World of Divine Music and Divine Acting..

T.M.Soundarajan recently said in a show:

‘He kept listening to ‘Neeyum naanum kanna..’(Gouravam) continuously for 4 - 5 times. When an assistant director asked him the reason, it seems he said ‘TMS has given so much of life to the song.Don’t I have to bring out those emotions when move my lips and act?’

That is Sivaji Ganesan for you..

Mind you, this happened in the year 1973 after 2 decades of his entry into cinema.
He set an example to all the artistes in film world with his dedication, devotion, discipline and eye for detail.

Today is the 82nd birthday of the legend.

I have written a lot about this genius -and the similarities between him and Raaja- on the 1st of 2009.Today, I shall narrate just one small incident before moving on to the rare gem.

During the shoot of ‘Mudhal Mariyathai’, there was one particular shot -of his tasting the ‘Fish kozhambu’- when the entire unit was stunned and even the EE Bharatiraja (EE-Ever Emotional) forgot to say ‘cut’ at the end of the shot. It seems Bharatiraja went to Sivaji, held his hands and started crying.

The relationship between ILaiyaraaja and Sivaji and the mutual admiration have also been narrated by me earlier in this Blog.

The Sivaji-Raaja combination has always been special and people who know my all time favourite song know the reason for my saying this.

Today’s rare gem is unique too.

It is unique because of the very unusual combination of singers-TMS and Shailaja.As far as I know, this is the only song in this combination.

The song is ‘Muththamizh Charame’ from Vetrikku Oruvan(1980).

I have said this many times.

I always wonder as to how Raaja conceives a tune, writes notes for the orchestra and arranges the instruments and all these in a matter of minutes.

The Hero is shy, reserved and docile in the first half of the movie.He expresses his love to the Heroine and (as usual) the song starts.

This is the situation. Or at least this is how the director would have explained it.

Now listen to the prelude.

The violins play crisply for some 15 seconds and then a funny sound to depict the ‘sober’ Hero.The sound continues and is joined by the violins this time playing very differently. It gathers further momentum with the piano like sound playing with harmonious precision. The tender flute joins the party and it is romance all over..

The melody packed Pallavi follows with the same romantic flavour.

The beginning of the first interlude gives a jazzy feel with the sharp piano sound and the exquisite trumpets. The violins then invite the diaphanous flute. It bends gracefully, twirls and echoes evocatively.

The prelude is rounded off with the ‘funny sound’.

The CharaNams are beautifully layered with the first two lines exuding soft radiance, the third line moving with verve and the following lines careening us gently.

The second interlude sees the romance between strings and the wind instruments.
The violins which by now have gathered momentum moves sprightly and the charming trumpets match their speed. In the second half, the tender saxophone moves with poise along with the violins.

There is a sudden deviation and we see the impeccably deep violins and a very different electronic instrument take us to an entirely new world.

A Brave new world of divine music and divine acting..