Background Score

Classic Incantations Concert Review

2012-01-28T06:56:00.000-08:00

Though I already got passes for the Bangalore leg of Classic Incantations Concert that will happen on January 29th, I wanted to watch the concert in Chennai on January 26th because I heard that the acoustics in Sri Mutha Venkata Subbarao Concert Hall is the best in Chennai. And it indeed was. I live in Bangalore. Whenever I attend a concert in Chennai, I start from Bangalore only on the day of the concert and reach Chennai in the evening just minutes before the concert. Last Month, when I travelled from Bangalore to Chennai for Endrendrum Ilaiyaraaja concert, I realized that the Six hours long Bus journey on the day of the concert drains all my energy and spirit, and I couldn’t enjoy the concert to the fullest. This time I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake for A.R.Rahman’s Classic Incantations Concert. I reached Chennai at 6:00 AM and took a room in Harrisons Hotel right behind the Concert Hall. I still didn’t have a pass for the Concert, though I was quite sure that I would get one, and I did get one. I had four hours of sound sleep in the afternoon before the concert, and when I woke up I was full of energy and excited to go the concert. (But, I needn’t have worried so much. Even if I were exhausted, few seconds into the first piece, my mind would have regained all the spirit and energy needed to absorb the performance.) I reached the venue at 5:00 PM. To my surprise, many of the followers of the background score blog recognized me, while I was waiting outside the venue, and it was great to see the real faces behind all those retweets, likes and comments in my blog.

And it began. As it was happening on the Republic day, the Concert started with Babelsberg Orchestra performing Indian National Anthem (the version that A.R.Rahman orchestrated for the film Bose: The Forgotten Hero and was also included in the film’s soundtrack CD), followed by German National Anthem. The moment I heard the sound of the orchestra, I realized that I made the right decision by coming all the way to Chennai to watch the concert in Venkata Subbarao Hall. The acoustic in the hall was perfect. I could hear every little detail in the orchestration; the tickled triangles, the titillated bells, tenderly disturbed hanging vibraphone tubes, the heavenly Harp glissandos, pristine Piano keys and softest hymns of the KM choir – every little sound was crisp, clear and were affecting my sensory cells.

Warriors of Heaven and Earth Suite was the opening piece of the Concert and it couldn’t have started any better, for the piece, in the very beginning of the concert demonstrated the whole power of the orchestra; rolling snares, pounding Timpanis, Clashing cymbals, roaring Brass, full throttled Choir, breezy wood winds, soul stirring cello solo, sublime string section - every section of the Orchestra had something significant to do in this Suite. And it also demonstrated how wholesome a composer and an orchestrator A.R.Rahman is. The Suite introduced the exquisitely haunting main theme (track The Golden Era in the CD), which demonstrated A.R.Rahman’s gift for melody and the melody was expanded to the instruments in every nook and corner of the Orchestra. The suite shifted to the incidental piece - Desert storm, in which the music takes unexpected twists and turns as dictated by the visuals in the film; a perfect display of the quality that a film score composer must have, and at the end, the suite switched to Horses to boast A.R.Rahman’s ability to write bombastic warfare music. And, bombastic it indeed was and how! When the full throttled orchestra broke out to play Horses I had my first of many Goosebumps that I was going to experience through the concert.

Warriors of Heaven and Earth is a score that A.R.Rahman actually wrote for a symphonic orchestra, but the following Lagaan Suite proved that even when not writing for symphony orchestra, Rahman wrote orchestral pieces to symphonic perfection. Not a note was played that was not in the Original recording in Lagaan Suite.

Mangal Pandey Suite was as tight as I wanted it to be with choicest of cues from the film put together in precisely an order that would blow every listener’s mind. It started with the brassy version of the Rising theme (that plays in the Fire torch scene in the film) and slide down to the mellower version of the theme on woodwinds and while we were still lingering in the silence as if it were going to last forever, there burst out suddenly with a bang the main Mangal Pandey theme wherein the orchestra hit the highest decibel it ever hit in the entire evening. My heart missed a beat in that moment. The Suite ended with End Credits cue from the film, in which one could clearly see the orchestra building up to the scintillating crescendo, which works all the more wonderfully in the moment for which it is used in the film – when Mangal Pandey stands alone in fight against an entire British regiment. If you knew the context of these pieces in relation to the film, you would enjoy the performance even more.

By the end of the first three pieces - Warriors of Heaven and Earth, Lagaan and Mangal Pandey, anyone who haven’t seen the films and doesn’t know the purpose of the music, is definitely bound to come to a conclusion that all orchestral pieces of A.R.Rahman sound similar and might feel that the concert is already turning monotonous. That is why it is a brilliant idea to have Passage Suite as the next piece, which is far removed from the bangs, drum rolls and bombastic brass sounds of the first three period film pieces. Passage exhibited the tender tones of the orchestra and what it takes for a Soprano to raise and soar over a 100-piece orchestra. Kavita Baliga, the soprano gave an exquisite rendition of Aria from Passage, with her voice rendering a wide array of emotions through crests and troughs, straight notes and vibratos in A.R.Rahman’s invigorating melody. Waltz, the end credits music from the film Passage followed, but surprisingly, with Kavita Baliga singing some Italian verses along with the orchestra which weren’t present in the original. Waltz is an all out western classical composition from A.R.Rahman with not a note of Indianness in it.

Finally, the Orchestra hit home when they played the music from A.R.Rahman’s debut film Roja - Cry of a Rose. This is the piece when the audience truly came alive with thunderous applause at the end. The piece started with Tamizha Tamizha song and the crescendo of the song, which was recorded entirely using synthesizers sounded perfectly in place when played by the live Orchestra. But, I wonder why the KM Choir didn’t join in with the Orchestra for the crescendo. It would have been magical, if they had. Then, flautist Navin Iyer took over to play the ever haunting tune of Kaadhal Rojaavae, while the Babelsberg played a quiet supporting role in the piece. An old man sitting next to me was moved to tears and said, “yengirundhu ippidi oru melody pudichchaaro ivaru? (From where did he get such a melody?)”.

For the Robot Suite, the visuals from the film were played on the screen when the Orchestra performed the grand choir version of “Arima Arima”. However, in Chennai, A.R.Rahman didn’t walk up to the stage to illustrate the significance of background score like he did in Mumbai concert. The end credits piece from the film, which is the orchestral version of Pudhiya Manidha song followed, and what followed is a brilliant arrangement (by Matt Dunkley, I assume) of the theme tune “Pudhiya Manidha bhoomikku Vaa”, where the tune meandered and wandered through every section of the orchestra. My favourite section of the piece is when the string section and woodwinds section engage in a chirpy tussle over the Synth bass motif (like how Vaseegaran is caught between Chitti and Sana in the film) from the original song.

With the serene Canyon (instrumental version of “If I Rise” song) theme and excerpts from Acid Darbari 127 Hours suite became the Concert’s quietest piece. It was an exceptionally moving performance by the Orchestra. The Orchestra was just crouching low during 127 Hours suite before plunging back in action in full force for the Lord of the Rings Suite. Lord of the Rings Suite is the only piece in the concert that I wasn’t much familiar with. The performances by Arun H.K, Kavita Baliga, K.M Choir and Babelsberg Orchestra were absolutely magical and transported me to a different world. It was the most colorful and vibrant of all the pieces performed in the concert and I instantly fell in love with the piece.

My only grouse about the concert was the absence of Naveen Kumar on flute. Navin Iyer did his best but he just couldn’t match with what Naveen Kumar did in original recording of Bombay theme and in the A.R.Rahman symphonic concerts that happened outside India. Navin Iyer’s improvisations didn’t fall in place and harmed the piece, but the strings section of Babelsberg orchestra was good enough. Bombay Theme performance in Chennai concert didn’t move me emotionally.

A.R.Rahman stands so tall in the international arena as the representative figure of Indian film music, and he stands on the shoulders of so many legendary Indian film music composers, which is why he rightfully paid tribute to some of the legends (R.K.Shekar, Vishwanathan-Ramamurthy, Ilaiyaraaja, S.D.Burman, Salil Chaudary, Madan Mohan, Lakshmikant-Pyarelal) and contemporaries (Jatin-Lalit, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) by making Babelsberg Film Orchestra play a compilation of some of the most popular songs by the great Indian film music composers. And when it came to A.R.Rahman, the orchestral version of Kannaalanae from Bombay was performed by the orchestra and the prelude chorus of the song when played by the string section sounded brilliant. Finally, the tribute piece ended with Babelsberg Orchestra performing the epic orchestral piece A.R.Rahman composed for Rajini Introduction scene in Muthu. No words can explain the experience of listening to “Oruvan Oruvan” prelude piece played live by a 100-piece symphony orchestra. It has to be felt to be believed. They couldn’t have chosen a better coda for the tribute piece. The most critical part of the piece is the last 3 bangs and the length of pause between each bang. If the pause between each of those 3 bangs were not correctly timed and maintained by the conductor, the impact of the piece would have been lost. Matt Dunkley timed it perfectly and made sure Orchestra followed his baton and maintained the pause just for the required length.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age suite began with the transcendental “Divinity” Theme; soon the KM choir joined the solo female vocal enhancing the immensity of the emotions in the piece further. When after a brief pause, a solo cello took over the Divinity theme, the theme revealed its utmost beauty. Then began the Battle theme; I was curious to listen to this piece, because there is a key Synth bass melody layer in the original recording of this piece and I was wondering what the piece would sound like without that layer. But, even without that layer, the piece managed to create an impact because of the incredible performance of KM Choir and the Orchestra.

Swades theme was not played. I was eagerly looking forward for this piece; I hope we would get to hear this piece at least on the Classic Incantations CD.

I was looking forward to hear Afghanistan theme in Bose: The Forgotten Hero Suite, for Middle-eastern music is a very important genre in A.R.Rahman’s repertoire. No composer in India uses music of Middle-east in their songs the way Rahman does. It would have added more colour and variety to the overall package. Instead, they included a War theme, again, from the film, with the obvious Jai Hind song and Netaji theme (the mesmerizing melody of the line “Tanha rahi apni” from Ekla Chalo song) in the Suite.

The cues that Rahman wrote for Prague episode in the film Meenaxi is beautifully strung together as a suite and played while the screen displayed a slide show of beautiful Indian woman. The film Meenaxi itself was M.F.Hussain’s ode to Tabu’s beauty. With the strings section simmering with passion, the violin solos singing songs of tenderness and woodwinds breezing ever so gently like a velvety feather afloat in the air, the piece was absolutely magical and ethereal.

Slumdog Millionaire Suite, as always began with Lathika’s theme that is quite different from the original version with orchestral flab added to the lean and tender romantic theme. The theme is orchestrated as if the theme is sailing on a sinusoidal wave with Lathika’s hymn chanted mild and mellow during the troughs, and orchestra majestically breaking out with a louder KM Choir amidst crashing cymbals during the crests. Towards the end of Lathika’s theme, A.R.Rahman on Piano and Asad Khan on Sitar jammed for a while before jumping into the piece and slowly Asad khan jammed his way into the main Escape theme from Slumdog Millionaire and the orchestra was on full throttle again, swelling to recreate the musical chaos of the Escape theme. The piece was filled with many soft filler sections in between so as to create a bigger impact when every time orchestra bursts out the Escape theme. Asad Khan soared over the 100-piece orchestra with his energetic and effortless playing of Sitar. The piece ended the concert on a high, or so the audience thought. But, there was one more piece, which I knew was coming.

The concert was brought to a breathtaking close with KM Choir and Babelsberg Orchestra performing the song Aayo Re Sakhi from Water. What a brilliant choice of song for such a symphonic concert! It is a perfect Indian melody for a western symphony orchestra to back. The song has an Indian classical tinge in its melody and A.R.Rahman has orchestrated the melody with abundant layers of strings and other instruments which could easily be transported onto a western symphony orchestra. The song has an infectious swing in the rhythm, an affecting effervescence and energy throughout. Voices of KM choir sang the melody with all its Indian classical intricacies intact, whereas Babelsberg Orchestra kept its western classical tradition up with every section of the orchestra engaging in perfect synergy to play supporting and contrapuntal phrases to the main melody.

Despite few glitches that I mentioned above, I was overwhelmed by the end of the concert. The Classic Incantations Concert on whole was breathtaking, astounding, magical and therapeutic.

It was an evening that I would not forget till the end of my time.

Thanks a Zillion to LAPP India, Germany and India 2011-2012 Infinite Opportunities, and every single person who was responsible for making this Concert possible. Thank to Ketaki from Germany-and-India for the invitation. And Thanks to the man himself, Maestro A.R.Rahman for his music, and for his relentless efforts to give his fans and music lovers a new experience in his every single Endeavour.

And I am going to watch the Concert again in Bangalore tomorrow. Can’t Wait!

In Conversation with Matt Dunkley

2012-01-27T06:57:00.000-08:00

I got an opportunity to meet Conductor Mr.Matt Dunkley minutes before the beginning of A.R.Rahman's Classic Incantations Concert that happened in Chennai. Matt Dunkley remembered me, this blog, and the interview I did with him in 2010 through e-mail. I didn't really prepare much this time, because, honestly, I didn't believe that I would get to talk to him, though I was told that I would. It was more of a freewheeling chat session where Matt Dunkley spoke about India, reception of Indian audience, about why they couldn't really pull if off in previous such concerts (CBSO, London Philharmonic and Hollywood Bowl), Classic Incantations CD and about working with KM choir. Listen In Conversation with Matt Dunkley Also This!

A.R.Rahman follows backgroundscore.com

2012-01-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

I was talking to the Organizers (who helped me get a pass for the concert) of Classic Incantations Concert in Chennai just before the concert and they said "A.R.Rahman mentioned you in Bombay". You should have seen my face at that moment; I was smiling ear to ear.

Classic Incantations - A.R.Rahman finally gets it Right

2012-01-24T09:33:00.000-08:00

Last year, I wrote a piece on what went wrong in A.R.Rahman’s Hollywood Bowl concert (with L.A Philharmonic Orchestra) that happened in July, 2011. I listed down the reasons for the concert failing to engage the audience. Now, when I watch the videos of A.R.Rahman’s recent Classic Incantations concert, it seems my wishes were heard, my post was read (though highly unlikely); each and every glitch that I mentioned about Hollywood Bowl concert has been avoided in Classic Incantations concert.

"I do not like listening to orchestral concerts in the open-air auditorium, no matter how powerful a sound system you provide. The nuances in orchestral pieces are best experienced in a closed auditorium. And A.R.Rahman is no John Williams. Rahman’s orchestral pieces mostly are not chaotic, unpredictable, and bombastic and intricately layered enough to engage me in a live concert in an open auditorium. Rahman’s is mellifluous, haunting tunes that are just expanded on an orchestra with different sections playing supporting parts. Such pieces require the walls of a closed auditorium to give the audience an immersive experience. Compare the experience of listening to the performance of "Mausam and Escape" in Nobel Peace Prize concert with that of in Hollywood Bowl. I am glad to read that Rahman is planning for one such concert in India. I hope that when it happens, it happens in a closed auditorium. There may not be closed auditoriums in India that could pack in 20,000 people, which is the minimum number of attendees of any given Rahman concert. But, filling the hearts of a given number of people with joy and satisfaction is much better than merely filling a given auditorium space with more people most of whom would leave with a sense of disappointment."

In all the five cities, the concert happens in a closed auditorium.

"The idea of playing visuals from the films in that giant screen has gone terribly wrong. I understand the purpose, non-Indian audiences and all that. But, this is ridiculous. The screen shows frantic action sequences from Endhiran, when the orchestra is performing a calm and subdued version of “Pudhiya Manidha”. It is such a distracting contrast. It totally turns off one’s interest in the music piece. And when you have Rajini on screen doing all those stunts, I wonder if anyone would paid any attention to the orchestral music. The audience cheered in the middle of Lagaan theme because the peak in the crescendo was perfectly synced with the visual of Aamir hitting that epic winning shot. This is the amount of satisfaction that a perfectly synchronized music and visuals can give the audience, but it looks like that did not happen in any of the pieces performed except Lagaan."

No visuals from the films are played when the music is performed, only exception being the video clip of Robot, but that is played to make the audience understand the significance of the background score in a film. The video is played once without music, and again with the music to demonstrate the enhanced impact a film has on the viewer when experienced with the background music.

"“Arima Arima” chant by Ragapella group was totally out of sync with the orchestra. Also, the number of singers singing “Arima Arima” is less. It totally lacked the grandeur and was not effective. In an interview, Rahman told that he recorded Arima choir parts with 20 voices and overdubbed it multiple times to make it sound like a grand choir. At least 50 singers should have been there on the stage singing that part for that piece to be effective enough."

KM Choir that performs along with Babelsberg film Orchestra includes 16 Male voices and 16 female voices.

"I am not sure if the suites compiled from the films’ cues were tight enough. There were too many middling loose moments in the middle of the piece. The transition from one cue to another in a suite is particularly crucial. It should be neither abrupt nor take too long. Seamless is the word. In Robot Suite, the middle section lingered far too long on ‘Pudhiya Manidha’ melody. There are so many other bombastic pieces in Robot. The whole suite includes only film’s End Credits music and few variations of Arima song. Mangal Pandey Suite also had the same problem."

In Robot Suite, they perform only “Arima Arima” grand choir version from the climax of the film. I don’t know about other film score suites, though.

"However, “Naan Varuvaenae” is one of those few Rahman songs to which we could put a symphony behind. I would love to listen to it in better quality. But, in this concert, Rahman’s singing of “Naan Varuvaenae” was quite tentative and lacked the soul of the original."

"Naan Varuvaenae" is not included in this concert. No singing by A.R.Rahman.

"I am not much in favour of putting a symphony orchestra behind Rahman’s songs. I could not recognize that the orchestra is playing “Tamizha Tamizha” melody, until the brass section took it over for the final crescendo of the song. “Cry of a Rose” is a Naveen show, symphony orchestra does not add much to the experience."

Whether Roja Suite got any better? – I will know when I watch the concert live this week. Can’t Wait! Surprises A.R.Rahman has finally included that bombastic Rajini Introduction music from Muthu and the Choir-Orchestral version of the exuberant Aayo Re from Water. Furthermore, an Audio CD with Babelsberg Orchestra’s performance of all the symphonic pieces will be released soon. What more an A.R.Rahman fan can ask for?

Classic Incantations Quiz

2012-01-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

While Babelsberg Orchestra from Germany (as part of Germany and India 2011 - 2012: Infinite Opportunities)is touring cities in India with their performance, here is a quiz to check how well you know A.R.Rahman's symphonic scores. Streaming below are 20 musical themes from film scores composed by A.R.Rahman. Set 1 and Set 2, each has one theme from same set of 10 films (there could be one or two exceptions, where there is only theme from the film either in Set 1 or Set 2) . Match the theme from the same films and name the films. Answer shall be in this format - Name of the film 1-A, Name of the film 2-B, Name of the film 3-C etc.,

Set 1	Set 2
Theme 1	Theme A

Theme 2	Theme B

Theme 3	Theme C

Theme 4	Theme D

Theme 5	Theme E

Theme 6	Theme F

Theme 7	Theme G

Theme 8	Theme H

Theme 9	Theme I

Theme 10	Theme J

Colors of Raaja

2012-01-17T07:47:00.001-08:00

FINALLY, Agi Music releases a compilation of Ilaiyaraaja's background score pieces; quite a quirky collection of pieces on this one, from films Raaja Paarvai, Prema, Aarilirundhu Arubadhuvarai, Kodai Mazhai, Japanil Kalyaana Raaman, Tik Tik Tik, Aur Ek Prem Kahani, Selvi, Aboorva Sahotharargal, Kaakki Chattai, My Dear Kuttichaaththan, Punnagai Mannan, Sathileelavathi and Johnny. I don't know if it is out on CD format as well.
You can listen to the samples of the tracks here Ilaiyaraaja | Colours of Raaja | CD Baby

Tamil Film Background Scores 2011

2011-12-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

In Ilaiyaraaja Concert held recently at Chennai, R.Balki – director of Cheeni Kum and Paa, demonstrated what Ilaiyaraaja’s background score does to a scene in a film. I think it is the most significant section of Concert. He played a silent video clip of a scene from Paa, then played just the audio of the background score and finally played the visuals with the background score. That demonstration, when viewed by millions of people on Jaya TV, could achieve what I never dream of achieving by writing in this blog about Ilaiyaraaja’s background score for another ten years. Thank You, R.Balki.

R.Balki about Ilaiyaraaja’s background Score in the “Endrendrum Raaja” Concert

Also, for the first time ever, Ilaiyaraaja performed a background score piece in his concert and he chose the year’s best Azhagharsamiyin Kudhirai theme

Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai Theme – Concert Version

Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai - Title Music

Easily, the best piece of background music in Tamil films of 2011 is the title music of Azhagharsamiyin Kudhirai. Ilaiyaraaja introduces the main motif in its simplest and purest form on a solo Guitar without any accompaniments. With that short phrase, Ilaiyaraaja makes you switch off your mobile phones, calm your mind down, and primes you for pleasurable ride. The piece takes off with a Guitar Ostinato making an exhilarating entry into the piece flapping its notes in a speed close to that of the wings of a butterfly just freed from a cage. With the guitar ostinato suddenly changing its course, a velvety woodwind plays the secondary motif, and the piece gets to the pivotal moment where Ilaiyaraaja’s favorite Oboe would take the theme over from Guitar and pronounce the theme in its entirety and reveal the melody’s complete beauty. While an acoustic guitar is playing the secondary melody, a solo flute emerges playing a soul stirring counter melody and titillates your tear glands. However, in no time woodwind makes a peaceful pact with the Oboe, and together they reprise the main motif again. The heavenly string section that was merely doing a supporting part in the piece until now takes the lead and plays the secondary motif, and the deep Cellos too join the conversation. Oboe rises above everything else again and plays a haunting new melody. The following strings gradually take the piece to a soothing end, but the piece does not end without reprising and reminding us the main theme on a serene Solo guitar.

“Today I completed the background score of Azhagharsamiyin Kudhirai. I was doing the title music today. You would instantly imagine rural folk music when you hear a title like Azhagharsamiyin Kudhirai. This film does not have that genre of music. Switch off your mobile phones. Be silent for ten minutes. Leave all your day-to-day problems aside. Keep your mind calm. And, listen to the title music of Azhagharsamiyin Kudhirai. If tears do not roll down from your eyes, I will stop composing music forever.” - Ilaiyaraaja confidently announced in a press meet.

Ilaiyaraaja aptly uses the title music for the protagonist Azhagarsamy’s entry point in the narrative. It could also be that Ilaiyaraaja composed the piece for Azhagarsamy’s entry and later extended it to be used as the title music. However, this is not the leitmotif of Azhagarsamy. The soothing strings section in the piece aptly overlaps with the ecstasy of Azhagarsamy when he finds his Horse. The main theme is designed to earn instant sympathy of the audience, when they see a character, who has just been introduced into the narrative, is brutally assaulted up the village folks. We do not know who he was and what this Horse means to him, and yet we are expected to sympathize with Azhagarsamy in this scene, and if not for Ilaiyaraaja’s rousing score, this would not have been possible. The theme plays in its entirety precisely when we see Azhagarsamy being dragged scratching the ground.

Of late, Ilaiyaraaja has been severely Oboe-sessed. Even in the instrumental version of the song Kudhikkira Kudhikkira that plays in the end credits, it is the Oboe that takes the lead. Irrespective of the milieu of the film (Nandhalala, Sri Rama Rajyam, Pazhassi Raaja, Happi, Azhagharsamiyin Kudhirai) Ilaiyaraaja uses purer western classical sounds in his films. He has been using western classical idioms ever since he became a composer, but until now those western classical sounds came from Indian instruments and instrumentalists. Ilaiyaraaja used Oboe extensively in Thalapathi, but then, those pieces were not played with the real Oboe; they were recorded with a Keyboard. He now commissions Hungarian musicians for every film, and they bring an inherent western sensibility to Ilaiyaraaja’s instrumental pieces like it was never before.

When he says it is not regular rural music he means that do not expect him to score like the way he scored, say, a Bharathiraaja film. Even the film makers do not make rural films in the way Bharathiraaja did anymore. The music still has that unmistakable Ilaiyaraaja’s stamp of fusion, where one can hardly spot the line where various classical forms of music meet, but the sound is now worldlier. However, when it comes to underscoring the situations that are rooted in the place, Ilaiyaraaja uses native sounds; sample the wholly rooted sound of infinitely addictive Nadhaswaram folk piece that accompanies the festivities and procession in the final moments of Azhagharsamiyin Kudhirai.

For the spy themes in the film, Ilaiyaraaja again takes western route and uses pure Jazz. I have not seen Ponnar Sankar, but going by whatever little I heard from its background score, Ilaiyaraaja seemed to have treated the film with his background score more as a fantasy action flick than a period drama. Even in the songs, Ilaiyaraaja breaks free from the restrictions of a historical film and uses Synth beats. He goes to the extent of using distortion Guitars and artificial voice samples in Thedi Vandha Devadhayae song.

I guess (correct me if I am wrong), after Sathileelavathi and Mumbai Xpress, it is in 2011, a CD of Tamil film (Thandavakone) soundtrack composed by Ilaiyaraaja comes with two instrumental themes from the background score of the film. Mysskin film’s music discs always have instrumental themes from the backgroundscore of the film. The film music CD of the only film in which Mysskin worked with Ilaiyaraaja has songs that are not used in the film, but has no instrumental pieces from the omnipresent background score of the film. Mysskin’s Yudham Sei audio CD has five main musical themes from the background score of the film, though not the entire score.

Yudham Sei (K)

“Right in the scripting stage, Yudham Sei was decided to be approached musically by the director” – says K, the score composer of Yudham Sei. That is how Mysskin approaches every film of his. Though Mysskin’s films never had songs that are indispensable, the background score has always played a very vital role in his style of telling of a story. Yudham Sei, a crime thriller left the impact that it did, thanks to K’s strings-heavy orchestral score besides other aspects. I liked Yudham Sei background score for most part, but there were few problems and hence some questions. And I decided to ask those directly to the man himself.

The cue titled “A tale (Dark)” on the CD is used in the opening scene of the film, in which the key incident in the story unfolds. It recurs again, when for the first time, Dr.Purushoththaman’s family is revealed. And, I felt that recurrence of the cue particularly when the family is introduced could be a spoiler; it is the major clue to the whodunit puzzle. The music in the background clearly tells that the girl we see in the Purush’s family could be the unconscious girl sitting in the Auto rickshaw in the opening scene of the film. The Tale (Dark) theme diligently recurs again when the flashback episode begins. But, K trashes all these extrapolated theories of mine and explains his reasons for using the cue in the above mentioned scenes. “The cue, a tale (dark) was specifically placed in the beginning of the movie to get the viewer prepared for the rest of the story. It gives you a sense of darkness mixed with sadness which essentially is what the movie is about. When the doctor's family is revealed we play the same thing, with a small flute piece on top. So that forms what you can call the family's theme. The flute was placed there for the sympathy aspect.”

The score has very well defined themes for various recurring situations in the film. The Tale (Dark) Theme, the Purush’s family flute theme – it is played when the family is first revealed in the film and used extensively to evoke sympathy throughout the flashback episode, Thirisangu theme - it is heard for the first time when we come to know that ACP Thirisangu (Selva) is heading the villain gang, Box (Pandora) Theme that plays whenever a box is found in a public place, “Next Lead” theme – it is heard for the first time when JK informs Commissioner that Purushoththaman’s family case has to be reopened and again when JK informs Commissioner about the dirt in the Ashok Nagar Police Station, Revenge theme – the Arabic flavored strings piece is heard when the Family prepares to take revenge on all those who are responsible for their daughter’s death and it recurs when in the climax Dr.Purush and his wife march to kill the villains, Mysterious Murderers Theme – it is heard for the first time when we see an unknown person climbs the stairs, picks an electric saw and cut the arms of a victim, JK’s Piano Theme – that plays in every scene in which JK is alone thinking about his lost sister. K explains the process by which he could pull off such a detailed thematic score for the film.

“Work on Yudham Sei started roughly some six months before the actual shooting. I was present at almost all the discussion sessions right from the beginning. When the director and the ADs sat down and discussed various scenes and shots, I would note down important ideas that I think would probably work. The next day or a few days later, I would return to the director with some rough ideas and he would either approve of them right away or suggest some changes. This carried on till the end of the shoot. Towards the end we would put the music over the visuals and make changes according to the length or whatever else. This way most of the music was already decided. After we had the complete visuals, we (with director and team) sat and composed the other portions. You could say the spotting/composing sessions happened for a week or so. As far as the instrumentation is concerned, it is but natural to use certain things for certain situations. For JK's theme piano seemed to be the most apt choice. Having done most of the rough tracks, both the director and me decided it would be best to use a live orchestra. Mysskin is a person who loves the sound of a live orchestra and we both knew and decided that Synth sounds just wouldn't do justice to the score. Hence, live orchestra! Recording it was absolutely awesome. The orchestra was conducted by Mr.Yensone. It was 36 piece strong and had most of the usual players of the madras cine musicians group.”

The “Box” Violin theme is a nice idea. The recurring short phrase on Violin instantly builds a sense of curiosity. But, I felt that the way it was mixed with the film could have been better. It appears all of a sudden in the soundtrack in full volume. Maybe a slow and gradual entry of the theme into the soundtrack could have served the purpose even better (for example, the way Chevaliers De Sangreal gradually reveals itself when Robert Langdon traces the path to the location of the real Holy Grail in the climax of “Da Vinci Code”). Also, in general, the volume of the score in the film makes the film sound more melodramatic than it actually is, especially in the final act. It gives an impression that the composer has over-scored the film.

“The box theme was specifically done for the various 'box' scenes (scenes where the cardboard boxes were displayed in various public places). I've not seen Da Vinci code, so I'm not familiar with the scene you're talking about. Anyway, somehow the box theme and some other themes seemed good to us back in the mixing stage. Maybe they would have had some other impact if we'd done it otherwise! As a composer, I was involved with the mix, but to be honest I didn't ask for any major changes to the work the sound engineer did.”

There is music in almost every other scene where there are no dialogues. Sometimes, the music plays for no particular reason or rather reasons that are hard to decipher. When JK and his colleagues inspect Purushoththaman’s sealed house, there is too much build up in music as if something is going to happen, but nothing happens. Also, I couldn’t understand the use of Violins or maybe Cellos, when JK inspects Moorthy’s Auto-rickshaw or the music for the scene in the Tennis Court.

“Right in the scripting stage, Yudham Sei was decided to be approached musically by the director. Hence there's a lot of music. I don't think there was music for no particular reason in any portion. In Dr.Purushoththaman's house scene, the music was set to go with the lighting, the burnt house setting and the general idea that something bad has happened there.” So, there it is. The freaky music played in this scene is for what had happened and not for what is going to happen. “Auto-rickshaw scene, JK senses that something is wrong. Tennis court scene, it's a sort of thing for the two lecherous old men.” Yes, it was quite obvious, what with the camera lingering a little too longer than necessary on those two old men while they sip water and curiously watch the two girls playing Tennis.

There are moments in the film in which the score is the vital reason for the impact they had on us. In that Basement-Car-Parking scene, the deliberate silence maintained in the natural soundtrack is amplified with sustained strings in the score, and when the jump-out-of-the-seat moment happens, you can’t help but jump out of your seat. The effect wouldn’t be the same, if there were some percussions or instruments playing music loud while JK gently drives around the area and inspects.

There is an interesting conversation that happens between Harp and Strings in that bridge action sequence, though both music and the visuals follow the pattern of a similar scene from Anjaathey. K agrees. “Yes the harp aspect makes it similar to Anjaathey”. When Mahesh Muthuswamy moves up in the escalator and disappears in the blinding white light, the Cello that rises is uplifting and leaves us with a sense of hope.

But, that Cello piece in the end credits music, or the Box theme for that matters seem to be heavily inspired by some foreign film scores.

K has not even heard the pieces that Box theme is allegedly inspired from. “Most international films have strings as their basic element. Such a script, I feel, simply cannot have any other kind of music. Can you imagine psycho without the violins! I don't know why some people keep saying that the box theme is a copy of some international piece (I think from some Japanese soundtrack). I can assure you that I've never heard of it before. All the pieces in the film were inspired by the script first of all. No creation I believe can happen without some inspiration. It might be on purpose or otherwise. I believe the music of Yudham Sei is inspired by a lot of western classical music. I don't remember completely, but I think Predator and King Kong were given to me as references and tracks from the same were used as temps.”

A Song Composer Vs A Score Composer - “I was absolutely delighted and slightly worried at the same time because it's my first feature film. To be honest, the fact that there were no songs in the film didn't bother me one bit, I mean that thought didn't cross my mind at all. I'm not sure why though! I don't think I prepared myself in any special way. I listened to a lot of music, watched some movies, that's about it!”

OST CD - “I don't think any Audio company in India would be ready and willing to release the entire soundtrack on CD. Guess it's the same case with Yudham Sei. As it is no one buys audio CDs anymore. I would love to have the entire thing released. I hope to work on it soon.”

Vaagai Sooda Vaa (M.Ghibran)

Well, if a composer really intends to take his music (background score, in this case) to as many people as possible, then M.Ghibran’s is the way to go. For the first time in Tamil film music history, the complete background score of a film was released on the internet by the composer for free. M.Ghibran released the entire background score of the film (28 cues) in CD quality on soundcloud.com. Thank You M.Ghibran!

On twitter, M.Ghibran, while he was composing the Vaagai Sooda Vaa score, asked his followers to suggest the instruments that they would like to hear in the background score of the film that is set in 1960s. I thought about the instruments for a day or two. I wanted to suggest M.Ghibran to use a one-string bow instrument - the one we hear in the second interlude of A.R.Rahman’s Pachchakili Paadum Ooru (I gather that the name of this traditional Tamil instrument is Sirattai Kinnari). And Gab Gubbi, which M.Ghibran already used, in Thanjavooru Maadaththi song. But, I had totally forgotten to send him my suggestion.

Accordion, which M.Ghibran has used amply throughout the score of the film, never came to my mind. Composers did use accordion quite a lot in Tamil films in 1960s, but I am not sure if they used it in films set in a rural milieu. I vividly remember the presence of an accordion player in the Avalukkena Song video from Server Sundaram. When A.R.Rahman wanted to invoke the sound of classic old world, in Ay Hairathey song in Guru, and Pookodiyin Punnagai in Iruvar, he took to Accordion. But, these are songs.

To me, especially after having heard few world movie soundtracks, sound of accordion is purely European. The accordion piece played for introduction of Madhu would easily go with, say, an Amelie. The Vaagai Sooda Vaa score has plenty of Celtic violins too. However, I did not mind the usage of Accordion or Celtic violins in this film. They do not sound odd. They never seek my attention. They do not disturb the authenticity of the film’s universe.

M.Ghibran applies every rule in Tamil Film background music scoring book authored by Ilaiyaraaja. The instrumental versions of the songs, the somber versions of the happy tunes, the recurring motifs (Goat Chase theme), and jaunty music pieces for the male and female lead’s entry into the narrative, swelling orchestral pieces for the emotional moments and the details in the character motifs (Kuruvikaarar Theme) are all there. Kuruvikaarar theme is my favorite. M.Ghibran uses a haunting phrase of melody from the song of revolution Aana Aavanna for the key character Kuruvikaarar, who has been waiting forever to witness that revolution to happen. The most intriguing aspect of M.Ghibran’s score for Vaagai Sooda Vaa is the minimal usage of flute, which, if were used, could have diminished the harshness of the deserted and dry, barren lands of Kandeduththaankaadu that Sargunan intended to depict.

From Vaagai Sooda Vaa score, it is evident that M.Ghibran is a composer who can do much more than just arrange a background cue. He could spot or compose a malleable phrase of melody, and orchestrate the melody in varied shapes and forms to suit any given situation in the film, which is a key quality required for a background score composer. Listen to the piece he plays whenever Madhu hangs her face down in disappointment; it is that sweet and shy Violin motif from Sara Sara Sarakaaththu song, which M.Ghibran skilfully bends and orchestrates into a sombre piece. In the orchestral version of Senga Soola Kaara that plays when innocent villagers happily bid adieu to Velu, Ghibran adds beautiful supporting and counter melodies to the main melody. M.Ghibran could orchestrate a hefty, intense melody of Aana Avanna to suit a fluffy lighter moment in the film, when Velu tries to impress the kids by narrating stories. That, he could have pitched the orchestral pieces less loud (too much of brass) for Aandai (Ponvannan) is my only grouse.

Mankatha (Yuvan Shankar Raja)

The best brass-based theme music of the year is obviously of Mankatha. After a long time we have a music theme in Mankatha Theme that is popular, worthy of being a mobile ringtone and has that quality to remind even a casual filmgoer of the film, when he hears the theme coming from a distant audio even a decade later (though film itself has already been forgotten). The catchy trumpet theme has the power, punch and the attitude needed to back a charismatic hero, which Ajith is in this film.

Yuvan Shankar Raja plays a very tricky game with listeners with this instrumental theme. It begins with string section playing the first half of the main trumpet theme. That is expected. That is the way to hint at a theme. You can’t play the complete theme instantly in the very beginning of the piece. That is a nice strategy to keep the listeners interested in the piece. We anticipate that after playing enough with the notes of the first half of the melody, the composer would lead us to a satisfactory end with the theme playing in its entirety at least once at an unexpected point before the track ends. While I was waiting for the surprise, Yuvan totally surprised me by surprising me in a way I did not expect; Yuvan doesn’t play the theme in its entirety till the end. And that worked too. The theme always ends the moment it hits its peak note. Maybe, that is to imply the infallibility of the hero, because the second half of the theme actually descends down from the high point the theme reaches in the middle.

Mankatha theme is used throughout the film whenever Vinayak Mahadev (Ajith) makes a surprise entry or does something unexpected in a scene. There aren’t many variations of this theme in the film except the one with additional heavy Rock Guitar layers and it plays in a crucial scene. The other important theme in the film is the strings-heavy heist theme which is used throughout the episode in which the Heist is planned and executed. Obviously, it is inspired by scores of various Hollywood action films, but sounds quite catchy and effective in this film.

Yet again, after Saroja (the Car toppling scene) and Aaranya Kaandam (a bit from Vivaldi’s Four Season in Chasing Pasupathi sequence), Yuvan plays a western classical piece (I gather that it is Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041) for an action scene in this film too. Our film makers or sound designers are yet to learn their lessons when it comes to mixing the score with the film. As always, it is too loud in Mankatha too. By the way, Background score assisted by Karthik Raja, Bhavatharini and Premgi Amaran it seems. Whatever that means!

Avan Ivan (Yuvan Shankar Raja)

Yuvan Shankar Raja got the opportunity to score music for the most unconventional hero introduction scene in a Tamil film, in Bala’s Avan Ivan, in which the hero Vishal is introduced as a transgender. Musically too, the song is unconventionally wordless except for that “Dia Dole” phrase. It is difficult to put a song together with all extremely well known folk rhythm patterns and yet make it sound refreshing. The key is picking the best of all folk rhythm patterns, and then arriving at a sequence in which if played the piece would pack maximum punch and Yuvan seems to be gaining mastery in doing just that. Of course, I seriously doubt if Yuvan composed the high-energy live folk rhythms section towards the end of the song.

Clearly Bala is losing interest in songs. Or, maybe Bala is not clear about the music that the script demands. Three songs composed for the film Avan Ivan were not used, but he wanted two more songs to be composed after the entire film was shot and edited, and of course, they were not released in the film's soundtrack CD. That folksy little songlet Kaavakaara Kiliyae composed, after the film was made, for Vishal's romance, suited the situation far better than Rasaththi Pola composed, before the film was made, for Arya's romance. That is how I would like film music to be made, once after the complete film is shot and edited, and it is easy to do when the songs are not going to be lip-synched by the characters in the film.

In Naan Mahaan Alla, Yuvan had composed a different song for the situation in which Iragai Polae plays now. After watching the visuals, Yuvan totally changed the song to what it is now. In Mankatha too, Kannadi Nee song was composed after the film was shot as a replacement for the song that was composed earlier for the same situation. Of all film makers, it is Bala who can easily switch to this model. He is not a filmmaker who is going to have an item number in Music CDs to to create a buzz about the film before its release.

By the way, what is with Bala, Kunal Ganjawala and the songs composed at the last minute? The beautiful Maa Ganga that plays in the opening credits of Bala’s previous film Naan Kadavul, and now Kizhakum Merkum in Avan Ivan are sung by Kunal Ganjawala. I guess it is for this situation Yuvan composed the sweet, lilting melody Oru Malaiyoram. A lovely instrumental version of the Kizhakkum Merkkum song, with a solo flute playing the main melody plays out in its entirety in the opening credits of the film. In the film too, instead of the song with vocals, I feel that the instrumental version would have implied the breeziness of the situation better. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s background score for that shoddy, crowd pleasing episode in Avan Ivan where Vishal makes facial expressions for nine basic human emotions to prove his acting skill, in front of Surya, is a sample of what it would feel like if Ilaiyaraaja scored music for a Vikraman film.

Mayakkam Enna (G.V.Prakash)

It was not just Bala. Selvaraghavan too paid tribute to Vikraman in his style in Mayakkam Enna. Selvaraghavan’s films have always had loud background score, but it is in Mayakkam Enna, for the first time, we feel the loudness. Let us leave Pudupettai aside. The symphonic score for a Slumdog-to-gangster saga was totally wrong. That may be because the emotions in Mayakkam Enna are pitched far lower than it was in any of his other films, where the loudness in the score perfectly gelled with loudness in the mood of the visuals. In Mayakkam Enna, the score for the first half sounds apt.

I liked the way G.V.Prakash unleashes the main love theme – the one we hear in audio CD as Mayakkam Enna theme - gradually. It is good that G.V.Prakash thought of developing a theme from point A to point B. The electric guitar version of the theme, possibly hinting at the path of destruction he might tread by falling in love with his best friend’s girl friend, is not heard until after Karthik kisses Yamini.

Karthik’s passion for photography is given a musical theme, which is rightfully introduced in the moment, on a solo clarinet, when Karthik sees beauty in an ordinary wrinkle-less face of an old woman sitting on the roadside, and captures it. The Passion for Photography theme plays again in the scene in which Karthik does a dog-act in front of an acclaimed photographer, whom Karthik idolizes and wants to work under as an assistant. The reprisal of the theme in this moment is apt, but it reprises without any distinct variation. The mood in the earlier scene, where Karthik clicks pictures of an old woman, is totally different from the mood in the scene, where he sacrifices his self-esteem for his passion. There has to be an instantly recognizable difference between the orchestration of theme used for exhilaration of a Eureka moment and the sufferings of a struggling artist. The thematic melody could be the same, because both the exhilaration and the suffering, Karthik experiences, are because of his Karthik’s passion for photography. The difference in the consequential emotions can only be underlined by a marked difference in the way the composer orchestrates the theme.

The “Passion for Photography” theme plays out in its entirety when Karthik wanders in search of birds in the forest and finds one, but thankfully, G.V.Prakash beautifully orchestrates the theme to be in sync with the cuts and transformations in this scene. Most contemporary composers fail in background score department – despite having the ability to create catchy musical motifs – because of their inability to create enough orchestral variants of a theme to use them throughout the film. It is the variety in orchestration why even when Ilaiyaraaja uses a theme a dozen times in a film, it never sounds repetitive.

The overall sound of the score turns tedious and monotonous in the second half of the film, because of the unimaginative use of the string section and Synth choir. In the second half of the film, the score gets louder and louder, though there are long stretches of silence in between. Meanwhile, composer for Selvaraghavan’s next is Harris Jeyaraj. Me, ticking off Irandam Ulagam from the list of films, which, when I watch, in a theatre, I would carry my recorder to record the background score.

The two to three minutes long instrumental themes G.V.Prakash releases in the film soundtrack CDs have a certain pattern. It begins with the introduction of a simple, elegant, instantly hummable theme in its entirety on some basic instrument without any accompaniments. The theme is then passed on to two or three other instruments, which play the theme without any variation or development or even a change in tempo. The string section would then take over the theme and play it with some obvious supporting melodies. Finally, sometimes heavy percussion rhythms would join in, and everything would return to the original version of the theme. The pattern could be noticed in the themes of Madharasapattinam, Deivathirumagal, Mayakkam Enna, Aanandha Thaandavam, Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam and Aayirathil Oruvan. I love all these pieces strictly for the main melody. The haunting Violin theme from Kireedom is my favorite, which does not strictly follow the aforementioned pattern.

Aaranya Kandam (Yuvan Shankar Raja)

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s background score in Aaranya Kaandam is the most refreshing score of 2011. Aaranya Kaandam is a Yuvan Shankar Raja Musical. Yuvan Shankar Raja is in a hugely exciting phase of his career. He is the only composer in Tamil Cinema now, whom all kind of filmmakers approach for all kinds of films - low or a high budget, stars or no stars, commercial or art. He cleverly caters to each of their demands in the way they ought to be.

Aaranya Kaandam cannot be what it is without this score. The background score is intrinsically woven into the design of the visual narrative. The film throws up a challenge for a composer and Yuvan Shankar Raja lives totally up to it and how! I do not remember the last time I heard so many different genres of music in the background score of one film (Thiruda Thiruda?). And yet none of them sounds alien to the film’s universe. There are distinct themes for all principal characters of the film. The themes do not undergo many variations through the course of the film, but recur aptly at the right moments.

The score is very well balanced with aesthetically loud music and stretches of silence. The score, just like the film, has part European and part Hollywood sensibility. Obviously, half of the credit should go to film’s director Thyagarajan Kumararaajan for guiding Yuvan Shankar Raja in doing something that he would not have done or done as proficiently if it were left only to him. Clearly, Thyagarajan has temp-ed the entire film with already available music, before he took it to Yuvan for the background score, some of which Yuvan seemed to have retained after making minor rearrangement. The piece that plays when Gajendran’s gang reaches the Lodge is an interesting brassy rearrangement of Camille Saint-Saëns “Carnival of the animals”. Is this Plagiarism or just inspiration? I would like to give the benefit of doubt to Yuvan Shankar Raja in this case.

Aadukalam (G.V.Prakash)

Talking of Plagiarism, G.V.Prakash has been shockingly blatant.

When the end credits begin to scroll up, Vetri Maaran lists the films that inspired him to make Aadukalam

Cache - Michael Haneke Babel - Alejandro Gonzales Innarittu Amores Perros - Alejandro Gonzales Innarittu Thevar Magan – Bharathan Virumandi - Kamal Haasan Paruthi Veeran – Ameer

I wish Vetri Maaran had shown these films to G.V.Prakash as well, to study and understand how the composers of the respective films have handled the background score. For a film, that is set in the hinterland of Madurai and that deals with rooster fights, the heroic trumpets (The title credits music, also later used in an action sequence) and Spanish Guitars - that reminds us Ennio Morricone’s scores for American westerns - sound totally out of place. Yogi B’s Tamil rap, though an alien sound to the film’s universe, is marginally better in synch with the mood of the moments where it is heard in the film.

Ideally, the second half of the film should have no background score. In the second half, the performances, the visuals and writing are brilliant enough to grip the audience. G.V.Prakash’s score gets overtly manipulative and melodramatic. These instrumental background score cues would work well as stand-alone music pieces, but in the film, they are used when not necessary.

G.V.Prakash’s score is not detrimental to the extent of being annoying or distracting. However, with a film like ‘Aadukalam’, the composer should also dare to go a step forward to be more sensible, economical and subtle while writing the score. I wouldn’t blame G.V.Prakash completely, because, at the end, it is the film maker who approves of such a score. I have heard Vetri Maaran’s sky high praise for G.V.Prakash’s background score in ‘Polladhavan’, which I think is another highly overrated score.

What baffles me most is that none of these misfires in the background score dilutes or disturbs the impact of the film. This film and its score made me think about the basic necessity of background score in films. Even with a less than appropriate score, a film manages to be what it intends to be.

If this has happened with a B-grade film made by just another film maker, with music by a lesser composer, I wouldn’t even bother to listen to the score. G.V.Prakash and Vetri Maaran would have sat and discussed for at least an hour about the sound of the score, the instruments to be used and thematic ideas. So much thought has gone into creating something totally inappropriate for the film. And that is the concern. At least, the audience should do their job right. Don't tell G.V.Prakash that his score in the film is as terrific as the film and that it has elevated the film. It isn’t, and it hasn’t.

Vetri Maaran forced G.V.Prakash to adapt Godfather theme and use it in all the scenes between Pettaikaaran (V.I.S.Jayabalan) and Karuppu (Danush). Vetri Maaran, in an interview, mentioned that he wanted to use Godfather theme for Pettaikaaran, because, he wanted to show him as a father figure for Karuppu. It would then be a shock to the audience – the Tamils who, according to Vetri Maaran, think about Fellini’s Godfather in every breathing moment of their lives - when the grey shades of Pettaikaaran is revealed. Themes from Red Cliff and Chronicles of Narnia are blatantly lifted and played in the rooster fight episode in Aadukalam. “There is just only one episode, where I felt the score lived up to the film. The background score for the long rooster fight sequence is brilliant. There is just right amount of music at the right moments amidst ample stretches of silence and subtle music throughout this episode.” - That is what I wrote in this site about background score in rooster fight sequence, before I knew that those pieces were not original compositions.

Plagiarism, G.V.Prakash

That is not all. The De Lesseps’ Dance theme from Shakespeare in Love became the main theme of Deivathirumagal. In Mayakkam Enna, it is “Dead Already” from American beauty. G.V.Prakash has tried his best to make it his own by slightly tweaking the thematic melody, but by repeating the distinctive template of the original, he makes it fall in the blatant rip-off category. The “Dead Already” clone is played for the slideshow of the photographs clicked by Karthik. G.V.Prakash also uses this theme as Yamini’s phone ringtone. I guess Kudaikkal Mazhai is the only other Tamil film, in which a musical theme (composer – Karthik Raaja) from the background score of the film is used as the ringtone of the protagonist’s phone. But, in Kudaikkal Mazhai, these phone calls and the phone itself is a part of the narrative, hence the usage, but I guess we have to ask G.V.Prakash to know if there is any special reason for using the theme as the ringtone of Yamini’s mobile.

When I sent him a mail seeking an explanation for Red Cliff piece in Aadukalam, he politely replied saying that he would avoid using inspired piece in future. I don’t understand where the composers get the guts to plagiarize Hollywood film scores, without any fear of being sued by the original composers. In this internet era, everyone can see everything. The recent Deepak Dev (Urumi) case is a classic example.

Others

Of other films, composer Sathya’s background score in Engeyum Eppodhum was adequate for the film. Nithya Menon’s love theme in Nootrenbadhu composed by Sharreth is another favorite. As it has always been, Tamil film music composers, continue to give equal importance to songs and background scores. Of course, composers emerging from the land of Ilaiyaraaja can hardly be otherwise. Ilaiyaraaja was at his best, as usual, in Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai. Yuvan Shankar Raja made a leap in Aaranya Kaandam. Karthik Raja was happy assisting his brother in composing Mankatha background score. I don’t know what to make of G.V.Prakash. He tweeted that he is planning to release Aayirathil Oruvan background score in Mayakkam Enna CD, but it didn’t happen. Harris Jeyaraj did nothing notable in background score. I remember liking Dong Lee’s theme in Ezham Arivu.

Vijay Antony, who is not known for his background score composing abilities, released the theme of Velayutham from the background score of the film, on twitter, few days before the film’s release. I don’t know where Sundar C.Babu, who composed some noteworthy score for Mysskin’s films, is heading. I haven’t seen both Thoonga Nagaram and Poraali, but the audio CD of the both the films had instrumental theme music. As for Mouna Guru, I was so engrossed in the film that I didn’t pay any heed to what Thaman was playing in the background. The music CD has a very eerie instrumental theme, however. We can’t trust Thaman; he lifted entire cues from Dark Knight for Eeram background score.

Cartoonist turned film critic, Madan had some good things to say about Vidhyasagar’s background score in Thambi Vettothi Sundaram. I haven’t seen the film yet. A.R.Rahman didn’t compose music for any of the Tamil films released in 2011, but he released a collector’s edition audio CD of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya that had two cues from the background score of the film – Jessie’s Land and Shreya Ghosal’s Aaromalae Alaap. There were many more beautiful cues, some of which A.R.Rahman had reserved for Ek Deewana Tha audio CD. Composers K, M.Ghibran and Sathya made promising debuts in 2011. Overall, with respect to background score, 2011 was good.

Nadunisi Naigal

In Vijay TV Koffee with Anu show, Gautam Vasudev Menon interviewed Bharathiraaja, as part of the promotions of his film Nadunisi Naigal. In the show, Bharathiraaja seemed most curious to watch Nadunisi Naigal, not because the film is inspired by his Sigappu Rojakkal, but because the film has no background score. And Bharathiraaja’s curiosity is not surprising because he could not imagine his Sigappu Rojakkal without Ilaiyaraaja’s arresting background score.

Gautam Vasudev Menon made a brave attempt by not having music – not just songs but also background score – in his psychological thriller Nadunisi Naigal. I, from the very beginning, even before the film was released, felt that Gautam’s idea of not having background score emerged not from the confidence in his script or visual telling. Gautam’s idea seemed more practical than artistic. It seemed like a deliberate attempt to convert a crisis aesthetical and arty. To make a thriller to work with no background score is too high a feat to achieve. I have not seen the film, but going by the reports and the reviews, absence of a background score seems to be the least of all the problems in the film. Thus, 2011 began with a director attempting to raise a middle finger at the idea of having background score in films.

Nadunisi Naigal got me thinking, again, about the importance of background score in a film. It is a tool that could easily be done away with, if a filmmaker writes the visual narrative of the film keeping no background score in mind. Would Mysskin have choreographed the bridge action episode in the same, if he were to make the film without a background score? With due credits to composer K and what his music does to the emotional impact of the film if there is one film (in 2011)that would have worked equally well with no background music, it is Yudham Sei. However, Yudham Sei is not your regular Tamil film. What about commercial masala films? I do not know how, but when I downloaded officially released version of Dabangg from YouTube through Real player video downloader, I got a version without the background music. Did it happen to anyone else? I saw the film for the first time without any background music. But, even without the background score, the film was just as entertaining. Maybe, even Dabangg is not the right film to consider, for Baradwaj Rangan, after watching Dabangg and Singam (Tamil) remarked thus - “Though after Dabangg, I wonder what it'd be like if a director who's more than just a good technician (like Selvaraghavan, say) steps up to make a hardcore masala movie in Tamil”.

That debate aside. Menon is no Coen, and this is no country for movies without background music. Let us discuss it, when a Tamil film maker gives us an immersive movie watching experience without using a background score.

My 50 Favorite Cues from Tamil Film background scores in 2011

Sweet Memories

Bliss

Harp in Action

Aaranya Kaandam

Love Blossoms

Nothing But Wind

Mankatha

Poraali

Azhagarsamy Suite

Hangover

Velu in Kandeththankaadu

Vidya

Sweet Sixteen

The War

The Heist

Photography

Kizhakkum Merkum

Namboodiri

Food Con

Life Goes On

Kasturi

Love Theme

Kasi

Unlock the Safe

Festival

Ana Avanna

Chaos

Gajendran

Celtic Chase

A Tabla and A Trumpet

A Silent Victim

Ombodhu

Donation

Azhagar is back

Danger

Hope

Revenge

Hideous Lute

Love Birds

Sanjana

Kaavakaara Kiliyae

Spy in Raajazz

Goat Chase

A Tale

The Game Begins

Scottish God

Madhi

Flamenco Fight

Box

Orchestral Version of Best Song of the Year 2011

Vote

Vaagai Sooda Vaa Background Score

2011-12-16T22:44:00.000-08:00

On twitter, M.Ghibran, while he was composing the Vaagai Sooda Vaa score, asked his followers to suggest the instruments that they would like to hear in the background score of the film that is set in 1960s. I thought about it for a day or two. I wanted to suggest M.Ghibran to use a one-string bow instrument - the one we hear in the second interlude of A.R.Rahman’s Pachchakili Paadum Ooru (I gather that the name of this traditional Tamil instrument is Sirattai Kinnari). And Gab Gubbi, which M.Ghibran already used, in Thanjavooru Maadaththi song. But, I had totally forgotten to send him my suggestion.

Accordion, which M.Ghibran has used amply throughout the score of the film, never came to my mind. Composers did use accordion quite a lot in Tamil films in 1960s, but I am not sure if they used it in films set in a rural milieu. I vividly remember the presence of an accordion player in the Avalukkena Song video from Server Sundaram. When A.R.Rahman wanted to invoke the sound of classic old world, in Ay Hairathey song in Guru, and Pookodiyin Punnagai in Iruvar, he took to Accordion. But, these are songs.

To me, especially after having heard few world movie soundtracks, sound of accordion is purely European. The accordion piece played for introduction of Madhu would easily go with, say, an Amelie. The Vaagai Sooda Vaa score has plenty of Celtic violins too. However, I did not mind the usage of Accordion or Celtic violins in this film. They do not sound odd. They never seek my attention. They do not disturb the authenticity of the film’s universe.

M.Ghibran applies every rule in Tamil Film background music scoring book authored by Ilaiyaraaja. The instrumental versions of the songs, the somber versions of the happy tunes, the recurring motifs (Goat Chase theme), and jaunty music pieces for the male and female lead’s entry into the narrative, swelling orchestral pieces for the emotional moments and the details in the character motifs (Kuruvikaarar Theme) are all there. Kuruvikaarar theme is my favorite. M.Ghibran uses a haunting phrase of melody from the song of revolution Aana Aavanna for the key character Kuruvikaarar, who has been waiting forever to witness that revolution to happen. The most intriguing aspect of M.Ghibran’s score for Vaagai Sooda Vaa is the minimal usage of flute, which, if were used, could have diminished the harshness of the deserted and dry, barren lands of Kandeduththaankaadu that Sargunan intended to depict.

From Vaagai Sooda Vaa score, it is evident that M.Ghibran is a composer who can do much more than just arrange a background cue. He could spot or compose a malleable phrase of melody, and orchestrate the melody in varied shapes and forms to suit any given situation in the film, which is a key quality required for a background score composer. Listen to the piece he plays whenever Madhu hangs her face down in disappointment; it is that sweet and shy Violin motif from Sara Sara Sarakaaththu song, which M.Ghibran skillfully bends and orchestrates into a somber piece. In the orchestral version of Senga Soola Kaara that plays when innocent villagers happily bid adieu to Velu, Ghibran adds beautiful supporting and counter melodies to the main melody. That, he could have pitched the orchestral pieces less loud (too much of brass) for Aandai (Ponvannan) is my only grouse.

For the first time in Tamil film music history, the complete background score of a film was released on the internet by the composer for free. M.Ghibran released the entire background score of the film (28 cues) in CD quality on soundcloud.com. Thank You M.Ghibran!

Vaagai Sooda Vaa Film OST Unmix by MGhibran

Mayakkam Enna Background Score

2011-11-26T00:14:00.001-08:00

Beautiful, thematic score by G.V.Prakash, but the ensemble of flute, oboe, strings and Synth choir becomes monotonous after sometime.

1. Something is Wrong

2. Love Theme (Extended Version)

3. Karthik Theme

4. Karthik's Click

5. Passion

6. Birds

7. Kiss

8. Alone

9. Betrayed

10. Anger

11. Karthik Theme 2

12. Dream comes True

Rockstar Background Score

2011-11-11T04:06:00.001-08:00

Cues from Rockstar Background Score

Jo Bhi Mein - Movie Version
Mission Junglee Jawaani
Love Blossoms
Sherawali Ambe Maa
Ting a Ling in Prague
Hawa Hawa Meets Tum Ho
Tum Ho on Flute
Prelude to Aur Ho
Tum Ho on Guitar
Tum Ho Orchestral Version & Phir Se Udd Chala on Flute
Jordan is Heer Disease
End Credits

Rockstar Background score is one of the most restrained of all of Rahman's Indian film scores. The film is quiet throughout, with no music to push or exaggerate the emotions in the visuals. Even the scenes in which one usually expects music in the background, like say, when Jordan meets Heer for the first time, or when Heer finds Jordan in Prague, Rahman maintains an astounding silence. These stretches of silence further add to the intensity of emotions, especially in the latter half of the film. The most used musical piece in the background score of the film is the least heard piece of music in the entire soundtrack CD – the Synth soundscape that Rahman builds around Rumi’s poem. It is aptly used in some of the key moments of the film.

As I expected after hearing a soundtrack with fourteen songs, most of the background score cues are derived from the melody of the songs. There are no new musical themes. It certainly is not necessary to write new motifs, when you have sixty seven minutes of music already created for these very characters, their emotions and the situations. The haunting Tum Ho melody and its Piano motif, is interchangeably used as the recurring musical themes for love, passion, longing and pain of Jordan. It features in varied forms in the background score throughout the film. There is a techno Ting-a-ling (from Katiya Karoon) version that plays when Jordan and Heer do in Prague, what they did in India with the Punjabi version playing in the background.

This film is unthinkable without A.R.Rahman’s score. Imtiaz Ali has brilliantly married the music with the narrative. I like the idea of creating two versions of a song, one for the film and one for the Soundtrack CD. In CD version, Hawa Hawa ends with a solo Guitar playing the melody of the line “Azaadi dhedhe mujhe, mere Khudha”, whereas, in the film, the song ends with Kavitha Subramanian humming Tum Ho melody, because the visuals in those precise moments cannot have anything else playing behind, except Tum Ho. This deep interconnection between the film and the music was quite evident even before watching the film, when we heard a soprano whispering “Tum Ko” melody down underneath Orianthi Panagaris’s Guitar interlude in Sadda Haq.

I am still wondering why A.R.Rahman cued the guitar riff of Saadda Haq as background music in the scene in which Janardhan Jakad, comically, lists the pains that he had not gone through in his life. Ironically, Saadda Haq, he sings with a spitting angst, much later in his life, immediately after going through moments of heartbreak and pain. As the film has unusually minimal background score, I am sure some thought must have gone on every single cue that finally made it to the film. Hence, the choice of Saadda Haq guitar riff for Janardhan Jakad, who is yet to become Jordan, is intriguing. Well, when it is A.R.Rahman scoring, it is not just the film you keep thinking about days after watching it.

Rockstar Music Review

Ilaiyaraaja's Happi

2011-10-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Watched the trailer of "Happi" (Directed by Bhavna Talwar) in PVR. Music is by Ilaiyaraaja. Pankaj Kapur is in Charlie Chaplin avatar. How it would be if Ilaiyaraaja scored music for a Charlie Chaplin movie? I guess, we would get to know when we watch this film. The trailer music is awesome. I guess it would be a soothing symphonic score with strings, Solo Violin and Oboe (which he recorded with Hungarian Musicians)

Listen to Happi Trailer Music by Ilaiyaraaja

Rockstar Music Review

2011-09-30T23:37:00.001-07:00

That, one can never predict how an A.R.Rahman melody would flow in a song is common knowledge, but even by Rahman’s standards, the flow of the melody in “Phir Se Udd Chalaa” is stunning. Not a single phrase falls in line with your expectation. There is no groove to groove to. There is no hook to hook to. There is no comfort for a listener here, only twists and turns, surprises and more surprises. Rahman does give you a hook – “Tu too du”, but by the time you catch hold of it and prepare to settle down with the song, the song ends. But, of course, to give us some comfort, there is that Mandolin hook that Rahman introduces right in the beginning of the song and allows it loop throughout the song. That is how A.R.Rahman, even when he is at his lunatic self in experimenting with melody structures and song patterns, manages not to alienate the listeners. Also, all these thrills, chills and surprises in the melody are never employed in a song at the cost of the mood and emotion.

Who else, but A.R.Rahman could have the audacity to use those zany, delicately stacked “Ya Ya Ya” phrases as the sing-along phrase of a rock song in Jo Bhi Mein. I can not yet hum that phrase while I am not listening to the song. Rahman does not leave even the format of qawwali “Kun Faya Kun” untouched. Yet, the deviations in the structure of the song and not in the melody pattern happen not at Rahman’s whim in this song; it seems to have emerged from the demands of the situation in the film. Can Rahman ever settle for just some generic goodness with Qawwali? Rahman whips up an immersive divine fervor in every Sufi-qawwali composition, in the way only he can. Rahman sound, here, is in the melody. In my opinion, ever since Minsara Kanavu, the meaning of “Rahman sound” has changed. Rahman sound, now, is not characterized by dense layers of Synth loops. Even when he decides to build a soundscape with sounds and Synth loops, he does it in a way no other composer in the world could do – sample Aaj Dil from Blue.

These forever revealing layers in Rahman’s soundscape are now constructed from real instruments. Like, he does, so brilliantly in the groovy Hawa Hawa with multiple layers of all that is Tango and a middle-eastern tinge. Can Rahman ever go wrong with Middle-eastern stuff? The contour of the main melody in Hawa Hawa song has not yet revealed itself entirely to me, but I am instantly hooked and it is not just because of the Hawa Hawa hook. The melody, with its short phrases and sudden pauses, has an infectious charm despite the zig-zag sharp cuts it takes on its course. And that “Tango for Taj” is a Jaw dropping amalgamation of Tango and Mughal Music. The other instrumental track “The Dichotomy of Fame” with the Jugalbandhi of Balesh’s Shehnai and Kabuli’s Guitar has a familiar template (Yeh Jho Desh Instrumental from Swades) and yet the rooted flavor of the Shehnai melody makes it a refreshing soother.

With just a single Guitar refrain, Rahman Rahmanizes even an utterly traditional Punjabi melody in "Katiya Karoon". When that guitar refrain looms large in volume, in the final act of the song, the comforting feel it gives to a listener is inexpressible. It spreads a sense of positivity in the aura like no song did in the recent past. Nothing could explain this Rahman’s process of Rahmanizing a song better than incredibly funny and funky Seher Mein. A composer (Is it Anu Malik?) is teaching a song to the singer, and what the singer does with the basic melody that is given to him is what Rahman does to turn even the most conventional melody into his own.

Have you been longing for a song like that of vintage 90s A.R.Rahman? Then, "Tum Ko" (or Tum Ho) is for you. The haunting main motif (Aaaaaaaaaah Aaha Haaha), pristine Piano pieces, flute, tinkle bells, breezy strings, soft Synth pads come together to take us to a lonely, romantic wonderland. Want more? There is another version of the song that uses the dulcet registers of Kavitha Subramanian’s voice to its advantage, and with even more enchanting layers of Saarangi and Tabla.

Rahman’s soundtracks have always been eclectic. I thought Imtiaz Ali would finally make Rahman stick to one genre for the entire soundtrack. But he didn't. Rockstar is amazingly eclectic. Even within Rock, all the rock songs in Rockstar are entirely different from each other. There is the soothing soft rock in the intoxicating Jo Bhi Mein, psychedelic Sufi rock in Aur Ho, generically mixed forms of rock in exuberant Naadaan Parindey and grunge rock in anthemic Sadda Haq. Mohit Chauhan. The spitting anger in Sadda Haq, submission to the supreme in Kun Faya Kun, flamboyance in Phir Se Udd Chala, exuberance in Hawa Hawa, the longing in Tum Ho, the suffocation in Aur Ho – Mohit Chauhan nails every emotion to perfection is all the songs.

A.R.Rahman has always maintained that his music is a collective effort, and that his job is to musically realize a director’s vision. Imtiaz Ali’s vision has been triumphantly realized by Rahman in Rockstar soundtrack. The music, though enjoyable on its own, is deeply connected to the film which is why you hear a soprano whispering “Tum Ko” melody down underneath Orianthi Panagaris’s Guitar interludes in Sadda Haq. A.R.Rahman has come a long way as a “movie” music composer, and that is why he is the darling of all great Indian Filmmakers, and he would remain so. Is there any other Indian Composer, who remained the most sought after by most of the Indian filmmakers (whose films matter), even in his 20th year in business?

Background Score - 78

2011-09-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

A Background Score Quiz in this site, after almost 7 months. Guess the films.

Stanley Ka Dabba - Opening Credits

180 - Opening Credits

Band Baja Baaraat - Lovemaking Theme

Mugavari - ThalaRockzzz, at the end, becomes a Composer

Aayirathil Oruvan - "Indha Paadhai Yengu pogum" Desert Theme

Abhiyum Naanum - Opening Credits

That Girl in Yellow Boots - The tRuth

Mankatha Background Score

2011-08-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

The catchy trumpet theme has the power, punch and the attitude needed to back a charismatic hero, which Ajith is in this film. Yuvan Shankar Raja plays a very tricky game with listeners with this instrumental theme. It begins with string section playing the first half of the main trumpet theme. That is expected. That is the way to hint at a theme. You can’t play the complete theme instantly in the very beginning of the piece. That is a nice strategy to keep the listeners interested in the piece. We anticipate that after playing enough with the notes of the first half of the melody, the composer would lead us to a satisfactory end with the theme playing in its entirety at least once at an unexpected point before the track ends. While I was waiting for the composer to surprise me, Yuvan totally surprised me by not playing the theme in its entirety until the end. And that worked too. The theme always ends the moment it hits its peak note. Maybe, that is to imply the infallibility of the hero, because the second half of the theme actually descends down from the high point the theme reaches in the middle. This theme is used throughout the film whenever Vinayak Mahadev (Ajith) makes a surprise entry or does something unexpected in a scene. There aren’t many variations of this theme in the film except the one with additional heavy Rock Guitar layers and it plays in a crucial scene. The other important theme in the film is the strings-heavy heist theme which is used throughout the episode in which the Heist is planned and executed. Obviously, it is inspired by scores of various Hollywood action films, but sounds quite catchy and effective in this film. A piece with prominent brass section backed just by Tabla beats is used for a comical situation in the film. It sounds quite fresh and totally in sync with the situation for which it is used. Yet again, after Saroja (the Car toppling scene) and Aaranya Kaandam, Yuvan plays a western classical piece (or is it an Original composition?) for an action scene in this film too. Our film makers or sound designers are yet to learn their lessons when it comes to mixing the score with the film. As always, it is too loud in Mankatha too. Between, Background score assisted by Karthik Raja, Bhavatharini and Premgi Amaran it seems. Whatever that means!

Some of the cues from Mankatha Background Score

1. Trisha Intro

2. Tabla for Trumpet

3. The Spy

4. Hangover

5. The Heist Theme

6. Mankatha Theme

7. Violence Symphony

Memoirs of a Rahmaniac

2011-08-14T02:06:00.000-07:00

I don’t remember the precise moment when was the first time my brain released dopamine on listening to A.R.Rahman’s music. But ever since it did, I have been a Rahmaniac. I am still a Rahmaniac who gets totally excited when a new A.R.Rahman album is about to release. A.R.Rahman’s music is not as great as it used to be. Oh! Is it? The more you know about what goes behind making of a piece of A.R.Rahman’s music, more you should become less excited about the music. Isn’t it? I now know that he uses computers, samples, loops, adds and deletes layers of a song many number of times before the song gets its final shape, and so I am not supposed to say that A.R.Rahman is a great composer. He is not great because he doesn’t compose, because he takes hell a lot of time to compose a song, because he just puts sounds tastefully together using various gadgets, because he is merely an arranger, a sound smith. I am supposedly being sane and intelligent when I say that A.R.Rahman’s music is overrated. If that is the case, I would better be ignorant. I am glad that I am not intelligent. Has intelligence got anything to do with what you go through emotionally while listening to a piece of music? A woman gives birth to a child naturally and another woman gives birth to a child through cesarean. How the child, who is born through cesarean any lesser or greater soul than the one that is born naturally? How is the woman who gave birth to the child through cesarean any lesser or greater mother than the woman who gave birth to a child naturally? A mother is a mother is a mother. A child is a child is a child. A melody is a melody. At the end, it is the new born life that is important and it is the new born melody that is important. No matter how the baby is delivered, the process by which a composer conceives that baby in his mind is same. But if someone says that A.R.Rahman with his technology is using a human seed to give birth to a lifeless Robot of a song, then you know the intentions of the criticism. Such negativity is bound to walk alongside popularity. There is no need for anyone to wonder why someone likes a piece of music that they hate. To understand why, you should have lived their life; you should have gone through all the experiences that they have gone through in their life. But, one could always be capable to question why they don’t like a piece of music. One can help the other in understanding the beauty of the music that they fail to see it on their own. When someone is genuinely happy or at peace, you cannot tell him that he should not be happy or at peace but you can always go and tell someone that they need not be sad, when they are. It is utter foolishness if someone thinks that they are all-knowledgeable and intelligent to tell someone, “You like a music that is not good”. Pleasure of listening to a piece of music is like that of having sex. Your cerebral knowledge and brilliance have no relevance here. How could anyone question anyone else’s pleasure in sex? There is no way anyway else can listen to a piece of music through my mind. Now to walk down memory lane… I could vaguely recollect watching a song from ‘Roja’ in Doordarshan. Unlike others, who have many times explained how they were stunned by new sound of Rahman, I don’t remember me thinking anything like that about Rahman’s music in Roja. The answer for my no immediate reaction is simple, because at that time, I didn’t have enough exposure to either film music or Ilaiyaraaja’s music to compare and be stunned. I didn’t know anything about the kind of music made for films before A.R.Rahman. Both Rahman and I entered into film music at the same time. He had started to compose and I had started to listen to film music I was 8 years old. I was born and brought up in a small town Salem, in a lower middle class family. We couldn’t afford to buy a Tape recorder or cassettes then. We had a big old radio in which I don’t have any memory of listening to film songs. We didn’t have a TV either. We use to go to our neighbours house to watch TV. Rahman’s next release after Roja was ‘Pudhiya Mugam’. I remember liking Kannukku Mai Azhaghu song so much to an extent that I wrote my own lyrics for the song, a few naive lines, some which I still remember. I was going for a private tuition to my class teacher’s house. They had a very good music system. They use to listen to the songs while we study in their living room. The music system was in a room next to the living room, and we could very clearly listen to the song from the living room. I remember seeing the lyrics booklet (a first time for a Tamil soundtrack?) that was inside a well nicely designed ‘Thiruda Thiruda’ cassette box made of plastic. One day, instead of reading my lessons, I started reading that lyrics book while they were listening to the songs. The song that hit me like a thunder was Veerapandi Kottaiyilae. I couldn’t believe what I was listening to. I couldn’t understand anything in musical terms but I was wonderstruck by the energy of the beats and the unexpected twists and turns in the song. The freshness, the energy, the innovation and the experimentation in ‘Thiruda Thiruda’ music is still an unparalleled achievement. The lunacy in Rahman’s music making style in that soundtrack is still unbelievable. One of my school mates (Santosh) asked me whether I heard the newly released ‘Arabic kadaloram’ song. He said that it is going to be the song of the year. I didn’t understand what he meant by “song of the year”. I forgot about it. By that time, we had bought a small 14 inches black and white Onida TV. In Doordarshan, they use to air a countdown program called ‘Ek se Badkar Ek’ in which I saw ‘Kannaalanae’ song for the first time. We were then a big joint family (15 in one house, to be precise). My uncle (my father’s brother) had bought a small tape recorder and he bought Bombay cassette. He often played the songs. Since, my father had a fight with him, I was not allowed inside his bed room to listen to the songs. I still remember how I would plead my grandfather to ask my uncle to increase the volume so that I can listen to the songs from the common living room. That was the amount of interest in music Rahman kindled in me. I use to beg him to play the songs again and again. It was at that time I started buying lyrics book. A lyrics book is a small book made of low quality grey coloured paper, which will have lyrics of all the songs from a movie, printed in it. In the front cover, it will contain a picture of the hero and heroine of the movie. Inside, the song lyrics would be printed along with the name of the lyricist and the singers at the right hand top corner. They use to sell it outside our school. I use to sacrifice by daily dose of “Rose Palkova” (A small cube shaped sweet supposed to be made of Milk, but made of Maidha and is attractively pink in colour) and buy the lyrics booklet for 25 or 30 paisa. I use to listen to the song with lyrics book in my hand and sing along with it. ‘Bombay’ was the first soundtrack for which I bought this lyrics book and use to keep it in secret between my school books. From then on, I bought the lyrics for all Rahman soundtracks that I got a chance to listen to. I use to steal money from my Dad’s purse for buying these books. Kaathu Kaathu ena Kaathu song from Uzhavan brings back to me the memory of those days when I was in a crush with a girl called Sheela, who is 4 years elder than me. I use to sit on her laps everyday while commuting in an auto rickshaw to school. She performed for this Kaathu kaathu ena kaathu song on annual day function and the way she danced like an angel for the song is still fresh in my memory. I use to hide behind windows of the dance practice room and watch her practising the moves for performance and also listened to the song many times. In those times, Sun TV telecast the programs only in the evenings, so for the rest of the time they use to play audio songs with a blank screen and that is when I often heard and liked Raakkoli rendum mulichirukku song. One day, my uncle brought the original cassette of Kaadhalan. For the first time, he brought the tape recorder to the common living room and played the songs of Kaadhalan. Around five to six kids (all my cousins) at home at that time and we all liked the songs instantly. I could still remember how we bunch of kids couldn’t stop dancing to the tunes of Kaadhalan, because, song after song the rhythm pumped up our energy levels (we fast forwarded the ‘Ennavalae’ song, we found it extremely boring then). We played and danced to the whole soundtrack over 5 times on the very first day until we all got totally exhausted. Until then Rahman had only reached my ears and my body but it was the music of Minsara Kanavu which pierced through and touched my soul. It was a kind of experience which gives me goose bumps, when I think about it even now. In our town, in every street, during July-august of every year, we celebrate a festival called Maariyamman festival in which we pray to a goddess called Maariyamma for the well-being of the families in that street. At this time, they use to hang big speakers in every electric post on the street and play the latest film songs. It was in one of those festivals I heard Minsara Kanavu. I still remember that moment, when I had tears in my eyes while listening to Vennilavae Vennilavae song. That was the first piece of music which moved me emotionally. For one week, every evening I would sit at the doorsteps of our house, waiting to listen to songs of Minsara Kanavu. Minsara Kanavu was the soundtrack that gave me the initial understanding of everything about film music, the lyrics, the singing, the orchestration; the emotional impact etc. Minsara Kanavu gave me one of the most unforgettable music listening experiences of my life. Much later I heard the incredibly moving Anbendra Mazhaiyilae, because during the Maariyamman festival they didn’t play this song as this song is about Jesus. How ridiculous it is to say that A.R.Rahman’s music creates the impact that it creates mainly because of the sophisticated sound. I heard and was moved by Minsara Kanavu music while listening to them through those funnel shaped street speakers. In my schooldays, one of my classmates (Siva Shankar) had a good sense of rhythm and a fair voice. I guess every classroom has one such singer. In free hours, our teachers would often ask him to sing songs from latest movies. I cannot forget that moment when he sang Hello Doctor song from Kaadhal Desam; I thought he was singing some English song. The way he sung it, made me to envy him for he had got the chance to listen to all those English albums but only later I came to know that the song was from a Tamil movie called Kaadhal Desam. But by that time, satellite TV channels in Tamil had developed so much and were a big boon for me. They played songs continuously especially the then Sun Music channel became my music player and I got a chance to listen to and also watch all the new songs of Rahman and also the old ones which I had missed before. Though we had a TV to listen to and watch Rahman songs, we hadn’t yet bought a tape recorder. I kept asking my parents though I could understand that they couldn’t afford to buy it. Their very little interest in music made things tougher for me because they couldn’t really understand the use of it. They couldn’t see how much I was interested in listening to music. But I found a right moment when they couldn’t say no to me if I ask for it; I was ranked first in school in 10th public examinations and got a small Philips tape recorder as my parent’s gift. The first original cassette that I bought in my life is Uyirae. Words cannot express how I felt when I got the tape recorder and the first audio cassette. The mere thought that I could listen to a song whenever I want to excited me so much. I listened to Uyirae every day, every morning like Suprabhatham. Not a single day passed without listening to Uyirae songs. Though Thaiyaa Thaiyaa was a big hit at that time, my favourites were Nenjinilae and Sandhosa Kanneerae. After Minsara Kanavu, it is those days with ‘Uyirae’ music, which I cannot forget for many lifetimes. The way Rahman and Vairamuthu created magic with music and lyrics, took me to a transcendental state every time I listened to the songs. After that, I bought every Rahman soundtrack on the first day of its release. I started listening to all the albums I missed out earlier especially the Hindi ones. Though my parents bought me a tape recorder, they couldn’t afford to buy me the original cassettes. They would ask me to record best songs of 3 or 4 movies in a single cassette which would be cheaper but I insisted on buying only original cassette. It is surprising when I think back that even then I was so adamant to buy only original records. I have spent days crying to buy each and every original cassette of A.R.Rahman. During my 11th and 12th standard, Rahman came up with more and more beautiful compositions in Sangamam, En Swasa kaatrae, Kadhalar Dhinam, Alaipayuthey, Kandukondein Kandukondein, and Tajmahal. Rhythm was the latest album of Rahman when I left my home town to pursue my B.E in Trichy and it was the music of ‘Rhythm’ that accompanied me all the way from Salem to Trichy and even now when I listen to Rhythm songs, my memories go back to my first day in the college hostel. Once I was in college, I started keenly listening to music by other composers also. Before college, I had no exposure to Hindi film songs. My hostel roommate, a Chennai resident all his life, was listening to a lot of Hindi film music. He brought with him the Taal cassette. I still couldn’t recall where I heard Rangeela music, but Taal is the first Hindi film soundtrack of A.R.Rahman I listened to the most for the first time, thanks to Bharath, my roommate in first year Hostel. Someone brought Lagaan cassette to my room (Agate Hostel, Room No.21). When I first heard it, I didn’t understand anything. Later, I met a schoolmate Krishnamoorthy, who was studying in a college in Coimbatore. He told me that Lagaan is great and A.R.Rahman’s music is unbelievable in the film. Lagaan is the first Hindi film I saw in a theatre. I watched Lagaan four times in theatre along with my schoolmates in Salem, Suprageet theatre. When I heard the songs in the film, I was stunned. And the next year, Kannathil Muthamittal music bowled me over again. There is no stopping this guy, I thought. When I was in third year, I bought a 5-in-1 Philips player. In Rhythm Boss, Trichy, I recorded an audio CD for Rs.150 with nearly 20 earlier soundtracks of A.R.Rahman. I spent so many hours in my room no. 125 (Topaz hostel), listening to all his music once again, now on CD, in much better quality and was discovering new layers, sounds that I failed to notice earlier. 2003, I had just started using Internet for general browsing. Before 2003, I had used internet only 3 times in my life - to check 12th board exam marks, Engineering Entrance exam marks and then to check engineering college counseling details. Net Centre in Octagon (that is the name of the Compute Centre building in our College), became my gateway to the world of music. I started reading articles, reviews on internet and had also started writing some. A.R.Rahman was busy with his Bombay Dreams and he wasn’t doing much in Indian film music. By that time, I had developed an interest in orchestral music, background score etc., I came to know about A.R.Rahman scoring for the Chinese film “Warriors of Heaven and Earth”. I use to listen to streaming mp3s of the tracks from Warriors of Heaven and Earth OST on some website. Much later, a college mate Vijay Karthik, bought me the Warriors of Heaven and Earth OST CD from Bangalore. I couldn’t get that CD anywhere in Trichy. But, the first original Audio CD I ever bought is that of Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities. That was yet another stunner from A.R.Rahman. I just couldn’t get enough of it. My parents gave Rs.200 rupees per week as pocket money. I saved money every week so that I could buy Rahman’s CDs. Audio CDs were much costlier then. When I listen to Boys now, I instantly go back to the day I faced my first Campus placement interview. Just a day before the interview, Boys audio released. I didn’t prepare anything for the interview; I was listening to Boys music all day, till I left the room to attend the interview. And I got the job. I guess the subsequent Rahman albums and the incidents that happened around them aren’t old enough to feel nostalgic about. Of course, seeing my name printed on a product (for writing the liner notes in the inlay of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya Special Edition CD pack) of A.R.Rahman is something else. For past few months, I have been listening to all those Hindi albums (Kabhi Na Kabhi, Zubeidaa, 1947: Earth, Thakshak etc.) of Rahman’s that I missed. Few weeks ago, when I repeatedly played “Mere yaara dil daara” song from Kabhi Na Kabhi loudly on my BOSE system, he said, “You are incorrigibly Rahmaniac”. I agree.

Big Bang Symphony - A.R.Rahman

2011-08-01T02:44:00.000-07:00

After writing this post (about A.R.Rahman’s Orchestral Concert at Hollywood Bowl), I kept thinking about the pieces that I would like to see performed when such a concert happens in India. Now here is something I put together which I would like to see performed as the opening act of the concert. I named it “Big Bang Symphony”. The transitions from one piece to another may sound rough and abrupt but I guess that is because of the difference in the audio quality of the source material. Also, there shouldn’t be any difficulty in making the transitions seamless with conjunctive phrases of music when adapting this piece for a live orchestra. The Synth layers and vocal parts could be easily transported to an equivalent instrument in the orchestra.

Big Bang Symphony

Some grand orchestral pieces from Shankar's films are strung togather in this suite, which I would like to call "A Gentleman, An Indian and a Mudhalvan - A.R.Rahman"

A Gentleman, An Indian and a Mudhalvan - A.R.Rahman

In Lagaan Suite, always only the "Once Upon a Time in India" theme is performed. This Lagaan Suite includes also the song "My heart it speaks" and its various instrumental versions, the "Waltz for Romance" and the flute piece from the opening credits of the film.

Lagaan Suite

I like the themes to appear in this order (Jwala Theme, Captain Gordon Theme, Mangal Pandey Theme, Biting the Cartridge, Rising, End Credits) in Mangal Pandey Suite.

Mangal Pandey Suite

A.R.Rahman at Hollywood Bowl - What went wrong?

2011-07-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

Not many who watched A.R.Rahman’s concert with L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra live at Hollywood Bowl seem to have liked it. They expected a regular sing-song A.R.Rahman concert, though A.R.Rahman himself mentioned in many of his pre-concert interviews that this is not a regular concert and that the orchestra would be performing themes from his film scores. Even if not for these interviews, the moment one sees L.A. Philharmonic orchestra, one could have guessed that it is not one of those Jai Ho concerts. Your ignorance is not Rahman’s fault. Also, instrumental music is not everyone’s cup of tea. But, that is not the problem. Irrespective of the expectations of the audiences, if music performed had that magical power to infuse a sense of joy in the hearts of the people, no one would have complained.

I did not watch A.R.Rahman’s concert with L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra live at Hollywood Bowl. It is not fair to pass a judgment without having the first-hand experience, but still these YouTube videos do give a strong sense of what it was like when they were performed, live. After watching all the dirty quality videos of the concert in YouTube, I feel I also would not have liked the concert if I were there. What was wrong? I can only say why I would not have liked it, even if I had gone there expecting a concert with Orchestra performing Rahman’s instrumental film scores.

I do not like listening to orchestral concerts in the open-air auditorium, no matter how powerful a sound system you provide. The nuances in orchestral pieces are best experienced in a closed auditorium. And A.R.Rahman is no John Williams. Rahman’s orchestral pieces mostly are not chaotic, unpredictable, and bombastic and intricately layered enough to engage me in a live concert in an open auditorium. Rahman’s is mellifluous, haunting tunes that are just expanded on an orchestra with different sections playing supporting parts. Such pieces require the walls of a closed auditorium to give the audience an immersive experience. Compare the experience of listening to the performance of "Mausam and Escape" in Nobel Peace Prize concert with that of in Hollywood Bowl.

I am glad to read that Rahman is planning for one such concert in India. I hope that when it happens, it happens in a closed auditorium. There may not be closed auditoriums in India that could pack in 20,000 people, which is the minimum number of attendees of any given Rahman concert. But, filling the hearts of a given number of people with joy and satisfaction is much better than merely filling a given auditorium space with more people most of whom would leave with a sense of disappointment.

The idea of playing visuals from the films in that giant screen has gone terribly wrong. I understand the purpose, non-Indian audiences and all that. But, this is ridiculous. The screen shows frantic action sequences from Endhiran, when the orchestra is performing a calm and subdued version of “Pudhiya Manidha”. It is such a distracting contrast. It totally turns off one’s interest in the music piece. And when you have Rajini on screen doing all those stunts, I wonder if anyone would paid any attention to the orchestral music.

The audience cheered in the middle of Lagaan theme because the peak in the crescendo was perfectly synced with the visual of Aamir hitting that epic winning shot. This is the amount of satisfaction that a perfectly synchronized music and visuals can give the audience, but it looks like that did not happen in any of the pieces performed except Lagaan.

“Arima Arima” chant by Ragapella group was totally out of sync with the orchestra. Also, the number of singers singing “Arima Arima” is less. It totally lacked the grandeur and was not effective. In an interview, Rahman told that he recorded Arima choir parts with 20 voices and overdubbed it multiple times to make it sound like a grand choir. At least 50 singers should have been there on the stage singing that part for that piece to be effective enough.

I am not sure if the suites compiled from the films’ cues were tight enough. There were too many middling loose moments in the middle of the piece. The transition from one cue to another in a suite is particularly crucial. It should be neither abrupt nor take too long. Seamless is the word. In Robot Suite, the middle section lingered far too long on ‘Pudhiya Manidha’ melody. There are so many other bombastic pieces in Robot. The whole suite includes only film’s End Credits music and few variations of Arima song. Mangal Pandey Suite also had the same problem.

For “Warriors of Heaven and Earth” Suite, of all pieces from the film, they have chosen ‘Desert Storm’. I love that piece. However, considering that the performance is for a live audience, most of whom may not have heard the piece before, I doubt if it is a right choice. Instead, ‘Mountains’ would have worked better. It has a serene melody and is richly orchestrated with wood winds and strings. Not to mention, the most bombastic of all pieces, ‘Warriors of Heaven and Earth’, a suite of this film’s score without this piece, for me, is unthinkable. I do not know if they were played in the concert. None of the videos in YouTube has a full version of the performance of this piece.

Most of the pieces were performed in a tempo lesser than that of the original (especially the End Credits cue from Mangal Pandey in Mangal Pandey Suite) and this I guess is one of the main reasons why the pieces sounded long and tiring.

I liked the orchestral version of Lathika’s theme and Mausam and Escape from Slumdog Millionaire, though they were stretched tad too long. Did Naveen play the Lathika’s theme as a solo on Indian flute? I could not hear it properly in the YouTube videos. Lathika’s theme sounds its best on an Indian flute. Naveen, as always, was brilliant in Bombay theme. However, I never liked western orchestra playing Bombay theme. The way the strings orphan the notes in the very first bar is something an ear trained to listening to the original cannot stand. I do not know how to play a Violin. Is it so difficult to bow and pluck the notes in that phrase with the required fluidity on Violin?

I am not much in favor of putting a symphony orchestra behind Rahman’s songs. I could not recognize that the orchestra is playing “Tamizha Tamizha” melody, until the brass section took it over for the final crescendo of the song. “Cry of a Rose” is a Naveen show, symphony orchestra does not add much to the experience. However, “Naan Varuvaenae” is one of those few Rahman songs to which we could put a symphony behind. I would love to listen to it in better quality. But, in this concert, Rahman’s singing of “Naan Varuvaenae” was quite tentative and lacked the soul of the original.

The only piece I have no complaints about in the concert is ‘Intervention’ from Couples Retreat. The strings section is this piece is purely divine, and Rahman’s alaaps were perfectly in sync with the orchestra. I do not know what other pieces were included in Couples Retreat Suite. Jason and Cynthia theme suite is a must, I guess. I would be happy if someone uploaded full version of Couples Retreat Suite. Also, I am eager to know what was performed in 127 Hours suite. If "Liberation theme" were included in the suite, wonder how they had managed to perform it without Guitars.

As a Rahmaniac, I am dying to watch such a symphonic concert in India, but hope the execution is far better than it was in Hollywood bowl. “Anything that goes out of my studio has to be good”, said A.R.Rahman. I hope he extends that policy to his live concerts too.

Avan Ivan Background Score

2011-06-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

Avan Ivan is Bala's worst film. Yuvan Shankar Raja has done his job right. Listen to some of the cues I liked in the background score of the film.

Opening Credits

Highness

Unlock

Love Theme

Ombodhu

10th Anniversary of Lagaan

2011-06-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan is the most definitive Indian film that truly crossed over and appealed to people from all over the world. Moreover, that Lagaan is the first Hindi film I ever saw in a cinema hall, is what makes this film special for me. I saw Lagaan at least four times within one month of its release in a theatre called Suprageet in Salem. Today we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of Lagaan. And here I write or rather I should say re-re-write, again, on Lagaan background score, which is A.R.Rahman’s best yet. Lagaan is one of those films for which A.R.Rahman composed Ilaiyaraaja-level background score.

Complete Lagaan Score (32 mins)

In Lagaan, every known ingredient of a typical Indian masala film is in near perfect proportions. A.R.Rahman had to follow and use almost every single film scoring rule and technique for writing the background score of Lagaan. Every principal character gets a musical theme. Every dramatic moment gets an uplifting music score. Every song’s melody is used appropriately in the background score throughout the film. Every musical theme that is not based on any of the song’s melody is deliberately tuned catchy, so that it could get a life even out of the film. There are big bangs and grand orchestral outbursts. There are moments with measured silence amidst ample music. Every tear-jerking moment is filled with an instrumental soliloquy. Every instrument in the score is carefully chosen, and every piece is carefully orchestrated to convincingly transport us, a century back in time. The beauty of Lagaan’s background score lies in the way all of these techniques come up in the right proportion, in the right context, in the right moments of the film.

Distinct musical themes are written for principal characters in a film. They add a sense of uniqueness to each of the characters, and help the audience understand the characters quickly. The theme could be inspired by any aspect of a character; it could be their mannerism, body language or attitude, relationship with other principal characters or their prevalent mood and emotions. The main theme of the characters plays when they first appear on the screen or when a trait of theirs, which is critical for the drama, is established for the first time in the film. It recurs whenever the focus is shifted to that particular character, or whenever the characters establish that unique trait of theirs, based on which the theme music is written.

In a film like Lagaan, which has a running time of more than 200 minutes, a film maker cannot waste screen time in elaborately establishing the nature of every single character of the vast and varied ensemble. Within the given screen space and time, Ashutosh seemed to have done his best and delegated the rest to Rahman. Rahman’s character themes are crucial in this film, helping the audience to understand the uniqueness of every single character that the film maker wants to highlight. Rahman has written distinct musical themes for Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), Gauri (Gracy Singh), and Bhuvan’s mother (Suhasini Mulay), Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne), Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley), Laakha (Yashpal Sharma), Guran (Rajesh Vivek), Goli (Daya Shankar Pandey), Bagha (Amin Hajee), Tippu (Amin Gazi), Ishwar Kaka (Shri Vallabh Vyas) and Yardley (Chris England).

Conventionally, in an Indian film, a hero’s or main protagonist’s theme appears when the character’s face is first shown or when their characteristics are first revealed in the film, giving a cue for the fans to stand and cheer up for their hero, when they watch the film in cinema halls. Lagaan is not a regular Indian masala film to have a grand hero introduction scene, in which a hero could appear onscreen with the backing of blowing trumpets, and throttling orchestra. There is no any specific musical theme for Bhuvan in Lagaan, though there is a music piece that recurs in scenes that establish his courage. This piece is not exclusively used for Bhuvan, but still, it could be termed as one of Bhuvan's theme.

When we see Bhuvan for the first time on screen, he is in the forest, aiming to hit a deer with a stone in his hand, and we are not quite sure about his nature yet. Later, when we come to know that he was trying to distract the deer from getting hunted by Captain Russell, we realize his true colour. The brassy orchestral piece with pounding drums, pumping up the energy in the action, as Bhuvan runs alongside the deer, works on two levels, one, as a grand establishment of Bhuvan’s courage and his empathetic nature and the other as the racy and rushing incidental action music. The same brass piece plays when Bhuvan comes forward to pick the ball and picks it despite an English man warning them not to touch the ball. It perfectly fits for Bhuvan’s dare and the subsequent tension in the scene. The notable variation in music in this scene is the elimination of the pounding drums, which makes the music sound in sync with the tempo of this scene. The music piece is again used, much later in one of the most crucial moments of the film, for a totally different purpose. It is when Bhura (Raghuvir Yadav) gets himself out to save Bhuvan. With heavy bangs of Piano chords perfectly echoing Bhura’s confusion, the music keeps up the overall shock factor and tension throughout the scene.

Captain Russell’s theme speaks of his arrogance. Bass strings playing discrete phrases of eerie melody and the sound of wind Chimes speak of menace and arrogance of Captain Russell. The sound of Wind chimes is an intriguing choice here. Wind chimes produce music, when a relatively harsh wind or an object forcefully disturbs the peacefully hanging metal tubes that are arranged in a defined pattern. Captain Russell’s arrogance being the harsh wind here disturbs the peace of villagers leading to all the noise, music, chaos and drama. Captain Russell’s theme first appears when Russell points the gun at Bhuvan, threatening to kill him for distracting the deer that he was trying to hunt. It is also used in some of the most crucial moments of the film - when Captain Russell asks a vegetarian - Raja Puran Singh (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), to eat meat and when Captain Russell tells villagers that it is possible to cancel the tax on one condition. These are moments, when the arrogance of Captain Russell is at its peak, and the decisions that he takes out of arrogance in these scenes are critical for all the subsequent action and drama.

In Captain Russell’s theme, there is also a subdued wily melody that plays on a wind instrument, which initially sounds to imply teary eyed Bhuvan’s remorse for hunted deer. This subtle windy melody recurs when Captain Russell meets Bhuvan again in the cricket field and says "Jungle mein thum hi the naa" (Are you the one who was there in the jungle the other day?), to our realization that it is a theme to establish the gradually growing friction between Bhuvan and Captain Russell. Bringing that melody again in this scene aurally reminds us the negative vibes and friction that had already developed between Bhuvan and Captain Russell in the earlier scene.

In a series of events, while the film establishes its principal characters, their characteristics and the nature of relationships they share with each other, through the visuals, so does the musical score. The composer not just gives a theme to each one’s characteristics but also introduces a theme to the vibes in their relationship - in this case it is the gradually growing animosity between Bhuvan and Captain Russell, which is pivotal for the drama that is going to unfold. This way of linking scenes and emotions of two different scenes through music cues indicates that there was a genuine thought process behind writing the score of every single scene of the film.

Gauri’s theme is for her jealousy towards Bhuvan and Elizabeth’s growing friendship. Gauri’s character turns jealous only after Elizabeth comes into Bhuvan’s life, so it would not be appropriate to use Gauri’s jealousy theme in her introduction scene itself. However, it might not have sounded odd, because a part of Gauri’s jealousy theme fits for the beauty of Elizabeth. It plays for Goli's expression, who gets awed by Elizabeth as we see him in that round trolley shot of him looking stunned with his mouth open. The use of Gauri’s Jealousy theme for Elizabeth’s beauty is justified in a way, as it is the Elizabeth’s beauty that makes Gauri insecure and jealous.

In Gauri’s introduction scene, the Camera slowly moves from focusing on Gauri’s palm to upwards. While the visuals reveal her cute face, Rahman starts the music precisely from the moment we see Gauri’s palms and hear her voice. Rahman treads a conventional path, with earthy flute and serene Santoor playing vibrant melodies and folksy Dholaks beating rhythms to match with the inherent innocence and pleasing nature of the character. In Gauri’s jealousy theme, however, the doubtful melody on flute, multilayered sounds and subdued percussions precisely underline the turbulence in Gauri’s mind. Gauri's Jealousy theme plays in all the scenes, where the focus is on Gauri’s furrowed eyebrows as she watches Bhuvan and Elizabeth talk cordially with each other.

Jealousy is an evil but Rahman differentiates the jealousy of Gauri from that of Laakha in the score. Though Gauri is jealous, there is a fun element in it for the audience, but the same cannot be said about the jealousy of Laakha. While Rahman uses a flute for both, he brings in the difference by pitching the Laakha’s theme much lower than that of Gauri’s.

Laakha’s theme is a short menacing melody played in the lower registers of a flute. The windy sound, with which the melody is deliberately played, brings with it an evil aura. It suits the jealousy, cunningness and evil intentions of Laakha. Laakha’s theme plays in the first scene in which he appears, wasting no time in hinting at his nature. The flute piece recurs whenever Laakha plays against his own team in the final match, secretly supporting the opponents in order to quench his thirst for vengeance on Bhuvan.

It is surprising how the same melody conveys a totally different emotion of the same character, when shifted from lower registers of a flute to higher registers of a violin. When Laakha finally confesses and tells Bhuvan why he is playing against his own team in the match, the violin version of the theme played in a much lesser tempo is used. We tend to sympathize with him when this melody on violin instantly turns the dark shades of Laakha to grey. We are almost moved to tears when the violin version of the theme makes one final appearance for Laakha, who gets miserably hit out by Yardley’s tricky, wild and wily spell.

Yardley’s theme is for his bowling style. It is his fiery bowling style that brings in some sober moments for the Champaner team. His theme is single gong of a church bell resonating with a tone of menace. Whenever he aims for hitting the batsman’s head with his ball, Yardley’s action is captured on screen like a visual motif – camera lingers on, as he exchanges the ball between his two hands and it slowly moves up to reveal teeth-clenching fury in his face. Whenever this visual motif appears before the delivery of a ball, we are sure that the batsman is in danger. Rahman’s gonging bell motif fuels our fear further.

Goli’s theme is for his unique bowling style. Goli rotates his hand many times before releasing the ball. This action confuses the batsmen who face his delivery. The batsman becomes unsure of when to time his hit. The theme for this action is a rhythm on a percussion that sounds like that of an earthy south Indian percussion instrument called ‘Udukkai’, with an additional layer of hits on a triangle, looping around. This rhythm plays in Goli's introduction scene, in which we see Goli rotating his hand many times before throwing stones at Bhura’s Chickens. The film maker cleverly convinces the audience by pre-introducing Goli’s technique thereby making his bowling action in the match natural and convincing. Rahman gives a nod to the film maker by using a common theme to link Goli’s bowling style and his stone throwing technique, and as a bonus, the rhythm naturally enhances the comic flavour in the scenes where batsmen look bewildered by the unpredictability in Goli’s spell.

Rahman makes a percussion instrument - Dhol, to play a character in the film score. Dhol beat is the voice of the mute percussionist Bagha. He always expresses his emotions by playing rhythms on Dhol. Bagha’s introduction scene starts with an energetic Dhol rhythm, which he plays to call all the villagers and make them witness the rain clouds finally coming over to their village. The same rhythm is exactly used when he finally gets his catch right in the match (after missing many critical catches) implying how inseparable Bagha’s emotions and Dhol rhythms are. Like how, each language has a definite word to convey something, Rahman gives definite rhythm patterns for each of Bagha’s emotions. He links Bagha’s excitement in seeing the rain clouds and his excitement in catching the ball with the same rhythm pattern. Rahman, who uses a Shehnai or violin or Saarangi for sober moments of Champaner, shrewdly uses raw Dhol beats with deafening silence in between each stroke, to imply Bagha’s disappointment, when Bagha, the batsman gets out in no time.

Guran’s theme is for his funny beggar-saint looks and his unique body language. The theme music is multilayered with varied percussions playing rhythms that match with Guran’s walking and bowling style. There is also a layer with Ektara plucking its strings in sync with the beat for Guran’s saint-like looks. Guran’s theme first joins him, when he picks the ball, walks up to Bhuvan, and tells him that he is with him. The theme comes back to him again in the final match when Guran starts to bowl, plays smart and picks a wicket. A rhythm on Kanjira plays out in a slower tempo creating a mild anticipation when Guran bowls his first ball. We take Guran seriously when the tempo of Kanjira rhythm slightly increases in the second delivery. Guran theme finally starts to play when he fiercely walks forward, fully confident of throwing the batsman out with this delivery. It continues to play for the euphoria he whips up by winning a wicket in the third delivery. The same rhythm of Guran recurs when he comes to bat, but interestingly Rahman turns silent after that. With all that odd posturing of his, in front of the wicket and aggressive batting, Rahman is too aware that Guran’s innings is not going to continue for long. There is nothing dramatic that happens in this episode and so no music.

A classic western melody, oozing with romance is Elizabeth’s love theme. Throughout the film, this theme never jumps on to any Indian instrument and is always elaborated differently with symphonic western orchestration. The Elizabeth’s love theme comes from the melody of the English part "My heart it speaks" of Oh re chori song. Elizabeth’s introduction scene does not have this theme; instead, Rahman uses the flute piece from the title score. Elizabeth’s introduction scene comes right after the tense moments between Russell and Bhuvan in the deer-hunting episode in the forest. The grim feel in the previous scene is suddenly relieved when we hear a pleasant western flute playing a mellifluous melody. The melody instantly communicates the charm, dignity and tenderness of the character in focus. It would be totally wrong to use the main love theme here, because Elizabeth is yet to meet Bhuvan.

Elizabeth’s love theme first appears as an Oboe solo when Elizabeth, impressed by the courage of Bhuvan, passionately fixates her eyes on him and asks what his name is. With Elizabeth’s eyes fixed firmly on Bhuvan and with Rahman’s romantic melody filling the communication gap - if any that could arise, we realize what Elizabeth begins to feel for Bhuvan. The theme that just appeared on a solo instrument gets a heavy orchestral backing, when Elizabeth secretly comes out of the cantonment. She does so to meet the villagers and help them in learning cricket, against the will of her brother Captain Russell. In this version, an Oboe takes over the theme with the strings section rushing through and pizzicato plucking under, for Elizabeth’s curiosity. For the visuals showing Elizabeth running out, it may sound odd to have the love theme, but it is fully justified as we know that she is going not only to help the villagers but also for her love towards Bhuvan. We get to know the reason behind her urgency at the end of this episode, when she proposes her love to Bhuvan.

The mellowed strings section plays a deeply emotional melody in this love-proposal scene. The strings here bring out a state of desperation, longing, pain, suffocation, and earnest love. The emotion peaks and chokes with an aching solo Cello piece, when she is fighting a battle within herself before saying ‘I Love you’ to Bhuvan, who does not understand English. The whole strings section piece from this scene plays again, in the climax, when Elizabeth bids farewell to all villagers. The difference in this music, when it is used in the climax is that there is an additional Indian flute piece layered over, which plays out precisely when Elizabeth hugs Bhuvan’s mother. It is Rahman’s musical way of saying ‘Here she is, an English lady returning to her homeland with an Indian in her heart and as an Indian at heart’.

Ishwar Kaka is known as a doctor and Gauri’s father for the most part of the film. There are no scenes focusing on Ishwar Kaka until he comes to bat in the final match. Finally, here comes his theme. It is a string of Tanpura straining and droning for the strained and exhausted Ishwar Kaka, whose stamina and energy seem to be fading after each run.

The little boy Tipu, the runner of the injured batsman Ismail (Raj Zutshi) gets a musical theme for energy and enthusiasm he shows when he gets an opportunity to contribute on the cricket field. In Tipu’s theme, the flute piece that traverses notes in a hyper speed perfectly fits for the speed with which Tipu crosses the grease to fetch more runs for his team. After Tipu comes in, overall momentum of the game increases. Bhuvan and Ismail are scoring runs nonstop. The pounding percussion rhythms and riffing guitar in the cue capture this sudden acceleration of momentum in the game and it adds to the euphoria in the high-scoring moments of Champaner team.

The momentum picks up further with Rahman shifting to the folk rhythm of ‘Mitwa’ song that has a maddening increase in tempo on every next cycle of the beat. The camera slowly shifts its focus onto Tipu, who is running between the wickets. Russell (off-screen) and we, the audience, realize the mistake that Tipu has been making for a while and when the tempo of the rhythm is about to reach its peak, the music stops suddenly, along with the puzzled Tipu, who stops after running out of the grease. When Tipu begins to run and moves out of the grease-line even before the delivery of the ball, the bowler hits the stumps. This scene is one small sample of how powerful an impact a precise shift in the score can bring in a scene. The impact, the surprise, and the shock we get and the suddenness of it all in this scene is unthinkable without Rahman’s technique of accelerating the percussion rhythm to extreme tempo and applying a sudden brake at the peak.

For the scenes in which the spot light is on Deva Singh Sodhi (Pradeep Rawat) – a Punjabi and the only experienced Cricket player in Champaner team, Rahman adds a quintessential Punjabi flavour in the score. In Deva's introductory scene, we get to listen to the strings from the title score, but with Rahman plucking a Tumbi string, the music gets a typical Punjabi flavour, and it marks the entry of a Punjabi character. The Bhangra music plays for the euphoria and the joy of Champaner team when Deva gets the last wicket. Rahman could have easily used the same ‘Mitwa’ rhythm here which he used for other wickets, but it is Deva (a Punjabi) who is getting the wicket, and it has to be Bhangra.

In Tipu’s theme, there is a brief pizzicato phrase. We can hear it in the beginning of the piece, as it plays when Ram Singh announces that Tipu will be the runner for Ismail. The sound of this pizzicato phrase aptly fits for an unexpected twist in the tale. The same pizzicato piece plays in another unexpected event that turns out to be the game changer. It is when Bhuvan realizes that Kachra, whose spin was not working in the beginning of the game, can deliver the ball with that magical spin now. Now that, the ball has become older, Kachra’s spin begins to work, which leads to the exhilarating Kachra’s hat trick episode. When Kachra gets his first wicket, we just get to hear a happy rhythm, but nothing substantial happens in the score, and in the second wicket, the same rhythm repeats. Only when Kachra gets his third wicket in a row, the uplifting interlude music of the ‘Mitwa’ song plays in its entirety moistening everyone’s eyes. The same piece of music was used when Bhuvan tells the villagers that it is this crippled Kachra, who is going to win the game for them. Bhuvan’s prediction has come true and Rahman acknowledges it by repeating the musical motif.

This interlude of the ‘Mitwa’ song plays in many moments throughout the film. It links all the scenes in which the villagers, one after the other come and join the team and boost up Bhuvan’s courage and confidence in winning the bet. It is first used when Gauri comes to meet Bhuvan at midnight to tell Bhuvan that she is with him. The song itself plays in its entirety when Goli and Ishwar Kaka join the team. It reprises again when Ismail and Arjun join the team and finally when villagers, who were initially against having a person from lower caste in the team, agree to include Kachra in the team. These happy moments would not have suffered much without this piece, and some random, euphoric plucking of Sitar would have worked, but still Rahman chose to link these moments of similar emotion with a common musical theme. It is choices like these that transform a film score from being just right to indispensable.

Rahman uses the melody of the songs in the right amount and at right places in the film. The rousing Chale Chalo melody plays in the scene where Bhuvan demonstrates the game of Cricket to the villagers. The melody is not used as it is; Rahman orchestrates the melody according to the actions in the scene. The melody first appears on a lighter note in Guitar, and then gets little more serious and curious on a flute, aping the anxiety of the villagers, who are waiting to see Bhuvan hitting the ball. The melody then moves down to lower registers of strings aping the nervousness of Bhuvan, who is well aware that people are watching him in anticipation. Finally, it moves away from the song’s melody to a pleasant flute and sitar flourish to sound the excitement of villagers on seeing Bhuvan hitting the ball and the ball in turn hitting temple bell, which to the villagers sound like a go-ahead green signal from the God.

Just like how ‘My heart it Speaks’ melody turns into Elizabeth’s theme, the instrumental version of ‘Oh re chori’ becomes the love theme of Bhuvan and Gauri. The love theme plays right from the first scene in which we see Bhuvan and Gauri together having their conversation at leisure, and it instantly hints at the romance between the two, which had ripened much before Ashutosh Gowariker decided to tell their story.

The real genius of Rahman is in the way he brings all these melodies from the songs together to underscore the multilayered happenings in the climax, when finally Champaner wins the challenge. It starts with soul stirring strings playing the rousing melody from the interlude of ‘Mitwa’ song that perfectly matches with the emotional outburst of us - the audience and the villagers in that precise winning moment, and it then continues with rhythm from the Mitwa song for the joyful dancing of villagers in the moment of victory. Soon a small phrase of signature melody from ‘Oh re chori’ plays on Indian flute for the shot of Bhuvan and Gauri hugging each other. Immediately another sober western flute piece emerges for Elizabeth’s disappointment on seeing Gauri and Bhuvan together. All these pieces play in multiple layers, over the ‘Mitwa’ rhythm that continues to dance in the background.

Just because, the focus now is on Bhuvan-Gauri-Elizabeth love triangle Rahman does not cut off the rhythm to which the villagers are dancing in the background. Rahman just overlays the love themes over the rhythm, just like how the visuals overlap all of these different emotions of characters as one single event. Suddenly, music and dance stops. The score begins to sing Ghanan Ghanan melody when rain clouds approach. When finally rain god blesses the villagers with its shower, the chorus bursts into singing Ghanan melody, creating an eternal gooseflesh moment in cinema that would stay in our mind decades after watching the film. The chorus does not sing the lines, or subvert the melody with a hum; they sing the melody with open-mouthed ‘Aahs!’ because it was precisely a moment of euphoria for them and us. The melody of a Rahman’s song never matched a situation in a film as much as Ghanan melody matched in that precise moment in Lagaan.

There are many other scenes in Lagaan where the score precisely follows the trajectory of emotions and moods in the scene. There is music throughout the scene in which Bhuvan contemplates about and subsequently accepts Captain Russell’s challenge. Background score for this scene is another example of how a score’s precision to the changing emotions and moods of the scenes is so crucial to create the right impact. The score starts with Russell’s theme, indicating that Russell’s arrogance has come to the fore once again and that it is going to create a serious twist in the story.

When Russell and Bhuvan talk about cricket match, subtle, deep drum beats from behind prepares and hints at us about something crucial that is going to happen. When finally Russell starts to explain his challenge, a trumpet slowly rises from behind, and as he further enhances the bet, massive strings section kick starts a turbulence which Russell’s words have started creating in Bhuvan’s mind. The thumping beats with running strings in the background precisely cursors that a lot is running in Bhuvan’s mind at this moment, as he looks shocked, confused and surprised all at once. There is a constant bass in the background that keeps the tension intact. The bangs for all the shocks and surprises – the prominent one being for Bhuvan’s acceptance of the challenge are placed aptly. The whirlwind of strings in the end of the episode add to the chaos unleashed after Bhuvan accepts the challenge, while the helpless villagers run behind their King Raaja Puran Singh, who leaves the place without saying a word.

The thumping beats and running strings we heard for Bhuvan’s turbulence in this betting scene play to a greater effect in another crucial moment when Laakha is shown flying in the air, in a slow-motion shot, to catch the ball. Change in Laakha's character is a radical twist in the drama, without which Champaner would have never won the match. There is no layer of strings this time. The thumping beats play to create the effect and a sitar joins later to emphasize the ecstasy of Champaner team, when Laakha begins to play for Champaner and gives it all for winning the game.

The thumping beats and running strings play again in the climax, when Bhuvan gets his last chance to win, in the last ball of the match. Suddenly, the energy comes rushing. There is a sign of hope. We as an audience, who were already sitting at the edge of the seat, adjust ourselves to sit comfortably and confidently again. There is a sense of relief when we come to know that we have one more ball. That, Bhuvan’s regain of energy, and that which made us, sit comfortably again is not just the twist in the story and its visual staging, but also the energy that every beat Rahman pumped along with it.

For Champaner team’s struggling times in the cricket field, Rahman uses a short aching violin piece. It plays in the scenes in which British team continuously hits boundaries and sixers. At the end of day’s play, with 99 runs for 4 wickets, heads look down, eyes are filled with despair, and Rahman pours in the helplessness and the sense of loss with a deep Bansuri piece and a yearning female alaap.

Majestic brass themes for Russell’s horse riding scenes add to the authenticity of the period that the film wants to recreate.

The Title music that starts off with a beautiful flute piece acts as a primer for the audience to comfortably enter into the British era in which the film is set in. Ashutosh Gowariker’s intention in showing us the properties from those periods along with credits are clearly to prime the audience and take them back in time, to an era in which this story happens. When Indian elements are on focus, Rahman uses Indian sounds and instruments. When British properties and Victoria’s paintings come under spotlight, the music enters a dark orchestral zone with turbulent rhythms, symphonic strings and wily flutes.

In a film stuffed dense with many layers, a composer cannot use a single theme for the film as a whole. In Lagaan too, there is no single music theme that represents the whole film. However, there is one music theme, which was included as a track titled as ‘Lagaan – Once Upon a time in India’ in the film’s song album. This piece of music gets repeated throughout the film without referring to any single character. This theme has two distinct parts, one - a soft, melodic humming sung by Anuradha Sriram, which plays for all scenes focusing on Bhuvan’s mother, and the second part is Hey bhaiyya choote Lagaan - a spirited anthem of the villagers that plays for all dramatic, uplifting moments.

Hey bhaiyya choote Lagaan part of the theme plays in a subdued form when Amitabh Bachchan’s voiceover explains about the functioning of the government and Lagaan in that era. It is loudly used in its entirety in the scene where each member of the Champaner team walks forward and stands with ample confidence in their eyes, in front of Captain Russell. It plays when Bhuvan and Deva enter the field as opening batsmen. When Raam Singh announces that we have 20 Overs left for the day, the main theme of Lagaan starts playing in its entirety again, increasing the already raising momentum in the game to new heights.

Finally, there is this enthralling, nail biting last over of the match, where Rahman’s score is perfect, bang on, hitting right notes at right spots. Rahman puts us right in the middle of the cricket field in Champaner, by bowing the bass registers of Cello and hitting high octaves of Piano to tickle to the restlessness that prevails for each ball that is being bowled to the crippled batsman Kachra. When the whole village cries out for Kachra to hit the last ball, the strings slowly gather to a crescendo. It then comes to a deafening halt when Kachra’s hit does not yield the necessary run. When luck favours them with another ball, everyone is relieved. The momentum builds up again with Rahman shrewdly bringing up the same whirling strings and thumping rhythms that he already used for Bhuvan’s contemplation in accepting Russell’s challenge. We sit back firmly in our seats. Various thoughts pile up one after the other in Bhuvan’s mind, when he is preparing to hit the ball. Yardley comes running to bowl. There is a deafening silence except the sound of an accelerated wind throttling through a nozzle. Bhuvan hits the ball hard with all the energy that is left in his body. We hear the sound the ball makes as it touches the bat. It is the hardest Bhuvan ever hit the ball in this match. Ball goes flying in the air in slow motion. A powerful brass section intermittently pumps up tension, as we see the ball flying to fall directly in the hands of Russell. Rahman hits two banging strokes of shock when Russell catches the ball. Umpire looks at Russell’s legs and the boundary line, and then raises his hands to the sky. The rest is history.

Aaranya Kaandam Background Score

2011-06-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

Aaranya Kaandam is a Yuvan Shankar Raja Musical. This film cannot be what it is without this score. The background score is intrinsically woven into the design of the visual narrative. The film throws up a challenge for a composer and Yuvan Shankar Raja lives totally up to it and How! I do not remember the last time I heard so many different genres of music in the background score of one film (Thiruda Thiruda?). And yet none of them sounds alien to the film’s universe. There are distinct themes for all principal characters of the film. The themes do not undergo many variations through the course of the film, but recur aptly at the right moments. However, the main theme of the film is a Chord and not any melody. Yuvan Shankar Raja is in a hugely exciting phase of his career. He is the only composer in Tamil Cinema now, whom all kind of filmmakers approach for all kinds of films (low or a high budget, stars or no stars, commercial or art). He cleverly caters to each of their demands in the way they ought to be. Now, for Aaranya Kaandam score, Yuvan Shankar Raaja, Take a Bow and release the Soundtrack CD as you promised me on twitter.

A Proposal

Kodukapuli and Kaalai

Sappai

Things are Set in Motion

Kasturi Theme

Rooster Fight

Kodukapuli and Kaalai 2

God Send

All is Well

Clarity

A Celtic Chance and Chase

Hide it

Schemes

Love Birds

Kodukapuli

Kasturi 2

Flamenco Fight

The War

The End

Thematic Development and Variations

2011-06-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

How many orchestral variations do you think a composer can give to a thematic melody? Listen to the piece streaming below. 15 minutes of music based on a melody that lasts not more than 8 bars. Also, the bliss of listening to a piece Orchestrated with all real instruments - Piano, Flute, Saxophone, Strings, Acoustic Guitar, Solo Violin, Vibraphone, Bells - Aah!. Experience it for yourself.

Kadhal Kavithai

Listening to Maniratnam's Ilaiyaraaja

2011-06-01T18:50:00.001-07:00

Complete Thalapathi Score (19 mins)

When a helpless young Mother cries after failing to catch the steam locomotive, in which she just left her new-born baby, we hear, once, only once, the sound of the steam trumpet in the ambient soundtrack of the film. We never hear that original sound of the locomotive whistle again in the film. Ilaiyaraaja turns that sound of the machine into the music of a man’s emotion. The two-note melody that is tuned to sound like the train whistle becomes the main theme of the film. It is heard whenever Mother (Kalyani) or Son (Surya) listen to the whistle of a distantly approaching train and reminisce their past. They both mourn for what happened in the past and yearn for the future. Even when there is no approaching train and its whistle, Ilaiyaraaja plays the two-note whistle theme, whenever someone asks Surya (Rajini) about his mother and makes him reminisce his past. And, the melody of Chinna Thaayaval is omnipresent in various forms throughout the film, making this mother-son quest for each other the emotional pivot of the film.

Using varied instruments, Ilaiyaraaja maps a unique sound to each of the narrative layers of Thalapathi. While it is train whistle for Surya and Kalyani, flute is for the wide-eyed Subbulakshmi (Shobana) and Trumpet is for the battle between the gangs and groups.

The refreshing usage of the sound of the bass registers of xylophone (or is it Marimba) as the lead instrument, for all the Surya’s action sequences, is something that Ilaiyaraaja never did before or after. It is heard for the first time, when Surya chases a police man and amputates his hand in a public place and broad day light. It recurs in all other action sequences in which Devarajan’s gang attack their opponents. This, along with the contemplative hammer strokes have always been the signature sounds of Thalapathi for me. Action sequences typically have madly chaotic symphony of strings, drums and trumpets, a technique which Ilaiyaraaja diligently uses in the same film, when Rajini is introduced.

When Devarajan (Mamooty) meets Surya for the first time, both do not know enough about each other. They are not friends yet. When Devarajan walks to Surya alone and warns Surya of the consequences he may have to face for his actions, the banging drums and accompanying trumpets underlines who Devarajan is and how powerful he is. There is a sense of danger in the Trumpets of Devarajan, but one cannot spot a pinch of evil in its sound. But, for Kaliyavardhan (Amrish Puri), who was once powerful and is struggling to regain the power or rather just avenge those who snatched the power from him, Ilaiyaraaja adds a trumpet just as an afterthought. What dominates Kaliyavardhan’s theme is an underplayed melody that unpredictably twists, turns, pauses and resumes on its way, before reaching the point where trumpet takes over to blow a signalling siren for potential harm that Kaliyavardhan’s serpentine schemes could cause to Devarajan or Surya.

The most prominent theme of power (which I would like to call “Clash” theme) in the film is that of Arjun (Arvind Swamy). The third act of the film is all about the war between two parties – Arjun’s and Devarajan’s. They are now in Arjun’s office for a peaceful conversation to arrive at a mutual agreement upon something. The power theme is heard in this iconic scene, when “Achchamillai” Arjun shows Devarajan and Surya what he is made of. From thereon, every action of Arjun for bringing Devarajan & Co to book, and the reaction of Surya are accompanied by the clash theme.

The clash theme plays in all the scenes of confrontation between the two groups. When Surya, after knowing who real mother is, talks to Arjun and asks him to leave, the clash theme loudly pronounces Arjun’s perception of this meeting. It is yet another verbal clash for Arjun. When Arjun says “Bhayamuruthiriyaa” (Are you threatening me?), Surya replies “Illai, Kenji Kaetkuraen” (No, I am Pleading), and in between Ilaiyaraaja brings down the clash theme from a high-headed trumpet on to a subdued Oboe. The real masterstroke is when in parallel strings play Chinna Thaayaval song’s melody. While Oboe version of clash theme is to sound how Arjun perceives this conversation, the Chinna Thaayaval melody is to sound Surya’s emotions. The ironic emotions at play in the visuals are underlined by a piece that plays two different themes that represent the two different emotions as a counterpoint to one another. By doing so, Ilaiyaraaja is just extending the idea he executed much before the film was made, in one of the songs - the hymn of Thiruppaavai running in parallel to the finger-snapping rhythm and S.P.B’s cheerful call to Rakkamma, to the background score.

A precisely timed and measured pause in music is something Ilaiyaraaja uses effectively throughout the film. Subbulakshmi is getting married to someone else. Subbulakshmi meets Surya to explain her situation and defend her decision. The heartbroken Surya shouts at her and asks her to leave the place. When the dejected Subbulakshmi leaves, Surya turns and looks sympathetically at Subbulakshmi, and that shot of Subbulakshmi walking away lingers for a while. Ilaiyaraaja lifts the baton and instructs the string section of his orchestra to go Naan Unai Neenga Maataen, Neenginaal Thoonga Maattaen, Saernthathae Nam Jeevanae, Sundari and a pause. Read that pause as a lump in the throat of anyone who has ever experienced this moment. A flute then takes over to sing Kannaal Oru Sethi. Did Maniratnam deliberately allow that shot to linger to create space for Ilaiyaraaja's music? It is totally unthinkable for the emotions in this scene being effectively conveyed by anything else but Ilaiyaraaja's music. There is, of course, that mild shake we hear in Surya's voice, when he says the final 'Po' (Go) to Subbulakshmi. However, it is Ilaiyaraaja's music, which transfers that mild shake into an earth shattering emotional quake.

When Devarajan introduces Surya as his friend and his Thalapathi, the main Thalapathi theme plays for few seconds. But, even before we could catch and comprehend the regal theme, Ilaiyaraaja takes a pause. In the following scene, when Subbulakshmi asks Surya his name, and when Surya proudly says “Thalapathi”, the theme makes a grand re-entry and plays in its entirety for the first time, engulfing the entire montage that quickly captures the rise of Surya’s power in Devarajan’s dynasty. Ilaiyaraaja had to stop because, in the subsequent scene, Subbulakshmi is sincerely attempting to attach a definite pattern to the rhythm of the flowing river stream. But, that pause, before the plunge, adds punch to the attitude with which Surya says and accepts the title that he has just been conferred.

Kalyani now knows who and where her Son - the one she abandoned minutes after the birth, is. She comes to Surya’s house. The Sun is rising and is slowly stretching its rays to reach the doorsteps of Surya’s house. Sun lights up Surya’s place in a mystic golden shade. An angelic choir yearns in two notes repeatedly (that goes with the two-note whistle theme) and soon a layer of strings join in to further spread the wave of sympathy. Standing in the midst of this dream-like ambience, along with divine Temple bells of Ilaiyaraaja, is Kalyani. She is now looking like a goddess from heavens that just descended down to earth via the rays of the rising Sun. Meanwhile, a gentle breeze enters Surya’s house to do its job. It blows just gently enough to push the yellow shawl that is hanging by side and brings it in focus. A pause in the soundtrack! From the absolute silence, emerges a single Sitar stroke. The angelic choir join in again. The strings warm up and stir up to well up everyone’s eyes with tears. A solo violin takes the lead playing a haunting melody that is borrowed from the interlude of the second version of “Chinna Thaayaval” song, to burst the tears out of the eyes of everyone who is in the mood at the moment.

P.S - A write-up on Thalapathi’s background score, that I have been procrastinating for years, is finally here. I like Thalapathi to the extent of getting frequent dreams of me being within the film and standing next to Devarajan (Mamooty) and Surya (Rajini). Whenever I sit to watch Thalapathi, with the thought of digging the score deeper for a possible write-up, for the first few minutes of the film, I would carefully listen to the background score, but gradually the film would draw me into its universe. The deliberate lines I try to draw between the score and visuals in my mind, only to get an idea of how it works in unison, would slowly begin to blur. I would forget my intent, which is to listen consciously to the details in the score. But, I have been posting stuffs now and then, in bits and pieces about the cues that I accidentally discover in each viewing of the film.

Few months ago, I found and bought an Audio CD (Lahari Label) of Thalapathi in Landmark that has three additional tracks – 30 minutes of background score from the film compiled and arranged chronologically and split into three tracks. This OST CD rekindled my interest in writing about the score. I decided to write one, even if it is not going to be as comprehensive as I would want it to be (That almost always is the case with any writing on any Ilaiyaraaja’s work). While listening to only the score of a film, your senses are not slave to the overpowering visuals; instead, you allow the music to recreate the images, characters and evoke the emotions in your mind. And that immensely helps to realize all that you always knew about what Ilaiyaraaja’s score does to the film and to you.

Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai Score

2011-05-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

I liked the film (except the Saamiyaar scenes) and the score. Not so surprisingly, Ilaiyaraaja's background score for Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai is apt, though it is eclectic and quirky.

Theme 1

Theme 2

Theme 3

Theme 4

Theme 5

Theme 6

Theme 7

Theme 8

Theme 9

Theme 10

Theme 11

Theme 12

Theme 13

Theme 14

Theme 15

Theme 16

Theme 17

Theme 18

In Conversation with Composer K on Yudham Sei Score

2011-04-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

“Right in the scripting stage, Yudham Sei was decided to be approached musically by the director” – says K, the score composer of Mysskin’s Yudham Sei. That is how Mysskin approaches every film of his. Though Mysskin’s films never had songs that are indispensable, the background score has always played a very vital role in his style of telling of a story. Yudham Sei, a crime thriller left the impact that it did, thanks to K’s strings-heavy orchestral score besides other aspects. I liked Yudham Sei background score for most part, but there were few problems and hence some questions. And I decided to ask those directly to the man himself.

*spoilers alert*

A Cue as a Clue

The cue titled “A tale (Dark)” on the CD is used in the opening scene of the film, in which the key incident in the story unfolds. It recurs again, when for the first time, Dr.Purushoththaman’s family is revealed. And, I felt that recurrence of the cue particularly when the family introduces, could be a spoiler; it is the major clue to the whodunit puzzle. The music in the background clearly tells that the girl we see in the Purush’s family could be the unconscious girl sitting in the Auto rickshaw in the opening scene of the film. The Tale (Dark) theme diligently recurs again when the flashback episode begins. But, K trashes all these extrapolated theories of mine and explains his reasons for using the cue in the above mentioned scenes. “The cue, a tale (dark) was specifically placed in the beginning of the movie to get the viewer prepared for the rest of the story. It gives you a sense of darkness mixed with sadness which essentially is what the movie is about. When the doctor's family is revealed we play the same thing, with a small flute piece on top. So that forms what you can call the family's theme. The flute was placed there for the sympathy aspect.”

Making of Themes

The score has very well defined themes for various recurring situations in the film. The Tale (Dark) Theme, the Purush’s family flute theme – it is played when the family is first revealed in the film and used extensively to evoke sympathy throughout the flashback episode, Thirisangu theme - it is heard for the first time when we come to know that ACP Thirisangu (Selva) is heading the villain gang, Box (Pandora) Theme that plays whenever a box is found in a public place, “Next Lead” theme – it is heard for the first time when JK informs Commissioner that Purushoththaman’s family case has to be reopened and again when JK informs Commissioner about the dirt in the Ashok Nagar Police Station, Revenge theme – the Arabic flavoured strings piece is heard when the Family prepares to take revenge on all those who are responsible for their daughter’s death and it recurs when in the climax Dr.Purush and his wife march to kill the villains, Mysterious Murderers Theme – it is heard for the first time when we see a unknown person climbs the stairs, picks an electric saw and cut the arms of a victim, JK’s Piano Theme – that plays in every scene in which JK is alone thinking about his lost sister. K explains the process by which he could pull off such a detailed thematic score for the film.

“Work on Yudham Sei started roughly some six months before the actual shooting. I was present at almost all the discussion sessions right from the beginning. When the director and the ADs sat down and discussed various scenes and shots, I would note down important ideas that I think would probably work. The next day or a few days later, I would return to the director with some rough ideas and he would either approve of them right away or suggest some changes. This carried on till the end of the shoot. Towards the end we would put the music over the visuals and make changes according to the length or whatever else. This way most of the music was already decided. After we had the complete visuals, we (with director and team) sat and composed the other portions. You could say the spotting/composing sessions happened for a week or so. As far as the instrumentation is concerned, it is but natural to use certain things for certain situations. For JK's theme piano seemed to be the most apt choice. Having done most of the rough tracks, both the director and me decided it would be best to use a live orchestra. Mysskin is a person who loves the sound of a live orchestra and we both knew and decided that Synth sounds just wouldn't do justice to the score. Hence, live orchestra! Recording it was absolutely awesome. The orchestra was conducted by Mr.Yensone. It was 36 piece strong and had most of the usual players of the madras cine musicians group.”

Sound Mixing

The “Box” Violin theme is a nice idea. The recurring short phrase on Violin instantly builds a sense of curiosity. But, I felt that the way it was mixed with the film could have been better. It appears all of a sudden in the soundtrack in full volume. Maybe a slow and gradual entry of the theme into the soundtrack could have served the purpose even better (for example, the way Chevaliers De Sangreal gradually reveals itself when Robert Langdon traces the path to the location of the real Holy Grail in the climax of “Da Vinci Code”). Also, in general, the volume of the score in the film makes the film sound more melodramatic than it actually is, especially in the final act. It gives an impression that the composer has over-scored the film.

“The box theme was specifically done for the various 'box' scenes (scenes where the cardboard boxes were displayed in various public places). I've not seen Da Vinci code, so I'm not familiar with the scene you're talking about. Anyway, somehow the box theme and some other themes seemed good to us back in the mixing stage. Maybe they would have had some other impact if we'd done it otherwise! As a composer, I was involved with the mix, but to be honest I didn't ask for any major changes to the work the sound engineer did.”

Over-Scoring

There is music in almost every other scene where there are no dialogues. Sometimes, the music plays for no particular reason or rather reasons that are hard to decipher. When JK and his colleagues inspect Purushoththaman’s sealed house, there is too much build up in music as if something is going to happen, but nothing happens. Also, I couldn’t understand the use of Violins or maybe Cellos, when JK inspects Moorthy’s Auto-rickshaw or the music for the scene in the Tennis Court.

“Right in the scripting stage, Yudham Sei was decided to be approached musically by the director. Hence there's a lot of music. I don't think there was music for no particular reason in any portion. In Dr.Purushoththaman's house scene, the music was set to go with the lighting, the burnt house setting and the general idea that something bad has happened there.” So, there it is. The freaky music played in this scene is for what had happened and not for what is going to happen. “Auto-rickshaw scene, JK senses that something is wrong. Tennis court scene, it's a sort of thing for the two lecherous old men.” Yes, it was quite obvious, what with the camera lingering a little too longer than necessary on those two old men while they sip water and curiously watch the two girls playing Tennis.

Scoring Moments

There are moments in the film in which the score is the vital reason for the impact they had on us. In that Basement-Car-Parking scene, the deliberate silence maintained in the natural soundtrack is amplified with sustained strings in the score, and when the jump-out-of-the-seat moment happens, you can’t help but jump out of your seat. The effect wouldn’t be the same, if there were some percussions or instruments playing music loud while JK gently drives around the area and inspects.

There is an interesting conversation that happens between Harp and Strings in that bridge action sequence, though both music and the visuals follow the pattern of a similar scene from Anjaathey. K agrees. “Yes the harp aspect makes it similar to Anjaathey”. When Mahesh Muthuswamy moves up in the escalator and disappears in the blinding white light, the Cello that rises is uplifting and leaves us with a sense of hope.

But, that Cello piece in the end credits music, or the Box theme for that matters seem to be heavily inspired by some foreign film scores.

Inspiration

K has not even heard the pieces that Box theme is allegedly inspired from. “Most international films have strings as their basic element. Such a script, I feel, simply cannot have any other kind of music. Can you imagine psycho without the violins! I don't know why some people keep saying that the box theme is a copy of some international piece (I think from some Japanese soundtrack). I can assure you that I've never heard of it before. All the pieces in the film were inspired by the script first of all. No creation I believe can happen without some inspiration. It might be on purpose or otherwise. I believe the music of Yudham Sei is inspired by a lot of western classical music. I don't remember completely, but I think Predator and King Kong were given to me as references and tracks from the same were used as temps.”

A Song Composer Vs A Score Composer

“I was absolutely delighted and slightly worried at the same time because it's my first feature film. To be honest, the fact that there were no songs in the film didn't bother me one bit, I mean that thought didn't cross my mind at all. I'm not sure why though! I don't think I prepared myself in any special way. I listened to a lot of music, watched some movies, that's about it!”

OST CD

“I don't think any Audio company in India would be ready and willing to release the entire soundtrack on CD. Guess it's the same case with Yudham Sei. As it is no one buys audio CDs anymore. I would love to have the entire thing released. I hope to work on it soon.”

We are waiting K.

In Conversation with A.R.Rahman

2011-04-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

The questions that I would like to ask AR, if I ever get an opportunity to interview him.

Composing a film score requires a thorough understanding of the medium of Cinema and the relationship of sound and music with the visuals. If background-music scoring is making music to moving images, then the process of making music for commercials is not much different from that of a feature film. Is it not? You have always said in interviews that the experience of composing advertisement jingles helped you a great deal in becoming a film music (songs) composer. Did jingle-composing experience also help you in writing scores for full length feature films? (If Rahman says, yes) How? Leo Coffee may not be the first advertisement that A.R.Rahman composed music for, but it is the jingle that brought on him the spotlight so bright so that Maniratnam could not help but notice. In Leo Coffee Ad, music is perfectly in sync with the visuals. What came first, in Leo Coffee Ad - visuals or music? Do you remember any other commercial for which you composed music after it was shot? That exquisite Asian Paints Pongal Special Ad?

Before you became film composer, you must have well known that in Tamil Cinema, unlike in Hindi cinema, the song composer is also the score composer of the film. How were you preparing yourself to be a film score composer before Roja happened? Were you listening to Hollywood film scores? Were you a film buff? What was the kind of films you were fond of watching before you entered films? What are your favourite Tamil films that released before Roja? You also worked as a musician in Ilaiyaraaja’s orchestra in the most prolific phase of Ilaiyaraaja’s career. You must have certainly played in a lot of background score recording sessions for Ilaiyaraaja. Did any of those sessions help you in understanding the art of writing film score?

Roja has a thematic score that diligently follows all the rules in the book. How much of it was because of Maniratnam? Do you remember any conversation that you had with Maniratnam before you started composing background music for Roja? What were his requirements? How difficult or easy was composing background score for Roja? Was there anything that you felt that could have been better in Roja background score when you saw the complete film for the first time? What is it and why? What, according to you, are the qualities of a right background score?

Could you elaborate further on what is the process you follow when writing score for a film? How many times do you watch a film before writing the score? How do you prepare yourself before starting to write the score for a film? Do you listen to all the songs you composed for the film again to draw some inspiration? How do you decide on whether a character needs to be represented as a leitmotif in the score? Do you start to score the scenes in the order in which they play out in the film? Or do you pick the critical moments from the film to score first?

In Indian film scores, mostly, the orchestral versions of the melodies of the songs become the background score cues. But, you have always composed new material for background score. How do you decide between using the melody of the song and composing a new melody for a character’s theme or a situation? What is the kind of discussions you have about the background score with the directors of the film? Do all directors actively participate in background scoring sessions? How do you prefer it to be? Do Indian film makers also use temp music, like it always happens in Hollywood, to communicate effectively to you what they want? Do you like this method of using temp music that directors use to ease the communication with the composer, or do you think it is narrowing down the options one could otherwise explore? Do you fully surrender to director’s vision even if you do not totally agree with their idea? Have there been any conflicts or difference of opinions?

Composing songs or background score - which is more challenging and creatively satisfying? “Anything that goes out of this studio must be good”, you have said that many times. In case of songs, you get a lot of time to think about each and every instrument used in each layer of the song and tweak it many times before you are convinced about the song as a whole. Usually, background score is done in the last-minute rush, before the release of the film. Do you get enough time to go for as many iterations of review and re-tweak the background score composed for the film? (You told that you completed the complete Endhiran score in 10 days and slept only 2 hours a day). Does your creativity suffer when you work in such hectic schedules? What is the minimum time you ever took for doing a background score for a film and the maximum time and for which films and why? Have you ever had to compose for the background score for more than one film at a time?

On what basis, you decide on whether a particular scene needs no music? What do you think is the significance of a silence that is deliberately written into the score of a film? How do you decide whether it is going to be thematic score or ambient score? Is it possible to be as quirky as you are in your songs in background score too? Would not that distract the audience? What genre of film or a scene excites you most when writing background score?

As a composer, the film that you compose music for may not always turn out the way you initially expected it be while listening to the story. It is easy to compose background score for good films. You had the privilege of working with some of the best of Indian film makers and films, but you also have worked in lesser films. Where do you get inspiration from for such films when the visual telling is not exciting enough? They often say that background score can elevate even an average film. Do you believe that? Can a bad film be turned better with good background score? Is it in such situations, you delegate the job of background score to one of your assistants like Pravin Mani, which you have done quite a few times. You said that, after watching the film Rang De Basanti, you decided to compose the background score yourself, though you initially thought of delegating it to one of your assistants.

You have done many period films. How important it is to restrict oneself to the sound of the period in case of period films? Like, in Rang De Basanti, you took a totally opposite route and used rock guitars for the scenes of the past. How did that happen? Whose idea was it? Have you ever accepted a film having the challenge of background score for the film in mind? If you had to do only background score for the films in the future, would that be okay for you?

You used a professional Symphony orchestra for the first time to record the score of ‘Legend of Bhaghad Singh’. Using Symphony orchestra for the score - Whose Idea was it - Yours or Rajkumar Santoshi’s? I am asking this because, the film Rajkumar Santoshi made just before LOBS also had a symphonic background score. Otherwise, what in the film makes you go for a symphonic orchestra for the score? Mostly it has been for either period films or Super hero films? Even in Meenaxi, you used symphonic score only for the Prague episode. Would you ever use a symphonic orchestra for a contemporary film? For example, say, can you imagine a Slumdog Millionaire or a 127 Hours with a full length symphonic score?

When you are creating songs in your style, you have the flexibility to add or remove layers of the track, stretch or shrink the piece, and try various combinations any number of times you want, but with a symphonic orchestra, once you have recorded the piece, that is it. Isn’t it? So, how different is the process, when the score is going to be recorded with symphonic orchestra? What are the challenges, advantages and disadvantages when recording a score with a symphonic orchestra? Almost all of your symphonic scores were orchestrated by Matt Dunkley. What is the role of an orchestrator? What do you tell an orchestrator when you leave a creation of yours for further development to someone else? How do you preserve your stamp in the piece, when a piece of yours is orchestrated by someone else? Because, when not recorded with a symphony orchestra, mostly you arrange and orchestrate your scores – for example, the grand orchestral pieces in Lagaan or Bombay theme, some of the tracks you regularly pick to perform in every symphonic Concert of yours are entirely arranged by you. You have told in many of your interviews that you don’t compose pieces to match with cuts and shifts in the visuals. How does this method of making cues work when it is a symphonic orchestra? Finally, when A.R.Rahman is going to recording a full length symphonic score for a film with his own KM symphony orchestra in Chennai?

You have used a lot of tunes from your scratch-tunes bank as themes in background scores of many of your films, and some of these cues you later used for songs of other films. (The cue, which plays when Roja prays to Lord Ganesha for her Sister’s marriage, was later used in Telephone Manipol Sirippaval Ivalaaa song in Indian. The cue that plays when Roja speaks to her mother-in-law over the phone after Rishi is abducted, soon became the song Rakkoli Rendum Mulichirukku in the film Uzhavan.) And this has happened even in your recent films. Does this happen often because, you feel a good melody is unnoticed by many, when it becomes a part of the background score? Do you feel that there is a lack of recognition for background scores in India? Then, why not release these background score pieces as a part of the soundtrack CD? It happened for all your films this past year. Can we expect that to happen for all your films in the future?

There is a vast fan base out there, who would like to listen to your film scores in good quality. You can easily see that there are hundreds of sites where you can download the background score pieces ripped from the DVDs of the film. Do you have any plans of releasing a compilation of themes from your films on CD? Are there plans for a symphonic film score concerts (like the one you did in London) in India? Are you aware that National Awards committee has included a separate category for background scores? What are your thoughts on the institution of separate National award category for background scores?

In my site, www.backgroundscore.com, I conduct background score quizzes. I post audio clips of themes and cues from the films and the readers would guess the film by listening to the clip. Shall I conduct a small BGM quiz now for you, sir? It would be fun to witness how AR reacts to his music, while trying to guess the film. Just 5 cues.