Nandhalala : Myskin

Rantings of a modern day fan.

Hey guys,

You guys heard songs of this movie called 'Nandala'? I just heard the songs. What a waste of ime. Illayaraja has scored the music for this. Don't you guys find this man very old fashioned? I mean, he actually tunes keeping the story of the movie in mind it seems!!! What nonsense !! Who cares for the movie? Who wants to see a movie? We want to just listen to an album and here is one person trying to integrate the songs into the story of the movie. How dare he? Doesn't he know that the current trend is not to bother about the movie at all and give us some 'cool', 'trendy' and 'hip' sounds so that we can compare these sounds with what was done earlier by 'Red Llyod' or 'Jack Michelson' or 'Caterpillers'. Why does he do this to his fans? Why can't he give some sounds wherein his fans can claim that this an amazing amalgamation of 'bip-bop', 'street-hop', 'kangaroo ho' and 'Sumerian music' while still sounding very Indian? So what if the sounds are sampled? You mean you don't want to get inspired? There is nothing wrong in getting inspired. Where are the funky rhythms? You don't know where you can buy them? What? You know where to buy but you still don't use it? I can't believe this. Why is there no 'trance inducing', 'dance inducing', 'physic experience inducing' number in this album. No scope for it in the movie?!!! Are you guys mad? What has the movie's scope got to do with music? All you fans can come up is that the music 'touches your heart'. That's it ??!! Don't you know that you need to use cool sounds so that everyone concerned hears the one sound they love. The ringing of cash registers.

And all you have to offer is 'music that touches the heart' !! What an old fashioned idea. Can't believe such people exist in this era. Thanks God that we have so many other great music directors now who do not believe in such trash and give us some many lovely item numbers.

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S.Suresh

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What nonsense !! Who cares for the movie? Who wants to see a movie? We want to just listen to an album and here is one person trying to integrate the songs into the story of the movie

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:LOL

This guy is certainly not an IR fan or one who has any idea what IR is about . Should be a just born :)

Just not to confuse people, the title should have been 'Imaginary Rantings of a modern day fan' :)

S.Suresh

I agree with all of you guys

his 90s songs are way ahead of Nandalala songs in terms of recording quality of downloaded version (yet to buy the CD).

The only song which is annoying is 'Oru Vandu Koottaame' though it has nice chorus. I think he tried to go back to Anjali days but he could not :sad:

**warning - long post****

Have there been better emotional songs than "Onnukkonnu" or "Oru Kaatril (NK)" in the recent TFM past?

A fundamental problem in these iPod times is that the ear is tuned to observe and indeed revel in the minutest rhythm arrangements, so much so that the 'song as a whole' is stripped down to its 'funky sounds' basics. I won't deride such a listening preference as it is in keeping with the evolution of taste, and perhaps even aural aesthetics to be specific. If you listen to say a "Pani vizhum malarvanam" today, you may perhaps doff your hat at a composer who made giga leaps in time in song after song, week after week in the days when he was churning out 2 movie soundtracks on any given Friday.

Today's Raaja has now transcended to a plane that looks at a movie in totality, forget individual song placements, with an almost patronising disregard for production values and the commercial importance of 'the album'. Imagine a landmark album like "Hey Raam" not being released. If you recall "Guna" or "Mahanadhi", you will understand kindred souls that Kamal and IR were, they had gone past the need of an album to pull people into the cinema they were creating with a honest sense of purpose. It is a defining tragedy of our times that none of these films worked in our commercial ambit. Now, after so many years, when a Poo or a Subramaniapuram raise flickers of hope, Kamal has turned his gaze towards the lure of the Oscar or his one-upmanship with the Shankars and Maniratnams.

Watching Myskkin's interview yesterday provided glimpses of how IR's working is way different from any Indian composer who values every album, remember not the film, as his calling card to the next grade of commercial success. For someone who watches the movie and then decides to get 4 players from the Budapest orchestra to work on the RR, would it have been that difficult to incorporate 'fancy, new, exciting' sounds drawn from Celtic or Samba influences into the songs themselves? Myskkin says that the Oboe travels through the film as a companion to the 2 lead characters. When he remarks that IR's comment after seeing the film was "nagareegamana padam", you are able to relate the songs to that comment. Simple, almost barely adorned tunes that are focussed on emotional content. This is decent music aligned to the needs of the film, that bows to the director's craft. If you want to see the real Raaja unleashed, listen to the film's BGM in a silent theatre. You may then understand that IR now sees himself as an integral part of the crew just as the cameraman, editor and the director, and this is the arena where his competitive juices flow and whatever he does, underplay or overpower, you can sense his absolute involvement in the films he likes in the way his music moves and enriches the movie.

On a different note, anyone who has read Jeyamohan's dark and melancholic "Ezham Ulagam" which is supposedly the base for Naan Kadavul, may perhaps be able to appreciate the music better. I bet it will be a very difficult watching experience for many, for the realities it showcases can shock, depress and even repel.

I would request some of the friends here to listen to an album like NK or Nandalala in a different context. Certainly, coming after a Vaaranam Aayiram or a Yuvraaj in your iPod playlist, does a great disservice to Raaja's music in these films. And I also wonder if listening to an original CD may temper your criticism of the technical/production values, as opposed to low-quality rips from web pirates?

As someone dyed in the nostalgic hues of Raaja's 70-80s music, I too yearn for those melodic times, but have learnt to listen to IR's music of today in its current context, understanding the demands of the film and also the creativity still residual in a man who has perhaps produced the most hours of original music than any living artist, and often times for undeserving films and situations banal and insensitive enough to break down any creative soul.

So I thank Raaja for these small mercies as in NK and Nandalala, and more importantly, Bala and Myskkin for drawing out that something extra from him.

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Originally Posted by Sureshs65

Just not to confuse people, the title should have been 'Imaginary Rantings of a modern day fan' :)

S.Suresh

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this time I am clear :)

Hi Suresh,

An excellent post. You have articulated your views very well. I fully agree with your views. Not only in TFM, even in Hindi Film Music I haven't heard such emotional songs in the recent past.

My problem is the reverse. When I hear Naan Kadavul or Nanadala songs, I can't think of hearing Vaaranam Ayiram or Yuvvraj songs !!

I saw the interview as well and yes, I too felt that the music of Nandalala was in keeping with what Illayaraja felt about the movie.

S.Suresh

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Originally Posted by raja_fan

A very good album !

But IR is unlucky as always.
Whenever he comes with brilliant album in Tamil, the director will be ready with scissors to cut off the song from the film and make the extraordinary work go unnoticed..
Myskkin this time is the villain.. :(

Who can forgive Fazil for cutting off "Mella thira.." from ONOK ........Good example of how IR's brilliance went unnoticed..

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It should be 'Konjam Thira' :D which is one of my most fav. song

:clap: Suresh*2 :clap:

"Mella oorndhu oorndhu" takes me the charanam part of 'Time's "Niram pirithu paarthen". ( "oviyathil endha kodu engu sendru mudiyum, munnaale munaale yaar kooruvaar")

IMHO, the album would have been much better, if Mysskin had extracted songs from Raja rather than sitting in front of him with hands folded and leaving the genius to give tunes. This is what Cheran does. On the other hand, Bala is adamant and extracts the best from Raja and he is the only one who has got the guts to reject Raja's tune and ask for an alternative.