Me, Music and 'The Maestro' -2

"Maniratnam kavuthupputtaruda, machan"... I immediately ran to my friend with the ad and pulampified. Even he was upset to the core. But we did have a gut feeling that this new guy is going to let Mani down and will make Mani return to Raja. We decided to bad mouth this album putting our maximum efforts (If I had channeled the same efforts for my studies, I wud've become junior APJ by this time).

The D Day arrived. The album was released without much fanfare. (Idhey Raja sir albumna evlo rush irundhurukkum?). Next day in the school, I started my campaign...'Roja songs are really bad.' But the fact was that I didnt even hear the songs. That was the sort of liking I had for Raja sir. A week passed by. My neighbour friend came running.."Dei, Rojala Rukkumaninu oru paattu kettaenda..Chema beat...Paattu kandippa hit aayidum". I laughed. That is not going to happen anyways. Let me listen to that first and give my verdict. But to my bad luck, I didnt get a chance to listen to the songs till the release date of the movie.

1992 Diwali...The day Roja was released...Morning 9 am...DD-5...Oliyum Olliyum...Came the first song...Chinna Chinna Aasai... I was watching it curiously....The visuals are cool. The locations are good..thats it (Music nallayirukkunu vaayilerndhu oru vaarthai varalaiyae..). Thank god!!! The song is just like what I had expected. Not so great. Mani sir is going to come back to Raja sir. With happiness painted all over my face, I went to bed that day with a relaxed mind..

Next day...My jalagreedai padalam.. I started humming..."Chinna chinna aasai".. Oh god..Whats happening to me? Is this song growing on me?

(to be continued..)

Me, Music and 'The Maestro'

I am really puzzled how i am gonna search for words to describe a wonderful tale of triumph and that too by a fellow Tamilian. Yet I leave all those worries with the almighty and try my best to pen this down.

Flashback:

The year is 1991 and the day was very special to me. My favourite music director Ilaiyaraja's Thalapathi album is releasing today. Its so special for another reason too. The film is directed by my favourite film director Maniratnam. I am following the duo's movies from the days of Agni Nakshathiram. What a perfect combination? The masterpieces of Ilaiyaraja canned by the genius of Maniratnam. What more can a movie buff expect? Ok..Lets come back to the scenario. I was in the music shop at 10 am in the morning with a neighbour of mine. He was also a HC Raja fan. When we got the cassette in our hand, we couldnt hide our emotions. A film which has names like Raja, Rajni and Maniratnam and I have the movie's soundtrack in my hands. We pedalled the cycle as fast as we could and reached home in 10 minutes. The first track was 'Rakkamma kaiya thattu' and it was a completely different orchestration at that time and it was very different from the previous Raja numbers. I liked the freshness in the songs. It also had some other mindblowing songs like Chinna Thaayaval, Putham pudhu poo, Sundhari and kaatukuyil. As expected the album was a huge hit among the masses. I remember all the Tamil Magazines praising Raja for the splendid work he had done with Thalapathi. I was boasting with my friends.."Ilaiyarajava adikkiradhukku oruththan porandhuthaanya varanum...."

The year is 1992. I read in a magazine that Maniratnam was going to make a film for Kavithalaya with newcomers in the lead. I wondered what Maniratnam is going to do with newcomers in the lead because all his previous films had stars in the cast like Kamal Hassan, Prabhu, Karthik, etc. Still I had a strong faith that Ilaiyaraja would save the movie with his numbers. Finally one day Mani announced the movie titled 'Roja' with Arvindswamy (Known as the leo coffee model those days) and Madhubala. However no one knew about the crew though. Nobody managed to find it too because everybody expected the same team of Ilaiyaraja and P.C Sriram to assist Mani.

One fine day I heard a rumour that the film's music is being composed by a new one. "Oh god..Dont make this happen..Maniratnathukku arivae illaya? If this happens, i am not going to watch Maniratnam movies in my life again". I became curious to know about the crew and started inquiring about this with all my friends. But..Alas..Nobody knew about this. Ok..I will wait till the official announcement.

Few months after that I was reading a magazine and in one page there was an ad for K.Balachander's next directorial venture 'Jaadhimalli'. I was casually seeing the ad and in the bottom portion of the ad there was a 'coming soon' ad for 'Roja'. Seeing this my eyes lit up. I was literally scanning the ad..Direction: Maniratnam...Produced by: Rajam Balachander, Pushpa Kandhaswamy.. Music: Oh..My god..Its not Ilaiyaraja...Its by some Rahman..Sob..sob..

I immediately thought.."Kadavulae..Indha padam odavae koodathu.."

(To be continued..)

Presidential Elections - India's answer to 'Mr.Bean'

Time has gone when we were in all smiles after watching Rowan Atkinson's histrionics in 'Mr. Bean'. The Congress led UPA and BJP led NDA are trying their best to sketch out the Indian version of the 'Mr.Bean' in the name of Presidential Elections. I am really astonished with the ways that the Congress employs to bring an woman to the coveted throne. I will be delighted to have the first 'Rashtra-patni' of the country, provided the Indians respect women equally as they do with men hereafter. But thats a distant dream as of now. The 'Right for women' campaign will end as soon as the elections are over and Ms. Pratibha Patil will serve as the rubber-stamp for the UPA and a messenger to UPA if the government changes.

Ok..Lets leave everything aside. Does Ms.Patil have the qualities that a presidential candidate should possess? I really have a doubt. Even when she was in Chennai last week to flag off her election compaign, Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan was on special duty to have Ms. Patil's mouth shut- A clear view on the scenario thats bound to happen for the next five years. It was learnt later that it was to prevent Ms. Patil from answering the media when she is questioned on the recent corruption charges.

How will NDA allow UPA to steal the show? NDA has tried its own methods to join the party. They have been questioning Ms.Patil's contribution to the country's causes for a while. I will be happy to know if they have a better candidate. Their answer for this is 'Bhairon Singh Sekhawat', a deputy rubber-stamp till date. Dont you guys have any better jobs to do? Is electing a president too has become a part of the dirty politics you do everyday? There are lot of issues which are happening other than this. The Cauvery issue is getting worse day by day, China has claimed that Arunachal Pradesh is their's. But nobody cares.. All they need is to get their own rubber-stamp to the seat and have a smooth run. Long live demo'crazy'.

P.S: The Presidential Election is scheduled for 18th of July. Mr.Bean is being telecast in Pogo Channel everyday at 16.30, 20.30, 23.00 hrs.

Jai Hind!!!

Apocalypto-Review

I got a chance to watch the much acclaimed Mel Gibson directed 'Apocalypto' yesterday. I didnt have any expectations when I started. All I knew about this film was that it was directed by Mel Gibson who has directed some unforgettable films in Passion of Christ and Braveheart.

The film begins with an opening quote which reads; "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within". From there Gibson takes us through a journey we have never dreamt of in our life. The story is set in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula just before Spanish contact, it depicts one person's experience during the decline of the ancient Maya civilization. Kudos to the art direction team which has brought the ancient civilization right in front of our eyes. The film has no opening credits and it starts off with a scene in which the Mayans chase a wild boar in the deep forests of Mexico. They catch their prey using innovative methods and they share the organs of the wild boar between themselves. If u think this is gory, wait, the best is yet to come!!! Thanx to Mel Gibson for not employing visuals which straightaway give the impact as he had done with Passion of Christ.

The USP of the movie is its presentation. Till Jaguar Paw wakes up and looks out at the forests with a puzzledlook, we do not know that there is a danger which awaits them. When suddenly things change one fine morning, the movie picks up its pace. The Mayan language is used throughout, but still we are in track with the film. Thanks to the subtitles. In fact, this usage of Mayan language had helped me get the feel that Gibson intended to give the viewers. The film is gory in parts. But in a under-developed civilization, we cant expect anything more.

Another creditable work comes from the cinematographer Dean Semler who had earlier worked with Gibson in 'The Patriot'. But he was the director then. The scene where the camera climbs above Jaguar Paw and then diving over the edge of the waterfall, giving the whole view of the waterfall is an outstanding one. James Horner's music is the backbone of the movie, particularly during the chasing scenes.

The performance of Rudy Youngblood (Jaguar Paw) is noteworthy along with Raoull Trujillo (Zero Wolf). But the man who steals the show is Jonathan Brewer, who plays the character of the blunted. He also provides the comic relief during the initial scenes of the movie.

In whole, this movie is a must-watch for all movie buffs. Mel Gibson, once again proves that he is one of the most talented directors in the world. But still there are some things which are getting repetitive in his movies. Barring that, its a creditable effort from the actor-director.