Paa - Xtra ordinary Movie with Ordinary Story

On 4th of Dec I happened to watch much awaited film 'Paa' at Inox, Baroda, Gujarat.  Paa is a story of a child suffering from a very rare genetic disease known as 'Progeria', (for more details click here) it is explained in the film that there are only 40-50 cases which were genuienly idendified world over, and in the film, character 'Auro' suffers from progeria, performed brilliantly by Big Boss of Bollywood - 'Amitabh Bachan', a world class performance by Big B and in no way we get bored, infact audience were in alert mode on seeing Auro on the screen,  eager to watch for his next hilarious witty dialogue intelligently penned by Director R Balkrishnan (Balki) finely blended with the story, a simple one though, the last of such intelligent hilarious comedy I ve seen was in 'Kamal Hasan's -Sati Lilavati'.  Vidya Balan played a role of a caring Single Mother and a gynecologist, Abhishek Bachan as a Gen-X politician with high hopes  and a vision to change the society is upto the mark.  Vidya has given a matured performance as a caring mother, the way she explains 'Genetic Glitch' to a curious woman is fun to watch and Jr. Bachan seems to have borrowed 'Real' roles for his 'Reel' role from Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia or even from Rahul Gandhi he smartly imitated our Gen-X MP's, Paresh Raval had a small role to play but his sarcatic satire on politicians makes us glee grudgingly on them.

Watch out for Titles - Don't ever miss them, film starts with magic of 'Maestro Ilayaraja' who handled Music Direction with brilliance as usual.  BGM too had played a major role in the film through out the film 'Maestro' has showed his Musical brilliance, watch out the BGM when Abhishek takes Auro for a 'Rashtrapati Bhavan and again when children play Cricket at school, last 30 minutes it is only 'Auro' and 'BGM' that stole the show, emotions are musically captured by Maestro.  Title Music of this film is mindblowing and stands as one of his best OST which is rarely found in Hindi film music, it has an output of International standards as he is famously known for scoring such BGM's down south, being the first Asian to compose a Symphony for 'Royal Philharmonic Orchestra' London (for more details...) and the only Indian to compose Symphony and an Oratario, Maestro Ilayaraja has succesfully showed his authority that he is the only 'Master and Commander' of scoring such brilliant BGM's, film has much lesser scope for songs, and may b this is the reason why songs are not in the main theme ! though 'Mudhi Mudhi' came out well with audience.  A little dissappoint for IR fan's 'Gum Gum..'(Telugu version by Maestro, hear @ 1.02 to 1.19 it enchants U) has appeared only upto first stanza, no regrets,  we have already heard 8 versions of this song in 5 languages and one of IR's Italian performance in a music festival, but Hindi film buffs are gonna miss this enchanting piece and yeah remix version of Paa song is not there. 

P C Sreeram's camera work is excellent as usual,  the brilliant work he has shown during his stint with Maniratnam down South is again revoked in 'Paa' with Balki,  especially the RP Bhavan road, Delhi scene is superb.  A brilliant canvas of nature, emotions are captured wonderfully.  Professionally there's a lot to learn for Indian film industry from these Master's of art, especially Hindi films where mostly the superficiality rules, unlike regional cinema, I remember this sort of camera art work started from Maniratnam's  'Mounaraagam' where Camera and Music by Ilayaraja are the only roles that made this film a hit and technically acclaimed all over and went on to win Presiden'ts award.

Hindi audience have thoroughly enjoyed Maestro's OST as I have seen people coming out humming title music and yeah few ring tones too...as well hilarious dialogoues of 'Auro', especially with his Mums MUm - BUM, his friends.   Even in the climax,  the way he cuts Paresh raval  jerks of tears of rare mix, comic and pain from your eyes,  watch out for it, (Auro talks about a short time left and Paresh Raval thinking about 'Auro's' condition explains him not worry there is plenty of time he is only 13 yrs old and  will take him to US, Disney world etc., Auro looking at his Grandpa with a serious look says 'Grandpaa .... I am reminding you the time of visiting hours it is very short) such kind of scenes are spread all over the film, even in the end too.  But the last 15 minutes is a real tear jerker heard sobbing's from all the 4 directions even my wife too..My elder one asking me Papa Is 'Auro' going to die ?

Overall 'Paa' is an extra ordinary film with an ordinary story but the way Balki handled the film is praise worthy, Music is brilliant, what can we say about a person who composed a Symphony in 1990, conducted by famous Hollywood film conductor 'John Scott'(Scott has conducted scores for hollywood epics Benhur, Ten commandments, star trek [more on John Scott] (one of my collegue was asking about Ilayaraja coz he loved the ad music of 'Paa' on TV and enquiring whether he is 'Guru' of A R Rahman that is what he has read in a Gujarati paper.) Let us hope this film and their technicians are recognised for their hard work, already this film is expected to be a grosser and lauded for Big B's acting and Musical Score by Ilayaraja.

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Vadodara Marathon - 2009

The big day ‘VADODARA MARATHON-2009’ has started with a bad note, day before the D-Day I enjoyed a late evening show of doomsday thriller ‘2012’ at Inox Baroda, and was careless to set my morning alarm. We were instructed to report sharp 5.30 am at the venue - famous Navlakhi ground, besides beautiful Laxmi Vilas Palace, Baroda  is an erstwhile kindgdom ruled by Maratha kings  ‘The Gaekwads',  famous for their contributions to education, social development and banking   Bank of Baroda was founded by  HEH Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad-III in circa 1908 and is the main sponsor of this event, ‘VADODARA MARATHON-2009’; it was arranged in aid of ‘Vadodara Traffic Education Trust’.  The day was 22nd November 2009 and It was already 6.45am when I woke up from my sleep, hurriedly rushed to the venue, little worried as the formalities were supposed to close by 6.30 am, I was stopped at the starting point by a guard, and fortunately he let me in after looking at the BOB’s name embossed on the specially designed T-shirt, (all sponsoring corporates had their individual logo's on the running gear).   I was surprised to see that no frisking by security personnel was done at the main gates though celebrities like Kapil Dev, Paresh Raval, ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh, BOB CMD Mr. Mallya, and Charismatic CM of Gujarat Narendrabhai Modi graced the occasion with their presence and cheered a crowd of 32000+ participants.

CM, Mr. Modi expressed to make Baroda ‘Speed Capital of India’ noting that Wagon major Bombardier, Apollo, Volkswagen are stationed here and exporting their products he promised to gift two international stadiums…though someone grumbling,  to show the things done and not to make empty promises…Baroda is known as ‘Sanskari-nagari’, we find people here religiously more devoted to God and even more vigorously devoted to Just-in outfits directly from fashion houses all over world – basically Baroda has good number of NRI’s, so the brands too. Fortunately ‘fashion’ doesn’t differentiate people here, it’s every, where mixing with all classes of society'.

Marathon was flagged off by Mr. Narendrabhai Modi at 7.30 am, there were different routes planned according to distance and I enrolled in 5 km run, it was fun to run with few collegues, as we started with good spirits people lined to cheer the participants as they passed through the lanes, students from various professional colleges staged their cheering camps at the street corners with their Band, strumming the tunes which elevated the mood. Some participants were in costumes too. Highlight of this event is the half marathon of 21.09 kms participated by professionals and amateurs with great sportsmanship and cheers to the town folk of Baroda who received them with high spirits and for encouraging the runners all the way to the finishing point. We completed the run within the stipulated time frame of 45mins and registered to receive participation certificate.

As a part of the marathon a musical night by ‘Kunal Ganjawala’ was arranged at the same Navlakhi grounds though there was Indian Idol-4 runner up Torsha Sarkar, Baroda’s own Jyotsna Parikh, singer Abhijeet and Kunal Ganjawala the show was not impressive except some good number sung by Torsha & Jyotsna, a big disappoint for a Music buff like me. On the whole its only marathon run which gave an immense pleasure, joy of participation and a sense of responsibility towards the society.

Though there were some glitches in the event, as people struggled to find out the registration desk at the finishing point, it was in the national newpapers that timing was not properly noted in the half marathon etc., however, this marathon was a great success, event organisers has assured to have learned some lessons from this event and will see that the next year’s event will be more successful. Organizers have already declared that the r(f)un will be for ‘Human Nexus’….So count down started…for GO VADODARA GO- 2010.

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Guinness and the City of Banyan Trees

These days a lot of good things are happening for the ‘City of Banyan Trees’ – VADODARA( Click here to know more about 'BARODA' ) also known as Baroda. On 02.10.09 kids of Baroda (I prefer to call it as Baroda as it spells easy for a non-Gujarati like me) as a prelude to the mega event of Marathon to be held in Baroda on November 22, 2009, Bank of Baroda as main sponsor  ( www.bankofbaroda.com ) has created a Guinness record of ‘Longest Canvas Painting’ in the world which measured 4.2 kms in length and we are proud that my elder son Prajwal as a member of ‘Team BOB’ (Bank of Baroda) brushed in his own way to be a part of history. Watching kids handling the colors was a real treat, children when left to demonstrate their skills in the right environment will definitely do wonders, as the bright, beautiful & vibrant colors on the canvas are the proof of their thoughts – pure and innocent. The theme of the historic event was ‘Traffic Awareness’ and the observation of kids especially on the issues pertaining to traffic hazards made me wonder, their perception should be a lesson to adults. One that impressed me most is a painting depicting a most common scene in our country attending a cell phone while speeding on a bike, highest number of accidents in major cities is due to this attitude of bikers and major responsibility lies on the authorities to create awareness among citizens, unfortunately the careless attitude of these responsible authorities is the main culprit.

I remember when the transformation was under way in Andhra Pradesh during Mr. Chandrababu Naidu as CM (…..he enjoyed being addressed as CEO, AP Inc), motorists when caught jumping traffic rules were taken to a big convention hall and there begins their hard time. Traffic defaulters are made to watch a 1-2 hrs educational programme on traffic needless to say about the penalty imposed almost Rs. 500/- as penalty for not wearing Helmet, driving without license, zebra crossing etc., it is hell for someone who is in a hurry to attend an important meeting or an interview, valuable time is lost as well bucks too. Now atleast we can some regularized traffic in Hyderabad thanks to authorities and a visionary Chief Minister.

Truly the menace of traffic default can be addressed firstly by creating awareness among common public and secondly by imposing heavy penalty. Whats your say ?

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Ilayaraja - SubConscious Mind (Part- II)

(This is in continuation to my earlier post… Thanks to my friends who have responded with their encouraging comments to my post, though they are masters in this subject)

..In the early 90’s critics said that the Golden period of Ilayaraja is fading away and a new sound will dominate the film music and people who master the art will survive, I happened to be one of many music lovers who were eagerly waiting for that Oracle to come true. Techniques initiated by Maestro Ilayaraja was humbly followed by his contemporaries, his style is a rare fusion of Indian and Western Musical elements that none in Indian Film Music has ever dreamt of, that was the era of Anthara – Mukhada in North India and down South Maestro Ilayaraja was drenching South Indian Film Music with the showers of his Melodious compositions quenching the thirst of good music for Music lovers and stunned the ‘Masters of Music’ with his never dreamt of fusion experiments with native and world music, R D Burman has once said “This man’s music is 50 years ahead of time’. Techniques in Sound Engineering come and go. Sound, introduced by Raaja might be out dated now but his Music is still afresh, I strongly believe that some of his very early compositions if mastered with today’s Digital Sound Techniques would have created a rage all over the world forget South India, I would say unfortunately - ‘Ilayaraja’s Music was far ahead of his times, than the technology prevailed at that time in our country’. New breed of Music Composers of today heavily depend on Technology than their senses, they are so dependent on Machines as if they cannot survive without them , do they lack confidence in their ownself ? I feel pretty confused on hearing certain compositions - Who is actually controlling Music? a Machine or its Composer !!!! these days it has become a fashion to hear an high decibel Sound of a Loop rather than melodious Sound of Music, I really pity for such scores but it’s the era of Pizza’s, Burger’s, frankies and what not prefering a traditional dish like a hot Idli or a Chole Bhatura is considered to be old fashioned. A few weekends ago I have been to a Restaurant and to my shock there was a dish displayed on Menu “CHINESE IDLI”, till today I am searching for the answer? When did Chinese taught us Idli making?and yeah there was an another shocker..."CHINESE SAMOSA" too.

Music, to be precise ‘Classical, be it an Indian, Western, Latin or even Opera has a Divine string attached to it, ‘Chords’ of such Music is a ‘Cord’ that links emotional and physical levels of a Human being, a Composer is said to be ‘Genius’ only when he awakes your mental, emotional and spiritual senses with his Musical compositions and I believe no other composer can take you to such a level with a Musical score except ‘Ilayaraja – The Musical Saint’, hearing his “JANANI – JANANI” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlj3Uor2R8g) is like practicing a Yoga Mudhra it cleanses your mind and keeps you afresh for that day, show me one such score of others. No matter what type of advanced technology a composer handles, no matter what latest instrument he plays….whats the use if a composer’s score doesn’t fulfill your musical thirst!!!! Emotionally.

The greatness of Ilayaraja is his adaption to technology, he never allowed technology or its soft wares to dominate his Music, and He always controlled the machine I always discuss confidently with some of my best friends who try to justify that IR's Music is out dated...I proudly say to them "Even Machines kneel before Maestro, because he commands & controls them, show me the other one who can do that...." this sentence should be the final nail for the end of discussion. He is still giving us a clean and wonderful Music, critics who has predicted his doom in the early 90’s are in awe for his latest comeback with wonderful hits in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi, I wonder how a man of 65 years is still holding his fort so strongly for 30 years of Musical journey and still making waves in the contemporary Music and a guiding spirit to GenX Music Directors. A true music follower in India cannot ignore the fact that it was Ilayaraja who had laid a foundation and showed a new way for the contemporary Music Composers to explore and experiment in various music forms, some blindly imitated him and were successful., some camouflaged him, and a few learnt and mastered his techniques, used their own talents, ventured out and are famous eitherway it is only Ilayaraja who stood as a Lighthouse, ARR has rightly said that "Ilayaraja Sir's Music is beyond awards like Oscar"...a talent can only appreciate a real talent. Time and Tide wait for none and only the time can judge Music’s reverence to a Composer and today - “Ilayaraja is the only God, if Music is Divine”.

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Ilayaraja - Subconscious Mind (part- I)

Ilayaraja once said that “Music for me is something that must take the listener to a different sub-conscious level, and Mind must be engulfed by the melody and must make you ask the question Is there a connection with this and me…?”, what a wonderful quote. No other Music Composer can stake claim to this statement, when “Maestro Ilayaraja” proved that he can take people to that level with his numerous compositions.

Truly, while hearing to some of his compositions, unknowingly we move into a different state of mind may be just for a second…on a particular interlude or a prelude, may be on a counterpoint. There are many instances of our heart skipping a beat on a specific instrument being making a call and another responding, in the song "Om Namaha..."from the film Gitanjali, we observe or even feel a kind of trance being created by the Orchestra, its not the picturisation that is sensual, but its the tune and Orchestration that created the magic. The Rhythm, the synthesized beat of heart, 1st interlude and the 2nd are the best examples to support this statement.

Ilayaraja entered into the film world with a bang and his ‘Annakilli’ is a phenomenal success, no contemporary Music Composers in India is as successful as Ilayaraja, though A R Rahman hit the Music world with a Storm and gained the popularity as well a National award for his debut ‘Roja’, there is a wide gap of situational difference between the emergence of these two greats. Firstly, Ilayaraja broke the monotony of film music and ARR continued it, secondly, technological advancement and media, thanks to the liberalization and globalization Indian techies were atlast recognized globally, and ARR’s emergence in the National arena is a good example of how a person can sell his product if ventured out at the right time and at the right place, thirdly, approach - though Ilayaraja has laid foundation to the process of daring experimentaion in the world of Music and many of his scores were pathbreaking trendsetters, he is more strict to the grammar of Music and ARR a bit liberal to it, you may find some inspired or even adapted tunes in the compositions of ARR eg., Lobo's-The Kube Land was used in his National award winning score “Merupu Kalalu” O Vaana Padithe.... for the number “O Vana Padithe…”, a serious introspection into the song Varaha Nadikkarai from the film Sangamam will give you an impression of the sufi song Dama Dam Mast Kalandar  though ARR is a genius, as his Slumdog proves , he trails “Maestro Ilayaraja” in originality.

At times, I feel that ARR killed the tune and did a Phoenix thing to sound, some times it is reverse, that’s the genius adaption of sound engineering. It is mentioned in the Biography of A R Rahman ‘s “Musical Storm” , that he purportedly told S A Rajkumar, that a mere song or a hit number cannot overthrow Ilayaraja, it needs a different sound and a big force, because Ilayaraja is such a genius every time he used to hit back with a thumping tunes to the awe of listeners.

....(contd)

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