Telugu-thanam - 2

For starters, I'm glad that I get a chance to write another post with a title I used way back in 2009. Rather, it looks like I'm bringing an extension (or should I rather call it a sequel?) of the title with this one; and I hope I'd have to do it more often than not, in which case I plan to convert this as a separate label on my blog. For readers who do not understand Telugu, here's what the title says out loud - "Being Telugu". As this blog of mine essentially started out as a platform for throwing the spotlight on a few good songs that lie around us but are typically overlooked, the basic premise of this title was to throw a similar spotlight on such music in the Telugu music and film industry (particularly, the popular parts of the industry), where the focus has been to find songs that actually have profound Telugu literature and lyrics in them. I should probably rightly say, 'stumble upon', than 'find' as the chances of finding a well written Telugu song these days is poorer than finding drink-able water in the river 'Musi' in the midst of Hyderabad!

Well, the track in question, "Choosthunna", came out a couple of years ago, in 2011 to be precise, and I've been trying to write this post ever since I first heard it (Yes, I'm 'THAT' lazy at blogging). Its part of the soundtrack composed by Babu Shankar for the film "Mogudu", directed by one of the more impactful directors in the Telugu Cinema scene, Krishna Vamsi. I shall not talk about the 'impact' the movie actually had on its characters (pun intended), let alone the audiences. I digress here, and shall indulge myself with the song.

I can say two things primarily. One, no one can clearly and sufficiently summarize the importance marriage has for Indians, and of course, the Telugu people. The value it commands, the beauty it holds and just the sheer amount of excitement and change it brings to the average Indian life is astounding. Take that and two, make the venerable Sirivennela Seetaramasastry pen words for a song on that. The recipe is alluring enough already! (as alluring as Pulihora (Tamarind Rice) on a festive morning). Word on the street in the industry is if you have a hefty topic to make an allegory on, and you've Seetaramasastry writing the song, the composer is in for a difficult day at the studio!

Thankfully in this case, Shankar carries it off with elegance as he infuses intense melody for the vocal tracks with very subtle instrumentals. The percussion base doesn't tread the traditional Tabla line, with those much exploited tempos and rather maintains a slightly funky electronic-techno note and a faster tempo, with a slight riff on the Tabla playing along constantly. A humble thrum of a guitar keeps company somewhere at the back, but violin takes precedence and majorly has its own duet with the vocals through the song. I absolutely love the way, the violin notes don't exactly follow the same tune as the vocals, but have their own intensity which complements the vocals; which Karthik (the by-default singer for a good song in Telugu these days?) renders with his nonchalant efficiency.

I would probably need a couple or more Ph.Ds in Telugu literature before I can fully be able to comment on the way Seetaramasastry writes. However, what catches my attention is the way this song talks more about how the groom's beginning to feel about the bride and his marriage (which is probably demanded by the film's script), than just generally line up accolades to the process of wedding itself. That lends a more human touch to the entire song, in a way where the groom says that he is just submerged with wonder and curiosity, for the bride and what she's bringing into his life. The words that say that he's finding himself, or a new reflection of his in the bride just drive the point home. The, there are the stanzas, one, talking about the panache she has in the way she's decked up for the wedding and the second, talking about what he would do with her in his life. Each line has a strong motif to a classic element of the Telugu culture, yet figuratively, all these motifs delicately apply themselves back to our average lives. All this talk just makes me go back to school and sit in one of my Telugu classes. (And I'm so glad I got a shot at learning the language academically, while I could).

I'll leave you, fellow language enthusiasts, music lovers and Telugu folks, on that note with a suggestion to go check out the song when you can and if possible, dig up and read the lyrics. I'm sure it'll leave you a smile on the face no less. Meanwhile, I'm off to the usual ranting on the pathetic state of Telugu cinema, its music and literature, with the meager hope of reviving and writing a sequel to this title again! 

Blog-ette #2: Of a diluted purist and a style quotient: Trivikram Srinivas and Pawan Kalyan...

            This is about two people (out of five) from the Telugu film fraternity who happen to be the only folks to have stirred my deepest instincts for cinema. The two in question would be director Trivikram Srinivas and actor Pawan Kalyan. The other three are actors Prakaash Raaj, Mahesh Babu and Brahmanandam. I must mention, there's no particular order in which I list them here, for I marked each of them for their respective talents and subtleties. I'd deliberately timed this post with that of the release of another venture in the partnership of  Trivikram and Pawan, "Atharintiki Daaredi", which like much of Pawan's earlier work is garnering a 'confluence of extremities'-'love-hate' response from people who've watched it and bothered to review - they outright choose to be on either of the banks and not in the middle. Reviews, comments and a rigorous critique - I leave out of the scope of this post and would like to conveniently walk down memory lane with the works of Trivikram and Pawan, to mark the occasion per se. 

              I remember being a 'Star Movies-HBO' kid in high school, consistently hating Indian Cinema for not being Hollywood, and then watching "Athadu". This one movie made me completely banish my fondled hatred for Telugu Cinema, stand up and take notice, of an emerging set of actors, film makers and technicians that could really make a difference. Trivikram's screenplay and dialogue for the flick were terrific, Mahesh's action an absolute coming-of-age act and the movie in totality, a riot to watch. Upon later viewings I began to appreciate the dynamism of Guhan's cinematography, some of the motifs Trivikram has cleverly snuck in, and how Manisharma's music deftly complements the mood in every scene. The scene where Nandu jumps on the train is skillfully ripped off from the English movie, "U.S.Marshals",  and yet, the one where Nandu enters a dead Parthu's house and later confesses his love for Puri are absolute scorchers in originality. Repeat viewings meant I was sealed a fan of Trivikram. That meant revisiting some older flicks which he wrote scripts and screenplays for ("Manmadhudu", "Nuvve Nuvve") and enjoying them to the core. I disliked "Jalsa" initially, only to go back and watch it, and appreciate the so many fine details he has explicitly sprinkled all over that script.  Then came "Khaleja", a movie I avow is probably, his finest, most heartfelt work and is probably among the few movies that a Telugu film maker and his crew have made with the utmost passion for staying true to spirit, undeterred by hindrances. All of this culminated in me, booking the tickets for the first day's show to "Julayi", and dragging a sick( I mean, ill, actually!) and cursing cousin along to the show. Might I say, I was having goosebumps in the way the movie unfolded right till the moment the blatant "Dark Knight" rip off started! The scene in which Kota Srinivas Rao's character discusses the robbery plan with Sonu Sood's gang marks polished and classy film making. Then the rip offs, flimsy editing and wanton commercialism ditch sensibility and Trivikram's charm for banality and boredom. I was very disappointed. Trivikram has always been a beta version of Mani Ratnam, a filmmaker who stood by traditional Indian Cinema conventionalities (songs, 'commercial' elements that woo audiences, etc) and yet tried his hand in infusing originality with each and every element of the film. With "Julaayi", I was worried that given "Khaleja"s rejection by the audiences, if he has finally bitten the Box-Office bug(?)

             For generations of cinema goers, other than what it usually is, cinema also meant one thing. A gateway to a dreamy world of fashion, style, exotic locations, mean machines, colors one has never seen, graphics one has seldom imagined - briefly, production design that wows. I'd say Indian Cinema has fared decently on this front moving from one stage to the other via salient transitional points - actors who gracefully brought in new styles, directors with vision, etc. The primary thing I'd always liked about Pawan Kalyan was that he has been one such salient point, not once, but consistently through his career. Way before the current crop of actors woke up to the glamour of cinema and that needed for it, and before older actors realized the need for extensive makeovers, Pawan was changing the scene, credit probably going to some or the other extent to the plethora of technicians working on his projects. What's notable is how effortlessly he does that. GAP hoodies, custom made trousers and shirts, rap songs and hip hop, college hangouts, Harleys, Ninjas, RD350s and KTMs, funky character names, fashionable home environs, the works. Naturally, the industry and other actors followed suit, but none fit into these moulds as smoothly as he did. He even went ahead and directed a flick, "Johnny", one which I much like and would place among the finest Telugu flicks ever. More on that, plus talk about his other movies to be followed in another post. 

              For now, I'm just holding mixed emotions - of hope, anxiety, curiosity for "Atharintiki Daredi" and all the future works of these two focal points of the Telugu film industry. Rumour has it, they plan to partner in on a production house that can nurture new talent. Wonder what wonders that can churn out!

Blog-ette #1 : Of the sands, seas and screenplays!

                Ardent followers of alternative Tamizh cinema (one which is thankfully on the rise), would agree with me on the fact that there's been an inclination towards the sea and stories related to it among movie makers in recent times. There was the hugely anticipated 'Kadal', a Mani Ratnam film that came after a significant gap from the highly revered director. Before that, there was this much appreciated effort called 'Neer Paravai' which further upped the ante on the new strident independent film scene in India. And quite recently, there was 'Maryan', a piece of work from the ace music video director Bharat Bala, who erstwhile gave us pseudo-anthems like A.R.Rahman's 'Vande Mataram' which got hooked onto our TV screens for the better part of a decade or two.
                Now having earlier seen 'Kadal' and falling head over heels for the many subtle nuances of it (which to my disappointment, a majority of the cinema audiences and even enthusiasts ignored), I got down to watching 'Maryan' with much curiosity over what this incredible talented director would bring to the table, coupled as he was with A.R.Rahman for the music (more on the album later) and Marc Koninckx (credited for several International projects, Bertolucci's infamous Stealing Beauty being one of them) for the visuals on the project. I must confess, through out the length of 'Maryan', I couldn't help but constantly have the feeling that this was a poorly written script. Now before I get cried foul at, I would say I'm definitely one from the school that believes a movie is more about what it does to a script than about the script itself. And on that ground, this movie scores high. It collaborates immensely with the euphoric soundtrack Rahman gave it on the music videos and the musical interludes scattered all over the film and the cinematography empathizes rightly with the emotions in the scenes, closing up on faces when its needed to, staying back when the atmosphere around the characters needs more attention. There's good potential with the subject too, basing itself on what is a true story. The people who've been through this must have had a terrible time, considering the fact that an ordinary fisherman's life is no less dramatic. However, everything that's happening with the film felt it was put there to just let it happen, not giving time for the characters to actually live through the scene, feel the dialogue and then say it, and sing, dance, make love, or even cry by living through the moment and not because that's what is expected of them to do. This is where the screenplay faltered in my sense, not taking the liberty to explore something real and gritty and just ticking off points on a checklist. There could have been huge 'drama' in the way a guy and a girl fall in love, enjoy courtship, the guy loses a friend, makes harsh decisions with life, gets trapped in a far off world and struggles hard to get back home. And the subtle moments of all of these scenarios have been skipped. Add to this the flimsy editing which just jumps from scene to scene and stackpiles them rather than creating a cherishable pace.

                   It did get better for me as the story progressed, with the scene with cheetahs (certainly a premonition for Maryan) being a nice touch (but which did feel a bit hurried again) and the one where Panimalar cries and consistently bangs her head against the wall, with her dad sitting next to her, absolutely helpless. The latter one shows true horrific grief, one almost suicidal. That's the kind of scripting prowess that this film demanded in many moments and didnt really get. Dare I say, it does show a certain inexperience on Bharat Bala's part with respect to scripting, screenplays and editing and that a full scale drama requires just more depth added to the audacity of a dazzling music video. (I've not seen his previous films and hence, I'm open to question on this statement though, lest I decree something inordinate). What this film made me, was it kept me going back to the finer details of 'Kadal's screenplay (what with all its flaws carried on by being cut-short) , the way young Thomas meets Father Sam and cries out into the tape recorder, how Sam plays this later to Bea when she meets him for the first time with Thomas, and I could go on listing. It probably only shows just how much more work has been put into that screenplay.

                 Talking of OSTs, notice how through the thick and thin, 'Maryan''s music sounds to be sort of a more raw-ish and unplugged version of that of 'Kadal''s (reflected boldly in the differences and similarities between 'Nenjukulle' and 'Innum Konjam Neram'.) Ironically, I felt Kadal was more of an unplugged film in its entirety and Maryan having a more 'conventional' feel. I so wish these movies actually released on a Director's cut, with all the left over bits from the editing room, when they come to the DVD stores!

Blog-ette Diaries

Okay, for those of you entirely bemused with the title and the bizarre word that I've coined in there, I've taken this going after the so called -ettes- that habit our world, kitchenette, scooterette, snippet, the likes. So, as the title suggests, this is a mini (or maybe, micro even) blog post. Something to fill in the humongous gaps on the timeline between my otherwise exploratory (and exhaustive) muses on cinema and music.  And I'm hoping to keep these quite frequent - random yet good weighted thoughts that come along as I wade through the depths of music and cinema. Hope these keep you stimulated (or at the least, entertained!). Read along....and of course, do scribble a few words underneath. 

How the Telugu Film Industry can make you rich?

“Eureka!” I screamed as I hit upon this novel idea. A little effort by the right parties in question and the Telugu Film Industry can become the absolute specimen of a business model that can never fail. Telugu Cinema can see itself reach new monetary heights, break bigger records (a thing it seems to have a huge penchant for, so much so that every cinema-maker in his most moderate worth is claiming to have broken a record, even if that record was relevant only to the street he lived on!) and fans of Telugu Cinema can rejoice on seeing their favorite stars and “surprise”, their bank accounts ascend their stardom! Yes, dear audiences of TFI (that fond acronym we have given to the Telugu Film Industry), your beloved film industry can make you rich!

This is how it could go. And it’s actually quite simple. Every last purveyor of quality cinema has given up hopes on the TFI to be making good, adventurous and above all, new cinema;. Good, as that kills the demand for it. Also, the TFI itself has finally figured out the right schematics to churn out spectacularly run-of-the-mill and preposterously identical ‘formula’ films that have what it takes to be launched in thousands of theatres, be watched by lakhs of fans and garner crores in terms of money. So much so that all it takes for the TFI is to take the same mediocre plotpoints & screenplay (heck in some cases even most of the technicians remain the same) and change the leading faces of either gender on the film poster and Voila, you’ve a new blockbuster. Its almost like the bundles of Maruti Altos being spewed off  the factories in Gurgaon everyday only to be swept off the showroom floors within hours, except only the Alto is a good car to reckon with. If these schematics make you think on the lines of a good stock to invest in that’ll never let you down at the nifty, my dear friend, you’re very very close to my idea.

There’s a nascent theme doing the rounds on the independent film circuit in Hollywood and elsewhere. Its called Crowd Sourcing and it involves letting people invest in percentages into a film that one is going to make. The entire budget for the film (which isn’t usually huge, since most of these projects are Indie efforts) is pooled in from investors who’re usually anybody from a hardcore film enthusiast to a layman interested in a profitable business venture. Based on however the film does on the commercial scene, the revenues are shared back with the investors. Now, take this concept and overlay it onto the present TFI scenario with all the formulaic sure-shot blockbusters juxtaposed with a little tinkering in the form of basic stock market economics.  What if a certain portion of the financial liability (say 50%) that goes into making one of these Telugu films is split into stocks and sold off to potential investors through a public issue. Prospective investors (okay, fans of the stars in the flick, and every other crazy movie lover, the kind which isn’t exactly rare in TFI) would buy these stocks as it suits them and this money shall then go into producing the flick along with the usual production budgets. Advantage: Puffed up budgets leading to more grandiosity in the so called ‘formulae‘ that contribute to these flicks’ success. As these flicks are going to be inflating the box-offices anyways, the revenues are going to be multifold of the initial production budget. Now putting basic stock marketing sense into the picture, every stock holder gets back a percentage wise share of the film’s revenues pertaining to what he bought the stocks for. Presto! There you have a profit!

All we need is to set up an organization that handles stocks of films in production and the crowd sourcing and profit sharing activities. Given the sheer number of people involved in the film making business and the rate at which this number manifests itself by the day, this isn’t a very daunting task. Secondly, this idea works in more ways than one can imagine. For one, writer-directors can finally let go of the myth that they are actually working on Cinema and realize for good that they’re just working cogs of a business mechanism, given the entire profit making hoopla that shall fill the air. Also, our stars can finally renounce any pretense of working for cinema and happily call themselves businessmen. Cinema goers who have braved the consequences of Telugu cinema’s banality can finally justify the worth of the typical exorbitant multiplex ticket by buying stocks in the films that they’d planned to watch. At a more advanced stage in this concept, stocks can be classified into departmental stocks, say, acting, music, special effects etc. So based on the number of stocks and the rates at which they go out, audiences can themselves decide if they want four actresses against their favorite star in the next flick or exactly which law of physics they’re expecting their star to defy. Filmmakers can safely ditch their publicity budgets as the stockholders shall make sure they drag themselves and their entire family trees to watch the movies. Stockholders can form a rapid action team to contribute profusely to the hapless anti-piracy movement currently active. Fan clubs can have access to special stock prices, stock holders can have free passes to audio release functions and free tickets to first day ‘benefit’ shows. Heck, the stock holders can be exempted from paying entertainment tax.  Bless me, see how novel and noble my idea gets as I unfold it!

Thence I propose! “Crowd-sourced stock-marketed Telugu Cinema” or in short "The Tollywood Mutual Fund" – a plan that’s gonna herald a new era for Telugu Cinema; and in doing so, shall actually benefit the worn out community that the TFI audience is, by making them rich!