Virumandi Theme - Ilaiyaraaja

I have always been intrigued by the chilling effect of Virumandi theme, which plays in its entirety in the opening credits of the film. When I watched it the first time, on the first day of the release, music in the opening credits got drowned in the euphoric noise of the Kamal Hassan fans in the cinema hall. I did sense that something strange, unusual, utterly original was playing underneath the imaginative title cards, but couldn’t catch the actual theme. It wasn’t until I watched the film again on Television that I heard the piece properly.

I ripped the music from the bootlegged copy of the film and added it to my Ilaiyaraaja score collection. I have heard the theme many times since then, but didn’t fully comprehend the intricacies in the orchestration that caused the chilling effect, until one day in the recent past.

The theme is orchestrated very precisely to evoke the overall morbid tone of the film, and also to suggest the film’s ambitious Rashomon-like structure. The narrative of the film offers two different perspectives on one incident — the truth narrated by the protagonist and the twisted version of it by the antagonist.

In the theme music, the two versions of the story are underlined by two layers in the instrumentation, in which two different instruments from strings family, play the same motif with a slight and yet acute variation in tone. A violin pronounces the theme with a dash of naiveté in its shrill registers, and underneath, a cello renders the same melody with a cunning intonation in its deep bass registers. Both are mixed in a way as if the cunning cello is snaking around and squeezing the neck of the innocent violin. The two layers are wound so tightly close in the final mix that the gap is ingeniously disguised; it isn’t immediately evident, in the same way the truth isn’t in the two versions of the story while they are being narrated. Later, a tender flute also joins the layers of strings, duplicating the main theme, probably to suggest the plight of Virumandi’s beloved Annalakshmi, the poor victim of the bloody war.

Astounding!

Other layers too are in the theme precisely for reasons pertaining the events and ideas within the film. The eerie chorus and tribal rhythms suggest the barbaric brutality of the violence in the key incident of the film.

Furthermore, all of these layers are magnificently knit together with musical integrity of an absolute piece of music written for its own sake. It would work just as fine and satisfying as a standalone mood piece for a listener, who hasn’t seen the film, or isn’t cognizant of the film’s complex themes and ideas expressed in its orchestration.

Numero Uno, indeed.

Ilaiyaraaja Live in Concert - 09

Ilaiyaraaja Live in Concert - 08

Kamal Haasan, who was sitting in the front row, when he quietly walked on to the stage, I thought this is going to be one of those segments in a typical concert where people say things that everyone already know. I must admit that if there is one person whom I don’t mind hearing talk about Ilaiyaraaja it is Kamal Haasan, but here, in this concert, I thought it would disrupt the mood and momentum of the concert. Just when these thoughts were clouding my head, I noticed that Kamal Haasan was dressed exactly like any other musician in the orchestra — the only one dressed differently on stage was Ilaiyaraaja.

Kamal Haasan walked closer to a microphone, and started -- Singing! He rendered “Raghupathi Raaghav Raajaraam” from Hey Ram - the version that plays out in the movie’s opening credits. It finally hit me like a thunderbolt then that this was the only version in which the song that have always been sung like a Hindu Bhajan was set to a melody with a heavy Islamic flavour. Kamal Haasan rendered the tune and the words with perfection, modulation on the word Seetha was bang on. That moment I felt the song wouldn’t have the effect it does if not for the voice of Kamal Haasan, and that is coming from someone who hates Kamal’s singing voice. Sometimes, you need to see the singer perform the song live in front of you to know how much of themselves they pour into the song and realise the extent of inseparability. To fall in love with a song even more, you sometimes need to see the way the nerves on their neck stretch and strain to deliver a melody like the strings triggered inside a Piano by the fingers on the keys outside.

And then a glimpse of grace. Without giving time for audience to react or appreciate Kamal Haasan - the singer, the western choir with Indian choir joined in to sing the moving choir piece from Heyram Opening Credits. I remember that for the pre-release promotions of Heyram, they use to repeatedly play this video of a Hungarian choir group singing in a huge recording hall with Kamal Haasan and Ilaiyaraaja sitting amidst the orchestra and watching the recording. I use to wonder why Ilaiyaraaja is sitting there idle when his music is being recorded. I didn’t know that anybody can conduct a written piece of music. I used to be wide-eyed with wonder and amazement whenever I saw that video, and would ask myself if I would ever get to watch such orchestral music performance live. Here at the concert, I was pinching myself.

I don’t know whether they were doubling the voices live in the mix, but it sounded massive, as if the entire crowd was singing along with the choir group. The choir group of Budapest Symphony, wood winds and strings — it was like a gentle fountain with layers of instruments laid one after the other and rising high and reaching far on all sides. But, I was watching only the Harp, though the Harp is not doing anything in the lead in the piece, I have always been intrigued by the part it plays in an orchestral piece. What exactly does it do? Is it a dispensable part? Would the piece loose something if there was no Harp player available to play the part?

When Preeti Uttam walked in, I thought they were going to perform the symphonic interlude of Pollaadha Madhana Baanam too, but was wondering how they would manage to reproduce the synth layers live. I always wondered if there is some kind of minus-acoustic track — just the synth layers from the original without the acoustic instrumental parts — for instrumental pieces too like minus-one track that singers use for most of their concerts, which is the song minus the voice. However, what followed after the short choir piece is the instrumental prelude of Nee Partha Paarvaikku oru Nandri, without Rani Mukherjee’s bengali poetry though. I like how the tune blossoms in a western flute suddenly out of nowhere when the piece is about to end, and the ensuing strings that brings the prelude of the song to a satisfying closure. And they didn’t sing the song. When it moved on to one of the softest pieces involving just two flutes I realised that this is becoming a well arranged suite of major musical motifs from Heyram score. The two flutes — one innocently looping a phrase and another playing a melody to the cuteness, innocence and lovability of Mythili’s character. Even the placement of Mythili’s theme in the movie is brilliant. When Mythili asks if she can be Kamal’s friend, the piece is first introduced and when she says she has caught Kamal smiling thrice - Hat-trick - it is diligently cued in again.

I was hoping that the suite would include one of my most favourite musical scoring moments in the film. It is when Mythili expresses her love to Kamal in the hospital. The title choir piece is reprised on the orchestra for the first time here. It is an amazing scene, conversation and the score that precisely changes course on right sync points — the strings that whip up a magnetic force that is drawing Saketh emotionally closer and further closer to Mythili when he is in trance while Mythili is kissing him all over his face, and for the first time Nee Paartha Paarvaikku is played for Mythili and Kamal Haasan, now that Mythili has replaced Aparna from Saketh Ram’s life - Saketh even passes on the Aparna’s ring to Mythili as if that is the moment when they are really getting married. The changeovers, the shifting themes in this piece may not work as beautifully and as intensely in a music-only concert as it does when experienced with the visuals.

And finally Preeti Uttam did what she came to do — crooned her alaap that begins the breathtaking instrumental interlude from Pollaadha Madhana Baanam. This piece is heady mix of softer wood winds playing for the sensuous layer, the brass and percussions layers for the violence, and that bang when Vasundhra Das on bed turns into a giant rifle, the ass of which Kamal kisses. There are so many layers in the visuals and so too in the music conveying everything. As we all know that the songs of this movie were composed after they were shot, I wonder what was in the original. I just can’t think of the multi layered cut of this scene working coherently without the accompanying score of Ilaiyaraaja. And the live performance - The sight of entire orchestration swinging into action for this piece - Ah! You just don’t know which part to concentrate on.

Ilaiyaraaja Live in Concert - 10

Score Quest Fest - Answers

Score Quest Fest

Track 3 is from Dasavatharam. Composer - Devi Sri Prasad. This is the title score. Though I am not sure how genuine this composition is, when played in the title credits, it gave a majestic entry to the much hyped film.

Track 4 is from Ivan. Composer - Ilaiyaraaja or Karthik Raja. I am not sure who the composer is as the piece has unmistakable Karthik Raja touch. It is Deetchanya's theme. It plays in the scene where Deetchanya dreams in which she asks Parthiban to write a poem. It is a scintillating orchestral piece for a very poetic scene. The shift to a melody on bells when she says 'Kavithai' and the following strings piece to imply the ecstasy of Deetchanya is simply hair-rising stuff.

Making of a Score

I had literally nothing to do in my life at that time. I use to compose some scratch tunes. I had just bought a Midi to USB connecter, with which I could connect my keyboard to my laptop, and record as I play. I was also listening to a lot of Hollywood scores at that time. The one that I kept humming was the Fellowship fanfare theme from Lord of the Rings. It is such an infectious tune.

A lazy Wednesday morning, I was humming the Lord of the rings Fellowship theme and was trying to play it. As I was playing around with the main melody and trying to hit the right keys and notes, I got stuck with this part (1) of the theme (2). This part became the ending (2A) of Marudhanayagam theme. I thought of composing a new theme around it that is heroic and that can be made into a grand orchestral piece. I already had the starting phrase (3) of the theme (4) with me for a long time. It was a part of another scratch tune I had composed. I thought of connecting these two phrases with something in between, something that can seamlessly connect them. When I think of it now, I don't exactly know how I got the connecting phrase. In a magical way, it all fell in place and the main 'Marudhanayagam' theme was born.

I composed this theme much before I saw the 'Marudhanayagam' trailer. I had started blog to post my own compositions and had already posted two or three pieces. I was looking for something interesting to make next. At that time, I had the chance of watching the muted trailer of Marudhanayagam (Kamal Haasan's dream project which is yet to be completed). The very first time I saw it, I thought that my melody would perfectly fit the video. I didn't know or didn't think even for a second about whether I would be able to pull a score for the complete trailer. I didn't know that I was getting into something really big and serious (considering my limited knowledge in music). I went ahead thinking that even if I couldn't complete, I would at least gain some experience in orchestrating a piece of music. And so it began.

The main theme (4) was ready. But I realized that I can't simply play the melody over and over in the video. It is a movie trailer. Normally, score for a trailer is not done to match with the cuts and shifts in the visuals, as there usually would be so many of them, showing bits and pieces of the movie in random order. It is really very tough to make the piece sound seamless if we get specific and that is one of the reasons why my score for this trailer ended up with rough musical transitions.

Though this is a trailer, I could see that the scenes are in chronological order and that the complete story of the movie is captured in just 3 minutes. So, I decided to make the music that shifts along with shifts and cuts along with the cuts in the visual. Initially I tried to be too specific and ended up disappointing myself. I composed some beats and pieces and tried to put them together with the visuals thinking that it would fit each and every cut in first 14 seconds of the trailer. But it became too clustered and awful sounding. It didn't match with the visuals at all.

Scraped everything and started from scratch again. I decided to do a basic rhythm pattern for the trailer. I tried playing different rhythms on a wooden Table and tried reproducing them with drum kit in FL studio. After much struggle I got one that fitted well with those initial moments of the trailer. I got this rhythm (5). When played in synch with the visuals it sounded so perfect. I was so happy. Believe me; if I had not gotten this rhythm pattern, I would not have proceeded further.

As the rhythm fitted so well, I threw away all the ideas of bringing themes and melodies in those initial moments and just allowed this rhythm to play. I decided to hint the first few bars of the theme on a subdued trombone as it shifts to the card reading 'Hindustan' and to the shot that shows Kamal writing something. But the sound font of trombone that I had, sounded anything but trombone we get to hear in orchestras. So what you hear now is a combination of many instruments like Saxophone, flute, trumpet and trombone on different pitches and volume levels.

The next part of the trailer is where Kamal is getting introduced as a hero, as a rebel. Initially, I allowed the rhythm (5) to flow in this part also, but it didn't sound right. I wanted a build up in the music as camera moved down to show Kamal slowly lifting his face. The idea of build up got transformed as a small phrase of melody (6) played on cascade of strings. I put a layer of strings playing the melody on lower octaves and after repeating twice, another layer of strings joins playing the same melody on the next higher octave and after repeating twice, one more layer of strings joins in playing it in the next higher octave. I added a bell sound (7) that plays a new rhythm pattern which was soon going to become the next big rhythm of the whole piece and along with it added a heavy drum beat (8). There is also a layer of brass section (9) constantly tugging down under on a single note which I used to maintain a dark mood throughout. When I put all of them together, it sounded right and fitted well with the transformations on the screen.

I liked the new rhythm pattern (10) which I thought for the bell and so it became the next big rhythm of the piece and I used it on drums for the shot of Kamal lifting the face. (Much later I found this rhythm sounding so similar to the one Ilaiyaraaja scored for the trailer of 'Sirai Chaalai' or 'Kaala Pani'. That trailer was continuously played on all television channels then and every time I use to sit and listen, astounded by the grandeur of Ilaiyaraaja's music for the trailer.)

The rhythm plays out continuously for the shot of people getting killed in a row and I decided to stop this brass section (9) as the camera is about to reach Kamal. The idea was to suddenly stop something that would have already settled well in the minds of the listener. This blocking creates a sudden restlessness, thereby helping to create a mild tension in that moment.

When I wanted to sound the shock and surprise of the opponents in seeing Kamal’s rebellious nature, cymbals came to my rescue. It is an age old method. I have seen such heavy use of cymbals in the fight sequences of very old historical movies. But I thought it felt right in the context of this scene, where Kamal suddenly grabs one opponent and bites his neck like an animal. A cymbal sound is introduced the moment he gets up and also the first part of the main theme appears rougher, louder and clearer here, declaring that it is indeed the main theme. To make it sound rough, I made Horns play the theme on a lower octave. For the action sequence that follows, I went back to the first rhythm pattern (5) as I wanted to convey a shift, urgency and chaos which aren’t there in the second one (10).

In the very beginning, I decided that the main theme should be played in its entirety for the first time in that slow motion sequence where Kamal escapes by riding a Bull. But in between the action sequence and 'Kamal riding the bull' sequence, there is a small portion where the card 'He fought for dignity' appears. I used a small melody (11) on Strings here as a connector and a prelude to the main theme that is about to start.

There is also a shift in rhythm pattern as he rides the bull. It is just a single beat (12) that constantly thuds heavily from behind. And there it is finally, the full blown main theme arriving when Kamal is shown to have arrived as a hero, as a rebel. I created two versions of the main theme, with different combination of instruments playing it. The version (13) that is heard first with trumpets and trombones is to match up with the heroic undertone of the visual, and the second (14) version has violin, flute and mild strings put together.

And once the episode for which I was waiting to score was done, I became lazy and I left everything in the middle and didn't go back to the score for almost a week. That laziness shows in the very next sequence where Kamal throws big stones on his enemies from the top of a huge waterfall. I just let the rhythm of the previous part to continue here, which I now realize as the one bit that is so asynchronous and odd with the visuals in the whole trailer.

The trailer turned interesting again with shots showing different phases in the life of the hero. I thought of each of this small episode as a chance to play the main theme again and again on various instruments. Before that, there is a small portion to be scored in between. It is the scene in which Kamal is hit by an enemy's arrow and the CG shot of him falling down from the top. I brought in the prelude (11) again here, but this time the melody (15) is played longer, louder and without any accompaniment. The inspiration was a sequence from 7G, Rainbow Colony, where Yuvan used a cascade of swirling strings when Kathir decides to commit suicide by falling off from a bridge. I wanted it to sound something similar to that.

For 'He lost his roots' episode, I initially thought of putting the main theme in Piano, but it didn't sound the ambience and eeriness in that scene. I then decided to go for wood winds. I wanted the sound of a Duduk, but I had no sound font of Duduk. I tried to put in different flute sounds on various pitches to get the feel I wanted but nothing worked. Finally, I chose to use the ordinary flute playing the theme on a lower register (16), accompanied by an Oboe playing the same.

For 'He lost his loved ones' episode, I instantly chose the solo violin as I had a nice violin sound font. But I did contemplate of using a different melody here, one that I made before, titled 'When Tears Cry..' (17). Though Marudhanayagam has his own theme, I felt a lack of sadness in that melody and that the sympathy came mainly from the tone of violin (18). But this new melody wasn't gelling well with the rest of the piece, so I decided to scrap the idea. Again with just the violin it sounded so plain and superficial, so added a layer of subdued chorus lingering on a single note.

For 'Islam alias peace', I decided to go with a solo instrument without any accompaniment. I wanted to use a Rabaab or a Sarod here - the strings I thought had that sound of Islam. But none of the sound fonts I had was sounding close to what I wanted. Finally it is the Spanish guitar (19) that came to my rescue. I felt that the twing-twang of the guitar string without any other accompanying sound fits perfectly for peace.

After repeating the theme enough on different instruments for the journey of Marudhanayagam thus far, I wanted to shift to something completely different. For the training sequence, where Kamal is shown to be learning sword fight, I again came up with a new rhythm pattern (20), to sound the beginning of a new phase in life. Initially I just played this beat for the entire sword fight sequence, but I recognized that there is a change in momentum and rhythm of the visuals in between. There is a moment where the sword fight turns to slow motion showing Marudhanayagam flying in air to hit his opponent. I sensed an opportunity to bring something new here, that would perfectly sound this shot and so came up with this new melody (21).

In the few seconds, there are quicker cuts and transformations to various shots of Marudhanayagam fighting and struggling. After using this new melody for some time, and when the same old untidy face of Marudhanayagam is shown struggling for peace, I chose to return to the main theme, but here the theme is shifted further to the lower octaves on horns and brass to evoke the darkness that has completely engulfed Marudhanayagam.

My head started spinning as I started to think about what to do for the final battle sequence. I was exhausted and totally uninterested in composing anything new. Infact, while the whole score for the trailer took one month, I finished this battle sequence in just one day. I wanted to complete it as soon as possible. May be that is why when I first published it, many felt that music turned less and less interesting towards the end.

The first thing that I got is the rhythm pattern that is used at the start of the battle sequence, when it frequently cuts to shots showing the logical way of starting a battle. I got this beat (22) and I was simply astounded by how well it fitted with the cuts in the visual. I realized how important it is to analyze the pace and rhythm of the cuts in the visuals to come up with a fitting score. Initially, there was no snare roll layer in the rhythm. I accidentally stumbled upon this snare roll sound font. I knew that a snare would definitely sound more authentic and fitting to the battle sequence and so I overlapped the snare roll along with the drum beat and I was so ecstatic by the outcome. It sounded so perfect to me. And then for the card 'Mohammed Yusuf khan', for obvious reasons, I again brought back the main theme.

The horses on both sides start to move forward and the pace of the movement gradually increases and reaches a high as they clash and cross to fight. For this, I composed a small phrase of melody again (23) which could be played conveniently at different speeds. The music starts slowly as the horses warm up and begin to walk, reaches the next higher tempo as they begin to run, and reaches the highest when they approach each other at maximum speed. Initially I employed just the string section, but I thought I could fill in some more to make is sound more bombastic, and so added a trumpet solo that would just play the same melody along with the strings on and off, and had cymbals hitting continuously underneath. But once this new bit (23) seemed exhausted, I brought in just-before-heard (21) melody played on a higher tempo to match with that of the visuals. Finally when the two sides clash, I went for the main theme to play on two layers in its loudest form, with one layer starting the melody, a note after the other.

Thus, Marudhanayagam trailer score was done. I wanted to share and relive those joyous moments of making it and so this long post. This exercise of making the score for the trailer made me all the more aware of zillion thoughts and ideas that a composer must go through while writing a score for a full length feature film and my respect and admiration for all those great film music composers reached a new peak.

Download all the audio files of this post here.

Answer for Background Score - 46

This piece is from Pushpak (Pesum Padam in Tamil). Composer – L.Vaidhyanathan. I always wanted to watch this movie as I knew that it is a silent film without any dialogues and so there would be a lot of scope and work for the composer to communicate the emotions in the visuals through his background score. Though I felt that overall there is too much of music being used and also didn’t like overtly cheesy synth usage in the score, there are lot of scoring moments where the score beautifully underscores like the one in which this piece is used.

Kamal meets Amala for the first time in a shop, where she is trying different ear rings to select the one that fits her taste. As she is looking into a mirror, she finds in the mirror that a stranger (Kamal) is also watching her from behind. And she notices that he is keenly watching her. The pleasant sitar piece constantly flows in the background, the flute pops up in between when Amala tries one ear ring and looks into the mirror for Kamal’s approval and as Kamal show a rejecting reaction in his face, what starts of as a pleasant piece goes off-track and cuts itself and this happens for each ear ring Amala tries and Kamal rejects but finally when Amala finds the one ear ring that Kamal likes, the relieved flute piece plays a definite melody in its entirety giving a fine finish to the scene and also to the music piece.

Answer for Background Score - 35

This piece is from opening credits of Singara Velan. Composed by Illayaraja. What an earthy melody on a serene flute and the unadulterated strings that followselevates the pleasant mood further. Only Raaja can create such melodies and orchestration.

Dasavathaaram Trailer - Hans Zimmer

May be this is how Hans Zimmer would have scored the background music for Dasavathaaram Trailer.



This idea came to me when I was watching Da Vince Code in HBO last night. ‘Chevaliers De Sang real’ is one of my favorite background score pieces from the movie. This piece is used in its entirety in the climax sequence where Robert Langdon follows the rose line and finally finds the real location of the Mary Magdalene’s sarcophagus.

Dasavathaaram Trailer - Devi Sri Prasad

I still wonder why Kamal chose Devi Sri Prasad to do the background score for Dasavathaaram. Like how Himesh was a producer’s choice for commercial reasons to market the movie in Hindi, I think Devi Sri Prasad (he is a star in his own right there), was chosen for marketing the movie in Telugu. The background score of the trailer sounds good and matches with the grandeur of the visuals.

But I don’t know why Devi Sri Prasad has to rip off the background score piece from Spider Man-3 for the trailer. There have been many instances before where background scores of Hollywood movies were used for Tamil movie trailers to make a bigger impact. But those are done for movies with mostly new actors, directors and producers who were desperate to get people’s attention. Why use the same cheap technique for a movie with an actor of Kamal’s stature? .

Sometimes even without the consent of the composer, the producers add such music to the trailers, but here it is evident that Devi Sri Prasad has intentionally taken the material and tweaked it a bit here and there, to make it sound original. Let us wait and watch if this music piece is going to be used in the movie too. I hope it is not.

Answer for Background Score - 7

This piece is Heyram Title Score. Simple melody with a soothing chorus and orchestration. Maestro at his best. Period. Atleast for this movie, they could have released the original score. Not to forget the brilliant start with a westernised rendition of 'Raghupathi raghava' by Kamal Haasan. The real meaning of fusion. The entire piece along with Kamal's rendition is here

Answer for Background Score - 3

This piece is Sathileelaavathi End Credits. It starts when Kamal says, 'Vaangadaa ellam vettukku polam'. The percussion bangs and racing solo violin melody caught my attention long back and i was stunned when I listened to it for the first time. It sounded like Illayaraja is bursting out of the silence he maintained throughout the movie. Under Illayaraja's baton, even the smallest pieces of music can create biggest impact and this one is just a sample for that.

Here is the next one.