

The Trends that are worrying

1. The widespread plagiarism that has developed like a plague in the industry. Stories, screenplays,music scores, scenes and even posters are being copied from all over the world. Hope they make some originals in 2012.

2. The B-grade movies are back in Tamil. Quite a number of releases made its way in 2012 but they were not hits. Hope it doesn’t become a trend next year.

3. The dearth of small movies. The political situation was one of the major reasons for this but the change of political guard has changed the trend in the last few months. We can see some small movies releasing next year.

4. Where are the blockbusters? Arguably, there was only one blockbuster in 2011. The star value movies didn’t fetch the profit as expected. Hope the big stars choose their movies wisely next year.

Subtlety thy name is Mahendran. When Tamil cinema was reeling under overrated emotions, a few directors tried to break the norms of Tamil cinema. As I already explained in previous posts, I would consider this as the golden period of Tamil cinema. Mahendran played a very important role in shaping up this period of directorial excellence

Mullum Malarum (1978)

Mullum Malarum is a movie that depicts the love between a ruffian brother and innocent sister. The movie had Rajinikanth, Sarath Babu, Shoba and Fatafat Jayalakshmi in lead roles with Balu Mahendra wielding the camera and Ilayaraja composing the score. It was produced by V.Mohan (Anandhi Films) and directed by Mahendran.

Set in a rural backdrop near Annamalai Hills in Tamil Nadu, it paints the story of Kali (Rajinikanth) and his sister Valli (Shoba). Kali is a winch operator in the hills and enters Kumaran (Sarath Babu), an officer and the boss of Kali. Interesting encounters between Valli and Kumaran blossoms in to a tender love between them. Kali doesn’t approve this love while he falls for Manga (Fatafat Jayalakshmi), a bratty village girl. In a freak incident, Kali loses one of his hands. Valli is torn between the love for her brother and Kumaran. The whole village tries to arrange for the marriage between Kumaran and Valli with the help of Manga. The climax tells you who Valli chooses to be with.

Why it’s so special?

1. Although brother-sister relationships have been portrayed a lot of times in the past (Paasa Malar, Pachai Vilakku), they were always filled with an overdose of melodrama. Mullum Malarum deliberately broke the rules to give more subtle, natural version of a brother – sister relationship. It broke the stereotypes and gave a honest portrayal of the relationship

2. The acting of the ‘actor’ Rajinikanth rather than the superstar. You would not believe that it was only the 3rd year in his film career. The anti-heroish act of the first half and the disabled man in the second half was simply brilliant. He was challenged in every quarters by the young Shoba (was just 16) with her portrayal of innocent sister. Her eyes showed more emotions than her face when she is torn between the love of her brother and lover.

3. The able supporting cast of Fatafat Jayalakshmi and Sarath Babu (some feel he is a miscast, but there couldn’t have been a better person given the choices for the director).

4. The brilliance of the man by the name Ilayaraja. If Senthazham Poovil is an evergreen classic, Raman Aandalum is still one of the most favourites of Rajini fans. Adi Penne is a uncelebrated classic and Nitham Nitham nellu choru provided a prelude to interesting rural orchestrations that Ilayaraja would do later in various movies.

5. The rusticity in the movie is the main reason for the honest portrayals. Balu Mahendra (Cinematography) and Mahendran have worked hard to preserve it. A deft screenplay, some wonderful writing and brilliant portrayals made the movie an instant classic

Why it’s in the list?

1. It broke the stereotypical portrayals of brother and sister relationships sans the melodrama
2. For the ‘actor’ Rajinikanth – one of his best
3. The subtlety of Mahendran

Trivia

1. Mullum Malarum is based on a short story by Uma Chandran that won the Kalki Silver Jubilee Issue award.

2.Mahendran had scrapped the “Senthazham Poovil” song in the original cut due to the budget constraints and producer couldn’t provide the money. Hearing this, Panchu Arunachalam gave some money to shoot the song as he thought it was too brilliant to be left out. We would have lost a classically shot song, if not for Panju Arunachalam.

3.The movie has two actresses who died of suicides, Fatafat Jayalakshmi and Shoba both committed suicide after a few years. Tamil industry lost two great actresses. Shoba won a national award for Pasi, a year later at the age of 17.

4.Mahendran was originally born as Alexander.It’s said that he changed the name in honour of a school senior, who was a famous athlete.

5.Mullum Malarum is the only movie where the 3 greats came together to work – Mahendran, Balu Mahendra and Ilayaraja. Incidentally, Kamal introduced Balu Mahendra to Mahendran.

If you think Mullum Malarum was a classic, the next movie that I am going to write about equals any international classic. A movie that I am proud that it was made in Tamil.

Bharathiraja doesn’t love criticisms. But when the media rubbed him in the wrong side early in his career, he answered in the way he could. So what was the criticism all about? His first two movies (16 Vayadhinile, Kizhakke Pogum Rail) were village based and he was branded as a director who can only give rural based movies. Sigappu Rojakkal was a revenge that he took on his critics and it became another trendsetter.

Sigappu Rojakkal (1978)

Sigappu Rojakkal is a thriller with Kamal Hassan and Sridevi in the lead with a unknown (at that time) supporting cast of Bhagyaraj, Vadivukkarasi, etc.,The movie’s music was scored by Ilayaraja with the cinematography of PS Nivas. The movie was written and directed by Bharathiraja.

Sigappu Rojakkal is about a young man Dileep (Kamal) who kills young women in the city after seducing them, buries them in his bungalow garden below rose bushes with the help of his step father and a dumb loyal servant. He falls in love with Sarada (Sridevi), who is a poor girl making her life working as a sales girl in a cloth shop. Much against his wishes of his step father, he marries her. When she enters the bungalow, strange things happen and slowly finds the truth about her husband. Sarada realises that Dileep is a victim of child abuse by various women and had transformed into an psychopathic killer. In the end, he tries to kill Sarada as she finds the truth but ends up in mental asylum after a freak encounter with police.

Why it’s so special?

1. Sigappu Rojakkal is the first psychopath killer story of Tamil movies and one of the best thrillers to have been made.

2. A wonderfully crafted writing in which both the lead characters had the space to showcase their talent. Kamal as Dileep – a charming businessman with the other side showed why he is gonna become the benchmark for actors in the future – the “nothing scene” is one instance whereas Sridevi as the innocent Sarada steals your heart and you just want her to escape from the clutches of Dileep.

3. Ilayaraja was in second year of his career. If the songs like Ninaivo Oru Paravai and Miniminikku are classics, the background score is brilliant. The Dileep theme gives you mixed feeling of sympathy and eeriness to the situations. The final scenes are totally his forte where he runs riot with his music

4. The reason why I am reiterating the fact that it’s one of the well written movies is that because the movie is an open-ended thriller. The audience know that the hero is the killer and he may attempt to kill the heroine. The reason for the murders is unknown and the suspense is sustained throughout the span of the movie. You are forced to see the other side of the killer and be sympathetic about it. The screenplay is deft but there are a few minute mistakes in the movie but it’s overcome by the wonderful casting and direction

Why it’s in the list?

1. For the guts of Bharthiraaja, who had an anti-hero as his lead protagonist and pulled off such performances from the lead actors.

2. A trendsetter – gave the confidence to other directors to move from their comfort zones and make different movies. I think any psychopathic story can’t go without the shades of Sigappu Rojakkal. We even had a cheap comparison lately.

3. The first original thriller in Tamil Cinema as all the previous attempts were based on Hollywood flicks.

Trivia

1. Bharathiraaja never knew how to write English dialogues for this movie and he had to pull off some English words which he hears in daily life (told by him during a promo program for Nadunisi Naaygal)

2. The movie was originally offered to Sivakumar (!!!) but he refused the role as it would not suit him. (Anecdote from Idhu Rajapaattai Alla – autobiography of Sivakumar)

3. The movie was remade as “Red Rose (1980)” in Hindi with Rajesh Khanna and Poonam Dhillon. Although critically acclaimed, the movie was a box office loss.

4. Bharathiraja is probably will be the director who introduced the most number of lead actors and actresses to Tamil cinema. The list includes the “R” actresses – Revathi,Radhika,Radha,Ranjita, Rekha, Riya Sen,Rati Agnihotri, Rohini and other wonderful actors like Napolean, Raja, Suganya, Bhagyaraj, Goundamani and Vijayashanti

5. The famed assistant directors from Bharathiraja became successful directors. The people who started their career with Bharathiraja include Bhagyaraj, Mani Vannan, Parthiban.

6. A strong supporter of Tamil Eelam cause, Bharathiraja returned his Padmashree back in order to show his protest against the inaction by the govt.

Love is an emotion which is happy, painful, sad, lethal, ecstatic, passionate, compassionate, funny, lively but it’s never easy. What if it was easy to fall in love, easy to get together in life, easy to get permission from your parents to get married, easy to go beyond religion, caste and country.. What if love was easy…

1. I would not have got a topic to write a blog post
2. Shakespeare would not have penned Romeo and Juliet
3. Troy would have been safe
4. Ramayana would not have been possible
5. Laila and Majnun would have been just another married couple
6. Mark Antony would have lived to expand the Roman Empire and Cleopatra would have died at an older age
7. Napolean would have had a heir to his throne
8. Dante’s Divine comedy would have been a comedy of errors
9. Prithiviraj would not have kidnapped Samjukta in a horseback
10. The love letters of Eloise and Ablehard would not have been possible
11. Anarkali would not have been entombed alive and we would not have got “Pyar Kiya to Darna Kiya”
12. Queen Victoria would have had remarriage
13. Taj Mahal would be just a tomb
14. Alexandra would not have been executed just because she loved Nicholas of Russia
15. We would not have needed a BBC documentary to know about Jawaharla Nehru and Lady Mountbatten and try to ban a movie saying their love story
16. Princess Diana would be living happily  - still breaking some more hearts
17. Over aged singles in this world would be an endangered species
18. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor would not have got married twice in the span of few years.
19. Mills and Boons would be cheap crap ( its still cheap for a few)
20. A lot of poets would have stayed clueless (including me )- uff what I would have written
    
    photo credit: prakhar
21. We would have trashed Devdas. No Paro. No Chandramukhi. Dilip Kumar would have needed another movie to become a star.
22. Eric Segal would not have written the  “Love Story”
23. Dharmendra and Hema Malini would not have converted to Islam just to get married
24. Silsila???
25. Tamil movies would have been saved from scenes were heroes fight for lovers and advice parents
26. Ilaiyaraja would have made only spiritual  and mother songs
27. Mani Rathnam would have made only patriotic movies while AR Rahman would have settled for patriotic songs ( we would not have got Mouna Ragam and Alaipayuthey..ooo. I can’t imagine)
28. Titanic would be just another disaster movie and James Cameron would have been a just another director
29. Da Vinci Code would be crap ( Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene..???)
30. Spencer plaza, Sathyam theatre and Citi Centre would be out of business (Ampa Mall is recently added to the list – Chennai’s happening places).
31. Who would sit in the hot sun of Marina and Besant Nagar beaches???
32. Dupattas would be in shoulders
33. No. of suicide attempts would have come down
34. A few debatable topics would have reduced for the news channels
35. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge would have been a first day flop (it’s running for 15 years on the trot in a theater in Mumbai)
36. There would not be guys standing in front of girl’s college gates
37. There would not be girls fasting in front of police stations
38. Suicide Point in Kodaikanal would not have got that infamous name
39. Religion and Caste would have been dead and buried
40. A few police stations would not have become marriage halls
41. Gay parades would not be there.
42. A lot of lovers would not have eloped
43. A few parent hearts would not have broken
44. There will not be broken marriages.
45. Diaries need not be a secret.
46. Arranged marriages would have been a rare spectacle the world will be waiting for
47. This world would have been a better place to live with lesser problems, lesser fights, lesser murders and love
48. I would have been father of a child
49. You would have been a wife of the love of your life
50. And we would not have met….

P.S : This post is dedicated to you

I hope you all liked my first post in the series. Thanks to everyone who supported the series, retweeted and also commented on it. Its all for you guys…

The Unknown Gem – 2

Can a song depict a mystery? Can it show some kind of strange eeriness which you don’t like to encounter? Can it make the mysterious beauty of a girl? Yes music can do anything and Ilaiyaraja can do it with master class.

There are a few classics in the famous Mohan- SPB – Ilaiyaraja combo. In fact the actor Mohan was known as “Mic Mohan” because of the consecutive hits as singer in the movies. It was only due to the wonderful combo of SPB and Ilaiyaraja.But for few songs, Ilaiyaraja used some of the very talented singers of that time like Jayachandran and later Mano.

This song is from the super duper combo of Jayachandran and Ilaiyaraja. In fact Jayachandran debuted in Tamil with Ilaiyaraja’s Vaidehi Kathirundhal. The movie is ” Pillai Nila” and the song is ” Raja Magal Roja Magal” .

Pillai Nila is a movie about a girl who has unrequited love on Mohan and commits suicide. She comes back as a spirit inside the body of his child.  So the movie is shrouded with mystery and eeriness. Radhika as the lover and Shalini ( Yes Shalini Ajith as Baby Shalini) as the child were excellent.

This particular song is the one where the Hero Mohan describes the girl (Radhika), her characterization, beauty and the uniqueness. Radhika is kind of complex, irresistible and stubborn kind of a girl and the lyric depicts every aspect of the girl. The song starts with the male voice and a piano rendering, joined by Flute and violin in a wonderful harmony. The best part of the song is the female hum from S.Janaki in both the interludes. It supplies the strangeness and eeriness to the song. When you see the song in the movie, you are bound to the think that, there is some mystery to the girl in question.

The whole two saranams is made with minimalistic orchestrations and simple repetitive beats. Its the voice of Jayachandran that mesmerizes you in the whole song and of course the richness of poetic lyric ( I think Vairmuthu.Am not sure).

“Panneerayum Veneerayum Unnodu Naan parkiren
Poovenbentha Pen Enbatha Nenjoduthan Kerkiren
Mulloduthan Kalloduthan Rojakkalum Pookkalam
Ammadi Naan athoduthan un perayum serkalam”

I am told by the Ilayaragam Page that the song is made in Rishivani Raaga. A very rarely used one by the Film Music directors but extensively used by Maestro. Thanks to some people in Internet. You get these gems in YouTube. Hear it and savour it…

Maestro has this fantastic habit of changing few swaras and give a different rendition of the same tune. The girl comes as a small child and sings the same song in the later part of the movie. S.Janaki, the eternal baby voice of those times adds up the sadness to the already eerie tune. The other version for you to find the subtle differences between two tunes and maestro’s brilliance.

Why I love this Song?

This is a song you like to sing to your girl friend. And if you really meet some one like that, wohoah you are in for a ride man.  Apart from that, the song is a very simplistic musical rendition,with wonderful lyrics and fabulous singing. How many songs you see in such a calibre – a rarity in the current Tamil film music. Only once i have heard this in a FM Radio, that too in the mid-night and I can see this in TV only when Raj Digital shows the movie.

So did I sing this to my Girl Friend???

P.S: Nice Trivia for you. The movie was directed by Manobala ( Yes the same guy who comes in “yeppadi iruntha naan, ippadi aayiten” joke with Vivek.

It irks me when I see so many music composers claim that they are the best in music when their total number of movies doesn’t even cross the number of movies made by Ilaiyaraja in a year

Whenever some one speaks about Ilaiyaraja’s music, they start up their discussion with Mouna Raagam, Payanangal Mudivathillai, Agni Natchathiram or about his Thiruvasagam. Most of his famous songs are often repeated in FM stations and it has become so stereotypical. The genius of that man cannot be curtailed in to few famous albums. This series from me is to unearth some musical gems from not so famous albums of Ilaiyaraja but those which keeps running over and over in my iPhone.

Disclaimers:

1. I am not a music person. I dunno how the ragas are made, how western notes play, I am clueless about C sharps… So don’t expect me to diagnose the music in to raagas and notes. I would write what I love in that song. I always believe that the success of the song relies on the feeling it gives you when you hear it. If you like to know more about the musical genius of the man, visit his official fans group in Yahoo – I bet you are in for a treat if you understand music.

2. All the songs chosen here are my personal favorites. So it’s absolutely biased and i hope you feel the same.

The Unknown Gem – 1

Parthiban is one of the most intelligent film makers I have ever seen. But he sometimes wades of his usual ways to make movies like Ullae Veliye etc. Only he knows why. He is a ardent fan ( fan is a understatement, devotee is a better word) of Ilaiyaraja. He once famously put in a title card like this “Music Alias Ilaiyaraja”.

Incidentally his first movie’s (Pudhiya Paadhai) music was not by Maestro but he joined hands for the second movie “Pondatti Thevai”. One of the most beautiful songs from that movie is going to be our first song.

To understand the beauty of the song, you should understand the situation. The hero (Parthiban) is a bus conductor , an orphan falls in love with a Brahmin girl who travels regularly in his ladies special bus. He loves his mother but he doesn’t have a picture of her to see. He even tries to take a picture of his mother in her death-bed but she dies. So he always yearns for a motherly love and he expects his wife to be his second mother ( most of us do) . Once his lady love comes to his house, tries to cook non-veg for him etc. He gives her the saree his mother had bought for her daughter in law. She sings this song as he asks for it.

The song starts with a female hum and a simple piano rendering. And it moves on to the flute and the Pallavi follows. The song continues with a usual Tabla base entwined with piano and violin intersperses. Both the interludes are made of delightful interactions between violin, piano and flute. The whole song has a lullaby effect attached to it. Ilayaragam, the geocities page of Ilaiyaraja says that song was made in Natabhairavi Raaga. It is said to be a raaga of grandeur and pomp. A lullaby in that raaga – only Raaja can do it.

The lyrics forms a very integral part of the song. The first half the lover says why she will not equal his mother and explains her love with a sweet tinge of desire.

In the second half, the guy says what he wants from her and shows his love with the usual metaphorical words attached with poetry.

The song was sung by Chitra and Arun Mozhi (who is also flautist in Ilaiyaraja’s orchestra). The lyric was written by Vaali.

Why I love this song?

Have you ever spent a day with your love in your home alone, with none around, distancing yourself from the outside world? Just cook together, eat together even though you are not hungry, with sweet kisses… Have you ever slept in her bosom like you sleep in your mother’s? You will understand the real beauty of this song when you experience it…

I did my engineering in one of those engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu (Currently it has crossed 300), by the name Anjalai Ammal. We used to travel by train daily. Its a 25 KM distance and we used to go in a passenger train. If you need a better understanding of that train and stations, you should either watch Oru Thalai Raagam or Sethu.

Train obviously gives you a lot of room for adventure, happiness, fun and frolic. In the first year,it was the place for ragging and as i am a decent singer i had to sing a lot of songs to please my seniors. One day i had even sung one song each for all the 5 compartments in between 4 stations (excluding ladies compartment). I used to sing all sad, melancholic love songs in order to impress my seniors and every time they used to think about their love, they left me alone.

I think it was a in third year, we had almost lost steam, interest in studying and we used to sleep in the trains (both onwards and backwards). Sometimes we used to sing songs, while coming back just to enjoy our evening. Most of the times, the trains used to be empty and very less of occasional commuters. 

That day, we had a couple in our compartment. They both had a rural look, like from a village and the lady was so afraid of us that she was holding the shirt of her husband. The age difference was also pretty high and it was evident. He had a big moustache and they were speaking Telegu to each other.

We kept on singing on some songs. I used to sing mostly maestro songs as i love his compositions. Suddenly the guy asked in broken tamil “yenaku oru pattu padalama”. What he meant was whether i will be able to sing a song for him. I asked “yenna pattu” (‘What song?’). He said “ Yenaku per thellinthi. Tune theriyum” ( “I dunno the name of the song but i know the tune”). I said “Solunga Parpom” ( ‘tell me, i will try’). “Na Nana Na, Na nana Na, Nanana Na”, he started singing the tune.

It was a song by Maestro Ilaiyaraja from the movie ‘Vaithehi Kathirunthal’. It had Vijayakanth (in a very different role) and Revathi in the lead. The song was rendered by Jayachandran. It was his first song and it fetched him a National Award. The song goes like this “rasathi unnai kanatha nenju”. Its sung by a lover after losing his lady love to his mistake. I think the lyrics is by Vaali ( I am not sure)

When i was singing, the guy started enjoying it as if he was singing. He was shaking his head to the tune, eyes closed and taking the music in to him. He would not have understood most of the words but he could enjoy the tune to the fullest extent. After i finished the song, he said he was very happy  to hear the song and i could see a sense of completeness in his face, a sense of satisfaction. It was one of the happiest moment in his life and his wife was smiling at her husband’s happiness. I dunno where they came from nor their names but that piece of music made us came together at that wonderful moment. A sense of achievement came in to my heart. How precious is to make a man smile…

That moment i realised why people say there is no language for music. 

I have not got a single prize in my life time for my singing abilities ( as i was just ok and not so great), but his thanks is one of the biggest awards i could ever get in my life.

Enjoy the song and Ilaiyaraja’s beauty…

The BGM of Idhayam

How many of you have fallen in love? How many of you have expressed it to the person you love?

Tell me honestly, how many days it took to express it to the person? Was it easy? Was it hard? Was it nervous? Were you tense? Was it painful? 

I think the biggest pain for those who fall in love will be the fear of rejection. It haunts everybody who fall in love. The big threat after falling in to a realtionship is the fear of losing. And we end up not loving but just live in fear for ever.

Why such a relationship gyaan in a music related post? When i hear this particular music, i get all these emotions in my heart and it just haunts you. It takes me to that stage when i felt those painful moments in my life.  The piece is so haunting that you forget everything in this world and then take you that moment where happiness and sadness come together. Where you can smile and cry at the same time. Where you feel glee and the pain at the same moment.

This has become a regular piece of music in my I-Tunes and I dunno why i continue to hear it although it makes me sad sometimes…Am i so happy to be sad?

P.S: ‘I don’t see her daily. But i yearn to see her daily. May be a small glimpse, a little cute smile or just a wave of hand. Am i getting attracted to her?’