Category Archives: Music

Ponmaalai Pozhudhu

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You are travelling on ECR by bus in the evening. Forget the East Coast and the beach! Look towards the west. You see the blue sky turned pinkish adorned beautifully by the orangish sun. You turn on the radio and guess what song plays! ‘Idhu oru ponmaalai pozhudhu’ from ‘Nizhalgal’!

Idhu oru pon maalai pozhudhu
vaana magaL naaNugiRaaL
vaeRu udai pooNugiRaaL

You can witness this right in front of your eyes! 🙂 Wow!
P.S.: I didn’t have my camera with me. So, couldn’t take snaps 🙁

Oru Naal Oru Pozhudhu

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Though I have heard that Andhi Mandhaarai is one of A.R.Rahman’s best, blah, blah, (Well, we Rahman fans say that about almost all his songs 🙂 ) to tell the truth, I have not listened to it much inspite of having all the songs with me. 🙁 Thanks to Adiya’s comment for my earlier post, I decided to listen to all the songs from the movie today and I have got addicted to the song ‘Oru Naal Oru Pozhudhu’ (Of course, I have heard this one earlier too)! What a lovely song! Can’t stop listening to it! Thank you, Adiya!
There is soooo much left to explore in A.R.Rahman’s existing compositions itself. I have almost all the compositions of Rahman with me thanks to the A.R.Rahman Fans Yahoo group. I think I have to spend some 2-3 days to listen to all his compositions that I have not listened to much.
Talking about Rahman’s music, I can’t wait for the audio of ‘Sivaji’ to get released!

Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s Concert

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I finally had to stop listening to A.R.Rahman’s songs yesterday since I had to go to Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s concert at Nayaki Sabha. Sanjay started the concert with varnam in my favourite raaga Sahana! 🙂

Accompanists:
Violin: M.R.Gopinath
Mridangam: Guruvayoor Dorai
Ghatam: T.V.Vasan

List of songs:
1. Varnam – Sahana
2. Raa Rama Inti – Asaveri
3. Ninnu Vina – Reetigowlai
4. Ellaam Sivan Seyal – Vasanta
5. Ennadoo – Kalavati
6. Evari Maata – Kambhoji
7. Maatrariyaadha – Surutti
8. Theril Erinaan – Kalyani
9. Nijagaadasa – Sindhu Bhairavi
10. Pittham TheLiya – Senchurutti(?)
11. Mangalam – Sowrashtram

I think this is the first time I am hearing Sanjay sing Reetigowlai. The raaga alapana and the song with swarams lasted some 15 minutes and I would say for this alone yesterday’s concert was worth attending! The next one, Ellaam Sivan Seyal in vasanta with a raaga alapana, neraval & swarams at the line ‘Anjael anjael endre achchatthai pOkkidum’, was too good. Sanjay had chosen Kambhoji for the main piece for the last concert of his that I went to and again Kambhoji in yesterday’s concert too. One thing that I observed in most of Sanjay’s concerts is that most of the times he does not do neraval for the main piece and this concert was no different. Nijagaadasa and Ennadoo are some of the songs that Sanjay sings often. Coming to Tani Avartanam, when two veterans are playing the Tani will of course be excellent!
On the whole, yet another excellent concert of Sanjay as usual!

What I am doing today

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From the morning, I have been listening to A.R.Rahman’s songs non-stop. I couldn’t resist posting a random list of my favourites of Rahman that I have been listening to since morning.

  1. Holi Re from Mangal Pandey – I listened to it for some 2 hours continuously yesterday thanks to so many of my friends who kept on wishing me a Happy Holi and this was the song that came to my mind as soon I heard the Holi wishes. I couldn’t help listening to it today too.
  2. Telephone Manipol from Indian – Rahman’s music! Hariharan and Harini’s singing! Wow!
  3. Pachchai Nirame from Alaipayuthey – I am not saying anything about this song apart from the fact that I watched it some 4 times today 🙂
  4. Poovukkenna Poottu from Bombay
  5. Theendai from En Swaasa Katre – A beautiful song based on Sri raagam!
  6. Swaasame from Thenali
  7. Girlfriend from Boys
  8. Pettai rap from Kadhalan – Even a Dappaankutthu song sounds nice when composed by Rahman 🙂
  9. July Madham from Pudhiya Mugam – I love the guitar in this song. Off late I have became quite crazy about Guitar Prasanna’s playing and incidentally he is the one who has played the guitar for this song.
  10. Hello Mister Ethirkatchi from Iruvar
  11. Aayo Re Sakhi from Water – This is my current favourite in Water.
  12. Kaatre En Vaasal from Rhythm
  13. Sonnaalum Kaetpadhillai from Kadhal Virus
  14. Uyirum Neeye from Pavithra – One of singer Unnikrishnan’s best (I don’t like his singing that much)! This song is based on one of my favourite raagas Khamas.
  15. Naan Paadum Sandham from Duet
  16. Then Maerkku from Karutthamma
  17. Malargale from Love Birds – Hariharan’s singing again!
  18. Thee Thee from Thiruda Thiruda – No words to describe this song. I just love it! I always increase the volume of my music system to as much as my ears can tolerate and listen to it. Btw, who is this Carolene who has sung this song? What other songs has she sung?
  19. Chikku Bukku Rayile from Gentleman
  20. Thirakkaadha KaattukuLLe from En Swaasa Katre
  21. My Wish comes True from Kisna – I love the flute interludes in this song.
  22. Strawberry KaNNe from Minsara Kanavu

I can go on and on but, I am stopping with this. As I have earlier said, I can never ever find the words to describe A.R.Rahman’s music. In spite of continuously listening to his music from the morning, I am not able to stop listening even now! Rahman Rocks!!!!

The Bucket Song!

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Well, it seems that was how the song, Sandai kozhi/Kabhi Neem Neem from Aayitha Ezhuthu/Yuva was referred to by A.R.Rahman! I heard some RJ (if I remember correctly, it was Suchi) telling about it in Radio Mirchi at the time Aayitha Ezhuthu was released. It seems Mani Ratnam had initially wanted a song to picturized on the hero and heroine with the hero singing it to the heroine, tapping a bucket! It’s another thing that the song later got changed to the heroine singing it, but Rahman still called the track as the bucket song.

Coming to the picturization of this song, I like the picturization of Kabhi Neem Neem more than Sandai Kozhi. Abhishek and Rani is one pair that I like very much and is there anyone better than Mani Ratnam who can picturize a romantic song this beautifully! Enjoy watching the song here:

Guru a Hit Film!

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It seems ‘Guru’ is the first hit of the year and it has completed 50 days! I very badly wanted to watch Guru in Inox but somehow I couldn’t make it all these days and when I finally decide that I will go this weekend, I see that since yesterday the movie is running only in Woodlands, not in Satyam too. 🙁 Anyway, I am happy that Mani Ratnam’s Hindi film has finally been declared a Hit in Bollywood.

T.M.Krishna’s “Sri Raamam”

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I got this album (released by Rajalakshmi Audio last year) of T.M.Krishna last month. This has Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Krithis on Lord Rama. Check out the website of Rajalakshmi Audio for the list of krithis in this album. This has many not-so-often-heard raagas like mAhuri, kOkilAravam, rAma kali. T.M.Krishna has sung all the krithis with so much bhava! R.K.Shriramkumar plays the violin in this album, K. Arun Prakash the mridangam and V. Anirudh Athreya the kanjira. Everyone knows what a great combo TMK, Shriramkumar and Arun Prakash make. I would rate it as one of the best albums of T.M.Krishna till date!
The first song that I got hooked onto in this album is santAna rAmaswAminam in raagam Hindolavasantam. Every time I start listening to it, I listen to it atleast for a couple of times before moving onto the next song. The Nottu swarams in sankarAbharanam are very nice to listen to (rAmachandram is my current favourite Nottuswaram). I have only one complaint with this album: It would have been nice if T.M.Krishna had sung raaga alapanas for raagas like Hindolavasantam, nArAyanagowlai, mAhuri etc.
This one is a must-buy for all the T.M.Krishna and Dikshitar Kritis fans! If you haven’t got it yet, get it soon!

Indipop

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After a long time, I watched TV for more than 7 hours today. But, even as I was doing channel surfing, one thing that struck me was that the number of good Indipop songs has come down drastically in the past couple of years (In fact, there is no new Indipop song worth listening to now. And to top it, the video is also bad).
My favourites in Indipop:
(Not only the songs but the video of some of these songs were good too. I think quite a few of these songs will be in the list of everybody’s favourites)
1. Tanha Dil by Shaan – Shaan’s best till date! The lyrics of this song will be good too.
2. Euphoria – Though almost all the earlier songs of Euphoria were very good, the recent ones by them have become too repetitive and a bit boring too. Some of my favourites of Euphoria are Maaeri, Dhoom Pichuk Dhhom, Kabhi Aana Tu Meri Gully (the one featuring Vidya Balan in the video), Raja Rani(?).
3. Kitni Haseen Zindagi, Oh Sanam, Gori Teri Aankhen (along with Kavitha Krishnamurthy) by Lucky Ali – Again his songs too became repetitive after sometime.
4. Kabhi To Nazar Milao, Tera Chera, Nain Se Nainon Ko by Adnan Sami
5. Colonial Cousins – Their first album and then, Khaizala(I don’t remember the name of the album)
5. Meri Neend by Band of Boys
6. Char Din Ki Yeh Zindagani by Seven – Listen to it here (A big thanks to the reader who gave me the link)
7. Breathless by Shankar Mahadevan – Almost all the songs in the album ‘Breathless’ are good. But, I find that many songs composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are based on the tunes in this album.
8. Falguni Pathak’s Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi (I can’t stand Ria Sen in this video), Meri Chunar, Teri Main Prem Deewani.
9. Khoya Khoya Chaand by Alka Yagnik and Babul Supriyo
10. Piya Basanti Re by Ustad Sultan Khan and Chitra.
11. Sonu Nigam’s Deewana – I love this song!
12. Tum Aaye by Hariharan and Alka Yagnik
13. Mujhe Pyar Hai Tumse by Pankaj Sarawgi
14. Pal, Aapki Dhuan and Yaaron Dosti by Kay Kay
15. Raat Shabnami by Asha Bhonsle
16. Sitaron Mein Tu Hi by Yesudas
17. A song from the album,’Punjab’ by Karunesh (Starts with ‘Aao Huzoor Tumko Sitaron’)
18. Baahon Mein Chali Aa, Hum Bewafaa, Raat Kali remixed by Instant Karma.
19. Bheegi Bheegi remixed by Leslie Lewis and sung beautifully by Sujatha and Srinivas.
20. Hai Re Hai Tera Ghoongta remixed by Leslie Lewis and sung by Kunal and Sowmya Rao.

T.M.Krishna in Chennai Sangamam

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I went to a concert of T.M.Krishna after more than a month. The concert was at Nageshwara Rao Park, Mylapore, held as part of the ‘Chennai Sangamam’, a cultural festival aimed at highlighting Chennai’s cultural ethos (as ‘The Hindu’, had called it), that started yesterday. Though it was only a 1-hour concert, T.M.Krishna made sure everyone enjoyed every moment of it!
Accompanists:
Amritha Murali – Violin
Manoj Siva – Mridangam
Umashankar – Ghatam
Songs list:
1. Thoadudaiya – GambhIraNattai
2. Kaalai Thooki – Yadhukula Kambhoji
3. Aazhi Mazhai KaNNa – Varali
4. Nattakurunji RTP – (A quickie RTP – Surprise of the concert!)
5. Chinnanchiru KiLiye – Raagamalika
6. Suttum Vizhi – Raagamalika
7. Senthamizh Naadenum – ? (don’t remember)
8. Irakkam Varaamal – Behag
9. Eppo Varuvaaro – Jonpuri
10. Vaazhiya Senthamizh – Madhyamavati
Highlight of the concert:
Of course, the Nattakurunji RTP! I least expected him to sing a RTP in this concert. Though it was a quickie, Nattakurunji being my favourite raaga, I just loved it! He sang the pallavi ‘nAttakurunji enbaar engaLadhu sirandha’ in two other raagas too (Mohanam and the other one I forgot 🙁 (HamirKalyani?)).
Then, the way he sang Chinnanchiru kiLiye with bhava was too good. After that, someone asked him to sing Suttum Vizhi and he said he was not sure whether he remembered the lyrics! When the girl said that she knew it, he asked her to sit in front of him and tell him if he forgets the lyrics somewhere! If I am not mistaken, it was after the line, ‘vaalai kumariyadi’ that TMK sang ha-ha-ha-ha in a beautiful way instead of the word ‘kaNNama’ twice, before singing the word ! Irakkam Varaamal is yet another song that I like hearing T.M.Krishna sing.
On the whole, the concert was excellent as any concert of T.M.Krishna will be. By the way, it was a nice to hear the concert sitting in the park, surrounded by trees with a surprisingly cool breeze blowing.