ILaiyaraaja!
The name is etched in the hearts of millions of people-laymen and cognoscenti.
With his entry, the word Orchestration assumed a new meaning. Seamlessly blending all major forms, he makes us realise that Music is universal and Divine. Like a colossus, he strides and wields his magic wand mesmerising people across the globe.
This Blog is an attempt to explore his compositions in multiple languages, his background scores and his non-film albums.
But sadly, our country is known for not respecting anything that is old. Most importantly, we also fail to recognise and appreciate genius stuff. Remember what happened to Bharati when he was alive!
We also do not utilise the ‘gold’ properly (no..I don’t mean the ornamental gold, the very mention of it send a chill down my spine).
One of the classic examples is the talent of Sivaji Ganesan. Many in the present generation identify Sivaji with the somewhat artificial modulated dialogue delivery. It is because of our film makers who with their contrived way of story telling, gave him stereotype roles with little scope of innovation. In spite of this, if Sivaji rose like a colossus, it was because of the huge talent he had.
Unlike what is popularly believed, Sivaji Ganesan’s forte was not just the dialogue delivery. Each and every muscle of his face would speak. In one of my earlier posts, I had mentioned as to how Rajaji-who hardly watched films- appreciated the expression of ‘Bharatan’(Sivaji) in the film ‘SampoorNa RamayaNam’. I had also mentioned about how Shri.Dhananjayan, the great Bharatanatyam exponent and Padma Bhushan awardee considered Sivaji Ganesan as one of his inspirations.
Today is the birthday of Sivaji Ganesan. This Blog has been carrying special posts every year (right from 2008) and a lot has been written about him and his talent in those posts. Therefore, let me directly get into the rare gem of the day.
It is ‘ILamaikkalam enge..’ from ‘Thaikku Oru Thaalaattu’(1986).
The song is very special.
ILaiyaraaja, a great fan of MSV found an opportunity to pay tribute to his idol in this song. He used the tune of ‘Unnai Ondu Ketpen’(Puthiya PaRavai).
As per the sequence in the film, Sivaji talks to Padmini about their younger days and the humming of this song appears in the film(If I am not wrong, the song is not part of the movie. It was either not picturised or it was removed). But I am still surprised that ILaiyaraaja chose to use this tune and not a tune from a Sivaji-Padmini combination. As many of you must be knowing, the original is a Suseela solo sung for Saroja Devi. Maybe the director(Balachandra Menon) wanted it. Or it is one of Raaja’s favourite songs.
Whatever be the reason, it is nice to hear a MSV tune with Raaja’s orchestration.
One more interesting detail is that TMS sang for Raaja after a gap of 6 years (and this song remains the last song rendered by TMS for Raaja till date).
The song starts with a humming of TMS. Pallavi follows in the voice of Suseela. ‘Pazhaiya Paadal pola Puthiya Paadal Illai’ says TMS.
Raaja’s intelligence is shown in the orchestration. As you all know, 1986 was the time when he would use close to 60 instruments for most of the songs. But he must have used just about 5 instruments for this song.In fact, the keyboard dominates the entire song.
I am sure, he must have done it so that the essence of the tune is not spoiled. One can in fact feel the respect Raaja has for MSV in the entire song.
The first interlude is graceful, mellifluous, gentle and beauteous.
Except for the sharp Tabla in the second interlude of course shows us the ILaiyaraaja we know, the second interlude more or less is subdued.
The chubby faced actor said this recently in a TV show:
“My father was very close to him. They would have friendly banters and quarrels now and then. One day, he landed up at our house early in the morning and said he wanted to see my father.My father was sleeping upstairs and I called him on the phone through the phone using the extension button.My father refused to see him.When I told him this, he smiled and said ‘Oh..he is still angry with me. Doesn’t matter. Please tell him that I am going to the US and will be back after a month. I came to say Bye to him..".
"But he never returned.This happened in 1981.My father was alive for another 10 years and not a single day passed without my father saying ‘He came to see me the last time.But I didn’t see him.. How bad on my part! ”
The ‘He’ here is Kannadasan.
Friendly banters and fighting with friends were not new to this gentleman. But the best part is he would do this only with a select few ‘just for the fun of it’.
Once he and Shivaji had a fight and both were not on talking terms.But he continued to write for his movies.That was the time when the Shivaji-Bheemsingh-Kannadasan-Viswanathan-Ramamurthy combination was at its peak.He wrote a song and asked MSV to show it to Shivaji.It seems Shivaji started crying the moment he read the pallavi.
The song was: ‘Ennai Yaarendru Enni Enni nee paarkiRai..Idhu Yaar Paadum paadalenru nee ketkiRai..’
MSV sir and Kannadasan too had a very special relationship.Their composing sessions were a treat to watch.It seems MSV would tell him ‘What are you writing anne..Even I can write better’ and Kannadasan in turn would say ‘You are not able to set my song to tune and are shifting the blame’.Both would even use unprintable language. But the session would end with one praising the other.Their mutual admiration was something that cannot be described in words.
People who have watched such spectacles live describe the events with awe. But all of them maintain that it was Kannadasan who would initiate the ‘fight’Why?Because he loved MSV so much that he enjoyed pulling his leg.
Not only did his face look like a child. He was a child at heart. But when it came to writing, he was unparalleled and incomparable.
That is Kannadasan.
I have already said this many times.There has never been and there can never be any other lyricist as great as Kannadasan.There can only be one ‘Kaviyarasar’.If some people claim themselves to be ‘Perarasar’,they are cheating themselves!
Today is the birthday of Kannadasan and MSV. I wish a Happy Birthday to both. The physical body of Kannadasan is no more.But he lives and will continue to live with his immortal songs.
Before I take up the Rare Gem of today and Raaja sir’s association with Kannadasan, I would like to quote a few lines from a MSV-Kannadasan song:
The Hero, a writer who writes with a pen name Gowrimanohari falls in love with a lady. What is great or different about it? He is a widower with 6 children and is in his middle ages. The Heroine sings ‘I saw Gowrimanohari in the form of a man’(the brilliant MSV set this song in pure Gowrimanohari ragam!).
The second charaNam shows us why Kannadasan is a genius.
(Breeze is breeze whether it blows over the mountain or over the sea Love is the same whether it comes during youth or in old age!).
With this, let me turn my attention on Raaja sir and Kannadasan and today’s rare gem.
In fact, I had written about their association and the mutual admiration many times in this community.
Raaja was a great follower and fan of Kannadasan right from his younger days.He still remembers the poem Kannadasan wrote when Jawaharlal Nehru passed away in 1964.
Kannadasan warmly welcomed Raaja to Tamizh cinema music adding the line ‘Raaja vaa..Raaja vaa.. ‘ in the song ‘Kannodu Kannu’(Paalootti VaLarththa KiLi-1976).
The combination gave some unforgettable songs(many of which have been discussed in this community) for 5 and half years.As fate would have it, Kannadasan wrote his last two songs for Raaja on the eve of his departure to the US in 1981.
There are many personal favourites but today I am taking up a song from ‘Pagalil Oru Iravu’, a 1979 movie. Somehow one song ‘obscured’ the beauty of other songs in this album.Maybe that song is very powerful and is indeed one of my all time favourites. But the gem of today is ‘Kalaiyo Silaiyo’, another beautiful composition not known to many.
The most striking aspect of the composition is the silken softness.The song describes the beauty of a young and innocent girl.
Other lyricists would have resorted to simple ‘Maane Thaene..’and gone on to write some nauseating words.. or would have given computer to Brahmma and imagined about her laugh being like the sound of a telephone. But not Kannadasan!
Before that, let us see the musical part first.
The prelude itself is so meditative that it makes our eyes close automatically. The sound of bells and the mesmerizing flute are steeped in tranquility.
The tune of the Pallavi in the melodious voice of Jayachandran is simple and beautiful.
The Violin orchestra in the first interlude is infused with haunting air. A very different combination of sitar and flute is the icing on the cake.The twin-violins with the Bells and the bass guitar in the background captivate our hearts.
The CharaNams radiate softly .The lines are tender and are piercingly sharp.
The second interlude is impeccably deep.The first part sparkles with the violins and the Bass Guitar while the second half-again a combination of sitar and flute but this time sounding very different- is dainty.
Let us now look at the lyrics.
He says ‘Are you the epitome of fine-arts?Are you a sculpture? Or are you like the Golden Deer? Are you a fruit? Or are you the parrot? Or, are you the moon who came on a walk to see this Earth?’
Though the words sound very simple, there are a lot of inner meanings. Awed by the beauty of the girl, he sees her as a sculpture as well as the art form; Bird as well as the Fruit.
He also feels for a moment that maybe this is not true..Because it is impossible for such a beauty to exist.So, he says ‘Are you the Golden deer’?(we all know the story of Golden Deer in Ramayana).
He then imagines that the Moon has descended on the Earth(it has come on a picninc!).
Poetic beauty at its best!
In the first CharaNam, he says ‘Is this the dancing chariot walking? When will the mind shed its innocence and blossom like a flower? A beautiful maiden with the youth like the rain of flowers..’
Please do not miss the ‘Blossoming of the flower’ followed by the ‘Rain of flowers’!
The second CharaNam is a marvel.
We all know the power of silence.Here, the poet gives a completely different dimension to the silence of the girl.
He says ‘Is your silence the code/secret language?’(the use of ‘paribhaashai’ here is very noteworthy.I am not aware of any other film song using this word!).
‘Gestures that I am not able to understand-maybe it is the respect you have for me and my love’.
‘Child-like enthusiasm and energy –a beautiful girl!’
The last line ‘Thogaiyin Bhaavamo’ can be interpreted in many ways. Thogai-means a girl. It also means a peacock feather. Peacock is known for dancing. Therefore, one could interpret it like ‘a beautiful girl’ or ‘a dancing girl’ or even ‘as beautiful as a peacock’.
His words mean so much…
At times, I even feel how would it be if only he was alive today.. But I thank God that he is not alive to see the murder of Tamizh. Murder in the name of ‘semmozhi’ by people who can not even say ‘Yaathum oore yaavarum keLir’(யாதும் ஊரே..யாவரும் கேளிர்..) properly.
As I said, Kannadasan’s words mean so much.. Now, let silence carve new meanings and teach all these people who murder the beautiful language and who ‘adorn’ the language with vulgarity and expletives..
I am a person with varied interests.
Music is my breath and though I like all kinds of music, I am enamoured of the variety and the depth of Indian Classical music.As far as Film music is concerned, I love Old songs and ILaiyaraaja-whom I consider as one of the best composers in the world- is my favourite composer.
I love travelling and meeting new people . A lover of nature, I prefer those long walks.
