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Showing posts with the label AR Rahman

Lal Salaam – Music Review

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Aishwarya Rajinikanth’s directorial and the much awaited and talked about “Lal Salaam” will hit the screens on 9 Feb. ’24. The film features a host of artists such as Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth as the key characters with KS Ravikumar, Thambi Ramaiah, Livingston, Senthil among many others, playing support roles.   Bankrolled by Lyca Productions, Aishwarya’s third directorial has music by Oscar Winner and Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman, where the two are collaborating for the first time.  The director’s first film titled “3” was released in 2012 and featured Actor Dhanush (to whom she was married back then) along with Shruti Hassan, the elder daughter of Actor Kamal Hassan. Her sister Soundarya Rajinikanth directed her maiden venture “Kochhadaiyaan” feat. Superstar Rajinikanth which released in 2014.  Superstar Rajinikanth will be seen as “Mohideen Bhai” only in a cameo role in Lal Salaam, though his presence is expected to increase the “saleability” of the film across cinema theatres.  The

Bigil - Film Review

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Director Atlee and Actor Vijay score a big win with Bigil which was released today amidst quite a fanfare as well as the usual pre-release controversy, thanks to the Actor’s political views during the Audio release event held last month. The film, which was said to be eulogizing womenfolk had a lot of hope and hype, thanks to the two singles – Singapenney and Verithanam scored by AR Rahman and released in a span of three weeks as well as the Trailer which was an instant hit with Vijay’s fans as well as critics. The film begins with a student agitation where a Minister incites parallel violence through goondas dressed up as Police only to harass and vandalise the students and the college campus. Michael (Vijay) arrives at a compromise and then the usual entry song, dance, fandom moments and a colorful sequence of the much popularized Verithanam song. His beau Angel Aseervatham (Nayanthara) is almost a beau in the film with very little screen presence or a powerful performance

Sarvam Thaala Mayam - Movie Review

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There have been many films about Music. But STM is a very special one for me, being a trained Mridangam player since the age of 7. That I discontinued my learning of the art over Class 10 exams is partly fate, mostly stupidity as I not sure how much the Geography, Chemistry Lab tests and Integers that I prepared for the exams have helped me today or in life. But that’s for another post. Ace Director Rajiv Menon is back after two decades with STM, a dedication to the art and the artists in a very earnest way. Interestingly, through one of my Consulting Assignments, I happened to meet Rajiv two years back when I heard the script from him and was awed not just by what he had conceived but by the sheer storytelling as well. When I watched the movie on Netflix on my iPad aboard Shatabdi to Chennai a few days back, I was able to recollect every scene and with the same vigour and detailing with which I heard the story before. Hats off to this Director who’s style of Storytelling is top notc

Tidbits about Shankar, The Film Maker!

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Being a fanboy of Shankar ever since his first film Gentleman in 1993, here are a few snippets I found out from the film 2.0. All the films of Shankar are named on the Hero / Key Character of the film except Jeans  although I wonder why - perhaps it was only his third film, so maybe he tried it differently. All his films have had the name of the protagonist such as Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Mudhalvan, Boys (after all, the film revolved around all the four friends), Anniyan, Sivaji, Enthiran, Nanban, “I” and 2.0.  He seems to be a devout Hindu and references for this could be seen in most of his films. All his key characters have been Hindus and there’s a strong reference to the Almighty in every movie while in Enthiran, he takes to another level where Chitti, The Robot refers his creator Scientist Vaseegaran as the Go who created him. Subtle yet strong message that a Mother is God while for the machine, it is his Scientist. He has worked with AR Rahman in most pf his f

Contemporary music of current times!

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Have always felt that I was lucky to have lived through the times of Illayaraja & AR Rahman, two musicians whom we have grown listening through the 80s, 90s and the Millenium. Both the composers have a very unique style of music creation that hasn’t been able to be challenged by the new crop of composers. Raja & Rahman are very niche in their own ways and no one can occupy their positions in Indian Music history that has seen thousands of musicians come & go. While Raja is considered as “God” of Music by his ardent fans spanning across age groups, Rahman’s music is very contemporary and he has been able to hold on to the interest levels of fans for 25 years from Roja to Kaatru Veliyidai (interestingly both are Mani Ratnam films!). I have been listening to music from a very young age and am also trained in classical music, Mridangam to be precise during my school days. Till date, I wake up in the morning listening to music and go to sleep doing the same -    Musi

The Kabali Fever

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Rajini fans worldwide have been looking forward to the release of the much awaited Kabali. After having worked with MS Viswanathan, Illayaraja, Deva and AR Rahman for the past 40 years, Superstar has chosen to work with a guy whose is as young as his own daughter. Rajinikanth's success is partially attributed to his Music Directors as most of his films have atleast 2-3 hit songs which remain etched in memory. After working for over 25 years with Illayaraja, Rajini gave an opportunity to a young lad in 1994 for his Muthu. The lad was just 5 films old then and was recommended to Rajini by one of his favourite directors Mani Ratnam whom Rajini holds in high respect. That lad, who later won the first ever Oscar for India went to create music for the next 15 years for Rajini (except Chandramukhi which was by Vidyasagar). AR Rahman and Rajini have a deep bonding. ARR likes to create mass tunes which are a class apart that suits Rajinikanth's image. Especially over the past 10-12 ye

Madras Eye

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Madras I There are two things that are making the news these days in the city, probably three. Madras, as the city has been known historically (and I choose to spell the city's name that way most often) is also the name of a recently released movie. Featuring Karthi, btoher of veteran actor Suriya, Karthi has been quite experimental with Tamil Cinema ever since his first release 5 years ago with Paruthi Veeran. He has played a village lad, unemployed Chennai youth, and many a time a happy go lucky guy. His box office records have been topsy turvy, where he has the most returns when least expected. Back to Madras, the film is shot in North Madras, which has been largely neglected in Kollywood for a long time. Except for a one-off gana song or a kuthu song, nothing has captured the imagination of this part of the city, which was also the original settlement along the sea shore. I have had the privilege of travelling to North Madras twice or more every week to work where my prev

Lingaa - First Look

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The much awaited first look of Lingaa feat Superstar Rajinikanth was released on the auspicious occasion of Ganesha Chathurthi on Friday, 29 Aug. 2014. Here is how the movie poster looks like. The film is directed by KS Ravikumar who has earlier worked with Thalaivar in films like Muthu and Padayappa during late 1990s. This film is expected to be a mass commercial entertainer coming from the successful duo of KSR - Superstar and would release simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu and may be dubbed in other languages such as Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada. The film would have two heroines, Sonakshi Sinha and Anushka. A Rajini film featuring two heroines releases after 20 years precisely - the last one was in 1994, a commercial entertainer by the name Veera. While there is no confirmation on the release date, it is highly speculated that the movie may be up in the screens on 12-12-14, which happens to be Thalaivar's 62nd Birthday! Once again, AR Rahman composes music for Ling