Music still rejuvenates

An addendum to an earlier post about musical rejuvenation, or call it a sequel. The quality of Indian film music has mostly seen a downward trend these days, with most movies having soulless music, but there are a few movies with really good music. I list a few songs which I think are a class apart from the run-of-the-mill stuff.

A classical composition in Reethigowla raagam - Kangal Irandal from the movie Subramaniyapuram, is a sure shot on the list. Apparently the movie is refreshing too, so is its music. Two new singers with a classical background have made a big difference to this song. Takes you back to the good old feel of 1980’s (not that I know how it was!)

‘Ada – The way of life’ is a a long-delayed project of A. R. Rahman, and I feel it is the album of the decade with the class of songs varying over a decade. ‘Meherbaan’ by the Mozart of Chennai is a classic, and Gum Sum, a simple number is my next favorite.

The audio release of Ada was on the same day as that of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, I guess only Rahman can give two albums with different themes at the same time. Ada is a long-term classic, while Jaane Tu is an instant classic. One shouldn’t compare the two albums ever.

While I have written a lot of not-so-good things about the song Marudhaani in Sakkarakatti, this song along with all the other songs in the movie is my favorite. I miss you da is the best one, (even though people have mixed opinion about it) followed by Taxi, Chinnamma, and Elay. I am sure, I will have my girlfriend sing ‘I miss you da’ in the same cute way, or better – even cuter.

The title track of U, Me Aur Hum by Shreya Ghoshal and also by Vishal is one more of the good stuff in recent times, and surely suited the tempo of the movie as well.

The Konjum Mainakkale of 2008, ‘Mukundha Mukundha’ is something that made me wonder if Himesh Reshamiya had actually composed the song. A good devotional song sung by one of my favorites Sadhana Sargam, had a bad rendition on-screen with an over-acting Asin. A good work by HR, the lyricist and the singer too. Only if she had not sung Varam thaa as Varam dhaa, (at times I felt it would become Verandah :) ).

While all the songs in Jodhaa Akbar had good music, my favorite is In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein. Flawlessly rendered by Sonu Nigam and Madhushree, it indeed is a definite addition to the top romantic melodies of all time. And one more good thing about the movie is that all songs were picturized well in the movie (Hrithik in the state of trance in Khwaja Mere Khwaja was ……..)

Minnal Koothadum from Polladhavan is a good one too, with Bombay Jayshree giving her best again.

I also heard the songs from Dhaam Dhoom and Saroja, and am beginning to like a few. But not enough times as Sakkarakatti or Ada or Jaane Tu, to write about it.

As usual, ARR songs form a major chunk in this list. Plus, I am back to the habit of writing long blogs. Wonder who reads them though :)

Justification!

The recent big movie I watched (see the review two posts below) didn't live upto the expectations of the people. So someone came up with a description of the subtle aspects of the movie which are supposed to be appreciated while watching the movie. these finally justify the Chaos theory, and the 'pattambuchi' effect.... OMG! As it is, I took so long to recognize a few of the characters as the universal hero himself! In addition to that, if someone ask me to think about the hidden aspects and the subtle details, what do I do? But curiosity has got better of me, and reading a forward sent by one of my friends, I want to watch the movie again, and see if the subtle details given were so obvious... If so, I would re-review the movie!

Dasavatharam Review

I was not too sure, if I actually had to write this review. I just didn’t want to think about the movie again. Not that it was all that bad, but I would say it would be one of the not-so-memorable movies of the ‘Universal Hero.’

Dasavatharam – literally translating into ‘ten incarnations’, seems more so like a fancy dress competition, the different masks make it even worse. It is Kamalhassan in ten roles, and not all of them make a mark.

At the all new Cinemark movies, I saw this one with a lot of friends, and also with no expectations.

The first fifteen minutes of the movie set in the 12^th century was really spectacular. If the movie had maintained the same pace and narration, it would been a better movie. But, in the end it seemed, why there was a need for this segment of the movie.

The storyline is simple – there is some bio-weapon under development, which needs to be stopped by going into the wrong hands, and it travels all the way to India. The scientist behind the development, Kamal also travels, only to meet many other Kamals who are different characters in the movie. Finally, while the bio-weapon is all set to cause destruction, the divine intervention (OMG, am I using all these words?) causes the Tsunami, thus combating the effect of the weapon.

If Kamalhassan had concentrated more on the story than on the ten roles, I am sure we would have seen a better product. I am sure the director KSR had no role to play in the movie, other than dancing for the last song as an item boy :).

Now speaking of the good things – three of the roles stay in your mind for a long time. The first person set in the 12^th century, the police officer who speaks five languages in Telugu (someone said this was one of the Kamal’s best characters ever), and the ‘padikadha medhai’ – illiterate scholar. The ex-CIA agent seemed to be the most irritating character. I somehow like the Dr. Bush character for its right depiction of the ignorance.

The second half seemed to be gripping for 45 mniutes, and after that it was all lost. Especially, the Punjabi singer’s song was so unnecessary. But it came at the right place, and served as the interval for us poor souls, who sat through the movie without a break.

The tsunami scene was very well shot and did show most of the impact, mostly through graphics though.

Mallika Sherawat should probably be thanked for her little and insignificant on-screen time. Asin was irritating, with her just screaming of ‘perumale’, every two minutes. Luckily, there was no romance shown between Asin and Kamal till the very end. Thank the perumal, who spared us from a duet between the two of them.

Speaking of music, Himesh had no role in the movie, with 3 songs having the screen time and none of them being memorable. Devi Sri Prasad’s background score was better than expected.

Speaking of the ‘memorable’ scenes:

One Thanglish scientist in the lab saying ‘Thamizh’la sollanum na, adhukku paeru NaCl’.

George Bush saying – ‘Well, if it is complicated, don’t bother to explain’, ‘What is NaCl?’

The doctor saying – ‘Even the surgery would not have been as careful as the bullet, in removing the cancerous growth which was so close to your throat.’ OMG, give me a break from this one! Or was it a spoof towards Superstars movies.

Kamal saying – ‘Every one of us has a ulaga nayagan (Universal Hero) in them.’ OMG, would we be seeing 1 billion Kamals in the next movie.

Well, we must congratulate Kamal on achieving the record of putting together 10 Kamals on screen. He did what he wanted. Now it is the turn of the audience to approve of his effort or reject it.

I would give it 3 out of 5 for its concept but not-so-well presented content, and a 5 on 5 for its technical superiority. The music – not even worth grading!

Dasaa.......vatharam

It was Sivaji last year at this time, and this time it is the other legends 'Dasavatharam.' Dasavatharam is the name given to the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu in Hindu mythology. But now, the thing is about Kamalhassan (or should I say Dr. Kamalhassan) and his 10 roles in this movie.
Hyped to the max, I feel it is going to be a really good or really bad movie. But for the efforts that have gone into the making of this movie, I feel it shouldn't go wrong this time for Kamal.
The movie has a song 'Mukundha Mukundha' which sounds like Konjum Mainakkale, but has grown on me...
I will be watching the movie, but not the first day first show though. It is not at the usual Tempe Cinemas where we watch the Indian movies here in Tempe. Hopefully it is a better theater :)

Will be back with a review of it as soon as I watch it!