Maestro ilaiyaraaja news & titbits

[rajsekar]

I am sure that all of you were following Airtel Super Singer Season 4. What a terrific show and amazing set of finalists!!! Three singers were exceptionally great, but of course only one of them took the trophy. Their tonal depth, voice modulation and range of genres were so good. My three favorites are Parvathi, Santosh and Diwakar. Diwakar won the final prize with an incredible performance of "Bale Paandiya" song which was rendered flawlessly and the audience got bowled over. All three of them have sung some of the best songs of Maestro right from the beginning of the competition. If I am correct, Diwakar has rendered the maximum number of Maestro's songs. I somehow started rooting for Diwakar since September and predicted that he would easily win the Season 4 title. Of course his entire native town and folks prayed for him and ensured that he got the maximum number of votes. Santosh narrowly lost the top prize because of his final song selection. "Naan Kadavul" masterpiece was rendered flawlessly by Santosh but the chorus singers took 50% of the credit. Santosh should have selected another song.

Diwakar sounds like Shankar Mahadevan and SPB depending on the song he renders. Listen to his rendition of Rhythm and Nizhalgal songs. Rahman requested Diwakar to sing a second song which was very rare. Diwakar's rendition of Kaathala Kaathala and Aanpaavam songs was terrific. It's all the more surprising that Diwakar has no formal music knowledge and training. I am confident that Diwakar would come up as the next SPB or Hariharan. It's always awesome to listen to Maestro's haunting melodies when these budding singers render the songs. Srinivas's comment for Nizhalgal song was the best so far - the best opening BGM in Indian film music combining Carnatic based song and strings. Mysskin's 120 repeats of the same song is what we all used to do in college days. I am eager to hear Diwakar singing for Maestro.

[sudhakarg]

Balu Mahendra passes away:

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cin...cle5684162.ece

He certainly was one who could get the very best out of IR.

[rajsekar]

Balu Mahendra's loss is indeed terrible to the Indian cinema. I still vividly remember watching the Malayalam film "Nellu" in Kerala which had a world class cinematography and music by Salil Choudhary. I believe BM's association with Maestro started from that time. Then Maestro used to assist Salilda. The African voodo drums used in "Nellu" was brilliant. If you get a good DVD print of "Nellu" movie, please watch it.

The bonding and close working relationship with Maestro is beautifully described by BM in this article. Maestro always declared that whatever tune and orchestration which is produced for a film came out of a close partnership and joint imagination between him and the Director. Very few directors have that unique capability to extract gold from their technical artists. In the case of Maestro, BM was certainly a major influence to extract the very best out of him. Just look at the haunting tunes and orchestration of two songs in "Moondram Pirai" - Ponmeni and Kanne Kalaimaane. These songs depict two polar opposite situations which no other director has ever experimented. Mani tried to evoke the spirit of Ponmeni in "Mouna Raagam" which too was brilliant. I am hoping that BM's "Cinema Patarai" will introduce many more Balu Mahendras to Indian film. We also have seen some of the not so great chemistry between Director and Music Directors - luck too plays an important role on who gets paired with whom. BM & Maestro are like Spielberg & John Williams - two inseparable pairs. Though BM is dead, his creative productions and cinematography techniques using natural light will always be alive. Ponmeni song was completely shot during sunset period without any artificial arc lights. Just look at the numerous trashy film songs shot in Alps and New Zealand with subpar cinematography. You feel sorry for the Producer and the artists for wasting money. The tune and songs are anyway a carbon copy.

தான் இயக்கிய படங்களுக்கான ஒளிப்பதிவு மற்றும் படத்தொகுப்பு ஆகிய முக்கியமான பணிகளை மற்றவர்களிடம் ஒப்படைக்காமல் தானே பார்த்துக்கொள்வார். இதற்கான காரணத்தை அண்மையில் வழங்கிய ஒரு பேட்டியில்தான் தெளிவுபடுத்தினார். ஒரு திரைப்படத்தின் இயக்கம், ஒளிப்பதிவு, படத்தொகுப்பு, இசை ஆகிய நான்கு முக்கியமான பங்களிப்புகளும் ஒரே நபரிடமிருந்து வந்தால்தான் நல்ல சினிமா எடுக்க முயற்சிக்க முடியும் என்றார். இசை மட்டும் ஏன் இளையராஜாவிடம் கொடுக்கிறீர்கள் என்று கேட்பதற்கு முன், "இளையராஜா என் சிந்தனை ஓட்டத்தை அறிந்தவர் அவர் இசையமைப்பது நானே இசையமைப்பதைப் போன்றது" என்று தெளிவுபடுத்தினார்.

அந்த அளவுக்கு இளையராஜாவுக்கும் இவருக்குமான நட்பு இருந்தது. பாலு மகேந்திராவின் முதல் இரண்டு படங்களைத் தவிர மற்ற அனைத்து படங்களுக்கும் ராஜாதான் இசையமைத்தார். அண்மையில் ராஜாவுக்கு மாரடைப்பு வந்து மருத்துவமனையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தபோது தள்ளாத வயதிலும் அவரைப் போய் பார்த்துவிட்டு வந்தார் பாலு மகேந்திரா.

[rajsekar]

Listen to BM's speech two months ago. BM has beautifully described his relationship with Maestro (starting from 27:40 onwards). I am really hoping that "Thalaimuraigal" gets selected for the 2013 National Award for Background Score. "The Jackal and the Sheep" too is a strong contender for best background score. The Music Director should know where to mellow down the background music or even keep it completely silent. Silence is a big forte for John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Many of their scores just brings out the raw emotions of the scene and the characters. BM is talking about the same aspect in the interview. On the contrary watching, Bala's Paradesi gives you a headache with constant violin score by Prakash Kumar. Bala should have insisted on using more wind instruments rather than strings for Paradesi. The chemistry between the Director and the MD was missing. Mahendran and Mani are two other directors preferring silent shots to portray strong emotions. Watch "Metti" and "Nandu" movie scenes for mind boggling cinematography and haunting scores, including silence. Maestro's first Hindi song was composed for "Nandu" - fantastic song sequence and cinematography by Ashok Kumar.

[dochu]

Ramanaa soundtrack from a user elsewhere. Kudos to him for uploading.

https://soundcloud.com/navin-ramdoss...a-ramanaa-2002

[RR]

This topic has generated more than 3930 posts and 760K views in a span of little more than 2 years. That comes to about 6 posts and 960 views everyday. This is just on IR news & tidbits! Thanks everyone for the great support..

I think now it's time to create a topic to continue the discussions. Anyone interested?

[venkkiram]

This topic has generated more than 3930 posts and 760K views in a span of little more than 2 years. That comes to about 6 posts and 960 views everyday. This is just on IR news & tidbits! Thanks everyone for the great support..

I think now it's time to create a topic to continue the discussions. Anyone interested?

இங்கே சமீப காலங்களாக திரிகளில் நிறைய ராஜா ரசிகர்களின் பங்களிப்பு இல்லாமல் இருந்தாலும் நீங்கள் பகிர்ந்திருக்கும் செய்தி இனிப்பானதுதான்.

[krish244]

About Mahendran movie:

"...Speaking about the maestro, the senior filmmaker said, digital. "Ilaiyaraaja has been an integral part of my films and his music will be crucial in this film too. We will start the composing by the end of this month."...The film is planned as a quickie. The director says, he will start shooting in march and complete it by that month's end. The team aims to release the film in May"

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/t...le/103715.html

thanks,

Krishnan

[krish244]

This topic has generated more than 3930 posts and 760K views in a span of little more than 2 years. That comes to about 6 posts and 960 views everyday. This is just on IR news & tidbits! Thanks everyone for the great support..

I think now it's time to create a topic to continue the discussions. Anyone interested?

A couple of months back I was thinking that this thread must be one of the most (if not the most) updated thread around here. Your analysis says my thinking was right

Agree with venkiram.

thanks,

Krishnan

[krish244]

Ramanaa soundtrack from a user elsewhere. Kudos to him for uploading.

https://soundcloud.com/navin-ramdoss...a-ramanaa-2002

Thanks Dochu! Long back I happened to watch Ramana movie on some channel for about 5 minutes. The one thing that struck me (i was not paying attention to BGM) in those 5 minutes was how effective the BGM was. It was so in-sync with the feelings, sophisticated and grandeur. The immediate thought that came to my mind was that I did not feel that way on watching other movies of Murugadoss's. It was just a 5 minutes somewhere in between the movie.

The beginning of the soundtrack has an amazing (and very different) use of drums and symphonic effect. I am yet to hear the whole track.

thanks,

Krishnan