Maestro's 73rd Birthday & Manam channel's tribute series

This birthday is very special because of Manam's tribute series. I am so overwhelmed. Hats off to Manam It is a huge initiative. There are so many videos that I think it deserves a separate thread for sharing all the videos from various artists and fans of his music. Also it will be better to gather the videos at one place for clarity, ease and viewing pleasure. There are some rare excerpts from persons who worked closely with Maestro. Please share it here and if possible add couple of lines about your thoughts on the video.

Let me start with the promo which sets the expectations on what's going to come.

I will start with posting one of my most favorite in the series so far. It is from Mano Bala. He talks about his experience as an assistant director (to Bharathiraja) and how he got popular overnight through Maestro's spell-binding music in PiLLai Nila and much more. When he expresses, 'அய்யோ இந்த மனுஷன் எவ்வளவு நாள் வேணும்னாலும் இருந்துட்டு போகட்டுமே. எங்க ஆயுசு எல்லாம் எடுத்துக்கோங்க. இந்த ஆள வாழவிடுங்க'  literally I can't stop my tears. This the real and total appreciation and love towards his music. He also reveals how nam thana nam thana song was born. It was utmost joy listening to him express his experience. I can continuously watch him expressing with natural smile, humor; everything comes from the heart and not just from the tongue.

Maestro's sound engineer Thennarasu details இசைஞானியின் ஒரு நாள் like no other. We have listened many times about how he composes and records songs, but I don't think we heard this much detailing. Right from 6:00 am to 1:45 pm, he dissects every hour of Maestro at the studio. And then the next session from 2 pm to 9 pm. He has been doing not for one or two days or one or two months, he has been doing this for more than 30 years, every day. Include background score too. Not to mention no corrections to his score. I can't imagine the amount of hard work, diligence and sincerity went in. It is not humanly possible for any one in the world other than Maestro, that also includes any composers right from the day this world started till day. Incomparable by any means. Thennarasu puts Maestro's every skill beautifully. Million thanks to him.



This video is not just for viewing, it has to be saved for future generations to come to know how Maestro breathe music as his life.

Rasi Azhappan was an associate to Singeetham Srinivasa Rao in Aboorva SagOtharagaL and R K Selvamani in MakkaL Aatchchi. He even directed few films and was also a journalist.

In his experience, he beautifully narrates the conversations (between Kamal and Maestro) during Aboorva SagOtharargaL, Guna and Devar Magan days and how Raja Kaiyya Vechcha happened so naturally and casually. Wow! He even talks about Maestro's specialties and how he is way different from other tunesmiths. He says that even when Maestro does not score for a particular scene, you can still feel his presence there, that's the beauty. The best of all when he says, this is all possible only because cinema has dissolved in Raja like no other. He even talks briefly but beautifully about his simple life too and a lovable person, how he takes care of guests like a father. Wonderful articulation by Rasi Azhapappan. சினிமா அவருக்குள்ள எவ்வளவு ஓடியிருந்தால் அதுதான் இளையராஜா. இளையராஜாவை வெல்வதற்கு ஒரே ஒரு இசையமைப்பாளராலதான் முடியும், அது இளையராஜா தான். வேற யாருமே incomparable. இதை தாண்டி பல பேர் சங்கீத ஓசைகள் தரலாம் (please note the point your honor) ஆனால் உள்ளுக்குள்ளேர்ந்து படம் பார்த்துட்டு அந்த ஜீவனா அழுதுட்டு வெளியில வரீங்க அப்படின்னு சொன்னாக்கா அது இளையராஜா தான்.

I don't want to bore you, watch these two videos without fail.





Big thanks to Manam for bringing these unsung people to the fore through this memorable series.

This time it is Abdul Sattar, a Music Professor who is teaching in a music school for the past 48 years. He learned Piano along with Maestro from Dhanraj Master during their youth days. He won the teachers cup from Trinity College of London (based on his students proficiency) 28 years (which is a record break). He explains the difficulties in their early years to learn and practice piano. He says, Maestro won the Gold medal at the highest level (8th level) at TCL. He explains how Maestro is very thorough in the theory and extreme hard worker which makes him a composer we see him today. Abdul Sattar talks in a calm, nice balanced way, not going overboard to please anyone which I like a lot. He provides a lot of insights about their early life. Another unknown person whom we come to know through manam series. Many thanks again.

V_S ji , thanks a million for your painstaking efforts in bringing some interesting insights about IR from "Manam" channel to our table for our easy consumption.

You're welcome Still lot more to come.

Vivek, one of the biggest fans of Maestro beautifully narrates his love for Maestro and his music. He details his film music, spiritual albums, private albums and how he is an ocean of music. அவர் ஒரு சித்தர் லெவெல்ல இருப்பாங்க He stresses how we cannot go up to his level to communicate, but he has communicated easily with everyone with his profound music. He amusingly narrates how his music career was sealed by Maestro The way he explains the dressing style of 70s/80s Marlon Brando மாதிரி 'மார்ல'ன் பேன்ட்டோ . He also talks about the beauty of Thirvasagam. Lyrcist நா முத்துக்குமாரோ, பா விஜயோ இல்ல. மாணிக்கவாசகர். எனக்கு அங்க மீட்டர் இடுக்குதுன்னெல்லாம் மாத்தமுடியாது .  I am surprised when he played that keyboard with some mouth organ (what is that instrument?). He explains the beauty of every note in siruponmani asaiyum. முடிஞ்சுது Callsheet over, நான் டீ சாப்பிட்டு வரேன். His narration is not just humorous but thought provoking too. Heart-felt open talk with no inhibition. Every second is so interesting.

On the other hand Mysskin's note touches us seriously and profoundly. The score of Nandhalaala and OAK at the background (when he speaks) shapes the mood superbly. Mysskin talks about some aspects which none other talked about so far. Right from he starts with என் தாயின் பிறந்த நாள் to அவரைப் பற்றி நினைச்சுக்கிட்டுதான் என் இறப்பு நடக்கும். என் உண்மையான தாயைவிட அவரை நான் ரொம்ப நேசிக்கிறேன். என் வாழ்க்கையின் மிக முக்கியமான நாட்கள் அவரை சந்த்தித்த நாட்கள் தான் and lot more, the (personal) relationship he explains is beyond music, even though his relationship with Maestro started with music. He again explains how sincere and hard working  he is without any distractions, a huge music factory. He also explains the beauty of flow of his music and how it touches every part. The first person who writes music. The highlight is when Mysskin articulates Maestro's mannerisms when he is composing. One of the best articulations in the series.

This Manam series is one of the best online tributes I have seen in the past few years. Thanks to everybody involved

Watching Vivek's video I realized how I miss having him around in movies these days. He is a storehouse of knowledge and wit, and versatile himself. Even in this video, he displays it all. The instrument he plays is called Melodica I guess also called as a blow-organ.

V_S,
  Thanks for the thread.........

Special one from Abdul Sattar.............

http://manam.online/news/Special-Interview/2016-June-15/Guitarist-Abdul-Sattar

http://manam.online/news/Special-Interview/2016-June-15/A-Musical-Treat-to-Ilayaraja

Sorry for the long break. Thanks Usha ji for sharing manam online article.

This one by Pa Vijay nicely narrates his experience with Maestro's music.  He explains how Maestro expresses 'climate' in his compositions. He even talks about how his music relates the one who lives abroad. He is the one who wrote konjam konjam from maayakkannaadi and few more. Looks like Maestro recommended Vijay's name for rudhramadEvi's dialogues for thamizh version. He was also the lyricist for thamizh version. He also talks about Maestro as a singer in other music director's (Yuvan) songs and also how proficient Maestro is with other languages that he can compete well with other language lyricists as well.

The highlight is when he expresses, the situation and shot of அந்த வானத்தைப் போல மனம் படைச்ச மன்னவனே. He even mentions Maestro might have written this line, மஞ்சளிலே ஒரு நூலெடுத்து அந்த விண்ணுக்கும் மண்ணுக்கும் சம்மந்தம் உண்டுன்னு சொன்னது யாரு அது மன்னவன் பேரு, even though officially it has director RV Udayakumar's name on it.

எல்லா வாத்தியங்களுக்கும் உயிர் கொடுத்த கலைஞன், வார்த்தைகளுக்கு உயிர் கொடுத்த கலைஞன், பலருடைய வாழ்வியலுக்கு உயிர் கொடுத்த கலைஞன்.

Again one of the best in the series. Free-flow speech shower by none other than Actor Rajesh. I was a big admirer of his films in 80s, especially achchamillai achchamillai. He talks with full enthusiasm like a child. He talks about lot of his other part, apart from his music, the humility part of Raja and how he reveres and respects his mentors and previous era music directors by even putting him to shame.

He almost brings back the magic of mudhal mariyathai through his wonderful anecdotes, metaphors and how Raja handled brilliantly it like no other. It is amazing how he remembers each and every scene of the film in detail. Wow! He even talks about a concept called 'insert' in cinema and how Maestro corrects this cinematic concept when incorrectly handled by the directors. Absolutely brilliant!!

A very soft spoken Mithran Jawahar who directed yaaradi nee mOhini, kutty..., shares his heart-felt views on Maestro's music. Earlier he was an assistant director to Kasthuri Raja when he did Kummi Paattu. He tells that he even narrated a script for a film to Maestro, but unfortunately the film didn't take off. We can literally see how he is totally into Maestro's music with this talk. The best part is how he reminisces bommu kutti ammaavukku score and காலெல்லாம் நோகுதடி கனியே உன்னைத் தேடி. Please don't miss this episode. Another great fan of Maestro which we came to know through Manam channel.

The best part is how he reminisces bommu kutti ammaavukku score and காலெல்லாம் நோகுதடி கனியே உன்னைத் தேடி. Please don't miss this episode. Another great fan of Maestro which we came to know through Manam channel.

Raaja must have written this before a lunch session  curious how mallu version plays this scene out.

Good that you pointed out this. Malayalam version is by Jerry Amaldev, right? Here it is: (from 2:35). To me it is good, but quite generic and does not convey the mood like how Maestro did. Maestro lives that character when he composes such scores. He is way too exceptional. I can't stop shedding tears when he sings/brings that piece there (as we as the audience can get into Alex/Raguvaran's soul on how he would have felt), but I cannot get to the mood completely in the Malayalam version. It is way too muted for me. Your thoughts?

It is way too muted for me. Your thoughts?

omg what contrast, banal, guess MD took the easy route of cuing the surroundings.

Exactly! When Vinod tells Alex that he is busy till 6 pm (to escape from his torture), to his surprise Alex replies that he will wait till 6 pm (to take him to meet his wife), one music director considers those 8 hours as just a pass time and he gives score for that. Cricket conveniently adds to the pass time. While another music director diligently gets into the shoes of Alex and Vinod and almost fights a mind war by singing that soulful piece. Alex counts the time by each minute to get over soon, while Vinod thinks the opposite to avoid him, but seeing Alex's patience, perseverance and the love for his daughter/wife, he at last accepts his proposal.

These are the nuances and details which often gets ignored (even from a veteran like Jerry Amaldev who worked as an assistant, and did so many background scores under Naushad), by many music directors, but Maestro never misses any slightest opportunities, but this one, is too big to be ignored. It's not just about missing, it is all about hard work, sincerity and the life he is giving to film and the music. He puts his thoughts and writes lyrics, composes and elevates a dumb scene into a powerful one. See the lyrics, how he went inside Alex's character, cries inside about his wife state (now and how she was before) and brings out such emotional lines. Maestro brilliantly address both about Alex's wife (questioning if she will come back to normalcy) and daughter (to see her again) in pallavi.

காலெல்லாம் நோகுதடி கனியே உன்னைத் தேடி
என் கண்ணெல்லாம் கெறங்குதடி கண்ணே உன்னைத் தேடி
கனியே நீ எங்கிருக்கே எங்கிருக்கே
(என்) கண்ணே நீ எங்கிருக்கே எங்கிருக்கே  

கந்தன் கொளத்துக்கிளி கஞ்சி குடிப்பாளாம்
கஞ்சி குடிச்சிப்புட்டு கண்ணாடி பாப்பாளாம்
வஞ்சி இளமயிலு மஞ்சக் குளிப்பாளாம்
மச்சானக் கண்டுபுட்டா  மயங்கி நடப்பாளாம்

கொஞ்சிக் குலவிக்கொண்டு கொண்டை முடிப்பாளாம்
கொழுந்தனக் கண்டுபுட்டா குலுக்கி நடப்பாளாம்
மாலைப் பொழுதினிலே மஞ்ச நெறத்துக் கிளி  
மனச மயங்க வெச்சு மறைவாக சென்றதென்ன

ஏ ஏலேலோ ஏலேலோ ஏலேலோ

There are few more episodes on manam channel. Some are interesting. I didn't like some of the tributes, especially Venkat Prabu's where he had conflict of interest in wishing Maestro. He brings some of the family (personal) tensions as part of the tribute which takes away completely what he might have wished at the start.

Here is the complete playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu9IFoWAAhqnKKR3aCvYT_SevbJCpqKt-

Many many thanks to Manam channel for taking huge effort (and first of its kind) in approach various personalities who worked (and lived) with Maestro and getting their perspectives, insights and recording it in the most popular medium so that it also becomes a vital source of reference when one wants to discover Maestro's style of composing, how prolific he was, how true,sincere, punctual he was to the art and so many other nuances which we have to search otherwise all over the internet. Even though this is just a drop in an ocean, this series made sure to have presented honest reviews of music's true icon in a nutshell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IybcO-VU1D4

This one is worth watching