A proud moment for Tamils

The opening ceremony of the Olympics will showcase the rich traditions of the participating nations along with showcasing the best of the host nation.This has been an Olympic tradition for years .The 2012 London Olympic opening ceremony show has been named 'The isles of wonder ' .The world wide broadcast of the Olympic opening ceremony would start at 9 pm on 27th July 2012 .The artistic director for the 2012 London Olympics is the 'slum dog millionaire' fame Hollywood director Danny Boyle.An estimated cast of 15000 world class artists will participate in the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics.It is reported that music tracks of 86 medley songs are to be played in the opening ceremony on the London Olympics .Maestro Ilayaraja's composition  "Nan thaan unga appandaa " featured in an 80's Tamil film 'Ram Lakshman 'a Kamal Hassan movie, is also slated to be played in the medley .The song track has  been selected by Danny Boyle for playing in the opening ceremony.The opening ceremony is produced at a cost of £27 million .This is another honour for the great composer from Tamil Nadu . 

Tamils can be proud that the Chennai based band staccato has been selected to perform at the 2012 London Olympics .This band was started by Chennai students 8 years ago.One can be really proud that they were short listed from a 10,000 strong entry .They were selected after a 4 month screening process . They had to send their performance tapes.They are planning to play remixed numbers of Ilayaraaja and AR Rehman at the London Olympics by adding international flavour to it ,according to Vandana Suresh and Aishwarya Srinivasan of the band.They would also play the band's own compositions.They do not form part of the opening or closing ceremony performances .But they have been allotted two 80 minute slots for performance in the Olympic park.The authorities have selected only two bands from Asia .Staccato is the Indian band and the other band is from China 

One more Tamil would be performing at the London Olympics 2012. Mathanki Maya Arul Prakasam popularly known as MIA ,a Sri Lankan Tamil descent would also be in the playlist. She is the only artist in history to be nominated for an Academy Award, Grammy Award, Brit Award, Mercury Prize and Alternative Turner Prize, and the first artist of Asian descent to be nominated for an Academy and Grammy Award in the same year.Esquire magazine ranked M.I.A. on its list of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century in January 2010 and also in January 2010 Time magazine named her one of world's most influential people.

It is a great honor for these artists to be viewed and heard by billions of global audience at a magnificent event.




.

Globe trotter wins Golden globe-Jai Ho Rehman

Alla Rakka Rehman has won the best original music score award for Danny Boyles "Slumdog Millionaire"ARR celebrated his birthday just a week ago.Here comes another great award just two days prior to Tamil festival Pongal.ARR's song 'Jai ho' has secured him the award.The film has also bagged for him IPA's(Interational Press academy) satellite award for best music score.Gulzar is the lyricist of the award winning song.The film is about a Bombay slumdweller jamal who goes on to win a realty show prize money of Rs 20 million.The movie is directed by the British director Donny Boyle.The movie has bagged a host of other awards too like best film,best director , best editing and best cinematography from various other film critic forums..It is also named as one among the top 10 films of 2008 by the Associated Press and film journalists.It is worth remembering that some years ago TIME magazine described ARR as "The Mozart of Madras".Like all great musicians ARR was a child prodigy.He was a keyboard player in the troupe of another all time great Ilayaraaja at the age of 11.It is a matter of great pride for all of us that these two world renowned music geniuses are from India and have a Tamil descent.ARR's 'vande Mataram aand 'Jana gana Mana'are two great albums that speak volumes of his great patriotic fervour.Golden Globe is just another feather in the cap of this great musician from India.More glory awaits ARR in the years ahead.There are countless number of favourite filmi songs composed by ARR in Tamil and Hindi.In his younger days he has played along with other great musicians like zakkir Hussain,Kunnakudi Vathyanathan and L.Shankar on world tours.I reckon another great contribution by ARR to the world and in particularto India is his KM Music conservatory,his brain child to train aspiring musicians from all over the world in vocals,instruments,music technology and sound design at Chennai. The KM conservatory offers foundation,diploma level courses.

Ilayaraaja the invincible mastero

The other day I was listening to the old hits of Ilayaraaja from the late 70s to mid eighties. I was just trying to figure out ,what makes him different from many of his compatriots and stand out, as one of the greatest composers of our time. Why even the present day composers are no where near him? .They shine in patches,but whereas the mastero was a class apart and a great number of his songs were a runaway hit.

I feel most of his compositions conveyed the mood of the situation in the movie so aptly .That could be one of the reasons for his composition to become an instant hit . Whatever be the genre of the composition, it aptly conveyed the mood of the song and the film in general. Besides in Raaja's composition the interludes were so different and catchy in almost all his composition.The interludes were in perfect sync and harmony with the main song .Ilayaraaja is a master in interlude orchestrations. You will never find a noticeable jump anywhere in the song after the interlude. I think only geniuses of Ilayaraaja's calibre can do this.

Some of the compositions of the mastero which I like most

Paadariyen (sindhu bhairavi) is a master peice
Thuliyele ada vantha(chinna thambi) is simply marvelous.
Aracha chandanam (chinnathambi)
Raasathi unna kaanatha (vaidehi kaathirunthaal)
Indraikku en intha (vaidehi kaathirunthaal)
Mathura marukozhunthu ( Enga uuru paattukaaran)
Chinna mani kuyile (amman koil kizhakkaley)
Aayiram thamarai mottukkaley (Alaigal oyvathillai)
Kaana karunkuyile (poonthottakavalkaaaran)
Kalaivaaniye (Sindhu bhairavi)
Poomalai vaanki vantheen (sindhu bhairavi)
Chinna thaayaval (Dalapathy) ..... and the list is not exhaustive .

It is very difficult to list out all the hits of the great mastero.