Anatomy of Telugu movie songs

Telugu. It's a language. Language of one of the southern states in India. One of the different and, distinct features of an Indian movie is that they have songs - songs in which the Hero and Heroine, mostly, dance to the tune. The songs (and dance) try to portray to the audience the things which dialogues cannot say. Instead of an OST, we have songs from a movie and they capture the entire essence of the movie, or are supposed to. They form a chief part of the movie industry in India - both north and south.

While the article I am writing about chiefly concerns itself with Telugu movie songs, one can, in general, use it  for the Hindi and Tamil songs as well - though there are a few distinctions of their own.

The average Telugu movie is made up of at least 5 songs and usually 6. The Indian movie being a lengthy affair, there is an intermission/recess so that the audience can attend to their Calls of the Nature or to filling up their stomach. Thus, these songs are spread in a 50-50 way either way between recess. So, you have 3 songs before the intermission and 3 after.

As most stories deal with the broad aspects of Love and Romance, and ofcourse leading up to marriage, the usual song pattern goes like this:
1. Intro song - This song is meant to introduce the protagonist, the Hero, to the audience and briefly explain why he is the Most Generous, Most Talented, Most Handsome, The Only Real Man (whatever the definition of "Real" in this phrase is) while also touching upon his Wisdom, Courage, a little of the Road side Romeo and Naughtiness. You will sometimes have the hero tell you how to lead a life, what the qualities of a happy guy are, how not to worry about the sad things in life, what Life is, how an 18 year guy should be (even whilst portrayed by a 35+ man).
You may sometimes have an introduction song to a heroine and this will obviously portray that she's a fun loving, good daughter, good sister, good friend, a Friend of the Lonely, a Friend of the Poor, a Friend of the Underprivileged - basically a kind hearted angel who's just come down to visit this grief-stricken Earth.
Noticeably, this song is an utterwaste of one's time and a director's resources - as almost all the Heroes in the Telugu movies have same personal traits - encompassing all these.

2. Just saw the Heroine song - This song tells us how the valiant Hero fell for the Woman of his Life. The Hero will speak about the basic feelings of Love - of floating in the clouds, of telling the audience that he's head over heels for her. In the end, you should be convinced that he's fallen in Love and you simply can't miss the point as it's presented to you in many - and - different ways in New Zealand, Australia, US, UK and the Europe. Sometimes, they'll be shot in India too.
A variation of this song might also show you how the Hero and the Heroine quarrel with each other. To tell you that they can't stand each other - in which case they'll realise that they love each other after a couple of more songs, or maybe one.
The People of the World complaining that the Quality in Standards have come down are probably complaining so after they've watched these songs - as even the lyrics have become so bad that they are centered around the Heroine's name. If her name is Madhu, the song concerns itself with all the words rhyming with Madhu. If she's Sunitha, then you have different set of words to rhyme. A complete and utter lack of imagination combined with a total loss of purpose.

3. Duet - Hero and heroine are in Love and they tell the whole world about it. By the end of the song, one is convinced that they'll never part and have been chosen by the Hand of Fate itself for their journey together.

INTERMISSION - mostly a recess here. Few films have four songs in the first half of the movie.

4. Varied - Ah, finally ! In this part, you have a suspense. You'll never know if there's another Duet coming up, possibly because the Hero and the Heroine feel that they have yet to clarify those doubting minds that they are still in love and that the Hand of Fate has really chosen them for their happily-ever-after life.
You'll never know if there's an Item song - a song which is added to cater to the Masses - a raw version, a closer-to-animal take of Love and usually confused with Sex part of it. The Item actress in this song will be portrayed as one hailing from a small village, having all the characteristics of a promiscuous female. She's the Object of Obsession of all the men and she's simply bowled over by the Hero. Obviously, this means to reaffirm the fact that he's the only Real Man in the vast state of Andhra Pradesh. How this means what it means and why it is supposed to prove that the Hero, despite his lust for her, is supreme in every sense of the word is beyond my understanding. You'll be better off entering the Telugu movie with your analytical part of the brain switched off. Don't worry, after watching a few movies, it'll auto-shutdown (yes, I am a software engineer, you can tell it by this word(s)).
You'll never know if it is going to be heart-break song - the one where either the Hero is ditched by the Heroine, owing mostly to some a-good-daughter-sacrifices-love sort of misplaced notion or because she loves him too much to see him possibly be hurt by the villain, or her father, in the near future. This song speaks about the terrible things that Love brings with it and of how the audience must empathize, sympathize or whatever with the Hero and the Heroine.
The Hero and the Heroine are spotlessly clean in their character, nevermind the Hero's dance with the Lusty lady of the Item song.

5. Varied - Suspense again !! But don't worry. The three "You'll never know" songs that I've described above will vary in sequence or only a couple of them might be picked for the movie. You never know which is going to be the first - either the Heartbreak or the Item song. This is not the place for a Duet at all. So if you have one Item song earlier, you are, most definitely, in for a heart break song.

6. Duet - Mostly the final song of the movie, this song is again a duet. It stands to reaffirm their earlier faith that the Hand of Fate had really chosen them to be together, and despite the bad guys and problems, they'll assure the audience that their love for each other is intact and that the Roses will bloom again.

This brings us to the end of the movie.

While there are a few variants to this sequence, and even fewer exceptions, you will most certainly experience them in the same order. A few movies that come with a fresh of breeze, have a different take on the songs and are, quite welcome to me. As for the rest of the audience, I cannot speak and will not.

God save the Telugu Cinema.

The tree of life

Can't believe someone can make such a movie ! How can anyone do it ? Breathtaking, amazing !

Greatness is not an exaggeration

He stands as the perfect contradiction to the statement "Greatness is an exaggeration".

(This short piece is just a mention of a few aspects that add glory to one of the finest batsmen cricket has ever produced)

Let me begin by telling you this :

Indian audience indulges itself in hero-worship. That's a fact. You can see it everywhere. But we are ruthless too. When it comes to being worshiped, you have to keep winning hearts, keep restoring the faith, and the pride. There have been many whom I don't want to name, who appeared to be climbing those stairs, only to find that the junta has lost faith in them. You drop from a superstar to just a star who was once close to being idolized. To be in such a country and in such a state for about twenty years is, simply, superb. (Don't hold it against me when I miss some statistics. My piece doesn't deal much with it)

Sachin is someone who deserves such a worship. He has stood against generations of bowlers. Generations of those who analyze his every match, his every move, his every mistake and then come up with a strategy to constrain him. In spite of that, to come up to bat to the satisfaction of over a billion hearts, and to surpass the expectations each time, is nothing short of amazement. May be to come up to bat can be termed as a mandate. To play is what he is expected to do. But the difference is not in the decision to play. It lies in the way he responds to such expectations. He has to thwart the tricks of each and every bowler and their captain. His every analyzed weakness must be controlled, and not merely controlled, it should shock the opponent. It is not a case of "should" but it just has been. His weaknesses to some of the offside deliveries had to be worked upon to result in a boundary. Its not ordinary and its not common to outplay the cunning opponent.

Rarely do you see a player who is watched by so many. And mind it, success brings its own share of rivalry and jealousy. Every Henry Olonga, Andy Caddick or whatever their names are, come to the scene of international cricket stating that they would be the ones to send him to the pavilion, only to find that it was their deliveries that went there, faster than the time spent in running to deliver them. It is so common. They are flawed not in their bowling techniques, they bowl some good balls. But in assuming that they have the master all sorted out, that is foolishness. There's really a great difference between confidence and over-confidence. We hear too many dialogues about this in the movies. But its true. The master copes with his weaknesses, with the so many heads that try to out-think and out-wit him. That he has been successful in doing this is not just evident from his successes, but from the knowledge that the faith of those billions is only growing. Here is a man who is standing against all, constantly foiling their plans.

Here's a thing. Ricky Ponting is currently the man who is atleast in the vicinity of looking at the records that Sachin makes, albeit miles, or rather, hundreds of miles, away from them. But Ricky enjoys a rare advantage that Sachin does not. He isn't under so much of analysis. He needn't carry an onus of expectations. Sachin has to, every single time. While stating facts, it is important to add that Australians have been those who analyze their opponents to the highest degree. Its quite evident. The amount of tricks they come up with almost sometimes makes the game more of a kind of chess rather than cricket, but all's legal. Now, would Ricky have lasted so long had he not been an Australian? Would he have been able to deal with his weaknesses, some of them propping up as he gets older, if he were under the scrutiny of the Australians ? I guess not. Yes its true that he has come up well against his weaknesses to spin. But you see, his opponents are not as cunning as hist team were. Now don't get me wrong here. It's perfectly alright that they plan the demise of the opposition. Its essential. But I would only want to point out that Ricky just isn't subjected to the enourmously tiresome, gruesome tests that Sachin went through. That's a very big advantage, if you know what I am talking about.

Now there comes a talk about India not winning matches when Sachin scores. It would have been probably okay for a boy to state that the word "psychology" is spelt without the silent letter 'p'. We could have at least patted the boy who answered that a better-luck-next-time. It's just lack of knowledge, but not here. The comparison isn't apt. But that exactly is the point I'd like to make. It isn't appropriate to state that its bad omen for India when Sachin scores. Tell you what, if Luck had ever to choose an adversary to work against, it would mention that the name Sachin would be in the last ones in its list. This may be exaggeration. But we all need luck. Not just to play well. But luck to evade bad luck from coming up. Last time I heard was that Liverpool lost their match against Sunderland this season because a beach ball showed up just in between the ball and the goalkeeper, the result of which was a deflected goal to take up 3 vital points away from Liverpool, or rather 2 vital points. This is the sort of bad luck that you don't want to happen. Here in comes the importance of good luck. To stop keeping the bad luck from popping its head up.

There may be a certain amount of take-it-for-granted in the Indian team because even though the master has amassed half the 350 single handedly, the rest of the ten couldn't contribute enough. It's a shame(read pity). For someone who has fought so well, this is the sort of anticlimax that is least appropriate. Our team surely owes an apology to him. But he will still play. And will still outclass the opponents. And it wouldn't be much news when he does that, because that is what is expected. And he will still keep raising the bar.

This is one who stands out to let us know that greatness is not an exaggeration, but a virtue, which, though seemingly impossible, is actually possible.

Just to let you know, there was one guy who was holding a poster the other day during the 5th ODI between India and Australia. It was comparing the gold rates per carat to the number of runs Sachin has made and he usually surpassed the rates. That was an awesome idea of his to show that statistic up. :)

Disgrace and injustice and what the media says about it

I really didn't think that I would, at some point of time, support Chelsea FC. I quite dislike them. Its just that feeling you have against someone without any reason. Partly attributed to prejudice. Anyway, this is what this entry is about. Its about the recent outburst over the indecent exit of those eleven from the Champions League.

If Tom Henning Ovrebo had been dragged into court and sued for the millions (they might have been crowned The Champions, who knows ?) that Chelsea has lost, he'd have nothing to plead but temporary insanity, if at all temporary insanity could count for more than ninety three minutes at a stretch. Turning down what many see as clear penalties, and not one or two but a full four of them is really over the bar and over the bar a lot. Agreed that if Drogba hadn't dived game in and game out, there'd had been pretty good chances that Ovrebo might have given the penalty. Agreed that Chelsea could have scored when there were good opportunities and all Drogba did was to keep Barca's hopes alive (and probably the ref's as well). Agreed Chelsea havent taken the advantage of the twenty odd minutes when the visitors from across the sea had been reduced to ten (owing to another misjudged red card. Now whose side is he anyway?). But still, four penalties is way too much to disallow.

What followed after the match was a thing that the media was happy to pounce on. Drogba termed it all a "f*king disgrace" which most would say is true. One, from the guardian, was voicing the fans when he said that "Ballack should have gone all the way to do a Zidane". Ha ha. One leading Barcelona newspaper also sported a cartoon where a kid asks his mom that he needs a Barca shirt. But which one," his mother replies, "the goalie shirt, the home shirt or the referee's shirt?"

John Terry must have kept his calm and talked to his jumping mates. But the leader was far from it. Its really a shame to see such world class players act that way but one can only say that one can understand it. But that doesn't mean that they should go unpunished. It speaks of the quality of the team when one faces such adverse situations. "Character" is what should be shown here, at a time when the scenario least demands it. And thats what makes players great and a team great. I just don't understand how they couldn't do this one act. A team of the class of Chelsea should have kept calm however emotional they might have become. Anyway, being normal isn't bad at all. The ref. really deserves a full Zidane done to him.

It has to be mentioned that Chelsea really didn't play football at Camp Nou. All they did was "par k the bus". It was almost a 10-0-0 formation. A f*cking disgrace too, I dare say. All they did was pass, pass, pass. Only one good chance that was ruined by (no prize for guessing it right) Drogba. The rest was really frustrating to any football lover. Hence, the Spanish press were quoting this debacle as justice done, even if they find it delayed (till the 93minutes, that is).

At the end of the day, it was a bit of clumsy effort by Chelsea and a big big hand of the ref that made them see the end of the road to the final. A 1-1 was on the cards, but the way it drew is a shame.

Reclaim your life : The Tata Safari Dicor Ad

You must watch it to know what I am speaking here. Once in a while when we are changing the tv channels, we stumble across an advertisement that is worthy of our attention. Quite fewer times we come across one that makes us feel all nice and gay - there a few ads that make us happy everyday, but these fewer ones make us feel entirely happy from inside. And fewer times, 'rare' can be the word to describe it, there comes an ad that grips your attention, that dictates terms, that more than lives up to what it is advertising. Some ads stand a class apart. Way way apart. This ad is one in that league. Its almost solitary being in that league because there are too few that sit up there.

I love this ad. The way the music stops at the right moments and then carries on again. The way the whole thing is shown. The way different scenes are portrayed together. The way the whole music plays. The way that guy looks up as the waves crash on his feet. The way the Dicor drifts and mud rises. The way the Dicors background is. The way the rain drops fall on the spectacles and on the mud.

This is one ad that made me feel that I should buy this Tata Safari Dicor. Maybe one day I will. And if someone asks me why, I might just smile and open the door and get into it and press the pedal and watch his outline becomes smaller in my rear view mirror. Brilliant ad ! Really no words can mention how brilliant this is.

Kudos to the ones involved in the ad production and design, and the sound track maker ofcourse. Wonder if anything can get a better video for promotion !

The devils are vanquished, at home

Note: This piece is just a waste of time for those who do not know what football is and what a good laugh against an opponent is. ;-) Even though you may find arrogance and evil in this piece, it's just an attempt to write up lines about a wonderful opponent with no such intentions. Just for fun. This also serves as a statutory warning to the Manchester United fans.

"The time has come," the Walrus said
"To talk of many things:
Of goals -- and penalties-- and red cards--
Of when the final bell rings
And whether Man. Utd. have wings."

It was a dull day for most of the Manchester United fans, atleast duller than the past times that they've been vanquished. Losing a match by a telling margin of 4 goals to 1 to an adversary, of whom they despise, of whom they talk about while playing cards, while sipping hot tea on a saturday morning, would bear upon their feeble minds an onus that is well worthy of itself. The last saturday, with their full strength, their eleven men, Manchester United lost the match at their home ground, the Old Trafford, to the Reds, the Liverpool, by the scoreline 1-4.

Much has to be said about their complacency and arrogance. So much that if one has to go on writing, it would well be reaching the end when a book of Ramayana started parallely would have had the Lord Rama constructing the mythical bridge to the Lanka. The comparison isn't apt. More so because of the hard work that the monkeys and others had gone through to build the bridge. United here, for one, did nothing of that sort. They were just bewildered by the audacity with which the Liverpool forwards and midfielders have surged through their vaunted defence.

A passer by, when prompted to watch the match, would have said that the scoreline would have been much heavier on the latter side with some khatarnak goals just having missed the blessing that master Fate holds its reign on. United are not wonted to having being thrashed at home. Maybe this would wake them up from their day dreams and their habit of stating that the Premier League is unka baap ka jaagir.

There are some things that only one can experience. Those that someone of the calibre of Wodehouse or Sidney Sheldon can describe with their hold on the language but would still fall short of giving one the actual experience of it. Like having garam channa or pani puri on a winter evening, or having a garam chai on the rainy day watching the rain through the window sills, or dancing in the rain with your loved one. One can speak much about them but would only be succeeding in communicating that one would enjoy such things. But to actually let you know how it is to feel those things, is quite impossible. The same can be said about a casual football lover that watches a wonderful game on a saturday evening. That it is between Man Utd and Liverpool , the old rivals, needs to be mentioned here. That I couldn't watch it is not a matter of chance, but speaks of the tragic lives that people in BSNL project are leading. Atleast with the feeling of unable ot watch the match, I felt it hard on my conscience. ;-)

Enough of this obituary for now. I have exaggerated a few things here, but would be happy to have written the same stuff again. Especially contemplating on the match through the red tinted glasses that I am wearing. (Liverpool are called 'The Reds') Whatever might be said, it is evident that unless Man. Utd. fails to win a few of the easy matches, Liverpool dont' stand a chance for the title. Man. Utd., with this scar, would be quite formidable and thrilling to watch, as ever. Whoever wins, the football each of these teams play gives one a quite-a-smug feeling and that's what it is all about. Let there be love. Let there be football. To hell with Indian fourth estate and their mania for cricket that has driven me to stop watching cricket.

PS: All the Manchester Utd fans sorry to have disappointed you. It was just a wakeup call for your team. Next to Liverpool, I love Man. Utd. Apart from Christiano Ronaldo, of course.

Book review : The Fountainhead

A spectacle. This book is one of the strongest and heaviest books that I've read. Its strength is evident in almost each of its dialogue. Heavier on the mind with each page. It is not the one that you can while away your time with. It requires your full attention, if you are to understand it.

It has a good plot. One that brings out the virtues of the hero easily and shows at the same time how difficult it is to have them. The hero is portrayed brilliantly. I cannot think of anything else I've read that depicts the hero so wonderfully. It is conspicuous that each of the characters are built with a lot of thinking. The things written are not an outcome of a passing thought, but of one that took quite an effort on the part of Miss Rand, or no effort at all if one can be born with such rare talent.

There are five chief characters according to me. A simple plot, if one looks only on the outset. You have a victim, the man who wants only publicity. There is a villain, the one who pulls down all the things of greatness to mediocrity and with such ease that almost appears effortless. He is a power seeker and the worst bilge rat amongst the many that he rules over. There is a helpless bystander, who could well have been the hero but couldn't endure the path nor the resistance in the path. Not at the cost of his life's greatest work. Then there is the hero, the noble soul, the fountainhead of all achievement. And the heroine, the one who believes in the hero and suffers and endures it, though many times I felt she is deranged.

This is the story of a man against the world and its prejudice, human will against a blind majority. I do not believe in everything that has been said in this book, but I can say with conviction that what has been said was someone's greatest beliefs. You can see it in the way in which it is told.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, though in the middle and at more than a couple of occasions I felt quite annoyed. I must say that I couldn't put this book down even then.

There are some books that I can't compare to anything else, books that I don't feel should be compared with anything else and that it would only be an insult to it, and the mind behind it, if that were done. This one would go without any doubt into that category and I am glad that I've had the chance to read it. It is not often that one comes against something spectacular and notices that even after 49 years of its first release, it still is a best seller and that it has a long way to go.