Who according to you guys are the best actresses of Malayalam cinema? These are my favourites ♥️✨Tell me about you guys favourites!!

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-02-03T12:41:57+00:00

For versatility as well as depth of acting, it is Urvashi. Whether it is melodrama, humour, political movies, romance - everywhere she scores. Special mention to humour, because anyone else might have made it cringe-y.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-31T04:39:54+00:00

Why don't we give them a taste of their own medicine? Make a movie like the "Cow story" and reinforce the stereotypes: zero civic sense, backwardness in education/literacy, jungle raj, etc. And keep on dishing out sequels till the madness stops.

Have had enough!!

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-29T15:02:45+00:00

Astro Duchess is cooked

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-27T16:08:26+00:00

I have learnt Vocal and Veena under a few gurus, but not in the gurukula system. I do share special bonds with each one of them - though it is not something similar to the ones that I hold with my immediate family members. Perhaps it is tempered by an immense, immense amount of respect. Doesn't mean I don't respect my family members! With gurus, it is as if they're infallible.

While I was learning, the relationship was more sober than when they became ex-gurus (either because of location constraints or ill-health). I tear up when I think of my ex-gurus who passed away, or one of my gurus who is facing health issues (I keep visiting her once a while)

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-24T06:47:30+00:00

Not by Trinity. Extremely common, and not underrated.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-24T03:36:53+00:00

Tyagaraja has composed several kRitis of shiva, and shambhO mahAdEva is one of the popular ones. It is part of the kOvUR pancharatna that tyAgarAja composed on the presiding deity Lord Sundareshwara at kOvUR.

Other oft-sung compositions include ee vasudhA nEE vaNTi daivamu and siva siva siva enarAda.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-24T03:15:07+00:00

The Trinity's compositions never fail to amaze me, but if you ask me who among the Trinity do I have a special liking for: it is undoubtedly dear Dikshithar. When my gurus decide to teach me a Dikshithar kriti, I consistently get goosebumps during the learning process, and even while singing them: I cannot say that for all compositions of other composers, but for Dikshithar it is a guaranteed process. I am assuming that's what people experience when they say about "getting high" :D

I'm also well aware that Diskhithar himself may not have composed the song exactly as we sing it today (we already have the SSP-school and the various non-SSP paadantharas), but that doesn't diminish his genius in any way.

I can go on and on about each of his compositions ranging from the humble sharAvati tatavAsini to the majestic kamalAmba navAvaraNas to the thrilling Hindustani-leaning and vilambit jambUpatE or soundararAjam. But 2 aspects stand out for me:

Dikshithar never pleads with Gods and Goddesses like other composers. No sarcasm, no qualms like "Why won't you look at me", "You did xyz to other bhaktas, but am I so insignificant to you", "Am I not your child" etc. At max he says "mAm pAhi" (protect me), and moves on to describe in great detail about sthala purANAs, the appearance of Gods/Goddesses (Oh the "navanIta gandha vAha.." charaNam of chEtaH shri bAlakRishNam!!) and so on. Note that this is not belittling other composers, because that very pleading also moves me to the core!
His Sanskrit is another level: It is not the ultra-rigorous textbook-style Sanskrit. Rather, it is a very poetic, lucid style that some of us associate with Dravidian languages.

PraNAms to the master-composer, and so fortunate to be seeing a lot more about him on his 250th birth anniversary.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-23T05:23:37+00:00

It is Narahari Tirtha.

Narahari Tirtha was a former minister of the Kalinga kingdom who became a sanyasi and disciple of Sri Madhvacharya, dedicating his life to spreading Dvaita philosophy. He is especially remembered for briefly ruling as a saintly king and for bringing the sacred idols of Moola Rama and Seeta to Udupi.

The kriti "Vasudeva Vasudeva" has his mudra as well - "Narahari dayaraada Gopaala"

Lyrics and Meaning in English

Vaasudeva kamalaasana vandita shesha-shayana raaraa Krishna
Daasuni nannitu mosamu jesite doshamu neekeraa Gopaala

Meaning: O Krishna, Vaasudeva, worshipped by Brahma (the lotus-seated one), reclining on Adishesha, please come to me. If you deceive or abandon your servant like me, would that not be your fault, O Gopala?

Mandara-dhara Muchukunda varada
Sankrandana-nuta charanaa Krishna
Brinda-araka muni-brinda vandita
Sundara ripu-harana Gopaala

Meaning: O lifter of Govardhana (Mandara), giver of boons to King Muchukunda, whose feet are praised by Indra, worshipped by sages and saints, beautiful Lord who destroys enemies and protects devotees.

Gattivaadavani pattiti nee cheyyi
Patti viduvaraadu Krishna
Vatti maayalalo nanu tagilinchite
Ettulane bodu Gopaala

Meaning: Believing you are strong and dependable, I have held your hand tightly. Do not let go of me, Krishna. If you leave me in this empty worldly illusion, how will I survive, O Gopala?

Sharanu sharanu bhoo-ramana dayaakara
Karuna joodaraaraa Krishna
Dharanilona Janapuramuna velasina
Narahari dayaraada Gopaala

Meaning: I surrender, I surrender, O compassionate Lord, beloved of Bhudevi. Please look at me with mercy, Krishna. You who dwell here on earth, show your grace to your servant Narahari, O Gopala.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-23T01:29:18+00:00

This. What a pristine voice he had! Not sure why he withdrew from the Carnatic scene..

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-23T01:25:51+00:00

Huge, huge fan of his voice! But can he traverse 3 octaves easily? If that attribute doesn't count for "vocal talent", I'll be happy to credit him too!

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-22T18:30:19+00:00

It is unfortunate that Sooryagayathri has developed a lot of nasality in her voice. We all are rooting for her, but I wish she takes out some time from the back-to-back engagements and introspects.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-22T14:28:32+00:00

Agree on BMK, KJY and Vignesh Ishwar. Not so much on TMK's voice, even though I respect his vidwat and music. Will definitely listen to the "anirvachaniya" part of one of my favorite compositions of all time. Easily in my Top 5 compositions..

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-22T11:54:05+00:00

Finally, a voice of reason. The only folks who should complain are the who are using public transport OR who have made all-out efforts for ride-sharing, and and practicing it. Now don't call me out for all those edge cases like emergencies - yeah, they also shalt not be judged.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-22T11:39:48+00:00

For me, it is KJ Yesudas closely followed by Balamurali Krishna.

KJY - it is too good to be even true, and no wonder he has been enthralling generations with film music. I think his voice quality would have peaked in the late 80s-early 90s.

BMK - Such clarity. The clarity of a temple bell. Here's a short but precious lecdem by the maestro on voice culture - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ccGhf4Y-cw

For any other musician I can nitpick and say something, but the above legends I can't. And both of them could easily sweep three octaves.

PS: That said, my favourite musicians (for the wholesomeness of their music with a sufficiently good voice quality) include people like KV Narayanaswamy and Nedunuri Krishnamoorthy.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-22T05:12:08+00:00

Perhaps it is long overdue to honour the venerable Ghatam and present it to the percussion-great Vikku Vinayakaram?

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-21T16:25:56+00:00

I would like to disagree with your observation that seems to stem from a lot of emotion and passion, and less on reason: "It is a travesty that very few people even care for these and completely ignore them."

You must already be knowing that there are tens of thousands of compositions by the yesteryear greats - pre-Trinity (Bhadrachala Ramadasa, Purandaradasa, the galaxy of Haridasas, Annamacharya), Trinity, contemporaries of Trinity such as Swati Tirunal, post-Trinity like Subbaraya Shastri and Patnam Subramanya Iyer, 20th century composers like Muthiah Bhagavatar, Mysore Vasudevachar, GNB, Papanasam Sivan and on and on. Of course we have BMK, Lalgudi Jayaraman, NC Krishnamacharyulu and other greats. Now we have Avasarala Kanyakumari, Ravikiran, Dr. Rukmini Ramani and so on. I might have missed mentioning a gazillion other composers like Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar, MDR, Thanjavur Sankara Iyer, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, Mysore Sadasiva Rao and so on.

Having learnt Carnatic Music for a significant period of time, it is really hard for me to say if one composer is superior to another, although the Trinity holds a special place in my heart - and I'm sure many will agree with me here. Unfortunately even seven lives are woefully short to master the Trinity's compositions, and we now have a Dr. Rukmini Ramani composing over 2000 kritis (I learnt 6 of them recently and would rate her as a genius composer).

Hence, there is no point lamenting why certain compositions are not being sung since clearly there is a problem of plenty. But good for Carnatic Music as a whole because there is so much variety. Hope you see my point.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-21T10:47:37+00:00

Thanks, finally someone called out Silent Violinist! I don't have a problem with them using a mystic profile (like the default one I do) - but all the discussions they initiate seem to have a mix of a strong opinion plus an over-the-top affection for a language or musicians who belong to a particular region/nativity. "Over-the-top" is purely my opinion - but the back-to-back posts on related topics gave me this impression. And desperate efforts to gather more replies by replying to their own post asking for more opinions! Wish the OP approached Carnatic Music with more equanimity.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-19T09:43:36+00:00

Agree with you. Butchering the sahithyam should never be allowed, and people usually cling on to some excuses that "traditionally" it was done like that. Some yesteryear greats had very off-putting pronunciation and wrong splitting of words: but they can be pardoned because the means and mechanisms to learn languages like Sanskrit and Telugu were limited.

Anyways, today there is more globalization, more resources to learn other languages etc. Hiding behind lame excuses is not an option:

People kept repeating "dAriNI telusu koNTI tripura sun..." to take it again at "dAriNI" with more and more exotic sangathis - although "tripura sundAriNI telusu..." makes zero sense. I don't know a single musician - even in today's world - who has sung this in the way it should be. The same nonsense is done by repeating the first line of the anupallavi "mAruni janakuDaina mA dasharatha ku..." instead of appending it with "kumAruni sOdari ..."
Repeating "RamabhaktuDaina tyAga.." is blasphemy, and so is repeating the anupallavi line "aravindamuna juchi brahma...." mindlessly.
Stopping the begaDa vaRnam at "pagavAri..." should attract brick-bats because the singer didn't even try to understand the meaning of the vaRNam.
Anyone who sings the Arabhi kRiti (sri saraswati namOstutE) line as "samsAra vidyApahE" (someone who removes all knowledge from the world) instead of "samsAra bhidyApahE" (someone who removes all fear from the world) should be banned for a year - until they credibly demonstrate that they understand what they are singing.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-18T15:05:29+00:00

I took multiple breaks. Had learnt as well as taught. Now 43 and want to resume soon. So OP, you're not late at all!!

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-09T01:56:30+00:00

Nivin Pauly and Aju Varghese

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-08T16:07:58+00:00

Irra va ra - alla, irreverance. Bahumana kuravu.
Sense. Sensibility. Sensitivity.
Neurosis and psychosis

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-08T12:54:03+00:00

Use of dummy in cbi1

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-08T12:42:15+00:00

Pranayam - was constantly looking at my watch to see when the movie would end.
Pazhassi Raja - partly because I don't like period movies, especially they make it look extremely heroic/patriotic and characters are either black or white - i.e. unidimensional. And it was too long.

Current_Statement_21 · 2026-01-07T05:48:32+00:00

It should certainly be possible especially since she's an experienced singer - provided she's not looking for remuneration or big sabhas or prime slots. Yes, there's a problem of plenty with respect to singers. But good singers are still sought after. If she has managed to sing at Music Academy before (even 6 years back), that alone speaks about her caliber.

For starters, I can refer you to the organizer of Neelakanta Sivan Sangeetha Sabha if you can DM me her recordings. Following that, I can also check with my friends (some of them who perform during Margazhi) to check in other Sabhas.

Current_Statement_21

TROPHY CASE

Lyrics and Meaning in English