Dheere se jaana Bagiyan mein

Recently, i got to download a private song composed and sung by S.D.Burman. the song "Dheere se Jaana Bagiyan mein", was/is one of the rare songs, yet famous, in his illustrious career and this one, in particular, is from the early stage of his career.
There is nothing new to write about S.D.Burman's rendition as he was one of the most accomplished composer-singers in that era.For me, he was not only a great composer but also a great singer.he had a characteristic style of his own,..the nasal twang and unconventional gamakams.he had a typical Boat-man kind of voice..perfectly suitable for folk-baul kind of ballads.and his rendition was always flawless.Lata Mangeshkar herself mentioned many times that she(and other singers) always had tough time singing exactly like him and have given up many times.He sang many private songs , some of which are popular and most of them..lying in some cans today..somewhere..probably All India Radio.
Though this song "dheere se jaana" is a private song, it is very popular. the 1st time i heard this song was in "chalthi ka naam gaadi". in the song " paanch rupaiyya baarah anaa", kishore kumar suddenly breaks into "dheere se jaana" , imitating the characteristic style of SDB(the nasal twang and all). Incidentally, the music for chalthi ka naam gaadi was scored by SDB himself. isnt it strange that Kishore had the audacity to mock at SDB under the baton of SDB.well, only kishore had such liberty with SDB( as SDB was his godfather). Kishore Kumar idolised artists like Saigal, SDB, before coming into films and there are many songs in which he imitated them adding his own touch of humor."paanch rupaiyya" was one such brilliant composition by SDB.

years after, in 1973...same kishore kumar teamed up with SDB's son Rahul Dev Burman to recreate same punch, using same tune. and both of them dished out "dheere se jaana khatiyan mein" in the movie "chupa rustom". this time, Kishore Kumar sings it in his own style..the weighty voice reverbed...but the tribute to SDB was inevitable...the rendition of last line, in this version, is truly SDBurman-ish. S.D.Burman might have chuckled , listening to that.
but for me, getting the original version of this gem brought more joy. The rendition of S.D.Burman, in this song, as always, is par excellence.
try to get it, if you can...

Trailor of TBI

one mr.Karthik was fortunate enough to have got an invitation to a meeting in chennai, where a clipping of "thiruvasakam" by ilaiyaraaja was played. Infact, recently, a special meet was organised, to which all composers/singers in chennai were invited to taste the preview of TBI. It is very rare that you get to see all composers on single frame..especially like M.S.Vishwanathan, Ilaiyaraaja, A.R.Rahman , Kaarthikraaja and others. Everyone, i am told, was mesmerised and congratulated Ilaiyaraaja. anyways, read this on..

http://soonapaana.blogspot.com/2005/06/20-minutes-of-electric-shock.html

Spirit of Living

Coming up is one of my favourite songs from Dev Anand's "Humdono". this album had wonderful songs..and greatest aspect about the songs is that all songs are brilliant..musically and lyrically... One which reflects the Spirit of Living is :

Main Zindagi ka saath nibhaatha chalaa gayaa...
har fikr ko dhue mein udaathaa chalaa gaya..

barbaadiyon ka sor manaana fuzool tha..
barbaadiyon ka jashn manaatha chalaa gayaa..
har fikr ko dhue mein udaathaa chalaa gaya..

jo milgaya usiko muqaddar samajhliya..
jo khogaya tha usko bhulaathaa chalaa gayaa..
har fikr ko dhue mein udaathaa chalaa gaya..

gham aur khushi ke pharaq na mehsoos ho jahaan..
main dil ko us maqaam pe laathaa chalaa gayaa..
har fikr ko dhue mein udaathaa chalaa gaya..
Main Zindagi ka saath nibhaatha chalaa gayaa...

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look at the lines which say that he celebrates his own troubles/problems etc.,. his own definition or Nirvana in lines .."gham aur khushi ke pharaq na mehsoos ho jahaan.."..simply Awesome!!

Lyrics written by Sahir. Wonderfully composed by Jaidev and mohd.rafi's over-the-top rendition. lastly, clap for the man behind this song, Dev Anand, for he is the producer.
can anyone write/compose/sing a song like this today?

An Interview abt TBI

i think all this month, my blogs would feature only TBI..cant help it..just like to share..to keep the enthu on..

given below is an interview with Ilaiyaraaja.


When Shri Illayraaja soulfully sings "Nama shivaya Vazhga " ,thespiritual vibrations of it fills the whole house.When hefinishes singing and comes out of that state ,his eyes are moistedwith tears .

Says Ilayraaja " This Thiruvasagam project is a result of my intensedesire to do something for the youth generation.(Gives an example ) If you don't clean a house for days ,dust startsaccumulating ;If it is left as it is for four days ,then spiders anddirt starts accumulating ;Left unclean for a month ,rats and mousesettle there ;If its unattended for a year ,even if its a palace itwill be ruined !"(Having Known this fact) ,we haven't preserved our cultural treasureswe have for centuries together !Our precious cultural treasures havewithstood for centuries inspite of our ignorance and negligence -thatstheir power .Having known these facts ,we should keep our house clean .We should prevent our culture getting damaged by external infleunces and so called new-civilization inputs from the outside world.
Well ,i thought on these lines and Thiruvasagam project was born !"This project is a journey that continued for four years -But theactual work(composition ) was done in just 12 days .During those 12days ,i used to start writing music from 4 in the morning to 10:30 inthe night .The day on which i completed writing the score was the guruPoornima day of Manikka Vasagar ( who wrote thiruvasagam) -Thanks toGod ,thanks to his blessings !

Film Music ,Thiruvasagam music - which one gives you thesoulful satisfaction ?

Both appears to be the same .I have done Thiruvasagam kind ofmusic in films and vice versa.You perceive the difference .It appearsthe same for me .Like the breeze is the same everywhere

What attracted you to Thiruvasagam so much ?

As the snow melts and disappears when sunshine pours in , aman's lower form of ego ,selfishness flies away when he readsThiruvasagam.A person of the stature of Manikka Vasagar ,who hasrealized god and is always in union with god ,describes himself as aperson 'who is inferior to dog ' and he surrenders to god.When youread this in our wonderful tamizh language ,you are shaken by the humility and you are moved to tears -It will be surprising if one isnot attracted to this wonderful treasure!

How did you turn your mind towards god ,when your youth wasspent in Communist meetings ? ( as a musician )

I don't have to search anything now .Having known where is'God' .what is there to search now ?People search only those thingsthat they don't have !God has blessed me with its unique gift of musicto immerse in the 7 swaras of music and compose music for others ! Itis a blessing from god that i will be immersed in it and forgeteverything else!

How was the expereince of working with musicians of othercountries ?(like hungary ,US )

This is not the first time that iam working with them .Butthis project has one primary difference-thiruvasagam is atreasure that represents Indian culture -I have to make them feel theIndian culture in thiruvasagam and they have to work with me havingunderstood its importance and essence .Tamil Maiyaam decided that theywill use world class technicians for this project.The sound engineering was done by Five Time grammy award winner Mr.Richard Kingand the orchestra was conducted by world famous conductor Mr.LasloKovacs.He (Laso Kovacs) commented that i write notes in such a speedthat this ( speed of writing notes) will find a place in Guinnes bookof world records !I was concerned that they might play withoutunderstanding the beauty of this treaure(Thiruvasagam) .But ,everybodyperformed wonderfully .I was happy when they said " We never knew thatsuch a treasure exists in India

" How was the experience of working with a christian priest( Fr.Jegath Gasper ) for composing a symphony for hindu literature ?

This musical form which is used in this project is not of'symphony' type .This form is called 'Oratorio' .perhaps ,this is thefirst time in India that a musical piece of this form is coming.But weused a full fledged orchestra for this and hence they started calling this as symphony.I was involved in this projectfor the past five years .Well ,this project required good financial backup .And my nature did not allow me to sell this commercially .Somepeople approached me with some commercial gains in mind and hence the delay ( as i don't prefer that ) .Catholic Father has huge intrest in Tamizh Literature and devotionalrespect for Thiruvasagam. By chance ,i mentioned to him about this idea -Its divine play that who says what and who does what !After hewas ready to manage the project financially ,the one thought thatflashed in my mind " God is above all religions ' !

Do you have any plans to compose for any other tamizhliterature works ?

(Gives an example) Thiruvalluvar did not pre plan to writeThiru Kurral.It just happened naturally ,without any consciouseffort.This is how any good work will come .I don't carry a list of'to-do' items and then execute it.To be open ,this format of music (in which Thiruvasagam is composed) is new to you .When i first readThiruvasagam ,i did'nt read it literally -instead ,thiruvasagam versesappeared to me in a musical form that you are going to hear in this !

After you ,so many peopel from the current generation havecome to the cine music field !-What do you think about that ?

Its a good thing ! Whetever passion i have for music is frommy (music ) ancestors .With no conscious effort ,quite naturally ,myveins are filled with the music of Pavalar Vardha Rajan ( his latebrother ). I appear tall if i stand on the shoulders of myancestors.If they keep me down ,iam just as like anybody .Like anillayraaja came from Pavalar ,a Yuvan Shankar Raaja from Illayraaja !Illayaraaja's Thiruvasagam is going to get released in the 'MusicAcademy' on Jun 30 rd th .Raaja says that 'This is the penance of mylife .My dream '

And The Wait Continues

one mr.Ramya Kannan, a journalist...had the following post on his blog ( http://ramyablogs.blogspot.com/ ) :

I have long believed in the Schopenhaurian theory (my paraphrase) that it is only in the contemplation of true art is the self able to rise above itself/its ego.
And today, it was so true.
A sneak preview into the Thiruvasagam in Symphony (Oratorio) by Maestro Illayaraja elevates another dull day spent clearing cobwebs and scrubbing the carpet. Some thirty people were invited by Father Jegath Gasper Raj to listen to two compositions from the Symphony.One was a rather lengthy piece from the Oratorio, and the other, a composition that is less Classical Western, more to appeal to the common man.
As I listened to the rising and falling cadences of the Oratorio, my eyes closed, i could feel the skin of my hand, the back of my neck break out in goose pimples. Apart from that physical feeling of ecstacy, I hardly was conscious of my self. Schopenhauer?!I don't know.
Maybe it was Illayaraja.

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Way To Start Dada

all these days i have been posting stuff about music on my other blog..and i often write about music.so, had this idea of having a blog separately for music...

to start off : few interesting tit-bits about one of my favourite composers, dada burman..i mean..S.D.Burman(Sachin Dev Burman)

• Did you know that S D Burman was a disciple of Manna Dey's uncle K C Dey?
• Burman gave the highest place for vocals; the orchestra got secondary importance.
• He once took a song written like a ghazal and turned it into a club song.
• Dev Anand delayed 'Guide' by six months so that an ailing S D Burman could score the music.
• And ofcourse, S.D.Burman scored music for Guide in just 5 days.(it is a feat...isnt it? a classic album like Guide..in just 5 days..what kind of brain is that!!! )