Mouna Ragam Trio - Pani Vizhum, Mandram Vandhu & Nilave Vaa

Mouna Ragam is an absolutely special movie and rightfully termed as a cult classic. The soundtrack is bejeweled with studs aplenty with each song showcasing some sort of brilliance or other. Also there is no describable level in which one can pay homage to the re-recording which elevates the scenes to such a meteoric manner.

On the occasion of it hitting 35 years since it's day of release on 15th Aug 1986, I just decided to try a small hand at playing bits of my 3 favorite pieces from this momentous soundtrack namely Pani Vizhum Iravu, Mandram Vandhu and Nila Ve Vaa. These just happen to be little phrases covering mostly the middle and opening portions and just randomly connecting the dots to straddle from one portion to another. It's just my humble attempt to say thank you to the movie, music and memories. Remembering 35 years of the magic that is Mouna Ragam.

A Magnum Opus masterpiece - Poo Malaye Thol Serava

I was introduced to a major part of Maestro's music only much into the 2000s and one of the initial compositions that completely blew me bonkers was Poo Malaye Thol Serava from Pagal Nilavu. All sorts of pyrotechnics were happening and it seemed too unreal to be true.

This song taught me the meaning of counter point and how call & response lines should blend so bewitchingly. It feels like a western symphony smothered with a native element and the output created is nothing short of histrionic. 

Have always been awestruck as to how these counter melodies keep going side by side with the harmony uniting to create such a picture perfect unison. This is song construction at such an astounding level. The song IMO can be used as a typical illustration to teach a finance student the effect of how synergies are construed from the various layers at play. 

Today being World Music Day and all, I just tried attempting the prelude, postlude and interlude of this jaw dropping composition. This was difficult for me personally as it's way beyond my scope as the notes gallop and throttle around all over the place. But the sheer joy of attempting is what makes it worth it at the end of the day. #WorldMusicDay

'Kalyani' with a Twist - Sundari Kannal Oru Seyidhi & Nee Oru Kadhal Sangeetham

Whenever Raaja touches the raga scale 'Kalyani', there is an eerily divine human intervention that is so magical and totally transports you to experience an elevated phenomenon that simple feels out of this world. Every stroke of it is seeped in mastery that exudes magnificence. 

The thing with Kalyani songs of Ilaiyaraaja is that they also tend to be experimental at times. Kalyani is a very pure ragam and used to denote auspiciousness especially. It doesn't really offer scope for twitches as it can go woefully wrong when not handled in the right fashion. But that's not applicable to the Maestro at least.

He has used it in it's most pristine form as well as broken the mould to convey various emotions through this mellifluous ragam that harps largely on the Prati Madhyamam (second Ma). The two songs showcased are not refined Kalyani's by any stretch of the imagination but yet the base of the ragam comes out in full furore due to the strong foundation created.

'Sundari Kannal Oru Seidhi' uses an alternative phrase of Ga and changes to 'Kosalam' for a wee bit which is a pretty rare ragam especially from the film songs parlance. 'Nee Oru Kadhal' breaches upon the Hindustani angle and borders on something called 'Shyam Kalyan' which has a robust Kalyani pedestal yet infuses it's own independent flavour. 

Just attempted a little portion of the charanam of these songs that can be christened exceptional experimental 'Kalyanis' with a twist. The music played maybe pretty amateur but the brilliance is certainly unquestionable.

Thoongatha Vizhigal - Raunchy & Mesmerizing Amruthavarshini

This one's a raunchy number set to Amrithavarshini Ragam. The song zips through in a rapturous rapid motion and keeps gathering momentum continuously. The interludes especially undergo a full monty prancing from one end of the horizon to the other and all of it happens within the blink of an eyelid.

The soundtrack as a whole is as divergent as it gets exploring and fusing varying genres and producing a tremendous sound output with each of the tunes also being musically enriching. They are at a faster tempo than usual and most of the numbers especially possess the ammunition of being ready made foot tapping chart busters.

I tried undertaking an attempt at the charanam division of Thoongatha Vizhigal and as you can invariably see the pace just keeps gathering inch by inch and jostles up suddenly where you would note Janaki Amma monarching her way towards unheralded territories touching the zenith before humbly coming back down to earth. It was pretty difficult to tackle those parts as the speed was a bit too yonder for my own inability. Anyways tried my level best within the limited capacity to march up to the frenetic turbo movement to stay in sync and not lose track. Hope the end result wasn't way too off the mark 🙂.

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This one's a raunchy number set to Amrithavarshini Ragam. The song zips through in a raptourous rapid motion and keeps gathering momentum continously. The interludes especially undergo a full monty prancing from one end of the horizon to the other and all of it happens within the blink of an eyelid. The soundtrack as a whole is as divergent as it gets exploring and fusing varying genres and producing a tremendous sound output with each of the tunes also being musically enriching. They are at a faster tempo than usual and most of the numbers especially possess the ammunition of being ready made foot tapping chartbusters. I tried undertaking an attempt at the charanam division of Thoongatha Vizhigal and as you can invariably see the pace just keeps gathering inch by inch and jostles up suddenly where you would note Janaki Amma monarching her way towards unheralded territories touching the zenith before humbly coming back down to earth. It was pretty difficult to tackle those parts as the speed was a bit too yonder for my own inability. Anyways tried my level best within the limited capacity to march up to the frenetic turbo movement to stay in sync and not lose track. Hope the end result wasn't way too off the mark 🙂. #song #music #Amrithavarshini #rain #IR #Maniratnam #Thoongathavizhigal #agninakshatram #1988

A post shared by Rajiv Shankar (@rajiv_revel) on Apr 24, 2020 at 7:10am PDT

Iconic Piece of Re-recording from Nayagan!

This is an iconic piece of re-recording from one of the most talked about movies in the annals of Indian cinema. There is something about this fleeting bit of music that spirals right through the center of the heart. The feel generated is so reverberative and filled to the brim with outpourings of passion. It just touches you so densely that you can actually sense the magic that is so captivating and inherently prevalent.

The BGM piece starts off with an arpeggio piece constantly whirring to give an intense emotion and then the melody unfolds played in a recorder with violins unfurling at the background in the form of a call & response pattern that will shake, stir and split the soul to smithereens. Just tried a couple of lines of this Magnum opus re-recording on the veena. It was certainly not possible to bring the desired effect but just a small takeaway that I tried 😊.

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This is an iconic piece of re-recording from one of the most talked about movies in the annals of Indian cinema. There is something about this fleeting bit of music that spirals right through the center of the heart. The feel generated is so reverbrative and filled to the brim with outpourings of passion. It just touches you so densely that you can actually sense the magic that is so captivating and inherently prevalent. The BGM piece starts off with an arpeggio piece constantly whirring to give an intense emotion and then the melody unfolds played in a recorder with violins unfurling at the background in the form of a call & response pattern that will shake, stir and split the soul to smithereens. Just tried a couple of lines of this Magnum opus re-recording on the veena. It was certainly not possible to bring the desired effect but just a small takeaway that I tried :). #bgm #rerecording #nayagan #1987 #Kamal #IR #music #bit #piece #whirr #recorder #veena #violins #background #unfurl #takeaway

A post shared by Rajiv Shankar (@rajiv_revel) on Apr 20, 2020 at 6:36am PDT

The best soundtrack from the Mani Ratnam - Ilayaraja duo!

Ah! This is an extremely hard proposition to nail down. It's almost like asking a mom to select the best of her kids. However zeroing on the options at hand, it's really hard to pick as each of the soundtracks had something or other going for them.

But narrowing down deeper, if I would have to select one album that truly defines the Mani-IR combo or even Tamizh cinema as a whole, I would have to go with Agni Natchathiram. The compositions were light years ahead of it's times and packed a punch by being way too uber cool.

The usage of drum kits came to the forefront with this album. The hep hipster version of Ninukori took the country by storm. It almost felt absurd to completely makeover an out and out carnatic composition in an all together new avatar but the result obtained was stupendous. The intro number Rajathi Raja was a trailblazer and Oru Poongavanam is a song which will make you float in air. Rojapoo Adivandhadhu was a monstrous composition with the bass bazooking from all sides and of course the seductive Thoongatha Vizhugal in Amrutha Varshini ragam is another scorching number.

The close competitors for this album include Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Thalapathi, Anjali and even the rather supposedly tame Pagal Nilavu and Idhaya Kovil which had very nice melodies as well as some foot tapping songs.

But for sheer versatility and dexterity, my unanimous vote goes to Agni Natchathiram, a revolutionary soundtrack for the ages. It still retains the impact and kick and that is likely to stay on forever.

Remembering 24 years of Anjali (1990)

Anjali is a special film in many ways. An emotional tearjerker showcasing the plight of a family dealing with a special child. The subtleties, poignancy and undercurrent prevailing are all wonderfully captured on Motion Picture. And the way it portrayed the community/colony style of living makes every child growing up in the 80's and 90's to really connect with the movie.

Above all it is the music which gives life to the scenes. The title music leaves a lump in your throat and is so powerful to even move a precipice, the end score shatters and breaks your heart into smithereens and all the pieces which come in between are so precisionly scored and timed elevating the movie viewing experience to another level. A masterpiece of a re-recording worth celebrating for eons, listen to the full Background score and relive the experience of the magical force behind this motion picture.

Remembering 24 years of Anjali which released on 12th July 1990!