Crown
Prince into tuning music
Asif Ali, the Crown
Prince of Arcot has decided to step into
the life of a music director. Having
worked for a Hindi movie, Ali is now
working for a Tamil film 'Shanmugha'.
Asif Ali has composed music for numbers
penned by lyricists Pa Vijay, Snekan,
Muthuvijay and film Director Yuvan himself.
Playback singers for the film include
Tipu, Srinivas, Anuradha Sriram, Srilekha
and Sai Sundar. The music is said to
be a mixture of Classical, Carnatic,
Western and Hindustani.
"Chevalier" award
for Balamuralikrishna
Dr
M Balamuralikrishna,veteran carnatic
musician has been selected for the "Chevalier" award
by the French government. He will be the
first Carnatic musician and second from South
India to get this honour after legendary
actor, the late "Sivaji" Ganesan.
The award is being conferred on him for his
distinguished contribution to the field of
arts and music.
Ilayaraja's
musical symphony 'Thiruvasakam' in April
Chennai,
Feb 12 : Music director Ilayaraja is
ready with the much-awaited "Thiruvasakam",
a symphony based on Manickavasagar's Tamil
verses, and would release it here on April
14, the Tamil new year's day.
The release will be followed
by launches in Tamil Nadu's Chidambaram,
Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur, Coimbatore,
Madurai, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil, Ilayaraja
told reporters.
He also announced launches
in the US, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland,
the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and
Singapore.
" Thiruvasakam" is
one of the most revered works in Tamil
literature.
The music director said his
aim was not to provide a new dimension
to the Tamil masterpiece or show off his
musical talent through the compositions.
" We have a responsibility
of telling the youth things in such a way
that they understand the greatness of literary
and religious masterpieces like 'Thiruvasakam,'" he
said.
" There will always
be people who will question why these verses
have been rendered in the album this way.
I am not trying to say that this is the
only way to sing them," said the music
director.
Ilayaraja
has sung six songs in the album. "You have to listen
to my voice, that is your fate," he
said amidst laughter.
Rev
Jegath Gaspar Raj of Tamil Maiyam, a
non-profit organisation
that has produced the album, said "Thiruvasakam" has
witnessed excellent performances by the
Budapest Symphony Orchestra in Hungary
(140 players), American playwright Stephen
Schwartz, five-time Grammy award-winning
sound engineer Richard King, and more than
200 musicians from Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore,
Thiruvananthapuram, Budapest and New York.
Some
good tracks in Vidyasagar's 'Ji'
Film: "Ji";
Music Director: Vidyasagar; Singers:
Udit Narayan, Sujatha,
Madhu Balakrishnan, Madhushree, Sreelekha
Parthasarathi, Shankar Sampoke and Kay Kay.
With
the forthcoming release of "Ji", Vidyasagar is making
a bid for a place among the big league
of Tamil Nadu's music directors. Ajit is
hoping for a hit with "Ji" after
his "Attahaasam" fared moderately.
And,
for that, he will require a little help
from the music of "Ji" -
help that was not forthcoming in "Attahaasam".
Will Vidyasagar provide the vital input?
The
first track, "Kiliye
Kiliye", sung by Udit Narayan and
Sujatha, is already a hot favourite on
Chennai's radio channels. The second track, "Ding
Dong" (sung by Madhu Balakrishnan
and Madhushree), is, however, eminently
forgettable.
The
next track, "Thiruttu
Rascal", is rather interesting with
Sreelekha Parthasarathi's sugary voice
chiding a thieving rascal. It is eminently
worth listening to.
The
next track by Karthik, "Sarala
Kondayil" is reminiscent of Malayalam
folk music.
The
first track on Side-B, "Yethanai
Yethanai", is melodious. Shankar Sampoke's
voice has a haunting lilt that adds to
the tune.
The
only other track in the album, "Vamba Velaikku",
sung by Kay Kay, is hum-able but not
in any
way memorable.
" Ji" is
by no means a must buy. It can be best
categorised
as a time-pass album
