Wednesday, September 26, 2012

There are no restraints on the wild breeze!


There are no restraints on the wild breeze
and there are no boundaries to the ocean! 
How can the upward surges of river Ganga
are contained in a kamandalam—a mere small jar?
Is it possible to control the racing mind
by placing it inside a borderline?



Shall I sing several songs
by being a cloud in the sky?
Shall I perform several dances
by being a peacock on this earth?

Where is the restraint on the wild deer
that jumps from place to place with gay abandon?

Does malli flower hide behind a green leaf
if the spring season visits again and again?


There are no restraints on the wild breeze
and there are no boundaries to the ocean! 


Oh! Bumblebee! Make me move in the
swing of my imaginations!
Oh! Malli! Give me a string of smiles!
A mature woman has turned into
a young girl 
and a flower has blossomed into a bud!
What is wrong in my leaving a temple
and becoming a flaming lamp in another temple?


There are no restraints on the wild breeze
and there are no boundaries to the ocean! 






This write-up is based on the song “Gaalikadupu Ledu…” from the Telugu movie Idi Katha Kaadu (1979) featuring Sarat Babu, Jayasudha, Chiranjeevi, and Kamal Haasan. This song was written by Acharya Athreya and set to music by M. S. Viswanathan. The song was rendered by S. Janaki. This movie was directed by K.Balachander.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Sudigundalu: A masterpiece among Telugu movies


Padma Vibhushan Akkineni Nageswara Rao has worked in several genres of films in his 78-year acting career, including mythological, social, and drama films. He has played the lead role in over 256 Telugu films and 26 Tamil films. Out of all these movies he has a personal liking for two roles: Surendranath in Batasari (1961) and Judge Chandrasekharam in Sudigundalu (1967).

Judge Chandrasekharam (Akkineni) is very kind and helpful to the relatives of the culprits. His wife dies after giving birth to a baby boy. His son Raja is murdered by two youth—Prasanna Rani and Vijayachander.  The culprits are sentenced to death by the court after giving them a fair trial.  Judge Chandrasekharam takes a decision to defend those culprits, and argues in their favour.  The dialog for this movie was written by N.R. Nandi, and the lengthy oration of Akkineni in the courtroom is a treat to the audience, abounding with several philosophical and psychological issues engulfing our society.  He makes his viewpoint clear, and concludes that the total responsibility of the crime cannot be placed on the culprits who are the victims of the ills of the society.  The responsibility of offering the youth the right direction rests with the parents and the society. In his view, the present youth are trapped in sudigundalu—hurdles and problems of the present world. If we give the youth proper direction, they are capable of becoming professionals and responsible citizens. The film offers this message in a very convincing way, and Chandrasekharam dies in the court hall after offering his defence to the young culprits. The histrionics and diction in the delivery of dialog of Akkineni in the court room is a masterly stroke of this great actor.




Friday, September 21, 2012

The immortal music of Bhaktha Prahlada

Bhaktha Prahlada was made in 1967 with Roja Ramani in the lead character.  The storyline of this movie has its base in Sri Bhagavathamu, and this movie has made use of several immortal padyamulu written by Bammera Pothana. These padyamulu and several equally great songs in this movie have been rendered by P. Suseela under the baton of Saluru Rajeswara Rao.  Parents may listen to these songs and padyamulu with their young children.  This is one of the movies that has the power of fostering bhakti in young minds.  The melody and meaning that we find in these songs and verses are heart touching.







Thursday, September 20, 2012

K. V. Mahadevan repeats his own tune!


We know that K.V.Mahadevan was one of the most successful music directors of South India.  He is well-known for extending full freedom to the lyricist in writing lyrics for a movie.  Lyricists never filled words in pre-composed tunes in all the movies for which K.V.Mahadevan offered music—the movies remade from Tamil are exceptions.  



He was the first music director in India to receive National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Music Direction for the Tamil movie Kandan Karunai in 1967. The song Thiruparamkundrathil Nee Sirithal from Kandan Karunai (1967) was a great hit. The producer K. Murari Babu of Yuvachitra banner is a great fan of Mahadevan, and he requested the legendary composer to make use of the tune of Kandan Karunai for his movie Naari Naari Naduma Murrari in 1990. Mahadevan too had a soft corner for K. Murari Babu.  This is how the lovely song Iruvuri Bhamala Kougililo has come into being!



Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Doordharshan interviews Haasam Raja!

Sri Raja Mungu started his career by reviewing Telugu film songs in every movie released from 1973 onwards.  He is the person who initiated a new genre of Sangeetha Visleshana in Telugu film journalism. His music reviews widely read by readers when they first appeared in Cene Herald in mid 1970s. Later his eminence reached new heights  with features like Apaathamadhuram in Vartha dialy newspaper, and Aaa Paatha Paata Madhuram in Koumudi online magazine brought out from United States. He made several contributions to Doordharshan and founded a highly-renowned magazine Haasam focussing on humour and film music reviews.  He became well-known as Cineswaralu Raja..Sitaraagaalu Raja..Miniweekly Raja.. Vaartha Raja.. Aapathamadhuram Raja.. Haasam Raja..Gurtukostunnai Raja..more to come! 

He has a lot of information and research work to share with all the music lovers across the world. He deserves the support and encouragement from all film music lovers .



Haasam Raja received Best Journalist Award for South India for 2012 instituted by Santhosham film weekly.