July Maadham Vandhaal - Get grooving!

This song is just sheer joy. A throwback to ARRs good old early days as a composer where he used to churn out one hit after another along with effortlessly touching upon a multitude of genres. This particular movie Puthiya Mugam didn't fetch the requisite rewards due to being a dampener at the silver screen but the entire soundtrack is curated with exceptionally decorated gems. 

The bits of music that are consecrated across this particular composition is simply pure delight. You just feel like dancing with ecstasy every time the guitar tugs the heart strings with it's superlative phrases. The ample feel good factor is evident across the entire piece.

The song also captures Colombo City in it's mighty glory. My formative years were spent in this beautiful country of Sri Lanka and seeing depictions of Galface, Taj Samudra, BMICH, Independence Square, Buddha Temple etc. bring back fond memories. 

It's the interlude which really blows away in this song with the guitar showcasing it's mastery. The guitar also doubles up as a call & response technique and the riveting interlude portion is an absolute feast. Also not to mention SPB's flawless rendition giving it the much desired zeal. 

I tried attempting a bit of the interlude followed by the charanam and pallavi on the veena. First time trying out the 3rd string to capture the bass element.  Just hope I've been able to capture a miniscule bit of the magic this song is laced upon in all it's vigor.

Malargale - Blooming Musical Flowers!

I always have a sugary soft corner especially with regard to ARR's early day compositions. Growing up, it was almost a ritual to get absorbed in his music in some way or other. He had taken the city of Madras by storm with his sound coming across as not only new age but also endearingly refreshing.

The melody content was sweet and he was always certain of hitting the right chords thereby finding a way into many a youth's heart. The 90s style of music from the junction box of ARR especially the melodic numbers had a honey coated tenderness to it that usually got one flayed and caught up sucking the nectar. 'Malargale Malargale' is a vintage melody that has always been attractive and establishes itself as a charming composition. The charanam portion especially with the subtle gamakas, zigzag phrases and jumpy notes transgressing across octaves adds such a vibrant touch. The lyrics indicate the flowers telling a dream and the music supports it by painting a swirling canvas encapsulated with varied emotional hues.

Just attempted a little portion of the number beginning with my favorite Charanam portion and clawing back thereby to the Pallavi and also mildly straddling along to this hard hitting western bit that gives another contrasting complexion. Today marks 28 years of the entry of the man who captured the generation of the 90s with his swayful music making his debut with Roja which hit silver screens on this very day on the 15th of August 1992. May the music continue to meritoriously mesmerize.

SRK 90s Quarantine Quiz!

With the Quarantine season getting longer, the nostalgia from yore also gets re kindled with lots of time at home and reminiscing about the childhood glory days. Music always had a role to play growing up and the numbers from King Khan's movies had a nostalgic element entwined to it. They were largely eye catching and tended to have an appeal of it's own. Hence a thought to do a quick quarantine quiz tribute to SRK by paying homage to few of his selective wonders from the good old evergreen 90's.

Listed below are clips of songs played along with answers for the SRK Insta Quarantine 90's quiz. I am just referencing them as Song #1,2,3 etc up to 10 and deliberately refraining from naming the song till the very end so as to enable those interested can take a crack at the number from the little bit that has been played.

Song #1
This one was a musical blockbuster on all fronts and virtually every song from the soundtrack hit the bull's eye. A much celebrated album of it's time. This one's a lustrous melody and has a really catchy tone to it.

Song #2
This one has SRK in a baddie avatar and a role which he reveled immensely. This is more in the lines of a dance number with a peppy tune to back up.

Song #3
A mushy sugary sweet number in the background of a lush meadow with SRK romancing the heroine forms the base of this song. A movie which identifies with his moniker but didn't really set the cash registers ringing.

Song #4
This soundtrack would stake claim to be one of the best musical outputs of the 90's. The songs of this movie took the nation by storm. This particular song is high on energy and intensity.

Song #5
Negative shades of King Khan got exhibited in a major way in this release. This particular number is extremely hard hitting but the interesting thing is it slows down at intervals giving it a diverse variation.

Song #6
The songs from this film were quite popular though the fate of the movie turned otherwise. Foreign locales with King Khan being in his elements in this one.

Song #7
Easily one of the biggest super duper successful jubilee breaking hits from the attic of SRK. This movie catapulted him to all time greatness. The song is largely a heroine oriented song and set to a fast paced melody.

Song #8
This can be considered to be one of his earliest releases. A small time boy making it big in the industry and kind of akin to his real story. This one's a flowing melody packed with a lot of fun quotient.

Song #9
This film has a flavour of patriotism associated with it. Again one of the finest albums of the 90's where almost all of the songs ended up being pretty popular. This one is pulse driven and of the get set go variety.

Song #10
An immensely popular dance number portraying King Khan in a funky avatar. This one's of the hip hop kind setting your feet to tap in unknowingly and automatically.

And now time to divulge the answers for the SRK 90s Quarantine Quiz:
1) Bholi Si Surat - Dil To Pagal Hai (1997)
2) Yeh Khali Khali Aankhen - Baazigar (1993)
3) Humko Deewane - Baadshah (1999)
4) Dil Se Re - Dil Se (1998)
5) Tu Mere Saamne - Darr (1993)
6) Ek Shararat - Duplicate (1998)
7) Mere Khwabon Mein - Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
8) Anna Mere - Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naan (1993)
9) Yeh Dil - Pardes (1997)
10) Koi Mil Gaya - Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)

ARR 90's Quarantine Quiz!

Since it being the season of lock down and not much to do except being quarantined, an idea struck to use music as a tool to engage myself and perhaps a few others as well. Also the quarantine seemed to infuse a lot of the 90's memories and I thought what better way than entrusting good old AR Rahman songs by pulling them up from his 90's archives. Thus, I played bits of pieces from ARR compositions from a mobile key app which were mostly from the Charanam or Interludes portion and ended up creating a musical quiz with the same.

Listed below are clips of songs played along with answers for the ARR Insta Quarantine 90's quiz. I am just mentioning them as Song #1,2,3 etc up to 10 and deliberately refraining from naming the song till the very end so that those interested can take an educative guess 😊.

1) Song # 1
Starting proceedings with a song that swept the city of Madras with its razor turbo electronic beats. It was a cult classic and back in the day it had everyone swaying to it as it had the enigma to set the dance floors ablaze.

2) Song # 2
This album was topped with chart busters. However this one is a more melody driven number and happens to be an eternal favorite.

3) Song # 3
This album is studded with gems. Couple of songs are unimaginable melodies. The soundtrack also possesses a Brazilian Samba number but this particular one describes a season 😃. A high octane number with brilliant guitar play.

4) Song # 4
This particular composition is from a mainstream popular movie but somehow this song seems to have been lost in the wind and not talked about much. In essence, it happens to be a really soulful number.

5) Song # 5
This song was an out and out chart topper. it was very popular back in the days in shows such as Pepsi Ungal Choice. This particular portion however is an eerie bit which stealthily creeps in the middle of the number. Take your best shot 😀.

6) Song # 6
This one's an immensely peppy dance number. The costumes unravel a swirl of colors like a rainbow 😃. Any clue about the song would end up being an easy give away but the lyrics of the song however loosely resembles the prevailing quarantine environment 😅

7) Song # 7
I personally believe that this would be the hardest of the lot to guess. The song as such is from a renowned movie but this fleeting bit seeps through in the middle of the composition. Take your best guess 😆.

8) Song # 8
We go back to the good old ARR days. Such a simple song but so much of sweetness smothered all over that you cannot but not fall for it. An evergreen refreshing melody!.

9) Song # 9
This is from an obscure film. Even hardcore ARR fans seem to be unaware of this soundtrack. The song is a lilting melody and you can feel the heart warming effect wrenched all over this beauty💓.

10) Song # 10
And finally the last from the series. This was a masterclass of an album where each of the songs are studs in their own right. Definitely this soundtrack can claim to one of the finest from ARR's staple. This particular composition is soaked and rinsed in melody ♯.

And now time to reveal the answers for the ARR 90s Quarantine Quiz:
1) Chikku Bukku Rayile - Gentleman (1993)
2) Putham Pudhu Bhoomi - Thiruda Thiruda (1993)
3) July Madham - Puthiya Mugam (1993)
4) Kollaiyile Thenai Vaithu - Kadhalan (1994)
5) Vennilave - Minsara Kanavu (1997)
6) Thillana Thillana - Muthu (1995)
7) Varayo Thozhi - Jeans
8) Pennala Pennala - Uzhavan
9) Azhagu Nilavu - Pavithra (1994)
10) En Kadhale - Duet (1994)

Chai Galli - Eminently Desi with a twist!

'Chai Galli' plays it simple and yields the desired results. It capitalises on age old traditions, masala and flavours to bring about a glorified confluence celebrating the vintage in a modern redefined avatar. It brings to light popular street food from various regions across India with a cutting edge. The best part is you would find that local essence intact giving it a lovely old school feel. They have also innovated to varying degrees by blending Indian with Indian as also other cuisines to add a diverse portfolio.

From the moniker, it's pretty clear that tea is the most prominent factor. Tea is the most consumed beverage across India and it has a history to the way it's made, viewed and drank in different parts of the country. The beverage epitomises a local element and it's in petty shops that it's most popular with loud dance music playing at the background. They've captured this beautifully by serving them in those small glass shots retaining the flavour with the presence of loud epoch Bollywood music playing from yesteryear. Movies play a major role in the ambiance setup and you would find wall arts depicting posters of popular movies from down the years.

Food, music and movies are perhaps the 3 most loved things in the country and kudos that they've been able to make justice to it and in fact with the setup and ambiance, pay quite a homage to these ever loved delights. I admired the fact that they could put this across rather well without sounding too obtrusive and on your face. It's been carved out artistically and you wouldn't call it as being over the top with the interiors. It appears larger than life but yet within limits and not too garish. The colour combinations have been used very well and you'll surely associate with the bright spots paying tribute to the colour and retro era from around the 60's onwards.

What they have in their attic to consume is quite a lot. Apart from the traditional fare, innovation is the name of the game here. Tea occupied almost a third of the menu with variants of classic, capturing borders - from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, western touch with imported flavours, green tea, black tea, white tea and even handcrafted ones. They also have iced versions and for that tete a tete, a few coffee varieties also along with oolong tea and those classic drinks ranging from Shikanji, kokam, masala soda etc. There was too much to try but I would suggest you give a shot at one of the authentic classical ones. We had the Adrak chai with parle G biscuit and it was quite an effect drinking it held up in small glass containers. The hibiscus tea which a mild majanta colour to it was invigorating and in the iced kind, the Bulldozer which is a chilled drink drawing upon the combination of ice tea and red bull was kick ass and killer, just about ideal for the scorching heat.

They have a section "Chai ke murmur dost" which underlines the accompaniments that go along with your tea. They had further sub sections highlighting on the shandaar (popular), chatpata (crispy), samosa/vada pav alternatives, puchka shots and pakhoda and Baaki sab (everything else). We tried two of the pani puri shots viz Namkeen and a Corn based one which was enjoyable. It was served with a twist as the puri's in the former were ballooned up with a sweet/salt mixture and the latter had a gregarious coating of cheese with tartlets of corn inside. The absolute stunner from the chai's company side, well and truly happened to be the Dal pakwaan. It was absolutely delectable with flavourful lentils on top of a papad base and soaked with a sweet as well as savoury tinge and topped with salad veggies. The poha layered on a papad base somehow didn't appease me much.

The main course section is categorised as "Khana Shuru" which loosely translates as start the food. We had an aloo paratha which was well made with nice stuffings of potato inside that comes with a tomato & chilli dip. The Tadke wali maggi with zing of fried onions was quite lovely to slurp. In pizza's, the Italian flag which is the usual expectant pizza was quite nice but what took the cake was the concocted one in the form of the 'Veggies on a Khakra' which in the sense is the marrying of pizza and khakra infusing italian pizza ingredients over a quintessential Indian crisp khakra base. This Gujarati classic corks up a feast with a melange of sauces, spices and veggies generously spread along making the eating experience both crispy and crunchy. The pink sauce panther pasta was another winner as it had all the ammunition to rise to the top being creamy with just the right amount of herbs and spices to go along with exotic ingredients like broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini and garlic.

The final finale was no less. The watermelon juice was of the usual kind. I took a liking to the dry fruit falooda which was bunched with a pleasing degree of assortments and also being creamy on the bottom layer. The chikku cream had that sappota twang right on the button and you could feel the flavour hitting on every spoon. However the outright starlet in the dessert section was the "Chai Galli special falooda". It had a perfect motley of fruit, sweet and nuts with the texture and thickness being bang on. It was a delectation decorated to devour. Easily would say, one of the best falooda's I've ever had.

On the whole, Chai Galli turned out to be really pleasing and engaging. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if you fall in love with the place. I had a personal connect with the decorations and the music playing in the background which had a lot to do with the 90's which is in sync to my growing up childhood phase. The service was quick witted and they were more than willing to help us with our choices. The prices won't worry you much as they are all rated within the normal border range.

This place would surely ignite a tinge of nostalgia within you. Your love for Bollywood and happy loud good ol music will be satiated here. It's lovely the way they have captured and brought in all these quirky elements within the minimalistic surrounding environment. It definitely felt nice visiting this outlet and if you're the one looking for some shiz in a local langoti set-up, 'Chai Galli' is your direction forward.