Foreplay [Of A Musical Kind]

I declare that the following songs have the best preludes/'opening' that have ever been composed in the known universe. Needless to say, the list here is only like the 'L' of the List. Please add to the list [worthy entries, please]. Be advised, however, that the first two spots are immutable ['iLamai idhO idhO' and Daylight, respectively].

iLamai idhO idhO [Sagala Kalaa Vallavan]

[Daylight]


nI pArtha pArvaikkoru [Hey Ram]

yennammA kaNNU [Mr.Bharath]

varudhu varudhu [Thoongadhey Thambi Thoongadhey]

aNNAthE AdurAr [Aboorva Sagodharargal]

pUmAlayE thOL sEravA [Pagal Nilavu]

sundari kaNNAl [Thalabadhi]

thendRal vandhu [Avadhaaram]

raghupathi rAgava [Hey Ram]

sendhUra pUvE [16 Vayadhinile]

vAnengum [Moondram Pirai]

kOdai kAla kAtrE [Panneer Pushpangal]

pUndhaLir Ada [PanneerPushpangal]

yElE nI yetti pO [Mumbai Xpress]

....
[Added by neyar viruppam]

Asai nUru vagai [Adutha Varisu]
maNiyE maNikkuyilE [Nadodi Thendral] - need to listen to it again to recollect
iLamaiyenum [Pagalil Or Iravu]
rAkkammA [Thalabadhi]

One Man (No)Show

Update: Due to some technical problems in blogger yesterday, i accidentally posted this piece thrice and i deleted the duplicate posts [rather hastily] . If they had any comments i'm sorry about that...
And Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar celebrated his birthday yesterday. Long Live The Lion!!!

Utterly disappointed. Next time you book tickets for a concert, demand the set list and see if you are fine with it. In the ocean of Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja's repertoire, all they could come up with was this?
If the pomp, ceremony and thunderous and glittering fireworks in Ilayaan's intro was a misleading precursor for the evening to unfold, as what followed was one big anti-climax. The compere Abaswaram Ramji reminded me of Suryan FM's panappaakkam sugumar. The lyricists invited on stage got booed out from the stage, and rightfully so. Lengthy uninspiring speeches only added up to the disappointment. The crowd was huge but a lot of them trickled out of the ground in the second half. We left when "En mana vaanil" [Kasi] was being played.
To sum up,
Me: Ithana naala thookkam varama kashta patta enna, ippadi ground-liye thoonga vechiruvainga pola irukku :(
My friend: Chumma irunga Bala. Ilayaan paattu edhuva irundhaalum kekkalaam. Nalla irukkum
Me: Naan illa ne sollaliye. Ilayaan paattu kandippa nalla thaan irukkum. Aana idam porul eval irukkulle? Indha madhiri thirandirukkum audience, adhuvum open ground na, tempo maintain pannanum. Indha paattu ellma naama veetliye kekkalame? 1000 ruba kuduthadhu idhukku thaana? Kelambuvom
kaathu varattum...

A_A

No, not Alwarpet Andavan, for a change.

Is A_A for you? Be honest with yourself and find out.

Prey And Play

en iniya thamizh puthANdu vAzhthukkaL!

kAnathavarAdhIrgaL!
nALai mAlai 4:30 maNikku Sun tholaikkAtchiyil,
vEttayAdu vilayAdu oli nAdA veliyIttu vizhA

Its a sad irony that instead of the movie being released tomorrow, the audio release function is being telecast. The program will rekindle memories of that day in Sathyam theatre - a day which Vijay and Vivek would never forget and also the day on which i lost my voice for 3 days

Thamizhar Thollai

Tamilians must have the dubious distinction of being the one of the most parochial group of people, especially when it comes to using the vernacular in the presence of those who don't understand the language. It may be argued that this happens in every state in India. While that may be true, we easily top the list. I have seen entire conference calls happening in Hindi and in one instance, my team lead in one of the companies i used to work for even started speaking to our British client in Hindi!
However, nothing can beat the utter disdain and nonchalance with which a Tamilian launches into his mother tongue in the presence of others hailing from other states, and even from other countires. Any Tamilian who has the decency and courtesy not to indulge in this will have his/her embarrassment compounded if he/she has lived in the North for sometime. While i vehemently and vocally oppose any condescension shown by others towards Tamils [or anyone for that matter], i bow my head in shame in times like these.

Suse

Why do people in their right mind make or have juice with sugar mixed in it? Not only is it utterly illogical [we might as well eat fruits with sugar], it also screws up the taste, not to mention the headache it sometime leaves behind.

Terror and Thanks

Real life follows reel life, and vice versa, a la Rang De Basanti. You have a group of people protesting non-violently, for a long ignored and just cause. The state machinery, headed by that eunuch Manmohan Singh, has crushed any peaceful means of protest in a manner and setting strikingly similar to what we saw in RDB. Sometimes, you just don't get justice even from the Supreme Court, for a cause that the state simply refuses to look at. The government holds talks with terrorists and yet treats non-violent protests with apathy first and then force, if required. We people, writing blogs from within the confines of our air-conditioned cubicles can debate on how best to curb and squash terrorism. Little do we realize or even acknowledge that there is a great deal of wrong being done against sections of people. Terror feeds and thrives on injustice and apathy.

There is an intriguing scene in Hey Ram where Kamal, Vasundhara Das and Atul Kulkarni engage in a conversation on the moral dilemma about a wolf hunting an infant. The scene concludes with Atul's haunting remark, "adhu oru OnAyA irundhA thAn puriyum". That line rings across luder than ever now.

Here is a surprising take on Islam and Islamists. Pleasantly surprising actually, as the author is a neocon.

And somebody thanks something :)

King Khan

Aamir Khan. I've always admired this actor. I concurred with his views. My respect just went up a few notches after reading this in BNB's blog

Excerpts:

The media’s defence is that it is catering to readership taste. Do you think that’s true or is there a disjunct?

You know the press has often asked me — and it often asks other filmmakers — why do you make junk? These absurd over-the-top films where you exploit action or sex? Why do filmmakers indulge in trashy films, so what if they cater to the base needs of certain sections of the audience but there should be some restraint shown. See filmmakers are still entertaining (laughs), the press has got a much more responsible job. Some restraint you have to show, boss. Yes, human beings have all kinds of needs. I can name another ten you can cater to — you want to do that? Are you a newspaper? Or stop calling yourself a newspaper. Stop calling yourself a news channel. Call yourself something else. There are all kinds of entertainment going around. You can certainly indulge in whatever kind of software you want to make. But if you are catering to the news needs of people then you call yourself a newspaper or news channel. If you are catering to other needs then don’t call yourself that. See, I feel media barons and top executives are just looking at short term benefits, and in the process they are destroying society. Our loved ones live in this society — parents, children — everyone will be affected by this selling-out.

So which papers and channels do you follow?

Tehelka, The Hindu, and The Indian Express. I’ve stopped all the others. There might be other publications that I’m not aware of — regional papers that I’ve not read — that are doing good work. But what I feel is, as a citizen of the country, in the one hour, or half hour of news that I watch in the evening, I would like to watch things that are socially and nationally important. And that it is given the right kind of time and reporting. As a good reporter you have to give it your energies to report that matter properly, to investigate it properly and bring it forward properly to the people. That time has to be spent in investigative journalism and in debating important issues. If I want to watch news about entertainment there should be a separate section or show for that. All people who want to watch whose dog is lost and whose cat is getting married (laughs) — here’s your — on your own newstime you can watch whatever you want to watch.

naRpaNi iyakkam - Why?

Click to enlarge