Favorite Rajni Song Sequences - 1
Raakkammaa Kaiya Thattu... - Thalapathy
Considering that Manirathnam is my favorite director when it comes to picturizing songs, the fact that this song sequence tops the list shouldn't come as a surprise. From the violin riff - and the camera that follows its pace - that starts it off, it is clear that this song is blockbuster material. The song has been choreographed targeting Rajni's strengths in dancing. His steps to the song's start are fantastic and those, combined with a couple of other shots(like the quick steps leading to a 'freeze' with arms bent and outspread), belie the fact that dance isn't among his strongpoints. The orange tint in the cinematography, the browns of the locale and the dancers' costumes all combine to give the song an earthy feel. The transition to kunitha puruvamum... at the end and the starting lines, now slowed down with the humming in the middle, are surefire signs of Ilaiyaraja's genius and Shobana's dance and Rajni's relaxed finger-clicking convey the changed mood perfectly. Rarely do all elements in a song sequence come together so well...
Balaji's Thots... [Permalink]
Your Thots (13)
13 Comments:
I know I should not argue with Rajni hard core fans like you and everything is subjective but having the advantage of not being myopic here are my naalanna worth:
1.thalapathi no 1 ithu three four much!
2. what about oruvan oruvan from Muthu. the song is simply awsome music wise. the intro grows on you. Possibly the best opening ever.
3. was there any restrictions on one song per movie. I feel the auto anthem should also be in. " ajakkunaa ajakku than" is easy on the ears ,plays to Rajni's strength in steps.
4 why my personal fav" sutthi sutthi' is not included. the huge puppets were for once attractive and Rajni rocked in his mavaatum steps. I mean it as a huge compliment! maavu attuvadhu was never that sexy!!
5.I am happy you left out"pothu vaaga en manasu thangam' but MV RCshakti combovil vantha "Agaya gangai" is a very important miss. Guindy was never so green Sridevi per mooku operation was quite cute and Rajni was nonchalant throughout.
6. i agree with veera , mullum malarum, azhagu songs .
7.sambo siva sambo should have also made it . for the goofy way in which rajni "ad libs " the song !
8.But the famous "rajni pocket in hand profile look " and "thlaimoodi kothal" just just have to put " kaathalin deepam " straight to no 1. that is one song when it comes on Tv I stop all my other activity and wait for those two moments. athu thaan style!!
vengayam
and what about " ammavai vanangaatha" - my appa's fav Rajni's song.
Rajni with pattai and vetti was also cool.
and what about " ammavai vanangaatha" - my appa's fav Rajni's song.
Rajni with pattai and vetti was also cool.
I know "Rakkamma" is the crowd favourite, but I think "Sundari kannal oru seidhi" has to be the most innovatively picturized song sequence in Tamil movies. The battle sequences and the romantic interludes represented the relationship between Rajini and Shobana beautifully and not to forget - Rajini's samurai hair-do!
Kumar
You are absolutely right in mentioning that this song suited Rajini's strengths (or the lack of it) in dancing.
The choreographer, once mentioned in an interview that he was showing the steps to Rajini for this song. Rajini had replied, in his typical tone, something on the lines of: "Kanna, nee romba nalla dance aadura. Kandippa periya aala varuva. Irundhalum enakku yetha maadhiri steps podu." Such modesty.
And yes, true to his word, the choreographer did make a big name for himself both as dancer and an actor. He went into oblivion before resurfacing again as director.
I agree with Vengayam on his 5th point - we miss "Aagaya gangai" in the list. Superstar's walk and the twirling of glasses are among the prominent ones in his rich repertoire of styles. Many people have tried and failed big time in their attempts to imitate it. It was a spectacle to see when he does both, in unison, during the 1st BGM of this song and for this simple reason alone, it had to be up there in the list.
As expected (esp. after Adhiradi was placed at number 2), Rakkamma song ends up topping the list :) Completely agree with you in that this song has been choreographed to Thalaivar's strength. Whenever the choreographer takes care in coming up steps that will suit Thalaivar, the songs end up being awesome to watch. That is the reason why this song, along with Maaya Maaya and Adhiradee (obviously) are some of the best songs when it comes to Thalaivar's dancing.
watch this video...one of the best dialogue delivery from thalaivar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPmiYeNhOcM
vengayam, good observation. i did have a self-imposed restriction of having only 1 song per movie to make my job easier :)
i like most of his intro songs like 'naan autokaaran...', 'oruvan oruvan...', 'vandhenda paalkaaran...', 'adhaanda idhaana...' etc. if i had to pick 1 among them i'd pick 'vandhenda paalkaaran...' though :)
and yes, 'aagaya gangai...' was one I didn't think of (though i can't guarantee it would've made the top 10 :)
kumar, true the alternating romantic and battle music made that number very unique. for me 'rakkamma...' beats everything else though :)
anon, nice tidbit. thanx :)
anon, yeah and not just once, he keeps doing it as he is walking. super cool :)
filbert, both songs u mention r by lawrence. pretty clear he is just perfect in choreographing songs for thalaivar. prabhu deva's a bit too ambitious i think :)
rajesh, 'aval appadithaan' is considered one of his best. havent seen it though :(
Chandrabose - 1
Deva - 2
Vidyasagar - 1
A.R.Rahman - 1
Ilaiyaraja - 6
Raja beats the rest all put together. We sure know which decade you grew up in Balaji :-)
It's your list, so can't argue too much. But too bad, not even 1 KB song! I guess as consolation, there are 1-2 Kavithalaya songs :)
I was sure My name is Billa and Podhuvaga En Manasu would be on the list. The former because that was the movie he overtook Kamal, and the latter because I think that's about the time he became a Superstar.
So now that you seen everybody else's list, which ones would you have included if you had thought about it? What number would they be on your list?
I thought Sambo Sivasambo would be one that you might forget about.
Raj...not sure which decade you were born in since ur calculations are incorrect(1+2+1+1+6 <> 10)!!!!!!
much deserved song to be in #1 spot no doubt!
I don't care for #2.. but agree with everything else.
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