Part 6

(continued from Part 5)
Technicians seldom have fairy tales to tell. The toil behind whatever appears on the screen also is seldom told. An eye catching piece of cinematography or a jaw dropping piece of choreography usually have hours, even sometimes days, of hard work put into them, that it is rarely enjoyable to the technicians working in the field, sweating it out, trying to pull miracles out of thin air. Different is the turmoil of the lyricists and music directors. Right amount of stimulation and general dosage of inspiration are paramount to this brand of technicians. If true talent comes out to the fore under adverse conditions which, in this context, mean unforgiving commercial parameters, then true worth is what is brought out when the terms and conditions are set right for the right creative output. If the direction is little more than "hero and heroine fall in love, they sing to celebrate the moment", if the inspiration for the situation is a little more than "more than 25 mins have passed on without any song", if the motivation for the creation of the magic is a little more than "a foot tapping tune full of dance beats to accommodate the dancing stars", the result is pure aural treat that could be cherished for generations together. Pick any song that had lived on long since it has been created, the strength of the situation had more than lent a helping hand in extending the lifeline of the same. For those songs, the situation is as indispensable as words are for the songs. The better the situation, the better is the music; the better the music, the better are the words; the better the words, the greater is the enjoyment. As the saying goes

yatO hasta tatO drishTi
yatO drishTi tatO tatO manah
yatO manah tatO rasah
yatO rasah tatO bhaava

Where go the hands, there go the eyes
Where go the eyes, there goes the mind
Where goes the mind, there goes the meaning
And where goes the meaning, there lies the true enjoyment

The hero is just made aware of his terminal illness. The transition of his situation is so sudden and abrupt from the playful side to the philosophical side, that it lingers long in a state of shock, trying to come to terms with his new condition. But when he finally settles down and accepts his fate, things start looking up again and the world around him start appearing beautiful and natural once again, if not vibrant as before. As the director narrates this situation and presents it to his lyricist and the music director, it is quite unlike what they would have heard from an otherwise commercial director, in that, the song has a purpose, the song has to have a meaning, and importantly, the song has to convey the hero's current mental state. Rarely do technicians get the opportunity to explore the character, by reflecting their art and their skill in the nature of the character. The state is set.

The flute wakes up from slumber sounding pleasantly and melodiously, as it joined by the chirps of the early risers. Setting the mood quickly as one of thoughtful melancholy, the music gives way to the words - "aamani paaDavae haayigaa, moogavai pOku ee vaeLa...." chimes in the lyricist. The beauty of this composition lies entirely in its simplicity. Without trying to dominate the proceedings, without trying to bring out the required effect musically, the tune creates the right platform, deferring to the power of the words to bring out the pensiveness, and stands aside allowing the words to take the majority of the credit. This unselfishness of the composition and the magnanimity of it makes the song a truly memorable one, for, whenever the song is recalled, the greatness of the words are given as much due as the near perfection of the composition. "marO prapanchamae marinta chaeruvayi, ee vaaDi pOyina ugaadi vaeLalO, gatinchi pOni gaadha naenaee...". Quite apt as it applies to not just the resilience of the character but also the longevity of the music the words.

Some movies are visual treats. Particularly in the current age of great technological inventions and innovations, the desire to unleash on the screen great visuals, employing the latest and the greatest gadgetry, burns so greatly in the current generation of film-makers, that they overlook the other important facet of cinema - sound. On the contrary, most of the movies of yesteryears were aural treats. Script on paper dictated the visuals on the screen. Words dominated visuals. The notion that movies are natural extensions to stage dramas was strictly adhered to. Bringing the best of both the worlds, "Geetanjali" was as much a visual feast as much as it an aural delight. Images sparred with the sound and the result was nothing short of spectacular. Just as the lyricist and the music director who stand as the natural heirs to the accolades and the awards, the director, who stands as the direct beneficiary, deserves as much credit for his sensibilities in creating the situations that motivated the technicians to aspire to greatness. "Geetanjali" is not just great visuals strung together with great music and great words. Each song has a purpose, each word within the song actually convey something - quite a rarity in teh mainstream fare. The compositions are purposefully slowed down in tempo so as to allow the lilting words to take precedence. Yet the interludes play the full gamut of emotions is soul-stirring strings, adhering to the theme of "Geetanjali". Who can ever forget the mesmerizing combination of 'bulbul' and violin that feed the soul in the interludes that lead up to the charanam "onTari baaTasaari janTaku chaeragaa, kanTiki paapa vayitae reppagaa maaraanaa...", or the festival violins that just do not let up leading up to "O maeghamaa uramakae ee pooTaki, gaalilO taelipO veLLipO...", or the ominous chorus that portend the inevitable separation of the star-crossed lovers in a booming sonorous tone before the charanam "nippu lOna kaaladu, neeTilOna naanadu, gaalilaaga maaradu, praema satyamu..". "Geetanjali" is a celebration of the image and meditation of the sound.

If strings are tugged deeply to resonate pathos on one side of the spectrum, here, on the other side, is the constant beat of the percussion celebrating the spirit of life in "Rudra Veena". Observe the instrument of choice between these two themes - pathos -> strings, passion -> percussion. The drums in "Rudra Veena" beat endlessly signifying the indomitable spirit of the lead character Suryam. His frustration at the indifference of art unable to reflect the reality of the human condition brought up in the wonderful song "naenu saitam viSwa veeNaku tantrinai moorchanalu pOtaanu..", particuarly at the part when the character cries out "asahaayatalO daDa daDalaagae hRdaya mrudanaga dhwaanam, naaDula naDaka taDabaDi saagae aartula aarani SOkam..." underlines the importance of the right choice of the instrument to convey the correct emotion. Duet is generally an evocation of the tender feelings. It is not a hurried expression and neither should it very loud. But on the other hand, the character is supposed to be very vibrant, radiating positive energy at every moment. How would a duet involving such kind of persona sound? Wouldn't the tempo slow down if it were to sound just like a regular duet conforming to the established standards? Cometh the moment, cometh the man. Without compromising the tempo, without letting down the spirit of the character's nature, the composition "lalita priya kamlam virisinadi, oohala jagatini..." is perhaps one of the most vibrant duets that have ever been scored. The transitions from the pallavi to the charanam and then from one charanam to another, happens with such urgency that it almost feels that Suryam does not want to waste his time running around trees romancing his lady, while the world around seems to drown away in despair. And the same pattern is followed in the rest of the scores, where his heart beat resonates through each number with a different degree of immediacy - "bratukuna laeni Sruti kaladaa, yedasaDilOnae laya laedaa...", "tarali raada tanae vasantam, tana dariki raani vanaala kOsam...", "swargaalanu andukonaalani vaDigaa guDi meTlekkaevu, saaTi manishi vaedana choosi, jaali laeni Silavainaavu..."

The question is as old and eternal as the chicken and egg - which method talks more about the worth of the composer? Pre-selecting a tune to a situation before the words are chosen? Or setting a tune to an already prepared text that talks about the situation. The issue is still raging with no clear cut winner. Pre-determining a tune to a situation talks about intutive response of the composer, which in fact is the true definition of music - the expression that has risen above words. On the other hand, setting a tune to already framed words talks about the talent of the composer balancing the words against the mood and the mood to the tune. While the first method is more reflexive, the latter one seems a more thoughtful response. It would come as a pleasant surprise to know that most of the songs of yester years were words set to pre-determined tunes and not the other way round, as one would have thought. But that still didn't diminish neither the quality of the songs, nor the listening pleasure. For every Mahadevan or a Ramesh Naidu who insisted on setting their tunes to a text, there was an Ilayaraja who challenged the lyricists to match the beauty of the tune. The aforementioned "Geetanjali", "Rudra Veena" were as much worthy creations of Veturi and Sirivennela as they are of Ilayaraja's. "Swarna Kamalam", in the way the tunes are set to words, shares equal ownership (saha bhartRtwam) of Ilayaraja and Sirivennela. Without the fore-knowledge of which came first, the words or the tunes, albums such as "Swarna Kamalam" categorically answer that the question is irrelevant when talking about true talents.

As Kalidasa prayed to the Divine Couple

"vaagardhaa vivasampruptau vaagardha pratipattayae
jatagath paitarau vandae paarvatee paramaeswaram"

Like the inseparable bonding of the word and its meaning, I bow to thee, the Divine Couple, Siva and Parvati, who remain inseparable and incomplete without each other....

Be it in the wakeup call of "kottagaa rekkalocchenaa gooTilOni guvva pillakee...", or in the gentle chiding of "paDamara paDagalapai merisae taaralakai raatri varichakae sandhyaa sundari...", or the new found joy in the age old art in "andela ravamidi padamuladaa, ambara manTina hRdayamudaa..", or in the unfettered happiness in a structure free life "aakaSam lO aaSala harivillu, aanandaalae poochina podarillu..", the perfect fusion of the apt word and the exact tune never bothers about which arrives first, as long as, the word compliments the tune and the tune completes the word.

Continued in the next part - Ilayaraja's playful side with Vamsi.

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