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Browsing All Posts filed under »Music: Tamil Cinema«
Blessy’s ‘Aadujeevitham’ has its moments and gets an A for effort, but given the source, this should have been a far more moving film
Prithviraj Sukumaran shoulders the movie heroically. But the overblown nature of the event-filled narrative never lets us connect with the plight of the protagonist. Seen one way, Aadujeevitham is already the stuff of cinema legend. Benyamin’s book showcased the horrifying story of a Malayali – named Najeeb – who went to Saudi Arabia for one […]
From the Web (FTW) #13: The #MarakkumaNenjam concert fiasco
September 14, 2023
As requested, a link to Madan’s piece: “Even the most idolized of celebrities in India cannot escape their very Indian failings at the end of the day. And the God of music now find himself in an unholy mess. ” https://rothrocks.wordpress.com/2023/09/13/in-the-name-of-god-the-marakumma-nenjam-fiasco/
Happy 90th birthday, Asha Bhosle!
September 8, 2023
With a goddess like Asha, and with her body of work, any list can be but a drop in the ocean. Here are some particular favourites: C Ramchandra’s Navrang is a soundtrack for the ages, but Asha’s ‘voice acting’ here is a special treat (the song is repeated twice in this clip). Holy mother of […]
Readers Write In #588: சில பயணங்களில், சில மனிதர்கள்- 1
June 25, 2023
By Srinivasan Sundar எனது வேலை என்னை பல இடங்களுக்கு எடுத்துச் செல்வதுண்டு. பொதுவாக அனைத்து பயணங்களுமே விமானத்தில் தான். கிட்டத்தட்ட டவுன் பஸ் போல விமானங்கள் எனக்கு ஆகிவிட்ட காலங்கள் இவை. இதற்கு முன் வான்வழி பயணம் என்றாலே எனக்கு ஒரு விதமான பீதி.. வேலை இன்டர்வியூ போல்.செக்யூரிட்டி செக், போர்டிங் பாஸ், செக்கின்பேக்கேஜ், போர்டிங் கேட், வெப்செக்கிங், ஹாண்ட்பேக்கேஜ், வகைரா குழப்பங்கள். மன உளைச்சல். ஆனால் இப்போது எதுவும் அறவே இல்லை. காரணம் – […]
A very happy 80th birthday, Ilaiyaraaja
June 1, 2023
From the Web (FTW) #8: Nenendu Vethugudura (a translation)
May 28, 2023
This is a translation by V Vijaysee (who comments here as Vijee) of a Tamil short story by Lalitharam, based on a real-life incident from the life of the nagaswara vidwan Karukurichi Arunachalam. Author’s Note: Recently, I translated a Tamil short story by Lalitharam based on a real-life incident from the life of the nagaswaram vidwan, […]
From the Web (FTW) #7: The Magic of K Vishwanath’s songs
May 21, 2023
Why do Indian movies have songs? Well that’s a question that is being increasingly asked now, but it was not the case earlier. Given that Indian movies had their base in the various forms of “stage” or “theatre” traditions, when sound came into movies, songs became integral. For a very long time, songs played a […]
Bitty Ruminations 94 – Mani Ratnam, ARR and the ‘mainstream’
April 25, 2023
This is a take-off on Madan’s comment in the MR-ARR interview thread, where he talked about my podcast where he says I said something like “this weird strongly mainstream impulse Mani has for one who wants to be trying new things all the time. “ I want to define what I meant by the word […]
Interview: Mani Ratnam / AR Rahman (PS-1, PS-2, 30+ years of working together…)
April 22, 2023
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Bitty Ruminations 93 – Asking for help (with a little help from lyricist Vaali)
April 13, 2023
A big thank-you to everyone who responded to the earlier thread, which is a reminder that people can help you only if they know you need help — meaning, you have to ask for help. And as with most situations in life, there’s a philosophical film song that expresses this emotion. I am referring to […]
Interview: Santhosh Narayanan (Malaysia concert, future films)
March 12, 2023
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Interview: GV Prakash / Venky Atluri (Vaathi)
February 25, 2023
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Pattukaran – Rajaism Pannuvom, featuring Baradwaj Rangan
February 17, 2023
‘Pattukaran’ is a podcast by Sudhir Viyas D. He called me to share some thoughts on Raja in the first episode of Season 2. If you want to support this podcast, here’s the link: And here is the podcast:
Farewell, Vani Jairam
February 4, 2023
‘Spotify: Cinema with BR’ Episode 1: On AR Rahman, on his birthday
January 6, 2023
Copyright ©2023 SPOTIFY.
Readers Write In #475: This Rose is still as fresh as it was in 1992
August 13, 2022
By Anand Raghavan 30 yrs back on the Independence Day, just when India had opened up its economy through liberalisation , escaping a worse economic collapse, with baby steps into a new start, came as a breath of fresh air in film music, breaking the shackles of the sound, the monotony in recording , something […]
The film song as a tone poem
February 20, 2022
When AR Rahman’s soundtrack for Atrangi Re was released, the song that instantly wormed its way into my ears was Tumhe mohabbat hai. It wasn’t just the music or the longing in Arijit Singh’s expression. It was also Irshad Kamil’s word-weaving. The entire song has two “themes”. The first is the overarching theme: Dhanush’s sadness/heartache. […]
Readers Write In #441: #Anirudh25 and counting
February 14, 2022
By Srimanram I tend to listen to a lot of Indian film music these days, mainly in Hindi and the four southern languages. It’s part of the reason why I follow people like Baradwaj Rangan and Karthik Srinivasan of milliblog.com. These two have been quite essential in shaping my music and movie tastes of late […]
Music Notes #2: Exploring the ‘Raja brought Tamils back from Hindi music’ urban myth
November 17, 2021
So this comes from a recent comment from a reader (as it keeps coming up) that in the 1970s, Tamils were under sway to Hindi film music until the arrival of Ilaiyaraaja brought them back to Tamil music. I have asked many people born in the 1950s and 60s about this — family and others. […]
Baradwaj Rangan 
April 1, 2024
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