Gaalipata vs Aa Dinagalu (Background score)

Thanks to a strange twist of events, I got to see Gaalipata (Kite) and Aa Dinagalu (Those Days) on two subsequent days. One is a lighthearted caper, the other a taut Godfather-like take on a 1980s gang war.

Something about the background scores... Gaalipata's (composer: V Harikrishna) comes across as too busy, and even noisy. The climax overdoes the song themes with the chorus, and scales melodramatic peaks. But Ilaiyaraja's score for Aa Dinagalu is a subdued contrast. It becomes just another hue in the dull watercolour atmosphere that director Chaitanya creates. You don't notice the background score even when a big orchestra plays along. The violins and the cellos create Monet-like smudges, and if you happen to prick your ears and pay attention during the final scenes, you just might relish the detail in the impressionistic abstraction.

Chaitanya takes you back to the Eastman colour era, and Ilaiyaraja's paintbrush smears gently enhance the period without drawing attention to themselves.

Ilaiyaraja is a master, and can sometimes afford to be self-effacing!