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Importance of BGM in movies

Topic started by Venkatesh (@ 212.72.11.66) on Mon Apr 29 09:07:06 EDT 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

I have read opinions that BGM is not part of the movie and it should not intrude in the story / narration. However, I would like you to discuss the importance of BGM in TFM vis-à-vis foreign movies. Is BGM not an integral element of a movie to be enjoyed particularly, just like direction, dialogues, etc. or is it meant only for critics to concentrate on depts like BGM, editing, screenplay, etc?

Raja has said in one interview that BGM will assume greater importance in the movies in future. In Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (climax), Sethu, etc, we have seen BGM giving a life to the situation, where it replaced the dialogues. There were also couple of instances where Raja said to be camouflage the flaws in the narration with his music.

What is your opinion on this?

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Responses:

• From: sabesan (@ 170.35.240.203) on: Mon Apr 29 09:53:00 EDT 2002
  
  iam sure everyone knows this, but still wanted to mention it..... Bharathiraja in one of the interviews in DD (or some other channel) long time back said, that the scene in Mudhal Mariyadhai - where Ranjini gets killed and her lover throws the flute and runs to her - how IR's BGM made a hell lot of difference to that situation.....
  
  
• From: boardsover (@ 202.9.149.1) on: Mon Apr 29 10:30:51 EDT 2002
  
  just to know the importance of BGM, try watching horror movies or movies like Jurrasic Park with the volume turned off.......they are like comedy films without BGM :) their effect totally lost.
  
  coming to tamil films.......BAASHA got a gr8 deal of help from the BGM of deva (not to say dat BGM was more important than rajini.....being a HC rajini fan )......though the BGM of this film was a direct lift from movies like Terminator,Jurrasic Park,Sliver.....it really helped a lot in increasing the real rajni effect :)
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Mon Apr 29 10:33:19 EDT 2002
  
  what is BGM?
  
  
• From: curses (@ 203.199.231.223) on: Mon Apr 29 11:53:56 EDT 2002
  
  kizhunjudhu krishnagiri!!
  
  
• From: curses (@ 203.199.231.223) on: Mon Apr 29 11:55:13 EDT 2002
  
  BackGround Music
  
  
• From: S (@ 128.107.253.44) on: Tue Apr 30 04:16:48 EDT 2002
  
  Just imagine prabhu and karthik in the agni* without the score....i have tried muting tv and have seen it :-)
  
  
• From: S (@ 128.107.253.44) on: Tue Apr 30 04:17:31 EDT 2002
  
  ...muting the tv and have had a good laugh..
  
  
• From: vengaym (@ 203.200.84.66) on: Tue Apr 30 23:38:18 EDT 2002
  
  here we go again. are we reinventing the wheel. The discussion is to somehow convince that IR was the man behind BGM. Good BGM should not even be heard you should be absorbed in the movie. kathayin otathukku thol kodduka vendum. itho paaryaa naan pisthu evallavu moolai paarthiyaa business irukka koodathu. circa 1979 DD Madras'l MSV in malarum ninaivugal programme'l there wasa question about importance of BGM. MSV just showed a two minute scene from a balachander movie- Probably Arangetram with BGM & then without BGM. The interviewer got the message. (The BGM should reflect the mood of the scene without dominating it. AAh indha flute piece evallavu nalla irukku, indha sarangi bit is superb, andha violin kreechidudhal takes you on an ecstasy trip enru BGmai dissect panninaal - operation is sucessful patient dead kathai thaan. puniya vaangalle puiyudha)
  
  
• From: Onion (@ 64.105.35.40) on: Wed May 1 02:53:22 EDT 2002
  
  boardsover, the real rajni effect should have been da real rajni effect. What a gr8 slip.
  
  
• From: Venkatesh (@ 212.72.11.66) on: Wed May 1 06:29:21 EDT 2002
  
  http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/features/skelton.asp
  
  This lengthy article talks about BGM scores in English movies. Very interesting.
  
  
• From: S (@ 128.107.253.42) on: Thu May 2 04:27:00 EDT 2002
  
  vengayam,
  >>Good BGM should not even be heard you should be absorbed in the movie<<
  
  When someone is waiting for a good BGScore, it's bound to be noted...How can anybody with some decent taste miss the "Mozart I luv u" in idhayathai thirudadhEy ?!?!?! Don't tell me it doesn't add value to that scene....THe whole sequence of nagarjuna searching for that girl is lifted by the score...When we talk of BG score, one has to get Raja's name.
  
  
• From: Vj (@ 61.11.82.17) on: Thu May 2 05:47:10 EDT 2002
  
  No doubt IR is the KING of BG in tamil cinema.
  
  
• From: vengayam (@ 203.200.84.66) on: Thu May 2 06:00:12 EDT 2002
  
  S, you have missed the point. Cinema is a director's medium & all others should play a complimentary role. my point is "AAh indha flute piece evallavu nalla irukku, indha sarangi bit is superb, andha violin kreechidudhal takes you on an ecstasy trip " - should not distract from the movie.
  of course this is true for a good movie, there is no denying the fact IR's musicalone lifted many pathetic movies (R Sunderrajans movies for example) but point does remain BGM thaniavarthanam does not a kaccherri make.
  
  
• From: yaaro (@ 195.93.34.179) on: Thu May 2 09:35:13 EDT 2002
  
  vengayam,
  you are missing the point.cinema is a artistes' medium.those who have the goods deliver it-here it is IR.The fact that many a movies were actually enhanced by his bgm(I have heard instances when directors fell at IR's feet after seeing the completed movie).It is upto directors to give a good script and a good scene.If they cannot do that,they have to acept the fact that it is IR who is going to enhance the value with his bgm.you cannot blame someone for doing a too good job ,can you?Take MR(IR days) or balachander or mahendran or a vishwanath-here story and bgm from IR went hand in hand.I still can hum the title music of mouna ragam or saagara sangamam or geethanjali.I find myself humming the bgm of lajja sometimes.The point is that,they were really good.
  
  
• From: S (@ 128.107.253.42) on: Thu May 2 14:42:30 EDT 2002
  
  true..the lajja theme in itself can be extended to be an independent piece such as "do anything" or "singing self".
  
  
• From: vengayam (@ 203.200.84.66) on: Fri May 3 01:39:54 EDT 2002
  
  Yaaro, I am not blaming IR for being talented. nor I am asking him not to do a good job but the score should not dominate the scene. the music should be hand in hand with the situation that you do not realise it is there in the first place. real life situtions'l there is no music.isn't it. so at best BGM should be a catalyst it may enhance the reaction but should not take part in it. This is where IR many a times goes overboard. I agree this is largely a director's fault. ( I cannot resist the analogy to cricket another national obsession, we may have tendulkar, Dravid, laxman but if the captain is no good then the scintilatting stuff amounts to nothing. So there )
  
  
• From: Vj (@ 202.9.151.227) on: Sat May 4 07:29:00 EDT 2002
  
  IMO, when u discuss about BGM, it means that u've listened to it first, right? (hey.. no kidding.. read on)..the point of listening to the BG varies...
  
  1. u see a movie, (doesnt matter what type of movie is that)... and after sometime, u see the same movie/see some scene in the movie again, which makes u notice the BG which u didnt notice at the first time, which might be excellent..
  
  2. u go for the movie purely for hearing the BG work.. IMO, for instance, most IR fans look for the BG from the maestro.. so they tend to concentrate on the BG and appreciate/criticize it...(I go for the BG only.. there are CDs/cassettes for songs but only the movie will give u the BG).
  
  3. when u see the movie, the BG is too loud/irritating/crap that u start hating it and u always hate it no matter how many time u see it.
  
  4. u luv the movie overall, and crave for the BG part specifically. Mouna Ragam, Idhayathai thirudaadhey, Idhayam etc are glorious examples.
  
  5. others, which do not come into the 4.. (vera enna solradhunnu therialai.. to be honest.. :D)
  
  so it depends on how the viewer/listener takes it. appreciation/critical analysis comes next.
  
  
• From: vengayam (@ 203.200.84.66) on: Sun May 5 23:16:23 EDT 2002
  
  VJ, I think you would be in a small minority of one. People who go to the movie for hearing the BG only ( between us enna kannai katti kondu poveergala? LOL)
  
  
• From: Vj (@ 203.197.21.28) on: Mon May 6 05:31:50 EDT 2002
  
  i dont mind being a minority until its what i like to do irrespective what others like me to do. if i go for an IR movie, i look only for the BG... "Devadhai" was one class but for some unclear storyline, it was one GEM of IR's BG.. i went the last day last show at Devi Paradise, Chennai and enjoyed every moment of the BG... the scene where Nazar finds out that the woman who tried to kill him was the heroine (in the first half-an-hour of the movie)... but was frustrated a lot to find that the operator cut the movie when the final credits were shown with some excellent BG by IR... :((... i still long to hear that final BG..:(
  
  

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