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March
20, 2007 |
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You
happen to hear a song, you sort of like it. The
next time you hear the song you really like it.
After a few more times of hearing it on TV, FM
or just about anywhere, you are completely in
love with it. Now what? You begin searching websites
to download the song, or ask you friends for the
song, to have it in on you desktop, mobile or
iPod, depending on how many different places (and
forms)
you want the song stored in! In the process you
find out that the song is from a yet to be |
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released small movie starring newcomers. Obviously, this leads
you to wanting to listen to the other songs in the album.
Regardless of whether you like them or not, the movie and
its stars are now familiar to you and when the movie finally
releases you even watch it just for the song that you love.
Ever wonder how Chitthiram Pesudhadi became a runaway hit?
Well, this takes nothing away from Mysskin, Narain or Bhavan
but one must give a lot of credit to Malavika’s item
number (you know which one) Vaala Meenukku. One of the reasons
you sat up and noticed the movie was Gana Ulaganathan’s
song. We are, are we not, often in the habit of conveniently
missing movies that don’t come with some kind of star
attraction? |
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Have
you heard- or at least heard of- a song called Nakka
Mukka. Chances are that you have because it has become
such a rage in all parts of Tamil Nadu. Not the kind
of song that would conventionally top the charts but
then it has caught on. And just look at what it has
done to the movie, Kadhalil Vizhunthen. We are not
declaring the movie a hit but it sure has a visibility
that it did not have before - the much required fillip
that can make the difference between a damp squib
and a break even, may be even a minor hit.
Last year there was Jab We Met in Hindi. The movie
was a well-made cute love story and it would have
done well irrespective of the songs that it had. But
take off the Mauja Mauja song from the end credits
and you would have to admit that the movie would lose
a bit of
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its
appeal. Even though the song was just an addition at
the end with no bearing on the plot it gave the movie
a lot of mileage after becoming a big hit in pubs and
discotheques. Let’s take Bhool Bhulaiya for instance.
Once again, a movie that stood tall on its own merits
without much help from its songs. But it is also a fact
that the ‘Hare Rama’ song has earned the
movie a few extra crores. First used as an end credits
song, ‘Hare Rama’ had to be included in
the movie just before Akshay Kumar’s introduction
because of its immense popularity and crowd pulling
power.
Let’s come back down south. Think of Oru Thalai
Ragam. What comes to your mind? The songs of course!
The movie almost made history just because of the sheer
brilliance of its songs and the moods it created. Take
Karakattakkaran as another glowing instance. What Maankuyile
Poonkuyile did to the movie, no other song has been
able to replicate even after these many years. More
recently, we can cite Unnale Unnale as the best example
of how much music can help a movie grab the eyeballs
of people. Most Hindi movies follow a pattern of launching
their promotional campaign with a song video (preferably
an item song), something even Tamil movies are getting
good at. |
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The point is this: a song is that element of a film that can
grab maximum attention in minimum time. One hummable line
is good enough to set you searching for a particular song-the
rest just follows. The pull of music is too magnetic to be
overpowered by anything else. The talkie and action promos
take time making dents in the people’s mind; music has
a fast track.
In 2003, there was Thiruda Thirudi. You probably know what
we are getting at. Manmadha Rasa rocked theaters all across
the state to give Dhanush his hat-trick. Imagine Thiruda Thirudi
minus Manmadha Rasa…… or let’s even say
Boys without Maaro Maaro and Sa re ga ma…. Now it has
to be accepted, music is not just an ornament in a movie-
at least in India. Here, we love our music and it has to be
an integral part of the movie set up, be it an item song or
a stylish intro song (recall the impact Karka Karka had).
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