Satyajit Ray's Pratidwandi starring Dhritiman Chatterjee, the first of his Calcutta Trilogy, released in October 1970. K Balachander's Varumayin Niram Sivappu released almost exactly ten years later, in November 1980, and starred Kamal Haasan and Sridevi. The two films bookend an important decade in Indian history. Pratidwandi came at the height of the Naxalite movement in West Bengal and Varumayin Niram Sivappu was made in the immediate aftermath of Emergency and the Lok Sabha elections of 1980. A tumultuous decade for India, Congress and Indira Gandhi, possibly casting a long shadow in the political landscape of today.

Deepauk and Aditya are joined in this episode by Sohini Chattopadhyay, an award winning independent journalist from Kolkata with bylines in New York Times, Al Jazeera, Mint, The Hindu and SCMP among others. 

Listen on.

Some of Sohini's work in the context of the topics discussed in the podcast:

With the macro context set in the first three episodes of the series we shift focus into musical details - specifically Raaja's use of folk music. This episode focuses on Raaja's use of folk rhythms, the forms he employs, and touches briefly upon what Carnatic music provides to a composer like him.

Topics covered:

The need for analysis beyond personal aesthetic preferences

Folk rhythms and their use in everyday life vs. in celebration

Formalized folk elements and their impact in Raaja's compositions

Santham and the use / placement of lyrics

The personality of a Carnatic Raga and what it provides a composer

Participants:

Deepauk

Mahesh

Bala Chidambaram

Speech Clippings

Music academy speech

Sundari kannal oru sethi (3:50)

Gundello Godari clip

ARR Oscar Felicitation Speech

Musical References:

Chiththirai Sevvaanam

Nethiyila Pottu vai

Vanthathe kungumam

Etham ayya etham

Poovil vaNdu

kizhakkala suvathu pakkam

Aayiram thamarai mottukale

Naanoru sinthu

Aila Re (for Yelae Nee Yettipo)

Ending clip from Naatupurappaattu

Ten years ago Selvaraghavan came up with a film that had nothing in common with the films he had directed up until then. It was a mix of historic fiction and fantasy, with elements like prophecy, "chosen one", deliverance, revenge and black magic. Aayirathil Oruvan starring Karthi, Andrea Jeremiah, Reema Sen and Parthiban received mixed reviews upon its arrival but the film has found an intense following over the last decade. It's nuances are studied with care, subtexts of Eelam and Sri Lankan civil war all too obvious now, along with the most entertaining, confounding and fantastical latter progressions in a Tamil film in recent times.

To talk about Aayirathil Oruvan, Aditya is joined by Ashoka with special guests - film critic Sudhir Srinivasan, Entertainment Editor, Cinema Express (The New Indian Express) and Nadika, who returns to The Other Banana once again after the Super Deluxe episode.

Here is Arul Mani's article on Selvaraghavan that's discussed in the episode.

Our new episode is not only a double bill but also something unique. For the first time we are talking about a novel. In this podcast, we talk about a one of a kind Tamizh novel. Pettai by Tamizh Prabha that was published by Kalachuvadu Publications in 2017. The novel deals with the history of Chinna Thari Pettai - modern day Chintadripet in Madras, India and the story of a host of interesting characters over the course of four decades till the present day.  Aditya along with singer, songwriter and musician Arivu, and independent journalist Kavitha Muralidharan delve deep into the intricacies of the novel to mine the ways in which the author has captured the lives of the people of Chintadripet. No prizes for guessing where he's from. It's a Tamizh novel by Tamizh Prabha so  only fair that this episode is completely in Tamizh.

On Pettai with Kavitha and Arivu: 0 - 1:30:10 

On Madras with Tamizh Prabha: From 1:30:11

References:

Intro - Kalangal Kadanthu Ponathe

Madras Suvar Theme

S Ramakrishnan speech on Pettai referenced in the podcast

In this episode, we talk about the legendary S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, the long career that he has had as an.....actor! One of the under-discussed aspects of the inimitable singer-performer, his talents in front of the camera have made a mark of their own, something that has even bled into his talent behind the mic. He could be the genial father or the sincere, bumbling cop. Or he could be your friendly, neighborhood family doctor. He remains Balu the singer in front of our eyes but he can also accede to the demands of the role. Joining Adi for this pod are regular guests Krupa and Equanimus. Listen on.

The film that made Anushka Shetty a trailblazer and a legitimate superstar in the South. A film so mad, so crazy and so much going for it that you cannot take your eyes off it even if you'd cower just a little bit. Kodi Ramakrishna's Arundhati is a legendary film in Telugu cinema but even its very existence is couched in legends as Hemanth Kumar CR tells us in this podcast with anecdote after anecdote. Joining him are Max and Yamini. Listen on.

We are super excited to present this episode on one of the most enduring and memorable romantic comedies of Tamil cinema. 15 years ago, a then little film called Kanda Naal Mudhal released and surprised everyone in the best way possible. Directed by debutante V. Priya, produced by Prakash Raj and starring Prasanna, Laila, Lakshmi, Revathy, Karthik Kumar, Regina Cassandra (also making her debut), the film had a great team of technicians as well - Thotta Tharani, Sreekar Prasad, PC Sreeram and one of the best music and background score by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The film is still considered to be everyone's favorite romcoms and, as we found out, has aged beautifully.

A new attempt at The Other Banana Podcast. We are taking two films  - an original and a remake or plagiarized version of the same, and discussing about the merits, demerits and memories associated with the two. In this episode, we talk about the Priyadarshan's 1997 Malayalam film Chandralekha starring Mohanlal, Sukanya, Pooja Batra, Innocent, Sreenivasan, Nedumudi Venu et al and the film it was ripped off from - John Turteltaub's romcom While You Were Sleeping with Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman and Peter Gallagher.

Deepauk and Anantha are joined by regular guest Amrita and they also rue the coma status of the romcom genre as a whole. Listen on.

What happened to the glorious traditions of classical music in the 20th century? How did film music capture the public consciousness in Tamil Nadu (even India)? What is the significance of Ilaiyaraaja's arrival? These questions form the discussion in the third part of our series.

Though this episode stands on its own, you can listen to Part 1 and Part 2 for better context.  

Key topics covered:

The impact of the world wars on classical artists

Atonality and the recession of western classical music from the public consciousness

Formation of the sabhas and musical theater traditions in the Indian classical paradigm

The scope and space provided by film, a modern medium, for innovation in music

The three phases of Tamil Film Music, and the inventiveness of M.S.Viswanathan

Annakkili and the arrival of Ilaiyaraaja

Participants:

Deepauk

Mahesh

Bala Chidambaram

Musical References:

Ilaiyaraaja - Annakili

Ravel's Bolero

Shostakovich - Leningrad Symphony 7 Movement 2

Schoenberg - Pierrot Lunaire

Parthu Kadan Kodungal - Gopalkrishna Bharathy

Wagner - Ride of Valkyrie (OST Apocalypse Now, Da 5 Bloods)

Stravinsky - Petrushka

G.Ramanathan - Vaadaa Malare - Ambikapathy

M.S.Viswanathan - Ammammaa Keladi Thozhi - Karuppu Panam

C.Ramachandra - Eena Meena Deeka - Aasha

Wynton Marsalis - Second Line

M.S.Viswanathan - T.K.Ramamoorthy - Unnai Ondru Ketpen - Puthiya Paravai

Additional References:

Ilaiyaraaja Music Academy Speech

M.S.Viswanathan on Charukesi and Ammamma Keladi

Ilaiyaraaja Interview clip

The impact of Sabha culture

Bala's blogposts on music of the  20th century, Tamil film music