This is the
2nd film with Deva composing for Vasanth. My guess is that
Vasanth is a fan of Ofra Azha and rubbed it on Deva!
7
Oh sona [Film: Vaalee]
<TC>
Inspired from 2 sources! Almost the entire song is inspired
by the classic 'Suzanna' by The Art Company. The second
interlude is a direct lift of Francis Lai's theme music for
the movie 'Love Story' (also sung by Andy William's as
'Where do I begin').
One of the
most authentic use of an original song. Deva has beautifully
worked on this number, the 2nd para sounds brilliant and is
original too. But could've avoided the use of the word 'alabalaba'
even in Telugu. A sure give-away!
10
Pul veli [Film: Aasai]
Minor copy. A guitar piece lifted from Rod Stewart's 'Maggie
May'.
'Cancao do mar'
was also included in the OST of the Richard Gere starrer
Primal Fear. Deva is one composer who gets all these amazing
world music acts to India, consistently! Also listen to the Hindi version
Ai Ajnabee
[Deewangi (2002), with music by Ismail Darbar]
13
Velai velai [Film: Avvai
Shanmugi]
Partly inspired from 2Unlimited's Workaholic! Note that the
theme of both songs is about overworking! Interesting eh?
Incidentally, this song was also made hugely popular when it
was used in an national advertisement campaign to promote
the usage of eggs by National Egg Coordination Committee
(NECC), a couple of years back!
Who
would have ever thought Tamil composer Deva listens to
genres as diverse as 'Nu-metal'? But looks like he has!
Trivia Note: 'Nu-metal' is synonymous with
a skating sub-culture where followers dress in: '
...voluminous black hooded tops, ordinarily featuring the
name of their favourite band; jeans so wide and long that
they sweep the grime from the pavement; an abundance of
chains, on which hang keys and wallets; and, for the true
believers, pierced lips, noses and eyebrows' (The
Independent, 11 December 2001). This sub-culture and music
style is immensely popular with teenagers!!
20
Title song 'Kannai kasakkum'
[Film: Red (2002)]
The entire prelude lifted directly off Den Harrow's 'Catch
the fox'!
Strange that Deva didn't lift the actual tune! Another
interesting aspect is a particular piece of music in the Den
Harrow original, that was also used by Deva, by virtue of it
being a direct lift! Now, Harry Anand's remix of the R D
Burman oldie from Caravan (1971), 'Chadti Jawani' also had
the exact same piece as an interlude!! Listen to
Chadti
Jawani interlude
About Den Harrow: Den
Harrow (born Manuel Stefano Carry) was 7 when he learnt how
to play piano and guitar. He moved to Italy when he was 4 or
5. While in college, together with his producers who were
DJ's in a nearby disco, his artistic pseudonym was chosen,
Den Harrow (originated from Italian word, 'denaro' that
stands for money). His two first songs: "To Meet Me" and "A
Taste Of Love" became quite popular in South European
countries. His other chartbusters include his first official
single 'Mad desire', 'Bad boy', 'Charleston' and 'Catch The
Fox'. In 1989 he released his third album 'Lies' that
attracted the attention of German's BMG/Ariola, earning more
than 19 million German Marks. Adidas and Coca Cola hired him
for their commercials. In 1992 he signed a new contract with
German label Polydor and released his fourth album 'All I
Want Is You' produced by Jennifer Rush and Natalie Cole.
1993 saw him releasing his fifth album 'Real Big Love' that
was produced by Natalie Cole.
21
Carolina [Film: Kadhal
Sadugudu (2003)]
Lifted from Dr.Alban's 'Guess who's coming to dinner'!
Here's another
Dr Alban lift by Tamil composer Deva, after his successful
lifts in Tholi Prema (Alabalaba) and Mugavari (Enemies) -
Its the usual Deva'ish direct lift with bland improvisation.
In fact, the lifts in Tholi Prema and Mugavari have
fantastic inputs by Deva and sound very unique. Dr Alban's
original (released in 1997, as a single) is called 'Guess
who's coming to dinner' and he collaborated with the 'Black
Uhuru' legend, Michael Rose for this duet. Dr Alban's
version itself was a remake of a Black Uhuru song of the
same name, though Dr Alban's track is much more similar to
Deva's Tamil version.
About Black Uhuru:
Black Uhuru was the leading second generation reggae vocal
groups, and was formed in Jamaica in 1974 by Euvin "Don
Carlos" Spencer, Rudolph "Garth" Dennis, and Derrick
"Duckie" Simpson. These three grew up in the famed
"Waterhouse" district of Kingston, Jamaica (a hot bed for
reggae artists over the years). After a couple of years the
group as it was originally known grew apart as Don Carlos
went on to a solo career, and Garth Dennis went on to sing
with another of the great Waterhouse group, the Wailing
Souls. Duckie Simpson continued to work under the Black
Uhuru name (Uhuru means Freedom in the Swahili language of
Africa), and he enlisted an up and coming singer, Michael
Rose, and Errol Jay's Wilson to record the "Love Crisis"
album with producer Prince Jammys (then a protege of the
famed pioneering reggae producer, King Tubbys).
22
Vandhenda paalkaaran [Film:
Annamalai (1992)]
Based on the famous Marathi song, 'Mi
Dolkar Dariyacha Raja'!
Listen to Vanthenda Paalkaaran:
Mi Dolkar Dolkar:
I usually do not add
intra-India inspirations/lifts - from one state to another.
It is largely because the source and dates get messy and in
case of folk songs the source itself is difficult to trace
and assign ownership to. But this one was irresistible! This
song is generally hailed as one of the 3 best introduction
songs for Rajinikanth, along with Baasha's Naan Aautokaran
and Muthu's Oruvan Oruvan. And it is amazing to note that
composer Deva actually based it on an iconic Marathi song.
Yes, I'm referring to Annamalai's 'Vanthenda Paalkaaran'
that seems obviously based on the famous Marathi song, 'Mi
Dolkar Dariyacha Raja'! It is fascinating to see how Deva
has 'used' the song to create his Tamil version - the
opening chorus in the original is retained as the mukhda in
the Tamil version, while the actual mukhda of the original
becomes the 2nd line - very clever version!
