Music And Movies

(Ghantasala) While the classical music purist frown when ragas are mixed, especially down south, we need to accept that sometimes this mixture does produce great music!! The mix happens in two ways. One by the introduction of alien notes. Second by mixing two ragas. Carnatic music is familiar with the introduction of alien notes into a raga, while mixing of two ragas is not looked at favourably. In Hindustani mixing two ragas is quite common.  Basant Bahar and Bageshree Kaanada come to mind. In Hindustani music they call it jod-ragas. The song that we will hear today is one such mixture.  I am not sure if this raga exists in Hindustani music or it was creation of the music director, Pendyala. The raga takes Kaanada in its upward movement and Chakravaham in its descent.  It sounds lovely and this is a very popular song in Telugu. Music, as noted earlier, is by Pendyala, lyrics of Malladi and sung wonderfully by Ghantasala.  This is one song in which yo...

(Naushad) "Bhairav is so fundamental to Indian tradition that its impaction on the nation's musical soul can never be overstated. Even the unlettered in the land is familiar with its germ in some form or the other. The overlay of Bhairav strains on an early, bucolic Indian morning affords a purifying experience like no other. Verily, it falls to the lot of the noblest of rAgas, deserving of renewal and reflection in the portals of the mind every single day." Thus wrote Rajan Parrikar in his article for SAWF titled "Bhairav - The Primordial Sound"  . He was talking about the Hindustani Bhairav whose Carnatic counterpart in Mayamalavagowla. Mayamalavagowla has been used a lot in Tamil film music. An old gem that I heard is in the movie 'Pattinathar', which starred T M Soundarrajan as the hero. The song was, "nilave nee oru sedhi sollaayo" and was tuned very similar to the Tyagaraja's famous krithi, "thulasi dalamulache". Then we h...