Ok, this is really more like a review of one song in the movie - Sanjaram seiyyum kangal. For the past 2 days, this is the only song I have listened to during my drive to and from work. About 40 times to be precise.
Promise to self and more importantly my blog readers - I WILL NOT BITCH ABOUT MADHUSHREE IN THIS POST (though there is enough material, just in the context of this song) Well, I'll probably just make a teeny mention somewhere towards the end of the post about the massive thamizh kolai and just rant a little at Yuvan Shankar Raja. But like i mentioned in my earlier post, this is one of the two things I have to accept if i want to continue to enjoy Thamizh music.
Sanjaram is easily one of Yuvan's best to date. Everything about the song is unique and brilliant. Yuvan seems to deliberately underplay the instruments, and the focus is truly on the lyrics. I was just about to type my favorite lyrics in the song, but then realized I have to type the entire song! Its sheer poetry. There is a violin piece, before the first saranam, and everytime I hear it, I am reminded of Ilayaraja. No, Yuvan is not "inspired" in a plagiaristic way - it almost seems like he is saluting his Dad is the most creative way possible.
Shankar Mahadevan is inspired. His voice soars, and is perfectly complimented by Yuvan's innovative sound arrangement of echoes, which makes the song also sound refreshingly modern and youthful. In the second saranam, there are portions where the percussion instrument is replaced by the sound of water. It almost sounds like someone tapping the surface of a bowl of water instead of a tabla. I LOVE IT!!
Ok - now the rant. I know i bitch about Madhushree non stop. I know i sound tedious and repetitive. I am really trying to keep an open mind and hoping she would grow on me, but no way. She is terrible in this song - many words are bungled, and looks like not one person in the entire production crew has made the effort to correct the mistakes. S.V Shekhar in a drama tells someone "dei, ne pesum podhey eppadi spelling mistake varudhu?" With Madhushree, ava paadum podhey spelling mistakes, and apparently, neither Yuvan nor Priya cared. She ends up taking all the kurils in the song and flipping them with the nedils and vice versa Just a few examples-
* Instead of "un vaasam thangivida", she sings "un vaasam thaangivida". So, the meaning gets changed from "your fragrance lingers in my heart" to "your fragrance is tolerated in my heart"!!
*"Paarvaigal ondrai serkadho" - Should it not be Paarvaigal ondraai serkadho?
* i think its supposed to be "thodu thodu" (which makes sense in the context of the song), but you hear all kinds of versions from "thada thada" the first time to "thoda thoda"
You cannot really blame Madhushree for the lyrics, because to me, Yuvan and the director Priya are to be blamed equally if not more. But, even as a singer, Madhushree ends up sounding very very mediocre, even technique wise. She sings with zero gamakams, does not convey any of the "yekkam" in the lyrics and is barely able to mouth some of the lines in the lower octaves.
I hate sounding like a bitch, and I am normally not this critical about anyone. But music is such a wonderful thing. Bhaava is so important when you perform, and there are so many wonderful singers out there, it is a shame to see someone waste the great opportunities they have been blessed with. Often, years down the line, the ages we lived in are defined by the works of art we created. So, is our generation going to be looked at as one full of "sor-pizhais" and "karuthu-pizhais"???
Promise to self and more importantly my blog readers - I WILL NOT BITCH ABOUT MADHUSHREE IN THIS POST (though there is enough material, just in the context of this song) Well, I'll probably just make a teeny mention somewhere towards the end of the post about the massive thamizh kolai and just rant a little at Yuvan Shankar Raja. But like i mentioned in my earlier post, this is one of the two things I have to accept if i want to continue to enjoy Thamizh music.
Sanjaram is easily one of Yuvan's best to date. Everything about the song is unique and brilliant. Yuvan seems to deliberately underplay the instruments, and the focus is truly on the lyrics. I was just about to type my favorite lyrics in the song, but then realized I have to type the entire song! Its sheer poetry. There is a violin piece, before the first saranam, and everytime I hear it, I am reminded of Ilayaraja. No, Yuvan is not "inspired" in a plagiaristic way - it almost seems like he is saluting his Dad is the most creative way possible.
Shankar Mahadevan is inspired. His voice soars, and is perfectly complimented by Yuvan's innovative sound arrangement of echoes, which makes the song also sound refreshingly modern and youthful. In the second saranam, there are portions where the percussion instrument is replaced by the sound of water. It almost sounds like someone tapping the surface of a bowl of water instead of a tabla. I LOVE IT!!
Ok - now the rant. I know i bitch about Madhushree non stop. I know i sound tedious and repetitive. I am really trying to keep an open mind and hoping she would grow on me, but no way. She is terrible in this song - many words are bungled, and looks like not one person in the entire production crew has made the effort to correct the mistakes. S.V Shekhar in a drama tells someone "dei, ne pesum podhey eppadi spelling mistake varudhu?" With Madhushree, ava paadum podhey spelling mistakes, and apparently, neither Yuvan nor Priya cared. She ends up taking all the kurils in the song and flipping them with the nedils and vice versa Just a few examples-
* Instead of "un vaasam thangivida", she sings "un vaasam thaangivida". So, the meaning gets changed from "your fragrance lingers in my heart" to "your fragrance is tolerated in my heart"!!
*"Paarvaigal ondrai serkadho" - Should it not be Paarvaigal ondraai serkadho?
* i think its supposed to be "thodu thodu" (which makes sense in the context of the song), but you hear all kinds of versions from "thada thada" the first time to "thoda thoda"
You cannot really blame Madhushree for the lyrics, because to me, Yuvan and the director Priya are to be blamed equally if not more. But, even as a singer, Madhushree ends up sounding very very mediocre, even technique wise. She sings with zero gamakams, does not convey any of the "yekkam" in the lyrics and is barely able to mouth some of the lines in the lower octaves.
I hate sounding like a bitch, and I am normally not this critical about anyone. But music is such a wonderful thing. Bhaava is so important when you perform, and there are so many wonderful singers out there, it is a shame to see someone waste the great opportunities they have been blessed with. Often, years down the line, the ages we lived in are defined by the works of art we created. So, is our generation going to be looked at as one full of "sor-pizhais" and "karuthu-pizhais"???
2 comments:
when I went to AR rehman concert some years ago, Madhushree was there. I saw her for the first time and so hated her...but the guys were going ga ga over her. Something to do with the fact she is fair and bautiful ?? Cannot tolerate her voice and everytime I listen to Vaaji vaaji dislike her a bit more. Maybbe we should start a club....
Dude. 40 times ? That song ' Sanjaram' is a blatant copy of Rahman's ' Poraley Ponnu Thaayi' from Karuthamma. Please listen to it and tell me you see a similarity.
Humph
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