Review

A couch for tunes please!

Ladies and Gentlemen
Five Star Audio
Rs 40

Bharani the music director who debuted with Parvai Ondre podum does not make a good impression in Ladies and Gentlemen either

Livingstone, Kaushalya and Sanghavi (Kannada star Aarti's niece) star in this politely titled film. Does it want to remind viewers of Kaun Banega Crorepati or Sun TV's parallel programme Koteeswaran whose anchors, Amitabh Bachchan and Sharat Kumar use the phrase all the time in English as well as in Hindi and Tamil translations? Bharani's music fared as badly as the film Parvai Ondre podhum starring Kunal and Monal (Simran's sister). Here he does not seem to make up in any way.

Alai alaiyai by Unnikrishnan and Harini might remind you of some S A Rajkumar and Deva music. But while this is neat in orchestration it does not shine as a tune. The romantic lyrics go as far as naming the lover the Sevvai of her Sevvai graham(the Mars in her horoscope's house of Mars?!).

Vennilavae by Unnimenon does not rise to a memorable level. Some flute and violin phrases thrown in without much thought to the folksy rhythm base make the song a thoughtless affair. Hariharan renders a livelier version on Side B. This song is by Vijay. Other lyricists on this album are L Sarvanan and Punyamurthy.

Krishnaraj, whose Eechi elumicche from Taj Mahal still stays with me, sings Cinema parkalam. This song works like a general advertisement for cinema and its beneficial effects on viewers who can forget their worries and relax. Unremarkable.

Rukumani rukumani by Swarnalatha and Harish is fast paced, with tavils, udukkai, tapates and has a very Tamil folk touch to it. One of the better songs with a definite tune identity.

Jeya jeya kumba by Swarnalatha starts off like a typical Indian film interpretation of an African tribal song. A voice intoning strange syllables on a deep bass drum. Then Swarnalatha goes on to sing a rather disco-ish tune.

Bharani perhaps needs to look at tunes as having their own life and character. He seems to treat them as inanimate objects to which he can attach a flute or violin ensemble in the bits and the interludes without much care for the inate structure of the tune he makes. The result is that they lack character and don't hold together.

S Suchitra Lata


Posted on 17th July 2001

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