Balki's next project - Shamitabh

crimson king wrote:The piano at the end of the AA vocalise in the pallavi is beautiful too, trademark baroque piano.

Yes. That part where the voice, the bass and the piano work together is lovely. I had written it in my review and also heard it from a couple of other guys. When the songs were released one guy said he couldn't get beyond this part !!!

Ah, yet to read your review in detail.  Will do in a bit.

Please do

Raaga_Suresh wrote:

crimson king wrote:The piano at the end of the AA vocalise in the pallavi is beautiful too, trademark baroque piano.

Yes. That part where the voice, the bass and the piano work together is lovely. I had written it in my review and also heard it from a couple of other guys. When the songs were released one guy said he couldn't get beyond this part !!!

 Did you notice the similarities the same rhythm of piano(a fast one). before start of "guruvayarappa" pudu pudu arthangal

No particular similarities except that both are baroque based, which is a hallmark of his style as such (so there would be so many other examples of such passages with varying degrees of similarity.

One definite +ve thing about this album - singing is terrific, for all songs!

அதாவது, பில்டிங் ஸ்ட்ராங் தான்...

பேஸ்மெண்ட்டு ?

Which song is this?



There is an even funnier comment for the article :

Subramnian N wrote:
Hope people get inspired by the song to keep the toilets as clean as their drawing rooms. This will be a big impact on swachh bharat if people can value the clean toilets.

Balki on promotion spree, one more interview

Why have you always chosen Big B, Ilaiyaraaja and P C Sreeram in all your movies?

My question is why not? I mean Raja sir knows everything about music. He has done a lot of experimentation in this film, especially in the background scores. Big B, Raja Sir, PC sir and Dhanush — all are truly inspiring personalities. You will never compare them to others, but you often compare others’ crafts with theirs. They are three originals. I am very lucky to be working with such people. It always pushes me to do more.

 அநியாயம் பண்றாங்க

As part of the UK promotions for the film, the superstar will also be interacting with his social media fans directly at a special podcast event planned at the Apple store on Regent Street in central London tomorrow. 

The recording as part of Apple's 'Meet the Filmmaker' series, will be made available to more than 800 million iTunes users around the world for free, the largest ever for an Indian film.

AB interview to some London mag

Shamitabh has been described as a homage to your unmistakable voice. In fact you’ve lent your voice to the song Piddly. Could you tell us more about the song and your role in the movie?

This is what the makers think and it’s embarrassing to be told this. It’s a voice that is going to be used for another person in the film. If he doesn’t have the voice he can’t make any progress, there’s a journalist who realizes this and it works really well until the characters’ egos clash. How this situation is either resolved or not resolved is what the film is all about.

My singing is really bad but the film demanded it. I know I’ve sung songs in previous films but in this film it’s imperative that I sing because it’s part of the screenplay of the film. To sing for a genius like Ilaiyaraaja was a tough task. I told him ‘compose the song and send it across to me and I shall sit by myself and then you can put it through all the machinery’.

A review based on personal taste

To sum up, Shamitabh is not exactly the kind of album one expects from Ilaiyaraaja. Except for a couple of songs which give glimpses of the Maestro's trademark touch, Shamitabh is quite a letdown. If you are a fan of 80s Ilaiyaraaja, then please give this one a miss but if you are all for 'Ilaiyaraaja with a twist', then this one is for you.

Our Picks: Piddly and Stereophonic Sannata

What irritates me is classifying people as "fan of 80's rAsA" - absolute nonsense!

This is a problem if you host mono files on youtube and people review based on that

Of course, that this "reviewer" has no musical brain is pretty obvious. 

For e.g., see the comment : 

To add to that issue, every song follows the same format making every song in the album too similar. The format is this – techno beat in the background with a strong sole voice singing short bursts of lyrics on stop. Much like “One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three”, after a while you start wondering why the rhythm won’t change.

However, the movie team SHOULD have avoided such low-q load on youtube as official entries

The other extreme

If you have been waiting, or wishing to have the best of Illaiyaraja’s melody combined with modern creativity- your prayers have been answered. Shamitabh is one of Raja’s best albums, a truly international one, and without a doubt the best combination that Balki, Big B and him have offered thus far.

The movie maybe Shamitabh. But the album is All Raja. Nuff said. 

Rating: 10/10

middle ground

Verdict: It’s an extraordinary album with a combination of Illayaraja music and lyrics by Swanand Kirkre and Kausar Munir. While the first three numbers will be a hit the last three numbers slowly fizzle out. On the whole an outstanding composition by Illayaraja.

I am happy people like piddly - that is a quintessential IR 'orchestral' melody and I have this impression the indian public does not care for such things. So things are not as bad as I feared. One another point is, Amitabh apparently sang it at a lower tempo/pitch (?) than specified by IR. Maybe, it would have been more melodious if people stuck to his original specs. (Or would it not have had the novelty feeling that this versions has ? who knows)

Was listening to 'Sannata' again today. No one, just no one, other than Raja could have done that orchestration. What an amazing orchestration it is.

Indian Express review of album

Shamitabh isn’t a perfectly rounded album. It is patchy, but with two stellar tracks in Sha sha sha mi mi mi and Piddly, it stands out for it’s originality and irreverence

piddly pugazh

Amitabh Bachchan too, has showcased his singing talent once again in his upcoming film “Shamitabh”, where the megastar is seen crooning ‘Piddly si baatein’. Piddly’s appealing tune, composed by Illaiyaraaja, combined with AB’s rough, untrained voice and impressive personality is already catching on. 

இல்லையா ராஜா?

Financial Express says pA got 30 cr...

Will this movie be +ve too on BO?

A funny thought - no offence to anyone...

Balki is from the advt world and is used to pitching, 'All new surf' or 'All new Colgate' for his clients.

Maybe, his day job is impacting his film job as well..

With Cheeni Kum, you had 'All new Jyotheyale...', with Paa, you had 'All new Thumbi Vaa...' and now with Shamitabh, you have 'All new Aasaiya' 

Saare CK, idha mAdhiri arpudhamAna blog laam ezhudhinA ingeyum share seyyalAme... Found it just now while bloghopping. You have traced his journey very well, even if I don't share in the enthusiasm for Shamitabh.

https://rothrocks.wordpress.com/2015/01/18/shamitabh-end-of-an-era-and-a-new-beginning/

Unfortunately, neither film met with success in the Box Office. NEPV in particular was a rather costly failure, given that it was directed by the extremely successful Gautham Menon. Megha too sank without a trace. The writing was on the wall but it probably took Shamitabh for the fans to take note. Any hopes of more such expensive experiments would have to be shelved.

A reasonable speculation.

fring151 wrote:Saare CK, idha mAdhiri arpudhamAna blog laam ezhudhinA ingeyum share seyyalAme... Found it just now while bloghopping. You have traced his journey very well, even if I don't share in the enthusiasm for Shamitabh.

https://rothrocks.wordpress.com/2015/01/18/shamitabh-end-of-an-era-and-a-new-beginning/

Unfortunately, neither film met with success in the Box Office. NEPV in particular was a rather costly failure, given that it was directed by the extremely successful Gautham Menon. Megha too sank without a trace. The writing was on the wall but it probably took Shamitabh for the fans to take note. Any hopes of more such expensive experiments would have to be shelved.

A reasonable speculation.

Yes..yes very good blogging ..'autopilot' !!! :-) But it saddens me though .. consider me as the flag-bearer of the orchestral fan-base and you will understand my predicament ..on the one hand I am happy our man is getting the limelight on the other hand .. I am nervously wondering will all those orchestral style go the way of the dodo !!!.

app_engine wrote: A review based on personal taste

To sum up, Shamitabh is not exactly the kind of album one expects from Ilaiyaraaja. Except for a couple of songs which give glimpses of the Maestro's trademark touch, Shamitabh is quite a letdown. If you are a fan of 80s Ilaiyaraaja, then please give this one a miss but if you are all for 'Ilaiyaraaja with a twist', then this one is for you.

Our Picks: Piddly and Stereophonic Sannata

What irritates me is classifying people as "fan of 80's rAsA" - absolute nonsense!

not nonsense app. We know there are those useless idiot "i am only raja 80s fan" people.

fring151 wrote:Saare CK, idha mAdhiri arpudhamAna blog laam ezhudhinA ingeyum share seyyalAme... Found it just now while bloghopping. You have traced his journey very well, even if I don't share in the enthusiasm for Shamitabh.

https://rothrocks.wordpress.com/2015/01/18/shamitabh-end-of-an-era-and-a-new-beginning/

Unfortunately, neither film met with success in the Box Office. NEPV in particular was a rather costly failure, given that it was directed by the extremely successful Gautham Menon. Megha too sank without a trace. The writing was on the wall but it probably took Shamitabh for the fans to take note. Any hopes of more such expensive experiments would have to be shelved.

A reasonable speculation.

Yes, that's me, thanks man!  I meant to post it here but was busy and then it slipped my mind completely.  I personally think it is a little more than reasonable speculation myself  because (a) the upcoming Baala film is likely to have a lot of orchestration and (b) we don't know yet that Shamitabh is going to open the floodgates in terms of commercial projects and even if it does, how many Raja will want to take up.  But for the moment I do read it as Raja's "Ek Din Bit Jaayega" moment (sorry to have to compare him inadvertently to that buffoon).  He has been there for us for a long time but all good things have to come to an end.  I can appreciate what he does with synths because it is ultimately just child's play for a composer of his staggering powers.  But if the live orchestra quotient goes down, I will miss that for selfish reasons.  And even if he does use orchestra, I am very skeptical that it can happen in a grand way with BSO being involved and the recording being done in Abbey Road!  Those extravaganzas may not come back.

fring151 wrote:Saare CK, idha mAdhiri arpudhamAna blog laam ezhudhinA ingeyum share seyyalAme... Found it just now while bloghopping. You have traced his journey very well, even if I don't share in the enthusiasm for Shamitabh.

https://rothrocks.wordpress.com/2015/01/18/shamitabh-end-of-an-era-and-a-new-beginning/

Unfortunately, neither film met with success in the Box Office. NEPV in particular was a rather costly failure, given that it was directed by the extremely successful Gautham Menon. Megha too sank without a trace. The writing was on the wall but it probably took Shamitabh for the fans to take note. Any hopes of more such expensive experiments would have to be shelved.

A reasonable speculation.

Well written yo!