Jan 06

Mélodies actuelles de génération!

When it comes to listing songs, I always have huge problems in terms of categorizing it. Well there are the ones that are sung well, ones that have good lyrics, and then good music. All of these have to do with just the aesthetics of listening. Then there are the visually stimulating songs, with their wonderful picturization, locales and grandeur of settings. What makes a song complete is, as cliched as it may seem, a uniform blend of all these. It has to be appealing to both the auditory and visual perceptions!
It has always been a matter of dispute as to the kind of songs that are churned out during each decades. I still remember a classic controversy stirred by Majrooh Sultanpuri, when he called the work of another lyricist, rubbish and rebuked him for writing meaningless songs! Now this coming from a person who had once written, “C A T cat.. cat maane billi.. R A T rat.. rat maane chooha, are dil he tere panje mein toh kya hua” is surprising! The point I am trying to make is, the older generation has always frowned upon the innovativeness of the younger generation and this cycle has repeated ever since!
In Kannada Film Industry (KFM), the evolution of music has set in with full blast! The much needed change which was initially brought forth by Hamsalekha, has now branched out into several creative music directors and lyricists, willing to experiment and explore new avenues, than traverse in the oft beaten path! Not all their ventures are laudable, but there certainly are some note worthy numbers, from the recent movies, that I would love to list and recommend for my readers.
  1. Elele Tangaaliye sung by Rajesh, Sowmya from the movie Shanti Shanti Shanti – the movie was a terrible flop, but has this wonderful number in it. Also notably, this was the debut movie for Madhavan! He looked so foolish in this movie! Well, no one could have expected him to be the heartthrob of so many now! Oh Well!
  2. Usire Usire Usiraagu sung by Karthik and Bombay Jayashree from the movie Deadly Soma! Of interest is its rather techno-cratic music, which still has tried to remain easy on the ears!
  3. Yaamini Daamini sung by SPB from the movie Musuku. The song is a sheer pleasure to listen to, due to its stimulating lyrics!
  4. Ajanta Ellora sung by Vijay Yesudas from the movie Nenapirali. Another wonderful composition by Hamsalekha. It is a song that is so lively with romance and playfulness, that one can’t help but sway to the melody flowing in every line! Also notice the way in which the lyrics the worded, with tongue twisters, and some lines so visual in their description of the girl – makes my heart fall in love with her! For some though the use of Titanic ship to symbolize his state may seem uncalled for! Well no comments on that one! Another song I’d recommend from this movie would be the title song Nenapirali.
  5. Preeti Eke bhUmi mElide, prItsE anta praaNa tinnO prEmi neenu yaarO, preetige janma nIDida brahma all of these songs from the movie Excuse Me, backed up by a soulful violin rendering, will certainly capture one’s attention! A few songs are well shot, except for the fact that the female lead (once again!!! Somebody ask them to go get a life!!) really overdoes her expressions, which makes it a pain to watch the song, so best thing would be to hear it!
  6. Usiralealeale… yali from the movie O Gulaabiye! written by V Manohar, is yet another interesting song, basically due to this rhythmic use of words and ofcourse the efforts of the singers Mano, and Nandita. Personally I would feel that probably Rajesh or Unnikrishnan for that matter would have done a better job of it. There is another song Manase Mannisu sung by Unnikrishnan and Chaitra that is also worth listening to. Albeit, let me warn you on the oomph and saucyness of the song! Better give it a hearing during the nights 😉
  7. Modamodalu bhuvigiLida maLe haniyu from the movie Yeshwanth rendered by Rajesh and Nanditha is a very lively and a camouflaged poetic number, that has been constantly figuring in my playlists these days!
  8. Kannigu kanneerigu from the movie Autograph Please sung by Rajesh is another soulful number that has everything ranging from the music, to the lyrics and singing blending synchronously and making this a constant on the playlist! Some of the lines in the lyrics are really touchy.. like the one that says “kOgile cheeridarU kivigoMdu iMpide” would have us heaving a deep sigh. I am sure Samanvitha would accept this!
  9. Manasaare Manasaare maataaDe from the movie Green Signal sung by Hariharan.

Well, so here is the choicest of songs from the present genre movies, that I felt were very melodious and did justice in terms of a lot of factors that are important for a song! I am sure that there are lot more that can be listed and would be coming up from time to time. So happy listening folks!

Jan 06

I guess the Lord Must be in NYC!!

And yes, he was!! On the 29th and 30th of December! So that should answer the queries of all those who wondered if I was murdered by the fans of Himanshu Malik! Well not quite! I was out celebrating my life, in the East Coast of U S of “A”!! (remember Om puri doing this quoteable style in “Bollywood Calling”?)
I visited New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Atlanta!! Thanks to friends who get jobs in these celebrated places and give us an excuse for haunting them! My visit to Manhattan was nothing short of SUPERB! The ride on the ferry over the Atlantic Ocean (from Staten Island to Manhattan), with the gusts of the wind crashing into me, filled me with the energy and vigor of the mighty waters! I could smell the enthusiasm of the city that never sleeps! It is a feeling of experiencing the joy of life that enraptures one’s heart when they set foot into such places, be it in any part of the world!! Walking through Times Square, watching the faces of the people, made me want to stand still and savor it forever! The people who brushed against me, who shoved me, or pushed me, were not celebrities! I do not remember their faces, I do not know them! They had a life parallel to mine, one that I am unaware of! Their lives are complete with their joys and sorrows, worries and fears, and yet in that moment of touch, a transverse was drawn that connected us! The festive celebration to invite a new year, full of hopes and assurances! The smiles we exchanged, the happiness we shared during that momentary eye contact, made a celebrity of one another!
I was happy and satisfied at my commonness! I cherished the earthly bonding of the people around me! I was happy to be there and thankful to my friends who were with me! I know you will read this, and will feel happy. That is what makes this worthwhile to write! Thanks!

Jan 05

Time Wrap – 2005!!

Cartoon courtesy:- http://cagle.msnbc.com/politicalcartoons/

Ok! Let’s see, I am 4 days and 18 hours late in wishing you all A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! And I know a lot of you guys(and gals) have been visiting this page hoping for an update! (Even if you ain’t, in the spirit of the good ol’ year.. keep nodding your heads). Well, as considerate as I am, of all your feelings, I have taken time to do so, finally!! So now, pipe down, and rest your hearts!…..

*lol* *lol* *lol* woah dudes! Who we kidding heeeeeere!! Its a NEW YEAR!! So raise those champagnes once again, and lets get to partyyyyyyyyy and laugh ourselves out silly thinking of all the stupid things we did last year and how we are gonna repeat them again this year!! Lets hit the floor and dance our hearts out not having a care in the world for the grouchy types who spend their new year, worrying that they now are a year older than they were!! Heck! Am in retrograde motion of my aging!!

Now a lot of my dudes and dudeees(not to let the female species out.. you know) have chronicled their past year, listing their achievements, their happiness, and moments of sorrow, and listed their resolutions for the year coming up! Now that got me to think, what the heck I am doing watching Kareena Kapoor tear my ear drums out with her shrill shreiks in K3G!! And in that moment of supreme revelation, I decided to assume the posture of horizontal alignment on a soft and bonky surface and ponder on my life! But before long, I got up shrieking in horror of having seen Kishan Kumar singing, albeit in a dream! Well that done, I packed my bags and went off wandering in search of a calm place to ponder on my year gone by!

While in the journey I ran into several specimens of the sapien species all in varied moods of celebration! Now lemme warn you all that there are some of these who would rather write a 1000 page books or dreary poems crying over the pathetic existence of human life, glorifying its miseries, of brutal deaths, and depressing life styles, walking their way into the next year, that would make watching Sanjay Kapoor dance in Raja a blissful experience! But thatz about all that they are, and they shall remain so! Now I wudn’t let a divine mistake like Sanjay Kapoor (well in all due regards to him, guyz, lets be fair, hez a manufacturing defect!) or his followers thwart my peace! Having said that, and gotten it out of my system, I did find a blissful place to ponder on the self that I have glorified by calling “I”!!

There I knew, it does not quite matter. Years come and go, time flows by and all that jazz! But the beauty of life, and the celebration of it never ceases one bit! Every moment and every second is new and in each of them offer us the chance to celebrate our existence! Sure we have problems, and concerns, and have the massive swords of time and death hanging over our heads by the strand of these very seconds and moments! But in the spite of all these, is the beauty of the early morning sun, the beauty of a new beginning given to us with it, the smile on the lips that has the power of spreading the happiness throughout the world! And frankly nothing in our lives can be more dreary than watching Sanjay Kapoor, Kishan Kumar and Ajay Devgan dance for an Altaf Raja Song, with a music composed by Bappi Lahiri, wearing designer Govinda dress, ofcourse coupled by a series of female leads – Meghana Naidu, Payal Rohatgi, Mallika Sherwat! Thank God for that!

So, yes, I have lived through 2005, with my smile, spirit and energy intact!

My resolution for 2006? To continue to do so! So herez to life!!!!

Dec 20

Favorite Kannada poetic numbers in movies!

One of the most favorite topics, when it comes to film music, is the discussions on the poetic songs opted for the movies. It indeed takes a lot of diligent effort on the part of the director to find an extremely good poem, written by a poet, and also tailor make a scene just for that purpose. Puttanna Kanagal, I feel was one such director, with supreme ability to conjure situations and scenes, that were a visual imagery of the poems used. The early morning song “Mudala maneya muttina neerina” in the movie “Belli Moda”, “haaDu haLeyadAdarEnu bhAva nava navIna” for the movie “Maanasa Sarovara”, “uttara dhruvadin dakshina dhruvaku” from the movie “Sharapanjara” are but a few testimonies for his impeccable talents and skills. A lot of the directors time and again, have given prominence to not only include the poems as songs, but also the novels written by famed writers as the plot for the movies. Anyways, right now, here is a list of my favorite songs based on the poems written by renowned poets of Karnataka.
 
  1. Teredide mane O bA atithi – composed by Kuvempu adopted in the movie “Hosa belaku” sung by S Janaki and Vani Jayaram. This is my most favorite composition, not just because of its lyrical/verbal beauty, but also because of the depth in its philosophical significance. It is a pleasure to listen to the song sung by 2 stalwarts of the Kannada Film Music.
  2. Moodala Maneya Muttina Neerina – composed by da.ra. bendre, adopted in the movie “Belli Moda” sung by S Janaki. This song is my mom’s most favorite song. It beautifully captures the beauty of the early morning, and helps the listener visualize the perfect morning crispness in each of its words! I’d say, if you miss out on the early morning sunrise, listen to this song, and you will see the sun rise once again!
  3. Doni Saagali Munde Hogali – composed by Kuvempu, adopted in the movie “Miss Leelavathi”, sung by S Janaki. Like other of Kuvempu’s compositions, it is rich in words, and philosophy – ninne ninnege iMdu iMdige iraLi naaLeyu naaLege, brings about the wanton abandon of a person who wants to just go on a long boat ride, in the dancing water waves.
  4. Uttara dhruvadin dakshina dhruvaku – composed by da.ra.bendre, adopted in the movie “Sharapanjara” sung by S Janaki, and P B Srinivos. Another beautiful and titillating number filled with tongue twisting words that add an elegance to the song – akshi nimIlana maaDada nakshatrada gaNa gaganadi haaradide…. one can clearly see the sheer genius of bendre at play here! (thanks to Sushma for the correct lyrics)
  5. Nesara Nodu Nesara Nodu – composed by Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, and adopted in the movie “Kaakana Kote”, which is Masti Venkatesh Iyengar’s work. I guess this song was sung by Smt. Sulochana. The movie by itself was wonderful, picturesque and visually rich in its camera work, the song augments this and has been brilliantly shot.
  6. Aa Bettadalli Beladingalalli sulidaada – composed by Siddalingaiah, and adopted in the movie “Baa nalle Madhuchandrake”, this song has been brilliantly sung by SPB. The music score being my Hamsalekha has added an extra lustre, that seems to only be shadowed by the immensely forgettable hero and heroine. But that apart, the song is extremely romantic and makes for an ideal honeymoon song! 😉
  7. Deepavu ninnade gaaliyu ninnade – composed by K S Narasimha swamy, and adopted in the movie “Mysooru Mallige”, sung by S Janaki. This movie was based on the collection of poems by Sri KSN’s book of the same title. It is difficult to mention just one song among the ones adopted, as each of the songs are different and extremely wonderful in their own level. It is sheer pleasure to listen to the variety of songs filled with love, romance, devotion and innocence.
  8. Nammoora Mandaara Hoove – composed by Doddarange gowda, adopted in the movie “Alemane” – sung by SPB. Sincerely speaking, I’d put this song, way above in the top 5. But it took me a long time to finally decide that though he composed this song for the movie, I would still like to call this a poem. This is one of the most romantic songs ever composed, with such a panache of romance that it seems supremely wasted on the heroine! She waltzes around as if shez a drunkard! It is a crime to picturize such wonderful songs, on such unworthy lead females.
  9. Kempaadavo ella kempaadavo – another composition of P Lankesh, adopted in the movie “ellindalo bandavaru” sung again by SPB.

One can easily see the moments when the poems have been adopted. They either sing of the brilliance of nature, or that of the various human relations – be it love, hatred, betrayal or devotion. I am sure that there is a vast repertoire of equally brilliant compositions waiting to be discovered amidst the myriad works of so many accomplished writers, and poets. But do we have the diligent directors, who are ready to put in their time for this? Now, that is a billion dollar question!

Dec 20

Jaspal Singh: Geet Gaata Chal

A few posts ago, I had mentioned about several singers, who though did not make it to the big limelight, have contributed some of the ever green songs, that often the mind hums! To this league of sidelined singers, Jaspal Singh’s addition seems a tragedy! The highlight of Jaspal Singh’s voice is the innocence, and wanton abandon combined in an effective manner – there is happiness ebbing from the songs sung by him for instance in “Geet Gaata Chal”, “saanchi kahe tohe aawan se”, “kaun disaa mein leke”, “bade badaai naa kare”, etc. He is equally effective in singing devotional numbers, and is well known for singing the “dohas” of Kabir and also the verses of Tulsidas’ “Ram charita Maanas”.
In a career that faded away just as quickly as his shot to fame, Jaspal Singh, has given some really memorable numbers. Most of the songs were given to the kid actor of the block, Sachin. The movies though, not among the main stream, had a laid back magic to them; kinda like those small novels one reads on a travel, though not memorable, they make a good read! There are days when no song has kept me as entertained as his “geet gaata chal O raahi gun gunaata chal”. The song is happiness itself worded down as lyrics; and Jaspal Singh does a justice to it, that I cannot imagine anyone else doing.
Today as I happen to listen to sing to the same song again, the gloom has lifted off, and the heart is light again, in the sound of music.

Dec 19

The Great leveller!

Last night I had a dream, in which I died a peaceful death. There are few things as intriguing and mysterious as death. The thing that I really romanticize in death is the fact that it is the only thing that unifies all animate entities. I would (if it is possible), be really interested to know what people would remember of me, after I died, and more so, what their reactions would be at my death.
Let us not infuse this with emotions but instead look through an objective stand point. If anything, I would like to be remembered as an enigma! I say this, because, I know how so many people have claimed to have known and understood me, and yet, they quite haven’t. Infact, I feel this is the same of every person we meet in our life time. Isn’t that the reason, why death of a person itself is so intriguing? I remember, the first time, I was confronted with death. It was when my mother’s youngest brother died of a fire accident. I was 6. I remember my mother breaking down inconsolably, at the news. It was the shock of the gruesome way he died that augmented her grief, as also the fact that he shall no more be a part of our lives. It did not have any effect on me, and I was infact left at home to play, while they went to the funeral.
When I was 15, my paternal grandmother, who had literally brought me up since my infancy died, all of a sudden. That was the first time, since I got my senses, that I saw my father break down. We left immediately, and when I saw the body of my grandmother laid down, strangely enough, I did not miss her. It was the moment they lifted it to be buried, that the sudden realization of her physical absence plagued my mind, and I cried. I cried so much that, death, that day, lost its tragedy to me. I have lost all of my grandparents, and I haven’t cried. I find myself in the same position as I was when at the age of 6. Only thing being that, I now can feel the implications of death – the physical death.
Then there is a death that happens much more frequently; one that isn’t physical. It is the murder of a personality that others do – of you. A personality that you are typecast in as, and then one day, they say, ‘I never thought you could be so’ – ‘you are no more what you were’! That is when I realize that I am not a human! That somewhere in the course of life, I have become a typecast and lost my right to be human. And when a person dies such a death, even then people remember, not him, but his cast, his role, and his mask, that they had put on him, and had somewhere down the lane become his identity. It is revolting to me. Yes, I want to be remembered as the most mysterious person. I want people to wonder… “Hmm.. and I thought I knew him!” And probably, I would be standing right there, next to them, smiling, saying to myself, “That’s what you thought.. “