As these tired hands pilot the leaking, creaking man-of-war to its final moorings amid the ceaseless din and drivel around us, music and Bacchus are among the few solaces left to us.
Here are a few tracks (both Indian and foreign) we’ve acquired lately, mostly from iTunes.
* Kandathai Sollugiren (Tamil) – A classic song from the Srikanth, Lakshmi, Nagesh film Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal (1977).
This most-likely forgotten song is among our Top-5 Tamil favorites.
Yes, we’ve seen this fine film. Was this Lakshmi’s finest performance ever?
If we remember right, this song was picturized on Nagesh sitting on a bench with pieces of paper floating around.
Mellisai Mannar (The King of Light Music) M.S.Viswanathan is the singer and music director of this gem.
What a shame that in the current euphoria over A.R.Rehman, we’ve forgotten yesteryear giants like M.S.Viswanathan.
* Bekarar Kar Ke Hamen Yun Na (Hindi) – Sung by Hemant Kumar, this amazing number is from the 1962 blockbuster Bees Saal Baad featuring the handsome Biswajeet and Waheda Rehman.
We grew up listening to this song. In our first innings, we relied on radio and later on cassette tape for this classic. Now, in the final innings we’ve returned to this melodious piece in digital format.
You can enjoy this lovely song on YouTube here. Isn’t Waheeda Rehman prettier than an angel?
Hey, what do you take us for. Of course, we picked up Kahin Deep Jale Kahin (Lata Mangeshkar) as well from the same movie. Need you even ask.
* One of the best CD sets we’ve purchased in recent years is Ennio Morricone: 50 Movie Theme Hits (3-CDs).
For fans of Morricone, this CD set is an embarras de richesse containing themes from some of the famous movies ever – Films like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, For a few Dollars More, Cinema Paradiso, Once Upon a Time in the West as well as lesser-know films like Lydia, Scusi, facciamo l’amore? (Listen, Let’s Make Love) and Il Trio Infernale (The Infernal Trio). We got it at Border’s for about $16 after a 40% off coupon.
* Le Infernal Trio – A chilling Morricone piece from the 1974 French crime movie featuring Michel Piccoli, the ethereally beautiful Romy Schneider and Mascha Gonska.
Listening to this work of art, you sense strange and bad things are happening. To whet your appetite for the CD, we’ve provided a link to this haunting piece on YouTube. By the way, the movie was quite controversial in its day. Alas, the lovely lady Romy Schneider is no longer with us.
* Lydia From Scusi, Facciamo l’Amore – Another masterpiece from the master.
You ask who? Of course, you schmucks will. Morricone, of course. Explore this piece at YouTube.
* Sollathan Ninaikren (Tamil) – Another old favorite from the peerless M.S.Vishwanathan. We’ve likely seen this 1973 Kamal Haasan-Jayachitra film directed by K.Balachandar but can’t remember a thing.
* Hai Hai Yeh Majboori (Hindi) – If you’re a Bollywood fan, you know this number is from Roti Kapada Aur Makaan.
You can watch the voluptuous Zeenat Aman swing her ample derriere in this You Tube version.
* Love in Tokyo (Hindi) – From the 1966 film of the same name. The song is picturized on yesteryear actors Joy Mukherjee and Asha Parekh.
Mohammed Rafi is the singer. Wasn’t this movie a big hit in the 60s? Perhaps, Joy Mukherjee’s biggest hit.
We remember going out to watch Love in Tokyo in India several decades back but had to leave after 20-minutes or so because of a power-cut in the theater. Those days, no theater had a generator and if the power outage lasted more than 20-minutes they’d give you a coupon that could be redeemed for another show of the same movie.
* Batman Theme – Starts slow and picks up furious momentum as it progresses. Kinda like the Batmobile gathering speed. Listening to this Danny Elfman piece sounds better on the new iPhone 4 headset than on the PC.
* Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai (Hindi) -A great Kishore Kumar number from Kati Patang (Rajesh Khanna, Asha Parekh).
* Halloween Theme – John Carpenter’s Halloween Theme starts with heavy boots on concrete and banging on a door against a backdrop of heavy winds.
And then the scary piano keys playing out with their sure warning of imminent danger. And was that the sound of wolves at the end? Wonderful.
* Discombobulate – A fine piece from German composer Hans Zimmer for the recent Hollywood film Sherlock Holmes.
We’re inclined to the view that this piece is superior to any of the tracks in Inception. You can also listen to Discombobulate on YouTube here.
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Music We’ve Acquired Lately 9 – Ennio Morricone, Kandathai Sollugiren, Bees Saal Baad et al added by SearchIndia.com on
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When the great Hemant Kumar Mukhopaadhaaya passed away in 1986 (or 87), a newspaper (perhaps Anand Baazar Patrika) carried the following headlines:
Bekaraar karke hame yu na jaaiye Aaapko hamaari kasam laut aaiye
What a song, and what a composer and singer.
Bees saal baad also has another fine song: Zara nazaro se kehdo tum nishaana chook na jaaye
With a rather distinct voice, Hemant Kumar held his own in an era which had some truly great composers, singers and lyricists.
I strongly recommend songs from Khamoshi, Anupama, and Sahib, Biwi aur Ghulam, which were composed by Hemant Kumar.
Melody was always at the centre of Hemant Kumar’s compositions.
Joy Mukherjee was a beneficiary of some rather fine songs of his era.
You might like the song “Banda parwar thaam lo jigar …” from Phir wahi dil laaya hoon.
As you have pointed out, the euphoria over current day composers, notably, A.R.Rahman, should not drown the contribution of yesteryear giants. And indeed it cant.
A large population of India still listens faithfully to All India Radio, simply because of its reach.
I have noticed, over a period of time, that the old melodies are relayed as frequently as they were in 1988-94, when I would listen to AIR for about 1-2 hours per day.
The situation is not different in regional channels either.
Good, melodious songs are typically remembered for a long time, while mediocre ones, inspite of huge propaganda, may achieve only temporary popularity.
Also, these days, with so many sources bombarding information/junk, the attention span has really come down. Our ability to pause, focus on one thing, and absorb it if desired, is really coming down I feel.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: I strongly recommend songs from Khamoshi, Anupama, and Sahib, Biwi aur Ghulam, which were composed by Hemant Kumar.
Dheere Dheere Machal from Anupama is one of our old favorites.
Banda Parwar Thaam Lo Jigar (Phir wahi dil laaya hoon) is a nice one too.
Good to know All India Radio is still kicking around and continues to play the old melodies.
off-topic:
Madrasappattinam was awesome. A brilliantly shot, seamlessly narrated story with multiple themes running concurrently through it. All this with a refreshingly indian-style melodrama at its heart. Only one major minus point:certain segments in the first half were a rehash of one of the greatest Indian films ever: Lagaan and one of the greatest hollywood movies ever:Titanic. Notwithstanding the whiffs of Lagaan and Titanic, this is one helluva great movie. And going by word-of-mouth and personal observation outside a single-screen theatre in Chennai on a week-day(the crowd was overflowing to the main road, which is a rather unusual occurrence, more so for a minor league actor like Arya and a “nobody” director named Vijay), Madrasappattinam seems destined to be a decent hit.
Catch it if it’s still running near you. Not that I think you will. You seem to have made a habit of missing many superb tamil films over the last few years. You didn’t watch Anjaadhey, Subramaniyapuram, Pasanga, Eeram, Yaavarum Nalam, Nadodigal, and now Madrasappattinam.
BTW, Kalavaani was also very good, though tending to be a little self-indulgent. A nice addition to the small-town/village story genre. Guaranteed to make you laugh for 2 and half hours anyway.(And not unintentionally, like Vijay and Vijaykanth do)
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Madrasappattinam was awesome.
While we’ve not seen the film and don’t dispute that Madraspattinam could be a decent film, we would be skeptical of such hyperbolic superlatives as ‘awesome’ being used in the same
sentenceparagraph as a Tamil film.Madraspattinam is not playing at a theater near us. The round trip is over 400KM.
We’ll try to catch it when it debuts on DVD.
“we would be skeptical of such hyperbolic superlatives as ‘awesome’ being used in the same sentence paragraph as a Tamil film.”
A continuous diet on Vijay, Ajith and Vishal films is known to have such deleterious effects on the intellect. 😉
“We’ll try to catch it when it debuts on DVD.”
😀 Sure, sure. If you’re still around for another 3 years and I am here to remind you.
Really, you do find such nice ways to say: “That’s one film we ain’t watching in our lifetime. Now beat it, buster.”
Rather uncannily similar to how you repeatedly parry enquiries regarding the 7G review which is always “soon” to happen, but never does.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Since trailers are supposed to give a peek into the ‘magic’ of a movie, we watched the preview of this ‘awesome’ movie a few minutes ago.
No, it certainly didn’t set our hair on end.
Maybe, awesome has a different meaning in Cooum-city. 😉
Rest assured, we certainly plan to watch this ‘masterpiece’ when it debuts on DVD.
“Since trailers are supposed to give a peek into the ‘magic’ of a movie, we watched the preview of this ‘awesome’ movie a few minutes ago.”
Come on, stop the childish one-upmanship over wording. When I said “awesome”, I meant it in the same manner that you said “Aayirathil Oruvan” was a fantastic film (in the context that no other similar attempts exist in Tamil and add to that it was a very good film to boot).
As for the trailer, let’s just agree to disagree. I don’t give a rat’s f*ck to trailers and don’t see how a montage of unconnected shots lasting 2 minutes can enlighten you on a 3 hour film’s watchability. If this is your excuse, it is a mighty lousy one.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Come on, stop the childish one-upmanship over wording. When I said “awesome”, I meant it in the same manner that you said “Aayirathil Oruvan” was a fantastic film
There’s nothing in the story hinting at extraordinary possibilities in this film (yet another love story) unlike with AO. One can at best hope that the execution was not distasteful.
2. You write: If this is your excuse, it is a mighty lousy one.
As we’ve said ad nauseum, the main reasons we skipped this film are distance and lack of sponsors.
We will watch the film when it lands on DVD.
Let’s move on to other topics.
“here’s nothing in the story hinting at extraordinary possibilities in this film (yet another love story)”
By this weird argument, even Titanic was just “a love story”. Where did all the high-falutin views you aired about how “the greatest love storires are set in the milieu of their times” go? By that yardstick, the Madrasapattinam trailer clearly shows an Indian man-British lady love story set in a unique period in history-when India was on the threshold of independence. What grander setting can you ask for?
At the very least, you have to admit that the setting is promising for an epic romance.
But no, JUST BECAUSE you aren’t seeing it, you immediately dismiss the film as nothing more than a “mere love story”, whose only “hope” is its “execution” may not be “distasteful”.
On the other hand, you burst into fits of orgasms on seeing a Karate Kid remake whose underdog story (even without the remake factor) you know even before the film starts rolling.
Utter hypocrisy, man. It’s one thing to say you are unable to watch a movie due to difficult circumstances, another to make snide, patronising jibes about the film just because you aren’t seeing it. You are engaged in the latter.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: you burst into fits of orgasms on seeing a Karate Kid remake whose underdog story ….
Deservedly so.
Karate Kid, even if it be a remake, was remarkable for its execution.
The kid packs better acting skills than all the actors in Tamil Nadu (yesterday, today and possibly tomorrow) combined.
The makers of Titanic took a historic event of epic proportions and wove a love story into it. Madrasapattinam is hardly in the same league.
2. You write: At the very least, you have to admit that the setting is promising for an epic romance.
A promising setting is one thing but an ‘epic romance’ is a different beast. If past output is any indication, they ain’t coming together in Kollywood.
3. You write: Utter hypocrisy, man….
We ain’t making a 415-km drive. At least, not for this one.
We’ve done the long drive for AO, and lately for a few other movies like Prasthanam et al.
This one, given what we know about it, just ain’t worth it.
catch madarasapattinam’s trailer here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOoHTKUZgIs&feature=related
Doesn’t feel like a period piece.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Watched it. Thanks.
Madarasapattinam: I would contradict the above statements.
Art Direction was laudable, Emily was Beautiful…thats it!!!…the story n the screenplay…Bullshit!!…Nothing new or sensible…. Mr.Racer said certain segments were rehash…Not just certain segments, but the whole movie was primarily a rehash of Titanic..and the comedy (Mang you–Thank you!!) most of it, I felt, was lame
Arya was just like showin no expressions or emotions…If u ask me Arya’s best till date…its Pattiyal!!
My Suggestion: Don’t waste your time!!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: My Suggestion: Don’t waste your time
We’ll go by your ‘awesome’ suggestion.
Seems like the most sensible among the many on Madraspattinam. 😉
2. BTW, how did you get to watch it in your country? Released there too?
@ cberameshin: “The story n the screenplay…Bullshit!!…Nothing new or sensible….”
Gee, how come I didn’t see all the hundreds of other tamil/hindi/english films set in the colonial era featuring lovers from either side of the spectrum. Guess those films were all streamed exclusively online and didn’t make it to the theatres 😉
Dunno where he gets the “sensible” part from. There wasn’t anything wrong storywise, and the film was also painstakingly accurate with respect to the historical details. The screenplay was one of the strongest points in the entire film with nary a loose strand or wasted shot.
“the whole movie was primarily a rehash of Titanic..and the comedy (Mang you–Thank you!!) most of it, I felt, was lame ”
The comedy, whatever little there was, was incidental, and if you observed, was sprinkled through the narrative. And though, it was not the LOL type, most of it was decently amusing, which is more than what you can say with the tripe that Vivek/Vadivelu dish out routinely these days. If you wanted to laugh from ear to ear, you are better off sticking to the comedy videos found ubiquitously in youtube.
Mr.cberameshin, with all due respect to him, isn’t giving you a true picture of it.
@ SI: But then, I’ve observed you always tend to give importance to those who support your views and taunt/insult/ridicule those who go against your “wisdom”, so I don’t think this will matter to you.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: I’ve observed you always tend to give importance to those who support your views and taunt/insult/ridicule those who go against your “wisdom”,
Hardly. Just that we’re instinctively drawn to the side of wisdom.
cberameshin is a valuable, wise member of the SI community and we’ll not have his observations taunted/insulted/ridiculed. 😉
2. You write: the film was also painstakingly accurate with respect to the historical details
By that we guess you mean they kept shouting Vande Mataram repeatedly and showed Mahatma Gandhi three times. 😉
“By that we guess you mean they kept shouting Vande Mataram repeatedly and showed Mahatma Gandhi three times. ”
Assuming this is not an ego-massaging rhetorical question, ‘course not. The places they showed, like Walltax road, the old clock tower, the central railway station, the buckingham canal, olden-period washermanpet (locality in chennai) the black-and-white cameras they used and the cars they drove. There were a million details all of which were perfectly done. They have successfully recreated a period in Madras’ history and brought it to life, and all you can do is scoff and deride. I pity you. You are too caught up in your own cynicism to cast off your inherent biases even for a second.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Remind us to process comments on a notepad first. 😉
2. You write: all you can do is scoff and deride….You are too caught up in your own cynicism to cast off your inherent biases even for a second.
Scoff and deride? Of course not.
Vande Mataram and images of Mahatma Gandhi are indeed the staples of Indian films set in the pre-Independence era.
All actions are biased. The very fact that one can never know/understand all the circumstances makes decisions and the very thought process leading to the decisions biased and ultimately flawed.
SI – if it will end this battlefield, why cant you offer racer44 to write a review on Madarasapattinam 😉
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Not now.
If he’d offered to do it on the day of release, we’d have welcomed it.
@racer44
SI has its own rules and principles which has become rigid and non-penetratable over the years.
So, try to ‘accept’ SI on a whole with all its credits/mis-givings and thats the only way you can survive here. trust me…life would become lot easier 😉
and I am sure you would become loser00 from racer44 if you try to reform or enlighten SI. Its incorrigible, by any means 😉
Peace.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Wrong.
Like Mao, we believe in:
or closer home as Mahatma Gandhi said:
😉
so I said that SI is beyond getting reformed or enlightened…its in (atleast assumes) the league of Mao and Gandhi (having said that…will i ever see light in my life..? 😉 )
(wow my login still works! 😉 )
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Must be the influence of Kali Yuga that such humility as ours gets mocked.
Check this one out!!…I dono if you have listened to this Ilayaraja’s classic in Kannada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rHm3jhkxgs&feature=PlayList&p=E551305297C2E7F0&playnext_from=PL&index=30
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: I dono if you have listened to this Ilayaraja’s classic in Kannada
Hey, that sounds like a Telugu song.
Nice one though.
The Film was basically a Kannada.then later dubbed in Telugu & Tamil. May be this song is the telugu version. Im not familiar with both Telugu & Kannada.
Germany, no market here for Indian Movies except for that bozo SRK. The only South Indian Movie ever released here was Sivaji and hopefully Robot in the future.
Madaraasapattinam…Online Streaming !!!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Yes, the film Pallavi Anupallavi was Mani Ratnam’s first as a director. Source: Wiki
Nice song…just purchased on iTunes.
2. You write: Germany, no market here for Indian Movies
Lucky You. 😉
hi, check these out!! Rock songs from LINKIN PARK!! These are my favourites.
crawling:: LP won the “GRAMMY AWARD FOR BEST HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE” for this song in 2002…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMDcE24GcBE
what i have done::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzuo_UObpuA
one step closer::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_wtHnZytyQ
numb::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIkYqhv7Iv4
somewhere i belong::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iCtpuQvydk
faint::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRYtXBgEsWo
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We might buy New Divide and Crawling.
many of my favorites are in this list
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Hard_Rock_Performance
I am a huge fan of ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktff3bZpux8
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Bullet with Butterfly Wings is nice.
Looks like Smashing Pumpkins’ most popular song ever (at least, as per iTunes).
Liked it. Purchased it ($1.29).
That song alone was a huge factor in my spending 60$ on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_hero_5 (with the guitar controller).
If you want to dick around (stolen from your FB article – btw, good diagnosis, I tried my best to locate the mention of your clownship, but couldn’t 🙁 .. you didn’t ADD it after my comment, did you?) with the GH phenomenon.. there are some GH apps for 3$ or so.. i have never tried it.. but it would give an idea about that game.. and some exercise for your tired fingers.
“Say It Ain’t So” that comes free with the app is a beautiful song.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. No, didn’t ADD it now…was there originally. Speed-reading has its pot-holes.
2. Heard of Guitar Hero but never played with it for want of a console. Since you have likely dicked around with all three consoles, which one would you recommend (for some reason, we’re not partial to Wii).
I have not played with Xbox..
Wii is family friendly, we don’t need to be a teenager to enjoy it. People may scoff at me.. but I still like my Wii sports. Although I am expert enough play with my wrists, I use my whole body to get some exercise out of it.
PS3 is geared more towards serious “gamers”.. the advantage is that the video is HD. I am keeping my PS3 mainly as my media player(most of the games we own are Wii ).. The Guitar Hero and Rock Band(I have them for both platforms) look much better on the PS3. Another reason for not getting more PS3 games is because they have tons of excellent playable demos.. that is sufficient for our light needs..
ps3 will be releasing a wii like product soon.. but that’s in HD..
http://us.playstation.com/ps3/playstation-move/
if that is cheap enough, i may get it.
Even microsoft is dicking around with a similar project.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/kinect
but wifey is not willing to let another gaming system into the house.
Is a “gaming system” in your bucket list?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Thanks.
One of these days, we may get the Xbox or PS3 just to see what the noise is all about.
In our Bucket List? Yes. When Satan challenges us to a ‘game’ we should at least know how to operate the Joy-Stick! 😉
BTW, Walmart is selling a PS3 bundle for $400. Includes: PS3 Console, 2 Wireless Controllers and 2 Games.
Do you have choice in the games.. I got a game called “Uncharted” with my PS3 bundle.. I haven’t even opened the seal yet. Supposedly it is an awesome game.. but I don’t have the interest to open it.. my kids will probably master it, but it is rated T for teen.. so not planning to let them play it for now.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Yes, the Walmart bundle offers a decent choice of games including Uncharted.
just checked on walmart.com .. i see that you get choices..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Unfortunately the bundle is not sold in stores.
In any case, we’re in no hurry.
Still digesting the Kindle, iPhone 4 and the Revo PC for TV.
Have you bought Dev D soundtrack? I would go as far to say that Dev D is the best Hindi sound track of the last decade. (Not RDB, Swades or Delhi-6, Kaminey) . It has 18 pieces – each of different genre with exceptional lyrics, vocals and instruments.
This piece is one of the best pieces. Till now I’m unable to decipher what unknown emotion it generates in me every time I listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouOlcwT5N4g
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Nice one.
2. You write: Have you bought Dev D soundtrack?
No, just the two songs Emosanal and Pardesi.
iTunes has the above theme (your YouTube link) too. $10 for the entire album is not a bad deal.
Hey, below is a soundtrack from Sherlock Holmes.
Lets see whether the reading and the movies that you have watched over the years is good enough to make out what these guys are singing. (This one has lyrics too)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvvMuJ_VeX4
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Is there something more than what we have here.
Liverpool, of course, has an association with Beatles but doubt it’s relevant here.
I knew the origins.
The first thing I did after coming back from Sherlock Holmes was to check the soundtrack.
This was too fast for me. :D.
Have you seen Ben Affleck directed Gone baby gone? You mentioned it somewhere in a comment.
I have the movie with me, but yet to watch it.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Aware of Gone Baby Gone, but we haven’t seen it.
MWAL edition 10 is closed for comments, so I am posting this in 9.
http://hub.guitarhero.com/soundgarden-song/?code=11FCBEB0 ஓசி !!! (Free) song download. A decent(nominated for a Grammy this year) intro for you into Soundgarden. They have better songs. Some of their best.. http://www.the-top-tens.com/lists/greatest-soundgarden-songs.asp. Their lead singer Chris Cornell is said to have a “4 octave range”.. whatever that means.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
The first link is not working (ACCESS DENIED – Code 1).
We’ll reserve judgment till we hear the songs in 2nd link.
Listen to this,nah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e9ZxmTllZI
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Melodious.
We grew up listening to Hindi songs. Sangam, Guide, Shree 420, Aawara and more
Just thought you would like to buy this song from ITunes. 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Maybe, we will.
Another beautiful number from Kati Patang:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B_BOpS-W_I
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We’re listening to the Grammy possibility Grenade (Bruno Mars). Lovely!
Discovered Bruno through a piece on him in the latest issue of New Yorker (Feb 14 & 21, 2011).