http://www.musicindiaonline.com/ar/i..._name/12305/0/
mr.Rajendra kumar's fitting reply to the 'buzz18's reviewer Anand.
here is my take on the music of paa:
whatever be one’s status.. Whatever be one’s
knowledge, whatever be one’s writing skills.. Certain
things in life cannot be explained..
for the last 24 hours, i am in a state of trance. Why?
i started listening to ‘paa’.. And i am unable to get
out of it.
feelings that are very special and …(pl. Read the first
line again!).
what i am going to do now is to write very briefly (in
just one or two lines) about each song.
the album has 7 songs and one theme music bit.
out of the 7 songs, 3 are different versions of the same
song, 3 are rehashed versions of his old tunes and 1 is a
complete song (so complete that it fills one’s heart to
the brim!).
now, i know there are people who say ‘why does he repeat
his old tunes?Can he not give something new?’
i request such skeptics to understand the film world
better.
balki is a self-proclaimed fanatic of ilaiyaraaja.When he
was in the ad world, he used(stole?) his tunes in many of
the ads.One striking example is the idea
cellular(incidentally abhishek bachchan is the model!) ad
where the pallavi anupallavi tune is used with so many
variations.
in a recent interview, he has said that ‘there is no
composer in india who can match this gentleman.But
unfortunately, half the country do not know the existence of
this person’.
his objective is very clear.He wants to promote raaja
sir’s tunes in the country(no matter if they are old).He
wants the entire nation to listen to such tunes and wonder
who has composed such magical tunes.
i was indeed taken aback in 2007 when i came to know that
all tunes in ‘cheeni kum’ were his old tunes.But the
moment i listened to the songs in the new avatar, i could
not hide my surprise and happiness. Surprise-because of the
orchestration and arrangement. Happy because they sounded
great.’jothayalli’ transformed as ‘jaane do na’ ,
‘mandram vandha’ as ‘cheeni kum hai’..
what an amazing transformation!
the same has happened in ‘paa’.
my only grouse with ‘cheeni kum’ was that no song was
picturised in full.Hope mr.Balki makes amends in paa.
one striking difference is the quality of lyrics. It was
below average in cheeni kum and this coupled with the reason
that no song was available fully as a video ensured that the
songs were not a great hit in the north (compared to the
south).But the lyrics(swanand kirkire) are wonderful in paa.
let us look at the songs briefly.
raaja sir’s fascination for mohanam ragam is well-known.
it continues here except that it gives the flavour of
bhoop-the hindustani counterpart of mohanam.
the song ‘mudi mudi’ has three versions-two sung by
shilpa rao ‘udi udi’ and ‘mudi mudi’-and the male
version sung by shaan.
the male version is soft and has a unique charm.
though ‘udi udi’ and ‘mudi mudi’ follow the same
tune, the two differ in the preludes, and the interlude.The
whisper in ‘mudi mudi’ is amazing.
the former has the dominant piano while the latter has the
bass guitar(though one hears the subtle piano in the latter
as well!)
the shaan version is slow without any percussion- a la
‘azhage unnai aaaradanai seigiren’.The symphony like
interlude is wonderful(somehow i am reminded of ‘kaadhal
oviyam’ song).
‘halke se bole’ is the familiar ‘puththam puthu
kaalai’ tune-one of my all time favourites.The almost
similar rhythmic pattern gives me nostalgic feelings.
‘kaapi’ is one ragam that has been adapted in carnatic
from hindustani but the carnatic kaapi is different from the
hindustani one.Hindustani kafi is nothing but the carnatic
karaharapriya and pilu can at best be compared with carnatic
kaapi.
no other film music composer has used kaapi as wonderfully
as ilaiyaraaja.
his most famous tune in kaapi is actually 27 years old.It
first appeared as a bgm bit in ‘moondram pirai’ way back
in 1982.It was then used in olangal, auto raja, nireekshana,
kanne kalai maane, aur ek prem kahani, and the for his
‘live in italy’ prog.
one never gets tired of listening to this tune in so many
versions as each version shows a new dimension to kaapi.
in ‘gum shum gum’, we get to hear the western contours
in the second interlude.
marvellous work!
‘kaattu vazhi kaal nadiya’ has always been one of my
personal favourites.This tune-mainly the interlude- is the
theme music of paa.Amitabh does magic here singing like a 13
year old. Brings tears to even a stone!
what happens when hiccups sound musical?
‘hichki hichki’(hichki in hindi-hiccup) is a
composition analysis of which would take pages.
this song, according to me is the piece de resistance
(though other songs are also great).
based on keeravani, it follows the 7-beat misram and is
sung with consummate ease by sunidhi
chauhan(wonder how many takes she took!In any case, it is
not an easy song to sing).
laya raja and raga raja are in full flow here.
laya raja:one hears the normal ‘ta ki ta ta ka dhi mi’
in bass guitar along with the vocals.But what happens after
that is a marvel and is possible only by the maestro.
misram is played in the fast pace (mel kaalam) and we hear
3, 6, 6 and 6-21beats in the percussion during the brief
pause.
raga raja:in the second interlude, the theme music is
played first in keeravani(minor scale) and then in
shankarabharanam(major scale).Sheer magic!
the use of alien notes (sound like vivadi to me, have to
listen more) and the sound of ‘hiccups’ carry the raaja
stamp!
i am unable to get out of the musical ‘hiccups’.
ilaiyaraaja- the ‘paa’ and ‘maa’ of indian film
music!
MSK,
You have put it very rightly. For a genius like Raja, putting a constraint would throw up major challenges, which he always crosses without a problem. As we know 'Adiushas' tuned to the lyrics and as he says he was able to come up with a heart wrenching tune.
The most comical of all reviews. I really wonder how he got job as a reviewer in the first place.
http://www.top10bollywood.com/2009/1...w-ratings.html
http://www.idlebrain.com/movietape/omshanti-logo.html
Courtesy of dhiraj reddy of IR Yahoo groups
I find the theme very interesting with a fantasy like touch. Another mudi mudi styled song seems in the offing. Judging from the film its like one man with three love interests and one decision to make.
Hichki hichki has shades of a telugu song Vayyari godaramma. Dont know if this is just my feeling. Experts, pls comment.
Let the praises be rained...Avar sonna mathiriye i m waiting to the buy the original one but still it is not available where are the cds in chennai???????? :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
Kameshratnam - I bought one last night at Odyssey, Adyar.Quote:
Originally Posted by kameshratnam
yeah it is priced at Rs. 160 :wink: