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A look into how the music directors work |
March
24, 2006 |
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Don’t
think that the work of a music director is just
setting music to verses and making a few sounds
when the scenes unroll. He is a part and parcel
of the movies, recording events, emotions and
plots in a style that he knows well—music.
The music of every music director has its own
signature, be it Ilayaraja or A R Rahman. Let
us look into the styles of how well-known music
directors work. |
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Ilaya Raja, the master of re-recording
The maestro is considered as the master of re-recording.
Observe his background music and you are sure
to find subtle allusions to and the nuances of
the plot. Raja takes his own time to work for
a movie and you can’t goad him to meet a
deadline. He is fastidious about songs. Who writes
the lyrics, what the context is and which hero
or character sings matter a lot. Not surprisingly,
several directors and producers owe their film's
success to the maestro. When he is at the recording
theatre, he is a different man, very religious
regarding music. Smokers and tipsters are banned
at his place of work. |
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Recent
best seller: Virumaandi
Much expected: Maayakkannadi |
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A
R Rahman – hardwork and smart
work
Rahman is religious in his personal
life but, when it comes to music he
is totally unorthodox. Working almost
eighteen hours a day, his work culture
is hard work, smart work and creative
work all rolled into one. Well, that
takes a lot of time and in the industry,
he is known for his slow pace. He
may even take a month just to set
a song in music. He doesn’t
bother much about re-recording. Anyway,
that is taken care of by his assistants. |
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Everytime
AR Rahman teams up with movie stalwarts
like Manirathnam and Shankar, it has always
resulted in chart-buster numbers. However,
when he works with other directors who show
a lot of promise, like Pravin Gandhi and
AM Jothikrishna, though the songs are a
big hit, the movies fail. As Rahman has
himself confesed, the mystery behind a winning
combination still remains elusive. So he
is quite choosy about the directors he would
work with.
If
there is one thing that Rahman is famous
for, well, it is his penchant for new talents.
It was he who introduced Unni Krishnan,
Sadhana Sargam, Udit Narayan, Karthik, Srinivas
and Nithya Shree into playback singing in
Tamil.
Recent
bestseller: Godfather
Much expected: Sivaji,
Guru
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Harris – Director’s
Music director
Harris has always been a lucky mascot even
for debutante directors. That puts him in
the big league and he comes a close second
to AR Rahman, in the current list of top
music directors. Harris Jeyaraj is also
a tech-savvy music director, who understands
the needs of the director and gives just
that – nothing more, nothing less.
Harris has a bunch of hit films and songs
which have become favorites like Vaseegara
from Minnalae, Povvae from 12B. He has a
sensitive approach towards the lyrics and
his tunes always complement the lyrics.
Examples, Gulmohar Malarae in Majnu and
Moongil kadugalae in Samurai.
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Harris
has slight similarity with ‘Isai Puyal’
with respect to working style. He has good judgment
of the mood of the song. His versatility can be
seen from his range of melodious to a polished
kuthu pattu , best example being 12B’s theme
music.
Recent
bestseller: Vettaiyadu vilaiyadu
Much expected: July Katru
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Yuvan
Shankar Raja, a bundle of talents
Watch out for this guy. Son of maestro Ilayaraja,
he has charted his own course. He has in-depth
knowledge of different genres of music and
also has the ability to package it to suit
the young audience. Yuvan seems to have hit
it off well with the younger crop of directors
like Selvaraghavan and Vishnuvardhan. When
he joins with them, you can bet there is some
great music in the making.
Rahman had once predicted a great future for
Yuvan. He is fast at re-recording and if he
has a liking for special things, it is composing
in exotic locale. The last two years have
seen this talent on a rising mode
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Recent
bestsellers: Puduppettai, Pattiyal
Much expected: Vallavan |
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Bharadwaj:
You simply can’t please him
This man has his own style. You simply can’t
please him and so, his singers have a tough
time. He sets his music into notations,
which the singers must follow meticulously.
Like Rahman he too has a soft corner for
new talents. He trains them and makes them
deliver the goods. After some soulful music
in “Autograph”, Bharadwaj has
delivered some racy numbers in Tirupathi.
The gap after “Autograph” has
been long but definitely worth it. Tirupathi
promises to bring along new opportunities
for him. Not only in Tamil, he is also popular
in Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam. |
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Recent
bestsellers: Tirupathi
Much expected: Jambhavan |
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Vidyasagar,
the master of melodies
Known
as the master of melodies, he doesn’t
vibe much with what goes in the name of
modern music. At times he does relent and
comes up with groovy, eclectic numbers.
He likes singers with good pronunciation
and who can appreciate good lyrics. When
Vidyasagar scores music, you can be sure
you will have at least one big hit song.
Working on crunch projects is nothing new
to Vidyasagar. But when it comes to working
with Superstar, the pressure is palpable.
However, he has always managed to deliver
beyond expectations. With several musical
hits to his credit, Vidyasagar is slowly
making his way to the top slot. |
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Recent
bestseller: Chandramukhi
Much expected: Mozhi |
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Dina – producers’
music director
This guy doesn’t mind the story or the context
in which a song appears. Music is his job and
he does it well. He is a producers’ music
director and does what he is asked to do. But
then, recording will take place at his own time
and at his place. Manmadha Rasa of Thiruda Thirudi
popularized him very much.
Recent
bestseller: Tirupachi
Much expected: Pori |
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Srikanth
Deva, an everyman’s musician
Srikanth Deva is an everyman’s music
director like his father Deva. Simple, straightforward
yet a king in knowing the pulse and beat
of the lay, Srikanth Deva knows what clicks
with the unsophisticated moviegoer. His
style of accommodating the whims and wishes
of the directors and the producers is proverbial.
Give him a song and he comes with a dozen
varieties of tunes. Whichever the directors
like, he goes for them. He doesn’t
thrust his personal choice upon them.
Next time you listen to a song, find out
who the music director is and what his style
is; you’ll understand better what
has gone into recording the song. |
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Recent
bestseller: Sivakasi
Much expected: E |
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