Maestro ilaiyaraaja news & titbits

[rajaramsgi]

�in ‘ponnar shankar’, an epic film penned by karunanidhi and directed by thiagarajan, vivek did the background score with the maestro,� ilayaraja. “it was the first time that ilayaraja did music for a film along with somebody else,” claimed vivek.

விவேக்: நம்பற மாதிரி சொல்லுங்கப்பா.. சொல்ல வர விஷயத்த தமிழ் நாட்டுல சொல்ல மாட்டிங்களா? நீங்க பெரிய ஆளா இருந்துட்டு போங்க, அதுக்காக அதுக்காக இப்படியா புளுகனும்? ராஜா சாரோட எத்தனையோ பேர் வேலை செஞ்சுருக்காங்க, நிங்களும் வேலை செய்ததை நாங்கள் ஒத்துக்கொள்கிறோம், முழு bgm நீங்க செய்தீங்க என்பதை நம்ப முடியவில்லை.

பொன்னர் சங்கர் bgm க்காக, தியாகராஜன் அழகர் சாமியின் குதிரை ரிக்கார்டிங் நேரத்துல வந்து போயிட்டு இருந்ததா ராஜா சார் சொல்லி இருக்கார். அடுத்தவங்க உழைப்பை தான் செய்ததாய் சொல்ற ஆள் அவர் இல்லை. அந்த பழக்கம் தன்னிடத்தில் இல்லை என்று பலமுறை சொல்லி இருக்கிறார், தினமணியில் வெளிவந்த அவருடைய வரலாற்று சுவடுகளிலும் இருக்கிறது.

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

The obsession with being Specific, context etc etc - what was specific about "Mozart I love you" in Geethaanjali? Or the temple robbery in Guna?
It just transcends the films

If you look that way, where is BGM in real life?!? You are right. But there are such cases too, illayaa! I mean, we feel it guides us in background, even if we wake up and start noticing, it still feels apt for us right?

Agree that we have done many such discussions before and if there is no musical, technical, logical explanation, there is no point in just discussing.

[SoftSword]

Should be Dumm Dumm Dumm - just before interval ?

I guess its from ullaasam.. not sure though..

[Plum]

Bala - specificity eppadi explain paNdradhu? Hmmm..look at it this way - Mottai...I mean Mozart ilu being used generically - isn't that an exception you are talking about? Vazhakkamaa pre-library music use paNNa mAttARE? Indha "velayaatta padagotti" ya "enge sellum" sichuvesanku use panni irundhalum same dhaan argument is fairly acceptable (I mean the argument is acceptable not the point being made)- but that's not the point, is it? My theory is when the scenario itself involves macro or mega emotions - such as a whole bloody village in emotional high against britishers - that's where Rahman scores very well. When it comes to micro emotions of individusls - unless in a macro template such as heroine frolicking enjoying nature, hero in general love failure turmoil(think ratchagan with its generic ballad situation), these are the ones Rahman excels in. I even have an extreme theory that Rahman with his sufism probably cannot even get into the mind of a saadharana AsApAsangaL of normal human charatters. See the bgm from Rahman that stand out as outstanding - lagaan, Swades, Bose, tamizha tamizha...is there a theme and pattern there? I have seen Fire and I have to say the bgm gets nowhere near the underlying key themes and character delineations of the movie. Again, I don't think much of the movie either but it certainly had a theme and character motifs to score for. Same with Earth - good songs but bgm? I mean, many a time, functional bgm is enough. But that is not the mark of an outstanding bgm composer. And it is not blasphemy to say this - there are specific strengths each composer has - old tfm found a lot of arguments on twists and turns in melody and msv being King in it. Given Raja's necessity for predictable structure given his wcm rigour, can we argue that he outdid or equalled MSV in that aspect by quoting a few examples from his career conforming to that? Sila vishayangalai concede pannuvadhu dhaan objective. Ellaa musical aspectlaiyum MSV, Raja and Rahman are equalnu solRadhu in my view is not objective.

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

இந்த நேரத்தில் நாம் நினைவுகூறவேண்டிய ஒரு பதிவு! - இளையராஜாவுடன் ஒரு ரயில் பயணம்

[sureshmehcnit]

!!
My point about suresh's post was this
1. If you want to compare their BGMs (approach, teknikki, effectiveness) and make value judgments, then their body of work is more than enough to go ahead and just do it. One does not need to wait for a remade movie to compare with everything else supposed to be equal, only to realize midway that ALL things are not equal (of course it's not going to be the same right?)
2. I have a problem (sorry for being such a pulithi AH, seriously) with write-ups which attempt to deconstruct music without getting technical enough on one hand and not make a point about perceived differences in approach, quality and impact on the other hand. I personally find it (such "objectivity" without theory) tedious. As in registering every stroke is fine but then what does one take away from that? Is there a conscious or unconscious restraint to go further?
3. I may be wrong but I'm afraid sometimes we over analyze and impose our readings
4. Both movies are not worth the shte

Apology Accepted.

[AravindMano]

Yennayum saethukkanga.. actually next post KR bgm dhaan

sample this http://getfile8.posterous.com/getfil...i/Guess-KR.mp3 Enna padam theriyudhaa?

Mild thEsingu rAja thEsingu rAja feel.

[ajaybaskar]

Its from Dumm Dumm Dumm. Penn paarkkum padalam.

[Gregorysab]

I also believe that Rahman might even have been annoyed initially with BGM duties. His later works see him getting better in BGM - imo atleast. I think if it is possible to quit movies and work through Albums alone that can express his vison of what popular music should be unfettered by pesky directorial vison, Rahman might even quit movies.

i dont know if he was annoyed, given the fact that he was almost doing the same in ads and jingles. But yes, SPB remarked once that ARR expressed doubts about his success in movies and gave himself 5 years of survival. ARR came from bands and his musical preferences were/are very different (which is why i dont expect him to go completely classical, be it indian or western, anytime). So his idea, as plum said and as i too think, was about bringing new kind of music. Films was just a platform he came across, accidentally. Infact, Raaja's own keyboard player Viji Manuel encouraged ARR to go solo. Contrary to the belief of some raaja fans, ARR never started out with a plan to enter film music to become numero Uno, displacing the existing numero uno. That was not his agenda I think. He just wanted another kind of music in the scene as such, be it film or anywhere, which explains his non-film ventures, even pre-Roja. So film music ie., making songs in films itself was not his natural passion probably, in pre-Roja period. probably he was bored of jingles. I think it is just chance and one thing leading to another. and slowly with the success, he too started developing passion. And the same happened with his BGMs too. His Thiruda Thiruda BGM is more engrossing than Roja BGM (for me). but overall, i think his drive in making film music, was an acquired passion, over years.

There was a period when i felt that if ARR gets a chance, he might quit movies. but i dont think so now, after the hollywood assignments he has been signing up.

Raaja's case is different. He grew up listening to composers who were making strong melodies. He learnt WCM and was applying learnings, instead of exploring world music and stuff. Thats fine. raaja also worked with Salil Chaudhary, who was known of his background score skills back in that era. So, Raaja's vision of the world he was surrounded by, was totally different, which shaped his sensibilities.

[Plum]

Raagas - lot of what you say is what I think also. Infact, when Rahman made that Dholak statement, I judged him and resented the implication. But looking back, it clearly is a mission statement. To his credit, he has accomplished the mission he set out to. Again, saying this, it doesn't automatically follow that "Person A who is naturally passionate about Attribute X WILL be more succesful in X than Person B for whom X is an acquired passion". But the tilting factor is Person A here is IR, who is atleast as much a giant as Rahman in the overall scheme of things - I believe that everything else being equal, natural passion will tilt the scale in terms of output produced. I don't see this theory as belittling Rahman in any manner. Just as Rahman succeeded in changing the paradigm of succesful film music(songs) since that was his passion and mission. As even the rabidest of Rahman fan would admit, Rahman hasn't been able to change the successful paradigm of BGM in Raja's sphere of influence - even now, Raja remains the historical and contemporary benchmark for BGM in South Indian filmdom. To me, it affirms my theory w.r.t where their "natural passion" lays. Basically, these are talents that can pretty much achieve whatever artistic mission they are on as long as it fits in their natural philosophical outlook.(Gindhila illainu sollalaam - but keep in mind BGM hasn't historically been something they value and till date it remains so. Just happened to read reviews of Cheeni Kum, Delhi 6, Paa and a few other movies - which to us south indians are important primarily because of the music/bgm factor - today morning as I followed some links casually. Nary a mention of music in those reviews. Avainga apdi thaan)