SYNOPSIS FOR THE BOOK ‘108 Cine Ragams’ By S.Parthasarathy
To a new listener Carnatic music offers an additional and a beautiful option to enjoy life. In this book, the author has successfully combined anecdotes, jokes, cryptic crosswords, puzzles and questions/answers to bring out the beauty of Carnatic music in Tamil films. The titles for each of the 8 chapters are the names of path-breaking films as far as music is concerned.
The first chapter titled KALIDAS introduces you to the various aspects of Carnatic music in Tamil films. You also get to know about the history and evolution of Tamil films and some of the pioneers. The second chapter called AMBIKAPATHI is the heart and brain of the book and takes you on an exciting voyage into the world of 108 Ragams selected by the author. 72 of these are discussed in detail. There are a lot of anecdotes and interesting material about the use of these Ragams in Tamil films.
NANDANAR, the third chapter takes you to meet 36 Music directors who have used Carnatic ragams in Tamil films. These range from Papanasam Sivan and G.Ramanathan in the 40s to K.V.Mahadevan and M.S.Viswanathan in the 60s to Ilayaraja and A.R.Rahman in the present day. The fourth chapter called MEERA tells you about 18 singing stars in Tamil films. Some of them are M.S.Subbalakshmi, M.K.Tyagaraja Bhagawathar, P.U.Chinnappa etc.
The fifth chapter titled AVVAIYAR talks about 27 playback singers like P.Leela, D.K.Pattammal, M.L.Vasantakumari, T.M.Soundararajan, P.Suseela and others of the past to S.P.Balasubramaniam, Chitra, Unnikrishnan, Bombay Jayasree and others of today. The sixth chapter called TILLANA MOHANAMBAL is about 18 lyricists from Kambadasan in the 40s, Kannadasan and Kalyanasundaram from the 50s through 70s and Vaali, Vairamuthu and others of today.
The seventh chapter called SALANGAI OLI is a medley of Cryptic crossword clues, Jumbles, Cryptograms and interesting Anecdotes about the various aspects and personalities of Carnatic music in films with the twin purpose of learning and enjoyment. SINDHU BHAIRAVI, the eighth chapter discusses what you can do to learn to appreciate Carnatic music and promote it. It also provides the details of websites from which materials have been used in this book.
The book does not end here. There is a multimedia CD-ROM accompanying the book which contains excerpts from at least two film songs and one carnatic music song in each of the 72 selected ragams. It also contains photographs and voices of music directors, singing stars, singers and lyricists. It has much more making it a verbal and vocal delight.
The first book (with a free CD-ROM) of the author – 108 Divya Ragams was released on 11th September 2004 in the presence of the eminent carnatic musician Padmabhushan Madurai T.N.Seshagopalan, Dr.Prameela Gurumurthy of the University of Madras and Rajiv Menon, an eminent film personality. The book received praise from the leading Newspapers of Chennai. Revised Edition of the book has been planned in early 2006.
The CD-ROM has excerpts from songs for over 15 hours and over 300 images. The CD-ROM opens with a dedication by the publisher and author to the author’s brothers. The Main Screen has 8 buttons which are as under,
Contents of CD-ROM accompanying 108 Cine Ragams
BUTTON |
CONTENTS |
| INTRO | Introduction to Carnatic music in Tamil films. |
| RAGAMS | Main button which contains at least two film songs and one Carnatic music composition in 72 Ragams. |
| COMPOSERS | Images of 27 Music Directors, with links to their songs. |
| SINGING STARS | Images of 18 Singing Stars, with links to their songs. |
| SINGERS | Images of 36 Singers, with links to their songs. |
| LYRICISTS | Images of 18 lyricists, with links to their songs. |
| KRITHIS IN FILMS | Unique collection of over 60 Carnatic music krithis in Indian films. |
| CONCERT | Introduction to Carnatic music concert |
The book and CD - 108 Cine Ragams have been published by Amritha Parthasarathy, 1,'Mohanam' (Ground Floor), 22, Perumal Koil Street,Arumbakkam, Chennai, 600 106. Ph: 43556610 or 94449 29146.
Copies of 108 Cine Ragams are now available only in Chennai and can be booked on 43556610 or 94449 29146 and will be delivered free within Chennai. Copies are also available at KarnaticMusic Book Centre, Royapettah. The cost per copy (consisting of the book and a multimedia CD) is Rs. 324/-.
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