It has been so many times when I wanted to write about this topic. Its been bothering me for so long, its been pushing me to vent my views about this …finally the blogsite came to rescue. Here, I deliver my first blog on Ilayaraja and A R Rahman.
Both, musicians, have mesmerized millions, perhaps billions with their divine sense of captivating music - a wonderful way of delivering it to us.
The former reigned in the eighties and the latter in the nineties. I clearly dont want to draw a comparative analysis, which will create a barrage to free flowing thoughts and will not create an actual representation of what my mind has envisaged- after all blogs are supposed to justify this.
Ilayaraja in his own sense was a prince. A ‘young king’ as his name translates; indeed he has been the king, but only after undergoing stressful days, months and years. The reason was endurance, sincerity, relentlessness and of course sheer talent! Each of the aforesaid characteristics have reinforced each other to have made him succeed and still remains the backbone of his long lasting career.
A R Rahman, similar to Ilayaraja, was an embodiment of those characteristics. But wait, I am not trying to bring out their lives… I am going to write on how their music has affected me….how it has impressed me…and what I find so lovable and enjoyable in their music…
Ilayaraja’s talent and music knowledge is transcendental. He is a genius. The ragas he uses are splendid, raga combos- simply mind-blowing. (Nilave Vaa of Mouna Raagam/ Kalyana Thenila of Mounam Sammadham) This shows how much of Carnatic Music was inside him, without which such compositions would have not been possible at all. The greatest avantage of Ilayaraja was that he made hits, he made music reach so much into the common man, and yet made it complex in its own way. The charanams (stanzas) are too good… and the best fact is that in most of his songs both the charanams are not identical…
Added to this, the complexities lie in the fact that the music bits between the pallavi (start and repetitive part of song)and charanam and between the charanams are incredible. (Believe me they are impossible to reproduce even with latest equipment). This part of Ilayaraja’s music impresses me the most. Listen to Kalyana Maalai of Puthu Puthu Arthangal and Rakkamma kaiyathattu of Thalapathi. I am giving you these to relate to what I am saying, but there are umpteen more songs which I could exemplify, the problem is that the list is unending!
His strength and génre are predominantly lite melody, which he incorporates in his songs in a multitude of ways. His music has always suited the situation in the films so much that there couldn’t have been better way the director could have tried to express and bring impact. He has brought an exquisite touch be it village & folk (Raasave Varuthama of Muthal Mariyathai & Manguyile of Karagaattakaran) or urban, youthful and peppy numbers (In Agninatchathram and Punnagai Mannan).
I strongly assure one thing, but Ilayaraja’s sense of music has derived styles from Western Rock numbers. Some of his songs actually have strong influences from Deep Purple. He has been very careful and has executed it to perfection that it seems to have been our own music. The way he uses the acoustic guitar in Ilayanila Pozhigirathu of Moodu Pani is fantastic. Coupled with beautiful lyrics this song is a les classique.
Trivia: Ilayaraja started playing the guitar so well the first time he handled it, that it made the onlookers spellbound.
Even non-Tamil speaking guitarists in Malaysia were moved to give glowing tributes to Ilayaraja for what they considered a masterpiece. This song made them lookout and dig the background of Ilayaraja.
Percussion is again something that provided a strong base to most of his numbers. Ranging from tabla, mridangam, ghatam to drums and pads it has suited his songs to yield an ultimate output. The examples are innumerable…(Raja of Agninatchathram is undoubtedly the best)
To sum up in simple words:
1. Ilayaraja is great.
2. You are missing something in life if you don’t listen to his songs.
3. Listen to his songs, and you will want to write a blog similar to mine.
4. If you have listened to his songs, you will appreciate my blog and also my first three points.
Folks, I have summed up only the first part of my blog. Well, the second starts here:
When people say ‘thalaivar’ here in Chennai, we associate it to only three people.
A. Rajni Kanth
B. Sachin Tendulkar
C. A R Rahman
Agreed?
We are totally Rajni crazy and his on-screen charisma is matchless and that’s why his is the SUPERSTAR.
We are totally Sachin crazy that when you say Cricket, the first thing that comes to our mind is him. His on-field charisma is matchless.
We are totally Rahman crazy that when you say music, AR Rahman flashes and needless to say his charisma is matchless.
He has redefined music. It is perceived by the heart, not by the brain. It resonates with the very rhythm of life!
Some people say ARR is God. Indeed he is. He has been the creator.
A genius in his own way, A R Rahman’s music has enthralled zillions all round the globe.
When an album of his releases, so much buzz and frenzy is created. The albums a hit, raising the hype and expectations about the film. Some of the films have become huge hits merely because of his music.
His strength is that his ragas are so simple. Still the song is complex. He makes use of technology so beautifully that singers feel that whatever they actually record constitute only 5% of the song. The rest… he does the magic.
The range of instruments he uses goes from flute to saxophone, Veena to santoor, again Bongo & Tok tok, to Sivamani’s contraption.
Again each of his songs of an album is unique. Each one has a separate genre. Take Kadhalan: Urvasi is youthful and peppy, makes you dance;
Ennavale: definition of melody; Pettai Rap: Superb combo of Rap and Gana; Gopala: Ultimate folk; Muqqabla: Another legend…which however made audiences gape with the Wild west set up and SplFX.
Kadhalikkum: Beautiful blend of Carnatic and pop.
A similar combination exists in Indian, Mudhalvan, Muthu etc.
Just look at this, most of his songs have a great start that make you listen to. That’s what attracts you to the song. This is what I’ ve found. See in Humma Humma of Bombay or Maya Machindra of Indian. Both have literally trumpeting starts that make you drop jaws.
Complexity: Another point worth reckoning. I listen to a song once.
I don’t like it. Then I listen again…I find something. Thrice…I find something more. Kept listening and now I cant stop. The music grows into you. You start liking and appreciating some part of that song and then the song consumes you. It becomes utterly irresistible.
You tend to love the nuances. There will be a mridangam bit, a veena bit or a chime that lasts only for merely few seconds in the whole song somewhere in the middle. At one point I started listening to the whole song just for that miniscule bit. (Veena in Chinna Chinna Aasa of Roja, Mridangam in Ennavale Adi Ennavale of Kadhalan)
Another strongpoint is the importance he gives to the style and authenticity. Music directors generally incorporate popular pieces of an instrument from some music into their composition…example the Irish pipe or the Sax.
This genius does it the other way…Say Belly dance and he composes an Arabic song with so much realism and originality and the hindi/tamil lyrics just fit into it. (Mayya Mayya of Guru, Kuluvalile of Muthu, and an entire album..Warriors of Heaven and Earth)
Vande Mataram: A milestone.
This made people of all ages love him. He seriously instilled back the once lacking patriotic sense in all of us. National Integration, unity, brotherhood, love for the nation definitely was impacted…if not greatly but atleast in the minds of most.
Hitherto, I feel that his Vande Mataram would be a better choice than Jana Gana Mana for our National Anthem. Dont you??
Summarzing:
1.A R Rahman is great
2.Vande Mataram should become National Anthem
3. He is the ‘thalaivar’
4.Everyone is vulnerable to fall in love with his music
This is my opinion. This is what I felt, what my mind says. And some of those points, I realized when my friends told me. It’s a bricolage of my thoughts. I finally feel alleviated from the unending botheration to pour out what I feel. More to come…
Till then…bye bye…
11 comments:
now i understand wht u have doin in ur hols!!hee..hee..anwyay..indeed an interesting analysis...the best thing about both rahman and ilairaja is that they see to that the essence of lyrics is not submerged by heavy drum beats...this i think is very vital for the feel of a song..now that u have made raga analysis and stuff..do listen to this song "kismath se thum" from pukar (by rahman) and "inji eedu" from devar magan (by raja)...both r based on the same raga "sindhu bhairavi"..here, though the notes r the same, one realises that legends show different rooms to the same way!!
Nice one da. But I can't appreciate it much since I am not such a keen observer of music.
One thing though, you probably meant the Scottish Bagpipe when you said "Irish pipe" :) Couldn't help commenting on it!!!
Considering that it's such a long post, I can understand why you haven't posted since then. Take deep breaths :)
Well written da... you've explored all possible intricaies of the maestro's songs.
True.. ARR and the maestro are unique in their own styles.
And regarding Vande Mataram, it was subject to some controversy that it was Hindu-biased and could create communal clashes on the already sensitive nation at that time.
On the whole, you've dealt with the both the geniuses very well.
MAESTRO(RAJA) & LEGEND(ARR) ARE TOUGH TO PORTRAY TOGETHER. GR8 ONE DA...GOOD EFFORT
he he... was fun reading through that man... thats a never ending debate ain it... :) ... more like sachin v lara... both are divine, i should say... but as for me... Raja forever and forever... :) :) ... His music is simple and less complex... thats my own definition of it ye no, an i like it that way... :D ... i still haven come across a song which makes me feel the way i feel when i listen 2 pani vizhum malar vanam of raja... :) ... udal ARR ku... UYIR RAJA ku!!!... :)
an interesting analysis. i would pick on arr for the same reason you did. however with IR, one thing i'm fascinated is how he uses a raga seem different. Chakravagam in films is usually a melancholic raga. e.g. vidukathaya... from muthu and ullathil nalla ullam... from karnan. but IR uses it in a romantic song... nee paathi naan paathi... in keladi kanmani... and the song is romantic for sure. also his instrumentation,as you mentioned, is superb. an example would be the song megam kottattum from enakkul oruvan. the first 2 lines have the same tune. but the base guitar in the background actually differs for the 2 lines. different orchestration for the same tune...
ya... 2 legends...
an interesting analysis. i would pick on arr for the same reason you did. however with IR, one thing i'm fascinated is how he uses a raga seem different. Chakravagam in films is usually a melancholic raga. e.g. vidukathaya... from muthu and ullathil nalla ullam... from karnan. but IR uses it in a romantic song... nee paathi naan paathi... in keladi kanmani... and the song is romantic for sure. also his instrumentation,as you mentioned, is superb. an example would be the song megam kottattum from enakkul oruvan. the first 2 lines have the same tune. but the base guitar in the background actually differs for the 2 lines. different orchestration for the same tune...
ya... 2 legends...
well,nice work it was the genius ilayaraajas own ego that prevented him from growing , he locked himself up with his self drawn limitations,
at that point in the early 90s ,arr drew a fresh breath of music, which brought up the new wave of attention, a decade down the line ,arr faces the same issues but loook at the way he reinvents himself and elevates the junta to a better class of music
nice start da.. ARR n Raja sir come from different schools of music.. The percusions they use is really amazing da..
Spot on with this one.."The greatest avantage of Ilayaraja was that he made hits, he made music reach so much into the common man, and yet made it complex in its own way"..
PS: don't try to include to many topics in one post da.. very diff to read da.. happy blogging!!!
I got to read this only now. Interesting machi, one observation with ARR is that, barring Pettairap, you wont be able to find a single song in the gana genre (I dont consider Pettairap as gana, its Tamil rap)...Raja not to be left behind, got KJY to sing an out and out dappakuthu in Sindhu Bairavi...One more observation I have made is at times Raja uses the same singer for an entire album, like KJY in Sindhu Bairavi or SPB in Unnal Mudium , Unnikrishnan in Sethu...ARR has seldom done it...
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