On the other hand, favorite movies have a different criteria. Unless I like the actor and actress in the movie, I never even bother to look at the promos of the movie on TV, however good it is and how many ever people recommend me to watch it. A face that makes you feel happy is more important according to me, and the director, story and plot takes a next preferences.
The above tendency makes me meditate on a few songs and movies again and again till I get bored, or till I get a new favorite. This post is just to mention about few of such songs and movies that I enjoyed recently.
I watched just 4 movies ever since I left India, call it lack of time or interest. First one was Horton hears a who, that I watched on my way in flight. Horton was made familiar to me by Vinodh once during a chat and so i decided to watch it. It was a cool animation film with a cute and affectionate elephant as the central character.
Next was Office Space, recommended by Balaji. Its a movie made almost a decade ago but is very much inline with today's corporate scenario, especially in IT world. Should really appreciate the director's forethought.
Then I watched Billa just for the curiosity of what was there in it, that it was hyped so much by everyone. I totally disliked Rajinikanth's Billa and felt there is nothing worth to remake in it. But I was wrong, because this version of Billa was something more inline with today's genre of movies. It was different to watch Ajith with less dialogues and swear lines(which I feel he is very bad at) and Nayanthara was definitely lots better than a plumpy and bad looking Sripriya. There are lot of negatives about the film but it was a good time pass and the cameraman Nirav Shah and the stylists should be appreciated for packaging the movie very well.
Then finally, I watched Taare Zameen Par, a long time pending movie in my list. It was a very emotional and touching movie especially in the second half after Aamir Khan enters. As everyone who watched the movie said, I could not control my tears towards the end. That kid Darsheel has acted extremely well and realistic and deserves lots of awards for his performance. A unique movie in this age of Hindi movies full of sex, violence and horrible comedy.
Coming to new music that I heard in recent past, one album thats lingering in my mind always is Sakkarakatti. I never had any liking towards Rahman's Hindi albums hat had come in past 4-5 years so its exciting everytime a new album of Rahman is released in Tamil. Sakkarakatti is one album that is worth the excitement.
Taxi Taxi is a very peppy and youthful number that opens up with a bang. Lyrics by Muthukumar about friendship are very catchy. Benny Dayal shines in his western avtar and Blaaze's rap is simply cool. The excellent harmony(Viviane Chaix and Javed Ali) with the Latin(or Spanish?) style beats foils well with the song's flow. Inspite of a westernised number with rap, its very pleasing to the ears unlike the efforts on same lines by other music directors. A song that has already gotten into my list of infinite loop numbers :P
Marudhaani is what Rahman is best at. Melody with western beats. Yet another "Ma" series song Rahman-Vaali combo. The interludes by Rahman himself and the harmony are excellent. I wish Madhushree sings atleast a single song without errors, but everytime she gives Tamil words a hindi face. A Sadhana Sargam or Shreya Ghosal would have definitely a better job, but Madhushree is Rahman's constant choice. Inspite of all, this is an outstanding melody number from this album, that reminds us Rahman of the last decade.
I miss you has a different pattern of music like Thazhuvudhu Nazhuvudhu and Maaja Maaja, but this sounded to me a tonnes better than those two. Chinmayi's voice has a sweet innocence attached to it, which gives the song a special feel. The constant paced and simple beats throughout the song is too good and does not eat up the words.
Chinnamma Chilakamma is the tune of the song with same title from Meenaxi. I thoroughly enjoyed this song because I hated the original version by Sukhwinder singh. Benny Dayal is one of those few singers who pronounces words with prefection and does not eat them up in the name of singing. The clarity in his voice is amazing and his voice is as powerful as Sonu Nigam's in Hindi songs. He is a gifted singer for Tamil Cinema. Chinmayi does her part well, but don't know why she was made to sing like Sayanora Philip or Malgudi Shubha in parts? :) Lyrics by Pa.Vijay are pretty ordinary and shows clearly that they are written for the tune.
Elay is of the same genre Roobaroo from Rang De Basanti and has a similar pattern. It has a very pleasing effect when you hear it. The violin and guitar that plays all through is brilliant. Lyrics by Muthukumar is more of youthful imagination(and surprisingly not childish) and enjoyable. Krish and Naresh iyer do a brilliant job.
Naan Eppodhu is the same tune as Yeh Rishta from Meenaxi, sung by same Reena Bharadwaj. Reena has a beautiful voice but an awful Tamil diction. Same thing as said about choice of voices earlier. I wish she sings atleats a single line in the song without mistakes but not a single line till the end :( The dhol beat thats there throughout the song and lots of string instruments used give the song a divine feel. Pa Vijay's lyrics are simple and meaningful.
Overall, its a great experience for any Rahman fan to listen to this album. Full of youthful vibe... Now all that has to be seen is how well these great songs are shot on screen :)
On the other hand, listening to Sathyam was an ultimate boring experience and it is the worst album from Harris Jayaraj I have ever heard. There is not even a single song that I liked to hear once again. A very forgetful album! Same with the case of Jayam Kondan, Thenavettu and Kuselan. Saroja sounded good only for a couple of songs(Cheeky Cheeky and Dhosth Bada Dhosth).
