A cheerful spot up on the mountains from where I like to look at the world..
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
The genius of Kamalhaasan
I was blown away by the song Neela Vaanam from the movie Manmadhan Ambu when i saw it in the theater. Kamalhaasan is a genius without doubt. I can't believe that he managed to mouth the words to the song forwards for a song which was completely meant to be played backwards! He does it with such perfect sync.. it's amazing! Check it out for yourself! There are no graphics involved in morphing his lips alone!
I have heard so much about the story Ponniyin Selvan from my parents, uncles, aunts and older cousins from as long as I can remember. My folks used to tell me about how they used to wait eagerly, for the weekly Kalki edition just so that they could get to the next part of the story! It was such a rage in the 1950s! Just like maybe LOST or Heroes is now in our generation. For many years, I've been curious and wanted to read it. Unfortunately, the story was written in Tamil. My Tamil reading really sucks, and hence I had given up on that idea long ago.
It was about a month ago that one of my colleagues at work mentioned that he was reading the English translation of Ponniyin Selvan. I immediately asked him for the first part. He handed it over to me a while ago. I had no clue what the story was when I started reading it. The first 10 pages were very slow, and I'd almost gave up on the story thinking its one of those rambling old epics. But, in the next 10 pages, the story picked up a feverish pace. Boy am I a sucker for grand kingdoms, empires, conspiracies, and battles. This story seemed to have it all. I think this is the book that has excited me the most after the Mahabaratha.
I woke up every morning and read the book for the last 2.5 weeks. But I've spent 3 hours for the last 3 days reading it in a feverish pace. I just could not stand the suspense and I just got done with it. Brilliant! The story is paused midway through though! I need the 2nd part of the book "The Cyclone" already! I'm having withdrawal effects!
While I'm on this topic, I should also mention a couple of facts about my cousin Saravanan.
He's an acknowledged dictionary of Tamil movie music. He's the guy who has photographic memory, and knows more about Tamil music than even most music directors.
If you're a fan of Tamil music especially in the 1970s to 2000, you should read all of his articles. His articles have cult following.. so much so.. that Dhool.com features "Saravanan's picks" as one of the primary pages on their website. Check it out yourself from the link below!
The super hit song Kangal Irandal has been running through my head for the last month or so! My friends are sick of me playing the same song over and over in my car. A great listen to even those who don't understand Tamil.. this music has no barriers. Universally appreciated. I'm yet to meet someone who has heard this song and not liked it!
Saw the movie about 1.5 months back. Excellent movie. A little too violent for my taste though, which is what would stop me from seeing this movie again. But, amazing performances by the actors. The actor Jay playing the character of Azhagar does an amazing job. I love the way he has a special smile reserved for the heroine Thulasi (actress Swathy) as seen in the video. Jay's debut was in Chennai 600028 as the guy who moves from Royapuram to the RA Puram Rockers team. The heroine has also emoted her character beautifully. Apparently the director/producer Sasikumar (who also plays the 2nd lead character Paraman) gave Swathy minimal dialogues 'cause she's a Telugu heroine and could not speak Tamil. He has shaped the character beautifully so that Swathy can give maximum performance just with her acting. Nice support character selection too!
The music director James Vasanthan deserves a special mention. Name sounds familiar? Yes, it's the same guy who used to host the Top 10 movies which runs on Sun TV on Sunday mornings. Didn't know he could direct music.. but he's done an amazing job at it. There's an article on him on today's Metro plus.
After watching Mozhi, Mayakannadi and Unnale Unnale, the 3 big Tamil movies for the summer so far, I think I like Unnale the best. The songs were good and I liked the star cast. I really liked the 2nd heroine Tanisha in this movie. I think this is her first tamil movie and she's done a great job at it. Very bright, chirpy and energetic performance. Overall a very pleasant watch. The screen play was good in most places except for a 15-20 min span after the interval. It seemed like the director just wanted to add some fillers in the movie to make it the traditional 2hr 45 min Indian movie!
The surprised about the movie was the ending. Without spoiling anyone's movie watching experience, I'll say that finally a Tamil movie is taking a step towards being practical about love and relationships. And guessing by the turnout for the movie a month after its release, I think the average movie going audience is also maturing. Kudos to moving in the right direction.
EDIT : I just found out that Tanisha is actually Kajol's younger sister. She's definitely an upcoming star!
When I got this link first, I thought it was something like the "Changing worlds" advertisement that did its prowl a year ago.
But, after watching it....
I am at a loss for words. Who says only Black Eyed Peas can remix Ilayaraja and churn out rap hits?? Here's Yogi B and team remixing classic Ilayaraja (Song : Madai Thirandhu) heavily influenced by western rap artists like Outkast and 50 cents! They have done a great job at it. Beats are really catchy and the rap lyrics are in a mixture of English and Tamil. The Tamil lyrics (wherever they appear)are written in pure Tamil. Right out there in the leagues of BEP! Now where have I heard of Yogi B before? Name sounds very familiar!
I love the way the songs ends with "Kalai, Manidhanaga pirandha ovvoruvanum alli alli parugavendiya amurdham ada adhu!" (A poor translation that cannot do justice to the powerful lyrics: Art, something anyone born a human should drink like Nectar). Is it Kalaingyar's voice that I hear?
Question would be now.. Do I like this song because of the original or because of its own rap essence?
Vallavan I think is the name of the album. Can't wait for my next trip to Chennai to buy this CD!
[Thanks Megh for the link!]
p.s. Tamil music has been constantly surprising me with these hybrids it keeps throwing out! No wonder Tam music is still light years ahead of Bollywood.
EDIT : Listen to the orignal here Movie : Nizhalgal (1978) Singer : S.P.Balasubramaniam Music Director : Ilayaraja
I managed to catch the song "Unnai Kandene" for the first time on video on You Tube a couple of days back. This song has been one of my favourites since Dec 2005 when I heard it for the first time. I'm extremely thrilled that this song now is topping the charts in Tamil movies. Dharan, the music director, is an old time friend from even before I left India for the US. It feels great to see such a young chap like him shine. Go Dharan! Here's the video.. followed by an interview clipping of Dharan.
Eclectic mix of marketeer, tech geek, dancer, photographer, Ultimate Frisbee player, Indian, Tamilian.
My life has come a full circle
SMA (Chennai, TN, India) > SVCE (Chennai, TN, India) > NCSU (Raleigh, NC, USA) > Seagate (Longmont, CO, USA) > ISB (Hyderabad, AP, India) > Chennai once again.
