Theme Music of Paa..

I heard the 'Theme music' of 'Paa' in the movie promos. It was a wonderful symphony kind of music and I eagerly waited for the music album to be out. But I was disappointed when there was no theme music track (at least in the original form; there is a remix version) in the music album. But the title track, 'Mere Paa', sung by Amitabh Bachchan had the 'theme music' as the interludes/music bridges in the song.

But I was shocked when I learnt that, this is not an original composition of Ilayaraja for 'Paa'. Ilayaraja has already composed this song in 2005 for a Tamil movie called 'Athu Oru Kana Kaalam', directed by Balu Mahendra. I got to know of this information through the internet and I listened to the 'original' Tamil song, which is similar to the Hindi song 'Mere Paa'. The Tamil song is sung by Ilayaraja himself. The Hindi song is kind of funny and emotional, as the character 'Auro' describing his mother. The Tamil song on the other hand is a philosophical one. In the instrumentation part of the 'Theme music', I felt the Tamil version scores a point over the Hindi version. It is a surprise that the Tamil song didnt make it to the top of the charts when it was released. Though this is a great composition from Ilayaraja, I think he can come out with such wonderful 'original' compositions and stop resuing the old stuff.

1] Kaatu Vazhi Kaalnadaya - Athu Oru Kana Kaalam - Tamil - 2005
2] Mere Paa - Paa - Hindi - 2009

One more in 'Kapi'

Ilayaraja does it again! I had posted in my blog earlier how it took this musical genius 25 years to get one of his best tunes, its due recognition. I had listed in that post the chronology of the songs based on the carnatic Raagam ‘Kapi’ in various Indian languages. Now there is an addition to that list:

1]Sangathil Padatha - Autoraja - Tamil - 1982
2]Thumbi Vaa - Olangal - Malayalam - 1982
3]Akasam Enatido - Nireekshana - Telugu - 1982
4]Neer Veezhchi - Kanne Kalai Mane - Tamil - 1988
5]Sunday Tho - Aur Ek Prem Kahani - Hindi - 1996
6]Gumm Summ Gumm - Paa - Hindi - 2009

This version of the song is sung by Ilayaraja’s daughter Bhavatharani supported by a chorus. Ilayaraja’s earlier attempt with this tune in Hindi was a dud, but he seems to have done a great job this time around. The song sounds 'speedy' in this version but the orchestration is top notch. IR even adds a breath of jazz into this version in between, in the second musical bridge. The lyrics are also catchy and add to the rhythm of the song. Another gem in the ‘Mood Kapi’ series. Hats off to Isaignani !!