Maestro ilaiyaraaja news & titbits

[Sureshs65]

Contrary to popular belief here, Raja did score for youthful romances in 2000s. Ofcourse, Tamil films mostly gave him village based themes or melodramas, Malayalam family dramas and Kannada some indeterminate stuff. It was Telugu which gave him these 'youthful' romances. I can personally think of 'Sunny', 'Shambu' and 'Ninnu Choodaka Nenudalenu' and 'Om Shanthi' belonging to this category. The music in these movies is varied. I would say 'Sunny' and 'Shambu' are quite similar in their music, while 'Ninnu Choodaka Nenundalenu' is more like 'Mallepoovu', where melody is the key. 'Om Shanti' on the other hand in the newer, jazzier Raja that we have come to hear in the recent past.

Here is the link to the songs of 'Shambu':

http://www.raaga.com/channels/telugu...p?mid=a0000609

Songs of 'Sunny':

http://www.raaga.com/channels/telugu...p?mid=a0001202

Songs of 'Ninnuchoodaka Nenundalenu':

http://www.raaga.com/channels/telugu...p?mid=a0000275

Songs of 'Om Shanthi':

http://www.hummaa.com/music/album/om-shanti/35659

It must be said that as far as I know all of them were flops !!!! I personally love the music from all these movies and keep playing 'Sunny' and 'Om Shanthi' regularly. (The other CDs are not available) The songs didn't make much of an impact on the general populace, I should confess. (Maybe a couple of songs from 'Ninnuchoodaka.." were well known.) All these movies (with the exception of 'Om Shanthi' ) have one 'teen maar' or 'kuthu' song, which I love and which aakarsh hates from the bottom of his heart

My feeling is that NEVP will be in the lines of 'Om Shanthi'. That is Raja's new sound. The jazz and the Broadway musical style. And I will be more than happy if I get something like 'Chinna Polike'. If you haven't heard it do go to the 'Om Shanthi' link and listen to it.