Aararai Kodi Paerkalil Oruvan
Adiyen Thamizhan Naan Ungal Nanban
Aana Neengal Aavanna Naan Thaan
Neengal Illamal, Naan Ingu Illai…..Illai

Naam Iruvarum Saerum Samayam
Nam Kaikaliley Varum Imayam
Naam Thottathu Ethuvum Amayum
Ithu Anbaal Innaindha Idhayam

Remember these lines from Rahman’s Anbe Aaruyirey. He is getting to what he has been promising for a long-time now.

A R Rahman kick starts his KM Music Conservatory, an organization that teaches music in Chennai. It’s an appreciable effort and I hope they keep proceeding as planned. Looks like it is a joint venture with Audio Media Education which is the first Apple authorized training centre.

This is what he had to say about this organization, “There are 1.4 billion people in India and thousands of musicians but there is no symphony orchestra with our very own musicians while even smaller countries have their own orchestra. So, the reason to start the KM Conservatory is simple. Most of the young aspiring musicians want to learn more of electronic stuff. Acoustic instruments are of no interest to them. We want to start a course where students learn acoustic instruments as well as electronic instruments. It is important to raise awareness about different kinds of music,” he continues. ”

Giving back to the society is such a noble motive but I only hope the naturally talented guys get selected instead of just the rich kids. BTW what does KM mean ?

While I’m aware of the limitations that come along with Rajini in dance sequences, I still think Shankar didn’t do a good job in picturizing this peppy tune of Rahman. Not just that but Rahman lent his voice for this cool number and it had zero creativity.

While listening to this number on the earphone, I particularly enjoy Rahman modulation while he sings,”Naan Naan Naan Superman Thaan” line. Unfortunately, it wasn’t used too well in the movie. Shankar would have been better off making a complete animated song(ofcourse there is this new found graphics studio by Aishwarya which can be profited) transorming Rajini from Billa / Ranga / Baasha to Superman and Spiderman. Would have proved to be a great curtain raiser to Rajini’s Sultan. Something that Kamalhassan tried briefly in Aalavandhaan.

Instead of doing something like that, Shankar and team resorted to doing silly gimmicks with the gun, which Shankar himself had earlier experimented in Mukkala Muqabla song. Pathetic.

Just when I typed Aalavandhaan, I realized this was a Rajini blogpost, following a Kamal one. And this sequence of Rajini blogpost following a Kamal one or viceversa has been happening on this blog for quite sometime. And honestly, sathiyama, I didn’t realize it until now. Man, there seems to be a ghost residing in this blog. Run…..

That is what the newspapers would read the next day, after the launch of Kamal’s Dasavatharam audio album, when Jackie Chan himself will be present to felicitate the occasion. Jackie Chan has a huge fan following in Tamil Nadu and so expect long lines. Its going to be a doorbuster deal at Nehru stadium to get to see the duo.

Galatta reports, that Jackie Chan was said to be “overwhelmed by Kamal’s amazing performance, Chan is believed to have agreed immediately to the proposal”.

Kamal adds to the already growing hype – “It is the biggest project I’ve done. It is the longet project I’ve done and its the hardest project I’ve done.”

More about Jackie Chan’s attendance-

In addition, he also organized a party in Hong Kong to announce his confirmation. The Dasavatharam audio launch is all set to become a gala affair, one of the biggest the Indian film industry has ever seen. Already, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and ‘Mega Star’ Chiranjeevi have agreed to grace the function. The audio launch will be held in Chennai’s Nehru Stadium in the second week of March.

Everything seems perfect. Kamal is excited. KS Ravi Kumar is excited. Sujatha has always been excited about Dasavatharam. But my only bother is Himesh Reshammiya. Let’s see how he fares on this one.

I did. For the last three years. And it sucks.

Looks like this Saarang’s Pro Show was the largest crowd puller, ever. Hindu reports that the singer Karthik gave a rocking performance. I know how the stadium would have yelled for Engeyum Epothum.

Karthik returned to his rockish best with “Enakku Oru Girlfriend Venumada” sending fans into a frenzy before his hand lent a nice Elvis-y touch to “Baar Baar Dekho,” a surprise for retro-lovers.

Though what he sings mostly is in the realm of boy-band songs and love ballads, while performing, he does it with the attitude of a rockstar with plenty of scope for audience participation. Yes, it helps that Bennett is quite something with the lead guitar.

Calling the IIT Core members to the stage, he launched into what’s considered an anthem for the youth, “Mustafa Mustafa” for a finale.

Sensing they wanted more, he captured the mood with “Engeyum Epothum Sangeetham Santhosham”.

And, junta was on cloud nine: “ARaaa-raaaa-reee-reeee Yo!”

That was a glowing review. After posting this, I went back and found that the author of the article was Sudhish Kamath. That explains !!

BTW, Did you miss it too ?

It’s second time around and still loving it, the movie and ofcourse the men behind the song. Men ? The man who asked for it and the man who actually made it happen.

I admit, I’ve been excessively obsessed with this song. Partly because I think Selvaraghavan made a crappy video of a cool song. The camera and Ravi Krishna eyes are fixated on Sonia’s bosom and I think thats a cheap thing to do, given the realistic lyrics and a great rhythm.

I propose someone to re-shoot it and make a pretty good video. Maybe with available resources, I would even re-shoot it myself at Seattle and edit it using Final Cut . Imagine this, as the electric guitar plays, a tall desi guy with a hooded black t-shirt, the mountain ranges on the backdrop, walks on a bridge while its raining. Cut it to a mall, a desi girl with her American teenage friends, walking past this chap with a wink in her eye, eating baskin robbins. Cut back, to the raining bridge. Cut again to wide angle shot, the guy walking on the alki beach with a backdrop of seattle downtown. I’m sure it will do justice to Yuvan’s cool beat. Some day…

In this week’s Vijay TV Super Singer, the lifeline round brought in 5 contestants who were eliminated or who dropped-off due to personal reasons. It included Harish, Sowmya, Archana Iyer, Nitinraj and Vijay. Vijay seems to be the most luckiest than anyone in this competition. He was eliminated thrice in the prelims but managed to get back into competition because someone else dropped off. Also his singing gets better as the rounds proceed. Couple of weeks back when he sang, Illamai Itho with an intonation of a drunkard, I whistled from the living room.

The lifeline round was judged by the public voting method. So each contestant were given a number, and the viewers dialed-in or sms-ed to register their vote. One out of these five contestant was to be selected and others would get eliminated. Here’s what happened -

- Sowmya sang her best song to date, Konjam Nilavu. And she rocked. Personally after Swathi, Anitha and Maya, Sowmya is also one of my favorite among the females. Earlier to this round she was eliminated and was brought-in by voting system of the previous round. Konjam Nilavu is a tough song to sing on stage. I dont know if Anupama also sang it in one shot during the recording. Neverthless its a song that allows you to travel through your pitches. Especially the lines, Enn Pirandhen Endra Kaelvi Vaarathu. Ingu Nee Irundhaal Athu Konjam Meerathu. Vandu Naaaan…, calls for a versatile singer. And I think Sowmya did a fairly good job. The most important thing was that her lyrics were clearer than the original version rendered by Anupama.

- Harish Sivaramkrishnan, who dropped off due to his official work came back with a wildcard entry. He sang the Ennavaley Adi Ennavaley. Ofcourse Unnikrishnan was there judging him. And did a very good job by singing it one pitch lesser than the original. In the original version, Unni Krishnan picks it up at a higher pitch, making the words sound lighter and also resembling a female intonation. But I loved Harish’s version. And I’m sure he is going to be tough to compete with if he enters the finals.

- Vijay, who stormed back into the contest with his drunkard version of Illami Itho, took a melodious number this time. He sang Nilaave Vaa from Mouna Raagam. Except for some places where he experimented he sang exactly the SPB version. And he did it perfectly well. Some place I thought they played a back-up tape of the original for him. While he was fine, I think he has strong competition from Sowmya and Harish to reach the finals.

- Archana Iyer, who also dropped-off in the previous rounds due to her exams came back with her favorite, Thoodhu Varuma. And yeah an OK job. Ofcourse, she sang it in her own style which is appreciative but the flavor of the song suffered because of that. Neverthless it was a decent attempt with original style.

- Nitinraj, whom I thought didn’t have enough versatality did a super job yesterday with his version of Kanaa Kandenadi from Parthiban Kanavu. And he did it really well that I had to change my opinion on him. He might be a strong contender for the finals.

The finals team has 4 contestants – Anitha, Maya, Nikil and Goutam. One out of these 5 lifeline contestants will join them. And its going to be huge show for the rest of the weeks at Vijay TV’s Super Singer.

Association for India’s Development – San Diego Chapter
proudly presents
Indian Ocean – An evening of rich indian music infused with western rock and jazz

When:
Aug 13th Sunday, 5:00pm-7:30pm

Where:
East County Performing Arts Center
210 East Main Street,
El Cajon 92020
Google Directions

Tickets:
Advance : $20,$30,$50
At the gate: $25, $35, $55
Donor Tickets: Suggested minimum $100
Tickets available online

Contact :
Sandiego Aid India
concert_aidsd@yahoo.com
858-437-1423

Indian Ocean is a contemporary fusion music band of Northern India. Some music critics describe the Indian Ocean music as “Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates, Sufism, shlokas, environmentalism, mythology and revolution”. Their music blends with different cultural boundaries and echoes the distant folk music that still prevails in rural India. The lyrics celebrate individuals journey to transform the self and collective struggles to change the world to a better place.

Indian Ocean has performed over 250 accomplished concerts across the globe in the past 15 years. In 1999, the band was honoured to perform for the President of India at Khajuraho Millennium Concert. They were selected ” Pick of the Fringe” at 2001 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They have successfully toured across the globe and have performed at India Festival in Singapore, Melborne Arts Festival, New Zealand International Festival, Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, Trafalgar Square in London and Indo-Pakistan Amity Concert at MIT.

Indian Ocean, Kandisa, Desert Rain, Jhini and sound track for Black Friday are their recorded albums. Jhini received AV Max award for the Best Produced Album in India. The group also featured as Artists of the Month on MTV in May 2006.

AID is a US based non-profit volunteer movement committed to promoting sustainable, equitable and just development in India. Donations to AID are tax-deductible in the USA where it is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity. For more information, visit www.aidindia.org

All concert proceeds go towards developmental activities in India.

[Invite sent to me by Capriciously Me].

Has anyone turned a listening ear to Yuvan’s remix of Kalyanaraman’s Ahaa Vandurichu for Vallavan. While its a so-so remix it’s spiced up with 50 Cent’s In Da Club and folky dandanakka that reminds of Rahman’s Errani Kurrani Gopala. Above that what makes this remix interesting is the original song. Reminds us of how we much we miss Illayaraja. Instead of Malayasia Vasudevan who performed the original, this remix version is sung by Simbhu himself. I should say I’m impressed more than what I expected.

Loose Pennae…Loose Pennae is also well sung and orchestrated. This one reminds me of KK’s rendering of Kaathal Valarthen in Manmadhan. There is an original and remix version for this number. The original version is slow and is probably the best of all the numbers in the movie. This one is also rendered by Simbhu. Again, a good number with some naive lyrics. It’s actually those naive lyrics that adds color to this song. Blazee is becoming stereotypical. But atleast in this his number, his rap actually gels with the song.

You gotta listen to both the numbers to believe what I just said. Here you go.

K.V Bharat’s portal on A R Rahman named Rahman Times is up and running from today. Do grab a look. Via Radha Krish.

Yet another show on the American Idol format. First it was Indian Idol and now it’s Vijay TV’s Airtel Super Singer contest. The winner of this super singer contest will get a chance to sing for Harris Jayaraj. The show runs from 8 pm every friday and saturday on Vijay TV.

Believe me this show is good. Just damn good. Not because this show is about music but the tamil touch to this international format is just exciting. And we have some super dooper singers amongst us.

The other day, a participant named Gowtham sang, Rahman / Hariharan’s Malargale song. I haven’t heard such an amazing control like that from an amateur singer. Nice balance and amazing sangathis. If one was watching this from the first week, they would understand how many singers we have in the country. Though the first round participants included many weirdos, atleast half of the crowd was nice stuff. As of now, the contest is on the fourth round with 20 or 24 contestants. And as it moves forward, its going to be more interesting.

In the initial rounds, the judges included SP Sailaja, Sreenivas, Maalathy and many others. After prelims it’s Anuradha Sriram, Sreenivas and Unni Krishnan. While its a nice trio, Anuradha seems to be too bossy and wouldn’t allow the other two to do the talking. I’m sure someone would let her know as the show moves on.

Instead of a screwed up film review or a kadi serial, I prefer to spend two hours a week for some nice music contest. Worth the time spent. With such shows, Vijay TV is slowly becoming the best channel for true entertainment. Two years from now, I would expect Vijay TV not to top prime time TRP ratings but to a gather a loyal viewer base.

[Source - IBN Live]

Rajeev Masand: We know that Mani Ratnam has been an influence and a mentor. While you were doing ad films, he offered you Roja and most of your best work has been with him. Tell us as to what kind of relationship do you share with him. Is it something apart from just the director-composer relationship? Are you two friends? Do you hang out outside the studio?

A R Rahman: We don’t hang out much (laughs). What is really a relationship? A relationship means the first good experiences, like first love and you always remember that. He picked up the best out of my work and said, “This is you.” He was the first one who gave me a good work. For us, it’s been a challenge to cross each thing from Bombay to Iruvar. Whenever we sit, we don’t talk about old things, rather we try sharing a new frequency to create the same magic again.

This is one heck of a not-to-miss Rahman interview[Via Ajay]. Truly. IBN’s interviewer Rajeev Masand has done a good job by not asking those cliched questions again. Instead, I found some important questions asked, probably for the first time to Rahman. Though Rahman manages to keep out of controversial ones with a practised ease.

If you are a Rahmaniac, you should read this one, without a question. .

malarndhum malaraadha paadhi malar poala
malarum vizhivannamae – vandhu
vidindhum vidiyaadha kaalaip pozhudhaaga
vilaindha kalaiyannamae
nadhiyil vilaiyaadi kodiyil thalaiseevi
nadandha ilam thenralae – valar
podhigai malai thoanri madhurai nagar kandu
polindha thamizh manramae

malarndhum malaraadha paadhi malar poala
malarum vizhivannamae – vandhu
vidindhum vidiyaadha kaalaip pozhudhaaga
vilaindha kalaiyannamae
nadhiyil vilaiyaadi kodiyil thalaiseevi
nadandha ilam thenralae – valar
podhigai malai thoanri madhurai nagar kandu
polindha thamizh manramae

yaanaip padai kondu saenai pala venru
vaazhap pirandhaayadaa puviyaalap pirandhaayadaa
aththai magallai manam kondu ilamai vazhi kandu
vaazhap pirandhaayadaa vaazhap pirandhaayadaa

aththai magallai manam kondu ilamai vazhi kandu…
aththai magallai manam kondu ilamai vazhi kandu
vaazhap pirandhaayadaa

thangak kadiyaaram vaira maniyaaram
thandhu manam paesuvaar porul thandhu mannam paesuvaar
maaman thangai magalaana mangai unakkaaga
ulagai vilai paesuvaar ulagai vilai paesuvaar
maaman thangai magalaana mangai unakkaaga…
maaman thangai magalaana mangai unakkaaga
ulagai vilai paesuvaar

nadhiyil vilaiyaadi kodiyil thalaiseevi
nadandha ilam thenralae – valar
podhigai malai thoanri madhurai nagar kandu
polindha thamizh manramae

siragil enai moodi arumai magal poala
valarththa kadhai sollavaa
kanavil ninaiyaadha kaalam idai vandhu
piriththa kadhai sollavaa…
piriththa kadhai sollavaa

kannil mani poala maniyil nizhal poala
kalandhu pirandhoamadaa – indha
mannum kadal vaanum maraindhu mudindhaalum
marakka mudiyaadhadaa uravaip pirikkamudiyaadhadaa

anbae aariraaraaroa aariraaraaroa aariraaraariroa
anbae aariraaraaroa aariraaraaroa aariraaraariroa

Images : Paasamalar video
Lyrics – Music India Online

Shot 45 years back, this is still the most perfect song ever shot for a tamil film. And then there is Pachai Niramey from Alai Paayuthey.

From the camera to editing to lyrics, music and performance, just about everything dazzles here. A classic example of aaberi raaga which has created magic in just about every song it has been used, on-screen.

Anytime Pasamalar is played on cable, the whole of Tamilnadu starts to shed a tear. A classic, it really is.

Karka Karka song from Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu sounds pretty good than the initial hearing, alongwith the trailer. Fabulous selection of the percussions especially when you listen through the car deck. And the point where the long shout of than saavai sattai payil vaithu engeyum selkindraan… merges with the music is a sure thrill. The rap by itself sounds much much better than the trailer. The male voice that creeps inbetween by singing nara vettaigal vettaigal aada, I think its Nakul or Tippu really spoils the whole show. Extremely feminine and doesn’t gel with the whole macho wordings in lyrics.

BTW, am I just the one who’s totally bored of having songs that ‘talk’ about our hero’s super-hero capabilities. Especially if its a Kamal movie. This song Karka Karka seems to talk about Raghavan a tough cop and his macho capabilities. The last time there was such a song on Kamal was for Panchathanthiram. Rajini is an exception, sometimes Vijay is also fine because he has managed to do it well. With Vijaykanth, I’m frustated because there is no variety and he usually walks in a thiruvizha with a maalai around his neck. You too Gautam ??

I was a huge fan of Suresh Peters. Right from his first album pop album Minnal to this third one, I was one of the very few million fans for Tamil Pop. Infact I still remember the folk rap in his second album. Though Malgudi Shuba’s Vaalparai Vattapaarai was trying to revive Tamil pop music, it was back to square one after that. SPB Charan and Devan did an album called Kamban Oru Kanniley and except for the title number others seemed like tamil film music. They were certainly good but not standing up as pop album attempt. Couple of albums from Shalini and Anuradha Sriram’s Madras Girl got famous at their time of release but never got to stand the test of time. Until today, Suresh Peters’ Minnal is probably the best effort in Tamil pop scene.

As the Tamil Pop industry started to churn out mediocre attempts, one after another, I thought they might rather stop making this nonsense called Tamil Pop itself. Before my thought was even committed, Tamil Pop ceased to exist. Over the years, few albums have released and none have been hits by themselves. Even Yuvan’s effort was little noticed(how many knew that Yuvan actually made 2 pop albums ?).

Now a bunch of guys, naming their band as Encore have come out with a Tamil pop album Thee. They sent across an email with a pointer to their music samples. Listening even to the first one, I’ve to say I’m thoroughly impressed. At first it seemed like an email to get some blog bandwidth but they sure rock. Their title number, Thee has some amazing strings and some superb rhythm programming(notice the aygiri nandhini tune jammed in-between). The music sounded very professional and nothing close to being an amateur troupe. I just glanced down to read the credits and saw Percussion – Sivamani, Bass – Keith Peters. Both, masters in their own areas. And the label of release was Saregama. The singers list had Devan, Malgudi Suba and Chinmayi. Seems like they got the big fishes in the industry for their album. Apart from their title track Thee, I also liked Dhinam Dhinam and Chinmayi’s Thaai Polavae(can’t sing at a lower pitch than this).

Though one has to listen the entire album before jumping to a conclusion, I loved majority of their samples and am looking forward to the rest. Encore formed by Bharat / Jagdhish / Karthik / Krishna and Katz are trying to revive Tamil Pop. I hope and wish their attempts gets noticed and reaches out to the masses.

As a note of suggestion, Tamil pop isn’t Tamil cinema and hence you don’t need variety. You don’t need to wait for a commercial hit to make an art film. You don’t need 5 songs, 3 fights and 2 foreign locations. The Tamil pop could be based on a theme or just concoction of various themes. Essentially, it needn’t be as Urvasi Urvasi followed by Ennavale Adi Ennavaley followed by Errani Kurrani Gopala followed by Kathalikkum Pennin and so on. Make songs that you want to listen and we will listen. I promise.