Soft Love - Ennai Thaalatta Varuvaalo

When the movie Kadhalukku Mariyadhai hit the silver screens almost 3 decades back, it came as a refreshing change and was lapped up big time by the on goers. It set the box office on fire registering zinging collections well in excess of 30x of the value of investment.

The movie starred current Chief Minister of the state Vijay and his pair was the elegant Shalini who had made the shift from a child artist by playing her first major role as a senior artist. Vijay's image as a soft chocolate boy lover elevated his charm and managed to win hearts not just with his lady love in the film but also the audience in general who saw him as an upcoming love hero having given a string of hits in the romantic genre.

The songs carved out for this movie were magnificent with one number especially being the stand out in the form of Ennai Thaalatta Varuvalo. It's a song composed using the Madhyamam 'Ma' as the base note and gives such a soft soulful love feel even when listened to it today.

Attempted a small portion of this vintage lilting composition beginning from the Charanam and traversing back to the Pallavi. The melting lyrics were written by Palani Bharathi and rendered by the duo of Hariharan & Bhavadharini with music set to tune by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja. The movie title translates as 'Respect for Love' and this song truly pays homage to it in every little way.

Hey Jude - The Beatles

The Beatles were simply the toast of the nation back in the 60s. The hype was for real and Beatlemania witnessed crowds swooning in large numbers across the globe with the hysteria generated simply unprecedented. They remain a much loved band even today though it's been around a half century of years since they stopped collaborating together.

This date 18th June happens to be the Birthday of legendary songwriter Paul McCartney who turns 84. He along with John Lennon formed the fulcrum of the Beatles band forging a partnership producing classics standing across eternity. The 2 other members George Harrison and Ringo Starr gave the much needed fillip to transform the Beatles into being one of the greatest rock bands in history.

In commemoration of World Music Day on 21st June and in celebration of McCartney who rose from the Merseyside county of Liverpool, sharing a minor instrumental cover of the song 'Hey Jude'. Paul McCartney initially coined the number as "Hey Jules" as a comforting melody written in ode to the son of Lennon who was undergoing pain on account of his parents separation. Later the word 'Jule' was changed to 'Jude' as it sounded better and made more sense to the overall song structuring.

The Beatles will forever remain both Liverpool and the Universes pride for their churning of sheer incomparable quality of music that they conjured which continues to have a lasting impact even today.

Medley of Bharathiraaja-Ilaiyaraaja Combo

Bharathiraaja has helmed many a movie in various genres but one of the single most hallmark features of most of his films happens to be the music. The diversity, versatility and creativity that stems from the compositions of his cinema are simply a masterstroke of magnitude and magnificence.

Tamil Cinema has seen very many Director - Composer Duos team up to produce scintillating soundtracks in plenitude and one of the most esteemed pairing of excellence happens to be the combination of childhood friends Bharathiraaja and Ilaiyaraaja. They both started their careers in parallel and the movie cum music created by the duo in tandem from the late 70s to the mid 80s especially stands testimony to unquestionable brilliance.

Though Ilaiyaraaja has delivered plenty of spectacular compositions for many directors, the one's created for Bharatiraaja's can easily be considered to be top of the heap both in quantity and quality as well as even the divergence in genres. At one end of the spectrum you would see a classic folk tail piece and at the other end a whirlwind fast paced duet and in between interwoven with songs having a vintage western classical stamp as well as devotional golden carnatic sound scape.

As a small token of gratitude to the master craftsman, I attempted playing couple of lines of some of my favourite numbers from this awesome two some partnership which has produced such sterling classics from the times gone by. It was a sudden impromptu attempt that germinated as I was trying to recall some of the amazing tunes from the director's cut.

The songs from the movies include:

1) 16 Vayathinile - Senthoora Poove

2) Kizhakke Pogum Raiyil - Poovarasampoo

3) Sigappu Rojakkal - Indha Minminikku

4) Niram Maratha Pookal - Mudhal Mudhalaga

5) Nizhalgal - Madai Thirandhu

6) Alaigal Oyvathillai - Kadhal Oviyam

7) Tik Tik Tik - Idhu Oru Nila Kaalam

8) Kadhal Oviyam - Sangeetha Jadhi Mullai

9) Mann Vasanai - Pothi Vacha

10) Mudhal Mariyadhai - Rasave Unnai Nambi

Apart from these 10 movies, their association has also seen them working on few other films such as Puthiya Vaarpugal, Vaalibame Vaa Vaa, Puthumai Penn, Oru Kaidhiyin Dairy, Kadalora Kavithaigal, En Uyir Thozhan, Pudhu Nellu Pudhu Naathu and Nadodi Thendral.

This is just a micro mini sample of 10 songs from their alliance. One would easily be able to dish out over a three digit number of compositions from their allegiance that truly stands the test of time.

Muthumani Maalai - Indigenous folk with a twist

This song can be characterized as an indigenous composition uplifted by western classical elements but not one iota does it lose out on it's nativity. I have always been a big admirer of Raaja's folk based numbers. This is one genre that he has particularly redefined and literally made it his own by giving it a colour like no other. It sounds aghast intertwining touches of classicality to rustic earthy sounds but the output generated is simply a class apart.

This is another Sindhu Bhairavi laced number of the Maestro. The beauty of this stunner is the treatment of the swaras and the beautiful manner in which the alternate swaras of Rishabam and Madhyamam are brought upon to the mix.

The flow of the song is really adorable and gives such a feel good breezy effect when rendering it a listen. SPB and P Susheela elevate it a much further notch through their soul stirring singing. This is from the 1992 Pongal release Chinna Gounder which ran to housefull shows back in the day.

I loved playing this tune as its strewn with jewels aplenty and the bejeweled manner in which it's crafted. It may be a Naatu Pura Paattu by nativity but the song perse is all class personified having such a lustrous texture interlaced to it along with the subtle gamakas embedded that makes it an evergreen verdant green composition.

Scorcher of a Sindhu Bhairavi - Oru Naalum

When one digs at Maestro Ilaiyaraaja's oeuvre, it won't be a surprise to find that majority of his compositions would largely be set to tune in the ragam Sindhu Bhairavi. Even otherwise, that trademark resemblance (சாயல்) would be very evident. Probably it's a no brainer that this Ragam should definitely be one of his top most favourites. Incidentally he also composed for a movie titled by the same raga name of 'Sindhu Bhairavi' in the year 1985 which to date is considered one of the finest classical based soundtracks ever in the annals of Tamil Cinema.

A standout feature of this Raga is that it is very flexible and tends to take in a lot of twists & turns. The curves and jumps across notes adds a sublime touch to it. Of course it's also based on the ability of the composer since if not used properly it can end up distorting the composition to a major degree and can stain the raga. Maestro however is a master craftsman and plays with it splendidly thus also ensuring to not dilute the austerity. It is also a raga which tends to touch upon almost all the 12 notes of a scale including the 2 Ri's Ga's Ma's Da's Ni's along with the foundation notes Sa and Pa.

One of my favourite Sindhu Bhairavi compositions of Maestro happens to be the 1993 release 'Ejaman' that had the song Oru Naalum sung resplendently by the evergreen pair of SP Balasubramaniam and S Janaki. It's an absolute pearler of a Sindhu Bhairavi where the notes traverse across octaves and the phrases intertwined unmistakably give the essence of this wonderful raga. The riffs & runs authorify and stamp this Raga in all it's embellishment. A small stab at playing portions of this scorcher of a Sindhu Bhairavi.

Poove Sempoove - Mellifluous Waltz

I wonder what incentive Raaja had to come up with a song as mesmerising as Poove Sempoove for the movie Solla Thudikuthu Manasu. The apt adjective to describe this number would be 'Mellifluous' as it's incredibly sweet possessing a flowery smooth flow and full of soul. It's so pleasing for the aural senses and simply creams you over.

What I especially adore about this wonder is the Waltz beat which keeps going 12 12 12 perfectly synchronising a 3/4 time signature played on melodic minor scale in Gowri Manohari ragam. There are so many triumphant transitions that simply shake you over and it might be quite a mystery to know they all appear as part of the same song though when individually heard may connote something totally different.

For the love of the Waltz beat in this vintage composition, just tried something slightly off beat by playing it like in a guitar mode by strumming along as the melody keeps mellowing. I just hope it drifted along fairly well and was not way off the mark.