First of Mavericks
Published by Aakarsh under on Sunday, May 15, 2005
i just got the link to a site where the songs of the film "adhu oru kanaa kaalam" have been put up. ofcourse, this film is no famous one that i can quote it this way...so i better divulge few more details.few more?? infact, i can quote only 2 names associated with this film..which speak a lot. the film is the latest by Balu Mahendra and needless to say, the music is by Ilaiyaraaja.
Balu Mahendra, in my opinion,is one film-maker deserves much more fame/name on national level. i havent seen many of his films, but i would love to. he is one of the few film-makers of south-indian cinema who initiated the technical brilliance in films, although many attribute it to maniratnam. Balu mahendra is a very senior film-maker, much senior to maniratnam. when mani wanted to make his first film, the only cinematographer he could think of was balu mahendra as he already had high regard for him. though mani didnt have any experience in film-making, balu agreed to shoot his film because he liked the script. the film was "pallavi anupallavi". today he is an admirer of mani himself.technically, most of his shots are in natural sun-light.atleast the ones i saw were shot that way.he doesnt use colour filters glaringly and sometimes prefers dim-lights, if the scene demands so.even today i can pick out a balu mahendra-shot with as much ease, as i pick a maniratnam shot. he doesnt use colourful shots but very naturally looking ones.
starting out with a kannada film "kokila", starring kamal haasan, in 1976, he has directed over 16-18 films..all of which had different kind of themes and wonderful technical quality.still, he is one of the most under-rated film-makers of india.his malayalam film "olangal" had amol palekar in lead role. subsequent films had stars like mamootty, kamal haasan etc.,. apart from directing films, he has been the cinematographer for many films by other veteran directors like k.vishwanath and Bapu, during the eighties.the only telugu film he directed was "nireekshana" (aakaasam entaatidho). the wonderful aspect about his films is that he doesnt allow any star-baggage to associate with his films as he believes that a good film can be made even with 60lakhs. most of his films are low-budget ones.his filmography has interesting titles too, like "raman abdullah", "julie ganapathy" and "sathi leelavathy".
just a week ago, i have started collecting the songs from all the films he made. he is one film-maker who still prefers only Ilaiyaraaja. infact, the greatest tribute to ilaiyaraaja came from balu mahendra when he said "if ilaiyaraaja ever stops composing music..i would stop making films as well". if this quote makes you believe that he never worked with any other composer, then you are in for a shock. his first few films had music by the legendary Salil Chaudhary. isnt it interesting? what struck chord is the fact that there are many similarities in the composing-styles of Salil and ilaiyaraaja.(ilaiyaraaja was a guitarist to salil and salil had a fascination for western music).i have often observed Balu mahendra's fascination for western music, in the songs.strange links right!! there was a period in eighties when balu mahendra had one mandatory guitar-oriented song in every film of his. "minmini parvaighal" from Julie Ganapathy(2003) still reflects that. other songs are "en iniya pon nilave", "raaja raaja chozhan", "ilaya nilaa" etc.,. but apart from these songs who can forget songs like 'o vasantha raaja", "kannan vantha", "poongaatru","surmayi ankhiyon mein","paruvame" or the most recent "enakku piditha paadal".
having suffered one heart attack, he completed his latest film, with great difficulty because he still finds it tough to get/convince producers and distributors. directors today climb into stardom with just 1 film and lot of hype. but being a very non-compromising film-maker, today, this maverick doesnt have his own car. thats life.
while my balu mahendra-ilaiyaraaja collection is still expanding, i am yet to find the salil chaudhary compositions for his films..and ofcourse my current favourite ,"antha naal" from his latest film.the song shines.
Balu Mahendra, in my opinion,is one film-maker deserves much more fame/name on national level. i havent seen many of his films, but i would love to. he is one of the few film-makers of south-indian cinema who initiated the technical brilliance in films, although many attribute it to maniratnam. Balu mahendra is a very senior film-maker, much senior to maniratnam. when mani wanted to make his first film, the only cinematographer he could think of was balu mahendra as he already had high regard for him. though mani didnt have any experience in film-making, balu agreed to shoot his film because he liked the script. the film was "pallavi anupallavi". today he is an admirer of mani himself.technically, most of his shots are in natural sun-light.atleast the ones i saw were shot that way.he doesnt use colour filters glaringly and sometimes prefers dim-lights, if the scene demands so.even today i can pick out a balu mahendra-shot with as much ease, as i pick a maniratnam shot. he doesnt use colourful shots but very naturally looking ones.
starting out with a kannada film "kokila", starring kamal haasan, in 1976, he has directed over 16-18 films..all of which had different kind of themes and wonderful technical quality.still, he is one of the most under-rated film-makers of india.his malayalam film "olangal" had amol palekar in lead role. subsequent films had stars like mamootty, kamal haasan etc.,. apart from directing films, he has been the cinematographer for many films by other veteran directors like k.vishwanath and Bapu, during the eighties.the only telugu film he directed was "nireekshana" (aakaasam entaatidho). the wonderful aspect about his films is that he doesnt allow any star-baggage to associate with his films as he believes that a good film can be made even with 60lakhs. most of his films are low-budget ones.his filmography has interesting titles too, like "raman abdullah", "julie ganapathy" and "sathi leelavathy".
just a week ago, i have started collecting the songs from all the films he made. he is one film-maker who still prefers only Ilaiyaraaja. infact, the greatest tribute to ilaiyaraaja came from balu mahendra when he said "if ilaiyaraaja ever stops composing music..i would stop making films as well". if this quote makes you believe that he never worked with any other composer, then you are in for a shock. his first few films had music by the legendary Salil Chaudhary. isnt it interesting? what struck chord is the fact that there are many similarities in the composing-styles of Salil and ilaiyaraaja.(ilaiyaraaja was a guitarist to salil and salil had a fascination for western music).i have often observed Balu mahendra's fascination for western music, in the songs.strange links right!! there was a period in eighties when balu mahendra had one mandatory guitar-oriented song in every film of his. "minmini parvaighal" from Julie Ganapathy(2003) still reflects that. other songs are "en iniya pon nilave", "raaja raaja chozhan", "ilaya nilaa" etc.,. but apart from these songs who can forget songs like 'o vasantha raaja", "kannan vantha", "poongaatru","surmayi ankhiyon mein","paruvame" or the most recent "enakku piditha paadal".
having suffered one heart attack, he completed his latest film, with great difficulty because he still finds it tough to get/convince producers and distributors. directors today climb into stardom with just 1 film and lot of hype. but being a very non-compromising film-maker, today, this maverick doesnt have his own car. thats life.
while my balu mahendra-ilaiyaraaja collection is still expanding, i am yet to find the salil chaudhary compositions for his films..and ofcourse my current favourite ,"antha naal" from his latest film.the song shines.
1 comments:
Thanks for ur comment. But I always feel whatever I write is just above mediocre after a while. Some unknown complex.
Anyways, I dont know much about others but I thoroughly enjoyed Sathi leelavathi--in telugu of course, though ppl told me tamil version is much more funny. One song is I do remember from that movie is "Urvasi Urvasi, take it easy policy".. a smooth kaanada based composition.
Kedar.
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