Classical Illayaraja - 5
Lakshminarayana
Classical Illayaraja - 5
------------------------
In cinema music, starting from the period of Illayaraja, the lyricists got
into a pact of servitude with the music directors. They were dictated by the
mighty music directors. Since the selling of audio cassette and the success
of the movie were totally depended upon 'how catchy' the tunes were, and not
on the quality of the lyrics, it became the unquestioned 'rajyam' of music
directors like Illayaraja. He would come early in the morning to Prasath
recording theatre. Probably by that time the lyricist would be waiting there
already. Maybe they even routinely prostrated before him as he entered into the
theatre like the God incarnate himself! Then he would fill the theatre with his
tunes in the 'thanthana thaana thathana thaana thaana nananana....' form. Then
the lyricist had to get this into his intellect and rack his brain to get words
that would replace the 'thaana thathana' junk! What a pity! If Subramania
Bharathiar had been alive he would've shed blood tears at the sordid state of
Thamizh in cinema! Illayaraja was definitely one important reasons for this
abyssmal degenerancy in the state of 'kanni' Thamizh! (Maybe the LTTE/DMK/DK
combo have Illayaraja in their murder hit list for causing this change to their
beloved Thamizh!).
There is one guy who repeatedly proved that he could stand upto the pressure
of Illayaraja. He gave new form to cinema songs. After the period of Kannada-
san (even though Vaali and the lot were giving some good meaningful songs),
on an average, Vairamuthu gave much much better cinema songs. Some of his
cinema songs even had splashes of supreme 'kavithuvam'. The song in which he
made his debut was a feast both in music and lyrics.
That song came in the movie nizhalgal. The situation is that, hero Rajasekhar
(a ganja case in that movie) returns back to his home in an elated mood. It
was not shown whether he has a puff of ganja before that song! If you were
the music director, what tune (to our discussion, what raga) would you want
to score in this situation? The points that director Bharatiraja gives you
regarding this situation is: 'evening time/hero/ganja case/very happy/sings.'
Thats all. Isn't your mind blank, as to the raga which you would choose? Okay,
if you were the lyricist (that too, making your entry into cinema world in this
song), what would you write? Illayaraja chose to use the all time pleasantry
of Kedaram in this situation! Vairamuthu decided to write 'pon maalai pozhudhu'
Kedaram is a fantastic ragam. It is one of the innumerable janyams of the 29th
melagartha, ie., Sankarabharanam. It has got a small U turn in its arohanam
(vakram!). Sa Ma Ga Ma Pa Ni Sa. Avarohanam is Sa Ni Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa. Though
this looks simple, you have to use a specific phrase in its avarohanam to make
the raga identity clear. That is, Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa is not just the same when you
sing, you have to sing/play like Pa Ma Ga.... Ri Sa Ga Ri Sa. The temporal
duration (kaarvai) of gandaram is more. This is what gives beauty to this raga.
Before Illayaraja used Kedaram, I know of only one song which is in Kedaram
That is, 'ramaswami thoodan naanada' in ?Sampoorna Ramayanam. Lord Anjeneya
sings this song to Ravanan!
Illayaraja's use of Kedaram is splendid. He uses the key phrases of Kedaram in
the opening of that song itself like 'Sa Ni Pa, Pa Ma Ga, Ga Ri Sa, Sa Ni Pa'
travelling from madhyama sthayi upper shadjam to manthra sthayi panchamam in
a single stretch. At the time when the movie was released, I was more amused
by the chirping of birds in the prelude. How could they catch many birds and
bring it to the recording theatre and make them chirp according to their will
and wish and record it? Now that I'm a little older, and know that you can make
birds chirp, lions roar, kuyil 'koovufy', with the press of single button even
in your $ 30 casio, I am more amused by the use of Kedaram in this song. The
use of accordion in the first interlude 'Sa Ni Pa Ni Pa Sa Ni Sa Ni Pa Ga Ma Pa'is excellent. In the second interlude he suddenly introduces a meloncholy with
a solo violin piece well within the scope of Kedaram. I don't know why he did
it. Why that sudden sadness in the tune?
The intellectual, poem writing part of Vairamuthu's neuro-circuitry reached
the boundaries of imagination in that song. He writes:
Ithu oru pon maalai pozhudhu
vaana magal naanugiraal
vaeru udai poonugiraal
Oh God! What a 'karpanai'! He pefsonifies the evening sky as a girl and says:
she is changing clothes from evening to night, and flushes out of shyness
because everybody is seeing her! Can anybody refer to redness in sky during
dusk any better than this? There might be light scattering and such kind of
hi-tech physical events that might cause this phenomenon! But, look, what the
poet has to say about this from his point of view! In the charanam, he goes a
step further and starts characterising the normal events occuring during dusk
in a poetic way. He says:
Aayiram vilakkugal jaalamidum
raathiri vaasalil kolamidum
vaanam iravukku paalamidum
paadum paravaigal thalamidum
poomarangal saamarangal...
Proper translation would be: Birds would sing and clap welcoming the night,
evening sky would establish the bridge for the coming of the night, all the
trees would sway and produce gentle breeze welcoming the night, the appearance
of thousands of lights all over the world would be magical, they would be like
a decoration in the gates of night!
The second Kedaram from the theatre of Illayaraja came in Kamal's 'michael
madana kaamarajan'. Sudari neeyum is a fantastic song. It is not as pure as
'pon maalai', but it is a good Kedaram. Though, it was MSV who discovered
Kamal's singing capabilities (vasantha kaala nadigalilae in KB's moonru
mudichu- was it Kamal's first song?), it was Illayaraja who gave him chance
to sing repeatedly in his movies. Infact, in one non-Kamal movie he made him
sing for some other hero (ponmaalai theduthae, en veenai paaduthae: ?movie).
Kamal and Janaki have done a wonderful job in sudari neeyum. Illayaraja has
given the required weightage to manthra sthayi Pa Ni Sa sancharas in this song
too. In the charanam, during 'kannana kannae en sontham allo' he uses, Sa Ga
Pa Ga Pa Ni, Pa Ni Sa Pa Ni Ri.. which is defenitely unbecoming of Kedaram!
But, I guess we have to forgive this, because this cinema music and not a
katcheri! The second interlude flute pieces are exceptionally good.
A.R.Rahman's 'ennavalae ennavalae' in Kadalan is very frequently alluded by
some as Kedaram. Reportedly 'thatha' Suppudu also commented about this song
in some interview as 'Kedarathuku sedharam', meaning damage to Kedaram.
Personally, I am not able to place this song under any ragam. It starts like
Sa Sa Ni Pa Ma Pa Pa Ni Pa Ma Ga, Sa Sa Ga Ma Pa Ga Ma Pa...later it deviates
with liberal usage of chatusrathi daivatham, chatusrathi rishabam, with one
flash of shatsruthi rishabam too (kaadalinaal varum avasthai enru kandukondaen)
But it is a very good song, establishing A.R.Rahman's typical marks throughtout
the song. Unnikrishnan has done a good job. But unfortunately, Vairamuthu has
made lot of 'paethals' in that song. Time and again, Thamizh 'puthu kavignars'
have written (to emphasise the dramatic impact of love on the lovers), like
'after seeing you, and falling in love, I've even forgotten my name'! Vaira-
muthu has gone a step ahead and tries to characterize why the hero lost his
speech (literally) after seeing the heroine:
Vaai mozhiyum enthan thai mozhiyum
vasappada villayadi.
Vayitturkum thondaikum naduvinil oru
uruvam illatha urundayum uruludhadi.
Poets frequently indulge in abstract thinking trying to define unexpainable
ideas. In another song he says, 'pookal pookum osaigal kaadhil ketpadhilai'
(engae en jeevanae in Kamal's uyarntha ullam), when he writes about the onset
of love. That is, as the sounds of flower blooming cannot be heard, the onset
of love is indiscernable! That is a good abstraction. But in the above said
song he has grossly failed in his abstraction, trying to explain the effect
of love on an individual. In the charanam of this song his 'paethals' continue:
Unthan koondalil meen pidipaen, Un viral sodduku edupaen... and so on! Luckily
he did not go to say 'Oh, my love, when you shout from the toilet, I will bring
tissue paper'!
Nalinakanthi is another Sankarabaranam janyam. Structurally, it is closely
related to Kedaram. It has got a much sharper U turn (vakram!) in its arohanam.
Sa Ga Ri Ma Pa Ni Sa. The avarohanam is Sa Ni Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa. So the difference
between Kedaram and Nalinaganthi is only in arohanam. Ofcourse, you can sing
the avarohanam of Nalinakanthi as it is, while in Kedaram, you have to add
some special dealings of the swaras. Illayaraja has one good Nalinakanthi in
Kamal's kalaignan. It came as a pleasant surprise in that movie because all the
other songs were 'kuppai'. Enthan nenjil nee paadum has been sung by Jesudoss
and Janaki. Illayaraja captures the key phrase of the ragam in the start of the
song: Sa Ga Ri Ma Ga Ri Sa Ni Sa Ga Ri Ma GA...There is no deviation in that
song at all. In the second interlude there is a short thara sthayi swara alapa-
na too. He should have avoided that alapana, and that person too, in that song!
(I think it is he who has rendered that short piece!). He has also used Gottu
vadyam in that song.
-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan.
Lakshminarayana
Corrigendum :
Before Mohan Govi or Pudhuhai Sriram point out, let me correct my mistakes!
1). I wanted to refer to 'gnayiru oli mazhayil' as Kamal's ?first song.
Vasantha kaala nadhigalilae has been sung by K.J.Yesudoss.
2). The charanam in pon maalai pozhudhu starts like 'aayiram nirangal jalami-
dum' and not as 'aayiram vilaakugal' as I've written. But the meaning remains
the same.
-L.S.R.
V. Chandramouli
|>
|> Classical Illayaraja - 5
|> ------------------------
|>
|> A.R.Rahman's 'ennavalae ennavalae' in Kadalan is very frequently alluded by
|> some as Kedaram. Reportedly 'thatha' Suppudu also commented about this song
|> in some interview as 'Kedarathuku sedharam', meaning damage to Kedaram.
|> Personally, I am not able to place this song under any ragam. It starts like
|> Sa Sa Ni Pa Ma Pa Pa Ni Pa Ma Ga, Sa Sa Ga Ma Pa Ga Ma Pa...later it deviates
|> with liberal usage of chatusrathi daivatham, chatusrathi rishabam, with one
|> flash of shatsruthi rishabam too.
|> But it is a very good song, establishing A.R.Rahman's typical marks throughtout
|> the song. Unnikrishnan has done a good job.
[... Rest deleted...]
I think "Ennavale" is a mix of Kedaram, Gambhiranatai and Chalanatai
going by the notes:-). As usual the R3 makes its presence felt very conspicuosly.
The opening line is at least faithful to the Gambhiranatai scale!
--Chandramouli
S.Thirumalai
It is very interesting to read your articles. Please keep it up.
Lakshminarayana (rlak...@menudo.uh.edu) wrote:
: Classical Illayaraja - 5
: The second Kedaram from the theatre of Illayaraja came in Kamal's 'michael
: madana kaamarajan'. Sudari neeyum is a fantastic song. It is not as pure as
: 'pon maalai', but it is a good Kedaram. Though, it was MSV who discovered
: Kamal's singing capabilities (vasantha kaala nadigalilae in KB's moonru
: mudichu- was it Kamal's first song?), it was Illayaraja who gave him chance
I think this song was sung by B.Jayachandran. Can someone verify this ?
: to sing repeatedly in his movies. Infact, in one non-Kamal movie he made him
: -Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan.
regards
--
S.Thirumalai
Internet : th...@ue1.ee.nus.sg Tel : (65) 772 2244 (Office)
engp...@leonis.nus.sg Fax : (65) 777 3117
IEEE alias : s.thir...@ieee.org Comments (c) S.Thirumalai
Vidya Lakshmi
I really enjoy reading your article classical Illayaraja. But I didn't
get your recent one classical Illayaraja-5. I will really appreciate it
if you can post it to me
e-mail vi...@pixie.udw.ac.za
thanks
Vidya Lakshmi
I am going to India in December this year. I want to attend
some concerts in Madras. I would like to know when exactly it is starting
and finishing so that I can arrange my vacation leave. If possible, on
what dates in Music Academy some of the great artists are singing.
My thanks in advance.
Mohan Govi
>
>
>Corrigendum :
>
>Before Mohan Govi or Pudhuhai Sriram point out, let me correct my
>mistakes!
Ah, I was a bit late this time :-)
<snip>
Thanks again for the lovely article. You must be on the footsteps of
"Unnal mudiyum thambi" Kamal. He goes against his father "Bilahari"
Marthandam (Gemini) who blames him for "sAsthriya sangeethatha
sAkadaiooda kalakkal". It has been Raja's cry that classical carnatic
people always claim the ownership of ragams and thalams. He conveyed
this message in several of his movies:
sindhu bairavi, unnal mudiyum thambi, etc.
I am sure, atlease some folks would have picked up a few names and
techniques of carnatic music w.r.t movie songs after reading your
articles. Atleast I did.
>-L.S.R.
Thanks for your time and effort,
Mohan Govi
Mohan Ayyar
>
>
>Corrigendum :
>
>Before Mohan Govi or Pudhuhai Sriram point out, let me correct my
mistakes!
>Vasantha kaala nadhigalilae has been sung by K.J.Yesudoss.
This has not been sung by Yesudas but by P. Jayachandran
Mohan Ayyar
(with assistance from K. Arun Prakash).
Krishna Sivaramapuram
V. Chandramouli <vcha...@dip.eecs.umich.edu> wrote:
>|>
>[... Rest deleted...]
>
>I think "Ennavale" is a mix of Kedaram, Gambhiranatai and Chalanatai
>going by the notes:-). As usual the R3 makes its presence felt very conspicuosly.
>The opening line is at least faithful to the Gambhiranatai scale!
How about a bit of jaganmOhini too... "Sobillu sapta swara..."
There are some portions which does sound like jaganmOhini...
Krish
Thaths
>Thanks again for the lovely article. You must be on the footsteps of
>"Unnal mudiyum thambi" Kamal. He goes against his father "Bilahari"
>Marthandam (Gemini) who blames him for "sAsthriya sangeethatha
>sAkadaiooda kalakkal". It has been Raja's cry that classical carnatic
>people always claim the ownership of ragams and thalams. He conveyed
>this message in several of his movies:
he said in an interview with 'Illustrated Weelky'(sigh! Heard that they have
stopped publishing.)that he found more music in a dogs bark than in a carnatic
muscian's ragam. Angry letters (that could easily satisfy the flame requirements of
posts in SCT) flowed. Somehow, at that moment, I agreed with Raja.
Another famous controversy he got himself into is that time when he made a girl sing
verses from the vedas. There were hues and cries about this incident.
BTW, in many Thyagaraja Krithis I come across the word 'brOcHE.' Was wondering
whether anybody knew its meaning. Probably should write to SCITelugu. Thsi word
appears in songs like 'brOcHE vAAr EvarurA', 'nanu brOvA nee' etc.
Thaths
Raghu Seshadri
: he found more music in a dogs bark than in a carnatic
: muscian's ragam. Somehow, at that moment, I agreed with Raja.
Can you elaborate on this please ? Why did you
feel this way ?
RS
Srinivasan Gopalaswamy
Thaths <ncr...@prodigy.com> wrote:
>Raja has been getting himself in hot water with his views. I remember one time when
>he said in an interview with 'Illustrated Weelky'(sigh! Heard that they have
>stopped publishing.)that he found more music in a dogs bark than in a carnatic
>muscian's ragam. Angry letters (that could easily satisfy the flame requirements of
>
The main problem is that carnatic music has neglected the outside requirements
like voice and presentation. In addition ofcourse, some unwanted elements that
dont contribute to aesthetics and spirituality (remember Ramesh Mahadevan's
mention of the high levels of ego and competition in some vidwans of the past)
have been allowed to flourish as part of Carnatic classicism.
Thus those who havent allowed themselves to be drawn deep into the
extraordinary beauty, depth and spirituality (please dont ask me to define
these terms ;-)) of Carnatic music find it
difficult to appreciate carnatic musicians who lack presentation/voice or/and
who give importance to the unwanted elements.
The fact is that maintaining a good presentation/voice and simultaneously
bringing out the best of Carnatic classicism is easier said than done. After
all, even a present day genius like Ilayaraja could bring out probably less
than 1%(IMO) of the full beauty of Kedaram in his "Idhu oru pon maalai pozhudu"
which was a kedaram-scale-based-well-presented musical piece. (IMO, "Sundari
neeyum" had much better elements of Kedaram in terms of the use of gamakams
and raga bhavam - use of drums doesnt make it less classical than the former
song).
The Thyagaraja krithi "Rama Neepai" on the other hand brings out the essence of
Kedaram in the first few sangathis delightfully, and fills our soul with
Kedaram. But atleast in the present days, among people who are not initiated
into Carnatic music, one can probably relate more to "Idhu oru pon maalai
pozhudhu" than "Rama Neepai".
I fully agree with Mohan Govi that a lot of people have had an initial insight
into the beauty of Carnatic music through Ilayaraja's raga-scale-based
compositions. In my personal opinion though, since I was initiated into
Carnatic music by other means, I find Ilayaraja's classical-based compositions
very inadequate in terms of presentation of the ragams to some degree of
completion (I am sure a lot of nettors will more than agree with me ;-)).
Though they are terrific musical pieces by themselves. But I sincerely doubt if
Ilayaraja himself claimed that his classical pieces were complete
presentations of the raga in question. I hope Lakshminarayana, who brought out
an excellent series of articles on this subject, didnt mean to make such claims
either.
On the other hand, his adaptation of soulful folk music to
modern orchestra has left a lasting impression in my heart. Probably people
who are very much "into" folk music may criticize him for his lack of
exploration of the full beauty of the folk music themes, and feel
sympathetic towards folk-music-illiterates like me for considering Ilayaraja
the ultimate in folk music ;-).
>Another famous controversy he got himself into is that time when he made a girl sing
>verses from the vedas. There were hues and cries about this incident.
>
I suppose this issue isnt related to the previous one. Sexism in classical
music situations is a separate topic in its own right. Boy, dont I get
tongue-tied on issues not directly related to music ;-).
>Thaths
>
Srini
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
sr...@ece.cmu.edu
URL: http://www.ece.cmu.edu/afs/ece/usr/srini/.home-page.html
Puduhai Sreeram
[..stuff deleted]
> verses from the vedas. There were hues and cries about this incident.
>
> whether anybody knew its meaning. Probably should write to SCITelugu. Thsi word
> appears in songs like 'brOcHE vAAr EvarurA', 'nanu brOvA nee' etc.
>
I think it means "to save" or "to protect"(just attempting its meaning based
on the context and itsy bitsy knowledge of telugu). And BTW,
'brocHE vAAR EvarurA' is not a Thyagaraja krithi. It is Mysore Vasudevachars.
--Sreeram
Shankar Ramakrishnan
No, he never said that. He only said that there is music in a dog's bark.
He never made any comparison with Carnatic music, as far as I remember.
Shankar
Kathiravan Krishnamurthi
: Classical Illayaraja - 5
: ------------------------
: that would replace the 'thaana thathana' junk! What a pity! If Subramania
: Bharathiar had been alive he would've shed blood tears at the sordid state of
: Thamizh in cinema! Illayaraja was definitely one important reasons for this
: abyssmal degenerancy in the state of 'kanni' Thamizh! (Maybe the LTTE/DMK/DK
: combo have Illayaraja in their murder hit list for causing this change to their
: beloved Thamizh!).
Thank your Gods that they spared you.
anban
kathir
: -Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan.
Venkatesh Sridharan
> he found more music in a dogs bark than in a carnatic
> muscian's ragam. Somehow, at that moment, I agreed with Raja.
-------
Interesting... I did'nt have the good fortune of reading that interview, but
did he venture an opinion on 'film music' vis-a-vis a "dog's bark" ??
Venky (Venkatesh Sridharan).
Satish Subramanian
>> he found more music in a dogs bark than in a carnatic
>> muscian's ragam. Somehow, at that moment, I agreed with Raja.
>Interesting... I did'nt have the good fortune of reading that interview, but
>did he venture an opinion on 'film music' vis-a-vis a "dog's bark" ??
>Venky (Venkatesh Sridharan).
But fortunately, the interview was typed in by Dev Mannemela for
us. Here is the relevant portion of the mentioned interview with
Illayaraja. (This appeared in "The Frontline".)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Interviewer's Question: Then how do you define music?
Illayaraja's Answer: Music is nothing but
sound. There is music in the bark of the dog. There is music in
the walk of every human being. Music is not a subject to be dis-
cussed. It has to be experienced. The universe is one which
has its own rhythm pattern, and it goes on in a cyclic fashion
without losing its equilibrium. Similarly, sound is ultimately a
solitary note. It is not ascending. It is not descending. It
is not vertical. Nor is it sinusoidal. It is dynamic. Yet
this dynamism defies our general perception. We human beings
have lots of limitations. We are able to perceive only the
sounds within the audible frequency. There are notes above and
below that. We forget them. Man has fragmented this solitary
note into seven notes of the octave. Listen to the howl of the
dog. Doesn't it have a swara prashta. Sa Re Ga.( Ilaiyaraaja
sings and shows the similarity) There is no difference between
the howl of the dog and the songs of vidwans. Actually, I have
written a script in which i have recorded in what raga a dog
barks on various occasions. This proves my theory - music is
nothing but sound.
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