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Friday 31 August 2012

Neethaney En Ponvasantham Music Review




By
Rajasekar S

Before Reviewing this album, I must say one thing, Illayaraja just  getting older by age. But his music is still sweet sixteen, The maestro just sculpted his master piece with this album,The album does not belongs to carnatic, western,pop,Hindustani,rock or Jazz genre . This one is pure Raja genre for sure, you can witness some thing you never heard in Indian music,let me start the review straight away...


1)Kaatrai Konjam: singers:Karthik

The song starts with Raja's typical 80's composition, slowly it just grabs our attention, the mesmerizing voice of Karthik and Na.Muthukumar's apt lyrics just blew us ,this song proves that still our ears are addicted to Raja's 80's music.

2)Pudikala mamu:Suraj Jagan,Karthik

When you are listening to this song,especially the first few minutes ,before the stylish vocals of Karthik and suraj starts,you will just ask yourself, hey am I listening to Illayaraja or some western album?, one must say pure western music, Na.Muthukumar's lyric aptly depicts the Engineering college life,The beats and electrical guitar just makes us to feel the tempo & surely this song is going to be an anthem for college goers.

(Thumbs up)

3)Ennodu Va Va: Singers:Karthik

This song is already popular with the audience, thanks to the the forty second teaser, again Karthik just proved that he is such a versatile singer,This one may appeal to be a 80's music at start, but slowly Raja's music takes us somewhere, with his orchestration, especially the violin pieces  just mesmerized us,Again Na.Muthukumar lyrics are glued with Maestro's music, a best example is Kathaluku ilakanamey-thannal varum chinna chinna thalaikanamey,Kathal athey porukanumey ilaienil kati vaithu uthaikanumey!

(Thumps up)

4)Saayndhu Saayndhu: Singers Yuvan Shankar Raja and Ramya NSK

The song starts with yuvan's trendy voice which just hooked us straight away ,The song have two dimension the first half is filled with electrical guitar's beat, the second half just joined with Raja's special symphony touch and a soulful Ramya Nsk's voice, again Na.Muthukumar  did a stunning work with his lyrics.

(Thumps up)

5)Vaanam mela: Singers: Illayaraja,Bela Shende

The one and only song sung by the maestro in the album, again Raja's brilliance over composing a romantic melody is proved with the opening music itself, Bela shende's voice equally attracts us,there are so many high pitch moment in the song both Raja & Bela schende sung it with an  ease,Master piece all the way in the lines of Thendral vanthu Theendum pothu.

(Thumps up)

6)Satru Munbu:Singers:Ramya Nsk

The song depicts the agony and pain of a girl's failure in love, Na.Muthukumar's lyrics and Illayaraja's powerful orchestration is just brilliant.

7)Mudhal Murai: singers:Sunidhi Chauhan
This song is also similar to the previous one only in the situation of depicting the love failure of a girl, Sunidhi Chauhan will go places after this song because its a rare opportunity for a female singer to get a such a high pitch song, the Neethaney en pon vasantham chorus shows us that this one must be a situation song and needless to say Raja's music depicted the agony successfully.

(Thumps up)

8)Pengal Yendral:Yuvan Shankar Raja

This song is quite contradictory  to the previous one,it depicts the boy's disappointment over a girl's love,This song has more power than the previous one  because of Yuvan's pathos voice, Illayaraja used fast paced Electrical guitars & drums to depict the mood and it just paved way for another master piece.

(Thumps up)

Okay is there someone who says Raja's music is outdated ,oh yea this is Raja's reply for you, and to all the Music lovers keep the Audio CD safely, because even after a decade you will listen this one, pure master piece, Hats off to Raja sir ,Na Muthukumar and special thanks to Goutham menon for his collaboration with the maestro.

Rating:4/5-Raja all the way





Wednesday 29 August 2012

Illayaraja - A Inspiring Phenomenon



By
Rajasekar S

Illayaraja a well known music composer almost one entire generation (80's) are still praising his music, still many FM stations are alive because of this genius, and especially during night slot it is very difficult for them to air any other songs other than Raja's music. Recently many young film makers revealed that they came to film industry because Illayaraja's music inspired them. A music composer may get inspired from another composer, but a film maker inspired from a music composer, Bizarre isn't it? 

Myskin,Goutham Menon,Prakashraj & many such Film makers of this generation are going gaga about their experience of working with the maestro, so what’s special about Raja's music?  Illayaraja differs from any other musician, his contribution is not limited with just composing songs, his music gives life to so many films, especially his divine background score conveys the thought of a film maker efficiently than a lengthy dialogue, he knows where to maintain silence in the film and where to include the background score

There are so many movies which just ran because of this genius' music, especially his Background score for directors like Mahendran,Maniratnam,Balumahendra were top notch.Recently Mahendran said " My film is nothing without Raja's Music", this may appeal to be a exaggerated statement, but it has a underlying truth. Mahendran used Raja's music as a essential ingredient in his style of film making, so he felt like that.

Another thing that impressed many film makers is that his orchestration technique,Maniratnam's words may convey this very well, this is how Maniratnam illustrate about Illayaraja's stlye of composition "Ilayaraja would look at the scene once, and immediately start giving notes to his assistants, as a bunch of musicians, hovering around him, would collect the notes for their instrument and go to their places. When the orchestra played out the notes, they would be perfect, not just in harmony but also in timing ,the background score would commence exactly where it should and end at the exact place required. Ilayaraja is a genius, who could compose music with just one look at the scene".

Even Thiagarajan Kumararaja, the young and dynamic film maker who made a stunning debut with the highly critically acclaimed Aaranya kandam says " If I have to name someone who is responsible for me coming to films, it is Ilayaraja's music. From a young age, I've been a huge fan of his music. Because of that, I studied Visual Communication. I like films and I have been watching films from a young age. So, making films happened to be a natural progression."

So Illayaraja cannot be briefed just as a musician, this man is a living inspiration for many composers and many film makers and still inspiring many ,a true genius.

Monday 27 August 2012

Breaking Point


By
Rajasekar S
In K-Town everybody familiar with the word "Chemistry",People often talk about the chemistry between the onscreen leads,but then there are some off screen pairs exists which made a strong impact in the mind of a common film goer. one such bond that is very much essential for a film is the bond between the Director and music director,in fact the songs in the film gives the first impression & always there is a saying called first impression is the best. There are many such Music Director & director combination which gave some evergreen songs but they parted away due to some issues.

Among all these combination one cannot forget the Raja sir & Mani sir combination. Right from Pallavi Anupallavi(1983-Mani sir's first film which had a popular love music which is used by Vishnuvardhan in Sarvam)to Thalapathy(1991) the combination shook the entire South Indian Industry. But as Kamal says "every man has a breaking point" this combination too parted away at a point of time not because of any bitter issue but Mani sir found a musician who has a strong potential as good as Raja sir thy name is AR Rahman ,though people enjoys AR Rahman & Mani sir combination one cannot forget those evergreen songs delivered by the Raja sir and Mani sir.

Similarly among the current generation ,Yuvan shankar Raja & Selvaraghavan made a great impact and produced one of the best album of our times,their combination started with Thulluvatho Illamai(2001) to Aadavari matalaku ardhalu verule(2007-Telugu version directed of Yaradi Nee Mogini),especially the theme music in Pudhupettai,7g Rainbow colony is one of the best in the industry that is ever made.

Goutham menon, one of the few directors who gives so much importance to the songs & his combination with  Harris Jeyaraj delivered one of best romantic albums from Minnale(2000) to Varanam Ayiram (2008)and even in the recent Maatran Audio launch KV Anand literally made a request to Goutham Menon & Harris Jeyaraj to work together.

It doesn't means that without these combination their film's failed to deliver a good album, you may have lot of friends in your life but one cannot forget the days you spent with your old school friend.

Sunday 26 August 2012

Kollywood-The cinematographer's Fort

Nirav shah with CS Amudhan
By
Rajasekar S

Cinematographers are the one who gives life to Director's vision,In India undoubtedly Bollywood films are having excellent visuals than any other industry,but what is more Bizarre is that most of the top cinematographers in Bollywood are from Kollywood .Many of them cranking their camera only in Bollywood, and only few cinematographers doing Tamil  films,so what is the reason?

Natraj the man who is the cinematographer for three Anurag Kashyap projects & has a great reputation in Bollywood did only one Tamil Film (Youth),remember he acted in Tamil films like Naalai,Milaga etc., and    V Manikandan who did Tamil films during his early days slowly settled in Bollywood ,Remember even Maniratnam said he is one of the best cinematographers in India.

But the acclaimed cinematographer Nirav Shah's journey is quite different, He started his carrier in Bollywood & with Dhoom2 he grabbed the attention of many. But his passion towards Tamil films made him to work in Tamil & today he is one of the leading cinematographers in the country.


In a recent interview,the Interviewer asked Ravivarman (Barfi,Vetaiyadu vilayadu,Dasavatharam),will you do Tamil film in future,Ravivarman replied I want to travel in flight ,why you want me to have a train Journey. The reply may kindle anger among many,but the reality is Bollywood gives more exposure,more income to these cinematographers than Tamil.


So Is it a high time  for our producers to offer the exposure & income to these excellent cinematographers like Bollywood,so that at least we can make sure that the cinematographers who are at present in our industry stays here forever.



Friday 17 August 2012

Thaandavam Music Review



Friday 3 August 2012

Raise & Fall of Ajith in 20 years - A Recap




By
Rajasekar S

"Ajith" -A man who came to the cinema industry without any background. But with his self confidence ,today he is having one of the largest fan following in K-Town & Producers are waiting for his call sheet.All these things doesn't happened in a single day.Ajith touched both the extremes. In his twenty years of cinema , he achieved tremendous success when he was an upcoming actor & attain painful failures when he is at the peak of stardom.I just want to discuss his "Roller coaster journey of his 20 years with numerous ups & downs".

"Amaravathi"-the first Tamil Film for Ajith, the film is not a great success but for a newcomer one must say it is quite a good start & His acting was appreciated and brought lot of offers but there is a word called "Fate" which came into his life through a accident and made him to be in bed for one and half years.Truly one must that is a great blow for an upcoming actor,though he acted as a hero in first film due to the void generated by the one and half year accident he have to act in small roles in "Pavithra","Pasamalargal(with Aravind swamy)","Rajavin parvailey(with his friend & competitor Vijay).

Chocolate boy Image:

Even in "Aasai" I won't say his role is prominent because the entire story revolves around Subalakshmi & prakashraj but his acting is well praised by the media and needles to say his Female fan following increased because of his smart look in Aasai & even now "Aasai nayagan Ajith" tag line is very much popular .

But one must say the turning point in his carrier happened in the name of "Kadhal Kottai" and with a such a heart touching love story and  charming look his female fan following doubled.Kadhal Kottai is a commercial success and even it attained cult status when the film bagged a National award for the director "Agathiyan".

From then on there is no set back for Ajith of course there are some average grossers & flops like Ullasam,Thodrum but he got lot of offers and delivered Hit films like "Kadhal Mannan","Aval Varuvala","Unnai thedi". The film which took Ajith to the next level is Vaali,the film proved that Ajith can act in any kind of role.

Mass Hero:

Dheena is the film which gave a big boost to his stardom,The "Thala" title is just started with this film. Needless to say the film is one of the biggest blockbuster in his carrier, then came "Citizen" ,the film is not a great success but critics praised Ajith as a actor who can pull any kind of role with an ease & I still remember one of the critic wrote "After Kamalhassan Ajith's  face suit for any kind of Make-up,Even Poovellam un vasam was a moderate success.

But the failure came through "Red" & "Raja" and he immediately made a comeback through "Villain" directed By KS Ravikumar,But Ajith failed to keep the success rate & some of his interview like "I'm the Number 1" earned him bad name in Industry.

Painful Period:

The string of failure started with "Ennai Thallata varuvala" ,"Ajaneya",Jana","Ji" ,"Thirupathi". Attagasam & Paramasivam are some of the  average grosser for Ajith at that time.one must say these failures made him more matured and a humble human being that he is now.

He again made a tremendous comeback through KS Ravikumar's Varlaru & again there is a huge appreciation for the variation he showed  in the 3 roles, Particularly in the "Feminine"character even the so called Ajith haters liked his role.But Aalwar repeats the failure history again & Kireedam was a average grosser.

Billa:

Billa is really a  dream comeback for Ajith,there are many question raised like "How Ajith can reprise the role of  Rajinikanth but Ajith played the role in his own style and the film is one of the biggest blockbuster for Ajith.Then came "Aegan" - a average grosser but Asal is a failure.

I must say that "Mankatha" is the film that redefined Ajith's Image.He did a role which cannot be performed by an actor who is having a great stardom,But Billa2 doesn't generated any buzz except a great opening.

My expectation:

Everyone Knows that Ajith is a good actor but why Success is not travelling continuously with him? saran said in an  recent interview (Suhasini's Autograph)When Ajith accept "Kadhal mannan" he didn't heard the story,he believed saran because he is from KB sir & since it is his first film , Ajith thought that Saran will do his best.I too accept that his ideology worked well  in "Dheena" and "Vaali" in which AR Murugadoss & SJ Suryah are newcomers, but one should not forget Red,Anjaneya,Jana,Azhwar,Ennai Thalata Varuvala which almost ruined his carrier. 

As a film lover I just noticed Ajith has less number of Family Audience but this could be changed if he work with director like shankar,KV Anand,Goutham menon ,AR Murugadoss  and of course he can give chance to the directors who are coming up with a good script & not to the new directors who are trying to taste success with his stardom.

Ajith says "A good film doesn't need Advertisement",I agree with his view but today his film budget is not within 20 crores and his salary is nearing 20 crores,If he team up with good director surely the budget will be more than 60 crore and without a strong promotion one cannot make more money in reality,Ajith please do change your ideology even Rajinkanth gave an interview and participated in the Promotion of "Endhiran".

-A normal Film lover












Wednesday 25 July 2012

BILLA2 SECOND WEEK BOX OFFICE UPDATE


  •  The film still going strong in the multiplexes but the single screen BO figures are average.
  • In Tamilnadu the trade reports are saying that in most of  the areas theater owners recovered the amount they invested, but finding profit is very difficult with "The Dark Knight rises" attracts the Urban audiences.
  • Trade pundits are saying that film is a Above Average in Tamilnadu. The film sold for 26.11 crores to Aascar Ravichandran and the film is said to be collected around 50 crores in Taminadu and with 30 % entertainment tax and the theater owner share the film is said to be made 30 crore nett for Aascar Ravichandran in Tamilnadu.
  • In USA the film is said to be made around 75 Lakhs and 88 lakhs in UK .
  • The film got lukewarm response in Andhrapradesh,Kerala and Karnataka.



Sunday 15 July 2012

BILLA2 BOX OFFICE UPDATE

*The producer Sunir says the 3 day worldwide collection of the movie is 38-40crores,which is too good!.

*since billa 2 got A certificate -30 % of gross will go as entertainment tax.

*The producers will recover the budget within this week.

*The film got drop in overseas collections after bad word of mouth as we said earlier but steady in TN,thanks to the huge fan following!

*second week collection will decide the fate of the film in BO

*Early estimate says Average-Above average but then one have to wait till next week for the trade report officially.

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Offers from Disney,Mira Max to Maniratnam





Yesterday,in "Neengalum Velalam oru Kodi" show Mrs.Suhasini Maniratnam revealed a unknown fact to the media.The fact may surprise many

Monday 9 July 2012

Inspiration or Copy





By
Rajasekar S


There are two Kind of Filmmakers across the globe according to me.The First kind of Filmmakers are the one who is bold enough to say that his/her plot is inspired from someone/something.The second kind of filmmakers are the one who strongly denies

Friday 6 July 2012

NaanEe Movie Review



By 
Rajasekar S

After the Phenomenal Success of Magadheera(Maaveeran) any director would have opted for a mammoth budget film with a Big hero,But Director Rajamouli announced that his next movie
Maryadha Ramana(a small budget movie with Sunil) later he announced the project NaanEe and the hero of the movie is a "Fly".The novel idea itself created a buzz in the industry.Lets see what Kind of Buzz this NaanEe creates?

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Traffic Jam in Kollywood



By
Rajasekar S
"Kollywood"-once this word is restricted as a regional industry but now the time has been changed,Tamil cinema is reaching greater heights with the budget and the reach of Tamil films in the overseas gets bigger next only to Hindi Films.Every time when a Big hero's film released it is simultaneously Dubbed in Telugu which draws

Wednesday 9 May 2012

The Clash OF The Titans- August 15


By
Rajasekar S

Many a times rivalry exist in Tamil cinema, Right from MGR -Sivaji ,Rajini-Kamal ,Ajith-Vijay and the real tug of war will happen when the films of these arch rivals got released in the same day.

Thalapathi-Guna ,Pokkiri-Azhwar are some examples and their fans will go gaga over their idol's films in order to show their mass in Box office. But 
many a times any one of this film will win over the other.

For example when Thalapathi and Guna were released at the same time Thalapthi won the race over Guna, same exist when Pokkiri dominated Azhwar.

After the issue between Ajith and Vijay sorted out , they become friends and their films were not released on same day.

But this Box office battle is happened when Suriya's 7aam arivu and Vijay's Velayudham got released during Deepavali 2011. To be honest both the films got separate audience and Vijay's velayudham proved to be a slight-upper hand in the battle .

Media, Television, Movie portals were in a urge to publish the BO report during last deepavali in order to maintain the hit rates as their news will draw larger audience.

Today EROS international who acquired the rights of Suriya's Maatran directed by KV Anand revealed that they are planning to release the film on August 15.

Meanwhile Kalaipuli S Thanu who is Producing Vijay's Thuppaki directed by AR Murugadoss is also in a thought of releasing the movie on August 15.

Will it be a another Box office clash between these Super stars? All Media eyes are on Thanu to announce the release date of Thuppaki.

Fans are you ready for this Battle?

Thursday 22 March 2012

Why Ajith,Vijay,Suriya not follows Aamir Khan's Formula?


The Title may kindles the anger to the hardcore fanatics! sorry guys there is nothing to do with the title, its more with the business of our Tamil film industry.The biggest money spinners of Tamil cinema are the Producers who are producing movies with these top heroes but some times they are ruined .

There is no doubt in the potential of Ajith,Vijay or suriya who can ring the cash in the Box Office big time but why can't they follow the route of Aamir Khan in the Box-office?.

First of all I would like to clear the airs about the so called Aamir khan route it is simple but a clever move, lets see what it is in bullet points...

  • Many says the Aamir khan is a brilliant script-selector do you know why..? Because he is involving in the project from the start to end.
  • He won't get salary for his project so that the budget of a movie is considerably reduced as big star's salary plays a vital role in the budget of their project.
  • Instead of salary he will get a share in the profit if the film is a hit.
  • This formula is not new to Kollywood . Our superstar didn't got salary for Endhiran until it released .which reduced the movies budget by 25-30 crores which definitely contributed for the boost of the Film in Box-office. after the film's success he got the salary.
  • Even our ulaganayagan Kamal hassan folows more or less the same formula but indirectly, yes he is producing most of his movies so that the salary is reduced from the budget which indeed got a big boost in Box office.
  • example:Apoorva sagotharagal, Thevar Magan,Unnai pol oruvan.
  • Even the damage caused by some of Kamal's movie is reduced(not to a greater extend but reduced to a smaller extend) by the same formula for example Hey ram, Virumandi because he produced those films.
Let us take Billa 2 as a real time example as it is going to hit the screens very soon, Let us estimate the budget of the movie to be 45 crores . If Ajith didn't offered a salary the film's budget will be reduced 25-30 crores. We Know the capacity of Ajith as the opening will be very big(vijay,suriya too have same kind of opening) so they can recover the budget within 4 days. from fifth day it is a profit for the producer and from the profit these big stars can get a share say 25 %.If the film is a hit it can bring atleast 60-70 crores for any Ajith,vijay,suriya movies these days. If we included the satellite rights it will be even more.

If its a average/flop movie the amount of remuneration for the actors may be less but the damage to the Producers and distributors will be greatly reduced.More over the concentration in script selection will be better if the stars followed this formula.

This is just a simple idea from my side, some may oppose me. You can share your thoughts and I can change my dimension if I went wrong!



Tuesday 20 March 2012

Koodankulam My Point Of View-Boon or Bane :




Ever since the democratic system is established across the globe ,conflicts between people and the government over certain issues are quite a common thing.But some conflicts in this globe happened for a reason.Mahatma Gandhi's freedom movement,Aung san su ki 's struggle for freedom, Nelson mandela's struggle against Racism are a quite a few incident's which cannot be erased from the history.

But all the above mentioned conflicts are happened between the people and the colonial government but the koodankulam conflict is happening between the Indian government and Indian people.

So what's happening in Koodankulam, Let me discuss my point of view here....

Supporters Point Of View on Koodankulam Project:

There is a common ideology exist among Indians, If a problem is not yours and if other's problem will satisfy your needs, you are very much happy to neglect it by opposing other's thoughts so that others will become minority and your needs will be satisfied.This is what happening in Koodankulam, all the supporters are not belongs to koodankulam in other words most of the koodankulam people are opposing the project!

Here are some of the questions raised by the supporters and the government:

  • If the people in Koodankulam are opposing the project why they didn't opposed it initially??
  • why the people are not believing the scientists who are saying the plant is safe..?
  • Even after so may safe-test why the people are opposing the Plant..?
  • In France 70% of power is generated because of nuclear power plant if France people are not opposing why koodankulam people are opposing..?
My Answer:
  • People didn't opposed this project initially because they were not aware of the adverse effect of the plant initially and my question to the supporters is why the government doesn't explained the project to the people initially...?
  • People are not believing the scientist because of the past disasters happened in nuclear plant which were constructed by these kind of scientist. Especially they are afraid because of chernobyl disaster and Fukushima disaster.
  • In fact people started fearing only during the safety measure session for the local people
  • To the fourth question I'm not having any answer , Yes people should believe the government sometimes.!
opposer's Point Of View :

The people in India are pleased to be a follower, indeed they are very much comfortable to be a follower than a leader.Koodankulam people should think and analyse the issue properly but they are one dimensional on this issue and that's the problem.

There are some questions which were raised by Koodankulam people and those are considerable questions too..!

  • scientist and government says that the probability for Tsunami and earthquake is less in Koodankulam, But people are asking if it happened what the government will do..??
My Answer:
Government and scientist can't give 100 % guarantee over the natural calamities but people have to believe their effort and should co-operate
  • Government is creating a scene that the Koodankulam is the only solution to solve the Power cut.
My Answer: yes, the government is creating a scene .other than koodankulam what are other project the government did in order to meet the power requirements. The past governments were not optimistic and they didn't planned properly. even if the koodankulam plant is opened what are the other power projects does the government is planning..?

My Conclusions:
  • The government should be optimistic and they have to plan the future power generating project and a alternative source to meet the power requirements.
  • The government can run this nuclear power plant for five years (say) and within that period they have to develop other power resources once it is done they can close this Power plant Note:Government should be genuine and people should believe them
  • Some may ask then this multi crore project should be wasted for a period of 5 years in the name of safety.Yes in order to satisfy the people the government should do this.
These are my point of view and some may oppose mine, share your thoughts so that it will be helpful for a right cause.




Kamal -The Man For Next Generation


Kamal Hassan-a versatile actor, superb script writer, brilliant director, great lyricist, passionate producer, superb singer, what else this man should do in cinema?? Kamal Hassan is one of the person who is responsible for the drastic and refreshing change that is happening now in Tamil cinema. His experiments like Pesum padam, Heyram, Virumandi, Anbe Sivam, Kurudhipunal may be flops. But his experimenting attitude never fails.

Just think if Virumandi released now, what will be the result?It will be a blockbuster like Paruthiveeran or Subramaniyapuram. Virumandi paved the way for young minds like Ameer and Sasikumar to attempt such a script. Even director Bala said that his inspiration to direct "Naan Kadavul" is Kamal's dialogue from "Anbe Sivam. Bala expressed the truth but many didn't. Gautham Menon tried "Nadunisi Naigal" without songs and bgm. But the initiator is Kamal via his film Kurudhipunal. In Devar Magan there is a dialogue between Sivaji and Kamal which is as follows

Sivaji: Today I sowed the seeds, tomorrow you will eat after that your son will eat but the seed was sowed by me. This dialogue will perfectly match for Kamal Hassan. The seed was first sowed by Kamal now the entire film industry is harvesting via his experiments. Even now I will say Kamal is not fit for this generation. Due to his immense talent he is the "MAN FOR NEXT GENERATION"