I listened properly to most of the songs from the movie, Vandisolai Chinnarasu for the first time only yesterday! Considering the fact that ARR scored music for this movie way back in 1994 and I have been a fan of his right from the beginning, I must say I am listening to it veryyyy late! 🙁
Barotta/Parotta
How many of you have listened to this song? It’s something like a folk song kind of one. I would say there’s nothing extraordinary about it. The words Barotta, etc. have always put me off and I never managed listen to this song properly. But, yesterday I don’t know why, I started listening to it and I listened to it for more than 4 times. The music of the line that goes like ‘Barotta naan poattaa veLlaikaaran vandhu nippaanyaa’ (What lyrics!!) has Rahman touch. What say? This song reminds me of KuLicha Kutthalam from Duet in some places. After so many listening, this one seems to sound not so bad.
Sithirai Nilavu
This song opens with flute. I liked the flute interludes, the chorus humming at 1.15 and 3.00 minutes. The tune of the charanams of this song somehow, reminds me of the song, Laysa Laysa (from the movie with the same name). The flute interludes are what adds Rahman feel to this song.
Sugam Sugam
Vani Jayaram has sung this song with SPB! I didn’t know she has sung for Rahman!
Many parts of this song, esp. the words meendum meendum reminds me of the song, Kaatru En from Johnny. This song has a classical touch to it. Flute, Mridangam has been used in this song. The flute piece at 1.45 minutes seems to be based on raaga, Darbari Kanada (Please correct me if I am wrong). I like this song and I am sure this one has the potential to grow on you with repeated listening. 🙂
Chinna Mayile
I listened to the song for the first time only when I came to know from the ARR Fan Club that a song from this movie has a tune similar to Lukka Chuppi from Rang De Basanti!! The starting of the song with the words ‘Chinna mayile’ made me want to stop the song. Such sad and boring opening! But, at 0.36, the Lukka Chuppi tune starts and the song transforms to quite a good one. 🙂
Kaattu Panamaram Pola
Swarnalatha and Malgudi Shubha have sung this song both singing it in their own style. This is a fast-paced song. The first time I couldn’t stand listening to it at all what with words like Mutthu Papa and all! I found Shubha and Swarnalatha singing ‘Ma Ma Pa’ alternately so irritating. Anyway, all that was the first few times when I listened to it. I have now listened to it so many times that I don’t find it that boring even though there is nothing special in this song.
Senthamizh Naattu
This is the only song from this movie that I have earlier listened to properly quite a few times. But for the way the tune changes at udambu verkkum ushna naattil…. that I don’t like, this song is quite ok. Don’t have much to say about this.
How many of have you have heard these songs? What’s your take on it? After listening to these songs continuously since yesterday night, I don’t think I have found even one song that will be in my list of favourite A R Rahman’s songs. But then, these are Rahman’s songs (as of now, I find the songs to be good only in parts) and my verdict might change soon. 🙂
I don’t listen to a lot of ARR, but this one was there is some cassette I got through someone and brings back some special memories and so I decided to comment. My wife and I used to listen to that cassette a lot then. We were newly married and were sort of discovering each other’s tastes. Both of us liked senthamizh naattu and didn’t like parotta (always fast forwarded it). But kaattu panamaram pola – I didn’t like it all (although lyrics were funny), but my wife loved it and wanted to hear it a couple of times in row to my vexation. I remember us laughing about that.
sugam-sugam – First, I am not sure about this. It does sound like darbari kanada because of the characteristic gamaka on the ga, but the interlude seems to include other non-darbari-kanada swaras. I could be mistaken but the song itself seems to be based on a rare mela #24 varunapriya – s r2 g2 m1 p d3 n3 s (i.e. with vivadi d3). The flute part does still seem to fit with the varunapriya framework.
this one did not interest me, as i read somewhere – rahman said in those years he worked with few directors who did not connect to his style of music or infact he couldnt connect to their style of musical…I guess this was one among that –
Sugam Sugam – its a decent number- a song which is an example where rahman composes non rahmanish !! – let me correct you – it doesnt grow on you after repeated listening – its just average !!
Senthamizh naatu is a very good song – I love the tune and music – very minimal orchestration and shahul hameed voice is scintillating – but i disagree with the lyrics … He means Saree is supposed to be a very homely and not so so …like the Jeans Tshirt or whatever – where as i feel its the other way !! lol 😉
and come on – its a typical satyaraj movie … do you expect a Pachai Niramey there ?? 😀
Varunapriya is not that rare. Emani Pogadudura is a popular Krithi in the MLV School. But, it is more popular as Veeravasantham under Dikshithar Asampurna Mela.
Sathej
I like Sitirai Nilavu.. a good one.. while the song Senthamiz Naatu is more catchy and popular than the other numbers I dint like the lyrics nor Satyaraj.. but I think the key takeaway is many songs(not only Vandisolai Chinnarasu) are not impressive the first time around but listening multiple times we do tend to develop a liking…..
btw: might look out of context – but listen to “SakiyeNeDhaanThunaiye” from Anthimantharai !! Its a Gem – and let me know the Ragam !!
sathej – you are right, i should have said “relatively rare”. I was thinking more in terms of main krithis (with alapana swaras), RTPs, many krithis etc. But do you think that sugam-sugam is based on varunapriya?
Hello Arun,
True, I haven’t heard any RTP as yet in Varunapriya. I haven’t heard the song Sugam Sugam as yet. I usually don’t listen to film music. Aparna might be a better person to clarify.
And sorry, Aparna for using your blog for such a two-person conversation!
Sathej
Yep not in my list of Rahmans best (But I still maintain that his worst is better than anyone elses best)… If he loses out on melody he makes up for it with his background beat and orchestra… As Sreekrishna has said – I believe that even now, Rahman has to bow down to what the director and the scene demands… Initially when I heard Sivaji, I was disappointed because I believe that Shankar gets the commercial best out of Rahman (as opposed to Mani Ratnam who gets the artistic best) but on seeing the videos, it just proved that Rahman just gives what the director demands… He cant be making Tere Bina for Rajnikanth to dance to! 🙂
Sithirai Nilavu and Senthamizh Naattu are my favourites from this album… First one is typical Rahman in his early few albums, and the second one is fairly catchy…
🙂
Senthamizh Naattu is the only song I’ve heard. And it’s quite a simple and east to listen song.
>> But for the way the tune changes at udambu verkkum ushna naattil…. >> that I don’t like,
That was the *one*technical bit in that song or so I think.. the rest are the bog standard stuff!!! And yeah, I have some small issues with the lyrics.
Yenna elandha*** katla porandha, london model mari nadaka kudatha???
That is such a discriminatory song 🙂
Arun / Sathej – Nope. I don’t think it’s Varunapriya. It *does* have shades of it. Like just about every movie song, it’s a combination of swaras and the predominant proyoga seems to be akin to Varunapriya!! I’ve heard *one* elaborate krithi in Varunapriya. S Kalyanaraman. As ever, it had to be one from the GNB school.
***- Elandha pazham – I *hate* when people use this fruit as a cheap shot. Wrong place to moan …..
>> The flute piece at 1.45 minutes seems to be based on raaga, Darbari >> Kanada (Please correct me if I am wrong).
Nope. I don’t know which raga but it ain’t Darbari Kanada. The first take of swarams on the flute is almost the same as the Sandhana Thendral [Kandukonden Kandukonden] interlude. And that was in Bhairavi.
Decent song 🙂
Arun,
Welcome to my blog. Nice to see my blog post rekindling old memories 🙂
I have not heard Varunapriya 🙁 So, I have no clue about it. Will listen to the raagam soon.
Sreekrishnan,
I seemed to like Sugam sugam after repeated listening. So, I wrote it 🙂
>do you expect a Pachai Niramey there ??
LOL!
I like Sakhiye too. Will let you know if I identify the raaga it’s based on.
Siva,
Yup your key take away is true to some extent
Sathej,
You know there’s no harm in listening to film songs once in a while 😉 Why don’t you listen to the song & clarify the raagam? I anyway, haven’t listened to varunapriya
Bharath,
>But I still maintain that his worst is better than anyone elses best
Yes! That’s what I too always tell anyone who tells that the standard of A R Rahman’s music has come down or something
I like the songs of Sivaji a lot
>He cant be making Tere Bina for Rajnikanth to dance to!
LOL. Btw, I didn’t like Aishwarya & Abhishek’s dance for Tere bina too!
Adiya,
🙂 🙂
Mahesh,
No comments about the lyrics of these songs. Most of those are boring!
Arun/Sathej/Mahesh,
You all discuss and tell us the raagam on which that interlude seems to be based on 🙂
aparna/sathej/mahesh: I only meant “based on varunapriya” – one could perhaps say “loosely”. Atleast that’s what I could make out with some experimenting with a computer keyboard 😉 (cat’s out of the bag!). I am not sure it is that close to varunapriya (i have listened to emani pogadudura) – just that all/most of its swaras are touched upon in the song as a whole.
I will listen to the interlude again – I thought it could be still that “loose varunapriya based” and that coming down it did the pa ga~ prayoga common in darbari kanada – hence it gives that feel.
Haven’t listened to it and can’t find it anyway. Will search and try to identify the Ragam after listening.
@Mahesh,
I didn’t say it was Varunapriya 🙂 Infact,I haven’t even listened to it.
Sathej
Sathej – Maybe you should try it once 🙂
OK, I’ve listened to the song again and I’m confused!! There are far too many foreign swarams to tie it down to one raga.
Does it matter??? Hehehe!!!
Arun/Sathej/Mahesh,
No definite conclusion? 😉
It’s sometimes difficult to find the exact raaga in which a film song is based on since as we all know, it will not be based on a single raagam 😛
Arun,
You took so much pains? Experimenting with a keyboard? 😉
It still gives me the Darbari kanada feel. Yet to listen to Varunapriya
it was a pain in many ways alright ;). I mean once want to know the raga of song but somehow cannot confirm – you must know the feeling but cannot.
It did give a darbari kanada feel but I also felt it wasn’t quite it. Hence I thought I will try to confirm some notes – that’s when I went into the varunapriya possibility. I want to again reiterate that the song cannot really be said to be in varunapriya raga. If any, it probably only uses the notes in the mela like a non-carnatic song (also as mahesh says like many film songs, it probably uses foreign notes too). So resemblance to the mela-raga itself is not really there.
Here is a link to varunapriya/veeravasantham raga: http://www.sangeethapriya.org//Downloads/gnbtcpmisp/07._Emani_Pogadutura___Veeravasantam.mp3
You will find that it has zero resemblance to our song here 🙂
Arun,
I must say you have really made a deep analysis of the notes in this song 😉
Will listen to the Varunapriya. Thanks for the link 🙂
Oh dont get me wrong – I LOVE the Sivaji music – Listen to it almost nonstop.. I think Boys is Rahmans best commercial album (Dil Se, Bombay and Yuva I would consider his best artistic hits)… Kadhalan, Gentleman and Mudhalvan were great as well… Just that compared to his other work for Shankar Sivaji is different, and I guess it HAS to be different because of the director’s and actor’s demands…
🙂 aparna. Yes that should tell you about my perceptive skills!
And that last comment should tell you about my writing skills too ;). I meant perceptive abilities.
Bharath,
I like Sivaji more than Boys 🙂
//Just that compared to his other work for Shankar Sivaji is different//
That’s right
Arun,
🙂
My favorite is Sugam Sugam song. Some of the films that failed to become a hit, of which ARR has scored have got good music, however go unnoticed.
Yuvan has a new tactic that by reapplying the same tune again in a successful movie (or until it becomes success). See ‘Ore Nalil’ song in pudhupettai was again repeated in Deepavali as ‘Pogathe pogathe’… However I like both.
there is a good rtp of Varunapriya by U .Shrinivas,
here is the link.
http://songs.sky.com/artists/U+Shrinivas/Parjanya/91c17d378b054cc9808b20f44eeaafec
Aravind,
Thanks for the link