Nandhalaala – songs of a flute
When a thamizh film poster puts the name of the music director ahead of the director and says that the movie is a ‘journey with ILaiyaraja’ you dont generally take much of a not about it. However if the director is Mysskin who made the fabulous ‘Anjaadhe’ last year and the movie is inspired by the japanese classic ‘Kikujiro’ – you make sure that you listen to all the songs and I was glad that I did that!!!
Mella Oorndhu oorndhu – by Na.Muthukumar
Ilaiyaraaja sings this song – which is a very soft song that reminds one of the ‘Sundhari vandhaalaam’ from Azhagi. The song is a soft melody that eases into your hearts making you wonder if the ears got them fully – like a knife that cuts through butter. The interludes are driven by Guitars and light piano sounds and backed by chorus vocals that are sweet and soothing. Just play this song in your walkman.. oops iPod and take a walk in ooty or kodai kaanal – if you cant find ooty, just close your eyes – you will see it in this song.
Thaalaattu Kaetka naanum – by Muththulingam
A heart tugging pathos song sung by the maestro himself in the same vein as he did in ‘Sethu’ and countless films from 80s. The voice is so emotional that you can feel the bhaava every time he sings ‘amma’ (mother). The lullaby about a soul with no mother to sing one to him cannot be more apt – simplicity at its best minimalism in its grandest form
Kai Veesi – by Pazhani Bharathi
Celebration of nature continues in this melody that has been richly sung by madhu Balakrishnan, Vijay Yesudas and suwedha. The lyrics are simple visual depiction of nature’s beauty – no frills and pretension here – No 5th floor metaphors and idioms – just plain and still poetic stuff that school kids also can relate to. The music is so simple yet so rich. The flute appears and disappears into the soft embraces of guitar and honey dripped violins that sing a song of simple joy as if they were asked to only express themselves as opposed to play a sequence of notes.
Oru vaandu kootame – by Kabilan
A song sung by a group of children and the maestro is so melodiously composed that you never knew when you fell for it and it is already the first charanam. The lyrics are celebration of ones childhood – the freedom of human mind that is not bound by responsibilities and untainted by opinions. The violins (specially the shaky ones in the second interlude) are delight and a welcome return of the maestro to ‘Real’ violins after a long time!!! The playful tone of the 65+ maestro’s rendition is another delight – watch out for him singing in a fast pace in the charanam’s finish. The supporting rhythm’s are thankfully underplayed and enhance the melody overall.
Elile – Gypsy song – by anonymous.
Rocking stuff of the album – sung by a real gypsy (narikkoravar) sung in their own language that is a blend of hindi, urdu, Rajasthani and some thamizh – this song is something that resonates at your chest with a primitive vibration that you can place exactly anywhere and relate to anything that you have heard before. The thumping rhythm and the voice give a haunting feel that one has not had from listening to a film album in a long time. Tusen Taks (Thousand Thanks) to Mysskin and team for having recorded this awesome number and boldly inserting it into a commercial film album
Onnukkonnu thunayirukkum – by Mu.Mehta
This one takes the cake, cherry and the candle – not just the album – but of all the albums I have heard last two years!! Right along with ‘Kanne Kalaimaane’ (Sur Mai Akhiyon mein for hindi fans). Another instance where the heart stops beating the moment Padmashree K.J.Yeshudas’s voice starts. The lyrics are worthy of ‘Golden Frame’.
Why should be love the orphan in the world where every life has a pair and support?
Are the temples and churches in the world not the symbols of human love?
God did not send anyone as orphans into this world as no one was not born without a mother!
So why should Love be an orphan?
Who is going to Love Love?
Such meaningful words are still simple and heart rending and maestro delights us by setting it to a tune that is so simple and of a ‘heart melter’ variety that when this song finishes – I felt as if I was in the warm embrace of a loving mother. Music can evoke feelings – but can it transcend its spectral boundaries and soothe your soul? Some experts will say no – but for the believers – there is always Nandhalaala – the player of the primordial flute – who has breathed through Ilaiyaraja in 2009!! There is no better way to start the Ilaiyaraja pilgrimage of 2009 than with this album!!!!
Tags: Dr.K.J.Yesudhas. K.J.Yesudas, Ilayaraja, Illaiyaraaja, Mysskin, Na.Muthukumar, Nandhalala, Raaja, Tamil film, Thamizh cinema
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Jaiganesh: I heard only three songs. I liked Thaalaattu. Did not care for the other two. But after reading your article, I think that I have missed something. Will listen to the songs 3-4 times and back to this blog. Thanks for the article.
Hi Jai,
Nice review. I love this album. Have you heard ‘Manikandan Geeta Mala’ yet? I think there are atleast three songs in that album, “Katre Katre”, “Udambellam Oru romanjanam” and “Iyyappan Bhakatrgal Ellam” which are on par with what Raja has done in Nandalala.
S.Suresh
Raja sir is a genius. Unfortunately all the songs apparently do not feature in the film. I heard only 2 feature completely.
The film is reportedly a rip off of Beat Takeshi Kitano’s gem, “Kikujiro”.
Kikujiro was great because the kid was superb. So far, in recent times, one simply hasnt seen a child artiste in tamil cinema who has even remotely been close to a good performer. Let’s hope Mysskin has succeeded in finding a solid young talent.
Jaiganesh: Listened again. I stand corrected. Lovely songs. They grow on you. I loved Oru Vandukootame, Thallattu, Kai veesi. Is the Gypsy number composed by Raja?
Anand,
From what I heard the gypsy number is not by Raja. It is by Saroja Ammal. I think she is the one singing it.
S.Suresh
Generally Raja’s songs require only one hearing to make their impact felt. however in this ’sound’ saturated environment – genuine melodies need some time and opportunity to make their presence felt.
The album is a delightful throwback to late 80’s and early nineties when Thamizh and Malayalam music directors were churning out one melody after another that was very very simple in construction with lyrics that were not meant to impress the listener – just to convey what happens on the screen.
The music of this album is very visual the lyrics are very simple and yet poignant. I wish atleast one such album gets released every month. Now we can look ahead to what Gulzar and Raaja have done in SRK.
Jaiganesh:”Now we can look ahead to what Gulzar and Raaja have done in SRK.” – Can you tell me more about this? I am not aware buddy.
SRK is a new Vinay Pathak movie which is a remake of Sreenivasan’s Chintha vishishtya shamalan and produced by Warner Bros. The movie has songs penned by Gulzar and music by Raaja. The movie is directed by Ajoy verma.
Jaiganesh: Thanks.
jai, how about a write up on Naan Kadavul, man. I know it will only be Anand, me and other die-hard looking at it but if people like Anurag’s attention can be brought to it, will be good…
I have written one post on NaanKadavul -but on the music – I am iternalising the impact of Nan Kadavul before writing it. the more time I spend with ‘Oru Katril’ and ‘Shivoham’ I am at loss of words. Simply genius!