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!

Chocolate hero's journalism lingo

MinchAgi neenu baralu (watch it here) is the latest hit on FM radio and TV channels.

It's from the movie Galipata (Kite), which features director Yogaraj Bhat and hero Ganesh. When they were completely unknown, they stunned the industry by delivering Kannada filmdom's biggest hit, MungAru MaLe (Monsoon Showers).

It is not often that I heed RJs' recommendations, but I really loved this track.

Jayant Kaikini's words break away from the standard movie vocabulary, and invoke images from journalism (the hero "subscribes" to his girl's dreams, and "reports" from her heart), and finance (he is a "debtor" because he steals poetry from her heart, and has become a "shareholder" in her memories).

The orchestral arrangement, built on a bossanova beat, is neat and uncluttered. Just listen to the lovely, understated '60s European-style violins. I gather the string section was played by V S Narasimhan and the amazingly versatile Madras String Quartet.

Was composer (P Harikrishna) inspired by the antara of the R D Burman hit Rim jhim gire sawan (from Manzil) when he composed the opening line of MinchAgi neenu baralu? Possible, and in any case, Sonu Nigam's singing style harks back to the "golden years" of Hindi film music, and to the whispery, romantic idiom developed by Mohamad Rafi. The other songs on the album didn't impress me as much, although they do experiment with orchestral colour.

MinchAgi neenu baralu also brings to mind Ganesh and Yogaraj Bhat's previous hit Anisutide yAko indu (Sonu Nigam). The acoustic guitars are foregrounded in both songs, and the words and the old-worldly melody paint a similar, dreamy landscape.

Hari has been around as a keyboardist for many years. He used to work for Ravichandran, a mindless but occasionally successful film maker, and sequence and arrange his tunes. For Galipata, he has turned out a trendy album that places him alongside Harris Jayaraj. In fact, Hari doffs his hat at the Tamil composer in some interludes.

If you watch the video, let me know if you catch how Ganesh picks up some of Rajesh Khanna's famous mannerisms (the circling wrist, the skyward nod...)

For those who don't understand Kannada, I attempt a translation of MinchAgi neenu baralu:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MG10RlcjXg

Minchaagi neenu baralu nintalliye malegaala
Bechchage nee jote iralu kootalliye chaligaala
Virahada bege sudalu edeyalli besigegaala
Innelli nanage uligaala...

Here's my translation:


When you come as lightning
it rains where I stand.

With you warmly by my side
it's winter where I sit.

When loneliness comes visiting
Summer scorches my heart.

Oh, how do I survive these seasons? (Pallavi)

I subscribe to your dreams.
Just wait, I'll come
pay up my subscription dues.

I report live from your heart
but the moment I see you,
I forget all my words.

Mind if I call you
the lute I want to play?

In any case, I'm a bit of a sinner! (Charana)


I borrow lines of poetry from your heart.
No wonder I'm a debtor.

I break in and take away your memories.
See, I'm a shareholder too.

I won't leave you in peace
Oh no, not so soon.

In any case, I am a bit of a thief! (Charana)