Anything about IR found on the net - Vol 3

What!  SPB is exceedingly lenient in TV shows.  In fact, very few South singers ever tell a contestant bluntly to their face that they were not impressive that day, which judges often do in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa/Indian Idol.  By far the toughest judge I have seen in a Tamil music show (excluding Carnatic Idol where the great Neyveli Santhanagopalan played hard to please) was Gangai in Saptaswarangal way back in the 90s.  He just told all the finalists plainly that they were not good enough for playback.

Sharath is quite strict and sometimes unpleasant. He got elbowed out of Asianet Star singer for that. Demoted to Kairali TV now

The trio of Sharreth, Hariharan and JamesV (for whatever he is worth) was fantastic in Jaya TV's Hariyudan Naan which happened 3-4 years ago. Thanks also to Subhashree akka who was the show director.

Sharath can be strict, though maybe he is more so in Malayalam because he was alright, I felt, in Hariudan Naan.  Anyway, he is a very good singer and well entitled to be harsh if he wishes.  It is sad they have to mollycoddle the contestants so much under the pretext of 'reality TV'.

fring151 wrote:Personally, I would be extremely reluctant about condemning a close and important member of IR's orchestra based on a transcripted interview to a Tamil magazine.

Missed this. I read you. But fact is I have been expecting Viji to say something like this for quite some time now. All indications are that he is sruggling with health and money and has been getting help from certain quarters. .
Faustian pact and all that.
Well, IR is not rich or powerful enough now to help others - Fact
I am not at all surprised - and I dont believe a word of Viji. As I said, any other circumstances, a cold defamation suit was in order.. But I hear due consideration may be given to his age and health now.
Which is sad because Raghu fans will use this to brainwash stupid TN. Then again, TN public's approval is the surest proof of lack of quality/discernment these days..

Sharath, G Venugopal and Usha Uthup were probably the best combination. M G Sreekumar was not bad either. Usha Uthup was the one who was not so strict about the singing but probably encouraged the singers with her maternal presence. Sharath and Venugopal was a terrific combo, very hard to please, on the Malayalam channels. Infact Sharath on Hariyudan Naan was probably a notch nicer. Both Sarath and Venugopal would sing and explain what they wanted and they would do it very well. Surprisingly even Chitra Chechi is a bit stricter on the Malayalam channels compared to 'super kanna' in Vijay TV.

Last part on the Friday night / SPB / IR...

I've made another very polite remark to the guy "That sounds quite interesting....well, it's in total contrast to what the people in TN think about him or talk about him. He is to Thamizh media & TV channels, the epitome of humility"

I then went on to tell him about the recent Super Singer Junior show where he appeared for a week and Janaki too joining the show for a few days. I told that SPB is clearly identified in TN media as some kind of humility-crusader, who encourages others too -especially youngsters - to be so 

He kept to his stance , like, "I don't know about Tamil TV but on ETV he is horrible. He is the main judge and accompanied by some music director or other as co-judge. He is caustic on budding singers".

Now I got bored and had to indulge in some topic change. After all it's a music night and I'm under the influence of -OH. So, my "regular topic" has to come, you see...

So, I made a casual remark - "By the way, in TN, that titles of "arrogance, sadistic" etc are all unanimously awarded by all media to one guy called Ilayaraja" (I said this in a matter of fact - 'என் கவலை எனக்கு" tone  )

The guy made an 180 degree twist to the conversation at that remark! "Oh, what comparison yAr, Ilayaraja is in what level and SPB is what level...Ilayaraja can be arrogant, he is fully qualified, he cannot be clubbed with ordinary fellows" 

I was once again in a state of  (கதை இப்படிப்போகும்னு நான் எதிர்பார்க்கவே இல்லை)

Interestingly, the Malayali guy as well as another Telugu guy too joined him in asserting to me that "Ilayaraja is in a different level, different world, not human, lives music and not in ordinary people's world, can afford to say anything - behave in any way" etc

Well, I "reluctantly" agreed with them - "yes, yes, he is a genius and genius people can be quirky at times"

Our vambu conversation didn't continue further as we got interrupted by some horrible "chorus" singing by the "bollywood-actresses-like" women and I couldn't help but make some funny remarks about their pitch etc 

(The end)

app_engine wrote:So, I made a casual remark - "By the way, in TN, that title of "arrogance, sadistic" etc are all unanimously awarded by all media to one guy called Ilayaraja" (I said this in a matter of fact - 'என் கவலை எனக்கு" tone  )

The guy made an 180 degree twist to the conversation at that remark! "Oh, what comparison yAr, Ilayaraja is in what level and SPB is what level...Ilayaraja can be arrogant, he is fully qualified, he cannot be clubbed with ordinary fellows" 

I was once again in a state of  (கதை இப்படிப்போகும்னு நான் எதிர்பார்க்கவே இல்லை)

Interestingly, the Malayali guy as well as another Telugu guy too joined him and asserting to me that "Ilayaraja is in a different level, different world, not human, lives music and not in ordinary people's world, can afford to say anything - behave in any way" etc

Whatye derar twistu! enna dhaan micha ellAthu mElayin kappi thanamAna puridhal irundhAlum, nammALunu vandhuttA mana desam mana desam dhaan!

app_engine wrote:....
Well, I "reluctantly" agreed with them - "yes, yes, he is a genius and genius people can be quirky at times"
....

App.. you had fun time Saar :-) ..all is well that ends well.
Re: Monopoly - I have heard similar stories about KJY monopolizing and sidelining PJ from a co-worker whose relatives were producers.
Re: Viji Manuel - I was not too worried, as I was sure there was something more to it. I am sure Malaysia Vasudevan's folks were/are also not happy with IR. For that matter, even his son (Yuvan) might not be happy :-)
I am selfish .. I am happy when the songs come nice :-)
Happy Diwali to you all (whether it is today, tomorrow or yesterday for you !!!)

Happy Diwali to all.  If you celebrated it yesterday, then please accept my belated wishes.  

OK, nice to hear that "Raja is a genius, he can do anything he wants" validation for a change  but sad to hear SPB is just 'ordinary'.     Well, he may be blessed twice over because he claims to have 'bad habits' and his voice has still lost very little of its original strength and beauty.  But whether blessed or persevering, he is no ordinary singer.  And unlike Lata, he didn't, at least as far as I am aware of, try to shut imitator Mano out of the market.  In fact, I found the camaraderie between SPB and Mano on the Super Singer episode quite charming.  If there was any bitter rivalry, neither let on.

am new to this forum !!

Just posting my question here as this the most active thread as of now.

Can we expect independent albums like HTNI or Thiruvasagam from Raja in the immediate furture ?

prakash wrote:am new to this forum !!

Just posting my question here as this the most active thread as of now.

Can we expect independent albums like HTNI or Thiruvasagam from Raja in the immediate furture ?

Welcome!

There were talks in the official fan club on him doing music for a dance drama themed around Lord Shiva with prominent passages from the Thevaram, Thiruvasagam, Nandanar Charitham and Kumara Sambhavam being composed for an orchestra. But for now, no developing news on that. We otherwise have film albums in Kannada (Mythri), Telugu (Rudhrama Devi), Hindi (Shamitabh) and Tamil (Thaarai Thappattai) coming up in the next few months.

அழகான மொழியில் அருமையாக எழுதுகிறார் இவரது அனுபவங்களை :-)

சிவராமன் கணேசனின் புலிக்கதை

ஜானகி கேட்கும் ஒவ்வொருவரின் காதுக்குள்ளும் வந்து ரகசியம் போல சொல்லும் அந்த முதல் வரிகள் – ”தூரத்தில் நான் கண்ட உன்முகம், நதி தீரத்தில் தேன் கொண்ட என் மனம்…” என்று ஆரம்பிக்கும். யாருமில்லா அவ்வனத்தினிடையே, நெருப்பின் நடனங்களை பார்த்துக்கொண்டு, ஒரு அமானுஷ்ய அனுபத்தைக் கடந்து வந்த அந்த நேரத்தில்தான் இந்தப்பாடலை முதன்முதலில் கேட்டேன்.

Another post by the same person, awesome

I've earlier read his "cassette-recording-guy" story. I noticed today that he has started following me on twitter and thus spent some time on his twitter account (and registered myself as a follower as well).

His Kunda experiences, with rAsA song inserts, are excellent reading material!

The chances of albums getting released from the end of Ilaiyaraaja seems to be bleak. The minute any album is released fans upload in many sites and not much of convincing could happen with the maestro.

The next album can happen only if some one approaches. He himself releasing looks out of question. It is about 100 days since he announced he will release an album every week.

We are also to be blamed. We sit comfortably and talk and do nothing. I want some one to lead this and  have this albums released.

After reading app's post on SPB people should understand how mano got all the chances.The reasons given by SPB for mano singing Id. Thiru'dey are not correct. The real reason was something else and then came MANO.

Perhaps the only fan of mano is there in the form of kameshratnam saar

According to Mano, SPB was not available to record the Tamil versions of the songs and MR couldn't afford to wait till he could get back to record.  That's how it landed in Mano's lap.

This Week  from Violin vicky......

So apart from playing with both hands simultaneously, often on multiple keyboards AND playing with both the limbs simultaneously AND selecting a complex permutation of stops to pull all the time while playing AND not moving your eye away for one second from the notation in front, playing Organ got to be the most physically and intellectually demanding exercise in the planet


Play pannina vidham... easy madhirii thoniyadhu......... adhu dhanae VV..........

Timeless Music on a  Timeless Instrument.........


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj4ZKOPJHyY#t=41

Was lucky to have a darsanam of Raja very unexpectedly at Ramanashram in Tiruvannamalai today. My brief writeup on the incident.

"I was in Tiruvannamalai today. Was there yesterday as well but today was special. My wife and I went to the ashram around 6:45am. The pooja in the morning finishes around 7. Then there is the aarti. As people were taking the aarti, my wife told me that Raja was there in the room. I couldn't see him. She said the first person to take the aarti and that he left after that. So I went to the adjoining room to see if he was there. He wasn't. I quickly went outside and saw that he was going towards the breakfast area. A couple of ladies were wishing him. He acknowledged them and kept walking. I ran quickly towards him. He was alone. He was about to enter the dining room when I came next to him. He stopped. I quickly touched his feet and did a vanakkam, which he acknowledged. I came back to the pooja room to take the prasadam.

Then we went into the dining hall. He was sitting on a bench waiting for breakfast to be served. I did one more vanakkam to him. My wife also did the same. He acknowledged both of our vanakkams. 

After breakfast, he went to his room. An elderly lady seeing he was around, quickly gathered her grandchildren and also her son and daughter in law and went to his room. She requested something. He came out of the room and the family took photos with him. All of them touched his feet and took his blessings. He then went back into his room. My wife asked me if I wanted to take a photo with him. I said not here, since he had probably to enjoy the peace and I had no wish to disturb it.

He was wearing his standard white dhoti and white cotton shirt. He was like the 100s of devotees who come to the ashram. People who don't know him would never have realized he was one of the great genius of our times. No one was fussing around him. The ashram staff seem to know him well and give him his space. From what I could see he was behaving like any other devotee of Bhagwan.

We had planned to leave today after breakfast. My wife suggested that maybe we should stay back and see if Raja sings in the evening. Unfortunately my daughter has a test tomorrow early morning and she didn't want to miss it. So we had to start today morning. My wife was saying it would have been great had Raja come yesterday.

While driving back to Bangalore, my wife asked me, "Did you tell him your name?" After sometime listening to his 'Metti Oli' song, she asked me, "Did you tell him you liked his songs and that you were his fan?". I told her, "The first one he need not know. The second one he anyway knows" 

I have been to Tiruvannamali multiple times but have never seen him before. I have heard he comes there during Pournami and I avoid Tiruvannamali during Pournami. So it was pleasent surprise to see him today. While driving back along with his music, I realized that he was anyway always present with us. It is just that he manifested himself in his physical form today."

Raaga_Suresh wrote:While driving back to Bangalore, my wife asked me, "Did you tell him your name?" After sometime listening to his 'Metti Oli' song, she asked me, "Did you tell him you liked his songs and that you were his fan?". I told her, "The first one he need not know. The second one he anyway knows" 

Fantastic. IthuthAn punch dialogue-nggurathu.

Nice experience, Sureshji!

Raaga_Suresh wrote:
He was wearing his standard white dhoti and white cotton shirt. He was like the 100s of devotees who come to the ashram. People who don't know him would never have realized he was one of the great genius of our times. No one was fussing around him. The ashram staff seem to know him well and give him his space. From what I could see he was behaving like any other devotee of Bhagwan.

I remember this instance some years ago when the Bachchan family visited Tirupathi and the road from keezh to mel thrupathi was literally blocked for the entire duration their royal highnesses were up there. Yet none of the usual critics of IR's conduct will ever acknowledge this aspect of his character. He may or may not be guilty of other charges, but IR has certainly not let money or fame go to his head.

Thanks Groucho and app.

fring,

You are right. None of his critics will bother about this aspect of his character. Maybe the Tirupati trip of Bachchan family and Raja at Tiruvannamalai is not comparable but what can be seen is that Raja has ensured that he is treated like an ordinary devotee with no special privileges. When I told a friend who interacts with Raja frequently, he replied, "For you guys it is new because you are seeing him for the first time. He has always been a simple person". 

When the lady went with her grandchildren to him I could see in her eyes the feeling of going and meeting someone who is part of the family. There was no awe but only a sense of happiness. It was as if she was meeting a well respected family elder after a long time. Media guys may play up the arrogance part for all they want but like the Indian electorate, the common folks of TN know the truth.

Endha porulakagavum yar meedhum varadha poramai.......   IR ai parthen endru solbavargal meedhu konjam poramai varugiradhu.