Saturday, November 7, 2009

How To Name It

Imagine a small kid, just running all around this huge beautiful mansion, coming across a room filled with all the chocolates and toys he could possibly ask for, accidentally! That is how I feel now, having come across this amazing piece of composition by Ilayaraja, all by chance! Although I have been a huge fan of Ilayaraja, I had never before set out to read his biography, or particularly look for his compositions. This is true for any music I have heard and loved. It has all been chance! And for the first time, I actually am regretting not looking for music. I came across the most heavenly piece of music composed by Ilayaraja for the album How to name it. Dedicated to Tyagaraja and Bach, it is the most compelling piece of music I have heard yet. Fusion at it's best, and way ahead of it's time.

Iddlyic. Bangalore weather. Smelling strong coffee beans. The smell of the ground after the first rains. The dew drops on leaves early morning. Sound perfect? This song is even more perfect than that, or so it seems to me!

Music captivates me easily. I am instantly hooked on to a good song. But this particular song, is, taking music to an entirely different level. A level where I am feeling so much that I do not think anybody will understand even if I do express it and I feel lost in translating this ecstacy into words. I wonder if any other person will actually feel the very same way I do about it or come close to understanding what I feel. But it doesn't matter, I am in bliss and Bliss shall be it!

Pallavi Anupallavi

If there has been one movie that I have wanted to watch, for years, this movie had to be it. The tune that I have loved even before IDEA Cellular used it and popularized it. The Bangalore I loved even before I was born. The movie that marked the debut of Mani Ratnam and Anil Kapoor. The movie that had music by Ilayaraja that stole my heart completely. The movie that I had tried long and hard to find, with no avail. The movie that I knew would take me to another place, without even having watched it. Pallavi Anupallavi.

It must have been the potent combination of Ilayaraja and Mani Ratnam, and the pride that Mani Ratnam made his first movie in Kannada, that I really wished to watch this movie. And when I did finish watching the movie earlier tonight, I felt content. I had no expectations nor do I offer to shred the movie into pieces and review it. All that I wanted was the viewing experience and I am glad I got that. An interesting plot. An uncomplicated era with it's own complications. Green, unpolluted, unpopulated Bangalore. Houses and roads and Lakeview and MG and LalBagh. Simple Love. Noble Deeds. Selflessness. Beautiful times. The 80's and the 90's. The India of those ages. Bangalore of those ages. Makes we want to relive that time once again!