Ilaiyaraja's New Albums 2016-18, News and Titbits

[Shankar.P]

Kamal's interview...

[krish244]

It seems music producers "District 78" in the US will be working with IR on the music for SN (Sabash Naidu). Tentatively, it is decided to have 4 songs. Choreographers of "Step Up 2" will do some of the choreography for this movie. Probably this is the reason "District 78" has been roped in (on some reading, they seems to be dance based...)

I hope something exciting as always with Kamal/IR films. Just yesterday I was listening to MI. Great music!

http://www.newindianexpress.com/ente...cle3407208.ece

"...“We are looking to have four songs in the film at the moment. Music producers in the US, District 78, will be working with Ilaiyaraaja on this film,” the actor said,..."

thanks,

Krishnan

[rajsekar]

From timeless classics to marketing tools - The Hindu article April 30, 2016

http://www.thehindu.com/features/cin...=entertainment

Why not create songs as an independent music album and release it separately? A film need not be hyped if it has a good story, screenplay and solid acting. Look at recent hit films released without any hype - Visaranai and Premam. Hence the shelf life of new tamil song is only 7 days. Film producers have a false notion that songs are mandatory for a film. Thank God, we have Ilayaraaja's musical hits which can sustain us for next 100 years. If you hear 2-3 Raaja's song multiple times every day, you need an entire life time to hear all his creations from 1050 films.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____
Songs are still important in Tamil cinema, but not the way they were

Music has always been an integral part of Kollywood commercial cinema and continues to be so. Nowadays, all major Tamil films follow a particular pattern to market their songs. First, a single track is launched at an untimely hour and it is then made to go viral. Every big film needs a hit number to create hype around it for it to be sold to distributors. Leading producer Kalaipuli Thanu after the audio launch of his Theri, was able to sell the film to distributors on his terms and conditions. Coimbatore-based distributor Cosmo Shivakumar says“The number of songs in commercial films has come down but a big film still needs a catchy number. It helps generate an opening. The audio release of Tamil films is a promotional tool, as the trade gets its first look of the film.”

Explains veteran producer Sathyajyothi Thyagarajan, “My film Thodari, starring Dhanush and directed by Prabhu Solomon, will have a big audio launch on May 8. The music by D. Imman is really good and the visuals are stunning. The hit combo of Prabhu Solomon and Imman has worked big time in the past. Once the distributors watch the songs and trailer, I’m sure the film will be sold out in all areas.”

In Hollywood and to a certain extent, in Bollywood, all major films are shown to the trade weeks before they are out for sale. But in Kollywood, there are no trade shows for star-driven movies before release, and the distributor himself sees the product only after he has purchased the film, and even then, only on the day of its release. Hence, the distributor’s choice of film is based entirely on the songs and the trailer during the audio launch.

How has Tamil music changed? Producer P. L. Thenappan says, “Tamil film music has become merely a tool to create hype around a film’s opening. Today, music directors and lyricists are dime a dozen, and are out to make at least one of their songs a chartbuster. Music is still important in commercial cinema, as it is generally thought that a hit film should have a chartbuster.”

Take, for example, the racy kuthu number ‘Jithu Jilladi’ from Theri. The song was targeted at Vijay fans, and the voice of music director Deva too helped . G. V. Prakash, who composed the song, says, “Theri is my 50th album and I took a lot of care to see that the music works well with the audience. When the album was launched, ‘Chella Kutti’ and ‘En Jeevan’ were the popular tracks. But after release, thanks to the film’s visuals, ‘Jithu Jilladi’ caught on like wildfire.”

A.R. Rahman’s music in Suriya-starrer 24 has also been slowly climbing the charts. Talking about the movie, Suriya says, “The music of 24 is one of its major highlights. In fact, the film itself took off once Rahman sir heard the narration and came on board. You will love the songs even more when you see the film.”

Another factor today is that there is a clear demarcation on what type of music sells in A, B and C centres. Ashok Parwani of Sony Music says, “. There is a huge difference between music liked by A-centres (urban Chennai and Coimbatore) and B and C-centres spread across Tamil Nadu. Take, for example, our album Rajini Murugan by D. Imman. The song ‘Yennamma ippadi panreengalaema’ worked best in cities, while in the rural B and C-centres, it was the soothing melody ‘Un mele oru kannu’ that became a bigger hit. Even the ringtone market suggests the difference in tastes between the city and rural markets.

Agrees Seenu of S Pictures, “Music What sells best in my area, which has a strong family audience, is the old Ilaiyaraaja style of melodies. Recently, Tharai Thappattai took a decent opening only because of its music. Among the new generation, D. Imman’s songs that have a rustic touch is closest to Isaignani’s music. His Romeo Juliet ran here because of its music.”

Lyricist Madhan Karky says, “Every song today has a target audience. My song ‘Google Google’ from Thuppakki worked best with the urban youth and IT crowd, while ‘Fy, Fy Kalachify’ from Pandiya Naadu was aimed at the rural listeners and it clicked. Rahman sir, however, asks me to enjoy what I’m doing rather than be bothered about target audiences.” It isn’t just Tamil films, of course. Hindi films have also been using music as a promotional tool. Shah Rukh Khan’s latest release, Fan, released with just one peppy number called ‘Jabra fan’, which sort of became an anthem during the promotions of the film. But the song was missing in the film, , in tune with the dark theme of the movie. The good news, however, is that Tamil music continues to be doing well, as the trade is clear that they will not back a project without songs. Every chartbuster produces a new music director, as both youngsters and veterans alike continue to hold sway over the listeners.

The teaser of Rajinikanth’s Kabali is out today (May 1), but grapevine is abuzz that producer Kalaipuli Thanu is planning a mega audio launch where the first visuals of the exciting new combination of Rajinikanth and Santhosh Narayanan will be unveiled.

[rajsekar]

Continuing my comments on the above article especially this line - "Among the new generation, D. Imman’s songs that have a rustic touch is closest to Isaignani’s music". I couldn't control my laughter over this observation. If you are a smart director like Sasikumar or Muthaiah, use their approach to think out of the box when shooting a song sequence. Remember "Subramaniapuram" movie using an entire song from "Kallukul Eeram" - Raaja's super duper platinum hit album. The 2013 movie "Kutti Puli" had this romance sequence beautifully directed and videographed by Muthiah. Ghibran wasn't even consulted by Muthiah when the song sequence was shown in the final production release. Could Ghibran or Imman compose such a song? It sounds so refreshing even after 35 years. The original song filmed on Rajini and Rati was shot in 1981. Just close your eyes and hear the starting sequence of guitar and humming. Ilayaraaja's music is light years ahead!

[lord_labakudoss]

We've heard a lot about how Isai Gnani is really quick in completing the BGM parts of a movie - Here is a first-hand look at how he handles a small segment:

[rajsekar]

What is Amar doing? Everyone knows about his motor mouth skills. He should not be giving press conferences after National Awards were announced. The Award for Best Background score was given to the deserving musician and Amar should not have spoken about how the jury selected and compared other films. The Best Music award to M Jayachandran for "Kathirunnu Kathirunnu" is indeed shocking. There is nothing extraordinary in this song rendered by Shreya. Jayachandran deserved this award for some of his other songs. The entire National Award selection is always a controversy and I&B ministry does not want to announce all the nominees selected for the final round of awards. Raaja missed out his award for "Sri Rama Rajyam" songs because Siri Fort auditorium, where the movie was screened did not have the proper audio system and judges could not listen to the songs. This was an unfortunate incident. The Best Award went to some Bengali movie which had mediocre songs. Moreover Amar compared Oscar award giving fodder to Rahman fans. This has nothing to do with an international award given in US for English language films. I hope that Raaja's fans give the fitting response to Amar's loose comments and his statement that Tharai Thappatai songs weren't good.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/e...w/52175439.cms

"It looks like the controversy over Ilaiyaraaja's rejection of National Awards is becoming bigger. The music maestro had rejected the award for the best background score for his 1000th film Thaarai Thappattai. The composer stated that there cannot be two awards in the category of music- one for background score and one for music.
Now, his brother and member of the National Awards jury Gangai Amaren seems to have taken offense to the ace musician's statement. According to an online report, Gangai Amaren is disappointed in the composer and has said that he has let down Tamilians by not accepting the award. He added that if Ilaiyaraaja had informed earlier, the award could have been given to someone else. He asked if the composer would accept only an Oscar. He also added that that the songs in Thaara Thappattai weren't up to the mark."

[dochu]

..............
Now, his brother and member of the National Awards jury Gangai Amaren seems to have taken offense to the ace musician's statement. According to an online report, Gangai Amaren is disappointed in the composer and has said that he has let down Tamilians by not accepting the award. He added that if Ilaiyaraaja had informed earlier, the award could have been given to someone else. He asked if the composer would accept only an Oscar. He also added that that the songs in Thaara Thappattai weren't up to the mark."

These questions are for Gangai Amaran based on listening to his speech (Youtube below) :
1. Since you said, a Gnani should be above everything and IR should not opt for katcheri etc. Using your same logic, he was 100% right to decline this award too. He is above all. Did you berate when Janaki refused it?

2. GA said that if IR is not going to accept the award, it could be given to somebody else. Seriously? How is this logical? The award is given because he TOPPED all. And if he doesn't accept, you give it to next one? Doesn't that belittle the next person? What if that person refuses? You give it to the next one? and keep going on? What is the point of this committee then?

3. Tharai thappattai songs were not upto the mark? GA referred to Jingidi song and thakida thakida from TA. Both are based on the same raga. Because of that you deny an award? Isn't it a known fact that one can churn out the same music again and again using the same set? IR has been doing this for 3-4 decades and still remained on the top. What does that tell you? People accept him but you DIDN'T. People matter and not your personal opinion. So you are ok, if one steals from western, gets fame, and then hops onto international awards? How is this right?

4. Lastly, being in the committee, it is a conflict of interest on commenting about this. This is a biased opinion. With such bias, how can you confirm (with clear conscience) that you will work neutral in future? What if IR's BGM comes up again? You have already disrupted the functioning of the committee.


( )

[krish244]

About Julian Karikalan meeting IR for LALO (love and love only) music:

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle8577156.ece

"Like many growing up on a staple diet of Tamil film music in the 1980s, Julian Karikalan is a big fan of composer Ilaiyaraaja. So, when he completed work on his English film, Love and Love Only , Julian wanted to rope in the maestro to compose music.

But it wasn’t going to be easy. That’s why Australia-based Julian took a different route rather than the time-tested one.

He completed a rough cut of the film and then came to Chennai to meet the composer. Ilaiyaraaja watched the entire film, featuring Rohit Kalia and Georgia Nicholas in lead roles, without reacting. And at the end of it, he just smiled.

“He asked me to wait outside,” recalls Julian. The waiting — for more than a couple of hours — made the filmmaker terribly anxious, but there was little he could do but wait.

And then, Ilaiyaraaja called him inside, and what he spoke, slowly and clearly, is something Julian will remember for the rest of his life.

“Your approach is very different,” the composer told Julian, “From the making, the writing, to the distribution plan, you have a different approach to everything. If it were the usual kind of film, I would just do it immediately. But for this, I don’t know what music I should give; I just know that it should be very special. I will call you as soon as an idea strikes me. ”

The filmmaker felt blessed hearing that, and the wait continued. Very soon, he was called and a few sessions later, he had got what he wanted… 21 tracks!

And all that in less than a week. Julian’s admiration for the composer has increased many times after the musical sessions. “Without his music, my film wouldn’t have had the viewing experience it has now,” he says.

There are two songs in the film (the song ‘Am I in Love’, performed by Rachael Leahcar, was released online) and it thrills Julian no end that Ilaiyaaraja chose to devote time for this project.

“Once I saw the edited film, I knew I had to go to him. It was at that same time I saw a YouTube video of him saying that he was willing to support deserving newcomers. I felt he was speaking to me personally.”

The film, which talks about the realities of student life in Australia, is slated for release soon. “Once people in India are familiar with the project, I wish to do a multiplex-only limited release and then explore the paid online market,” he says."

thanks,

Krishnan

[uvowefiyas]

These questions are for Gangai Amaran based on listening to his speech (Youtube below) :
1. Since you said, a Gnani should be above everything and IR should not opt for katcheri etc. Using your same logic, he was 100% right to decline this award too. He is above all. Did you berate when Janaki refused it?

2. GA said that if IR is not going to accept the award, it could be given to somebody else. Seriously? How is this logical? The award is given because he TOPPED all. And if he doesn't accept, you give it to next one? Doesn't that belittle the next person? What if that person refuses? You give it to the next one? and keep going on? What is the point of this committee then?

3. Tharai thappattai songs were not upto the mark? GA referred to Jingidi song and thakida thakida from TA. Both are based on the same raga. Because of that you deny an award? Isn't it a known fact that one can churn out the same music again and again using the same set? IR has been doing this for 3-4 decades and still remained on the top. What does that tell you? People accept him but you DIDN'T. People matter and not your personal opinion. So you are ok, if one steals from western, gets fame, and then hops onto international awards? How is this right?

4. Lastly, being in the committee, it is a conflict of interest on commenting about this. This is a biased opinion. With such bias, how can you confirm (with clear conscience) that you will work neutral in future? What if IR's BGM comes up again? You have already disrupted the functioning of the committee.


( )

If he would this whole video of his brother it has "all" answers for his questions. someone send him this link like if he has any facebook or twitter account and ask him to watch
someone posted this in ir forum im reposting this

[krish244]

Agni Natchatram to be remade (again) in hindi by Bejoy Nambiar (director of Wazir hindi movie).

"...One of the highlights of Agni Natchathiram was the music by Ilaiyaraja which was recreated note-by-note by Anand-Milind in Vansh. Apparently, Bejoy will also revisit the original score by Ilaiyaraja in his version of Mani’s melodrama..."

http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainmen...lassic-2211790

thanks,

Krishnan