Cinema, Karam, Kapi

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 -  ...

So, I got the opportunity to see the First day First show yet again for another film, this time at Abirami Cinemas, Chennai. It was a full house as expected. Most of the fans who were cheering and whistling when Mani Ratnam, AR Rahman, Karthi and Aditi’s names appeared on the screen must have been in liquid form when Alaipayuthe was released. I compare Kaatru Veliyidai to Alaipayuthe because in a way, this film is a sequel, if I may say. Mani once again delves on his most favourite subject Marriage & Relationship, which I had written in a previous article which you can read here . Having seen Alaipayuthe during my college days, I could relate to this movie and see why the Millenials cheered all through the movie especially during certain scenes and dialogues. The film is shot in and around Srinagar in bits and a majority are sets recreated and the backdrop of the film is another Mani Ratnam favourite – War. This time it is the one India fought & won at Kargil. The who...

Managed to watch Bairavaa first show at Inox Mylapore. It was a full house with a majority of Actor Vijay's fans thronging from early morning to catch a glimpse of him. This was a much awaited release ahead of the more anticipated Surya's S3. Pongal releases have always been box office hits and Bairavaa is no exception. By the way, there are two heroes in the film - Actor Vijay and Music Director Santhosh Narayanan. First about Vijay. The film is an out and out mass masala with the actor clearly managing to stay ahead of his ardent fans expectations. Bairavaa is a collection agent who helps Banks collect loan dues. The opening act is one such with a mass fight sequence which brings applause right from the first row to the last followed by a top-rated song which talks about the ills of hoarding cash with heroic lyrics. Vijay positions himself as a do-gooder and is always the go to guy whenever something goes amiss. He meets his love interest in a wedding and an event th...