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

Perfect Play of Beauty & Divinity - Sri Ranga Ranga Nathanin Padham

'Hamsadhwani' is an eternally ethereal ragam. It is a simple pentatonic scale comprising just 5 syllables 'Sa Ri2 Ga3 Pa Ni3' derived from Shankarabaranam but immanently feels like a variant of Kalyani as it is steeped in divinity which more or less falls in the heavenly hegemony of the latter. It has a contagious charm to it and seems like the apt scale to light up an occassion due to it's auspicious effect. Many of us have the habit of inaugurating any new work we begin with a Ganesha symbol and in the same vein most of the kritis pertaining to the Lord tend to usher in only from the resplendent and full of fervour ragam that is Hamsadhwani.

This particular song however is lyrically penned in veneration to Lord Sri Ranganatha Perumal. The Lord's birth star is believed to be Revathi Nakshatra and it's also the star in which Venus gets exalted rightfully at the feet of the Kalapurusha as that's where Goddess Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu is always set to reside and hence becomes extremely powerful. It's a perfect play of beauty and divinity going hand in hand.

The song Sri Ranga Ranga Nathanin though predominantly set in Hamsadhwani uses slight traces to deviate from the same especially in the pallavi portion. But however there is no such compromise in the charanam which is pristinely pure Hamsadhwani and you can starkly feel the essence of it in all it's glory. I attempted a small hand at the middle tranche of this number from where it connects back to the Pallavi. In no way is it anywhere near the verve that this number connotes but I've always wanted to try this miniscule segment out and on what better day I suppose than when the moon lit sky be adorned with the fulcrum of delicacy depicting Revathi Nakshatra invoking the divinity of Hamsadhwani raga and seeking the blessings of Lord Vishnu.

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Hamsadhwani is an eternally ethereal ragam. It is a simple pentatonic scale comprising just 5 syllables 'Sa Ri2 Ga3 Pa Ni3' derived from Shankarabaranam but immanently feels like a variant of Kalyani as it is steeped in divinity which more or less falls in the heavenly hegemony of the latter. It has a contagious charm to it and seems like the apt scale to light up an occassion due to it's auspicious effect. Many of us have the habit of inaugurating any new work we begin with a Ganesha symbol and in the same vein most of the kritis pertaining to the Lord tend to usher in only from the resplendent and full of fervour ragam ie Hamsadhwani. This particular song however is lyrically penned in veneration to Lord Sri Ranganatha Perumal. The Lord's birth star is believed to be Revathi Nakshatra and it's also the star in which Venus gets exalted rightfully at the feet of the Kalapurusha as that's where Goddess Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu is always set to reside and hence becomes extremely powerful. It's a perfect play of beauty and divinity going hand in hand. The song Sri Ranga Ranga Nathanin though predominantly set in Hamsadhwani uses slight traces to deviate from the same especially in the pallavi portion. But however there is no such compromise in the charanam which is pristinely pure Hamsadhwani and you can starkly feel the essence of it in all it's glory. I attempted a small hand at the middle tranche of this number from where it connects back to the Pallavi. In no way is it anywhere near the verve that this number connotes but I've always wanted to try this miniscule segment out and on what better day I suppose than when the moon lit sky be adorned with the fulcrum of delicacy that is Revathi Nakshatra invoking the divinity of Hamsadhwani raga and seeking the blessings of Lord Vishnu. #Sriranga #Mahanadhi #Hamsadhwani #ragam #divine #beauty #eternal #ethereal #blessing #1994 #Kamal #IR #evergreen #goodoldays

A post shared by Rajiv Shankar (@rajiv_revel) on Apr 21, 2020 at 6:58am 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

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)