Malayalam Film Music

Topic suggested by Rajaraman on Wed Jan 13 02:23:08 .


To discuss about MFM.

I'll start this off by reviewing 3 of the most famous albums..

His Highness Abdullah:(MD: Ravindran)

pramadavanam (KJY) - an excellent light song (jog based)
deva sabathalam (KJY,Sreekumar;KJY,Ravindran) - a ragamalika jugalbandi; kind of a competition song.
naadha roopini (Sreekumar) - national award winning song, based on Kanada.
Sreekumar does beautiful jet-speed swaras.
gopika vasantham (KJY,Chitra) - another beautiful duet song (shanmugapriya)
tu badi (KJY) - light hindi song with Kafi shades

Bharatham:(MD: Ravindran)

gopaangane (KJY,Chitra) - light nattai song
Rama katha (KJY) - Great piece by KJY. Set to subhapantuvarali. (I think KJY won national award for the whole album.)
raghuvamsapathe (KJY) - pure classical shankaranaranam with alap,swaras,thani.
srivinaayagam (KJY,Ravindran) - nice hamsadhwani classical song
? (BMK,KJY) - a kind of 'music teaching' song. Starts off in Mayamalava gowla and goes into a ragamalika.

Sargam:(MD: Bombay Ravi)

raagasuthaa rasa (KJY,Chitra) - tyagaraja keerthana nicely done filmy style.
kannaadi aadhyamaayi (Chitra) - good light song in mohanam.
sangeethame (KJY) - saramathi based one.
Andolanam (KJY,Chitra) - melodius duet.
Bhooloka Vaikunda.. (KJY) - KJY sings with lot of modulation in voice, unusually.
krishna krupa saagaram (KJY)
pravahame... (KJY)

I haven't heard this album much, so others please elaborate.

Review of Kudumbasamedham by Bharat, from a different thread.

----
1. En tharo Mahanubhavulu.. (Not a full song just this line only.. In film hero,ManojKJayan starts this as first line during his arangetram)
2. Parthasarathim Bhavaye.. Classical; hero's arangetram song..
3. Kamalambike Rakshamam.. : Semi-classical; Hero sings in one Katcheri
4. Pahimam Sree Rajarajeshwari.... CLassical; Ragam : Janaranjani; Srividya teaches children; Hero joins the song midway;
5. Neela Raavil innu ninte....Melodious song;Ragam : Shree; Hero consoles the sad heroine;
The picturisation of this song is too good.. Hero & heroine walk through the sandy riverbank in a moonlit background;
6. Oonjal urangi hindola ragam.. Pathos song; Hero in a pining mood having been forced to detach from the family;
7. Gokulam thannil.. Song not in film; This song is set in the mould of Kaikottikali song(This
is a Keralite art form which is usually performed during Onam time by ladies..)

Hope I haven't missed any.. Why I call this a landmark musical is that this film revived the semi-classical melody trend again; The two songs and Oonjal urangi.. standout best in this class; Also judicious usage of classical songs have been done because the two classicals are simpler to hear & experience rather than the normal difficult ones..

This director, Jayaraj, also became addicted to the music syndrome(as Sibymalayil) and produced two more films of the same genre but as usual the others failed to impact as this one;
But these films were also carnatic music-oriented and definitely good to hear; The two films are:
Paithrukam
Sopanam

Can discuss it later..

BS

Rajaram

Can you please explain to me how typical malayalam film songs are set.

Aruvi,
I didn't clearly understand your Q: 'set'??

First of all, I have listened to only a few of the albums. From what I have observed, MFM gives lot of importance to melody. The songs are predominantly classical music based. (There are of course, a few movies with only commercial songs but they didn't became great hits, I think.)

This is just IMHO :))

Oh! Sorry Rajaram! I thought you were well acqainted with the industry. I wonder if Thomas still visits this site. I think he is a malayalee. Maybe he can give us some info. I was just wondering about the history of MFM and the people who dominate it.

Mr.Rajaraman:
This is an excellent thread for discussing good malayalam film music for usual TFM lovers.I have a fairly good collection of semi and light classical m.film songs.If you e-mail me I can send some copies.This includes films of 60s and 70s too.
Recent films with vitage music include:
Surya gayathri-excellent film about a Palghat Brahmin family with Mohanlal,Urvasi and Major Sunderrajan as the former's father.Half the dialogue is in Palghat Brahmin tamil.Music by Ravindran is excellent especially the main song set to Abhogi.
Manichitra thazhukal too has great music with one tamil song in Kunthalavarali.
Ramamurthy

Mr. Ramamurthy,
Yes, I have also heard 'Manichitra thaalu' songs. The Kuntalavarali song is 'Oru murai vanthu paarthaayaa' right? The theme song of this movie (kind of pathos) I think is in Asaveri. I don't recall the first line.

Can you do a detailed review of Surya Gayatri? Pl do share your experiences about the oldies too. I know only a very few like Chemmeen, Thulabaraam (malayalam version).

Abhogi reminds me of another new song (in the same raga) in Shalini's next movie after Kaathalukku Mariyaathai (Mallu version). In tamil it came out as Nilave unakkaaga.

Rajaraman:

Thank you for starting this thread. I hope to contribute "regularly", depending on the availability of time! I am working on a brief history of MFM. I am a little hesitant due to the fact that I have been away from India for a long time, and because my resources in North America (in terms of Indian music) are very limited.

Anyway, I will start with the films PAITHRUKAM and SOPAANAM, both directed by Jayaraj (both listed in your earlier posting).

The songs in PAITHRUKAM were written by KAITHAPRAM and the music was by S.P. Venkatesh. The songs were all good. They were:

Neelaanjana poo........ Chitra
Vaalkkannezhuthiya..... KJY
Sivam Sivadagana....... KJY
Seethaa Kalyaana....... KJY
Swayamvaramaay......... KJY, Minmini (Minnie Joseph)


SOPAANAM, in comparison had mostly the traditional classics. KJY won his 7th national award for songs in this movie. (RR: You are right. KJY won his 6th national award for BHARATHAM). Lyrics for three of the songs were written by KAITHAPRAM, and the music was again by S.P. Venkatesh. Here is the list:

Thaara noopuram chaarththi......KJY, Manju

Soga sugaa mrudanga thaalamu...(Sri Ranjini Raaga, Roopaka Thaala-Thyagaraja- KJY, Chitra, Manju)

Aaraadhya manu mohanaa...(Raagamaaliga, Adi-Kaithapram-KJY, Poornachandra Rao)

Paavana guru pavana puraa...(Hamsanandhini,Roopaka-Lalithadaasar-KJY, T.N. Seshagopal)

Srutha kamalaa kucha (Ashtapadi)...(Mohanam,Adi-Jayadevar-KJY)

Saroja dala nethri...(Sankarabharanam,Adi-Shyama Saasthrigal-KJY)

Saadhimchanei oh manasaa...(Aarabhi,Adi-Thyagaraja-KJY, T.N. Seshagopal, Chitra, Manju)

Pon meghamei...(Chitra)

Vedhanudharathei (Slogam)...(KJY)

Ksheera saagara...(Devagandhari, Adi-Thyagaraja-KJY)

Deva deva...(Mayamalavagoula, Roopaka-Swaathi Thirunaal-T.N. Seshagopal, Manoj)

Nagumomu kalaivaani...(Madhyamavathi,Adi-Thyagaraja-Mano)

I am sure that you will find this a valuable addition to your collection.

Thanks for the info GV. Expecting more such contributions from people like you...

i think 'oru murai vandu paarthayo' is the best tamil love song i've ever heard & it ends up in a Mal film.who wrote this song as my cd & cass of this film as well as 'Thenmaavin kombathu'(every song a classic) have never been returned by mates.can some one also please post the lyrics to that song in 'Kireedam'(the best Indian film ever made?) as I can't understand it & I keep reading that it's a great lyrical masterpiece. I don't expect anyone to translate the song into english but did I hear someone volunteering to translate it...thanks in advance.

Raju:

The lyrics for "Oru murai vandhu paarththaayo...."
was written by none other than Kavignar Vali. The music for the song was by M.G. Radhakrishnan, who is the brother of singer M.G. Srikumar. The background music for the movie (MANICHITHRA THAAZHU) was by Johnson, who is a national award winning MD (for KUDUMBA SAMEDHAM). BTW, it is not unusual in Malayalam movies to have one MD doing the songs and another one doing the BGM.

Typo: Kavignar Vaali (of course!)

I will briefly discuss songs from the movie SWAATHI THIRUNAAL. The album is a great collection of Swaathi Thirunaal compositions, the only exception being "Mokshamu galadaa puvilo...." by Sri Thyagaraja. The singers include Balamurali Krishna, KJY, SPB, Neyyatinkara Vasudevan, Chitra and Aundhathi. MD for the movie was M.B. Srinivasan.

Here are the songs:

Pannakendra sayanaa.... (Balamurali Krishna, KJY & Neyyatinkara Vasudevan)

Alar sara parithaapam....(KJY & Anuradhi)

Mokshamu galadaa puvilo....(Balamurali Krishna)

Parama purusha Jagadeeswara....(KJY & Neyyatinkara Vasudevan)

Sumasaayaka viduraa....(Arundhathi)

Paarvathee naayakaa paahimaam....(KJY & Chitra)

Saarasa mukha sarasi janaabhaa....(KJY)

Geethaku mithu thaga dheem (thillaanaa)....(Ambilikkuttan)

Maamavaa sadaa jananee....(Neyyatinkara)

Devanukei pathi indraa....(SPB)

Krupayaa paalaya souree....(KJY)

Jamunaa kinaarei pyaarei....(Balamurali Krishna)

Kosalendra maadhavaamithaa....(Neyyatinkara)

Chaliyei kunjanu mo thum....(Chitra)

GV,
I have listened to 'param purusha'. N.Vasudevan's rendering and the mridangist (don't know who) have done an excellent job in this song.

BTW there is a song that goes like 'kanagaangi' (KJY in the raga kanagaangi itself). Can you tell me which film is this song from?

why is only carnatic film music being discussed here? there's much much more to malayalam film music, if anyone's interested, especially the music of that genius, Johnson.

cram,
this thread is of course not restricted to semi-classical albums. your contributions are welcome

thanks RR,
i was in doubt.
back later

let's talk mal music, and not just the semi-classical variety.
unlike in tamil cinema, discussing mal albums is difficult, simply because it's not often that u find a (post-80s) film with more than 3 songs, and some of the best songs i have heard are in films that have just 2-3 numbers, or even less.
i would like to take up the album, "NakhakshathangaL", meaning fingernail-prints, for discussion.
starring vineeth, monisha (i think both debuted in this one), thilakan and jayachandran (the singer) in a delicious cameo, the film is directed by hariharan, one of the finest talents we have seen. the script is by MT (Vasudevan Nair), music by Ravi (Bombay) and lyrics by ONV Kurup. The filom won the best actress award for monisha, who is sadly not amidst us.

the songs are:

manjaL prasaadhavum - chitra
neeraaduvaan - yesudas
aareyum - "
kEvalam - jayachandran
vreeLa - " (a poem recital)

the film is a beautiful love story, told in the simplest manner possible and peopled by some unforgettable characters. the picturisation is par excellence, as is every other aspect of the film.
grab the album (its usually available in combination with panchagni and kaathOdu kaathOram, which we can discuss later), and if u can, grab a video as well. you will fall in love with it straightaway and be hooked for life.

cram:

Chitra won her second national award for "Manjal prasaadhavum.....", which is a simple, but pleasant song.

Wow! I never knew so many people participating in this forum knew malayalam. Makes me wonder if there are many Malayalees in Toronto. Unfortunately I don't know Malayalam and can't contribute much to this thread. But I have been a daily silent spectator. There was this joke about me actually trying to learn Malayalam about when I was fourteen. But I couldn't because it had to be all self taught. I still remember how to write some of the alphabets though. The biggest problem I had was that I didn't know if I should pronounce words as said in tamil or some other way. Because when you hear people talk in Malayalam in movies, they sound different, although in english, it looks very similar to tamil.

GV
you say 'manjal prasadvam' is a simple pleasant song that she won a national award for. I have always thought that to win a national award, the song had to have some kind of strong carnatic or hindustani base. Is this song as such?

aruvi:

The difficulty for Malayalees in pronouncing Tamil words, and for Tamils to pronounce Malayalam words "properly" is because of the fact that there is a large number of common words written the same way, but pronounced differently in each language. In Malayalam, almost every sound has a specific letter for it. For example, the Tamil letter "ka" has 4 variations in Malayalam, ka, kha, ga, gha. This continues for "tha", "pa", "cha", and on and on and on. More than half of all words in a typical TFM song could mean the same thing in Malayalam, but are pronounced differently. This is one reason why KJY and other singers from Kerala may have an occasional "difficulty" with some Tamil words.

Talking about national awards, it is true that a lot of national awards were given to music and songs based of classical music. But this is not always true. Of the 7 national awards that KJY has won, I don't think there were more than 2 that were really classical based. Malayalam Film Music, unlike the Tamil field, is still very much melody based. This, of course, means that karnatic music is still a major influence. However, I think it is the melody that is the deciding factor.

Another big difference between TFM and MFM is the depth of the relatively small MFM field. There are 10 or more very talented MDs at any given time in MFM. Many of them are national award winners and are well known for their skills. This is true with actors, directors and singers too. Because of this, a discussion like who is better, (for example, MSV, IR or ARR?), will never be possible in MFM.

I hope that I have answered your questions without boring you too much with my long posting!

RR:

At this time, I can't remember the song "Kanagaangi...". I have a basement full of audio and video cassettes, but my MFM collection is not much organized (yet). If I am successful in locating the song, I will let you know.

GV,
thanks in advance.

Re your comment MFM is still melody-based, I heard Vidyasagar has become a great attraction in MFM lately with many rhythm-based numbers. I'm not sure about this. Any idea?

Aruvi & GV, on my first day in kerala as a backpacker I walked into a music shop & asked for any 5 cass of the owners choice bc I didn't know any and that song 'Manjal prasadavum'wason it.The other songs in that film r also classics & the film I believe won awards galore. ^ years later I now read & write Malayalam as well as tamil(I learnt from watching movies). If u know tamil Mal is not as hard as it might sound. I can easily pronounce those sounds u never knew existed in your mouth. Onnu sramitchu nokku. Malayala bhasha padikkyan atthram kashtam onnum alla.

Well done, raju. It may not be that hard , if one tries hard enough. The difficulty is mostly with the finer points of the sound. For example, the sound (letter) "di" in the word padikkyan (in your posting) is very hard to write in most other languages. It is not di, ddi, dhi, dti, ti, tdi, tti, or thi. BTW, all these sounds have letters in Malayalam. Similarly, "..kkaam" may come closer than "kkyam".

I was just trying to elaborate on the difficulties. Your effort and achievement in mastering the language are admirable.

RR, and others: Sorry for the digression.

GV
Thanks for the info. I wasn't bored at all. No need to think like that. Raju, congrats on your achievement. Basically, my problem was that I was using an english-malayalam learn in 30 days book. And honestly, when you look at the words in english, it relates too much to tamil.

Well, to everyone else, sorry for digressing from the topic of this thread.

To all Malayalam Film Music Fans:

For one of the most comprehensive collections of Malayalam songs, please visit:
http://members.tripod.com/~moideen/index-13.html

gv
kalakki saarE. ini discusseyyaan aduththa album allengil paattu EthaaNaavO? (naNbargaLe, malayalathila pEsi koncha naaLaachchu, athu thaan. mannikka vEndugirEn)

another album i would like to discuss is "Isabella", a beautiful film starring Balachandra Menon and Sumalatha. i am not sure about the music composer, but i think it is ouseppachchan. the film depicts the search for true, unconditional love of a rich man, whose relations keep hounding him for money, and who finally finds it in a female guide in Ooty. do they live happily ever after? veLLiththiraiyil, allathu ungaL veettu VCR-il kaaNungaL.

the songs are:
isabella - KJY, a superb solo with some lovely lyrics (vasantha pushpam polE, oru dhurantha geetham polE...)
mangalya yaamam - another lovely sole by KJY.
nEram mangiya nEram - don't know the voice, think its KJY
there's another song, a solo by S Janaki,but i can't recollect the lines. GV, pls help.

My favorite 80's early 90's songs includes:

'Daisy'
1.Raapadi Nee...Chithra (wow! this song is an example of Chithra's clarity at high pitches, which has been debated over and over in the TFM discussion)
2.Thenmazhayo Poomazhayo.....Yesudas
3.Laalanam .....Yesudas

'Vaisali'
1.Indraneelimayoram.....Chithra

i forget the other songs, someone help me out here, a very nice album!

'Dhwani'
Yesudas is absolutely genius on this soundtrack by Naushad.
1.Rathisughasaaramayi Devi.....Yesudas
2.Maanasanilayil....Yesudas
3.Anuraagalola Raathri....Yesudas, P.Suseela

'Kakothikaavile Apoopan Thaadikal'
1.Kannanthumbi Poraamo? ...Chithra (one of my all time favorite songs!)
2.Thaanechithalerum Kolangal....M.Vasudevan, Chithra
3.Yaya Yaya....Chithra

'Mazhavil Kaavadi'
1.'Thangathoni Thenmalayoram' ....Chithra (a masterpiece of melody by Johnson)

ok....gotta run

Thomas: DHWANI, with music by the legendary Naushad is a great album. The songs stand out for their simple, but elegant melody and tone. There is no heavy orchestration or loud interludes. The overall effect is that it fits the 70-s and early 80-s MFM style, but with the very special Naushad touch. Lyrics are by Yousuf Ali Kecheri.

Here is a complete list of the songs:

Maanasa nilayil ponnoalanal....(KJY)

Raamaa, Raamaa, Jaanakee Jaanei....(KJY)

Anuraaga lola gaathree....(KJY & P. Susheela)

Oru raaga maala korththu saghee....(KJY)

Aan kiliyei thaen kiliyei....(KJY)

Maanasa nilayil ponnoalangal....(KJY-repeat)

Raamaa, Raamaa, Jaanakee Jaanei....(P. Susheela)

Rathi sugha saaramaayi Devi nin mey....(KJY)

DHWANI songs are available on RealAudio at:

http://hail.icestorm.net/binod/malsongs1.html

I also love the songs of Dwani, esp.' AAN kiliye song. Prem Nasirs last film & still not a hit.
I do try and listen to some old songs & love 'Kaadaru masam, naadaru maasam, from 7 rathrikal. I'd love to see these old films. Also love 'Kadanathin kaatrillengo, karimuka dweeepilengo', don't know what film.

cram:

This is a late response to your questions!

The music director for ISABELLA was Johnson and the lyrics were by ONV. "Neram mangiya neram...." was sung by KJY. The solo by S. Janaki was "Thalir munthiri vallikkudilil....".

GV,
thanks for the clarification. watched Padmarajan's Koodevide recently, an absolutely amazing debut by Johnson. Padmarajan had this great ear for music, can we discuss the music of his films?

cram:

I have seen most of Padmarajan's movies, but a long time ago. Without seeing then again, it will be difficult for me to participate in a discussion about the movies or the music. I will do my best, time permitting!

read about zakir hussain's new venture for shaji karun's film vanaprastham, about a kathakali artist.
http://216.32.165.71/entertai/1999/feb/24zak.htm

Digression:

I am quite sceptical about Zakir Hussain's composing abilities although he is a great tablist.

Does anyone know how good a COMPOSER he is?

pretty bad, srk,
his work in Miss Beatty's Children (horrible film by Pam Rooks, who directed Train to Pakistan) was downright unacceptable. Similarly, his songs in Saaz, starring Shabana Azmi and loosely based onm Asha Bhosle-Lata Mangeshkar sibling rivalry, was no great shakes either.
composing music for films is a totally different kettle of fish compared to participating in fusion experiments, which ustaad is great at. he should realise that even a genius like him has limitations. we all know what happened to cinematic forays of balamurali krishna, kunnakkudi vaidyanathan, etc. things just aren't the same, wish these guys would realise it.

kaushik, i too don't think zakir is that great a composer.. that is why i wouldn't want him to compose for marudhanaayagam:-))
his saaz work was also basically kunnakkOl based one and not a melody based one. his album in the series of five elements was applaudable though (cinematic composition is totally different:-)