Woohooo! My fav song from Raavanan (Naan Varuven) has a proper music video now, featuring AR Rahman and Aishwarya Rai! :)

It feels great to know that work on this video should have been in progress, while I was writing a post about that song!

By Aravind on Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 7:55 AM Post Categories: ,
*Warning: Could contain spoilers*

As a fan of Kamal's comedy movies, I was eagerly looking forward to Manmadhan Ambu. Reviews from my friends who watched it first, were not encouraging, but press/media reviews were mostly positive.

I went to the theater with an open mind. As the movie kept unfolding, I was being drawn into it. As Ambu realizes the truth, and the movie breaks for intermission, I was so in awe of the film. I felt, after such a lovely first half, nothing could go wrong to make it bad. I was wondering how this movie could get negative reviews! I was thinking to myself that it didn’t deserve the bad reviews it got.

Post the intermission too, it was all going fine. Till the last 20 mins, where Mannar and co, start making plans to stage a “drama”. That’s where the film lost track. To me, the movie till that point and post that looked like two different films. First, a very mature story, and then, a very childish slapstick episode.

I felt cheated. Totally. It was as though the filmmakers were making a mockery of the audience, for having en the first half so seriously and building up expectations.

It is not that I hate slapstick comedies. I loved MMKR. Hell, I love Kadhala Kadhala too. And, the last 20 mins of MA kept reminding me of Kadhala Kadhala. But, while similar strategy worked in KK, it didn’t work in MA. But, why would that happen? When you watch KK, you are prepared for slapstick for, it is slapstick from start till end. You go there for slapstick, you get slapstick. You are happy.

In case of MMA, there are very few laughs in the first half (though the ads and promos project this as a full-length comedy), but I loved the few comedy sequences as none of it was not forced. It is as though, just to justify that it is a comedy movie, all the final nonsense was forced in. But, why do that? Why project it as a comedy movie?

To me, it looked like Kamal & Ravikumar co somehow weren't clear what they want to serve. After a classy first half, they probably got worried that it was not mass enough, and tried to make it slapstick! And, that's why it didn't work for me!
By Aravind on Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 4:55 PM Post Categories:
Ah! It's been really long since I blogged! But, I knew I wanted to come back! It was as though I was saying to myself "Naan varuven, Meendum Varuven" ("I'll be back") :D

So, before I start writing about the song which I've been listening to a LOT in the past few days, here's wishing everyone a very happy new year!

Ok, now... the song is "Naan Varuven" from Raavanan. This song wasn't there in the audio CDs that were released initially, but was included in the Raavanan collectors edition pack (which has a DVD with making of the music + a CD with 5 additional tracks, including Naan Varuven).

To me, Naan Varuven is the best song of the album. After having listened to the song a couple of times at the cinema (if you are not aware, it's the end credits song) and the unofficial rips several times, I was waiting for the official release! And, so overjoyed was I when I got the collector's edition disk, for just this one song.

What's so special about the song, you ask? The music, the lyrics and the expressive singing - all just so perfect for the situation.

Let's look at it from Veera's point of view, shall we? This song plays in the movie, just as Veera (Vikram's character) is shot, and is dying. He just got to know that Ragini (Aishwarya Rai's character) likes him. As he is dying, his life, his desires, his dilemmas, his love - everything probably flashes before his eyes.

Now, lets look at the lyrics. The song starts of with
"Naan Varuven,Meendum Varuven,
Unai Naan Thodarven, Uyiraal Thoduven".

He's just realised that his sweetheart likes him, but he doesn't want to go away, he only wishes to come back and live with her - at least in spirit (probably, as a spirit, even... who knows? :P)

Then, spring the dilemmas in his mind. He is clueless as to how everything changed so suddenly. Ragini, who didn't heed to his love all these days, has suddenly turned around. He has so many questions about his life, but doesn't have answers. Just as he begins to get some clarity, the entire game changes. He's won her heart, but he's going away from this world! He feels all his dreams are making a mockery of him and are jeering at him! Look at how elegantly, Vairamuthu has brought this out in his lyrics:

Oru pillai ezhudhum kirukkal thaan vaazhkai-ah?
Adhil artham thedi alaivadhey vetkai-ah?
Artham puriyum bodhu vaazhvu maarudhu
Vaazhvu maarum bodhu artham maarudhu.
Oru kanavu kaatril midhakkudho?
Adhu midhandhu kondu sirikkudho?
Sheer brilliance, no?

Now, lets come to the musical brilliance. This song's mood is in contrast to the film's entire score, which has a tribal flavour with heavy rhythms, to show the crudeness/roughness of the character. But, this song is so soft? Why would that be? I think, it is to show the peace and calm that engulf him, as he embraces death. He is happy knowing Ragini's feelings, but he also knows he is dying. He is not angry, but he is disappointed and confused!

And then, we have the African vocals. The African sounds were used throughout the movie to bring out the tribal feel. And, it flows into this song too, albeit in a softer form. To signify that his rough animal qualities have toned down, and love has made him softer? That's my guess!

Notice the mystic ambience that Rahman has created with his music. Right from the mellow opening piece and the unique ARR voice which bundles in so much of emotions, to the twisting flute pieces interspersed through out the song, Rahman knew what he was doing, and did it perfectly.

It was said that this song was not planned initially, and was composed and added as an afterthought. I think, nothing else could have been better to end the movie. The song adds so much emotion to the climax. When three wizards like Mani, ARR and Vairamuthu join hands, you expect extra-ordinary magic! This song is one such - a true masterpiece.

Song: Naan Varuven
Album: Raavanan (Collector's edition)

Singers: A.R.Rahman, Jali Fily Cissoko
Lyrics: Vairamuthu.

By Aravind on Saturday, January 01, 2011 at 8:47 PM Post Categories: , ,