Raavan(an)

I took my time in posting my review of Raavan(a) [ bi-lingual ] album by A R Rahman.

Expectations were obviously sky high , what with the never failing combination of Mani Ratnam and Rahman , and with lyrics by Gulzar.

After careful and repeated listening , I can now say the album has lived upto its expectations.

Starting with Beera , as that is the first one I took to immediate liking.. is a rousing intro song of the hero. The beats are real good .. with a heady mix of African rythm thrown in. Its a short but high impact song.

Ranjha Ranjha , is the next best song in the album. Rekha bharadwaj is unrecognisable because of the high pitch nature of the song. Structure is complicated , but all credit to Rahman for making this work.

Behene de starts of with oriental piece and is powerfully backed up by Karthik's vocals. Needs atleast couple of hearing to get to grips with the changin flow of the song. Its worth the patience though.

Thok de killi and Khata Khata are fast paced numbers , but situational. Hopefully , if retained in the movie , they should be good to watch on screen.

Khili re , is good for Reena Bhardwaj's soothing voice.

All in all , a album worth the hype. I believe credit should go to ManiRatnam. People say Rahman reserves the best for Mani , but I think that is because Mani Ratnam has a very good ear for music and understands Rahman completely.

From the trailers the locales and picturisation looks awesome.

Can't wait for the movie.

Steig Larsson - Millenium Trilogy

Millenium Trilogy is a series of 3 crime thriller novel's written by Swedish author Steig Larsson. The novels were published posthumously and have become immediate success worldwide.

• "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"
• "The Girl Who Played With Fire"
• "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest"

I have not had a chance to read the books , but have seen the movie version of the same. I must admit I have got hooked on instantly to "The Girl" Lisbeth Salander. She is unlike any normal protagonist. She suffers from aspergers syndrome, dresseses up as a Goth and computer hacker , expert in martial arts , has photographic memory. She teams up with a journalis Mikael Blomkvist and goes about solving mysteries and unearthing dark history.

I do not want to reveal more of the plot here , but what got me hooked on is the intensity of the protagonist. I ended up watching all the 3 parts back to back . It just gets you hooked on to the level of being addictive. I would like to add here that this is not for the faint hearted , as some of the scenes are graphic.

Highly recommended.

Rasarushi Kuvempu

Rasarushi Kuvempu is a biopic , releasing sometime soon.

I think it has been overdue for a long time and was surprised why no movie on Kuvempu's early life and his inspiration and motivation was ever made till this date. Anyways , was very pleased when I got to know this, during my usual search for new music releases.

Kuvempu is considered one of the greatest poets of 20th century Kannada literature. He was much more than a writer.

I never had the inclination or awareness to understand Kuvempu , neither read any of his works. My source of knowledge on this great writer and human being , have been through his songs. I have always liked the passion in the words of songs like " O nanna chetana , agu nee aniketana " or " Baa illi sambhavisu indenna hrudayadali nityavu avataripa satyaavataara " and one of my all time favourites " Tanuvu ninnadu manava ninnadu ".

I hope everyone watches this movie and will inspire people to read more about Kuvempu. In this day and age where local culture and its richness is slowly eroding , it is important to refresh the rich heritage left behind by such great thinkers like Kuvempu.

Ending the post with analysis of one of his works composed to a brilliant song by Mysore Anantaswamy , gives a hint of Kuvempu's greatness.

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Baa Illi Sambhavisu - Analysis

Baa illi sambhavisu indhenna hrudayadhali nithyavoo avatharipa sathyaavathara
mannaagi maravaagi migavaagi khagavaagi bhavavadhi bavisihe bhavavidhoora

The poet says God is in different forms of nature on this earth. Soil, beasts, birds, trees etc. And is inviting God to take the form of his inner soul.

manthanake marathanake migathanake khagathanake
munnadege kannadha guruve baara
koodi bandhenna nara roopa chethanadhi
naarayanathvakke daari thora

This could be seen in two dimensions. He is talking about the evolution. First came soil, then animals etc., and finally human beings. Now I am in the final stage as a human being. Take the form of my inner soul and show me the
route to salvation.
Another way of looking at it is, "maNthana, marathana" etc., being the qualities of human being. "maNthana" - down to earth, swanthike etc., "marathana" - growing big and guiding others, "migathana" - cruel, the bad side of us, "khagathana" - being free etc., With all these qualities, we are formed. Show me the right qualities to be retained and those to get rid off to reach my final destination - salvation (narayaNathva)

andhu aramaneyalli matthe seremaneyalli
alli thurupattiyalli illi kirugudisilali
desaha deshadhi vesha veshantharavanaanthu
vishwa saarathiyaagi leela rathavanenthu
chodhisiruveyo anthe srusti lola

The poets gives examples of different forms of God who is driving this entire world. Andhu aramaneyalli - Lord Rama, matthe seremaneyalli - Lord Krishna, alli thurupatti - Lord Jesus, illi kirugudisalali - Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. In these forms, you drove the entire world. And just like you did that, drive me towards salvation.

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C Ashwath

One of the doyens of that unique and special flavour of music Bhavageete , C Ashwath , is no more.

I have always loved Bhavageete in kannada, since good old doordarshan days. There used to be music videos , like this one
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oUSphxJO1Y,
simple ones with meaningful melodious bhavageete as the background captivated me and boosted my interest in all forms of music.

C Aswath along with Mysore Anantswamy were my favourites. The music is always simple with emphasis on the lyrics and Bhaava. All those brilliant words and feeling in them were brought to life effortlessly by these two.

I was proud that in this age of western musicians ( all credit to them ) hogging all limelight with one after another concerts in Palace Grounds, Bangalore.. one of the biggest concerts was "Kannadave Satya" , an evening of Bhavageete , organised by C Ashwat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpXg6T3B_XE

I hope artists like Ratnamala Prakash, B R Chaya , Pallavi Dattu keep the flame alive of this beautiful , unique form of music.

For me atleast it is end of an era.

TED

I bumped into a video recently and because of that discovered TED.

TED India - Pranav Mistry


" TED: Ideas worth spreading " is a non-profit user community bringing together people from 3 worlds - Technology , Entertainment , Design. The more I found out about this community , the more I am drawn into it.

To start with I think it is a brilliant idea to bring together best of the brains for different walk of life. TED conferences are excellent watch and leads to a lot of healthy discussions on burning topics around the world.

I leave you with 2 more clips.

Devdutt Pattanaik

Hans Rosling

Are Huzoor .. Wah Taj Boliye !!

Its been a long time since my last post, but I couldnt have asked for a better topic to write about.

Last week a colleague of mine sent us a link ( http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=8961 ) which said "Zakir Hussain - World-renowned tabla virtuoso returns". We decided to go to this concert , discussed at length about how much we loved this Ustaad and just about forgot about it afterwards. I being me , thought of seeing the maestro live never left my brain.. so I resurrected the idea again and convinced couple of people to join me.
We booked tickets without any delay and waited eagerly for Friday evening.

Ustaad Zakir Hussain , needs on introduction I am sure. I have always enjoyed all his performances that I have watched in TV.He brings in something extra to all his performances. Who can forget the flowing hair from "Tajmahal Tea" advertisement - if you didnt know already my title comes from Ustaad's dialog in the ad).

Anyways.. we set off early from work and strolled casually towards Barbican centre. The auditorium ( its actually much more than that ) , looks typical victorian building from outside. Moment we stepped inside, it took my breadth away. There is something about this place , that oozes art. We collected our tickets , and got into the auditorium.

Lights dimmed out and Sitar strains started slowly. Ustaad took to the mike , paying tribute to demise of Sarod maestro Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan. It was impromptu I think , but the performance that followed , tugged our hearts and I thought it was a honest tribute from one musician to another. Ustaad and Nilaadri Kumar on Sitar gave a brilliant performance.

After a 20 min break, the actual concert started. What followed afterwards for about 2 hours was out of this world to say the least. Manipuri dancing drummers were rhythmic , athletic and graceful , Saarangi , tabla combo and Sitar Tabla combo was mesmerising. Doyra by Uzbek performing was enthralling and the finale were all 6 performers came together was brilliant.We didnt want it to end and couldnt get enough of this variety performance.

The whole program re-emphasised my belief in the sheer variety of Indian Music. I believe performers like Ustaad Zakir Hussain , Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan , Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia have done and are doing a great service in continuing the age old tradition of keeping our art forms alive. They have also not shied away from improvising and jamming up with western musicians , thus spreading our music to the world as well as keeping the yougsters intrested.

I can only say " Wah Ustaad Wah ".

Gulaal

Touted to be the best movie till date to come out of Anurag Kashyap , Gulaal is a powerful cinema.  Come to think of it , this was expected. Anurag Kashyap has given us Black Friday , No Smoking , Dev D, none of which are your run of the mill bollywood flicks.

At the outset , the story is about independence movement spear headed by KK in a fictional state. First half runs through briskly and requires complete attention , otherwise risking missing out on complex character relationships. Also another risk is missing out on powerful dialogs and songs with contemporary lyrics from Piyush Mishra.  This man is a powerhouse of talent , and bloggers are already going mad about how much we have lost in not getting to see him earlier.

Its important to get the context to completely understand the complex intertwining of politics, love , deceit , disenchantment. It seems Anurag was in lot of anger after trial and tribulations he had to go through to get Paanch released ( looks like it is going to release in 2009 ) and he had been listening to Pyaasa  song "Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to Kya hai". All of that was poured out to a story and Raja Choudhary ( Dileep ) chipped in to provide the context ie Rajputana movement and added to that Piyush Mishra's music score. End result is a compelling watch.

Although I was bit letdown by 2nd half and especially the climax, there is no taking away the impact it has as you walk out of the theatre.  Gulaal is a must watch for any lover of pure cinema.

Go watch it today and make sure you listen to all the songs , if not for their tune but for their lyrics.

Sample this rejig of "Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna" , which sadly is not part of the soundtrack. Hope Anurag releases a CD of just the dialogs.

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil me hai
Dekhna hai zor kitna bazu-e-kaatil me hai
Waqt aane pe bataadenge tujhe e aasmaan
Hum abhi se kya batayen kya hamare dil me hai

Oh re Bismil kaash aate aaj tum Hindustaan
Dekhte ki mulk saara kya tashan, kya chill mein hai
Aaj ka launda yeh kehta hum to bismil thak gaye
Apni aazaadi to bhaiya laundiya ke til mein hai.

Aaj ke jalson me Bismil ek gunga gaa raha.
Aur behron ka wo rela naachta mehfil mein hai
Haath ki khadi banaane ka zamaana lag gaya
Aaj to chaddi bhi silti englison ki mill mein hai

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil me hai…
….kya batayen kya hamare dil me hai