Nice-ish. That’s the word I have right now for O Kadhal Kanmani, AR Rahman’s latest album for Mani Ratnam. It didn’t make me wince the way the soundtracks for Lingaa and Kochadaiyaan did. It didn’t activate every single one of my pleasure centres the way the soundtrack for I did. It’s somewhere in the middle.
That’s not a diss, exactly. As I grow older, I’ve come to realise that songs work differently for me. There’s a cut-off point in your life till which period you absorb everything – movies, music, everything – with frightening intensity, and after that point, your brain stops being the ultra-sponge it was. These days, I find that there are songs that I love when I listen to them, but if they don’t work in the film (for instance, in Kadal), I don’t return to those songs all that often. Then there are songs like Unakkenna venum sollu, from Yennai arindhaal, which sound great on the album, and sound even better on screen, enhanced by the emotions. So maybe these songs, too, will really work on screen, and eventually become more than nice-ish? Even as I write this, my hand is trembling slightly. I’m thinking of all those people who are going to have just one takeaway from this, that I am equating AR Rahman with Harris Jayaraj. But I’m not. I’m just trying to make a bigger point, that when I was younger, the picturisation and placement and such things didn’t matter at all, but now, for some reason, they do. Or maybe it’s just that the old attention span has shrunk. Oh well.
There’s always something interesting going on in this album. The percussion that sounds like a wet, sloppy kiss in the opening stretch of the dreamy Parandhu sella vaa. The kanjira that practically elbows its way into Malargal kaettaen. Amidst the staccato utterances of the fist-pumpingly upbeat Mental manadhil, the slightly melodic detour at Like-a like my Laila. The painstaking phrasing of Maula Wa Sallim, where the intonations of the language provide as much music.
But in general, I was reminded of what Mani Ratnam said about Rahman in my book of conversations with him: “Right from Roja, what he’d give you was a recorded piece, the scratch. But this scratch would be so well-produced that you didn’t know whether you were being seduced by the production quality or by the intrinsic tune. I was used to listening to a harmonium and Ilaiyaraaja’s voice and seeing whether that works. With Rahman, there’s a track laid, and he’s playing magically, and within that we have to find the tune and see whether that works. Just the sound of it is like a finished product. So you have to listen to it a few hundred times more to make sure that it’s the soul you really liked.” For the first time, I think I really understood what he was saying. The production quality of this album is so spectacular that I’m not sure where my nice-ish response is coming from. Again, my hand is trembling slightly. I’m thinking of all those people who are going to have just one takeaway from this, that I am equating AR Rahman with Ilaiyaraaja. But I’m just trying to make a bigger point. Oh well.
Despite the publicity machine’s claim that this is a reunion of Rahman, Mani Ratnam and Vairamuthu, I felt, for once, that the latter wasn’t as important a part of the overall scheme. Oh, he comes up with some lovely stuff. I loved the phrase “maega thundu” – puff of cloud, something as hard to pin down as some of this music. I liked the overall structure of Malargalai kaettaen, which is a set of variations on the thought “I asked for this; you gave me so much more…” There’s the erotic-sounding sandhosha kalaigal, pleasure-bringing arts. My favourite bit came in Aye sinamika, where this most physical of our poets discovers yet another body part to dedicate to love: uthattin vari pallangal, the furrows on the lips.
And yet, many songs seem to exist on the basis of the music alone. The words are almost incidental – or maybe you could say the words are sounds just like the other sounds, from the instruments. In Aye sinamika, almost an entire minute is filled with variations on just three words: Nee ennai neengaathe. So I did something. I counted the number of words (approximately) in Parandhu sella vaa, and for a five-minute song, the number of non-repeating words was just some sixty-odd. Compare this with Kaadhal sadugudu, another song with a lot of repeating lines. But almost twice the number of non-repeating words. I don’t know where I’m heading with this exactly, but I have the feeling most of these songs aren’t going to be all that important inside the movie, with hero and heroine actually mouthing these words. Maybe these are just going to be background tracks.
As for that comparison to the Alaipaaythey song, it’s no accident. The trailer practically screams Alaipaaythey: The Sequel. And strangely – or maybe not so strangely – the songs here come off like near-equivalents to the songs there. It’s fun to compare. Naane varugiren versus Snehidhane, right down to the male chorus in the middle. Theera ulaa, which sounds like something Sting has sung at his highest pitch to the accompaniment of a New Agey band, versus Evano oruvan. Mental mandhil versus Endrendrum punnagai. Kaara aattakkara, which after a point sounds like a wasp has taken residence in your ear, versus Kaadhal sadugudu. Malargalai kaettaen versus Alaipaaythey kanna. My hand is trembling slightly imagining those who feel I’m saying this is just a rehash. But I’m trying to make a bigger point. That, if after an interesting if unpopular experimental phase, if Mani Ratnam and Rahman land a hit by drawing on our memories, that would be a nice-ish thing, no?
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Santosh Kumar T K
April 6, 2015
I liked the overall structure of malargalai kaettaen, which is a set of variations on the thought “I asked for this; you gave me so much more…”
if only I had bet on your using this thought in the review… 🙂
. first of all, the opening lines of malargal: bhaja govindam, or vaishnava janato?
. is this the first time a predominantly in-your-face carnatic classical-sounding score featured in a mani ratnam-directed movie? So far there have been only hints at it well masked, dressed up in modern clothes (just like the other elements in his movies!)
. it’s such a relief to listen to an accessible sound and music of aye sinamika , with accessible guitars, accessible flutes (?). such accessible playing of instruments of late has been found in harris jayaraj’s music (particularly when he does what he does for GVM)
. isn’t the point of arrival of rahman, the singer (baritone/double track), at the end of malargal kaettaen absolutely thrilling?!
. isn’t karthik the best male thing to have happened to the south indian film music after SPB, KJY, hariharan? (not counting a shankar mahadevan here!)
. isn’t karthik’s “nanaindhu kolla va” in parandhu… a truly truly out-of-the-world affair?
BR, do you have any idea how beautiful these songs sound in Telugu? this is perhaps the first time in ages that i even “attempted” listening to the telugu version courtesy sirivennela seetharama sastry!
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Ram Murali
April 6, 2015
It is nice the way you’ve used this album as a chance to touch upon how the Mani – ARR combo has evolved…
I am curious to see whether Mani is able to blend some of his earlier conventions with his newer experimental style for both the song sequences as well as the movie itself…one of the very basic things that I am hoping will happen again in OKK is how he used to have the song sequences at just the PERFECT places…I mean, in Alaipayuthey, “Snehidhane” and “Kadhal Sadugudu” just felt like the most natural extension of the scenes that led to that…I missed those seamless transitions in his recent movies…
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venkat ramanan
April 6, 2015
Talking in terms of Harris Jayaraj or Ilaiyaraaja, or how it’s similar to “Alaipaaythey” or “nice-ish” is trivial, What ARR has done, especially in the last two albums is that his songs are becoming more pastiche.The songs like “Theera Ulaa” or “Kaara Aattakkaara” there is so much randomness. its hard to even list out, it feels like hip-hop, rock, indian pop, alternative rock, new-age, electronic, synth and so on. it feels like being taken on a journey across musical genres, unpredictable yet unique. This reminds me of what Tarantino had once said, “I always hope that if one million people see my movie, they see one million different movies”.
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Sandhya Sankar
April 6, 2015
Felt just the same about the whole album, underwhelming in a sense. Long time lurker, commenting for the first time, Hi 🙂 !
“Udhattu vari pallam” was also used in Ravanan (the last ARR album I absolutely loved, followed by Maryan). Also grateful for the return of Karthik, I keep wondering if I may have enjoyed Kaviyathalaivan (both the songs and the movie) if Karthik had been Siddharth’s voice… thoughts ?
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thekomentor
April 6, 2015
Can someone help me with this? A commenter on another forum says Roja was inspired from the Ramayana with the hero being abducted instead of the heroine and the terrorist being Ravana. This, he says, was admitted by Maniratnam himself in an interview. Is there any substance at all in this claim by the commenter?
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KayKay
April 6, 2015
I consider this a companion piece to “I”: Rahman at his grooviest, funkiest, playful best, with OK Kanmani winning by a margin owing to it’s higher quotient of gorgeous melodies. The surprise is the strong semi-classical strain running under the percussive beats that just elevates these numbers.
“isn’t karthik the best male thing to have happened to the south indian film music after SPB, KJY, hariharan? (not counting a shankar mahadevan here!)”
Sorry, but beg to disagree here. Karthik has a great voice for ballads, coaxing out the yearning in them marvelously, but it’s too helium light for heavier numbers. Haricharan’s the next Big Thing in Playback Music to watch for, IMHO
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Santosh Kumar T K
April 6, 2015
Also, Kochadaiiyaan made you wince, BR? I thought even as a standalone album, four-five of its tracks were very well done. Old-school, straightforward, nice, and well-done.
Wouldn’t they have worked so well in a regular live-action film starring Rajinikanth?!
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Gradwolf
April 6, 2015
Thanks for saying that. Kochadaiyaan is easily Rahman’s most overrated album in recent times. I don’t know what so many people saw in it. One standout track and rest was passe. Give me Kaaviyathalaivan anyday. Though by ARR standards 2014 was a disappointing one. His truly great wholesome last album was probably Raanjhanaa.
I do like OKK better than I though 🙂 But for some reason I songs worked better in the film for me.
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Pantula (@MrWingfoot)
April 6, 2015
Rahman has produced way too many albums in the last couple of years which seems totally unlike him. Some of his best works in the last decade – Rockstar, Delhi 6, Guru etc. – took longer and were more memorable. Not to say that Kadal, OK Kanmani or even Kaaviya Thalaivan ( probably his best in the last year) are not good albums, but they somehow short of being great. Couple of weeks from now, I will go back to listening to old songs of Rahman anyway.
As Santosh has noted, the lyrical quality in Telugu is amazing to thanks to Sirivennela.
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Varshini
April 7, 2015
The album does not feel ‘rehashed’ but, there are definitely some elements from previous compositions which glimmer here and there – like the beginning and ending portions of ‘Aye Sinamika’ are similar to ‘Dheemi Dheemi’ (1947 Earth). It’s more like spotting old friends in the crowd : )
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venkat ramanan
April 7, 2015
Listening to the songs another thought came up, Unlike, say for instance Director Shankar whose music video sensibility which is more rooted towards escapist and fantasy-like, A director like Mani Ratnam whose music video sensibility more rooted towards realist montages might be tested by the eclectic & randomness of some songs that ARR has provided. Of course the narrative will have an upper hand.
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M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli)
April 7, 2015
It’s interesting how reactions to the same album can be so different: I found both Kaaviyathalaivan and OK Kanmani (thus far) so, so much more interesting than I, which, despite repeat listens, didn’t just stick.
While I am thoroughly enjoying this album, I get this feeling that Rahman’s music, always wildly inventive, is now moored so poorly that anything genius-level zany also feels impromptu.
Take Thiruda Thiruda, for instance. It was also inspired madness – but there was a method there; there was meaning, structure. On the other hand, consider Kaara aattakkara: what is going on between the chorus and the “nama, nama” hook? How does one make any sense of it? Contrast that, again, with the “Kannum Kannum” (to pick a random example) that also had several dizzying, disparate elements that still came together seamlessly.
All said and done, Rahman experiments like no one else and I cannot be thankful enough for that. Even the relatively unknown Lekar Hum Deewana Dil had songs that you could chew on and sound that was refreshingly different: not everyone can claim that in their 23rd year in any profession!
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G
April 7, 2015
Some catchy tunes densely (well, ‘richly’) packed into a lip-smacking sonic finish with fabulous recall value & awesome production quality. (hold on, this is the post on music? .. oh yes, i now see it is the right one.)
Wonder if the necessity to present musicality as ‘laid on track’ (to stage an experience, as trendy marketing school text would call it) Vs birthing it out of harmonium indicates a dearth or impairment of certain faculties of the imagination.
Some of the recent games are produced with stunning generative music abilities. The basic technique is to use hidden markov models & chains. 3 stages: Learn/analyze “seed” songs to generate a probabilistic vectors with pitch/rythm etc of the musical structures, map emotional possibilities of the game situations on cartesian coordinate system with 12 (or so) ’emotional’ quadrants, generate music & continuously transform to adapt to the continuously varying emotional trajectory. With deep learning algorithms, coupled with current computational powers so cheaply available ubiquitously you can even get the system to digest ALL the tamil movie music made till date, correlated with emotional content on the visuals & do a damn good job of generating a kind of music using predictive & projectile music-engines to accompany the scenes in the games.
i got on the earlier lengthy digression – for, when i listened to this album on youtube on my ipod there were some ads that youtube automatically inserted. some of them were instrumental music based ads. While listening to this album for the first time (while driving, not looking at my phone) i couldn’t tell which was the album music vs ad-music. disclaimer: I don’t hate ARR’s music or anything. I thought in this album, there’s this electronica-fueled freshness to the sound (the kind SEL infused into Don’s OST) & actually liked it (it reminded me of Big-Fun, those things many of us chewed during 87/92 cricket world cups.)
Double blind A/B tests to pit man-made Vs algorithm-generated music will help derive an ‘objective’ judgment framework into this subjective territory. (Oh boy! The false-positives in such hypothetical(-for-now) tests!)
To get the thrills of man made music, one ought to tap those genius spouts of spontaneity. The kind that no amount of data-crunching could ever model or compositional-algorithm generate. ‘adhaiyum thaandi .. .punidhamaanathu ..’. If the faculties of imagination are impaired sufficiently, then may be it won’t matter by then .. Asking for man made music in such a landscape could be an action of a purist/rich/high-class-thing, blah-blah…
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Akhilan
April 7, 2015
I feel Rahman reuniting with Mani Ratnam has brought a much needed element of fun and enjoyment to his composing of music, which is clearly evident in this album. As Pantula pointed out, Rahman has rather uncharacteristically taken up way too many projects in the past year or so; juggling Hollywood with his commitments in India, leading to some mediocre albums. Mani Ratnam always seems to get the best out of him and I actually prefer OKK’s soundtrack to that of ‘I’. I actually love the fact that the lyrics are incidental here and the emphasis is on the sound and how the words compliment it. This truly works wonders for me particularly in ‘Aye Sinamika’ (my favorite from the album). For me though, if I love a song I’ve listened to, then I’ll always love the song irrespective of how it’s picturized. Sure, the picturization of a song can enhance my experience of appreciating it even more, but the sound, the beat, the use and choice of lyrics all take precedence over its visual representation.
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Kutty
April 7, 2015
BR : Interesting you bought up the Harris connection, though in a completely different context. There were times during “Parandu Sella Vaa” when it seemed to scream Harris. Just a better version. I guess one of the reasons, and you have mentioned it also, is that this is more classic Rahman than the funky one you saw in I. I remember when Tenali released, it appeared to be an underwhelming album because it was just like OKK. An album which was Rahman doing what he does best. And so, today I can see how Tenali has grown on me and I expect something similar with OKK too.
The trailer of course screams Alaipayuthey. As if this is a desperate attempt by Mani to go back to basics of commercially successful, yet refreshing movies. Also, it would not be surprised if this is more a prequel to Alaipayuthey or maybe Alaipayuthey with a live in relationship replacing the marriage. Shudder to think if that is the case, then Mani might be making a mistake of thinking he is speaking to a new generation just by that change. Anyways, the good news is this. The trailer and the songs have got us speculating! Let the expectations rise!
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Alpesh Patel
April 7, 2015
I am the same with VTV songs, I really liked 2 or 3 off the songs before watching the film, but after watching the film, I liked all of them (with the exception of Anbil Avan), mainly because when listening to the songs I started thinking of the characters Jessie and Karthik and their relationship (which is credit to the writing of the film)
Just a thought maybe directors these days want to have more context to the lyrics in the songs, rather than relying on something generic (probably why Sameer isn’t writing too many lyrics these days)
I have noticed that since Ranjanhaa that some of his songs are very repetitive in terms lyrics (Aye Sakhi and Piya Milenge come to mind), but you could argue that why should a lyricist write something that’s free flowing prose that fills a 5 minute song, when only 2 minutes of it will be used in a film….but at the same time but it takes something away from Rahman’s songs who does tend to use vocals more as an instrument to create a song (rather than something to write a song around)
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Gopala Krishnan
April 7, 2015
“have the feeling most of these songs aren’t going to be all that important inside the movie, with hero and heroine actually mouthing these words. Maybe these are just going to be background tracks”
Well, of course these are going to be just background tracks. For all the apparent similarity to Alaipayuthey, i think it’ll be disappointing if the film maker makes a very similar movie to alaipayuthey (as good as it will be, i’m sure). Mani sir has grown by leaps and bounds since then (I believe Mani 3.0 and Mani 4.0 as you mentioned elsewhere) and i have feeling all this “the trailer practically screams Alaipayuthey- the sequel” is just a decoy. There is something heavy inside i can feel.
Well the music, i found absolutely delightful. So what if vairamuthu is kinda-sorta subdued for one movie?! He makes a mark when he can.
BTW, Did you notice the marketing strategy of Madras talkies for the movie and the music via their facebook page. Once upon a time there lived a filmmaker who wouldn’t even breathe out about his film. High class marketing sathi.
You liked ‘I’ better than this? Wow. Rahman’s music evokes DIVERSE reactions.
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MANK
April 7, 2015
thekomentor, i believe that Roja was inspired by the sathyavan savitri legend.
Brangan, great piece.but Would you call Kadal really an experiment?
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saravanan
April 7, 2015
excellent review as always BR. ‘for a five-minute song, the number of non-repeating words was just some sixty-odd’, exactly what i was wondering.
I am surprised many haven’t mentioned highway, which i believe was one of rahman’s best work.
I still agree with venkat. some of the songs are too random to fit in a particular genre. cant wait to see how they play out on the big screen.
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ntnnew
April 7, 2015
u rightly said about vairamuthu!! somehow the lyrics seem to not matter at all. Also, its like one can guess what the next word might be at certain parts of tje songs. like yosikeraen, quite obviously next word might be yaasikeren and vairamuthu has written exactly that.. the lyrics could’ve been better!! or probably it doesnt matter at all.
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sanjana
April 7, 2015
And yet, many songs seem to exist on the basis of the music alone. The words are almost incidental – or maybe you could say the words are sounds just like the other sounds, from the instruments. In Aye sinamika, almost an entire minute is filled with variations on just three words:
You said it. An interesting observation.
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Aravindan
April 7, 2015
Time out for Vairamuthu, I guess.
Uyire, which I think is finest of the combo, had a உன் துன்பம் என்பது வரவு which seemed like a filler compared to the rest of the extraordinary lines yet it was stunning and made so much sense in that story. And there is not even – forget one complete song – one standout line in this whole album – the structure of the songs not helping much as well. And some lines don’t even sound right. Continuously diminishing contributions in Mani’s films seems to be a sly message to Vairamuthu – Kadal had two complete songs from his old collections and malargaL kEttEn, with 90s written all over it, must be from some old collection. Add to this – substandard lyrics in not-so-important films, shockingly vulgar lines(latest – சிங்கம் கொண்ட பாலை வாங்கி வைப்பதென்றால் தங்கக் கிண்ணம் வேண்டும்… மீதியை யூடியூபில் கேட்க, voluntary associations with young composers and trying too hard to sound young – it’s a mess that I stopped hunting for his new songs. I had hopes only from Mani and Cheenu Ramasamy – but then with Idam Porul Eval and this album, there are no expectations now. (Poor Yuvan, தப்பித் தவறி ஒரு நல்ல ஆல்பம் போட்டுட்டு..)
And gasp, Mani and Rahman themselves are writing lyrics these days. காரா ஆட்டக்காரா காத்திருக்கேனே..What nonsense! I was hoping that they somehow wanted to write heroine’s name Thaaraa in the next line and was actually ready to pardon this line heard in the promo but then Sir Aaryan Dinesh Kanagarathnam grabbed the song after 30 seconds and ripped it into pieces.
And everywhere else, things are worse. Madhan Karky, oh we see a new word, wow it fits the meter, but sorry not a trace of genuine emotion whatsoever. Thamarai and Na Muthukumar are the only hope but the former writes very less and the latter writes too much resulting in very less good lines. And we have a slew of young aspiring lyricists who open a song with “இதய ஆசைகள் / நினைவு ஆனதே” for reasons best known to them. (Special mention to Ghibran, who seems to specifically ask for stupid lyrics). And Kamal wants to write lyrics. Poet Dhanush wants to write. பாடி வெச்சா கூட ஆட்டோ ட்யூன் பண்ணித்தொலைக்கலாம். If you are even a little interested in the language and music and the idea of lyric writing, with the constant fear of tasting a சொத்தைக் கடலை, songs these days are almost a punishment. And it doesn’t feel good to randomly recollect a line like பிரம்மாண்ட காலம் நீ தந்து சென்றாய் என் நாட்கள் தீர்ந்ததே at work or during walking harmlessly and spend a good amount of time totally outraged for no reason.
Uff, thank you, that felt good.
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Sam
April 7, 2015
http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/i-live-in-the-now/article7040418.ece
Rahman talks about how he did too many films last year. He seems really regretful about not delivering to people’s expectations, and he particularly mentions Lingaa and Kaaviya Thalaivan, though he’s hesitant to go into it.
It’s funny, I guess I liked Lingaa more than other people. Oh Nanba and Mona Gasolina were terrific, playful fun, and Indiane Vaa was quite nice. The other two tracks were forgettable, and I barely listened to Kaaviya Thalaivan because the style didn’t excite me, but neither of those seemed like anything to apologize for.
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Sai Prasath
April 7, 2015
I had started to feel that ARR had moved away from using accessible instruments in his score since Kadal. (Read Moongil Thottam). So, in that way,the opening guitars of Aye Sinamika was a welcome change. He is moving more into the EDM space, which worries me a little. The fanboy inside me has always been fond of his natural experiments like how he used sand in a pipe to create the sound of “waves” in Kadhal Sadugudu. That boy inside me is finding it hard to come to terms with a “Khaleefa” or a “Ladio”. This album brings back the ARR I am used to, in bits and parts.
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brangan
April 7, 2015
24 Responses “Something old, something new” →
Santosh Kumar T K: is this the first time a predominantly in-your-face carnatic classical-sounding score featured in a mani ratnam-directed movie
Nope. There have been far more “pure”-classical-sounding songs like the exquisite Vaidehi Raman in “Pagal Nilavu.” Unless you’re only talking about the Rahman era…
isn’t karthik the best male thing to have happened to the south indian film music after SPB, KJY, hariharan? (not counting a shankar mahadevan here!)
Actually, not such a fan. Like KayKay says, a bit of a lightweight. I prefer Haricharan any day, or Benny Dayal even.
Sandhya Sankar: “Udhattu vari pallam” was also used in Ravanan
Oh, I forgot. Which song?
About “Kaaviyathalaivan,” not a fan of the album at all. I got the trying-too-hard feeling with this one. The music didn’t seem organic at all.
Varshini: “Dheemi Dheemi”… ah, my favourite Rahman phase. A series of dazzling albums with all songs at some level of greatness. “Dil Se,” ” 1947: Earth”… You just had to listen to them once to fall in love 😉
venkat ramanan: Of course the narrative will have an upper hand.
Probably. But at this stage, we can only offer thoughts on the songs themselves…
M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli): Nice comment about the mooring. The other thing I’m a little wary of is the whole “you have to listen to it many times” argument. Then there’s the danger of “getting used” to the song rather than liking it for its… soul or whatever. A couple of listens should do the trick, at least for a basic conceptual level grasping of songs.
songs that you could chew on and sound that was refreshingly different: not everyone can claim that in their 23rd year in any profession!
There’s only one other Indian composer I can think of who’s lasted longer — in terms of the biggest banners with the biggest stars; consistent hit songs; sought out by the big directors; big paycheques — and that’s SD Burman. He started giving hits with “Do Bhai” in the late 1940s and kept going till “Chupke Chupke” and “Mili” in 1975. Just bloody amazing to have lasted that long at the very top.
Akhilan: I actually love the fact that the lyrics are incidental here
Oh, I think it’s interesting too. I was making that observation primarily to point out the relative sidelining of Vairamuthu in this album, and how the words are used almost like sounds. That was the point I was making when I said:
And yet, many songs seem to exist on the basis of the music alone.
It’s one thing that never ceases to amaze me, how an observation is almost always read as a verdict 🙂 Well, there are places here I’m making judgement calls but this isn’t one of them 🙂
Kutty: “Tenali”? Really? :-p
Alpesh Patel: Actually for me, it was the reverse. I didn’t care much for “Anbil Avan” until I saw the film, and then I started to like it 🙂
Gopala Krishnan: all this “the trailer practically screams Alaipayuthey- the sequel” is just a decoy. There is something heavy inside i can feel.
I hope this is true. I like the new “heavy” post-“Iruvar” Mani Ratnam and much as I respect his need for a hit, would not want too light a love story.
No, haven’t seen the marketing strategy. What’s happening?
Wow. Rahman’s music evokes DIVERSE reactions.
No sir. This phenomenon has nothing to do with Rahman. It’s ART that evokes diverse reactions 🙂
MANK: “Kadal” being an “experiment” in the sense… well, he went into an allegorical space, and for the first time since “Iruvar” the film was about the push-pull between two men rather than hero-heroine. I don’t mean it was art-house, exactly, but it was quite a different film, no?
ntnnew: Yes, that yosikeraen/yaasikeren was a bummer. Even the vaasikkiran/yaasikkiren from “Evano oruvan” was better. Oh, but even that had yosikkiren in the next line 🙂
But didn’t you get the feeling his hands were really tied in this album? I wonder why they went with him. In the sense, for this kind of soundscape, where the sounds overwhelm the senses and leave little space for lyrical work, Mani Ratnam and Rahman could have written all the songs.
Aravindan: Hope you’re feeling better now 🙂 But “youth”-ukkellam indha Dhanush-type lyrics pidichirukku saar 🙂
Sai Prasath: Why does EDM worry you? That’s part of the “global pop artist” part of Rahman’s USP, no? “Ladio”, I thought, was mind-blowing.
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Sai Prasath
April 7, 2015
It is. I’m not saying I didn’t like Ladio. I even remember how you talked about Karky’s speech on the “Pani-koozh” part of the song. So, I’m aware that you are a fan of the track. THe thing is, as long as it stays at one EDM song per album of his, I would feel aright, The “worried” part of it comes from the fact that there is more auto-tune and lesser use of actual instruments; that EDM might take over more songs of his album and the “melodies” might have to take a backseat!
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Raj Balakrishnan
April 7, 2015
Ah Alaipayuthey…have fond memories of that one. I was even young then. Hope OKK is as good.
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Prasad
April 7, 2015
Hi BR,
Your observations are point perfect. Definitely the “Sequel to alaipayuthey” runs in the mind when we head Ok songs. For me always when you hear there AR ,in the first hearing one song will be a instant hit. In Kadal it was “Adiye” and “Moongil” and here it is “Paranthu poguva” litreally the beat and sound transports you.
As many have mentioned, the lyrics seems to be bit of a drawback. Seems like there are lot of filler’s. “Thaneer kettai Amudham Thanthanai” ….very predictable. Actually I want to comment that overall lyrical quality of Tamil cinema needs to be improved. Even “I” which was last outing for AR was plagued by very ordinary lyrics. “Ennodue Nee Irrunthaal Uyirudo naan Irupen” ‘C’mon…a School Boy can write it. Over and above so much hype for these songs .During Promos of “I” I head Shankar telling that Vairamuthu has spent lot of time researching in the internet for lyrics. Was Shocked. I mean yes you can research for some historical references in your songs but Not the words. That’s where I see a big difference in Gulzar’s lyrics . It’s straight from the Heart .
We need to take a leaf out of Bollywood here. The focus given on Lyrics in especially by noted filmmaker’s are too good. Even Amitabh Bhattacharya is too good.
“Zinda hoon” and “Shikhayetein” in Lootera is another example of usage of songs and to convey the mood/conflicts in the movie so effectively. Even the song” Kinare ” in Queen is too good. Few lines from “Zinda Hoon”…not sure if we can hear something in Tamil
(Mujhe chhod do mere haal pe – 2
Leave me by myself – 2
Zinda hoon yaar kaafi hai – 2) – 2
O friend, It is enough that I am alive – 2
Hawaaon se jo maanga hissa mera
When I asked my share from the air
To badle main hawa ne saans di
The air gave me breath in return
Akelepan se chedi jab guftagoo
When I started communicating with my loneliness
Mere dil ne aawaaz di
My heart made me realize
Mere haathon hua jo kissa shuroo
that the matter that was started by me
Usey pura toh karna hai mujhe
That has to be completed
Qabar par mere sar utha ke khadi ho zindagi
On my grave is standing the life raising its head
Aise marna hai mujhe…
I have to die in this way
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sanjana
April 7, 2015
Hindi film songs are influenced by urdu shairi, ghajals and even bhajan traditions. So lyrics get prominence in many of them if you leave out Honey singh and the like. While contemporary tamil songs are driven by style and sounds more than lyrics.
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brangan
April 7, 2015
sanjana: It’s not that simple…
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Tambi Dude
April 7, 2015
“He started giving hits with “Do Bhai” in the late 1940s and kept going till “Chupke Chupke” and “Mili” in 1975. ”
And in 1975, the year he passed away, he gave song like this
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Jewel
April 7, 2015
It is interesting that terms like ‘Indian music’,’real instruments’ are usually considered synonymous with ‘good music’.But autotune or not,I will take a ‘Ladio’ anyday!
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Madhu
April 7, 2015
BR: udhattu vari pallam comes in that crazy, crazy (in the best possible way) kaatu sirukki song – udhattu vari pallathula usir vizhundhu thavikkudhadi. I haven’t listened to the album, but I agree with the view from some of the comments here that Vairamuthu is getting extremely repetitive.
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Dinesh
April 7, 2015
Ya “Udhattu vari pallam” has been used in raavanan.It comes in the track “Kaatu Sirukki”…The complete line(I dnt knw wat to call it exactly)was
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venkat ramanan
April 7, 2015
Yeh, one cannot point at few albums and generalize tamil films are driven by style and sound more than lyrics. Last time i checked Murasu channel, most of the b/w songs appeared driven by beautiful lyrics. I am really vague here. I don’t even know whether murasu tv puts the best songs of that time or that i find all the songs of that period beautiful. On a broader timeline there could be a shift towards style and sound. Someone more knowledgeable will be able to put a better picture.
Regarding EDM, Unlike say taylor swift changing from country to pop ,i think it would be very rare for ARR to come out with an album dominated by EDM. It’s not that he can’t, but because of mainstream film music. Independent music is hardly mainstream in India. Even hopeful indi-artists like hip-hop tamizha after making great singles like “iraiva”, “Vaadi Pulla Vaadi” went on to do “Aambala”.
With only few directors ARR songs tend to be experimental. Even Ladio (it’s a nice,catchy song) felt generic, another EDM only difference being tamil lyrics. It felt more like, let’s include some latest trend (EDM) for the hip- urban youngsters.
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brangan
April 7, 2015
So this is my idea of a song that’s melodic plus innovative (the sharp takeoff at “sindoori”; that twin-track vocal bit etc.) plus instantly likeable and so forth.
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thechordmaster
April 7, 2015
Wonderful referencing of how we take things for granted as we age. I’ve always wondered vaguely about this feeling. You’ve articulated those wisps into something I can reach out and clasp. What if rahman has always been the magician that he was in the 90s and it is indeed us that have chosen to wander further and explore soundscapes outside our domain? Not sure if it’s the age factor or the social media era that’s toughening our spongy perceptions.
Alternatively we must also consider the restrictions or the way way several directors could have narrated their brief. I’m sure even the most brilliant copywriters have at some point churned out more, the culprit bring a misinformed deluded brief. Add to this his own personal ups and downs, his state of being at various periods and so on.
This soundtrack is something like our mothers…. We won’t necessarily call her every night and give her a minute by minute rundown of that day’s affairs… But we also wouldn’t ignore her calls at the same time. Where alaipayuthey was loaded with heavy hitters barring September madham (for me), okk’s tracks.. All of it, flow seamlessly from start to finish and you really needn’t reach for the skip button(what I do when September madham rears it’s head). The tracklist is something that wouldn’t go down without putting on a tough fight and go down with all guns blazing.
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brangan
April 7, 2015
venkat ramanan: Hey don’t knock “Aambala.” it had this, even if vaguely reminiscent of “That’s the way I like it” 🙂
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Aparna N
April 7, 2015
The Kadal songs were overwhelming at first hearing. The country western and African American folksy music in Elay Keechan, the Jazz/ bluesy Adiye, the opera and gospel sound in Anbin vasaley, the sensual poetry of Moongil thottam. At first hearing this album falls short. Nice-ish is spot on :). Perhaps the songs will grow on me
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rejath
April 7, 2015
The title is apt… “Something old something new ” I just completely enjoyed both the old and new aspect of OK Kanmani soundtrack…. loved the album in all its entirety…expected a little more analysis of each song… I candy was a more satisfying read
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venkat ramanan
April 7, 2015
@BR yeh..ryt! 😀
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Akhilan
April 7, 2015
OMG BR, didn’t know there was someone who appreciated Nazar Laaye as much as I did!! I absolutely love the song, such an unnoticed gem. Hands down one of my all time favorite songs of Rahman.
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venkat ramanan
April 7, 2015
@Baradwaj Rangan,Off topic. So it seems that Maharashtra govt. Has asked multiplexes to play Marathi cinema during prime time. My question is not related to that, but the govt. also has made it mandatory for theatres to play national anthem as well as a song honouring Dadasaheb Phalke. I find it confusing the need to play national anthem before watching a film. This is an incident that happened in Thiruvananthapuram, not all theatres in Kerala play national anthem but few of them do. And in one such theatre as usual the national anthem was played and all got up except two guys. Later after the film the theatre security questioned them why they didn’t get up. For which they replied like, they are not from the city and back home theatre’s didn’t play the anthem so they were not used to it. Soon a mob took over and those guys got thrashed and they fleed. I find this sense of nationalism bit alarming not sure if that’s the exact word. After all I have come to watch a movie, what if the movie displayed is an erotic one. Does one really need to be reminded of India and national spirit before about to watch a sunny leone covered in clothes Or for that matter any movie?
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brangan
April 7, 2015
venkat ramanan: I hate these faux-nationalist moves. I have a major problem with symbolic gestures in general. I’d rather prove my love for my country by donating money for flood relief than by standing up for the anthem in an effing theatre. Bloody jobless wankers.
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venkat ramanan
April 7, 2015
I completely agree with you, I am on the same page. But here’s the thing, it’s easier to say. I was in the same theatre recently. Trust me man… you really don’t want to be the single person sitting…it feels really vulnerable and scary.. you feel like why take the trouble. It’s hardly a minute, rather stand it out in silence, At least not with heart!
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Ram Murali
April 8, 2015
“I have a major problem with symbolic gestures in general. I’d rather prove my love for my country by donating money for flood relief than by standing up for the anthem in an effing theatre.”
–> Point well taken, BR. I feel like I am somewhere in the middle with respect to what you call “symbolic gestures.” Take for instance, these awareness walk/runs for different types of cancer…I have participated in a couple of those, wore those bands, t-shirts, etc. But it was a show of support to a particular person, in this case a colleague that had undergone brutal cancer Tx…my wife asked me this question, “If you don’t mind my asking…so what if you wore this teal colored band for ovarian cancer awareness? Who’s going to look at your wrist and think of cancer awareness? Is it not better to donate for cancer research?” She was absolutely right and it was completely practical too. It’s just that sometimes the show of solidarity – even if symbolic – can mean something to the people affected…
What I absolutely despise is when these things are done with ulterior motives and/or to gain political traction…for instance, this whole deal with politicians wanting to stomp their authority on tamil movies titles/castes/smoking, etc…I mean, Kamal wants to make a movie titled “Sandiyar” and that is supposed to cause caste based violence?! so the politicians just HAPPEN to target the high profile movies starring the biggest stars?? that’s what drives me up the wall the most…
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Kutty
April 8, 2015
Damn it, BR! Now I am left wondering whether the “Really?”, was the missing H or for picking T(h)enali. If it is the latter, let me replace it with Paarthale Paravasam (hoping I got that right. 😉 )
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Madan
April 8, 2015
I echo Sharan’s views about moorings.There’s not much musicality in this album, and in that sense it pales in comparison to Alai Payuthey which was very rich while also boldly inventive at the same time. I would rather not think of it as a sequel to Alai Payuthey, then, and rather as a somewhat better soundtrack than KT and I from last year. Nobody expected much out of I while expectations from the MR-ARR combine were sky high, which may explain the slight underwhelm in reactions.
Also, SDB and ARR are not strictly comparable in that, barring the Guru Dutt phase, I don’t know if SDB ever commanded the highest billing among his peers. The 60s were dominated by SJ with O P Nayyar also commanding very high fees and delivering hits once in a while (he took up fewer films than SJ). At the end of the 60s, Pancham became the new king anyway. Rahman is a purely post-liberalisation phenomenon. That model of taking up very few projects and still creating a buzz with those among listeners in general and youngsters in particular would not have worked in the pre-liberalisation era when films and their music were marketed differently. The post liberalisation era also seems to have triggered unusual reverence for middle aged and elderly celebrities combined with sometimes overblown contempt for the next gen. Would not be surprising from an ageist but much of this reverence, as I have found in trawling/trolling the internet, is bestowed by youngsters. Rahman is a beneficiary of this and so is Ilayaraja. In earlier times, it would not have been possible to evoke nostalgia for classic scores and/or live instruments and organise grand concerts with well shot TV broadcasts. Here and now is gone. This is the age of the rock heroes who never get old and just never die, so everybody else stand in line for a while.
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Tina
April 8, 2015
“Malargalai kaettaen versus Alaipaaythey kanna”
You mean like both being classical?
Otherwise, malargalai kaettaen sounds like a guy who’s giving a lot to a relationship, yet unwilling to commit. Completely vera context, it looks like.
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Raj Balakrishnan
April 8, 2015
I agree. Cinema hall is the last place you should be playing the national anthem. We can expect more such incidents described above. This does not happen anywahere else in the world.
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Gopala Krishnan
April 8, 2015
“So this is my idea of a song that’s melodic plus innovative (the sharp takeoff at “sindoori”; that twin-track vocal bit etc.) plus instantly likeable and so forth.”
I have been so shocked and disappointed for so long why Nazar laaye is as under rated as it is. It is an absolute beauty – a 4 minute heaven to be accessed anytime anywhere. It is ridiculous to expect a song like that in every album (forget about every melodic song he makes). If you think I’m wrong, all i have to say is – God we have been pampered by ARR
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sanjana
April 8, 2015
Why so many dislikes for one commentator who is making quite valid points?
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brangan
April 8, 2015
Kutty: “Paarthale Paravasam”? Really? 😉
Madan: barring the Guru Dutt phase, I don’t know if SDB ever commanded the highest billing among his peers.
The point isn’t an exact comparison between ARR and SDB. The point is that big directors/banners — Bimal Roy/Navketan/etc. — kept going back to him, and he had that reputation for “quality music” for almost the entire duration of his career. These songs frequently ended up in Binaca Geetmala etc., so they were popular hits too. There was no time he was not a top composer — even if not the No.1 or whatever, he was still very much among the top throughout his career.
At the top in terms of being commercially viable and sought out by big banners PLUS quality-wise, in terms of hit songs and songs liked by both casual and the more intense listeners. That cannot be said of many others, including SJ or MSV.
It’s another thing, of course, if you personally don’t care for SDB. I’m just talking about the objectively view-able aspects of his career.
Tina: Yes, I just found it interesting that the genre/mood of songs here was (intentionally or otherwise) quite similar to the ones in “Alaipaayuthey.” Not content/lyric-wise.
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Pranesh
April 8, 2015
@sanjana: That’s what happens when you turn on an upvote/downvote option in any community. People don’t realize that disagree != downvote.
Reddit and Quora suffer from the same issue.
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Santosh Kumar T K
April 8, 2015
and somehow I find this whole hype around “mani ratnam – p c sreeram after 15 years” somewhat meh!
barring their Nayakan (and for Mouna Ragam, I would credit the production designer more!), I have found mani ratnam – santosh sivan and mani ratnam – ravi k chandran (despite just two/three films) work to be more fulfilling, exciting, and satisfying.
p c sreeram, for me, has produced quality stuff when he has paired with kamal hassan ( Kuruthipunal , Thevar Magan outside of madras talkies.
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brangan
April 8, 2015
Pranesh: Old-fartism alert… but what, pray, is the difference between disagree and downvote?
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A
April 8, 2015
I think Rahman is just staying relevant with the youth and adapting with times. These days what works with the upmarket youngsters (Mani Ratnam’s target audience here) is they prefer fewer lyrics with lots of EDM tempo that builds and builds and builds till these kids finally jump and go in all trance. (Listen to Sinamika’s last 2 minutes)The biggest bands/artists today like Cold play, David Guetta or Rihanna have mastered such templates where they repeat few words like Let it go, or Fix you (or the compulsory word – Tonight).. here it is nee ennai neegadhe. Alaipayuthey was still talking to the less-global generation so was more like tamil track. This is a movie about the 90’s born with smart phone in hand and a fancy bass heavy Dre-Beats headphones .. so in my thalaivar Rahman’s defence, i humbly request you to give him more credit here! 😀
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rothrocks
April 8, 2015
I actually like SDB a lot more than ARR. 😛 Some of his later scores like Chupke Chupke are overrated, nevertheless Guide can match the heights of just about any of his peers. I drew a distinction between them because when Rahman made it big in the 90s, he was a sensation and his influence swept across Tamil music in all pervasive way that I don’t think SDB mustered. Only three composers in Hindi managed to create that kind of impact in Hindi: Ramchandra, SJ and RDB. Not SDB’s fault, there was a lot of competition then. But there it is. His reputation for melody probably slotted him out of Shammi type films whereas OP still delivered with Kashmir Ki Kali. It was Pancham who beat SJ at their own game with Teesri Manzal.
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Arun Rathakrishnan
April 8, 2015
I am not a fan of sacrificing poetry at the altar of good music. I don’t hold it out against this album. Just like how films provide a platform for great music, songs can continue to provide a platform for great poetry, for the many who don’t seek who don’t seek music outside films, or poetry outside songs. If Maula Wa Sallim can exist for the sake of symbolism, rather than for popular consumption or comprehension, why not another song with more space for lyrics.
This departure is surprising since how lyrics were important outlets for Maniratnam’s ideas, be it the bleeding heart liberal lyrics of Nee Siricha Deewana in Bombay or Evano Oruvan/Kadhal Sadugudu in Alaipayuthey. In fact the lyrics of Adiye in Kadal captured the director’s vision better than the uninspiring leads could.
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sanjana
April 8, 2015
Disagree means simply disagreeing without judging the comment.
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sanjana
April 8, 2015
Downvote means saying that I hate your comment. I cant stand it.
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harikrishnan raveendran
April 8, 2015
I have read about the incident mentioned here which occured at Trivandrum.That guy was posting abuses about india in whatspp i think.Still it is not a justification for manhandling.This practice of playing national anthem is followed only in government owned theatres.Our constituion says that whenever national anthem plays out,we should stand in respect.I think there is punishment associated with it if we dont stand
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MANK
April 8, 2015
@harikrishnan raveendran, No its not mandatory by law to stand up during national anthem. It was ruled by the court in laloo prasad yadav case – when he did not stand up during national anthem. Not standing up is considered a moral and ethical issue.
I agree that movie theaters are the last place where national anthem should be played. I think a similair issue came up during the release of 1942 a love story, where the film ends with the playing of the national anthem and on screen, it asks the viewers to stand up in respect- exactly the moment when the audience are walking out.
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thotsvandi
April 8, 2015
BR – I think thumbs-down symbol gets clicked by mistake on some mobile devices due to close proximity. Happened twice or more to me and then again I gave a thumbs-up to correct it.
And someone who got reminded of Thenali – you are not alone bro! I was also immediately reminded of Thenali, because none of its songs were instant love for me. Took a lot of time to register aalangatti mazhai and lot more for porkkaLam engE. malargaL kEtEn with its pace and lead singer takes me to kangaLil enna eeramO and at that moment I feel this album isnothing new-ish 😉 Even Linga had a Gasolina for me.
On your mention of nazar laye – (huge lover of that song in Tamil too) All songs of Ambikapathy sounded fresh and right with meter even after dubbing.
“ennai kavinyan kavinyan endRu karuvi kidandha
oru karvam azhinthu vittadhE
unnai kadakkum pozhuthu kaNNil adikkum azhagu
ennai kadaiyan kadaiyan endru thaLLuthE”
How I felt jealous on people who could love(stalk)/feel like this! This beauty was also written by Vairamuthu and this makes me hope the lyrical let down was a deliberate decision
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venkat ramanan
April 8, 2015
@harikrishnan raveendran. I think the one you read about must be rahman, that case was different, that too happened in thiruvananthapuram police was involved and came in the national media too. This was an incident that happened about 3 months back went unreported.
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Pranesh
April 8, 2015
@brangan:
Disagree: I think Kadal is a terrible movie, you think it’s a great movie. Both of us state our opinions respectfully.
Downvote: I called you **** ***** for calling Kadal a good movie.
Downvote buttons started as a way for the community to reduce trolling, because the idea was that poorly written comments would be flagkilled. But they are plagued by anon downvoting (because you said something once upon a time that they took offense to), misguided intent, etc. When you disagree, you must state why you do, instead of just downvoting away.
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brangan
April 8, 2015
ROFL:
http://tamil.theunrealtimes.com/2015/04/08/girl-forcibly-admitted-into-mental-hospital-after-she-liked-ar-rahman-songs-in-first-hearing/
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Ram Murali
April 9, 2015
Question – was anyone else other than me reminded of “theekuruvi” (from “KangaLaal Kaidhu Sei”) while listening to “Kaara Aatakaara?” The “thanthiramaana kilaadi” bit reminded me of the “yedho madhiri bodhai” bit from the “theekuruvi” song.
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Prasad
April 9, 2015
Hi BR,
http://tamil.theunrealtimes.com/2015/04/08/girl-forcibly-admitted-into-mental-hospital-after-she-liked-ar-rahman-songs-in-first-hearing/
It was funny.
Also on you mentioned when comparing lyrical quality of Tamil Vs Hindi, you just mentioned “It’s not that simple”. Do you want to elaborate?
I see a serious lack of catchy words which can hook us like in earlier ventures for e.g “even a “Yakkai Thiri” or even ‘Vellai Pokkal” …in this album. We can feel the lack of new throughts in the lyrics.
Also people like Valli/Gangai Amaran need to take complete ownership of polluting Tamil Lyrics to a larger extent.Just to give few examples. Just take these words,,,katham, Kammam, Mogam , Manmadhan and even Manjam and just “CTRL F’ in Tamil songs probabaly 60-65% you’ll geta positive find if not direct with some variants. :).
Tamil lyrics writers have a very serious fixation on these 4-5 words “katham, Kammam, Mogam and Manmadhan and Manjam ” Life kind of starts and ends with them. They bloody pull down the overall Quality. I need not even quote examples.You can yourself check!
Interestingly in Hindi there is just one word “Pyaar” …….is there literally any other words for the other three?:) I don’t see “Hawas” or something like that in hindi lyrics.
Your thoughts please.
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Kutty
April 9, 2015
Thanks Thotsvandi! Finally feeling justified. BR, see?? 🙂
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vengayam
April 9, 2015
“My hand is trembling slightly ” as i write Rangan has become repetitive knowing that the number of thumbs down that will follow from the fanboys . But I’m just trying to say his yardstick when it comes to Mani Ratnam is always different.
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sanjana
April 9, 2015
Are lyrics written and then music is composed or is it the other way round? After giving a situation.
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Ram Murali
April 9, 2015
“Also people like Valli/Gangai Amaran need to take complete ownership of polluting Tamil Lyrics to a larger extent.Just to give few examples. Just take these words,,,katham, Kammam, Mogam , Manmadhan and even Manjam and just “CTRL F’ in Tamil songs probabaly 60-65% you’ll geta positive find if not direct with some variants. :).”
–> Prasad, I am not quite sure if a Vaali or Gangai Amaran need to take “ownership of polluting Tamil lyrics.” I see where you are coming from and your frustration/anger is understandable. But I feel like your comment (esp. re: lyricists’ obsession with certain words and the “Ctrl F” part) does not do enough justice to the immense creativity and the beautiful use of thamizh that our lyricists have exhibited…sure, a Vaali has written a “Mukaala Mukaabula” but he is the one that gave us tremendously moving songs filled with beautiful lines like “Kanaa Kaanum KangaL Mella” “Ellorum Sollum Paatu” and “Una Nenache Paatu Padichen.” To me, Vaali was one whose lines would invariably capture the essence of a situation in such a complete manner…I was listening to the “Vettaruvaa” song from the climax of “Devar Magan” the other day on my iPod while driving…I could just visualize how perfectly in sync the lines were with the situation and how lovely the language was. Here’s a sample – “Nalla Vazhi Nee Thaan Solli Ena Laabam? Sonnavana Thaane Soozhndhadhindru Paavam…Kalangaathey Raasa Naalai Varatum…” In the spirit of fair balance (I work in pharma!), I will say that this is the same Vaali who wrote something as crude as “Thottabetta Roattu Mela Mutta Parotta.” But my point is, we can’t have the meaningless songs as a reason to completely dismiss the legacy of these lyricists. I mean, Gangai Amaran wrote, “Mannil Indha Kaadhal.” He also happened to have written, “Anney Anney Sipaay Anney!” 🙂
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brangan
April 9, 2015
sanjana: 90% of the time, the tune/metre comes first.
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Kannan T G
April 9, 2015
Now I beg to differ with few of us like the one trying to get attention in the MBA GDs 😉
Though, I agree that Vairamuthu’s lyrics are not upto HIS level, i respect the MR-ARR-VM combo stands even after 20 years(karky’s 3 songs in Kadal are an exception). But this tamil film industry wants VM to write LOVE for decades. The thing is he is too good in writing love and when he writes it with a lower standard than his level, people start criticizing him.
You dont tell Woddy Allen to stop writing on relationships if he doesn’t write in the standards of Annie Hall.
But we should not say that his time is out. When he was given a chance to write for Aayirathil Oruvan (Thaai Thindra Mannae, Pemmanae), Paradesi, he shines. Even in Ravanan he wrote
“Oru pillai ezhuthum Kirukkal than vazhkaiya?
Athai artham thedi alaivathae vetkaiya?
Artham puriyum pothu Vazhvu maruthu
Vazhvu marum pothu artham maruthu”
I bet only his fans would have these songs in their playlist.
Vairamuthu is one poet even Gulzar wants to follow. While writing lyrics in Hindi for Jeans, he was amazed to see how Vairamuthu came up with “Ottrai Kaalilae Pookal nirpathu, un koonthalil ninraadathan”. (From “Vairamuthu – Ilakkiyathadam” Book).
I feel most of his songs for Maniratnam sync with the film. I found it in Aayutha ezhuthu.
Remember the song in bus with Trisha and Siddharth
“Nee mazhai, nan ilai
Itharku mel uravillai
vidai kodu pogiraen
eeramai vaazhgiraen”
How poetic these lyrics from Vairamuthu are and how apt these lyrics are for the situation.
Just see the lyrics in the same situation in Hindi and you feel pity for MR.
I also agree that the template of “Malargalai Kettan” sound familiar like this song from May Madham
மண்ணை திறந்தால் நீர் இருக்கும்
என் மனதை திறந்தால் நீ இருப்பாய்
ஒளியை திறந்தால் இசை இருக்கும்
என் உயிரை திறந்தால் நீ இருப்பாய்
வானம் திறந்தால் மழை இருக்கும்
என் வயதை திறந்தால் நீ இருப்பாய்
இரவை திறந்தால் பகல் இருக்கும்
என் இமையை திறந்தால் நீ இருப்பாய்
Na.Muthukumar writes “Valaiyamal nathigal illai, valikkamal vazhkai illai” (Kadhal)
“Valaiyamal malaigal illai, valikkamal vazhkai illai” (Saththam Podathae)
I feel Vairamuthu’s repetition is more poetic 😉
Vairamuthu – Netru varai unai kulanthai ena ninaithaen, un kavithailae vayatharinthaen (Katre en vasal – Rhythm)
Na. Muthukumar – Netru varai unai kulanthai ena ninaithaen, un kangalilae vayatharinthaen (Kadhal)
Vairamuthu – Aadu madu serthu veetil 7 peru (Kaadu potta kaadu – Karuthamma)
Na. Muthukumar – aadu maadu ration cardil serka solli kekkum (Sivaji)
Sound Repetitive? even noted few more but couldn’t come up with those now
Tamil grad like Vairamuthu needs to research Internet to come up with lyrics for Enthiran like
“Ehkai Vaarthu Silicon Serthu
Vayarooti, Uyirooti Hardiskil Ninaivooti
Azhiyatha Udalodu, Vadiyatha Uyirodu
Aaram Arivai, Araithu Ootri
Ezhan Arivai, Ezhuppum Muyarchi
Puthiya Munidha Boomikkuvaa”
Cheers!!!!!!!!!!
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brangan
April 10, 2015
Kannan T G: I agree that Vairamuthu, sometimes, gets a bum rap. Of course he has his off days — but then which creator doesn’t?
For me, the real test of lyricist comes not in how great his writing for unusual situations is but how well he’s able to wiggle his way out of the usual situations. IMO, it’s easier — not easy; just easier — to write “poo maalai vaangi vandhaan” because it’s a great, unique situation, filled with a particular kind of drama that this particular story has led to.
It’s much much more difficult writing fresh stuff for a love song.
Take the amazing “Dhaagam edukkira neram”… usual kind of situation… duet… dream number… NOTHING UNIQUE about the situation.
So this is where I think the writer’s genius/talent/whatever kicks in… It’s just line after meaningless (in the sense that the situation is just a generic one, without any special “meaning” wrt to the narrative) line… so now we’re in a zone where form has to overcome the lack of content (i.e. meaning)…
And we get these amazing lines. (Just listen to the amazing song below – amazing music, amazing lines).
The rhymes at the beginning:
sandhana pookkalil
sindhum magarandham
The rhymes at the end:
Idhayam muzhuvadhum naadham
Idhudhaan sangama maadham
The rhymes at the odd places in the beautifully asymmetric closing part of the stanzas:
naan paadum boopalam
paadhaalam
along with really unique rhyming words; unlike cliches like raasa/rosa, or maane/thene, we get…
kannukkulle thookkam illai
kaadhal solla naakkum illai
imagine coming up with “naakkum” to rhyme with “thookkam” — just wow 🙂
And add to this the odd flourish like… “o nanaindha poove” — i doubt i’ll be able to articulate my love for this phrase, but the fact that this odd little flower exists, with a bit of dew on it, just gets me every time.
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Prasad
April 10, 2015
@ Ram Murali,
” Here’s a sample – “Nalla Vazhi Nee Thaan Solli Ena Laabam? Sonnavana Thaane Soozhndhadhindru Paavam…Kalangaathey Raasa Naalai Varatum”
Agreed Ram. He has written good songs no doubt but let me bring to your attention another gem he has written for Indhu. Directed by Pavithran.
Eppadi Eppadi
Saminjadhu Eappadi”
http://www.tamilpaa.com/367-eppadi-eppadi-tamil-songs-lyrics
And this songs was a hit I think. Songs like this has plummeted Tamil Cinema to level not seen before. He may have written some good songs but have you even seen anything like the above written by a Gulzar or a Javen Akthar? This is what am talking about.Nobody is even talking about “Muqqabala” or “Thoda Beetta”.
“I mean, Gangai Amaran wrote, “Mannil Indha Kaadhal.””
No Sir. It was written by Paavalar Varadarajan Not Gangai Amaran.
My rant was general about lyrical quality of Tamil Cinema compared to Hindi. I just took few examples to articulate that. That’s all.
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brangan
April 10, 2015
Prasad: Oh please. There are countless songs in Hindi that are really vulgar, and which — we you put it — “plummeted Hindi Cinema to level not seen before.”
Khada hai khada hai…
Sarkailo khatiya…
Cinema-naa sagadhiyum irukkum, senthamaraiyum irukkum 😀
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ram murali
April 10, 2015
Prasad, it was gangai amaran wrote mannil…
he requested vasanth to credit his brother pavalar varadarajan since he felt that it would be a nice tribute. Amaran has mentioned this in interviews. I am a good friend of vasanth and he himself mentioned this to me once
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ram murali
April 10, 2015
Sorry for the typos!
phone la type panren since i had to write about mannil…:))
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Prasad
April 10, 2015
@ Ram Murali.
Thanks for letting me know . I didn’t know this. Point taken. But all songs which you quoted (Devar Magan, Keladi Kanmani and all other examples are way back in 1992 ish timeframe.
which is 23 year’s back. Can you quote a exact examples like this written by Gangai Amaran in 2012/2013 /2014? His recent ventures are Saroja/Goa and Mankatha :).
The lyrical quality has really come down in Tamil Cinema in the last decade. That’s my whole Point Ram.We’re able to hear some good songs here and there by Vairamauthu or Muthukumar but they’ve become far and few in terms of lyrical Quality.
@ BR
“Cinema-naa sagadhiyum irukkum, senthamaraiyum irukkum”
For me, the real test of lyricist comes not in how great his writing for unusual situations is but how well he’s able to wiggle his way out of the usual situations.
Agreed Sir. Very nicely written .Even Hindi has bad lyrics. The larger point I was making was about Lyrical quality. Maybe I think it has to do with movies it self. Probably some of situation in Hindi movies are so good that some of the songs come out so effectively it blows our mind. Few examples below
from Lootera and Queen.
Lyrics from Lootera brings the conflicting emotions between the lead pair so effectively.
(Shiqaayatein mitaane lagi
The complaints are ending
Subah bedaag hai – 2)
The morning is spotless – 2
( Jo barf ko galane lagi
which is melting the ice
Kahin to aag hai) – 2
There must be fire somewhere – 2
Kinare from Queen- Brings the emotion of liberating feel of Kangana so effectively. Now that’s what you’re also talking about. Bringing the feel of character in the song which viewer’s can connect
“Dhoondhe Har Ek Saans Mein
We search for them in every breath
Dubkiyon Ke Baagh Mein
In the garden of dives
Har Bhanwar Ke Paas Kinare…
Near every storm, there are shores
Gar Maajhi Saare Saath Mein Gair Ho Bhi Jaaye
Even if all the boatmen become strangers to us
Toh Khud Hi Toh Patwaar Ban
Then we will become paddles (rudder/oar) ourselves
Paar Hoge Hum
And cross the sea (to reach shores)
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sanjana
April 10, 2015
How about something vintage?
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KP
April 10, 2015
Prasad its just a cycle there was a decade when hindi song lyrics meant black hair/eyes red lips.
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Ram Murali
April 10, 2015
“We’re able to hear some good songs here and there by Vairamauthu or Muthukumar but they’ve become far and few in terms of lyrical Quality.”
–> Prasad, I agree. But then again, you also have to see how the movies themselves have changed. TASMAC scenes and tales of small time crooks (with the wave sparked off by “Soodhu Kavvum”) make it hard for lyricists to come up with something truly beautiful. Yet, an AL Vijay movie gives us “Azhage Azhage” and even far from perfect, Ram’s Thanga MeengaL had the unforgettable “Anandha Yaazhai.” So, I think lyricists are a product of the system that they function in…
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Madan
April 10, 2015
Prasad: I guess the point is Bolly also used to have great lyricists at one point. Shailendra, Shakeel Badayuni, Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh, Sahir Ludhianvi, etc. So standards have come down since then. As KP said, this is just a cycle. We have ‘enjoyed’ lines like main toh bhelpuri ka rahi thi in the 90s. And it’s not like vulgar/bad lyrics have disappeared from Bolly either. It’s just that you have songs with good lyrics more often than in the 90s. Even that is debatable but at least a point that could be argued both ways.
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sachita
April 11, 2015
What do you want, my soul?
Why not? I deserve that much.
That seems to suit the mental manadhils than malargal ketaen – ethu yedho yasagam kekra mathiri eruku. Thamarai might have handled this better.
This song apart, I am surprised not a lot of people appreciate Diamond pearl. His songs have a beauty in their words that I rarely see in others(good tamil). Even thought wise he has written some good ones – naalum nilavu athu theyathu marayuthu , nangal mugamena yaar athai sonathu.
And I always thought Vaali was more for commercial ones( vairamuthu also writes them). Not sure why they are spoken of in the same vein.May be the older ones written by him were good?
Similarly, muthukumar is quite insipid. Why put thamari and him in the same sentence?
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KayKay
April 11, 2015
“These days, I find that there are songs that I love when I listen to them, but if they don’t work in the film (for instance, in Kadal), I don’t return to those songs all that often”
B: I re-read your post and saw the above comment from you and it got me thinking: You do realize that this approach pretty much guarantees you’re gonna sour on quite a few great tunes because, let’s face it, a few directors aside, song picturizations in Kolly are still pretty dismal. (Bolly ahead of the curve here as to my eyes, a tad more invention goes into their shoots and choreography of songs)
Ram Murali: Theekuruvi is just an awesome number! In fact Kangalal Kaidhu Sei was an amazing album from Rahman, unforgivably let down by being composed for an atrocious Bharatiraaja film. The rough male vocals interspersed with Harini’s gorgeous rendering, taking “gamakkas” as far as it can possibly go in Hamsadhwani raaga is just an aural orgasm for me. To re-iterate my point to B above, now watch the picturization (barf bags recommended)
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brangan
April 11, 2015
KayKay: There’s a little more to that statement. Sometimes it’s true of the reverse too — even the songs that are shot well.
Take “Hey goodbye nanba”. It works beautifully in the film — that whole casual, laid-back vibe of the romance is captured in the casual, laid-back vibe of the song. But I am not tempted to return to the song as an audio-alone experience.
It’s not a lazy song. It’s not a cliched song. There are lots of interesting things happening in the song. Again… nice-ish. But more interesting to sit down and dissect than sit back and listen to.
Maybe it’s just me.
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ram murali
April 11, 2015
KayKay, thanks for the response. That video – man, Iyakunar Imayam has seriously butchered this wonderful number with his insipid picturization.
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Sandeep
April 11, 2015
One thing i can see is that are you not a Rahman fan. I have no problem with that but you hate him. You are those Ilayaraja fan who just cant digest Rahman and find fault in everything. I have read your book on Mani Ratnam, i can clearly see the way you see things. Even your Highway ( which was not a bad album like you say, it was very good) music review clearly shows how you see music. Your comparison of Heera with putham puthu boomi vendum was unacceptable( i have only heard to the soundtrack not watched the film and i dont need) . Why dont you review every music album that is released in Tamil or Hindi you will find where Rahman stand. I can pretty clearly say rahman is only music director who has a discography where 80 percentage songs are good. Not for others, even for Raja people only talk about his great songs but when you listen to every one of his album you can find almost half of the songs you cant even listen too.
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KayKay
April 11, 2015
B: Ah! Ok I get it. I suppose the usual scenario with me is when an amazing tune is violated beyond all recognition by atrocious picturizations (submit any number of Raja’s sublime ’80s output as evidence). But it’s easy to forget the visuals and keep returning to the tune itself. There are lesser incidents of songs which sound and work great when seen, but not as an audio-only experience (Athiradi from Sivaji being a notable case for me)
The closest I’ve come to that particular situation you described with the Goodbye Nanba song is with the Mella Sirithai number from Kalyana Samayal Saadham. Perfectly pleasant tune, but somehow I’ve never been tempted to just listen to it. But the picturization? Just….Wow! Captures the social media zeitgeist of our lives perfectly.
ram murali: KKS merely seeks to underline what’s been glaringly obvious for far too long: Take Bharathiraaja out of a rustic milieu and his films suck serious balls! Sikappu Rojakkal, more than ever, is starting to seem like a fluke.
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KayKay
April 11, 2015
“One thing i can see is that are you not a Rahman fan. I have no problem with that but you hate him. You are those Ilayaraja fan who just cant digest Rahman and find fault in everything”
Hmmmm….this sounds surprisingly like the conversations I used to have with You Know Who.
By the way Sandeep, you are so…….wrong!
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Kannan T G
April 12, 2015
@BR and @KayKay.. Add “Theeyil Vizhuntha Thaenaa” from Varalaru (Godfather) in the worst picturizations Category.
After reading “Konjam thaeneer niraya vaanam” (Vairamuthu kavithai thoguppu), I was stunned for the lines like
“Or sollil Or ulagam amma
ulagellam Or sollum amma ”
“ennaku edhum aanathunaa
unnaku veru pillaiundu
unnaku edhum aanathunaa
ennaku veru thaai irrukaaaaaa”
When I saw the same lyrics in Varalaru, I was quite excited to watch the song but the picturization was a big let down
===============
Hey Goodbye nanba is one number I listen to for the below mentioned lyrics and I guess my mid-teen age during its release is the reason for making me like this song.
“Antha Chaalayil Nee Vanthu Seraamal
Aaru Degreeyil En Paarvai Saayamal
Vilagi Poirunthaal Thollai Illai
Ithu Vaendaatha Velai
Neeyaaro Naanyaaro
Kann Thonri Kann Kaanaa Kanneero”
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Madan
April 12, 2015
I can pretty clearly say rahman is only music director who has a discography where 80 percentage songs are good. Not for others, even for Raja people only talk about his great songs but when you listen to every one of his album you can find almost half of the songs you cant even listen too. –
Considering that Rahman’s filmography in over 20 years is only 1/10th the size of Raja’s, don’t you think either (a) Rahman’s proportion of good songs should be higher or (b) Raja’s proportion of bad songs ought to be lower? Rahman said he did too many projects too soon in 2014 and acknowledged their poor response. But even that volume of work would be a lean year for Raja. Now your English is so bad that I cannot tell if your generalisation applies to all Raja albums or some. But what I can say for sure is you’re going to find it pretty hard to find a single bad or unlistenable song in Mouna Ragam, Agni Natchatram, Punnagai Mannan, Dhalapathi, among other such stellar soundtracks, leave alone half the soundtrack.
Rahman takes a long time to churn up a fairly consistent and satisfying soundtrack. Big deal! Fiona Apple took 7 years between albums to deliver a masterpiece in Idler Wheel. Rahman hasn’t had a masterpiece in a long time. Maybe he should stop caring so much about audience feedback and go with his gut again. Nobody in 1992 actually wrote out a consumer feedback form asking for a soundtrack like Roja. It was a bolt from the blue, it took everyone by surprise, that was the beauty of it. Rahman commands a lot of respect and stature in the industry. He should use it instead of pandering to the L.C.D.
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MANK
April 12, 2015
Take Bharathiraaja out of a rustic milieu and his films suck serious balls! Sikappu Rojakkal, more than ever, is starting to seem like a fluke.
Kaykay, tik,tik tik…. wasnt bad either- for the kind of film it was, you know a musical thriller , much better than KH’s latter film like Kalaingan. – it was quite technologically innovative for its time as well, with all that jump cutting,pacey editing and freeze frames.A great score and some really hot heroines.
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brangan
April 12, 2015
KayKay: But BR was never really known for song picturisation, no? Even in “Sigappu Rojakkal,” far better to listen to “Ninaivo” with eyes closed, no? Or are you telling me you have a thing for balloon-festooned horse-drawn chariots and heroines dressed like angels?
With you one can never tell 😉
Madan: I don’t see why you’re wasting energy in this argument. For two reasons:
(1) The Raja/Rahman pro-con list has been endlessly debated over the years.
(2) I find this interesting: what I can say for sure is you’re going to find it pretty hard to find a single bad or unlistenable song in Mouna Ragam, Agni Natchatram, Punnagai Mannan, Dhalapathi…
How can you say this for sure? I have no doubts about your feelings (and mine too) about these songs. But others?
Let’s divorce this from an Indian context. Let’s take Sinatra. I adore him. I could go on and on, for instance, about how he unfurls the word “unfurls” in “Yes My Love” (below) and segues into the next line as if it isn’t really a next line but an extension of this same thought/line.
Or how, he really brings out the creepy, stalker-ish aspects of the lyrics in “Night and Day” in the first video and how he makes the same song sound like just a happy-times love song in the second version.
But all I can say is that I find it great, no? How can I bang the gavel down and say for sure, “YOU are going to find it pretty hard to find a single bad or unlistenable song” in this oeuvre?
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Madan
April 12, 2015
BR: Because in this case, it’s just Tamil music. It’s not as if we are discussing and comparing two completely unrelated and different genres of music. The yardsticks are not and cannot be drastically different. I can understand somebody who says he does not find a single song on Mouna Ragam great but if he’s going to claim he can find bad or unlistenable songs in the album, I need to hear some cogent reasoning as to how he finds them bad. I honestly believe it takes a lot to make a song rank bad or unlistenable… maybe something like loud and completely off key singing but even that’s no guarantee. After all, even Atif Aslam has a lot of fans.
Both the superlative ‘great’ as well as the diametrically opposite adjective ‘bad’/’unlistenable’ are used too freely and with too little discretion in music. Raja follows basic conventions of songwriting too well to churn out rank bad songs regularly and certainly I don’t think there are any such on either Mouna Ragam or Agni. For that matter, I don’t remember very many (if any) bad songs in Rahman’s albums either.
One can either say one likes or dislikes songs and that is entirely down to one’s preferences. But if you want to use words like ‘great’ or ‘good’ or ‘bad’, you are presuming to speak on behalf of the universe (which is what Ashish did). I would really like to know how even a single song on the albums I mentioned can actually be argued to be BAD music.
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Madan
April 12, 2015
Just finished listening to the two different version of Night and Day, which are indeed as different as night and day. Again, this is a good example to reinforce my point.
Calling something like this bad music would be lazy. The singing is flawless and the musicianship is at least competent. The vocal melodies are, well, melodic. In short, the song does not violate musical grammar in any way that is too readily apparent.
I think people need to understand that music that they don’t like or which they simply find boring (which is an appropriate word to describe my feelings about Sinatra’s work) does not automatically become BAD. Likewise, greatness derives from significant influence on the musical scene of a composer’s time (with reference to songwriting and composition) and/or a high level of technical skills (with reference to individual performers like vocalists and musicians).
Both of these are fairly objective criteria, though only fairly and not completely. The problem with music appreciation today is every song you don’t like is bad and every song you like is great. Not only is there no attempt to express a nuanced opinion but there is a complete disregard for the aesthetic/technical aspects of music.
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Prasad
April 12, 2015
@ Ram Murali.
“But then again, you also have to see how the movies themselves have changed. TASMAC scenes and tales of small time crooks (with the wave sparked off by “Soodhu Kavvum”) make it hard for lyricists to come up with something truly beautiful. Yet, So, I think lyricists are a product of the system that they function in”
Agreed Ram on this. Offlate “TASMAC” has been one of the checklist for our Directors. I don’t have issue with “TASMAC” also if the song positioning is good. I was pleasantly surprised by Jigarthanda’s “pandi naatu kodi” . It’s also a “TASMAC” song but the songs perfectly suits the character of Bobby SImha and the choreography is good. Another important point is the lines are not vulgar without any objectification. Now that’s where the intention of a good Director likes Karthik Subburaj matters.
Even look at the intro song of Bobby which is the “Ding dong” which is very effective which hooks the viewers immediately. Now that’s the difference between songs like this and songs in say “Anegan” In Anegan ” Money has been spent so much but it doesn’t show in results.
Any day “”pandi naatu kodi” will work me than much hyped songs in “Anegan.
@ Madan.
“One can either say one likes or dislikes songs and that is entirely down to one’s preferences. But if you want to use words like ‘great’ or ‘good’ or ‘bad’, you are presuming to speak on behalf of the universe (which is what Ashish did)”
Agreed. But as BR mentioned we can write tons of lines arguing but there is no end to it.
Yes. After having heard so many songs of different genre/various periods, we all know it is just wrong to think of even comparing between two different people of different era. But sad part is, some continue to do so.
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Madan
April 12, 2015
we all know it is just wrong to think of even comparing between two different people of different era.
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KayKay
April 12, 2015
“Or are you telling me you have a thing for balloon-festooned horse-drawn chariots and heroines dressed like angels?”
HaHaHaHa….touche 🙂
But I was actually talking about the movie (KKS) itself, thankfully of which I caught just a bit of on cable and wisely switched channels, before my eyes and ears bled, and the wonderful Rahman soundtrack squandered on it.
MANK: Believe it or not, I haven’t watched Tik Tik Tik. There was a time, before their movies became “events”, when not every Kamal or Rajini movie needed to be seen. Seeing them depended on what the word-of-mouth was. Somewhere around “Indian” for Kamal and “Padayappa” for Rajini was the turning point for me, where, for better or for worse, their movies had to be watched.
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MANK
April 12, 2015
Kaykay, Oh i saw TTT on DVD.It was released before i was born you know. i picked it up purely for the kamal -bharatiraja combo and i wasnt disappointed. A real guilty pleasure if you will!. forget Kamal,- with your reputation around here – i couldnt believe you missed a film starring madhavi, radha and swapna together and at their hottest 🙂
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brangan
April 12, 2015
MANK: madhavi, radha and swapna together and at their hottest…
Not to mention that all of them wore swimsuits, with Madhavi becoming the first Tamil film heroine to wear a two-piece bikini…
Enna KayKay… Your not seeing this movie is like Kamal not kissing a heroine 😉
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MANK
April 12, 2015
Madhavi becoming the first Tamil film heroine to wear a two-piece bikini…
OMG!, is that so?. you mean nobody, before that?. not even sridevi?. I am just trying to run all those old bikini scenes in my mind to distinguish whether they were 2 piece or just one 🙂 Thanks for that historic info anyway 😉 . This truly made my day 😉
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brangan
April 12, 2015
MANK: You’re welcome 🙂
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KP
April 12, 2015
Not to mention that all of them wore swimsuits, with Madhavi becoming the first Tamil film heroine to wear a two-piece bikini…
Madhavi was first but in Raja Parvai which was released before Tik Tik Tik
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brangan
April 12, 2015
KP: I don’t think so. She wore a swimsuit in “Rajapaarvai,” yes — but not a two-piece bikini. You’re talking about the pool scene in “Andhi mazhai,” right?
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KayKay
April 12, 2015
“with your reputation around here”
“Enna KayKay… Your not seeing this movie is like Kamal not kissing a heroine”
Ye Gods! I’ve been anointed as this blog’s Resident Perv LOL 🙂
Well MANK and B, you guys are welcome to relive your hormonal adolescence debating the technicalities of Madhavi’s single vs 2 piece swim wear, but I had Kim Basinger in 9 1/2 weeks and Kathleen Turner in Body Heat for my own “wilderness years” 🙂
And MANK, you weren’t born when TTT came out??? Thanks for making me feel ancient, man!
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brangan
April 12, 2015
KayKay: Uh, well, you had Amala too, as you wrote so eloquently in this post:
“Amala, star of many an onanistic exertations for yours truly”
Hooray for the search facility in the comments section 🙂
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Shankar
April 12, 2015
yes brangan as sandeep says you are being tough on A. R Rahman. Comparing heera to putham puthu boomi vendum.
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Uma
April 13, 2015
There was Manjula in Dr. Siva before Madhavi.
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
April 13, 2015
Yes it was Manjula.
Art eyes alert 😛
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brangan
April 13, 2015
Uma: Oh yes. Thanks so much 🙂
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MANK
April 13, 2015
God , this site is overflowing with movie mammarobilia 🙂
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venkatesh
April 13, 2015
Oh dear god – what happened here .,,. I leave you folks for a day and we are discussing swimming piece suits on an article that is supposed to be about ARR.
I suspect this is better than discussing ARR vs. Mottai for the umpteenth time i guess.
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Ram Murali
April 13, 2015
BR…Thalaivarey…you have your priorities right…also, a sense of what is important and what is not!!
Here’re two samples to demonstrate that:
Exhibit 1:
Ashutosh @brangan: One small matter: was it not Satya (not Sivakozhundhu) who said the tin beer line? That thing happens when he tries to woo Nayanthara in the park after she drove out the gilmaers who were occupying it.
brangan
Ashutosh: Romba mukkiyam! :-p
Exhibit 2:
KP:
Madhavi was first but in Raja Parvai which was released before Tik Tik Tik
brangan
KP: I don’t think so. She wore a swimsuit in “Rajapaarvai,” yes — but not a two-piece bikini. You’re talking about the pool scene in “Andhi mazhai,” right?
Unge Kadamai Unarchi…Kan Kalanga Veikkudhu Saar!!
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Shankar
April 14, 2015
I’m in the wrong comment section, adding thoughts! This one is more fun! 🙂
@KayKay, Indian, Padayappa? man, that’s just too late….mine was probably around Guru/Kalyanaraman and Billa time frame respectively! I guess I’m really dating myself here 🙂 Possible carbon dating!! 🙂
@MANK, So, when TTT came out, I was visiting my cousins in Erode and distinctly remember being blown away by the soundtrack…the songs felt modern with a completely new sound. I recall enjoying the movie as well at that time.
Well, couple of years ago, purely on a nostalgic whim, I went back and watched it. I gotta tell you, I couldn’t stand most of it, just enjoyed a few bits. The bgm was great. What I found most disconcerting was the pace. Nothing seemed to be happening for some time and then suddenly a flurry of activity and so on. And less said about the villain character the better. You know Baddy rubbishes many actors of today about tight facial muscles and such…this guy would be the fore runner! 🙂
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Akhilan
April 14, 2015
This has been truly enlightening!! Thanks BR, and to all the others. I would’ve never known about the history of the two-piece in Kollywood if not for this site. Gonna catch TTT immediately now!! 😉 To rub it into Mr. KayKay a little bit more here, I’m just 22 years old… 😀
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brangan
April 14, 2015
Uma: Now that you’ve brought up the 1970s, what about actresses like Radha Saluja, who were the first among the “fair-skinned North Indian imports” and were the anti-Sujatha/Lakshmi — in the sense of not being asked to perform but just do what Hansika/Tamanna do today?
I think there may be some evidence of swimsuit wear there…
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
April 14, 2015
“I think there may be some evidence of swimsuit wear there…”
Actually a google search is simple and effective for that 😛 This Radha Saluja-MGR flick from 1977 (Dr. Siva was 1975, so Manjula still gets bragging honors).
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
April 14, 2015
But then, this track from Idhayakkani, 1975,
Hmm tough competition.
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brangan
April 14, 2015
VenkateswaranGanesan: Glad you’re doing something related to Tamil culture on Tamil New Year’s day. After all, it is manmadha varusham 🙂
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
April 14, 2015
😀 have a family member born on Manmadha Varusham (who completes 60 this yr) who used to paraphrase this song to Manmadha varusham when the film released.
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Vishal
April 15, 2015
Regarding the long-reigning careers of ARR and SD, some extra credit must be given to ARR for living in a era of short shelf-life (and perhaps short attention span).
Due to globalization and what not, today’s film music not only competes with other types of music (international, pop, etc.) but with other mediums (phones, games, social media, etc.) Staying on the psyche of a Bollywood music listener for 10 years today means a very different thing than what it used to mean in the 60’s and 70’s when there were few outlets of entertainment.
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MANK
April 15, 2015
Shankar,:What I found most disconcerting was the pace. Nothing seemed to be happening for some time and then suddenly a flurry of activity and so on
Grandpa 😛 , arent you familair with the term Nouvelle Vague. Well thats what this is :-).
On a serious note , i think Bharatiraja was trying to employ all those new techniques of the art house european masters that were imported to hollywood by the likes of Arthur penn and John Boorman in the late sixties and early seventies.Hence that disjointed,fragmented editing style and darkly lit frames and so on, At the same time he was making a film for the mainstream audience and hence there appears an unevenness as both styles doesnt seem to mesh.But it was very innovative for its time, – the form, technique.Just watch other tamil films around the same time , they look worse than today’s tv serials.
Hey i thought the villain was great fun. he was the best thing about the film – apart from the swimsuits that Brangan mentioned and the soundtrack-Sleeping on a bed of diamonds with full display of his potbelly and those punchlines he delivers before he dispatches his victims – enekkala dharmankalum theriyum, nyangalum theriyum- cant top that ;). Btw who was that actor who played the villain, dont remember seeing him in any other film.
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brangan
April 15, 2015
MANK: Absolutely. The 1970s/80s were a very interesting time for Tamil cinema because for the first time it became… cinema. And not just a photographed stage play.
And all these people were trying out (intentionally or not!) what are generally thought of as European art-house techniques within a very mainstream format, and it’s fascinating to see jump cuts and freeze frames within the context of a song, for instance. In Bharathiraja’s cinema, especially.
One example from my favourite film of his: See around the 0:45 mark. Revathi trips and the kolamaavu spills. And this shot is echoed around the 4:15 mark.
The echo happens twice. The falling bit is repeated. But between these echoes, we see a blurry zoom-in and zoom-out from Revathi’s face.
Also check out the sharp zoom-in as Revathi enters and sees Pandian for the first time, around the 2:05 mark. Followed by a series of sharp cuts, back and forth.
A lot of these things can be seen individually in earlier films too, but it was around this time that you couls see a lot of these things in the same film — indicating a sense of technique and not just a screenplay-level effect.
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MANK
April 15, 2015
Brangan, sure, i think there are elements of this in sivappu rojakkal as well , the flash back scenes of kamal’s is shown more as flashes and fragments – very similair to midnight cowboy-rather than the way it usually happens in our movies – both before and after that time- otherwise you can see when the flashback is coming and it occurs in a lengthy stretch.
Technologically too, it was a pioneering period, with the faster film stock being introduced and Steadicam and other camera equiments- which will let PC sriram and santhosh sivan run riot-I think this innovative trend was carried forward by manirathnam in areas of lighting and photography , (with the help of PC sriram , no doubt).
But then what happened after that period?. was it the rise of superstars that hindered – But thalapathi was a technically astonishing film-. Manirathnam has kept up with the changing times but Bharatiraja seriously lost it, just from the technical pov. His takings became so flat and ordinary in his later films.
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MANK
April 15, 2015
Brangan, MGR seems to have starred in several of these swimsuit scenes with his heroines. didnt this affect his political image at the time. He had just floated this new political party and films like idhayakkani and Uzhaikkum Karangal, Urimai Kural etc… were specifically made to propagate his new party ideology and pave way for his chief ministership. and women were a key constituent in this. somehow it appears very paradoxical to me.
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Shankar
April 15, 2015
@MANK, Grandpa! Enakku venum! 🙂
I agree, technique wise, it was an amazing period. I was just referring to the general pace of the film. As for the villain, well, I was seeing it from today’s perspective, which can be unfair. But say compared to a Sathyaraj from those times, it was tame. So, I guess we will just disagree there.
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Shankar
April 15, 2015
Baddy, many of the things you pointed out in the Mann Vaasanai link are evident here too. I happened to catch the song in passing on some channel couple of days ago and the same things came to mind, in terms of technique and how new it was was, for that time.
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Shankar
April 15, 2015
So, I posted the wrong link, my bad. Here is the correct one. This is the one I was referring to when I made the comment about technique.
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divya paarvai
September 8, 2015
Yes Radha Saluja in swim suits in 2 of the films with MGR because her body was perfect for it.
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Balasubramanian
December 24, 2016
brangan, you actually missed a major part in the song Aye Sinamika. The word ‘sinamika’ is in fact coined by Vairamuthu. After watching the movie I realized the meaning behind it. Tara character is in anger with Aadhi. And in Tamil as you know ‘sinam’ means angry. When it combines with some words (according to Tamil grammar) it transforms into sinamika.
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sollamaataen
September 10, 2019
Radha Saluja acted very well in love scenes with MGR in both films IDHAYAKANI and Indru pol…..
didnt see the other Tamil film he acted neela kadalin oda….
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