Song or no song?

I’ve always wondered about the purpose of songs in Indian movies. Apart from art-house movies which has no ‘reach’, almost all the movies have songs. But why?

Here in North America (or western world, in general) there has been a vibrant pop scene since Elvis Presley (that he is said to have stolen the old R&B music and gave a white twist to it, literally, is a whole another story). This pop music has grown bigger and bigger since then, and it is more than capable of quenching the music thirst of the masses. So when a guy watches a movie, he is not expecting any ‘soundtrack of his life’. He is going to merely watch 1.5 hours of story telling. This music scene co-exists with classical music. It has a wide range from mainstream Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan to special vertical segment like Slipknot and underground rap.

But in India (especially tamil nadu) there has never been a pop scene, as far as my knowledge. Although in movies like ‘enakul oruvan’ and some mohan movies, there has been some fictional pop music icon. For the masses, the only way to listen to the music of their taste (other than the local gaana artists) is thro’ the movies. They have neither the taste nor the money for classical music concerts (neither do I). So the movies SHOULD have songs till a vibrant pop scene emerges. The creators always go one step further and explain the same MASS factor to justify the formulae movies.

Coming back to the issue of songs, the best possible thing for a director to do is to make the songs not look glaringly inserted into the scene. They can make a ‘chichuvason’ (situation) so that the song is seamless. Directors like Mani Ratnam and Shankar do it all the time and make songs one their strengths with grand visualizations. And then there are directors who come from the Balumahendra camp (read Bala) who put songs in the movies simply out of pressure from the distributors. These guys MOSTLY (not entirely) avoid using the great big group dancers. Many of their songs have duets playing in the background and the hero and heroine walking, laughing, and do some more walking and laughing till the songs ends. I personally like songs of this genre (‘munpaniya’ from nandha, ‘raja raja cholan’ from rettai vaal kuruvi, etc). And then there are some directors whose theory is ‘one kuthu song every half hour’ regardless of the situation of the movie. Vijay starrer ‘mathura’ is a perfect example of this.

Although some interesting thriller movies like airport and kuruthi punal have come out without any songs, Indian movies should do fine with the songs, provided they are not inserted like a porn magazine in between English and tamil composition notes.

Thotti Jeya - Harris picks-off where he left off before anniyan

Harris jeyaraj has this knack composing awsome melodies thrown with some garbage in an album. He seemed to be going in a different direction after Anniyan. But no...he goes back to his formulae. Hearing this Cd is like watching Afridi batting. goes from "wow! Amazing" to "What the hell was he thinking". Got 6 tracks and i've no idea abt the singers.

Achu Vellam...donno what makes tamil MDs think that bhangra would work in tamil Nadu. This song reminds me of "Baba cinema cinema".
FAST FORWARD

Jaari Singari...has a nice 'kurathi kuravan' vibe to it. the song is as simple as they can get. simple beat underling simple voice. Hope it gels with the movie.
PLAY

theme Music...though i am personally against filling up space by theme music in todays market, this one is not bad at all. But then again i don't see anybody hearing it more than once.
PLAY

Thotta Powerda...these songs are a "must" for hero-oriented movies. This praises the 'power" of thotta. sung by shankar mahadevan...along the lines of title tracks "machan peru madhura" and "hey sullan va sullan". Nothing special.
PLAY

Uyire En Uyire...Awsome melody. keeps the same pace throughout. Donno who sings it. Hits the slam dunk when he goes,
"oh..oru nimidam..oru nimidam..yenai nee piriyathae
en arugae..nee erunthal..thalai kaal puriyathae"
REWIND

Yaaridamum... Best track of the album. Easily the most melodious one in a while. Reminds of the 'Minnalae' days. Love the way he mixes the fast and slow paced ones in this duet. Gonna be my anthem fora while for sure.
REWIND AND REWIND

Bill Gates TERMINATES Apple

Microsoft launched it "Virtual Earth" to counter Google Maps,...so we thought. But it does the "2 mangoes in one stone" thing by completely terminating Apple Computers. How? The pictures says it all.

Virtual Earth's website for a bird's-eye view of Apple's corporate headquarters show only a grainy overhead photograph of what appears to be a single, nondescript warehouse and a deserted parking lot — not Apple's sprawling campus, with 11 modern buildings surrounding a plush courtyard.

Microsoft blames an outdated photograph. But Apple's headquarters in Silicon Valley shows up more appropriately for anyone viewing the same location using Google's mapping website, which also combines many of the same government-funded satellite and aerial overhead photographs.

Is Microsoft's version of the landscape a fantasy for Bill Gates?

Hail the future 'king' KHAN

The recent suicide bombings in London has made lot of people to re-think the concept of multi-cultural society. Unfortunately, the muslim community is the most affected by this negative feeling. In this volatile situation, to restore and underline the importance of multi-cultural society definetely needs a "HERO". As potrayed in the movie "Enemy at the Gates", every country or concept needs a hero to spread its wings. Heros become who they are with their unique attitude and when this tag falls on a teenager, that kid needs a lot of heart to step up. Britain's 18 year-old olympic silver-medal winning boxing champion is indeed stepping up. His name is AMIR KHAN.

As noted in this BBC article, the timing of Amir Khan's entry into the professional boxing ranks seems almost divine. When most 18-year-olds would choose rap music for their ring walk, Khan opted for Land of Hope and Glory for his professional debut on Saturday. And after his swift demolition of London's David Bailey(lasted 109 seconds), he spoke of his shock at the recent atrocities and his ambition "to bring the races together". Amir Khan dedicated his pro debut win to the victims of last week's London bombings.

Whether he becomes a real pro champion and stands up to what he has said, can only be answred by 'time'. But until then there is atleast a hope in these troubled times.

Pre-emptive strike

Hope this concept ends with Mr.43.
(a) What if either India or Pakistan go for it and attack the other. They do have a genuine case of immenent danger? Is that justified?
(b) Before Mr.43 attacked Saddam, what if Iraq attacked USA (assuming Iraq possessed WMD)? Iraq had definite immenent threat, in fact the threat was coming everyday from Mr.43 ? In that case, can that be justied? Will the UN stay mute?

Bhutan and its Happiness

Recent articles on ranking countries based on their GDP and GNP made me think on it fairness. Is it the only thing that matters? Seems to be. Coz' all the countries are doing their "BESTEST" to increase their GNP. But shouldn't the happiness and welfare of the people living that country matter? Bhutan is the only country that seems to be agreeing with this.

Today, our economic growth is measured by the Gross National Product (GNP). However, it doesn't take into account environmental and or social implications that allowed the GNP to grow as nothing is subtracted from the GNP. For example, a factory that pollutes a river upstream and causes people downstream to become sick with cancer and other disease is considered a good thing for economic growth as the GNP does not take into account negative impacts (not only financially- cost to restore river, health costs, peoples inability to work, but environmental and social damage as well). It only measures the total market value of final goods and services produced for consumption in a country in a given year.

The country of Bhutan, does things a bit differently. They measure the GNH, or, Gross National Happiness. The index of Gross National Happiness requires an evaluation of the effect of economic activity to welfare. The term Gross National Happiness (GNH) was coined by Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuck when he ascended the throne in 1972. Isignaleded his commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan's unique culture permeated by Buddhist spiritual values.

The govt of Bhutan is geared towards making the people happy, rather than making them producing and consuming more (which essentially increases GNP). They strive to achieve this by the use of 4 strategies:
(1) sustainable development
(2) conservation of the environment
(3) cultural promotion
(4) good governance

By focusingng on happiness, the GNP actually increases, says the bhutanese govt (its GDP increased by 5.3% in 2003). It also claims that the increased life expectancy, literacy rate and its confidence to bring universal primary education soon, are indirect benefits of the happiness policy.

But in reality, Bhutan spends more than it produces every year. But it is quick to acknowledge that in order to achieve happiness, one need not throw away materialistic goods. But the material should not be our one and only concern.

Great concept. Hope it catches on.

Ahenakew -Guilty? YES; Strip him of his achievement? NO

David Ahenakew is a Canadian First Nations politician, and former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. He came to national and international attention after telling a reporter from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix this:
“The Jews damn near owned all of Germany prior to the war.... That's how Hitler came in. He was going to make damn sure that the Jews didn't take over Germany or Europe. That's why he fried six million of those guys, you know. Jews would have owned the goddamned world. And look what they're doing. They're killing people in Arab countries.” Later Ahenakew apologized for the remarks, saying they did not represent his beliefs and that he was "caught up in the heat of the moment."

In connection with the remarks, Ahenakew was convicted of wilfully promoting hatred against Jews, and was fined $1,000. He was also informed that his Order of Canada, which he received in 1978 for his work in advancing Indian education, will be revoked. The Order of Canada is the centrepiece of Canada’s Honours System and recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

Now, the way i see it is that a free democratic country like Canada should learn to live with people having bias and hatred against certain group of people. This disadvantage comes with the package called "freedom of speech". They should rise above it and should not give much media coverage to that. Even if they do give the coverage, it should in a way to educate people that it is bad. But to strip the person of his award (for his achievements before the incident) does not make any sense at all. He earned that award through his extraordinary efforts to uplift aboriginal people. You cannot return him the efforts that put in. So don't take away his recognition for the same.

And as much as i disagree with his statements, those comments were supposed to be "off the record". He made those comments in a private argument with a person, who happened to be a reporter with a tape. And even if it is allowed as an evidence, how can an isolated comment cause danger to a community at large. Stephen Newman writes in the Globe and Mail:

But because the freedom of expression is fundamental both to individual well-being and to democratic practice, the courts ought to require from the state a compelling demonstration of some grave and imminent harm before acquiescing in an act of censorship. If hate speech is truly dangerous - if, for example, it threatens to set rival ethnic communities with a history of violence at one another's throats - then the state is surely justified in proscribing the willful promotion of hatred. Where the perceived threat comes from the possible influence of evil ideas over impressionable minds, however, the case for censorship is on shaky ground.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, of the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote that every idea is an incitement. So long as we have minds and voices of our own, we should not succumb to an irrational fear of evil ideas. The cure for the disease of hate represented by the likes of James Keegstra and David Ahenakew is for persons of good will to speak out against hatred.

All crime is immoral, but not all immorality is or should be a crime.

Skin Color Matters

Reading through an article on skin color at airport, my mind recaps of my experiences. My only experience (outside India and Canada) is at London. I have been there twice and on both occasions I felt that I was being treated "special". On my first trip, the security personal before the gate asked for my Canadian visa to which I promptly showed mine. Then he asked me what I was doing there. I told him of my graduate studies. This conversation, in my opinion, should have ended there. But he asked me to show him my study permit. But he has no reason to see my study permit. All he is supposed to do, is to double check whether I indeed have the Canadian visa. On what basis the Govt of Canada issued me a visa (on whether it is a work-permit visa, study-permit visa), is none of his concern. But kept my opinion to myself and showed him my study permit. But the final shot to my head, when he asked for my student identity card from the university. Why on earth would he need that? Its not his job. It the job for the immigration officials, not the security checking personnel. At this moment I thought of expressing my opinion. But a cowardly thought warned me. mmmmm

Me: Your job is not to check whether I am actually a student or not. Your job is to check whether I have a passport, air-ticket, visa and don't have any dangerous things. So I refuse to show you my student ID card, tho' I have it in my pant pocket.
Security person: OK sir, I understand. Please step aside. And my supervisor will come and talk to you.
Me: (stepping aside with a sense of victory)
Me: wait !!!!!!!
Me: Please hurry up and call your supervisor. My flight is going to leave soon. (well, i have the boarding pass, the flight won't go without me. But what if it actually leaves!!!!).
Me: Please hurry up Sir. No problem. I will show you my student ID
Security Person: No Sir, You don't have to show me. You can wait and talk to my supervisor
Me: Sorry for the trouble. But please take my student ID.

mmmmm. Back to reality. I showed him my student id without any fuss and everything was fine. The same thing happened during my second visit too. And believe me, it is not a procedure done for all. The irony is that "ON BOTH OCCASIONS, THE SECURITY PERSONNEL WERE INDIANS". I got no idea why they w'd harass another Indian. I guess it gives them a sense of power.

"Real-life" hollywood

Most of the movies that make it big in hollywood are the fantasy/sci-fi movies like lord of the rings, harry potter, war of the worlds, spider-man, batman, etc. People are thrilled by the escapist environment it creates for couple of hours. This scenario is mirrored in the tv programs too. Reality shows such as the ones by paris hilton and jessica simpson potray them as being so stupid that people are happy thinking, "oh, i'm not so stupid as them".

Indian Cinema (especially, tamil) tries to tackle social problems. But the solution they provide is that "only a HERO can save us", be it indian, mudhalvan, anniyan, ramana, etc. And it always define a clear-cut format of villian and hero. But the reality is seldom that clear.

I always long for the few REALISTIC hollywood movies made on social issues. And most of them end up being too preachy or too slow. "CRASH" is a kind of movie that everybody should see and it hits the bulls eye. Roger Ebert on the Chicago Sun Times:

Crash tells interlocking stories of whites, blacks, Latinos, Koreans, Iranians, cops and criminals, the rich and the poor, the powerful and powerless, all defined in one way or another by racism. All are victims of it, and all are guilty it. Sometimes, yes, they rise above it, although it is never that simple. It connects stories based on coincidence, serendipity, and luck, as the lives of the characters crash against one another other like pinballs. The movie presumes that most people feel prejudice and resentment against members of other groups, and observes the consequences of those feelings. One thing that happens, again and again, is that peoples' assumptions prevent them from seeing the actual person standing before them.

It shows the way we all leap to conclusions based on race -- yes, all of us, of all races, and however fair-minded we may try to be -- and we pay a price for that. If there is hope in the story, it comes because as the characters crash into one another, they learn things, mostly about themselves. Almost all of them are still alive at the end, and are better people because of what has happened to them. Not happier, not calmer, not even wiser, but better.

Not many films have the possibility of making their audiences better people. I don't expect Crash to work any miracles, but I believe anyone seeing it is likely to be moved to have a little more sympathy for people not like themselves. The movie contains hurt, coldness and cruelty, but is it without hope? Not at all.

Scavengers

they are the people who benefit even from the death and sufferings of others.

In London, according to the BBC, some hotel chains were reportedly boosting their room rates by as much as 500 per cent in order to take advantage of travellers who couldn't make it home because the tube was down and the bus system was in chaos. Some readers who wrote in to the BBC website said that they had been charged almost 300 pounds (about $600) for a room that would normally rent for 100 pounds. There were reports of some hotels charging as much as 600 pounds for a room. While some hotels went out of their way to help by providing rooms at a discount or not charging companies that booked emergency accommodations and then cancelled, others seemed to be operating on that old principle: a fast buck is the best buck. Obviously they've never heard of the idea of building long-term customer relationships.

BURJ-AL-ARAB

This dubai hotel's web-site proudly proclaims "Acknowledged as the best hotel in the world". And boy, don't they ever back it up. Take a look at these stunning photos.

World No. 1 Roger Federer and former No. 1 Andre Agassi took tennis to new heights on February 22, 2005, ascending nearly 700 feet (over 320 meters) to play a friendly match on the helipad at the luxurious Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. The hotel’s grass helipad, which is situated 692 feet (211 meters) high covers a surface area of 1,361 square feet (415 sq meters), was converted into a tennis court for the two players. Standing 1,053 feet (321 meters) high on a man-made island, the majestic Burj Al Arab is one of the most recognizable hotels in the world.

Paparazzi

From Wikipedia:

Paparazzi is a plural term for photographers who take candid photographs of celebrities, usually by relentlessly shadowing them in public and private activities. The term paparazzi is often used in a derogatory manner. Originally, it referred to Italian celebrity photographers who learned that a picture of a movie star throwing a punch was more valuable than pictures of stars smiling

The first time i really paid attention to them was when they were blamed for the infamous death of princess Diana. couple of days back, got a chance to the documentary on them. Oh man, the amount of risk they take to get their 'big shot' is just crazy. And not to mention the competion. For example, when a celebrity goes to an island, couple groups of paparazzi gets the tip. From that moment, its game on. Whoever takes the first "EXCLUSIVE" photographas and send it back to the agancy wins everything. The second guy to take the photograph gets a big nothing. So the groups play real dirty to to prevent the other guy to take the photograph, like informing the hotel authorities about the other group and while that is going on, take their own exclusive.


NAME: Darryn Lyons
COMPANY: Big Pictures
ROLE: Chief Executive Officer
AGE: 39
INDUSTRY: Photographic agency with spin-off businesses including yachts, limousines, property, nightclubs and fashion labels
ESTIMATED WORTH: $58 million, according to BRW
BACKGROUND: News photographer

Accoring to this war photographer-turned-paparazzi-turned-business mogul:

Depending on the image’s perceived news value (first photo of them together) and quality (could it blow up to a magazine cover?) it can be a quick sale or the beginning of a bidding war for exclusive rights in each territory.

The hottest pictures – usually showing a celebrity caught doing something they would prefer the world didn’t see – can sell for tens of thousands or more. But Darryn says it’s the photos that have longevity that mean more to his business. This includes high quality studio photographs that can be sold again and again.

This realisation led him to expand his business to incorporate a state-of-the-art studio in London where his staff photographers shoot celebrities. It’s a win-win for Darryn, who gets fabulous photos to sell, and for the stars, who have some control over how their image is presented.

Darryn says it’s becoming increasingly common for the stars to work with the photographers in this way. He claims he has many stars as private clients and together they stage-manage photoshoots. This can include pictures of a seemingly unaware celebrity on the back of a boat in St Tropez or looking gorgeous in a bikini.

“The pap business has changed in the past five years or so. Those cheesy ‘at home’ pictures that worked so well for OK! and Hello! magazines are out. Readers want to see stars in their down time, as real people. There’s a lot more collusion between stars and the photographers. It’s a game and they know they need the media coverage to stay on top of it.” Darryn won’t reveal any client names though, saying he’d be off their books if he did!

This is so true though. The celebrities just stage the photo shoot that they are unaware. In the documentary, one celebrity (donno her) made a deal with the paparazzi to leave her alone if she co-operates for some snaps. likewise, Madonna wanted her to photographed while she was jogging and she got what she wanted and paparazzi also got theirs. The funniest part was when the paparazzi distracted Justin timbelanke by making a topless hot blonde shout 'justin, justin' and as justin lifted his head from under a 'hiding', they went 'snap, snap' and had a good laugh.

Vardarajan Mudaliyar

Recent ga-ga over "nayagan" being selected among the top-100 movie list compiled by Time magazine, made me to re-visit the part of my brain where the movie is stored. And i didn't find any data about the main character played by kamal, "Vardarajan Mudaliyar alias Vardhabhai". I googled it and found a complete list of 'mumbai gangsters' in the home page of the movie "ab tak 56" (haven't seen this movie, heard it is a good one). Here is what the web-site says him.

1960s: Emergence of a noteworthy gang in Mumbai with Vardarajan Mudaliyar alias Vardhabhai, a migrant Tamil, as the leader. He spreads his umbrella over smaller gangs in illicit liquor trade. Haji Mastan and Yusuf Patel are other names to reckon with, they are into smuggling of contraband and construction activity.

Kamal in the movie is a carbon-copy of Vardhabhai. Wonder how much of his mannerisms did kamal use and how faithful is the movie to the actual events?

p.s.: do comment if you got more info abt the man.

CANADA DAY!!!

Saw some spectacular fireworks from close range. Before the show started, the rain was pouring like crazy. And of course, the "the public" got crazy. They started to lit some fireworks of their own causing a fire hazard. But the cops didn't make a huge deal of it, as no one was injured. The "public" took a note of this and of course the situation got exaggerated. And "boom, boom, boom" fireworks started to come from all over the place within the crowd. The cops had no clue who to catch and where to rush. It was funny to see the cops running around like a "chicken with its head cut off" (i know its an awful comparison).

Finally the rain slowed down and show started. The fireworks were all timed and automated. For some stupid reason, i was surprised and disappointed to see nobody lit the fireworks. ya. i know.

After the show, while i was walking towards the "no parking zone" where i had parked the car, i couldn't help but wonder "what kinda loser would wait for so long to see somebody else's fire work". And lucky me "no parking ticket".

The multi-species roads

IMG_0647
Originally uploaded by indian Guerrilla.

This is trichy (near main ghad gate). You can really see the sense of like, "this happens only in india, hey, hey"...well, maybe not. i guess, there is a lot of countries where whe might be able to see this.