Uliyin Osai---Masterstroke from Maestro Ilaiyaraja

Uliyin Osai has to be one of THE best soundtracks of Maestro Ilaiyaraja at least considering the 2 stunning classical compositions in it. I am now only able to FULLY appreciate the genius of the songs, especially Aganthaiyil, Pulargindra, Kaalathai Vendra and Kallai Irundhen. Instead of writing about these, I would like you to read a brilliantly written post here. After reading it, I am enjoying the songs even more! It will give you a clear idea about the intricacies of the compositions tuned by Maestro Ilaiyaraja and how he THINKS in a different plane altogether. Though I am not so well-versed in classical music, I am still hooked to these songs, just imagine the classical connoisseurs, how much bliss they would be deriving from these songs!

The 11th Hour---The FINAL warning

Being an ardent nature lover, I try to do my best to make a difference to the environment in whatever way I can. I came across a documentary movie titled, "The 11th Hour" in the DVD rental shop and I immediately picked it up, I am glad I did! It is an eye-opening wake-up call to all the citizens of Mother Earth. It portrays with compelling evidence how we human beings are destroying this wonderful earth, which is our HOME. We have become so greedy and selfish that we are literally on a rampage annihilating every tree/forest, wiping out rare species of animals, polluting everything around us, digging every square inch of the earth for more oil, etc etc.....the list is endless. The result of all this are the earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, thunderstorms and the irony is we finally we blame God for everything!
What makes the film so special apart from its theme is that many eminent experts/scientists tell us logically how all this is leading towards a catastrophe and they also offer us SOLUTIONS as to how we CAN repair the damage we have done till now. To encapsulate what the scientists say: Man can be happy as long as he is in communion with Nature because he IS HIMSELF A PART OF IT, Nature sustains us actually! But if we cause an imbalance in this natural process we are sure to be doomed, which is what we don't realize. There are many more wonderful ideas conveyed by the experts, you can know them by seeing the movie.
After seeing the movie I got more inspired to do my bit and I am also spreading the word around as EACH of us HAVE to play our role fully, it should start from the common man itself. This what I have started DOING:

1. I don't take plastic bags from shops, I carry my own as there is enough stock of those at home.
2. I never waste a drop of water, I use what is needed.
3. I don't throw everything as trash, I reuse many papers, cardboard packs.
4. I use only CFL bulbs at home, incandescent bulbs emit more CO2 and cause more heat.

Here is the link which offers more details about the movie. For your sake, PLEASE WATCH IT and SPREAD THE WORD, DO SOMETHING, otherwise human beings will have the rare distinction of causing their own extinction.

Where is the music director?

I have been noticing a disturbing trend off late in music release functions---in most cases the music director is sidelined or not there! It is a MUSIC RELEASE function and the focus is always on the actors or the guests and never on the person responsible for the event, the music director (along with the producer/director of course!). It is very irritating to see even articles sometimes covering music launches but there is no mention of who the music composer of the movie is. The problem I believe is that today producers/directors believe that music is just an add-on for the movie and not an integral part of it.
Only directors like Maniratnam, Shankar, Karu Palaniappan, Gautam Menon, Aditya Chopra etc. have been promoting the music with some keen interest and passion. Most others consider it as just another part of a movie, when actually it is not. If the music of a movie is done well with care then everybody would realize that it acts as the best promotional tool for any movie and the songs are on everybody's lips before the movie releases! Case in point is Vaaranam Aayiram. This will do wonders to the movie's publicity. This is the reason we find generally the songs in the movies of the above mentioned directors to be excellent and they add to the overall beauty of the movie. I just pray that this disturbing trend ends soon and music directors get their due.

Songs I am hooked onto!

Over the last 6 months, there have been some good songs which have been continuously in my playlist.

HINDI

1. Ha Rehem-Aamir-Amit Trivedi
   
2. Khudha Jaane & Jogi Mahi-Bachna Ae Haseeno-Vishal/Shekhar
3. Mari Teetri-De Taali-Punjabi song at its catchy best!-Vishal/Shekhar
4. Khabar Nahi-Dostana-Vishal/Shekhar
5. Maine Hawa Ke-Mere Baap Pehle Aap-The most underrated song of the year-Vidyasagar
6. Ek Meetha Marz-Welcome to Sajjanpur-Shantanu Moitra
   
7. Tu Meri Dost-Yuvvraaj-A.R.Rahman
8. Muskura-Dasvidaniya-A great retro song!-Kailash Kher/Naresh/Paresh
   
9. Kaise Mujhe-Ghajini-mesmerizing vocals by Shreya Ghoshal, the motherly caressing humming sends me into raptures!-A.R.Rahman

TAMIL

1. Adai Mazhai Kaalam & Naan Varaindhu-Jeyam Kondaan-Vidyasagar
2. Mazhai Nindra & Ippavae-Raman Thediya Seethai-Vidyasagar
3. Kalaadhara-Vegam-A great song that was never noticed-Rajesh Vaidhya
   
4. Marudhaani-Sakkarakatti-A.R.Rahman
5. Dost Bada Dosth-Saroja-Yuvan
6. Aganthaiyil-Uliyin Osai-Amazing raaga and graha bhedam variations!-Maestro Ilaiyaraja
   
7. Natta Nadu-A Aa E Ee-what an elegant song, very addictive!-Vijay Antony
   
8. Anul Mele & Ava Enna-Vaaranam Aayiram-Harris Jayaraj
   
9. En Uyirukkul-Mahesh Saranya Matrum Palar-Vidyasagar

MALAYALAM

1. Etho Jalashankkil& Maymassame-Laptop-celestial tunes!-Sreevalsan Menon
2. Radha Madhava-Anthiponvettom-great tune in Hamsanandi and great singing by Krishnakumar-M Jayachandran
3. Thaazhika Kudame-College Kumaran-Ousepachhan
4. Coffee @ MG Road & O Saathi-Coffee @ MG Road, a very good malayalam album-Vineeth Srinivasan/Shaan Rahman
   
5. Arigil-Thirakkatha-superb tune-Sharath
   

Music and Healing

It is a proven fact that music indeed is one of the most effective therapies. Owing to sheer interest, I have read a few expert articles written on Shri Kunnakudy Vaidyanathan, who until recently, before his demise, was heading the Raaga Research Centre in Madras. He and his late father (who was one of the pioneers of raaga research) have confirmed that music/raagas have the power to cure us of many ailments! This is certainly good news to all music lovers. I personally believe in this completely and I have experienced the therapeutic effects of music innumerable times. Each raaga is said to have a unique medicinal property. This post is just a starting point to discuss about the healing effects of music. The study in this field has been quite extensive leading to some pleasantly stunning results. I give below the unique properties of a few raagas. These are culled from various authentic articles in the internet and "The Hindu" newspaper.

1. Keeravani-Good for heart.
   
2. Rathipathipriya-Strength and vigour, remove ill-will.
3. Shanmukhapriya-Sharpens intellect and instils courage.
4. Kalyani-Destroys fear.
5. Karaharapriya-Remedy for worry, stress and neurotic disorders.
6. Abheri-Heals the mind.
7. Shankarabharanam-Cures mental disorders, showers wealth!
8. Charukesi-Rejenuvates mind
9. Mohanam-Filters ill-effects of our bad qualities like anger, lust and attachment.
10. Mayamalavagowla-Counters pollution.
11. Anandabhairavi-Lowers blood pressure.

This is an incomplete list. For those who have faith, music is the best medicine. If we are mentally happy, then I feel, the presence of physical diseases cannot affect us. Music is a wealth that we have, its a gift from God itself which can give us a lot of bliss and satisfaction. Let us use it so that there is more Love, Peace and Harmony and let us promote, good, melodious music!

Vishal Bharadwaj---A rare talent

If there is any composer in India who has continuously defied stereotypes it is Vishal Bharadwaj. He made his debut with Maachis in the 90's and it was a refreshing musical score at a time when Hindi film music was largely sounding like pop music. I loved the sound that Vishal created in Maachis in the songs Chhod Aaye Hum (a song that makes you imagine the mountains) and Chhappa Chhappa (great hilly folk tune) and his choice of singers too was spot-on---Hariharan, Suresh Wadkar, Lata Mangeshkar etc. Since then Vishal has proved that his promising debut was no flash-in-the-pan. Though he composes for only 2-3 movies in a year, you can be sure that most of the songs would be radically different. Be it the frenzied energy in Beedi or the lilting O Saathi Re (both from Omkara) or the boisterous Kash Laga (No Smoking) or the symphonic Aasmaan Chhathri (Blue Umbrella), Vishal has shown his mettle in diverse genres. I hope we get to listen to more wonderful scores from this unsung composer, who definitely deserves more chances than he gets now!

Vijay Antony

Vijay Antony is one of the newer composers in Tamil, who made his debut with Sukran (a horrible movie) about 3 years back. It was a forgettable debut in my opinion and when I heard the commercial songs of Sukran (director S.A. Chandrashekharan, who has no place for melody songs), I dismissed Vijay as another run-of-the mill composer. But the real talent of Vijay came to the fore in the songs of Dishyum. I realized that Vijay was a composer with a bright future. Though, all the songs of Dishyum were not good, Ninjankootil was a cracker of a tune with superb orchestration. What I like about Vijay Antony is that his sound is very melodious and different. He uses an assortment of guitars, pianos and flutes.From then, Vijay has given some great tunes, though, I feel he has to get more movies which exploit his talent to compose great melodies. I hope he gets more subject-oriented movies. Here are my favourite Vijay Antony songs:

1. Ninjaankootil-Dishyum-a song in Raaga Brindavanasaaranga
   
2. Azhagaa-By 2-this movie had great songs by VA
   
3. Roja Poovin-By 2
4. Naanthaana-Ninaithaale-a song in the rare Amruthavarshini raagam, wonderful song!
5. Thaneer Pookalaey-Ninaithaale-amazing orchestration
6. Thozhiya-Kadhalil Vizhundhen-so catchy and peppy yet melodious!
7. Solladi-Kadhalil Vizhundhen-superb guitars and a great tune.
8. Natta Nadu-A Aa E Ee-what a song in raagam Hamsadhwani
   

Saroja, Jeyam Kondaan: Worth a watch

I recently saw 2 tamil movies-Saroja and Jeyam Kondaan and was pleasantly surprised that they were indeed very good.

1. Saroja-First things first, Saroja is a remake of a Hollywood thriller called "Judgement Night". So I had minimal expectations and did not see the movie as I had watched Judgement Night quite recently. But when I heard from a few friends about Saroja, I decided to give it a try and was completely bowled over. This is one of those rare times when I feel that the remake entertained me more than the original, though JN was a brilliant movie. Where Saroja scores is the amazing humour which the original didn't have at all! Saroja is a fantastic joyride alternating between tense moments and rib-tickling genuine comic moments. The humour is very decent and Premgi Amaran displays great comic timing. According to me he is the soul of the movie. Everytime he appeared on the screen, I started laughing. Apart from the humour, a couple of songs, the cinematography and the excellent background music are the other strengths of Saroja. If you have not seen this movie, please see it, you will not be disappointed. It is miles ahead of the commercial fare that we are exposed to, nowadays.
2. Jeyam Kondaan-Jeyam Kondaan was a revelation. This movie has avoided every damn cliche that we are used to in Indian films. It had a wonderful script, good humour by Vivek and gang, melodious songs (Vidyasagar) and very decent acting by the entire cast. It is a very racy movie sans any violence until the climax fight, which too, is short. The film very subtly depicts the relationship between a brother and sister. Some scenes did bring tears to my eyes. The director is a former assistant of Maniratnam and it shows in the way the scenes have been skilfully crafted. Jeyam Kondaan was a very satisfying experience.
   

Agam's Music

Agam was one among the six winners in the ooh la la la competition held for music bands. The concept of the competition was spearheaded by none other than A.R. Rahman. Agam actually has been existing for quite some time much before the contest started. Their music is an amazing fusion of classical-based tunes wrapped in superb orchestration. I was very impressed on hearing their songs which are available for free download here in their blog. The details about the band members too can be found there. There are 6 tracks:

1. Mystical Abheri-My favourite one, a tamil song, where Reethigowla and Abheri raagaas have been used. The flute interludes are mesmerizing.
2. Path of Aspiration-This song is called "Lakshiya Paadhai" based on Naatai raaga. This too is a beautiful song with a faster tempo.
3. Nothing but Hope-A song that begins in English and moves to a ghazal-like tune in Hindi.
4. Amma-This is a lullaby to the mother, set in Kaapi raagam. It has very poignant lyrics praising the Mother. The tune is so soothing that you will fall asleep if you hear it!
   
5. Brahma's Dance-This is an instrumental piece interspersed with vedic chants.
6. Amma Instrumental-The instrumental piece of the "Amma" song on violin.

One common thing among all the songs are the very meaningful lyrics. This is a fantastic effort from the Agam team. Soon, we can expect another album from them which will be sponsored by KM Music from A.R.Rahman's stable. I am eagerly waiting for it after listening to these songs!

Laptop:Music Review

Laptop is a Malayalam movie which released about 2 months back. The movie sank at the box office but the music of the movie by acclaimed Carnatic vocalist, Sreevalsan Menon, was fantastic! The album had all soft, ghazal-like numbers, which is quite common in Malayalam films. Almost all the numbers are very soothing but there are 2 melodies which were outstanding- Etho Jalashankkil and Maymassame. The first one is a duet sung by Amal Antony/Sonia and the second one is sung by Amal alone. The tunes are so celestial that I am addicted to them and listen to them almost everyday, atleast once. Its pure bliss!
Sreevalsan Menon has already released many carnatic-based albums-the best one that I have heard is Monsoon Anuraaga(compositions in all rain raagaas) which is a brilliant album. I really appreciate Sreevalsan in Laptop because, being a great singer himself, he has not sung all the songs but has given an opportunity to Amal Antony (winner of Gandharva Sangeetham 2006), whose singing is fabulous. I hope and pray that Sreevalsan Menon gets more such chances to compose and Amal gets to sing more. The varnachitram blog has a great detailed review here of Laptop's music.