One fine morning in Mumbai. Shakti comes from kitchen and finds Karthik still sleeping. “Mani ettu aachu… ezhundhudhu Karthik”, she screams playfully. Seeing her in a ravishing green saree, Karthik gets up and starts singing “Pachai Nirame Pachai Nirame…”. “Poda… aarambichittiya kalangaathala….”, whines Shakti, blushing. But, she enjoys it herself. She loves any reference made to Alaipaiyuthe, as their names match those of the lead pair of the movie. Also, this was exactly how Karthik had impressed her in college, not long back!
K continues singing and switches on the TV. Suddenly K stops singing, midway. S comes out from kitchen saying “Yaen niruthitta? Enna aach…” and she too goes spell bound on looking at the picture on TV. Sharmila Chinnasami’s voice was miratti-fying as usual “Bambaai (Mumbai) arugae road-in naduvil migap-periya thimingalam. Ulaga vignyaanigal viyappu.”
“Haiyyo… anga aepdi thimingalam…enna aachu-ne theriyala.. seekram vera chaanel-a maathu…” screams Shakti in excitement. Karthik switches to CNN. “Breaking News: Miracle in Mumbai” flashes on the screen. Same picture here too. Lots of cars crushed. Buildings damaged. Helicopters are flying all over, getting coverage for various news channels. A reporter catches one totally shocked scientist and asks for his opinion. “This is totally unbelievable. World's largest mammal in the middle of the city... that too about 50 kilometres from the sea! I am totally confused, as all other scientists. We can’t figure out what caused this. This has baffled the entire scientific community all over the world. This huge thing has just appeared out of nowhere!!!”
And then the camera pans to another side covering the damage. S exclaims “Hey! K... Anga paaru… Namakku nalla therinja area madhiri irukku… looks very familiar!!!”
K agrees "Hey!! Aamam… Namma usual-a pora Murugan Koil paaru background la...”
"Haiyoo... paavam andha area people. Problem mela problem… nethu night anga 'alai paainjidhu'. Bodhi Laboratories - Gajaala Sottu Neelam Factory-la edho accident.. Edho tank vedichiduchu-nu en friend fone pannaa… Indha thimingalam news vandhadhaala andha news pathi ellarum marandhutanga!”, adds S.
K shouts “Yaay!!! I have cracked it.”
“Enna aachu? Enakku onnum puriyala!”
He runs to the room and scribbles something on a sheet of paper and shows it to her… A wide smile spreads on her face – “adappaavi.. Ellarum anga kozhambittu irukkaanga! idhu thaana reason?".
Yes... K had cracked it!!!
This is what K showed S.
PS: This post is dedicated to Curses! Yaaru thitradha irundhalum, avanukku thaan modhalla
IIM-B campus, I mean! Sivamani performed for Unmaad, the annual cultural fest!It was great to know that he remembered me!! And as usual, he started off with "Thalaivaaaa... epdi irukkae". I was in the green room, with him for close to one-and-half hours - Yeah - 1.5 hours with Sivamani - I am sooo excited !!!! Though the concert happened at IIMB, I was Sivamani's guest and not the host! It was really funny to see my friends coming up to me and Sivamani so humbly, and offering tea and snacks!!! (what a pleasure
hee hee). I then watched the concert from VIP Seating Area (Sivamani's guest, you see!)
Sivamani is a perfectionist!!! Of the 1.5 hours in the green room, he must have spent close to an hour, practicing! U think all his equipment was in the green room? No... He was practicing on walls, tables, chairs, cushions - whatever he could find!
We were generally chatting and the topic turned towards A.R.Rahman. We talked a bit about WATER. Then he said "Want to listen to some experiments by ARR? ARR generally experiments a lot and he sends them over to me quite often." I was more than willing to listen to music created by God. He played them from his mobile! The first one that he played was a wonderful piece of music - which A.R.Rahman had made from a baby's cry! He had recorded a baby's crying sound and worked on it to create music! The beauty of that piece can't be described in words!!! It was brilliant!Then came the reporters from Zee News and CNN IBN. In the interview, he said, one of the most important persons behind his success as a solo performer, is his close friend ARR - coz he's the first person who started the system of crediting the accompanying musicians!!
Watch the mini-interview on any of these two channels on Sunday!
And of course, I forgot to mention - the concert rocked!!! Sivamani was too good!!!!
Why are the others not like him? - this is the question which is troubling him. Is it wrong on his part to expect that he be given the same treatment that he gives to others?
The advertisement for Unmaad 2006 (the cultural fest of IIMB - 3-5 Feb 2006) is gonna be aired on Zee TV and other national TV channels!'Coz that ad was created by me in Macromedia Flash!!!
This is the first time my creation is going out on TV and is receiving so much coverage!!! Yayyyyyyy!!!
Time: 7:00 pm to 6:00 am
Venue: Open Air Theatre, IIM Bangalore.
Entry is free for everyone. For details about free passes and other info visit our site.
The artiste list for this year's festival:
Pt. Rajan & Pt. Sajan Mishra - Hindustani Vocals
Shri. TM Krishna - Carnatic Vocals
Priyadarshini Govind - Bharatnatyam
Sangeetha Samrat Chitraveena Shri Ravi Kiran - Chitra Veena
Pt. Ronu Majumdar - Flute
Hon'ble Governor of Karnataka, Shri TN Chaturvedi will inaugurate the event.
As ARR steps into his 40th year on this planet, here's wishing him a very happy birthday and praying to God for his health and happiness! Rahman is sure to rock this year with Lord of the Rings, Sivaji, Jillendru Oru Kaadhal, Dasaavathaaram!
It seems Deepa Mehta's Water may not release in India, thanks to the protests by the Hindu Fundamentalists :( So, the music too will not release in India. Water is the only album for which Rahman himself has given 10/10.Are we going to miss this masterpiece totally?
The movie is creating waves in many film festivals the world over. It also features in the list of top-10 Canadian movies of 2005. The movie is critically well acclaimed too, and Deepa Mehta is receiving applause and appreciations for the movie all over. It's a pity that the dirty politics in India deprives us of such a beautiful movie and the masterpiece of the Asian Mozart.
Why IISc? Since security was beefed up in IT companies as they were considered as likely targets? So, they went to a different place? May be! Nothing is clear now... Hope the campus and Bangalore city returns to normal soon...
I watched Ghajini sometime back...and the background score for the movie sent me into peals of laughter. Random noises getting characteristic of Harris Jeyaraj: Bozo Zulo...oh my god! =)Read the full article here.
I really can't understand what's with all these guys who make wierd noises in the name of background music!
When A.R.Rahman started out, there were a number of people who were criticising and making fun of him for introducing such 'noises': but dammit, his sure make much more sense than these zulos and habibiyas!! (Yeah, like I'll ever give up on Rahman! :) )
The thing with Rahman's 'noises' are that nobody can make out that what they are supposed to be: have any of you been successful in deciphering what the background in Mudalvan that comes whenever Arjun does something revolutionary means?! I haven't!
HJ tried something of this sort in Anniyan. And the result, needless, was extremely funny. Praveen had done an awesome job in finding it out and posting it in his blog! :) Do check out his blog if you want to know what it is... ;)
Ik Onkar
Basically a Sikh Prayer song – This is actually adapted from what is known as the Mool Mantra. There is very minimal use of instruments – hardly any! This is beautifully rendered by Harshdeep Kaur. If u are wondering if u have heard her voice before – u are right! She has lent her voice to many commercials, including the Cadbury’s Perk ad.
Listen to this track early in the morning – when there is no disturbance to feel the magic of this one!
Rang De Basanti
Tired of all those punjabi songs with the same tune recycled again and again by the “Punjabi MC”…Want a bhangra song, which is as Bhangra as can be, and still fresh? Then , this is a track for you! ARR shows yet again, as to how you can retain the flavour, yet give something totally new. Huge relief that the lyrics are also fresh and do not have words like Kudi, Munda etc which find their way into any Punjabi song! Daler Mahendi and Chitra do a great job.
Notice the “aha aha” that comes throughout the song… It is not same throughout… Even that keeps changing in a set pattern!
Paathshala & Be a rebel
There are two versions of this song “Paathshala”. One is the rap version by Blaaze and the other without the rap. Naresh Iyer and Aslam lend their voice in both the songs. The continuous lead-guitar loop throughout the song keeps lingering in
The rap by Blaaze rocks. Blaaze impresses with the rap lyrics as well, with innovative stuff like “Zinda-bad, Zinda good”!
The other version is again a typical Rahman youth song – yet different. A fast college song – so youthful in both the music and the lyrics – with words like “lose control”, “I am a rebel”, this track gets u in to the college mood. You think the song ends with someone shouting “Lose control”… But there is a surprise waiting after this, to close the song which impressed me a lot!
Tu Bin Bataye
A slow, melodious romantic duet. This is the second song for MadhuShree and Naresh Iyer together and they score yet again! ARR impresses with his awesome backing strings arrangements in this song. Very short hints of flute(a few seconds before the first interlude) tease us – but the flute stops right there after tempting us! The sax interlude is awesome. Rahman has given wonderful sax interludes in many songs like Azhagiya Cindrella (Kangalal Kaidhu Sei), Sabaq Aisa (Tehzeeb) and of course the songs in Duet. This song can be added to that list of songs with memorable sax interludes.
Khalbali
The song starts with awesome techno guitar stuff (which continues almost throughout the song). U expect a full-fledged techno/rock song…Then u get a huge surprise – ARR starts Khalbali Hai Khalbali in typical Arabian style… Wow… What a blend – techno + arabian… I doubt if anyone would even dare to try such a combination. Aslam and Aacim (who is the also the lyricist for this song) provide good support. The "Ziddi ziddi" part in the song is just too good!!!
Still wondering how Rahman perfected that Middle-east style of singing!!!
Khoon Chala
Basically an inspirational song. Mohit Chauhan of
A very lovely melody which is beautified by the the piano accompaniments, wonderful orchestration and the haunting strings.The song which starts very melodiously ends with some fast beats.
No electronic intruments… no synthesized voices… Plain acoustic guitar strumming, harmonium, Tabla and mellifluous voice of Lata Mangeshkar… and of course ARR’s voice. These are enough for ARR to create magic. It is a pure, unadulterated acoustic song. You can even hear those small screeching noises that are produced when you move your fingers along the strings of the guitar, to change chords. Those who claim that ARRs songs sound great only because of the electronic jazz he does, here is an awesome reply from the master!
Small hints of flute here and there in this song too… The swaras at the end, recited by ARR and Lata together provide an ideal closing for the wonderful song.
Lalkar
Nothing much to write about this one. Aamir Khan recites inspirational poetry, with some light instrumental and vocal chants in the background.
Roobaroo
A fun song – sung by ARR and Naresh Iyer. Opens beautifully with some great acoustic guitar strumming. Its been a long time since we have heard such prominent acoustic guitar strums from ARR (I think Vellai Pookal was the last song).
This song is a must in Karaoke mode… You thought you are hearing only one voice at a time (either ARR’s or Naresh’s)? Listen to this in Karaoke mode and you will know…Throughout the song there is ARR’s voice. Wherever Naresh is singing, there is one more layer -that of ARR’s voice - with the same lyrics, but ARR’s is at a lower pitch… Mannnnn…. This gave me goosebumps…It is two persons singing throughout and I did not even realise it!!!!
Listen to all songs in Karaoke mode (winamp has a plugin to remove voices) – u are in for some sweet surprises! These are what make any ARR album interesting – even after some 15-20 listenings, u are bound to find something new.. something that u missed… ARR continues with that trend with Rang De Basanti!
Long time since ARR composed for such a youthful movie in hindi and he comes back with a bang! A wonderful album with such a great variety - a bhangra, sikh devotional, arabic, rock, rap, love ballad...Wow... I dont think anyone can even come close to successfully providing such wide variety!
Here are the ads. (Courtesy: Rajinifans.com)
The eve of Rajinikanth's Birthday!
Life-size banner, posters, special sweets, birthday-cake, Crackers, poosani kaai, karpooram - all the stuff required for a full-fledged celebration - u name it, we had it! We screened the superhit movie Padayappa on big screen which ended at 11:55 pm on 11th Dec. Not only the Thamizhs, but lots of non-thamizh people also to join us to watch the movie and take part in the celebrations!
The 'enthu' crowd just before the movie... That's "yours truly" in the extreme right!
President Sathya with the Poosani KaaiIt was a whole new experience as none of us have seen or been a part of anything like this before!
I am totally hooked on to this wonderful album...
I definitely want to write a review - but not at this stage -just after a few hearings... I would miss out on the fine rahmantic touches that are hidden in this great album! Will take me at least a week to digest this album!
Congrats Sachin!
This is old news... There is stiff competition for this record now... And again, the source is A.R.Rahman. The Background music in almost every new tamil and Hindi movie trailer is directly lifted from the Chinese movie, Warriors of Heaven and Earth (WOHE), for which ARR composed the music. Here is the list:
1. Majaa (MD: Vidyasagar) - track used is Dacoit Duel from WOHE.
2. Cheran's Thavamaai Thavamirundhu - Track used: Golden Age
3. Kalaaba Kadhalan - Dacoit Duel and Golden Age
4. Ramakrishna - Dacoit Duel
5. ThagappanSamy - Dacoit Duel
6. Oru Kallooriyin Kadhai - Dacoit Duel, Warriors in Peace
This list is not complete... There are many more tamil movies.
Coming to hindi movie trailers:
1. James - Dacoit Duel
2. Ek Ajnabee - Dacoit Duel
3. Hul Chal - Dacoit Duel
This list is, again, not complete... And as is obvious, it is Dacoit Duel all the way!!! All the copycats seem to love this track!
Apart from movie trailers, the tracks of WOHE are being used for Hanniffa Textiles Ad., title songs of many game shows (including the one hosted by Ramya Krishnan), almost in all episodes of Paadhaigal serial (in Podhigai) and many other programs in Sun, Podhigai and all other Tamil Channels!
By lift, I do not mean inspiration - I mean direct rip-off - copy-paste job!!! Ivanga ellam thirundhave maattangalaaaa?
The music rights for WOHE are with SONY. I wonder how Sony is quiet for so long about this issue! This is no one-off incident... Every music director is lifting left, right and center from this ARR classic! Isn't this illegal? Aren't the copyright laws in India strong enough?
Chennai's greatest gift to Indian film music, A.R. Rahman, is likely to compose a part of the track for an unusual international film project being planned to coincide with the 250th birth anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.The brainchild of Salzburg-based Austrian music composer and violinmaker Winrich Sturies, the film has been in the works for over six months.
"It will roll very soon," says Sturies. "The release of the film is planned for mid 2006."
Mozart was born in Salzburg in January 1756.
The Indian partner in the film venture, Sanjay Kaushik of the Paramount group of companies, says the details are all in place.
"The script is ready, talks are on with Rahman and the process of casting will be completed before we set a firm date for the shoot to begin."
