Look-back

February 6, 2012 Leave a Comment

Last week was quite extraordinary in the sense that I hit upon 3 different ideas that I wanted to blog about..here. This hasn’t happened in a while and I was thrilled. But then, I was worried that I would overshoot my January quota and end up with a drought filled February. So, I thought I would table those ideas for the time being. And here I am, trying to recollect those 3 ideas. Never mind.

Quick round-up:

Books:

The Calcutta Chromosome  - Amitava Ghosh

I would say I was pleasantly surprised to read a sci-fi from this brilliant writer. A writer, some of whose sentences sometimes need multiple readings to understand. The best part about this book is that you could finish it in one sitting although I finished it in 2 sittings (2 plane rides followed by some late night reading).

Movies: 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Fincher

Ok. I was not that impressed with Fincher’s handling of this story. I liked the original Swedish version better. Although, there were some brilliant lines in the Fincher version which were enough to make the trip to the theater worth it. Rooney Mara was brilliant. And Trent Reznor – Take a bow! (no pun intended).

Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows

I have watched a few Guy Ritchie movies in the past and have liked many of them..(Snatch, LSATSB, Sherlock Holmes I). But this movie may have made me a slight fan of his style. I can’t imagine anyone else pulling off a Sherlock Holmes story in such a classy, novel and glitzy way. Downey had outdone himself from Part I.

Band Bajaa Baraath (Hindi)

Heard that this movie in general generated lots of positive buzz. Not a bad movie. Mostly clean Rom-Com. But I wondered what was so different in this movie compared to a few others that came out around this movie’s release. Overall – a good time pass..

Music:

Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi – S Thaman

A very different Thaman album. So Bravo to him for accepting to do this. Nothing extraordinary in the album except the fact that it is a genuine attempt to make a youth album with a Romance theme. From that stand point, Thaman has succeeded (7/10).

My picks – Parvathi, Parvathi (Brilliant tribute to “Viswanathan Velai vendum”) and Azhaippaya…

Talsamayam Oru Penkutty – Sharreth Vasudevan (Malayalam)

Sharreth once again hits a home run. I have been following his music only in the last 3-4 years but whenever I have time, I try to listen to some of his old work as well. What a composer! One of a kind. A kind that singers apparently are scared of when they get a call from his studio.

My picks – Ponnodu Poovai, Kannaran Thumbi and Enthe Hrudyathalam

Sports:

What an epic match the Rafa-Novak match turned out to be. Watching the match was exhausting enough. Rafa gave everything to hold that trophy is an understatement. I don’t think there were will be another epic grand slam final like that in the near future. Salutes to the two brave & strong men.

That pretty much sums up my last few days. Oh, yeah, by the way..I almost forgot – The Giants won!!

Filed under Books, Movies - General, Music - General, Sports - General

In a blissful state of ‘Kolaveri’

December 13, 2011 2 Comments

By now, you could very well apply for an application to get ostracized from India or from the Indian community (if you live outside India), if you have not heard of this term – “Kolaveri”.

Of course, if you are from Tamil Nadu, you definitely know the crass usage of this phrase. Although the phrase on its own has a rather gory connotation to it, if my growing up in Tamil Nadu is a good meter, then I would say that the phrase is as innocuous as the phrase “Damn” or “Bullshit”. So let me get that out of the way for all you purists.

Now, why is there is a small minority of cocooned purists trying to rage against this viral phenomenon? I am not sure why. But it is easy to guess who they would be..Here are the 5 categories of people who I think will hate or in milder terms “dislike” a song like “Kolaveri Di”.

1) The “Ilayaraja-is-God-and-because-Rahman-has-won-Oscars-except-him-every-other-music-director-is-equal-to-Ilayaraja’s-Sandals’-dust” types

These are folks who were infatuated by Ilayaraja’s music of 70s and 80s. They just couldn’t / can’t and wouldn’t accept the fact that there can be other music     directors who can even compose music to begin with. Took AR Rahman almost 15 years to get their nod (ok – you can compose but still you are a speck when compared to Ilayaraja).

2) The “Carnatic-music-is-the ultimate-form-of-music-and-every-other-genre-is-not-music-at-all” types

Needless to say, these folks can never accept anything else. It is not that, they have Carnatic music mastery either. They are the half-baked Carnatic music types who promptly bring out their hands and start tapping on their thighs to gesture an “Adi thalam” even when the song being played is a complicated “Misra Rupam” or something.

3) The “I-am-too-posh-for-these-local-slangs-and-broken-english-pronounced-in-Tamil-accent-and-local-looking-people-in-general” types

Funnily, these people can’t write one page of English prose without grammatical and syntactical errors. And yet, they prefer speaking in English which only they and their family member can appreciate. They think anyone who is local should be “cheap”. They consider anything that is local (including culture & language) can be cheap too. Nothing can please them. They shake their heads in displeasure when they see or hear someone use a swear word in Tamil but would happily drool over a redneck American throwing an F word 5 times in a sentence.

4) The “Lyrics-should-be-poetic-doesn’t-matter-what-kind-of-song-it-is-else-it-isn’t-worth-a-listen” types

No need to expand the above.They listen to the words first before they judge a song. Again it is not that they have poetic sensibilities to analyze a good poem (forget about writing one)..

5) The “Humor-is-limited-in-my-life-and-I-am-very-discrete-when-it-comes-to-it-as-I-can’t-see-humor-especially-when-so-many-other-people-see-humor-in-it” types

They just can’t see humor. Period. They have template humor. Yes, humor (or jokes) of only certain kind can bring a smile in their faces. Forget about “Kolaveri Di” bringing anything in their faces except tears.

If you don’t belong to any of the above 5 categories and yet dislike this song – I know who you are. (I won’t reveal your identity here because categorizing you would sound offensive).

Anyways, no offense to all those who don’t like this song. After all, appreciating art is individualistic. Yet, when I saw a trend online to rage against what is now a worldwide phenomenon made me write this post.

On a related note, here is a collection of all the most popular versions of Kolaveri that have come out. I am sure there are dozens more that I haven’t seen yet.

The Original:

The Female version:

The Nigam version:

The Gujarati version:

The Marathi version:

The R&B version(my favorite of all the adapted versions):

[This is my favorite because it has truly been enhanced and there is some originality in the new version]

The Punjabi version:

Filed under Humor - General, Music - General

Collective thoughts..

January 26, 2011 3 Comments

This one is going to be one random post. Sort of like a talk show monologue but without a theme..

* Books – Finished reading all 3 books from Steig Larsson’s trilogy. Wow! is one small word to describe the set. After reading all the books, one has to wonder, what kind of books he would have written had he still been alive? What kind of a coincidence is it to die after delivering the final transcripts of the three books together to the publishing house (and before the books were published)? Larsson sure has a tremendous knowledge of the Swedish legal system and has a clear understanding of the political history. I haven’t read much about his personal biography, but based on the kind of work he did and based on the issues he so passionately dealt with in these books, you could sort of form an opinion on his persona. Also, I couldn’t but get reminded of Assange (for no real reason except the fact that these characters were fighting within the legal system). Truly, a great read and for me, was educative too.

* Movies – Quite a few. Where do I start? Manmadhan Ambu was an entertainer all the way with shades of Kamal’s brilliance in screenplay and writing. Unfortunately, Kamal is at a point in his career where if he does a Hey Ram to suit his intellectual sensibilities, he is going to end up with a commercial dud or if he does a MMA as a mild rom-com-fam-drama spliced with his occasional sparks of intelligence, then people reject it because they don’t get too much masala. So he has to do a Dasavatharam if he has to make his producers happy while feeding the intellect in him. Unfortunately, he can’t do a Dasavatharam every year. He is probably comfortable writing a Virumaandi every year, but he can’t find a producer to support him. So he is always going to be in search for the right balance. Meantime, I will continue to enjoy Kamal the intellect in any form I can get.

Here is a recent interview – mostly in English..Just look at the ease with which he talks not just about the main topic of the day but about anything under the sun. Yes. he could be opinionated on certain things. That may be a trait of  a knowledge seeker in a contradictory sort of way, but he is objective too.

http://icdn.indiaglitz.com/playerV2/embed.swf?vid=49723&category=5003&as=

Now I watched a movie called “Get Low” – without any expectations. It is a story about a lonely old man planning for his own funeral. Pretty interesting till the climax which I thought was a let down.

* Music – Probably plenty to write about. But what comes to my mind right now is Mynaa. Who would have thought that D Imman can produce a classic? This album is a keep sake in my library. And the customary AR Rahman reference in the form of 127 Hours. Bought the album. Haven’t listened to the tracks on my real 5.1 system yet. But have listened to all the tracks dozens of times. Acid Darbari..ha..ha. Only AR! Glad he got 2 nominations at the Academy. Good luck!

Filed under AR Rahman, Books, Movies - General, Music - General

Jai Ho – The Journey Home

June 10, 2010 Leave a Comment

I didn’t think that this tour was going to be this grand and this big. But as I follow the preparations for the tour, I feel that this is really a “first” for an Indian artist. I mean – it is really big. Not because the director has worked with Madonna or Britney Spears, etc. but because of the fact that there is generally a wide gap between an Indian produced show and an American produced show, from a production value standpoint – Right from creating a seamless flow from one number to another with no interruptions except planned ones to flawless performances to zero technical glitches. Without getting into the details of political incorrectness, let me just say, there is really a huge difference.

AR Rahman kicks off his Jai Ho tour tomorrow in New York City at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island. He did his first ever US concert 10 years back in 2000 at the same venue and being a crazy fan, I drove 12 hours to be there just for that evening and drove back home the next day. Things have changed now..although I wish I can be there for the first show of this tour, I have to compromise because Detroit is a stop over in his itinerary. I can’t wait for the 19th to watch the show at Pontiac Silverdome.

Good luck to AR and his crew for a successful journey!

Here are a few promo videos:

Main promo

Very cool one

And of course the most innovative promo


Filed under AR Rahman, Music - General

It comes in twos..

February 1, 2010 2 Comments

Don’t remember when was the last time I really cared for the Grammy awards. Like most awards, this also has become more of shine & sheen of late. But the 52nd awards were a little different. I had to tune in. With SdM and ARR, it seems like the awards always come in twos. So, we now have a double Grammy winner!

Congrats AR!

Filed under AR Rahman, Music - General

Thrilling, yet Bad and Dangerous

June 30, 2009 Leave a Comment

What can I say when an icon of sorts suddenly becomes HIStory? I would be lying if I said that MJ’s music didn’t shape my formative adolescent years of listening to western music. Specially, growing up in India, he pretty much was the definition of English music for almost a decade. I am not talking about the elite and well exposed Indian music lovers, but I am talking about the average Indian music lover of the 80s who had the craving for western music, yet couldn’t really fathom or relate to the distortion guitar or lyrics soaked with drugs, loneliness and far-fetched love. To all of them, MJ’s music served as a great remedy. To them, his groovy music was the natural progression from the Boney-Ms and the ABBAs & his dancing style was what the Indian cinema needed. So, MJ connected to them at all levels. It didn’t matter his voice exuded effeminate tones and it didn’t matter you could hardly understand any of the words as the electronic pop beats swallowed the listeners and mesmerized them.

Almost 25 years later, since the first time I listened to MJ, I can’t believe that I would be writing an obituary for a music icon. I had read and wondered about many, many musicians of the 60s and 70s dying young. Many, before I grew up to understand their lives and music. But now, here goes another !

MJ – All your personal controversies apart, as much I have to confess that I was not your biggest fan, I also have to confess that I have tapped my feet many a time to your dancing tunes. You gave many of us something we will always remember..You lived a dangerously, thrilling life and I know how bad it must have been. You were not invincible, now that you have become history and you got to be there where you didn’t want to be there at 50.

You have proved through your death (again) that fame can catch up with inner peace very easily. In fact, it can override the person if they don’t keep their heads steady.

Why MJ? Why did you fall into the trap of pain killers?

Filed under Humor - General, Music - General, Politics - General

Palin, Taxi and Nadal

September 4, 2008 Leave a Comment

It is one of those times of the year, specially in this digital news era, where constant bombardment of the same news from different perspectives is almost inevitable, I seldom get any ideas to post here other than American Presidential Politics. The Republican convention is under way and it is enough to say that it keeps my blood boiling. Truly, in all honesty, the Republicans – the all White, Gun Toting, Christian party is full of B**S** are resorting to the slam-bam method because it works invariably. Who the loose-end is Palin? Two weeks ago, 95% of the country had not heard of her and suddenly she is the toast of the Evangelics. Funny an says a lot about the bottom scrapping politics that McCain is playing. No one in the right mind – Read it as No woman in her right mind will think Palin is going to do any good for this country’s women. All she can do is cook you some Moose Steaks, Take your kids to hockey games and shoot a few games with you on your weekend get-away with her. Other than that..???

Thanks to my son, Taxi Taxi is playing non-stop in my car and everyone in the family is hooked on to it now. Amazing how the song was conceptualized and made so catchy. That’s where lies the difference between being a genius and being a wannabe.

US Open Tennis is underway and I really hope Federer gets this crown. I admire Nadal’s power tennis – but would rather prefer Federer’s elegance and style over powerful display of machine like tennis. Nadal may be having a great year but to stay long in this game and win many grand slams, power alone does not do much. That’s just my opinion.

Enuff already..Time to get back to work..!

Filed under Music - General, Obama, Palin, Sports - General

Went on a Cocaine trip

May 12, 2008 Leave a Comment

Well…not exactly as it sounds like. But the month of April turned out real busy with some great business opportunities and a few conferences. I also am back on the road, every week, at least for a few more weeks. I am glad I will be into some kind of a routine beginning tomorrow, albeit, still traveling.

One of the perks that you get, when you attend conferences is that, you get to eat gourmet meal (and that too non-stop)..and get to witness some interesting entertainment events – these, aside from the many contacts you make for business.

I had two interesting evening events, that I cherished in the past 2 weeks. One was a “Hypnosis” show and the other one was watching a legend called Eric Clapton live. I could have wished for Eric to have chosen more songs from his rock & roll repertoire, than what he ended up doing..But there were no two ways about, how everyone thought his guitar skills are — even at this age. The whole show was like listening to a CD “Eric Clapton Live, for there were no interruptions and interactions. And everything flowed, smoothly from start to finish. Needless to say, Cocaine was the song that got everyone off their feet – but he had reserved it for the end. For me, the conference was fruitful just for this concert alone – although my colleagues will grudgingly agree with me!!

Filed under Music - General

Love Circus

February 14, 2007 Leave a Comment

Imagine – Guy Laliberte and George Harrison performing together on the streets. Apparently, it was Laliberte’s friendship with George Harrison that sowed the seeds for this version of ‘Love’ with acrobats on trampoline creating a far reaching image of the 1960s Liverpool aided by some of the best choreographers and well-designed props, set under some brilliant lighting , in the middle of a 360 degree theater.

Oh..Well..the mention of Love on Valentine’s day is just an unwitting chance and I have been wanting to write about my first Cirque Du Soleil show for four days.

One of those weekends that passed like a blur… An evening flight from Detroit to Vegas on Thursday was not bad because I still had a long night to kill, given the three virtual hours I had gained. And so it all started…The best thing about a short business vacation like this is that you could live a life of your dream for a short time – not long enough to make you forget the real life. So it all started in that spirit.

By the time I boarded my red-eye back on Saturday night – I was partly sunken with the fact that I walked after my second course of a second night of fine dining, just so that I could arrive at the airport on time. But I need to talk about ‘Love’…so this is for another time.

The show was incredible to say the least. To rekindle Beatles’s love for music and a generation’s love for Beatles in front of a newer generation in a totally nontraditional way is something only men with some kind of creative machismo can pull it off. I got introduced to Cirque’s music a couple of years ago and I have been listening to their “sort of new-age music” since then. So finally when it happened – it was a double whammy of sorts. Even though I don’t quite belong to the Beatles generation (what’s wrong in claiming so?), I got besprinkled to Rock’n Roll music through Beatles.

The order in which they performed the songs don’t quite pop out of my memory – but every single song from this unique album was performed in that high performing surround sound environment. And the Beatles were never on stage – only their shadows every now and then. That technique worked well because you don’t want to present an actor to show up as Lennon or McCartney knowing awfully well that the viewer may not connect. As they say, some things are better left to one’s imagination.

“All you need is Love” was the last song performed and it was a perfect way to end the show.

Some other highlights – Ride my car, Blackbird, Gnik Nus, Octupus’s Garden…

So it all ended in that spirit. The ‘Love circus’ did….In the spirit of Love…Imagine that!

Filed under Miscellaneous, Music - General

Some remnants…

May 28, 2006 Leave a Comment

Godavari – That’s a Telugu movie and am currently hooked on to its songs. For a change, a non-Rahman Indian album has caught my ears. Intuitional – that’s how I would term my instinct to buy this when I made a whirlwind tour to the Banjara Hills Music World a couple of weeks ago. K.M. Radhakrishnan derives inspiration from AR Rahman all the way for his orchestration and arrangements – and Ilayaraja & Rahman for his melodies. (Did I hear you ask “who doesn’t??”. But he does a very decent job of it. 3 songs stood apart – SPB’s “Godavari”, Unni/Chitra’s “Manasa Vacha” and Sunitha’s “Andanglena”..Even with my limited Telugu vocabulary, I can certify that the lyrics are way above the standards the Telugu music scene has witnessed in the last few years..(and thanks to my many telugu speaking friends, I do know how bad the “scene” is).

MCH and HUDA – They are doing one heck of a job in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The roads have been widened (even at places where I could have hardly imagined) and there is greenery & to top it all, most of the roads are litter free. Kudos to whoever is involved. I think they should soon become a model civic body to emulate to – Listening Bangalore?

Filed under Music - General

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