The Mani Instinct

My last blogpost was on ARR's birthday. :D This year too I start off with a ARR post.
Mani and AR Rahman have been my favourite artists ever since I started to understand art. So it is only fitting that I write a blogpost about the both of them. Also its ARR's birthday today and I put a Mani Ratnam movie marathon last week since I just graduated and had a lot of free time. So I thought what can I write about? What is left to write about Mani and ARR. The evergreen combo. The combo which has delivered hit after hit starting with Roja and continuing with Kadal. What motivates ARR to make such path-breaking music for Mani? I mean when you listen to both Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Kadal, you can feel the gulf. JTHJ seems to be hastily put together wheras Kadal seems lovingly made. ARR has made lots of awesome songs for lots of movies. Why do we remember his Mani Ratnam ones most fondly? Is there something more to it? Maybe its the picturization, maybe its how Mani writes the songs into the script, maybe Mani is like MSD, inspires the whole team to perform better. It could be any of these things. You could call it the Mani instinct like the Raghavan instinct ;)
I personally feel its the picturization. Mani Ratnam shoots his songs brilliantly. So, here is a list of some of the best shot Mani-ARR songs.

1. Chinna chinna Aasai : The song which catapulted ARR to superstardom. There is a shot of the rising sun in the beginning of the song. Maybe Mani knew even then that a legend was rising. Simple tune, with limited instruments. It was a marked departure from the Raaja era which had sweeping symphonies and intricate interludes. The childlike innocence and dreams of the heroine were captured beautifully by Mani and expressed superbly by Vairamuthu's lyrics. The tune has a beautiful steady flow, much like the waterfall which is a prominent part of the video. Musically, I especially love the small bits of Veenai in the middle. ARR's genius shines through in small things like that.

2.  Thee thee :  Absolute cracker of a song. Its strange that a action thriller had so many songs. Mani has always had a very aesthetic way of shooting sensual songs. Most of Mani's movies have songs with mildly risque lyrics. But Mani shoots these songs with so much sensitivity that it doesn't seem to be vulgar at all. (Oru Poongavanam, Pani Vizhum Iravu, Kadhal Sadugudu, Humma Humma, Pudhu Vellai Mazhai). The picturization of the song is consistent with the character played by Anu Agarwal. A very outspoken modern city girl who is comfortable with her sexuality, polar opposite to the role played by Heera. Beautifully sung by Caroline and with beautiful flute interludes. Instant classic.
P.S Rasathi is also a splendidly shot song. I guess one of the few acapella songs in tamil. We can see the marked difference in the way it has been shot compared to the free-spirited nature of Thee Thee.


3. Kannai Katti : I think Iruvar is one of Mani's strongest movies. The perfect amalgam of commercial and parallel cinema. Having 2 of the best actors in India at his disposal also helped I guess. Kannai Katti is an absolute bliss to listen to and watch. We see the trademark Mani touches like rain and slow-motion. And Mohan lal does a better MGR than MGR himself. Beautifully shot with tongue in cheek references to the propaganda movies which MGR used to make. Hariharan is an interesting choice by ARR. He is usually used for slow romantic melodies, but ARR decides to use him for an anthemic song which seems tailor-made for SPB. Nevertheless, we got to see the another side of Hariharan. Also, has Aishwarya Rai ever looked better than in Iruvar? I don't think so. :)__


4. Dil Se Re : I think Dil Se is one of Rahman's all time best albums. Every song is a gem. Pity the movie was the weakest of the terrorism trilogy. But the soundtrack and especially Dil Se Re is a winner. Music, Lyrics, Singing, Picturization. Everything just falls in place. The moral dilemma of the heroine is depicted beautifully. There is a scene where SRK says whatever he dislikes about her is what draws him towards her. Excellent writing. This kind of passion intrigues her. She is flattered that there is someone who loves her with so much passion. She wants to be part of something like this but doesn't want betray her fellow comrades. The turmoil in her mind is expressed beautifully by Mani's picturization and Gulzar's lyrics.


5. Evano Oruvan : Pachai Nirame and Kaadhal Sadugudu are the usual suspects in Alaipayuthey. But I will go with Evano Oruvan here. To get the real feel of this song, we need to go back 5 minutes in the movie before the song plays. Months of pent up emotion explodes like a volcano when they hear each other's voice over the phone. Beautiful scene. The song takes forward the emotions of pathos and yearning amazingly well. I love how Shalini just breaks down on seeing Madhavan at the end of the song. Minimalism at its best. No drama. Apparently Mani wanted Alaipayuthey to be a songless movie. Thank God he decided otherwise.

6. Hey Goodbye Nanba : Slow-motion, Minimalism, Young love, Sea, Water, Vairamuthu. Who needs Peru, London, Kashmir when you have the friendly neighbourhood beach. Typical Mani.

There are lot more songs I can write about. The Raaja-Mani combo also has many classics. But that deserves a separate blog post. Another day. :)