Best Soundtrack from Maestro's Love subject Films

avasiyam vaangO. Waiting to hear about those songs from you

[rAja pArvai / Sujatha...continued]

Jai Ganesh may recall how many times I post negatively about the "nenjapporu" & "indhiran thOttaththu mundhiri" on forums One VM interview about cashew nuts was among the many titbits I read during the days when we were crazy about rAjapArvai news.

Another factor that greatly influenced such affliction was the close association with a year mate from mAyavaram (now mayilAdu thuRai) who was a Kamal-veRiyan (step cut / bell bottom / wide belttu, half foot high heel, kattai meesai, shirt button open showing chest hair + imitation of every speech / mannerism of Kamal those days). That fellow kept talking about Kamal non-stop among a group of boys and I used to chip in as many references of rAsa as possible to the sessions with him. In that setting, rAja pArvai took a lot of our precious time those days

Now, on one Friday (day of the week when Kumudam used to show up and grab around an hour of one's time), I was overthrilled to see a Sujatha column on rAja pArvai! He started the column as

"கமலுடன் ஒரு மாலை நேரம்.

அவரது தயாரிப்பான ராஜபார்வையின் சில காட்சிகளை ரஷ் போட்டுக்காட்டினார்."

(Not exact words, it may be impossible to locate the copy of that kumudam anywhere today...)

He then went on to describe that great musical piece in his inimitable way. Unfortunately, I don't recall the exact words - but his description was still fresh in my memory when I watched the movie after a couple of years at college audi and enhanced my viewing pleasure thoroughly.

Interestingly, he didn't dwell much on the picturization aspect, even though he started with that in the outset. Instead, he went on to describe how that whole scene begins with a terrific solo violin playing panthuvarALi to which a flute and veeNai accompaniment join shortly thereafter.

He went on to describe how in a few minutes a grand set of violins enter and generate a terrific, vibrant feel! The whole instrumental track finally ends up with a spurt of modern instruments - jazz drums, guitars and synthesisers roaring in! He had some flowery praises for the whole piece as something unique and something never done / heard before!

It was more or less in a IR-fanboy-speak language, not much technical but full of adjectives describing the musical specialities!

What could have given me more thrill - than to read the writing of my then-fav-writer praising the most-fav-musician!

It was like dream-come-true and I lost count how many times I would have talked about it to friends / classmates / relatives and others!

Thanks for completing the story App saar   . Would be great if we can find that original Kumudham article!

Drunkenmunk wrote:Again, I've narrated the tale from Pallavi's POV which is this theme that is a substitute for all that she feels. Film shows Prabhu, his wife (forgot real name), Vadivukkarasi, Ramkumar and Vishwam's scenes and builds their characters too. But this theme follows only Pallavi and her multitude of emotions and that is what you see in the scenes here. Just a 1 dimensional view and just watching her characterization inside this movie with Raaja's theme is the real deal imho. And his juxtaposition of this song with Prabhu's wife at first and interweaving Chinna Ponnu with Pallavi and finally with the wife is the real genius. I think I can rest my case here

Wow DM! enna oru murattu thanamaana write up! ellarum ippadi ezhuthinaa enna pola vaakaalar perumakkal pavam illeyaa ? yarukuthaan vote pandrathu 

D22_Malar,

 ellathukum vote pottudalam... (Selladha vote aga agiduma...............)

VS, DM and app,

 elalrum romba azhaga ezhudhi.... Really impressive........ Love a lot........

 vote poda vaikareenga...  (enaku ezhuthil.. solla mudiyadhu... ipadi.....)

DM,
  Super a solli irukeenga.. indha padam vandha podhu, parka pidikavillai... paatu impress seiyalai. anal  ithanai varusham
kazhithu,. ungal post.. padathai parka vaithadhu........ Really Great........... very nice Narration DM................

Usha wrote:padam.... chinna vayasil padam parka asai ilai.. ( en ammaval.. en amma.. soga padama kootitu poi irukanga. adhanal...)

Annakili  - during my 9th std........  paatu. padam parka vaithadhu.... padam sogam dhan.......... analum padam parthen. paatukalukaga..........

padathin mel inspire ana neram............  kizhake pogum rayil, mullum malarum, sigappu rojakal, pudhiya varpugal endru...

anlaum.. sogamana mudivu.. epodhum asai ilai..........

 ( Being a village brought up.... indha village thanama padam... IR music endru.. pidika arambithadhu......... IR BGMs.. puriya arambithadhu.... Love. romba thappana vishayam.. kettavanga seiyara vishayam.....  ipadi oru soozhnilaiyil..  Love padam
ellam oru bayathodu dhan parthu iruken.. padam parpadhum romba thappu.........  ( indha IR paatukaga  .. padam parka
romba kashta pattu iruken. en ammavidam...... adharku oru blog dhan podanam.)

idhil.. enaku piditha padam...... Kizhakae pogum Rayil and Jhonny........ romba azhagana , unmaiyana love.......

Ushaji,
You only wrote this. You cannot escape saying you cannot write As I said, that was a very moving write-up. Please share your thoughts on the movies/music you love the most.

This is just a precursor on the movie I am watching. Vicky has nailed it how Maestro brings two totally different flavors of Sindhu Bhairavi of the same tune/song. Till I read his article, I was not even knowing that the title score is another version of jagada jagadam song. He ends the write-up with these two beautiful sentence (etched in my mind).

Former, where Life is celebrated intensely with Sindhu Bhairavi
Latter, where Life is hanging on the strands of Sindhu Bhairavi..   

http://raagadevan.blogspot.com/2012/06/life.html

V_S,
    idhu ellam oru writing a. ungalai pola kadhai.. padam nu sollanam dhanae...  adhai than sonnen.......  irundhalum..

try panren... 1.kizhakae pogum rayil and Jhonny kaga.

Sure Usha ji. Everyone has their own style in writing. We have already read lot of your experiences from your write-ups and we love it. I believe you are the one who was strongly associated with Raja's music all the time more than anybody else. Please do write more.

V_S,
  Ungalai pola .. enaku solla theiryadhu..... ennodadhu ellam just feelings.............  kandipa ezhudharen.....

HEARTY THANKS FOR UR KIND WORDS  V_S.........  ( inga ellarum romba porupa, vishyama ezhudhareenga.. adhan konjam yosanai............. ).....    Ezhudharen V_S....

Usha ji,
Feelings and real life impact are the most important aspects of Raja's songs. I know you have shared the 'bullock cart' experiences in your village, the 'valve radio' moments etc which made me sit in your shoes when listening to those songs. Those are more valuable than anything else. Nothing to feel shy. We know your strengths more than you

A little belated. But finishing my post on Aruvadai Naal, on Melatha Mella Thattu. Song situation in hospital as Pallavi agrees to Prabhu's love saying they ought to have at least 2 kids. The song opens with infant cries and it carries over to the song giving the song its tempo. Song concept very simple. naalE line la matter'a puduchudalaam. She is city bred and educated, a doctor and urbane by nature. He is a pattikkAdu. Song's ragam is Bageshri. Song begins with prominent drums, guitars and entirely western and has elements of rock. Interludes carries over the rock flavor and violins bring in a WCM harmony essentially playing Bageshri but as the interlude goes on, flute enters, gives a folk flavor and guides the song. As I understand, rock/western elements are for the urbane Pallavi. The folk elements are for Prabhu. But they are all one seamless whole in Bageshri with Raaja. Lovely humming in the second interlude too. Two disparate lovers, separated by roots, upbrining coming together by love. Raaja uses the musical styles to underline this imo. If not for Devanin Kovil, this song should be an all time classic too. Well, it is in my books



Chinna Ponnu comes when Prabhu falls to alcohol, not happy with his marriage to the minor. Out and out pathos. But lovely melody, with an indescribably painful soul summarizing the triangle then. Like the little girl, the song is tender and with that tenderness, Raaja brings in sorrow and it's a beautiful pathos song, sadly dwarfed by Devanin Kovil. Together with this, Devanin Kovil (out and out monster) and Melatha Mella Thattu, it makes for a classic album already. idha thavira, the BGM which I discussed makes it absolutely unforgettable. A must-be-included film in Maestro's love stories.

Important point in Chinna Ponnu. It is the sorrow of all 3. The "Chinna Ponnu" who can't lead a happy married life, Prabhu in alcohol in thoughts of Pallavi not interested in his wife and Pallavi in thoughts of Prabhu. Different sorrow for all 3. The song does justice to all 3's sorrow here.

Thanks DM for writing about these two songs.

Drunkenmunk wrote:Two disparate lovers, separated by roots, upbrining coming together by love. Raaja uses the musical styles to underline this imo.

Important point in Chinna Ponnu. It is the sorrow of all 3. The "Chinna Ponnu" who can't lead a happy married life, Prabhu in alcohol in thoughts of Pallavi not interested in his wife and Pallavi in thoughts of Prabhu. Different sorrow for all 3. The song does justice to all 3's sorrow here

Yes, absolutely nailed it.  

K Bhagyaraj cannot be ignored when considering "rrromantic" soundtracks

He had some biggie movies with love theme that hit the jackpot in early 80's. Unfortunately, only one of them had rAsA music. Both the movie and music were roaring successes and thus need to be part of this exercise - thooRal ninnu pOchchu!

'bhoopALam isaikkum poomagaL oorvalam' is such a soothing number that is exciting as well (KJY-UR). 'thangachchangili minnum paingiLi' is another lovely duet (MV-SJ). The two solos - 'thAlAtta nAn poRandhEn' funny one and 'ErikkaraippoongAththE' are phenomenal numbers as well. The lesser of the lot, 'En sOgakkathayak kELu thAykkulamE' was the biggest hit in patti-thotti.

Movie was comical as well as serious, with the new face Sulakshana (who later became daughter-in-law to MSV for a while, before getting divorced ; she acted as Bhairavi in the famous Sindhu Bhairavi movie ; those who are familiar with the Padmarajan classic "thoovAnaththumbikaL" will recall that she had some movies in Malayalam as well).

Love story movies typically differ from one another mainly by mileau  (as the sikkal of the story is 99% of the time "hurdle-to-getting-married" and either it gets resolved or people die). That way, this movie's setting for "love" was quite unique and KBR can definitely do kAlar thookkal!

Regardless of how stupid the movies were, soundtracks of two movies directed by Sridhar have to be included in this exercise

ninaivellAm nithyA & thenRalE ennaiththodu

No need to talk about the songs of these two as they got feaured 100's of times in forums. A mere listing will tell readers how awesome those albums were :

NN : panivizhum malarvanam, nee thAnE en ponvasantham, rOjAvaiththAlAttum thenRal, kAnal neer pOl endhan kAdhal, kannippoNNu kai mElE (all these 5 romance themed) & thOLin mElE bAram illE

TET: thenRal vandhu ennaiththodum, pudhiya poovidhu, kaNmaNi nee varakkAththirundhEn, kavidhai pAdu kuyilE kuyilE, ennAnga mAppiLLa nalandhAnA, yEmmA andhi mayakkamA

The first movie had Karthik romancing kAdhal mannan's daughter (named Jiji, ayyO pAvam) and the second one had Mohan walking around with Jayashree (another ayyO pAvam and I can't help get reminded of radiochandra sir's comment on her).

The awesome albums and BGM tracks definitely need attention of TFM lovers!

I'm quite divided as to should the three other "romance" movies by Motherland pictures be nominated or not

While we can pledge all our earnings to some of the songs in these soundtracks, whether two of these movies (i.e. talkie portions) deserve attention is questionable. And the third one is not a combleet romance.

However, for the awesome albums' sake & the ad on posters "iLayarAjAvin innisai mazhaiyil" by the production house - always giving more importance to maestro than even the directors, let us consider these for nomination.

iLamaikkAlangaL, Mohan-Sasikala-Manivannan, pAdavandhadhO gAnam & isai mEdaiyil. ('thaNNeeril moozhgAdhu kAtRuLLa pandhu' is a negative IMHO)

udhaya geetham, Mohan-Revathy, pAdu nilAvE, mAnE thEnE kattippudi, sangeetha mEgam & others

idhayakkOyil, Mohan-Radha-Ambika, all awesome songs!

konjam pAththuppOttu kodunga sArmArE!

App ji,
Again beautiful set of posts Coming to Bhagiyaraj movies and love themes, my favorite being Darling Darling Darling (unfortunately music was by S-G. The events unfold towards their love is one the best I have ever seen. Climax too good. Could not forget Oh nenjE song). Even to some extent indru pOi naaLai vaa especially this scene (https://youtu.be/C7bPJ2TSaHM?t=6m49s) where love blossoms even when the film mostly is carried in a lighter vein. In thooral ninnupOchchu, even though KBR was very firm in his love and want to marry her at any cost, the way love blossoms between them and the reciprocation from Sulakshana did not much cut for me (as a love subject). I mainly see this  movie as how to resolve all the issues for their marriage, rather than for love. Definitely it is a beautiful movie with excellent twists, screenplay and superb songs.

Same way Naan paadum paadal and Idhaya kOyil are similar kind of movies. In one, young widow who still thinks of her late husband while another man loves her. The climax was shabbily done. She could have just said No to him, slapping him is an extreme step. That itself put me off when I watched as a kid. Songs again no question. In Idaya kOyil, he thinks of his late lover, while another girl loves him. Reverse story of Naan paadum paadal. He refuses which led to her suicide. Again songs and score outstanding. I would favor this, as I felt the impact of pain in him in every song as he was always thinking of his departed lover.

Udaya geetham, I would consider it as a kind of thriller movie till first half. I could not consider this as a romance/love movie as there is always other tension whether he will be released for his innocence, more than any romance.

Ninaivellaam Nithya I haven't seen, but as far as I know from the title and also from the story, it is a complete love story. Might vote for it. ILamai KaalangaL, again not seen.

app_engine wrote: ('thaNNeeril moozhgAdhu kAtRuLLa pandhu' is a negative IMHO)

  

ThendralE ennai thodu is in my list already, I think. I loved the movie when I saw it. I still remember the scene where they start loving each other and at the end, how they unite after Jayashree suspecting Mohan of wrong behavior. Again all outstanding songs. Need to hear the score though.

appji, doesn't Thoovanathumbikkal have Sumalatha and Parvathy? Sulakshana illayE to my knowledge  

idhayakkOyil, Mohan-Radha-Ambika, all awesome songs!

konjam pAththuppOttu kodunga sArmArE![/quote]


app,

  ... sarmare dhana... enga vote ellam vendama....

Idhayakoil - pattuka kanna moodindu vote podalam.. ( padam nalla illai.. eventhough love story....)

app_engine wrote:
idhayakkOyil, Mohan-Radha-Ambika, all awesome songs!

konjam pAththuppOttu kodunga sArmArE!

app,

Very Happy ... sarmare dhana... enga vote ellam vendama....

Idhayakoil - pattuka kanna moodindu vote podalam.. ( padam nalla illai.. eventhough love story....)

2 time post panniten... oru post ai delte seiyanam... delete seiya mudiyalaiyae... epadi delete seiyradhu........

Usha ji,
If the post was your last post made, you can delete it with 'X' button on the right hand side (top corner) of the post itself along with 'Edit' and 'Quote' buttons. Since you made a post after-wards you cannot delete the duplicate post. Only Admins can delete it. That should be fine.

Maestro has elevated some ordinary scenes to heaven with his score. Not just one or two scenes, there are tons of scenes brought to life by Maestro. I would list a few which I remember. 
1. When Prakash (Nagarjun) expresses love to Geethanjali (Girija), a female humming (I don't think it is Chitra) takes over with 'I Love You' phrases joins in counterpoint to take the scene to somewhere beyond imagination. The impact was huge. The humming has feeble strains of Oh Priya Priya (there is other humming which resembles the song very close though) which is one of the biggest moment in the film for me.
2.கீதா: உனக்கு என்னை பிடிச்சிருக்கா 
பிரகாஷ்: நெறைய
கீதா: நாளைக்கே நான் செத்து போய்ட்டா
பிரகாஷ்: நாளைக்கு பத்தி எனக்கு கவலை இல்ல இன்னிக்கு தான் எனக்கு முக்கியம், ஒரு பொண்ணு என்கிட்ட சொல்லியிருக்கு
கீதா: ஏய் என்னை கட்டி பிடிச்சிக்கோ... சரியா (கட்டி பிடிச்சிக்கோ)
கீதா: ஏய்
பிரகாஷ்: ஹ்ம்
கீதா: I Love You
There goes the flute ஏழை காதல் வாழுமோ இருளும் ஒளியும் சேருமோ… and I go down. What a moment!

3. That flurry of violins when Prakash asks Geetha's dad, நான் கீதாவ கல்யாணம் பண்ணிக்கிறேன் OMG!

4. Geetha to his Dad.
தூங்கவே முடியலப்பா கெட்ட கெட்ட கனவா வருது பா 
செத்து போய்ட்ட மாதிரிலாம் கனவு வருது   followed by subtle piano touches (I was melting down)
நான் எதுக்கு சாவனும் நான் என்னை தப்பு செஞ்சேன் (feeble violins strains tugs our heart strings) அப்பா எனக்கு சாக வேண்டாம் பா please நான் சந்தோஷமா இருக்கேனே பா… இன்னும் கொஞ்ச நாள் உயிரோட இருக்கேனே…நீங்க என் அப்பா தானே ஏதாவது செய்யுங்களேன் please...

5. Heavy beats whenever their heart beats faster and with pain (this is another biggest highlight of the score, creating tension and huge impact)

6.Geetha now to Prakash
நான் ஒன்ன இருக்க கட்டுபிடிச்சியிருந்தா சாவு கூட என்னை உன்கிட்டேர்ந்து பிரிக்கவே முடியாது நீ என்னை உன் கூடவே வச்சிருப்ப இல்ல? என்னை சாக விடமாட்ட இல்ல? and there starts Oh Priya Priya song. How MR brings innocence and child-like fear when she is in love is his signature. Before she was in love looked like she is a very strong girl (outwardly, but all her questions were locked inside here), but once she is in love, she opens her child like innocence along with her fatal thoughts. So wonderfully carved scene.

7. Mother returns (solo violin strain heard far far away)

8. Bass guitar and female chorus when Geetha comes to know about Prakash's disease

9. Flute plays oh priya priya after she fights with him at the station (since he hide his problems to her) and leaves

10. Geetha akka ezhunthaachchu

11. Climax BGM with violins, cellos and full orchestra

12. Chitra humming Oh Priya Priya and flute follows the same theme and when she tells 'Odi pOyidlaama' and Mano/SPB completes with Oh Priya Priya…

There are lot more especially many variations of Oh Priya Priya theme, theme for the side kick comedies and for other fun moments early in the film.

Especially after having watched so many of Manirathnam films after-wards with similar style (still tried hard not to interrupt those thoughts, but can't help) with short and similar dialogues, cliched comedy tracks not even encouraging any smile, the film didn't much work for me now, except for few scenes (as mentioned above). Even cinematography which we were so appreciating that time, now it looked very pale and unrealistic (but has aesthetic appeal). The scenes where mist gradually covers the house when one opens the door. Nagarjun would look back if someone entered his house only through  the mist if it reaches him. That was one of the biggest highlight talked about those days, but now it didn't appeal that much, as it was so unrealistic (almost like a big smoke entering the house). I would tend to think if not for songs and the score, this film is not much worth it. Not to forget the title score which IS THE BIGGEST MOMENT in the film (as explained in my previous post). Another perfect example of how films which were so music dependable were made/sold those days. Remember this was not just another film, it was a block buster. I could not imagine without Maestro's music what this film could have done. Nevertheless, definitely few moments make a film, which it really did.