Thursday, April 5, 2007

Sivaji - The Boss (Music review)

The biggest names in the Tamil tinsel world - AVM,Shankar,Rajini,Rahman have come together to produce one of the most talked about movies in recent times - Shivaji, and with the director being tight lipped about the movie throughout its production phase, speculations are at their peak as to how the movie would fare and whether the blockbuster combination would be able to deliver the goods.
The music album of the movie released recently. Shankar who had opted for Harris Jeyaraj( who didnt do badly at all) for his previous movie has gone back to his old pal Rahman for this venture and Rahman has shown once again what a world class composer he is. Though not among his best creations, Sivaji's music does have some typical Rahman touches, some flashes of brilliance (Rahman could done much more is what I feel, being an ardent fan myself).
Well, Sahara by Udit Narayan & Chinmayee is easily the pick with its melodious ingredient standing out. Udit struggles to pronounce his tamil when the song touches the higher notes, but manages to captivate with his voice.The intricate use of the mridangam - so typical of Rahman is classy! The slower version by Vijay Jesudas also deserves a mention. Vijay has done well in the song performing to his limitations.
Poovava by Hariharan & Madhushree is a foot tapping folkish number, again with good chords interspersed in the later stanzas of the song. This number to some extent reminds one of the 'Ottiyanam' song from 'Arul'. A nice departure for Hariharan from his typical melodious stuff as Madhushree again struggles with her Tamil(Why do music directors do this??).
The rap number Oru koodai should interest people mainly for its lyrics. Apart from that, there is the rap done by Blazze(?)and some useful electric guitar work, which sounds like run-of -the-mill.
The intro song, Balleilakka by SPB doesn't make a great impression though.(usually the intro song in Rajini's movie does). But the fast paced nature of the song with its clattery lyrics should do the trick.
The Rahman sung Athiradee is a touch different in terms of the usual Rahman sung numbers. The rhythm and the technical interludes paint a good picture, again the lyrics should interest Rajini fans(if they are able to decipher it).
The Boss - theme, has nothing much to comment on. Music wise, its a letdown ; lyrics should infuse some interest among Rajini aficionados.(no camparison with Guru's Jaage Hain - Rahman's best theme oflate)

To sum up, the album is a decent offering(not great by Rahman's standards) and as always with Rahman's numbers these days, would get better as you hear them repeatedly. Also, Shankar should weave his magic when it comes to picturising the songs, providing an audio-visual treat. Hoping to see the album 'COMPLETE' when the movie releases.
My rating : 3.5/5

4 comments:

Ganesh said...

an early start to what could be an interesting topic ... anewaz .. my dear senior let me remind u ( not that u arnt aware of ) of the fact that music is for film and not vice versa .....
though it may happen that mani ratnam or rajeev menon or for tatr matter other offbeat directors who take on slightly striking subjects give the leeway to the music director to present his feel for the situation and their gimmicks with the cameras or sets go later ...or at the max they give a broader view .... and the rest is done after the music is given ....
but not all directors are of that kind .... taal , dil se , water and all are clear examples to the fact that a lot of work has been based on his music pieces ...

but shankar is slighlty different that way
he gives a lot of importance to traditional methods of filming ... using sets to such an extent that
... he picturises the song a particular way even before the music is set ....
that is why if u see .... shankars songs are of a different genre than others eg shakalaka baby from mudhalvan .... very well planned .... he too does a lot of additions to his plans after the music is composed .... but the specifications he gives prior to the song being composed is huge .... and hence this kinda composition is different of sorts ...
the freedom that rahman exercises over mani's or rajeevmenon's films cannot be expected here ..... for eg .... he wud surely hav had a clear imagination of the glass palace ... its orientation ... arrangement .... what camera angle positions ... what techniques in lightings ... for that matter 80% of the song shoot even before he discusses with the music composer and the lyricist... vairamuthus speech of how he rewrote the vaaji vaaji song since shankar felt it didnt suit te set is the best explaination to that .... it seems the first lyrics he had presented itself had taken around 1 month ....and after shankar rejected he took another month or so to reframe it .... shows how specific he is ( shankar ) .....
so it is not picturisation of song to the music composed .... it is composition to the situation already picturised ....
the music in such cases will be very different in kinds ....
they will not be very thematic as in taal or say kannathil muthammittal .... it will be very different very different in each and every film ....
and considering that rahman has done a brilliant job ....
the western like compositions ( thought he admits to have taken help of certain existing western compositions , not literally , but the beat sense and feel , ) are just amzing ....
if u listen using head/ear phones u can identify the technicalities he has exploited .... simply every second of the composition wud hav taken hours of dedicated work ....
the feel of the song will hav e to come with the picturisation and not without it ... mani ratnam movies la music is important ... since his pisturisation is based on the song .... so anga song kku first weightage .... whereas shankar la set / backgrnd than imp ... so song along with backgrnd will only give u te feel ... and u judjing the whole composition even before the video release and film situation being known is a bit disappointing ....\
let me tell u ... that true music is complentary to film or lyrics or whatever .... musci in itself is not complete .... so wait ....


but considering what has come for now .... i wud pick vaaji and sahara pookal as the favorites though oru koodai sunlight will capture audience better ....
balleilakka is a good composition but probably doesnt hav the start " oruvan oruvan " has because of the above explained reason .... probably with the film sequence this is what will be the best ....
athiradi is one hell of a piece studded with finest technicalities .... truely wonderfull job ....

mathabadi songs as u say will capture the hearts the more we listen .... thats RAHMAN magic ....

lyrics i shud say dont seem to be brilliant in all songs ... some seem to disappoint ... but probably they are what will suit the situation ....

so my comment : dont count they chicken before the grow .... becuase u may hav deaths even seconds after hatching .... so wait and watch !

but nice way to spring about a fresh wave of discussion :) ...

urs
ganesh

Manojh said...

thanks for that da ganesaa :)

vaaji, poovava and athiradee are my favourites too right now

N said...

yabba, ps la vetti garthuku eduthukaatu!
come on! ;)
btw - link panniten un blog address a
inimey maatha maata i hope!

Manojh said...

as of now maathardha illa...incase i do, a notice shall be served ;)