Category: Entertainment

Friday dose: Books and Music

One of the good things that the weekend train journeys in the evenings has given me is the opportunity to read books. Even though restarting the old habit of reading books was in some of my new year resolutions, it never worked (resolutions are made to be broken, you know! 🙂 ). But this time, it gives a lot of time to hear music and read books. So this year I have read the most number of books, compared to the recent past.

Title: Super Freakonomics
Publisher: Harper Collins
Price: Rs. 299 (in Flipkart)

Super Freakonomics

I usually would get turned off by anything that has the word “economics” in it. But sometimes back a couple of friends at work had told me that there is this super book called Freakonomics and it presents the fun side of economics and statistics. They did quote some stories from the book and it was so interesting. So when I got a chance last month, I bought this second version “Super Freakonomics” and I absolutely loved it! I never knew that economics could be fun and it could be used to draw some stunning statistics of life and we would be left wiser towards the end. Some of the chapter titles itself would add to your curiosity – “Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance?“, “What Do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo Have in Common?“, “Fix is in – and it’s Cheap and Simple” etc. The most interesting chapters are the ones about Global Warming and the study on our apathy and altruism. And there are other things that gives us some insight, like how TV (yeah, that thing we call idiot box) has made what the numerous plans and incentives by Government of India couldn’t make happen – Family planning! And there is a blow to the pride of Indian men too – that the reason that condoms do not work best here in India is that it was made as per WHO standards – in other words, it means, Indian men have smaller dicks compared to international standards. 🙂  The book, as the authors claim, is not written based on the emotions and sentiments but rather on data and statistics. You could argue that there are “Lies, Damned lies and Statistics“, but you cannot ignore the data they present at least from a learning perspective.

Album: Fitoor
Singer: Mohit Chauhan
Label: Universal Music

Mohit Chauhan - FitoorYou know what? I love this man’s voice, right from the days of Silk Route. And while I was mourning the absence of Silk Route came his voice in the movies. There is something magical and so soothing in his voice. I am talking about none other than Mohit Chauhan. Now comes his single debut album called Fitoor. And its totally rocking!

The team who worked behind the album consists of the former Silk Route drummer Kenny and the Parikrama guitarist Saurabh. The first track, Fitoor,  itself will take you completely on to it. The rock flavor of the song works out really well. The song Sajna has kind of a folk-rock feel. You would feel like you just gotten back to the good old days of Silk Route when you hear this song. Next one, Musafir, is a love ballad but I feel that music is over done in the background (it sounds so crowded). Would have been better with a less crowded arrangement. You cannot resist Mohit’s voice in this one anyways. Uff Yeh Nazara is a nice song particularly for the lead and bass guitars it used. Perhaps the most simple and soothing track of the album is Meri Tarah and with that mouth organ and accoustic guitar tones, it reminds you of the good old days of Silk Route. Mai Ni Meriye is a folk song with the Silk Route mark on it. Sway your heads along as you listen to this one. Or just fall asleep listening to this as this song is so soothing. Jeene De starts with that oh-so-you-wanted to hear voice of Mohit. He doesn’t cease to amaze you how he uses his voice to get you mesmerized.

To summarize, this album is very much worth of your money. Go ahead and buy it and if you loved Mohit’s voice in the films or if you have loved the band Silk Route, this album is a must have.

And here is the title track from the album:

R.I.P., M G Radhakrishnan

M G Radhakrishnan

It comes as a big shock to hear that the prominent music director Sri. M G Radhakrishnan sir has now gone to join the heavens. He left this world at around 1:45 PM today. He was 69 years old and was in the hospital. Needless to say, a big loss for those who love music.

I was fortunate to have been blessed by him, to spend some time with him and to sing for him once. It was all started when I posted my cover version of his song, Nilaavinte Neelabhasma, in my music blog. And when I saw the below comment in the name of MGR to that blog post, I thought it was some friends playing prank. The comment was:

I heard your song “Nilavinte Neelabhasma”. My daughter sent me this link. You have a nice voice and a good rendering. Bless you, my son.

He had also left his full address and phone number. So I thought I would call and see which friend was behind this. But to my surprise, MGR’s driver took the phone and later I could talk to Pappechi, his wife, and then to MGR himself. Later on, after I joined Envestnet, I went to meet MGR at his house in Trivandrum. He made me sing Nilaavinte Neelabhasma again, pointed out a couple of mistakes and said my voice would need more polishing to become a professional singer. He mentioned it doesn’t matter if you sing Varnams or Krithis or if you have learned music for x years. He said if you can sing the 7 swarams properly, that is more important and the daily practise of basic swarams is essential. He blessed me, said there were many great people who started with his blessings and later became famous in the field of music. He jokingly said that I would forget the whole meeting incident when I become famous.

I met him again after a couple of months in East Coast studios in Sasthamangalam. He had invited me to sing a track song for one of his music albums. I sang one track for G Venugopal, who was also present there to sing for the movie Pakal, which was composed by M G Radhakrishnan. There were some great people in the room then – poet Sugathakumari’s daughter Lakshmi, singer G Venugopal and lyricist late Gireesh Puthenchery. MGR introduced me to Gireesh Puthenchery and said, “my wife is his biggest fan“, which I consider as the greatest compliment I have ever received. I stood there spellbound, being in the presence of some great souls. MGR made me sing the song again in the presence of Gireesh Puthenchery. Puthenchery also shared some of the old memories, from the days he met M G Radhakrishnan first.

Believe it or not, I was thinking just yesterday that I should visit him and Pappechi because it has been a long time since I met them last time. And then comes this news…

My heart goes out to his family. Especially his wife Padmaja Radhakrishnan, whom we fondly call Pappechi and his daughter Karthika (who introduced my song to him). May God give them the strength to survive these difficult moments.

My cover versions of MGR songs:

Nilaavinte Neelabhasma (unplugged) – On which MGR commented
Nilaavinte Neelabhasma (with track)
Thira Nurayum
Poomukha vaathilkkal
Ambalappuzhe

My favorite songs from M G Radhakrishnan:

Palavattam Pookkaalam / Varuvaanillaarum (Manichithrathaazhu)
Oru murai vanthu paarthaayaa (Manichithrathaazhu)
Nilaavinte Neelabhasma (Agnidevan)
Oru Poovithalin (Agnidevan)
Ambalappuzhe (Advaitham)
Surya Kireedam (Devaasuram)
Thira Nurayum (Ananthabhadram)
Njaattuvela kiliye (Midhunam)
Ethra pookkaalamini (Raakkuyilin Raaga sadassil)
Poomukha vaathilkkal (Raakkuyilin Raaga sadassil)
Oru dalam maathram (Jaalakam)
Naadhaa nee varum
Mouname Nirayum Mouname

(Image courtesy: Mathrubhumi.com)

Notes & Neurons

Thanks to Arun, I could see this video from the World Science Festival on the topic of how people from different cultures respond differently to music. What I found interesting is that towards the end of Part 4 of the discussion, a scientist says that the developing fetus, by the age of 12 weeks, can hear sounds so just-born infants would already have months of exposure to music. A friend from Chennai told me that he had experimented with his first born and his son immediately responded to the song he was played to while he was still in his momma’s tummy. I think I am going to try that too. 🙂 Am not sure if it is a positive thing though, because I wouldn’t want my kid to end up liking a certain form of music rather than getting exposed to a wide variety of music.

Another odd thing I noted was that the Indian artists who played in the function were sitting idle when their team mate, a Cellist, was introduced to the audience whereas the Cellist applauded when both the Indian artists were introduced. Do we ever learn how to give and accept the appreciation?

Now, on to the videos. If you don’t want to watch it all, must watch are Part 3 and Part 4.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

——–

Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus

Is our response to music hard-wired or culturally determined? Is the reaction to rhythm and melody universal or influenced by environment? Join host John Schaefer, Jamshed Barucha, scientist Daniel Levitin, Professor Lawrence Parsons and musical artist Bobby McFerrin for live performances and cross cultural demonstrations to illustrate music’s note-worthy interaction with the brain and our emotions.

This event took place on June 12, 2009 in the Gerald Lynch Theater at the City University of New York.

Visit www.worldsciencefestival.com

Listen: Yanni – Voices

Yannis VoicesYanni – Voices

Disney Pearl Series
Published by Universal Music
2 Discs | Rs. 395

In my childhood, I used to believe that vocal music is supreme to the instrumentals and the instrumental music is there to provide a kind of background support for the vocals. As I grew up, I understood and felt that a voice, in the world of music, is just another instrument. There is nothing supreme to it, perhaps except one thing – that the instrument performs itself and the human touch to it (the voice) can evoke a lot of emotions. Perhaps that way the vocals stand out, but still a comparison is impossible as you can get elevated to a different plane when you listen to a musician playing a single key on a Piano at a certain note or a bow touches one particular base note on a Cello. One such moment of music can move you to tears or certain kind of joy that nothing else in this world can bring. That out of the world experience is what music can bring to you.

So why do I crib so much about it now? Because I recently bought and heard this new album from Yanni – Yanni – Voices. A musical album with some wonderful power-packed voices blending in with Yanni’s music. What more could you ask for? Yanni has worked with four young and new vocalists and made this album happen. The four vocalists are absolutely fantastic and you would enjoy each and every track. But for hardcore Yanni fans though, you would find the vocals to be distracting when you hear the familiar and popular Yanni tunes with the vocals. For example, when I heard the track “Mi Todo Eres Tu (Until the Last Moment)”, I wished of the vocals just faded away and the music alone remained. Other than that, it is a wonderful work and you have a bonus DVD along with footage of the singers performing with Yanni. There are 17 tracks totally in the audio CD featuring four singers – Nathan Pacheco, Leslie Mills, Chloe and Ender Thomas – and some singles from Yanni. Go and grab it now.

The story never ends…

Version 1: A father whose wife left him has to raise his kid by himself
Version 2: A mother whose husband was killed has to raise her kid by herself

Version 1: The father and son live in a rented apartment
Version 2: The mother and daughter live in a rented house

Version 1: Father is broke, without money and a job
Version 2: Mother is broke, without money and a job

Version 1: The dad skips paying rent each month and tries to escape the landlord
Version 2: Mom does the same.

Version 1: On returning one day, they find that their house has a new door-lock put by the landlord
Version 2: Same as above

Version 1: With the small luggage they have, the dad and son spend a day in the park and the night in a railway station.
Version 2: The mom and daughter do the same.

Version 1: When they try to spend a night in the railway station toilet, people knock on the door outside and the dad struggles to not let his son  know what is happening.
Version 2: When they try to take a bathe in the railway station toilet, people knock on the door outside and the mom struggles to not let the daughter know what is happening.

Version 1: The dad tries the best to make it seem like they are playing a game.
Version 2: Mom does the same.

Version 1: The dad’s last hope for money, a medical device, is being stolen.
Version 2: Mom’s last bills of money that she gets after selling the gold ornaments, is being stolen.

Version 1: Dad donates blood in a hospital for money.
Version 2: Mom does the same.

Version 1: The dad takes a cab drive, but has no money to pay, so asks the driver to drive even more, finally when the cab stops the parent runs away as he has no money to pay.
Version 2: Mom does the same, except that here it is an auto rickshaw, not a cab.

Version 1: The dad applies for an internship at a big-wig stock broking company and finally gets it which puts the end to their financial mysery.
Version 2: The mom completes her MBBS and gets a job in Kuwait which will put an end to their financial mysery.

By now, you all would have guessed it right that with version 1, I was referring to the 2006 movie “Pursuit of Happyness” which has an amazing performance by Will Smith that brought him an academy award nomination for the best performance in a lead role. Version 2 is a Malayalam movie that runs in packed houses across Kerala now. The movie name is “Kadha Thudarunnu” and is directed by the much celebrated director Sathyan Anthikkad.

Sathyan is talking to the media, in the TV etc, as if he’s just re-invented the Malayalam cinema whereas it seems to be just a copy of a beautiful Hollywood movie. He even lifted some of the story events scene-by-scene from the original movie, added a bit of his usual “social message” thingy, some Kerala touch here and there and made his movie. I think the writers of the Hollywood movie should sue Sathyan for millions of dollars so that it will teach a lesson to the copy-cats in our movie industry.

This is not a first time that pioneers (?) like Sreenivasan and Sathyan Anthikkad have been accused of plagiarism. But we have always ignored it, thinking how it is possible that the people of their stature and ‘calibre’ can do such a shameful thing. Only when the director combo Siddique Lal became massively popular and accused Sathyan Anthikkad for not giving them credits for the storyline of the movie “Naadodikkaattu” that we seriously gave it a thought. When numerous other people came out in open against Sathyan and Sreenivasan we did not give it a damn as those people were not known names. Siddique Lal was lucky that their talent got the deserving recognition so their words became credible to the public. What about the other unlucky souls?

When a good friend of mine emailed me about the parallel story line of both the movies, I brushed it away. I thought it is a generic response and kind of a popular trend these days to ‘investigate’ the original versions of a movie. But then I watched Kadha Thudarunnu on last Sunday and I was totally stunned. I don’t know what Sathyan was thinking. In the old days, this trick would have worked because very few people watched or had access to Hollywood movies but to do it in these days Sathyam Anthikkad must have had some guts. Or he is seriously insulting the Malayalees as a society that it doesn’t have exposure to cinema outside India. Whichever way it is, it is a crime and I wonder why nobody in the media is talking about it except for one or two TV channels.

PS: Another movie which is “written” by actor-writer Sreenivasan, has Mohan Lal in the lead and marks the entry of singer M G Sreekumar as a music director, has been ordered to stay its release by a court order. The movie was scheduled to release in the second week of May.

The stay was given, following a complaint from K Vijayan from Mukkam, accusing senior actor and scriptwriter Sreenivasan to have lifted his story and used the same for ‘Oru Naal Varum’. Vijayan says that he has met Sreeni once with this story who dismissed it as a naive one with no big comedies. Later Vijayan published the same in the title ‘Ee Kaliveedil Ninnu’ in a popular magazine. Sreenivasan was not available to respond of this new accusation. [via]

As usual, the tactic of both Sathyan Anthikkad and Sreenivasan to face these allegations is to say that “this doesn’t deserve a response” or “these people do it just for fame“(?). So much to our great, ‘creative‘ souls.

Radhika singing in Telugu films

Around the same time, back in 2008, I had the opportunity to introduce a wonderful singer to the music blogging world – Radhika Sethumadhavan. Radhika had then moved on to study music in A R Rahman’s school in Chennai. Now she has made her entry into the film music with two songs in the Telugu movie, Pappu.

Listen to the songs (Mellaga, Pappu) at Raaga and let her know what you think. You can also listen to her songs in her music blog – Radhika the Musician.