Thoughts on Kabali.

Note : This is just an expansion of my initial reaction to Kabali. There are no explicit spoilers, but don't complain after reading.

tldr; Kabali is a very brave attempt which should be watched for the message Ranjith has tried to convey. I have some issues though, maybe my expectations were too high. But Ranjith's track record does that.

• First thought after the movie ended was "Wow, Ranjith is a fish out of water here". I really admire Ranjith. Not many can distill political ideology into a gripping script like Madras. The writing seemed really forced in the "Mass scenes" and the over-the-top action scenes and an unnecessarily drawn out 2nd half. It was more fluid in the scenes where he is talking about the things he really wants to talk about.

• It sounds great on paper. Make a serious issue based movie with the superstar, thus expanding the reach of the audience exponentially. The only issue is, where do you draw the line? How do you make a movie which is dark/raw enough to explain and tackle real issues, issues people don't really want to talk about, but needs to be U certified to fit Rajini's image? This is Ranjith's problem. Kabali doesn't fully get into the social issues, nor does it satisfy the requirements of a typical Rajini movie. 

• The reason Madras worked so well is that Ranjith never explicitly mentioned the social issues he wanted to tackle. It's all woven into the story beautifully. The wall was such a beautifully executed subversion. Here, there is so much exposition. I understand that these are real issues and they need to be raised at the highest levels but Ranjith found a better way to do it in Madras...

• Doesn't mean I didn't like parts of the movie. Attakathi Dinesh is awesome. Rajini has finally decided to play roles which suit his age. Hope this is a start. Radhika Apte was under-utilized IMO. The story behind the suit is a great way to drive home a point (Which is exactly the kind of stuff I expected the whole movie to be. A lot more of this.)

• What I expected was something a lot more engaging. A lot more Ranjith. What we get is a mish-mash of typical Rajini movie and a movie Ranjith wanted to make. I have a feeling Ranjith would be satisfied though. He got a platform not many get, and he got his message out. 

Thoughts on Uthama Villain

        Disclaimer : Lots of spoilers

• I wonder why Kamal doesn't want to take direction credits for these movies. I mean it's so clear that he's the man running the show, take the scene where Parvati meets Kamal for the first time. The background is a movie set, which is taken away quickly in a blur, symbolizing how the past is flashing past. Then the symbolism in the shot of Pooja playing the harp. It's all Kamal. 

• Got to take my hat off for Ghibran and Kamal (For the lyrics, not for the acting). Just wow. I was a fan of the music of this movie even before watching it, but now I am able to appreciate the effort and ingenuity that has gone into it even more. Ghibran is just out of this world. I guess Vasanthabalan will be humbled after watching Uthama Villain. Kaaviya Thalaivan is like a school play compared to this.

• Felt really good to see KB sir on the screen in a substantial role. All the supporting actors are adequate. MS Bhaskar has a #win scene where he breaks down competely. Parvati and Andrea have nothing much to do.

• This movie too (like most recent Kamal movies) unfortunately suffers from over indulgence. 3 hours is too long for a movie about a movie star making a movie. 30 minutes can be easily cut from the movie. Also the production values could have been a lot better I felt. Many scenes had tacky graphics and questionable lighting. Maybe Kamal himself should have done the editing and cinematography. ;)

• There is no doubt that Kamal is one of the most talented screen writers we have now, his problem has always been to find a way to tell his story the way the audience wants to hear it. He has had stretches in his career where the symbolism and hidden meanings have been so abstract that half the movie goers don't understand what's going on. But I feel with Uthama Villain he has struck a balance between his sensibilities and what the audience wants to see. So what does he do? He makes a commercial movie in which he makes another movie which satisfies his creative urges. :) If only he can dial down the self indulgence....   

Thoughts on O Kadhal Kanmani

• Let me get this out of the way first. I was one of the few people who thought Kadal was a good idea gone horribly wrong. I thought I liked it, but saw it again after a few months and hated it. I loved Nayagan at first, then thought it was meh for a while, then went back to liking it. Reverse with Alaipayuthey. That's how Mani's movies are for me. Sort of dynamic. By dynamic, what I mean is that my reaction to his movies depends on my mood at that time. I feel OKK is the first Mani movie since Iruvar which I will like irrespective of my mood/mindset. It's a pleasant, breezy entertainer aimed at multiplex audiences. The sort of movie Karan Johar probably started out to make but ended up with < Any movie with Imran Khan >  .

• All the Mani touches are in full flow. The fast cuts, the sparse lighting, the razor sharp dialogues (Vera Enenamo Paathen Bathroom la), the trains, the buses, the cutting_of_songs_to_fit_the_narrative. 

• The usage of environment to tell a story is another thing Mani does brilliantly. The framing in some of the shots by PC is outstanding. The shot of Dulqer through the train door right when the train comes to a standstill is a perfect example. Take the scene where Tara and Adi talk to each other for the first time. In the foreground, we have 2 people who are saying their wedding vows to each other, at the background we have Adi and Tara meeting cute. Their dialogues and the wedding vows are almost in sync but Adi and Tara are talking about how marriage sucks. I found the contrast to be very interesting there. 

• ARR has outdone himself with the BGM and the music. Never thought Theera Ulla will be the song that will stay with me after the movie. Usage of Naane Varugiren and Aye Sinamika top notch. Some parts reminded me of VTV BGM.

• Aye Sinamika's placement is particularly interesting. It starts off when Tara goes away for few days and Adi misses her. The "Nee Ponaal Kavithai Anaadhika" part is played when he is missing her and there are shots of empty rooms, etc. The "Aye Sinamika, Seerum Sinamika" part is played when she is angry with him, Sinam Konda Penn. Perfect. I am particularly glad because of what happened to the songs in Kadal.

• The animation portions are things Mani would have never done before, good to see him moving forward with the times. Also, nothing but good things to say about the acting. Prakash Raj helicopter-shots it out of the park with a masterclass. Look out for the subtle change of emotions he displays when his wife is enjoying Tara's singing. Pure class. Dulquer is playing these chocolate boy characters very well. Hope he doesn't become the Imran Khan of the south. 

Thoughts on Onaayum Aatukuttiyum...

What can I say about Mysskin. He, according to me is one of the most promising directors around. Anjathey is one of my favorite films. Ever. His way of narrating a scene/story is absolutely unique and that makes him in my eyes the Anurag Kashyap of the south. And Mysskin is back with vengeance in Onayum Aatukuttiyum. The Mysskin who presents his own eccentric visual style in an audience pleasing package. Not the Mugamoodi Mysskin. To be honest, I thought Mugamoodi was a disaster. It had its moments, but overall I felt it was flat and tried too hard to entertain.

I will need to watch the movie a few more times to really get the feel of it, but here are some initial observations/thoughts.

Like Tarantino's car bonnet shots or Mani's slow motion songs, Myskin too has these trademark pet fetishes which he uses in all his movies. They are all there in OA. Karuppu Kannadis, Handicapped(Blind) characters, the loner protagonists, the "single-handedly-killing-5-armed-enemies" heroism, the gratitious violence (though, slightly toned down), etc.

Naming the protagonist Chandran when the villain is named Wolf is surely not random. During the full moon, the wolf usually becomes a were wolf. But here, in the presence of Chandran the wolf is more like a lamb. Typical Mysskin.

Ilayaraja's BGM. No words. Particularly the train station scene. Mind blowing stuff.

Some of the tamil movies this year have been unbelievably good. Soodhu Kavvum, Neram, etc. But Onayum Aatukuttiyum blows them all out of contention. This is one of the best tamil movies I have seen since Hey Ram. The level of depth in scene setting, BGM, allegories, motifs, will need multiple viewings to decipher completely.

3 of a kind...

We all know the genius of Ilayaraja. We know he can make brilliant music.  This post is not just about the musical genius of the man. That's well known. This post is an analysis about how he is able to adapt his genius musical skill and apply it to various situations in film music. It is about adaptability. His prowess on Kalyani, Natabhairavi, Keeravani, etc is well known. There are countless songs on every situation imaginable in those ragams. I am choosing a different ragam/set of ragams to illustrate his genius in this regard. To customize the ragam for specific situations and song-feel is one thing, but the ease with which Raaja maintains the strict ordering and ethos of the ragam whilst customizing has to be admired.

The songs I have chosen to demonstrate his genius are based on the ragam Hamsanadham/Shudh Sarang/Saaranga Thaarangini. All 3 ragams are very close to each other musically and there is lot of conjecture on which of the songs is set in which ragam. Technically they are not the same Raagam, but for the purposes of the post I am taking some creative liberty. :)

The first situation is a quintessential 'Mike' Mohan Romantic duet. The song is Thendral Vanthu Ennai Thodum from the movie Thendrale Ennai Thodu.

Ilayaraja was the champion of the Hamsanadham/Shudh Saarang/Saaranga Tharangini cause in tamil film music. There had been a few like this MSV-TKR gem from Karnan but it was Raaja who started getting lots of songs out based on this Raga(s) during his creative peak (Pretty much all of 1980s). One of his first forays in this ragam is Thendral vandhu ennai thodum. The notes of Hamsanadam are given out explicitly right away in the form of the prelude guitar notes. The Pallavi is a breath of fresh air in the voices of S Janaki and KJY. Smooth and breezy. Immensely likeable.
The 1st interlude starts of with a violin piece and quickly transitions to veenai and ends with a brilliant flute piece. The ascending violins at 'Maarbil saayum bodhu' is another brilliant touch.
As with most Raaja songs, the piece de resistance comes in the 2nd interlude :
Starts off simple enough with a layer of flutes over a layer of violins. Suddenly the flutes are replaced with voice with both male and female voices singing the same notes off-key with respect to each other. The cherry on top of the awesomeness that is this interlude is the ending violin piece with the perfect landing note for the 2nd charanam. Pure Wizardry.

This is Raaja using H/ST/SS to great effect in a conventional romantic duet. Now let's look at another situation.

The 2nd situation is a song from the Mani Ratnam directed Geethanji. The song is Om Namaha. This is a song which conveys Passion mixed with a tinge of sadness. The story is that both the heroine and hero know they have a terminal illness and are going to die soon. But are passionately in love with each other. So there is passion for each other, but pathos because they know they cannot be together for long. The Hero gives into his feelings and expresses his love. The heroine is happy but she still wants to make sure that the hero means what he says. So she asks him again. He says, 'Listen to my heartbeat' and that's the rhythm section of the song. One cannot not be amazed at the simplicity and depth of that choice. Just one word. Genius.
The Pallavi is a simple but engaging one structured as a tonally non-harmonic back and forth between the male and female voices. Unlike most Raaja songs there is minimal instrumentation in this song. A bell here, a violin there, a flute here and there. The Pathos of the tune is brought out beautifully by the flute in the absolutely stunning 2nd interlude. If you notice carefully, the ending notes of the first interlude gives away the tune of the Charanams. That's just Raaja's way of being a little naughty.  :)
Since the orchestration is minimal, the singing has to be top-notch. Even though I am not a huge fan of Mano, he is pretty consistent if not a little nasal in this song. But Janaki just eats him up for breakfast, lunch and dinner with her rendition. Pitch Perfect. She is by the best female playback singer this country has produced. (No offence to Lata or Chitra) The way she stretches the mmmmm in Om!! is so soothing. Knowing Raaja, i would think it was by design. :)
In the video, the hero and heroine's passion for each other takes their breath away. Raaja's music has a similar effect on the listeners as well. :)

So that was Raaja expressing Passion and pathos using ST/H/SS. Let's look at another situation.

The 3rd and last example is a song from a Malayalam movie called Guru. The song's name is Minnaram Maanathu. This is an underrated classic from one of Raaja's best Malayalam albums. Here the situation is the feeling of first love the heroine feels for the hero and the accompanying sudden outpouring of emotion.
Yet again the Ragam is explicitly given out in the opening strains of the song, Sujatha is in brilliant form as she is completely at ease with the tune and scale. Raaja has composed before for such situations. This song comes to mind. Incidentally, It was sung by a 14 year old Sujatha. :)
The 1st interlude flows along predictably until the end where Raaja wields his magic wand and surprises us
with a short burst of flute and some percussion which sets up the rhythm for the 1st charanam. The rhythm beat changes again during the course of the charanam and the charanam ends with no percussion/rhythm. Pure unbridled Genius.
P.S Raaja has done something similar in another malayalam song. This is a song called Ghana Shyama. There are 4 rhythm changes during the course of each verse. In the hands of anyone else, the harmony would go for a toss. To keep the tune together amidst such wild rhythm changes is god-level.

So, there we have it. 3 songs. 3 (almost) different eras. 3 different situations. Same raagam(s) which work perfectly with all 3 situations. What can you say about the talent. No words. Just sit back and admire. :)

Tale of 2 songs...

Ilayaraja has been called many things. God. Greatest composer of all time. Isaignani. He is all that and more. The creative output he has in 4 languages is unparalleled. Here are 2 gems from his Kannada collection. What amazes me about him is his longevity. One song is from a 1981 Dr. Raj movie (Incidentally sung by Rajkumar himself) called Nee Nannu Gellalre and the other is from a 1997 Shivrajkumar (Rajkumar's son) movie called Nammora Mandara Hoove. 2 amazing songs. One for the father and one for the son.

Sometimes you listen to a striking song somewhere (mostly on FM or while having lunch in some hotel) and wonder about the song. Which movie is it from? Who is the singer? Who is the music director? One of those songs is the first song of this post. Jeeva Hoovagidhe. I remember listening to this song once on FM and searching for it online by searching for terms from the lyrics. :P
What.A.Song. It has all the trademark Raaja-isms. Congo drums, Strong bass line, sweeping interludes, catchy tune, brilliant singing by Dr. Raj. Tough to find another sing with so much throw. Just superb.
Listen to the first interlude to understand what I mean. The trademark violins (Pure genius) give way to an acoustic guitar sequence (which reminded me of the interludes from Ilaya Nila) and ends with some sort of a tabla-synthesizer sequence. Bliss.

The next one is a sort of folk-ish number with the usual SPB awesomeness. Halli Lavaniyalli. There is a strong undercurrent of Bass in this song. The first interlude is absolutely divine with the flute beginning, supplemented by a strong bass and some female chorus. The first charanam follows with some vocal to and fro between SPB and the female chorus. Brilliant. Lots of choral work again happens in the 2nd interlude. 2nd charanam has SPB again taking up the "gamagams" with ease and just being his usual self. Raaja gives us a lesson in how to use voices interspersed with instruments to create intricate interludes.

2 songs. 2 different eras. For father and son. 2 absolute classics.

_/\_

P.S Raaja's Kannada repertoire is quite awesome. Geetha IMO is one of his all time best albums.

Raja in the Bay Area

So, the long overdue Bay Area Raja concert finally happened on March 1st (though it ended on Match 2nd :P). As usual, Raja put up a musical spectacle. As he himself said during the concert, he is a musician, not a showman. I could go on and on about the 4.5 hour non-stop musical awesomeness but I am going to pick out only a few highlights from the magical evening.

• As with most (or all? not sure) Raja concerts, he got off the mark with a thumping cover drive in the form of the divine Janani Janani. There is something about his voice and this song. Magical. He also sang Swargame Vandhalum Endralum and Thenpandi Cheemaiyile. His rendition of Idhayam Oru Kovil was one of the high-points of the show. His voice is so sincere. Beautiful. :)
• SPB got a splendid Tendulkar-esque reception from the crowd. I am not sure if I heard right, but he said something about how fans have been asking him and Raja to do a concert together and finally it has happened. 
• Hariharan's entry was also met with warm applause and lots of hooting and whistling. He started off with the Hey Ram classic Isayil Thodangudhama. Super choice of song. 
• Chitra entered the stage to a standing ovation from the crowd. 6 National awards. By her own estimate, over 1000 songs sung for Ilayaraja (Not sure about this). Absolute Legend. She started off with the Agni Natchathiram hit Ninnukori and sang many songs with SPB and Mano. I was surprised that there were no songs from Sindhu Bhairavi. I was expecting at least one.  
• I thought the night belonged to the SPB and Raja combination. Started off with the Telugu classic Mounamelanoyi (Mounamana Neram in Tamil) then went on to the telugu version of Maasi Maasam. Then came one of the highlights of the evening : Ilamai enum Poongatru. One of Raja's greatest songs. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Chitra joins him to belt out the Telugu version of Unnal Mudiyum Thambi's Ithazhil Kathai Ezhuthum. Amazing. After a small breather, the SPB-Raja awesomeness continued with some of their best Telugu songs. Really liked this one : Keeravani. The awesomeness continued with the full version of Sundari Kannal and fittingly ended with a spirited rendition of Sagara Sangama/Salagai Oli's Thakita. The SPB-Raja combo never fails. :)
• Another highlight of the evening was the Jugalbandhi of Hindolam songs. These songs were all sung back to back and were sung in such a way that 1 song nicely linked to the other. Raja started off with Naan thedum sevanthi Poo and then Hariharan took over with Azhagu Malar aada. SPB then continued with Naanaga Naanillai thaaye and then ended with Ananda Then Kaaatru. Neat. 
• Last but not the least, the Acapella. Naan Porandhu Vandhadhu. Beautifully done.

A Raja concert is a must-see for all Raja fans. Didn't look at my watch even once during the 4.5 hours. I just thought Yuvan and Karthik could have been used better. Maybe a song or 2 from Neethane En Ponvasantham would have been nice. But there is only so much you can do in 4.5 hours. :D