Month: June 2009

The WTF advertisements

The word “Soosoo” in the local Malayalam dialect refers to urinating and is used while talking to children. “Mone, do you need to soosoo now?”, you would hear parents asking their little ones. Or the kids drawing attention of their parents to tell them that they need to pass “Soosoo“. Anyways, I’m not writing about any toilet ads here but some ads that definitely needs to be flushed out.

The Zoozoo ads by Vodafone have become very popular and it has a huge fan following in You Tube. The ads filled the TV space and the fans praised it through their blogs and email forwards. The concept and character creation of the Zoozoo ads are totally cool and I very much liked it. However, I felt odd by watching some of their ads in the Zoozoo series. I actually felt bad by watching a particular ad. It is the one given below.

Such a violent ad! Agreed, that there is no blood or explicit gore, but didn’t they get any better script to point out that you can set a busy message in Vodafone? Towards the end you will watch it with an odd feeling while you hear one of the Zoozoos screaming out and the phone ringing. Reminds you of some kind of a horror movie! Did they really think that it is funny?

But the above mentioned Zoozoo ad is nothing compared to the “Sweet Bomb” ad of Cadbury Eclairs. After you enjoy the initial background music and the smiley faces in the ad, the heads of the people begin to explode! Yes, explode!! I don’t know about the others, but the explosion of the heads in the chocolate form actually terrified me. For a moment, I thought I was watching a movie like Hostel or something. It was so gory! Watch it below:

I just don’t understand what these ad agencies were thinking while scripting/conceptualizing these ads and I wonder if there is no one from the companies to check out the final form of an advertisement before it goes on TV. I mean, WTF!!!

Lohitha Das passes away

Lohitha Das, one of the best scriptwriters that Malayalam cinema ever had, died today in Kochi.  He belonged to a class of writers who found their raw material from the lives of ordinary people. Some of the best musicals in Malayalam cinema were penned by him, like “His Highness Abdullah” and “Bharatham“. Both Mammootty and Mohan Lal had some of their best characters in their acting career from Lohitha Das. He gave movies like Thaniyaavarthanam and Boothakannaadi to Mammootty and Kireedam and Bharatham to Mohan Lal. He introduced some of the best actresses in Malayalam – Manju Warrier, Meera Jasmin and Bhaama. Even though he enjoyed great success as a script-writer, his career as a director was not so bright. His last two directorial ventures had flopped in the box office. But he will be remembered for the characters and stories he had penned down in his life time.

RIP, Lohitha Das…

(Image sourced from Sify.com)

‘What More Can I Give?’

Like my friend Arun said in a comment to the previous blog post, Michael Jackson is a true musical legend in every sense. Be it song writing, arrangement, high-octave songs, the moves, the moonwalks, the charisma, the voice – he is truly a unique artist and remain unmatched.

I heard this song only today where Michael collaborated with some other great artists of our time, including my favorite singer Celine Dion. Check out the lyrics, enjoy the music.

Michael Jackson All Stars – What more can I give? (Lyrics below)

Billy Gillman: How many children will have to cry, before we do all we can?

Reba McEntire: If sending your love is all you can give

Nick Carter: To help one live Continue reading ‘What More Can I Give?’

My Top Favs from Michael Jackson

jackson

Here is a list of my top favorite songs from Michael Jackson. Just like his songs, the music videos are also superbly done. Click on the song names to watch the videos in You Tube.

Goodbye Michael Jackson

Goodbye and Thank You for your music. Thank you, ’cause you lit up the hopeless days of my teenage with the energy of music. Thank You, because you opened up a whole new world of music which was unknown to me until I discovered your music. With all of your oddities and imperfection as a human being, you are truly a musical legend and your music will travel through the times. Rest in Peace, the King of Pop…

Related post: Michael Jackson turns 50

Before the Rains – City & Village

The monsoon rains are now shying away from Kerala. The days and nights which used to be filled with the thunderous music of rains are still having the usual smoke and dust. And it is so refreshing when it rains after long intervals. Here are two photos that I took in the last week.

rain1

[Pic #1 : A view from the third floor of Envestnet, the organization that I work with, in Trivandrum, Kerala.]

rain2

[Pic #2 : A view from my bro-in-law’s property in a village in Thrissur, Kerala.]

Why do you listen to music?

About an year back, Josh asked me to write about what makes me sing or love music. I had never thought of it, really. What makes a person listen to music? There is no one particular reason, I believe.

I have seen people listening to music at the bus stands, at the railway stations etc. That reminds me of an advertisement for iPod – “when you do not wish to talk to strangers, plug in your iPod“. But that takes out the romanticism of music, but there are people who do just that. I have seen youngsters playing loud music at home, just to ignore the lectures of the parents. They just shut the door of their room and play the music aloud. Or the people who goes to clubs, to party. They want loud, techno, new age music, just to help them shake a leg. Different people have different reasons for listening to music.

I have had all these reasons to listen to music. But I also had those moments where I would just sit close to the windows of my house, just to listen to the music that came out of the neighbor’s house. Thus I heard the songs like MJ’s Beat It to Manjal Prasaadavum. Or Billy Joel to Pudamuri kalyaanam. I also had those moments when I would just plug in the Walkman earphones and sit in the veranda at night, watching the sprinkles of rain outside that was barely seen in the dim street lights. Those were the moments in which I fell in love with music.

Why do I listen to music? Because it soothes my soul. It takes off the anger, sadness and despair in me and says “come, let’s take a walk and everything will be fine“. And it works all the time.

Now, what is your reason?

PS: By the way, do check out Joshua’s website for updates on his movie project with Shyamaprasad – Ritu. He has written the story and screenplay of this much awaited new film from Shyamaprasad.

FM war – The best and worst slogans

You would get to hear the slogans of FM stations everywhere now, since the FM frenzy has caught up in Kerala. The major FM stations in Kerala are Club FM, Radio Mango, BIG FM, S FM, Best FM and Radio Mirchi. The slogans blast at you several times a day in these channels. Let us a have a look and see which of them is best and which is worst – in a descending order.

sFM

6) S FM – Kelkkoo, Kelkoo, Kettu Kondeyirikku
(Owned by: Sun Network)

The main problem with this slogan is that it’s too long. Too long for an FM station that has the shortest name in the market (S FM). And the word “Kelkkoo” repeats. It doesn’t stay in your mind.

bigFM

5) BIG FM – Kelkoo, Kelpikkoo, Life Kondaadu
(Owned by: AdLabs Films Ltd, subsidiary of Reliance group)

Again, it’s too long. It is also identical with the S FM slogan. You wouldn’t want to hear these two slogans repeatedly when you listen to these FM stations. Just that slogan would be enough to make the listener switch to a different radio station.

rmFM

4) Radio Mirchi – Sangathi Hot Aanu
(Owned by: Entertainment Network India Ltd)

It sounds hip and cool when you hear this slogan in English (“It’s Hot”), but the problem comes when you literally translate it to Malayalam. The word “Sangathi” with “Hot” may not go well with every one as it could be interpreted with a dual meaning.

mangoFM

3) Radio Mango – Naattilengum Paattaayi
(Owned by: Malayala Manorama)

It rhymes well (Naattu & Paattu), but the focus of the slogan is on music alone, while the FM radios are meant to be not just for music but also for fun and entertainment. In the local dialect, the Malayalam phrase “naattilengum paattaayi” refers to a fast spreading local news, mostly a gossip. Either way, I don’t think they got it right. But yes, it is a catchy line.

cFM

2) Club FM – Ton Kanakkinu Fun
(Owned by: Mathrubhumi)

It means “Tons of Fun” in English. It rhymes well and everytime I hear this, a box full of fun and entertainment comes to my mind, which itself makes me keep listening to this FM station. Goes to the second place in my rating.

bestFM

1) Best FM – Tringalaalaa…
(Owned by: Asianet)

This gets you straight to a holiday mood. It is short, precise, musical and relaxed. What more do you need to convey with an FM station? Goes to the first place in this rating.

(Coming up: FM stations in Kerala – The best Theme Music)

A Song for World Music Day

jimreevesI do not need a particular day for music, because I breathe and live with music everyday. Everyday is a music day for me. Music is my best stress-buster, music is my first love, music is my best friend and music is the way I connect to God. The world music day reminds me that music has no barrier of language or region or religion. Music is universal. And I think music lovers should open themselves to listen to all kinds of music to broaden their experience of music. Because there is no such thing called bad music. It is all related to how much a person can appreciate a certain form of music and it is some artists or bands who make the music sound bad.

Fellow music blogger and a good singer himself Mr. N V Krishnan suggested that I should sing some songs by Jim Reeves. He thought that it would suit me well, after he listened to my song Let Them Sleep. He suggested a few songs and I listened to one of the songs yesterday. I loved it, particularly the lyrics, and recorded it straight away. So here is my song for the world music day, dedicated to N V K. Special thanks to George for the karaoke track.

Song: I Won’t Forget You
Original Singer: Jim Reeves
Covered by: Joseph Thomas (Jo)

Download I Won’t Forget You by Jim Reeves (3.15 MB)

Lyrics:

I know that I won’t forget you
For I’ve loved you too much for too long
Though you don’t want me now, I’ll still love you
‘Til the breath in my body is gone

That’s how it is with me and you’ll always be
The only love I ever knew
I’ll forget many things in my lifetime
But my darling I won’t forget you

Jamendo – Free & Legally Downloadable Music


Jamendo is a website where you can stream and legally download independent music albums from various parts of the world. Just a quick look at their website will show you the music from USA, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Aregentina, France, Spain, Germany etc. You can download the entire songs in an album for free and it is legal. The music available is truly professional and released under Creative Commons license.  I think this is a revolutionary step in the field of independent music.

Go ahead, download or listen and enjoy. I just heard a couple of songs from “Oh My” by Sean Fournier and loved it!

(Thanks to Sabu for the info)