Raja's read only memories

D Balakrishna, the son of late Mysore Doreswamy Iyengar – a doyen of Carnatic classical music – speaks on his association with classical music, his father and contemporary musical trends D Balakrishna, the son of Mysore Doreswamy Iyengar, a doyen of Carnatic classical music, seems to be a man of surprises. If the fact that his father did not pressurise him to become a musician makes for an interesting revelation, the mridanga, and not the veena, was the first musical instrument he was instructed on cannot but make one’s jaw drop in surprise. Classical music to Balakrishna was introduced through listening sessions of the compositions of the then great musicians. He says that this was because his father was “insistent that I have an ear for good music”. The veena in the household – that of his father – he recollects, remained out of bounds to the entire family. Balakrishna was soon drafted under the mridangam vidwan C K Ayyamani Ayyar, a contemporary of the late Palghat Mani Ayyar. ...

If ever a Hari movie, the director of the movies Saamy, Vel and Singam to name a few, were to be shrunk into a bullet-box, it would read as follows: a setting in south Tamil Nadu, with the plot centering on a single town; loud dialogues; knives, machetes, bombs; and melodrama and violence, with the latter in copious amounts. The said characteristics fit the description of his latest movie, Vengai (tiger), to the-T. Selvam’s (Dhanush) efforts to capture the culprits behind blowing up a railway track, sets the tone for Vengai , which is largely set in Sivaganga and Trichy. Selvam’s father Veerapandi (Rajkiran), a dispenser of justice to the locals, has connections with rowdies in different districts; he convinces 50,000 persons to vote for Rajalingam (Prakash Raj, in familiar territory as villain); and government officials report to him for scrutiny of deals done by Rajalingam (who says we need RTI?) – all for public good. Rajalingam simmers with discontent when his attempts to earn...