Aadhavan - Music Review

Harris Jeyaraj is becoming old and irrelevant at breathtaking speed. If Ayan was only banal, Aadhavan is just outright juvenile. Harris has composed tunes with the mindset of a 6 year old and used random gibberish from public toilets for lyrics (yes that includes the so called melodies "Hasile Fisiliye" and "Vaarayo Vaarayo"). Every single song is dumb, cliched, and cacophonous just doesn't even being to describe the pain your ears feel as you put them though it. Out of principle, I put myself through the pain of listening to the album a few times before commenting on it. Spare yourself the agony and get a prostrate exam instead.

Anbana Thayai...

"...Kaveri Alaigal Vanthu Karaiyil Unnai Thedidum,
Kaanaamal Varutha Pattu Thalai Kuninthu Odidum...."

Vaali, that lyricist extraordinaire!

Yuvvraaj - Music Review

Until I read the gist of the story of Yuvvraaj from the CD inlay (in my defense, no mad fan of Rahman does until the CD has warmed itself fairly well under the laser) I thought the music was mostly cliched and sometimes chaotic. Now I am convinced there is also a mix of genius in it. That genius comes through in 'Dil Ka Rishta' where Rahman melds the disparate musical leanings of the three siblings in a way only he can. That aside, Yuvvraaj is still a mixed bag ranging from an elixir-like melody in 'Zindagi' to the zingy fusion in 'Manmohini Morey' to pure unadultrated techno noise in 'Shano Shano'. Rarely, if ever, do I despise a Rahman song so much but 'Shano Shano' absolutely deserves it. In fact, the remix is far more coherent and effective. 'Tu Muskura' and 'Tu Meri Dost Hai' are soothing, well arranged and beautifully sung, but they do sound very trite. 'Mastam Mastam' starts out as interesting but peters out into chaos. It was wonderful to see a name like 'Chennai String Orchestra' as opposed to a 'Budapest' or 'Ouagadugu', and you can feel the effect of a live strings orchestra throughout the album, starting with the intro to the album by Salman. While that is appreciable, Rahman reintroduces the very banal rhythm patterns that he almost single-handedly help banish from mainstream film music. The lack of innovative rhythm programming is conspicuous throughout the album and that I believe is a first for Rahman, and hope it is his last. As someone who embarrassingly admits to have seen the last two duds by Ghai I won't be holding my breath for the movie but I am eager to see how the visuals stack up, at least for the superlative numbers.
Bottom line: Mixed +ve bag.
Reminiscence ... What I added to my playlist after listening to numbers from Yuvvraaj
1. 'Bailamo'(Kadhal Virus) after 'Shano Shano'
2. 'Vaaji Vaaji'(shivaji) after 'Tu Muskura'
3. 'Mushal Murai'(sangamam) after 'Zindagi'
4. 'Innisai'(Godfather) after 'Manmohini Morey'

Dasavatharam: The Review

Here it is, at last, like the movie itself, its review. Dasavatharam sees Kamal Hassan in one of his well-known avatars, that of a multi-role performer. Performer I say as in addition to the record ten persons he portrays on screen, he is also in-charge of the story, screenplay and dialogues. Ten beats nine by the legendary Sivaji Ganesan in Navaratri, and eight by that master of disguise Sir Alec Guinness, Kamal’s sort of mental mentor, in Kind Hearts and Coronets. Dasavatharam works—despite shortcomings in the screenplay—as an entertainer. A movie like this can hope to succeed only by using the power of cinema and its capacity for make-believe and awe. Kamal is an actor who is willing to experiment on different images on screen not minding the effect on his image off it. Though some of his characters are just making the numbers, the main ones have the kind of magical intent that it is easy to forget and be fooled that it is the same man playing them. The opening character and the Dalit environmentalist one are the best among the lot. If in the former, Kamal is on home ground given his Vaishnavite upbringing, in the latter it sort of reflects his views on his home land. As you would expect, the movie does not afford the space or time to elaborate on the emotions of its characters. The main man is similar to the Madan in the classic Michael Madana Kama Rajan in his open-mindedness. He is as he confesses later in the movie, an agnostic not an atheist. The Telugu intelligence officer, Balram Naidu, is played with a comic-in-manner-yet-serious-in-purpose fashion. Verdict: Success. Kamal makes the grandma, though an obvious interference, believable given the idiosyncrasies of those wrinkled tonsured old women (Needless to stress again the caste of his birth). The American villain gets most of its accent right and looks like Jay Leno in close up and like Al Pacino in long shots. The Pacino resemblance is largely inadvertent given the two actors’ (Kamal not Leno) similar stature and features. In the Sikh role, Kamal reunites with Jayaprada after the masterpiece Salangai Oli which in my opinion ranks among his three best acting parts as he rendered the dance master in a natural and unaffected grace that has not been surpassed by either him or others since.

The other members of the cast, I mean the un-Kamal ones come off clichéd and tiring. If Asin is insufferable, Mallika is abominable what with her garish Tamil and general retardation. Others like P. Vasu, Santhana Barathy and Nagesh are passable. The movie definitely lacks the lucidity and hilarious stupidity of Crazy Mohan’s pen—Kamal’s efforts are at best okay—and Delhi Ganesh. And whoever thought Himesh Reshamaiyya would do justice needs to give his mind a paradigm shift. The songs are incongruous and outlandish. Rahman or his nephew G.V. Prakash, the new kid on the block, could have well pulled it off. The screenplay appears to be continuous but is forced and there are times when a sudden light moment in an otherwise somber scene makes you sigh. What about the rest of the Kamals? The Japanese martial arts master is well made up and the Muslim only serves to stand out on account of his height (and a curious voice). The George Bush character, again unwarranted, gets his mannerisms right and makes him look like a comedian. This is perhaps Kamal’s intention as we also come to know of the displeasure with Bush as expressed by one of the ten.

Dasavatharam triumphs within its limitations largely due to the one man whose name I won’t type again given the repeated reference all through this review. He amuses and woos us chiefly due to the thought and effort he has put into the movie’s conception. He mentions chaos theory, quotes Dale Carnegie (I think), enacts Robert de Niro and even jabs at Shaivism among others. K.S. Ravikumar is the director and appears to have done not much barring appearing, as is turning out to be his custom, in a song. I suspect if you would really appreciate the film if you are a serious Kamal fan, but then you can rent Salangai Oli or Mahanadhi any time. The audience is the best judge and going by the box-office the huge budget seems to have paid off.

Jaane Tu ... Ya Jaane Naa - Music Review

It is anybody's guess how good a launchpad Aamir's made for his nephew, but Rahman's madeone hell of a springboard for Rashid Ali. He rips through the opening track 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi', with the guitar grooves and easy melody setting the song in stone. 'Pappu can't dance' is really not my cup of tea. As many times I have listened to it, it just sounds mostly silly. Maybe it has it's magic on the screen. And just when you think Rahman's losing his magic touch, he bounces back with 'Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai'. A Busta Rhymes like rhythm blended into a soothing pathos with exquisite arrangements. 'Nazren Milaana Nazren Churaana' is a staid, fun college number that makes for easy listening. Rahman's been fascinated with Jazz since his Iruvar days, and considering the first was brilliant, I don't know how he manages to keep getting better. Louis Armstrong would be proud of 'Tu Bole main Boloon'. Rashid continues his fine form and reaffirms his stamp on the album with 'Kahin To Hogi Ho' Sukhwinder pours his heart and guts out in the second version of 'Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai', but it turns out to be quite typical anyway - nothing extraordinary but soothing nevertheless. The remix of 'Pappu Can't Dance' is even sillier than the original.

Bottomline: JTYJN may not rank among Rahman's best but it's about the best that's out there now. Rock on brother ... rock on.

One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat

I must admit I haven’t read Five Point Someone, Bhagat’s debut novel when I picked up One Night at the Call Center during my recent visit to Lubbock. It was AR’s and he had left it at BR’s house where we stayed. One Night is about the life of three guys and three girls who work at a call center, their story told us over the course of, well, one night. Their company is called Connexions and they are the telephone representatives that resolve the home appliances’ worries of the Americans. The narrator is Shyam, the leader of the small group, a cynical and reluctant man. He shares with us what happens the whole night (they work US business hours). He has broken up with Priyanka, one of the three girls, and is trying to mend his heart. Meanwhile he, with Vroom, the hippest guy in the circle, is trying to get promoted by writing a helpful customer service web site manual. The other male in the group is Military Uncle. He is an old retired man, as the name suggests, who is estranged from his son’s family in America and to support himself takes this job. The others are the other girls: Esha, the aspiring model and Radhika, the devout daughter-in-law. Bakshi is their manager, a man with no real talent other than using the efforts of his subordinates. Shyam tells us the problems each member of his team has. He is still yet to get over Priyanka and revisits their time together whenever he can. Priyanka is someone you never understand. She bewilders and exasperates us. In his prologue, the author explains the reason behind the gestation of this book. One Night was born as a solution to the mild allegation that his first book did not represent totally the Indian youth. I still don’t think the book answered its purpose. Bhagat could have chosen not to reveal the reason claiming it to be just light-hearted material. His prose is simple and sometimes runs the risk of being ordinary. He has a qualifier though, that it is Shyam who is telling us the story. Bhagat has humor, folks. (“He was thirty, looked like he was forty, and talked like he was fifty”). There are laughs in scenes where the manager Bakshi makes his appearance. You also appreciate the sincerity of the story in general, though it is very predictable. It was easy, after a long time, to read something where you don’t have to work your imagination. His style is definitely no-brow. It seems he has written this with a film adaptation in mind. I think he would be a better screen writer than a novelist. The Indian youth in his book is obsessed about dates, is technology-conscious, is calorie-conscious (the women) and is of course, independent. There is America-bashing and the flippancy gives way to moralizing at points. An important character in the book appears to have no real work to do and sounds just like a management guru. There is not enough insight into the problems the characters go through. It would surprise me if anyone thought Shyam and Priyanka wouldn’t make up at the end. Bhagat should do more research is he is to talk about American accents and phrases (An American swearing “bloody”?). One Night is like a once-watchable movie. See it, Laugh out, End it. You definitely do not understand anything new about India Shining or India Inc. or whatever name one gives to twenty-first century India, especially its youth.
Bottomline: Bhagat’s book is pulpy Bollywood spice, no more. Don't expect logic or language.

Yaaradi Nee Mohini - Movie Review

YNM is the Indian Bruce Lee’s big release for this summer (In case you were wondering that’s how Dhanush is affectionately called by his 100 crore fans). Directed by his brother Selva in Telegu, his dutiful assistant Jawahar is credited for the Tamil version. It is Dhanush’s favorite role of a useless, good-for-nothing bloke, who can’t find a decent job, until a woman (or a motorbike) way over his league crosses his way, and he seems to revel in it. Nayantara plays Keerthi aka Neetu aka Komalavalli (just as appropriate as Rukumani was for Simran!), the girl way over his league.

Dhanush gallivants around town in search of a job that seems elusive until he sees his damsel. He does what any man, or at least any man whose brother is writing the script, would do – Chases the damsel down and finds a job in the same company. Obviously the ‘impress the princess’ phase follows. Dhanush is barely a few days into his job when Nayan, his manager, commits the blunder of putting a trainee on a project with a critical deliverable the following day. The project is a one of a kind project that requires 300 software engineers to work on DOS-based i286 machines to render the words ‘SYSTEM ACTIVATED’ on the screen. Our hero, seeing his damsel in distress, works through the night, writes 3000 lines of code in Visual C++, goes through several debugging cycles, and makes the magic words appear on the screen, leaving only one question in the mind of the audience – How could such a software genius have not found a job for 5 years?. Of course, Nayan is duly impressed. The hero then expresses his love in Australia, which the heroine readily rejects citing that she is due to get married the following month. She also insults his father, played by Raghuvaran, who dies the following day.

Dhanush’s friends, played by Karthik (of ‘Kandal Naal Mudhal’) and Karunas, suggest that he spend the month until Karthik’s marriage with Karthik’s family in the village. No points for guessing who Karthik is getting married to. Of course Karthik doesn’t know this until the final act. The director then shows his abject ignorance, extravagant generalization skills, and his fascination for butts and farts, to depict a prototype Iyengar family. The part of the screenplay leading up to the climax revolves around our hero impressing Karthik and Nayan’s family, and making Nayan realize his worth. I should say the climax was a fairly nice touch.

The movie works in parts. Dhanush fits the role and carries the movie efficiently on his thin frame. Nayan, while sometimes over the top, emotes rather well. Raghuvaran’s cameo as Dhanush’s father sure feels like an appropriate requiem for himself. The other caricatures and clowns fit the bill. The mostly lively screenplay masks the thin plot. On the downside, most of the songs are boring as is the background score. Someone needs to tell Yuvan that there is more to a background score than a Yamaha PSR 500. While the cliché’s on coincidences and license to assume a software company that give’s a month off may be excused, some cliché’s, like the man servant of the house asking the skin and bones hero how to build muscles like him, the hero replying in the negative to the heroine’s question on whether he would ever get married, and the ridiculous depiction of the heroine’s family, could have easily been avoided. With that said, Jawahar conjures up a fairly interesting movie with his master’s story and screenplay as a reference.

Bottomline: Worth a watch in spite of some cringe worthy scenes.