Devanin Kovil Moodiya Neram Lyrics
Pelagio Bosch
In this article, I am going to trace through most of his hits, with a brief analysis of trends that shaped his music, and the trends that that he created, which shaped the rest of the film world..Most of what is written here is (actually all of it is!) recalled from memory; i dont have any references to crosscheck. A lot of my own opinions are also included in here..It is impossible to sum up his achievements as he has accomplished a lot in close to two decades.
Elaborate orchestration, crisp catchy tunes etc. were the selling points of Ilaiyarajas music. 'En kanmani en kaadali' from Chittukkuruvi, 'Sentaazhampoovil', 'Adi Penne' etc. were hummed by one and all. The biggest hits were probably from 'Padinaaru vayadiniley' and 'Priya'. Priya was supposedley the first tamil movie with stereophonic sound. Priya again saw another new level in orchestration (remember the 2nd interlude in the song). Sendoorappove was a super hit. Although branded a folk song, this song has definite baroque music influence at least in the second interlude, which begins with a major string section.
Rosaappoo ravikkaikkari, kizhakke pogum rail, etc. had a number of good songs too. At this point in time, there was a marked use of the scales of Karnatic music based raagams in his music; esp. Kovil Mani Osai, Maanjolaikkilidano, (KPR), Ennullil engo (Rosappoo ravikkaikkari) Tamtananam (Pudiya vaarpukkal), Solaikkuyile (Ponnu Oorukku pudusu) etc. Ponnu oorukku pudusu had some excellent songs, which I had never heard on AIR. (Onakkenna taane innerama).
Now let us take a look at the retalliation from other music directors. Comparable superhits of that period were 'Ninaittale inikkum' by MSV. I have had many feverish fights with my then classmates over who was the best music director Ilaiyaraja or MSV. The MSV defendants would usually come up with Ninaittale inikkum for their argument. Shankar Ganesh have always been around. KV Mahadevan came up with Enippadigal somewhere during this period.
'Uravugal Todarkadai' from 'Aval Appadittan' is an evergreen song. this song showed a marked influence of Western music and this was to continue into Johny 'En vaaniley' in 1980 (gosh! iis it that far back in time- these songs are still fresh). 'Germanyin Senten malare' from Ullasa paravaigal, 'Engengae sellum' from pattakatti bairavan , 'Illamaiyenum Poonkaatru' are some of those songs still fresh from 1978 -79 -80.
There was this film called 'Kannil teriyum kadaigal' where each song was tuned by a different music director. Shankar ganesh tuned the song 'Naan onna nenachen' sung by spb, vanijayaram and jikki, while Ilaiyaraja tuned the song 'Naan oru ponnoviyam kandaen'.
TRajendar made his appearance in 1980 with his Orutalai raagam. His next film 'Vasanta Azhaippukal' didnt have too many hit songs. More on TR later. Oru talai raagam kind of took over Madras.
'Moodu Pani' - was Ilaiyaraja's nooravadu padam. By this time, he had begun to use synthesizers and keyboards to a large extent. The point to note however is this. The superhit song all over India at this time was 'Aap jaisa koi mere' from the film 'Qurbani' which introduced synthesized beats for the first time. All music directors followed suit, while Ilaiyaraja didnt...
Moodu pani again - En iniya pon nilave - still a fresh song. Nizhalgal was released at the same time. 'Poonkadave', Ponmalaippozhudu , (Vairamuttus first song), 'Madai tirandu' and 'Doorattil naan kanda'. Poonkadave is a fantastic song, one of his career best songs I would say. Excellent orchestration, beautiful flow, etc. etc..; This was a Deepavali release, and the movie was a flop..
There was a small lull in hits after this film, and then the next biggest hit of Ilaiyaraja's career was 'Andi Mazhai Pozhigiradu'. I heard it for the first time on a hand held transistor, a 1000 miles away from Madras, and was more than impresssed. This song is probably one of the landmarks, in the shaping up of his style.. there was a marked influence of Indian Classical Music, Jazz, W. Classical music at this point in time.
The post 'Andi Mazhai' period saw the emergence of Alaigal Oivatillai. Aayiram taamarai mottukkale - what a song, kaadal oviyam, puttam pudu kaalai (not picturized in the movie), vizhiyil vizhundu etc. Almost during the same week, the film Panneer Pushpangal was released. Wonderful songs again. Kodaikkala kaatre, Poontalir aada, Aananda raagam.. (even Aananda vikatan mentioned Ilaiyaraja's use of the scale of the ragam Simhendramadyamam in this song)..
Around Aug 15, 1981 came the films Netrikkan, Karaiyellam Shenbagappoo. The songs in Karaiyellam shenbagappoo were kind of washed away because of poor publicity. The film had some good songs to talk about. There was a low for some time again, and by Apr 14, 1982 there was a new harvest - Ninaivellam Nitya, Tooral Ninnu Pochu, Payanangal Mudivatillai Moonram Pirai etc.
By this time, Vairamuttu was the leading lyric writer for Ilaiyaraja. Ilaiya nilaa was an instant hit, so were 'Ei aatta', Togai ila mayil, Tangachhangili, En soga kadaya kelu, Erikkara poongatte, and of course Pani vizhum malarvanam, Needane etc. etc. The style of songs at this point in time was totally different from those in 1979. There was a marked use of keyboards etc. etc.
Oops. I forgot to mention AVM's Murattukkalai, with the folkish song 'Poduvaga en manasu' . AVM came out with Sakalakalavallavan in 1982. This movie ran for 25 weeks at Alankar theater.., and the songs 'Kattavandi', 'Ilamai ido ido' were the ear catchers. The song 'Amman Kovil kezhakkala' is kind of reminiscent of the song 'Solam vedakkaiyile' from padinaaru vayadinile. At the same time, was released the rajini film which had the songs Pattu vanna selaikkari and Taayum naane etc..
At this point in time most of the strong teams had split, and former assistant directors were beginnning to direct movies - such as Gopurangal Saivatillai, Raagangal Maaruvatillai etc. Illamaikkalangal had some good songs. At this time the style of music had undergone another transformation.
For a while, Illayaraaja was not scoring music for any of Sivaji's films. (after the Tyagam Deepam Naan vazha vaippen era). His music resumed in Vellai Roja, with Malaysia Vasudevan singing for Sivaji Ganesan.
Taai Mookambikai, came out in 1983 i think ; this movie had a whole assembly of artistes singing together (balamurali, seerkazhi, ms visvanathan etc.). Salangai Oli, came out in 83 too. So did a whole host of films such as Malaiyoor Mambattiyan etc. Illaiyaraja was always the music director for AVMs high budget films - Sakalakala, Paayum Puli, the block buster Mundaanai mudichu.
Early in 1984 or was it late 83, Ilaiyaraja toured around the world. Upon returning he authored a book titled 'En Innisaikkanavugal' or something like that. It is an interesting book, where he talks about his experiences and how the French liked the song 'Edo Mogam' from Kozhi Koovudu. Mann Vasanai, was Bharatiraajas come back in 83. Early 84 didnt have too many hit songs to speak of. Pudumaippen saw hits appear again, and so did Nallavanukku nallavan. At this time there was another change in style, this time absorbing some of the elements of the 78-79 period. Songs such as 'Chittukku', 'Kaadal Mayakkam', 'Devan tanda veenai' etc. bear testimony to this.
Ilaiyaraja's 200th movie was 'Aayiram Nilave Vaa'. The 250th was a Motherland Pictures movie with the songs Paadum Vaanambadi , Paada vaa (1984?). Sadma was released in late 1983 I think ( a remake of Moonraam pirai). A song from Sadma, was recreated as 'En vaazhvile' for Tambikku enda ooru - a rajni film.
Earlier on, in the seventies, there were interviews with Ilaiyaraja, wherein he described how he came up with songs such as En Kanmani, Taamta teemta (Pagalil or iravu), where he described the talents of his playback singers, incidents where Janaki's soulful rendition of certain songs mesmerized and moved the entire orchestra, so that some of the players even forgot their pieces (eg. Mada un kovilil)..
For a period, ie. early 80s through 1986 or so, there was no contact with the press at all as far as I can remember. Gangai amaran was the pr man. This trend changed in around 1987, where articles on him started to appear in English journals. Ilaiyaraja, did feature in a number of articles in 83/84, where he organized a fund raiser for the Srirangam temple though.
Titles came pouring in; he scored the music for one other hindi film Mahadev, where the song 'Anda Nelavattan naan kaiyila pudichen' is dubbed in hindi. I believe that he did also score the music for Rajni's hollywood debut 'Bloodstone'.
To summarize, his status changed from that of a new innovative music director to a well established household name, whose product always sells no matter what. Well, with a decade of achievements, why not..
About the movies, remember songs like 'Aarumadu aazham illa'.., 'Devanin kovil moodiya neram', songs from Chippikkul Muttu, 'Kallukkulle vanda eeram enna', etc. from 86. 86 also saw the emergence of Mani Ratnam with his Mouna Raagam.
We always had this impression that 'periya director enraal, specialaa poduvaar'. Well, with KB, Bharatiraaja, Sridhar, Maniratnam, SPM, etc., this reasoning has never failed. But music directors always claim that 'naanga podura ovvoru paattum, hit aagum engira nambikkayodu taan poduvom'.
Mouna raagam saw a whole new breed of songs. In this period, also came a series of very melodious songs such as 'Mandira punnagaio', 'Anbu malargalin solai idu', 'Maanada' very much like the songs of the late seventies.
It was in 1987 I think that Mano was introduced with the song 'Taen Mozhi' in Solla tudikkudu manasu. Wonderful songs in this movie, although the movie was a disappointment. Poove sempoove, Vaayakatti vayatakatti, etc. etc.
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