Counting TFM hits of IR - now @1776 - year 1996 is WIP - poll for "rAman abdullA"

Adding 3 hits from sakthi vEl (1 super hit and 2 hits)...

#1721 malliga mottu manasa thottu (SL - Arunmozhi duet, sakthi vEl)
Terrific song - nice themmAngu melody, thuLLal orch and thangakkodi voice!

#1722 idi idikkudhu (KSC-Mano duet, sakthi vEl)
First time listen for me - quite catchy!

#1723 pAmbu ena vEmbu ena (KSC with chorus, sakthi vEl)
Familiar with this song as the same got collected for the "kaNda nadai" - 5 beat cycle - thread. Has millions of views on YT as well.

Not sure if we need a poll for "sathi leelAvathi" or not - but I'm familiar with only 2 songs (though I've watched the hilarious movie on DVD, others didn't stay) - not sure how popular these were in TN

yeththanai vagai yeththanai vagai [Title Song]	Chorus
mARugO mARugO	Kamal Haasan / K.S.Chithra / Kovai Sarala [Actress]
oru thAram thalaiyil vachchu	Ben.Surendar
maharAjanOdu rANi vanthu sErum	Unni Krishnan / K.S.Chithra

Though "sathi leelAvathi" was a hit movie, it was a rare case for IR (of only 2 songs becoming popular) - signs of those times

#1724 mARugO mARugO (Kovai Sarala / KSC / KH, sathi leelAvathi)
Fun song - combining many older TFM songs / movie titles with a nice melody!  

#1725 maharAjanOdu rANi vanthu sErum (KSC - Unnikrishnan, sathi leelAvathi)
Possibly the first Unnikrishnan song we document for this thread...personally, I'm not a fan of this number

Moving on to the next album, sathyavAn - never heard of this (could be a dubbed one...)

kaNmaNi kaNmaNi minnidum minmini	Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
super video super video[kalyANam kachchEry]	Mano / Arunmozhi / Swarnalatha
poi sonnEn poiyE sonnEn	Mano / K.S.Chithra
unnai nAn lEsA yeNNinEn rAsA	Mano / Minmini
yeppavum nAnthANdA ingoru rAjA	Mano / Sundarajan

OK, that "saththiyavAn" was a original Thamizh movie only (Murali / Gautami / Directed by Raj Kapoor) - but relatively less known even among IRFs.

While there are a couple of responses that "kaNmaNi kaNmaNi" was a "moderate hit", in general the audio appears to have only lukewarm response.

Let us pass

Moving on to the next album, "seemAn" - once again unknown to me - needs a poll :

nAttu kOttai chettiyAru	Mano / Sunandha
manu koduthu  [yellOrumE kEtkavENum]	S.Janaki / Chorus
yennammO nadanthirukku	Sattampillai Shanmugasundaram / Shanmugasundari / Chorus
sadu kudu thodu thodu	Mano / Chorus
votu kEttu roadukku vantha aNNAchchi	Mano / T.L.Maharajan / Chorus

"seemAn" did not have any hits and is a pass.

Next album is "senthamizh selvan" - even I'm familiar with some songs (e.g. pAttu esappAttu), so there must be hits in this album.

Odunga kALaigaLA [Title Song]	Malaysia Vasudevan
koodu yengE thEdi kiLi reNdum thadumARuthu ingE	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
kuyilE iLamAngkuyilE	S.P.Balasubramaniam
dhinam thORum ammAvai [kuyilE iLamAngkuyilE] [Bit]	K.S.Chithra
machchAn yenai kELu [nAn viricha valaiyilE]	Swarnalatha / Chorus
pAttu yesai pAttu [koovAmal sOlaikuyil]	S.P.Balasubramaniam
rAthiri pozhuthu [oor thoongum vELaiyil]	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
thAikulamE thAikulamE	K.S.Chithra / Chorus

Realized that "senthamizh selvan" is another MSV-IR album Interesting to see them doing two "senthamizh" movies together (senthamizh pAttu and this).

Looks like the producer was MSV's son and IR wanted to have MSV MD-ing with him, as a mark of respect to the senior!

At least 4 songs appear to be unqualified hits (pAttu esappAttu & rAththirippozhudhu, which are quoted by many & koodu ingE with 12 mn / kuyilE iLanguyilE with > 1mn views on YT).

Coming in the "cable TV / video first" era, I need to include all those as well. So, 4 hits from this album.

#1726 koodu ingE (KSC-SPB duet, senthamizh selvan)
Though this is a SPB-thookkal album, I wasn't familiar those days much and did not include any in my series on mayyam IIRC. This is a sweet melody!

#1727 kuyilE iLamAnguyilE (SPB solo, senthamizh selvan)
Another sweet melody with very mild orchestration as simple support! Lovely song!

#1728 pAttu esappAttu (SPB solo, senthamizh selvan)
I've definitely heard this song those days in public transport - but never connected with IR or knew anything about this album - which is why not included in the mayyam thread

#1729 rAththirppozhudhu (KSC-SPB with chorus, senthamizh selvan)
Quite an interesting song! Enjoyable! Almost sounding like from MGR-Sarojadevi era

Moving to the next album, that needs a poll - thambi durai

Aththulai mEttilai veettilai nAttilai	Mano
kanyAkumari neeyE	Arunmozhi / Anuradha
mAmA yEmmA oththAsai senjA yenna	Mano / S.Janaki
yEzhagalin sAmiyE mAriyammA	Malaysia Vasudevan / Chorus
vithiyA vithavaiyA vinaiyin kodumaiyA	Malaysia Vasudevan
unnai nambi vAzhgiREn	S.Janaki

thambi durai is a "pass without hits"

Next poll for "themmAngu pattukkAran" (how many movies with this kind of titles
(none of the titles ring me a bell)

chinna chinna vArthaiyilE [Title Song]	ilaiyaRaaja
poNNukku chinna poNNukku	Mano / K.S.Chithra
namma manasu pOla	Mano / K.S.Chithra
kAvEri ARu thAnAga Odi [manjal maNam maNakka]	Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
maRainjirunthu dhinam koovum [Bit]	Mano
thani thaniyA irunthu vanthEn [Bit]	K.S.Chithra
yennaNNE nAttukkuLLE	Mano / Chorus
yEttaiyA nAn yeduthu pAdapOREn	Gangai Amaran / Chorus
ANdavanE survEy pOttu aLanthu vittAnA	Mano
kuttiyAdu thappi vanthA [Bit]	Mano

Themmangu Pattukkaran - I am familiar only with the "Ponnukku Chinna" from cassette days.
This album got released in Ilaiyaraja official recently and I love most of the songs & still repeat them. It is interested to note that a couple of Pavalar's songs are used in this album.

There appears to be consensus among IRF's for only one song in "themmAngu pAttukkAran" (as in the case of other "pAttukkAran" movies, this one too had Ramarajan)...

#1730 poNNukku chinnappoNNukkuu (KSC-Mano duet, themmAngu pAttukkAran)
Sweet melody and enjoyable song, though it didn't have the reach of similar songs in the previous decade (because of "trend change")

Moving on to the next album, that needs a poll as well :

thOzhar pANdiyan

thamizh maganE thamizh maganE [Title Song]	Mano / Chorus
kattAya kAdhal vENdum	Mano / Swarnalatha / Sindhu / Chorus
pAlirukkum pAzhamirukkum	Mano / Viji / Sundarajan
arai kuRaiyA seththavanum AviyAga alaivathuNdu	Mano / Viji / Sundarajan
yellOrukkum nizhalAna thAyE	Malaysia Vasudevan

Looks like 'kattAya kAdhal vENdum' was popular in some circles (as in recording centers. which were still in vogue during 1994) ; but the majority of responses are quite lukewarm towards this album. 

So, let us call it a "pass".

Moving on to the next album, "vanajA girijA" - possibly had hits (though not patti-thotti but a limited way). Let us have a poll :

siRagadikkuthu kuruvi kunjukaLE	K.S.Chithra / Swarnalatha / Chorus
oththaiyilE ninnathenna yen mannavanE	K.S.Chithra
unnai yethir pArthEn thendRalidam kEttEn	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Swarnalatha / Chorus
munnam seitha thavam	S.P.Balasubramaniam / S.Janaki / Chorus
thirumagaL un mugam kANa vENdum	Arunmozhi

2 songs have been voted by many in vanajA girijA - but my personal bias and proximity makes me add one more

Let us have 3 songs added from this album to our list!

#1731 oththaiyila ninnadhenna (KSC solo, vanajA girijA)
Quite a different and interesting song!

#1732 unnai ethirpArththEn (SL / SPB duet with chorus, vanajA girijA)
Perhaps the biggest hit of the album, though I wasn't familiar with this number when I cataloged IR-SPB hits in the hub

#1733 munnam seidha dhavam (SJ / SPB duet, vanajA girijA)
Personal favorite and what a song! The phenomenal singer pair adds to the luster of a lovely melody and terrific orchestration!

Moving on to the next album, which obviously had super hit songs - but I'm not sure about the popularity of ALL songs as seen in Anbu sir's spreadsheet (some don't play in my mind, though I had the cassette those days).

So, poll for an album for Rajini movie - veerA

mundhi mundhi vinAyagarE	Mano
malai kOyil vAsalil kArthigai dheebam minnuthE	Mano / Swarnalatha / Chorus
pattu poo poo pattu pattAna poo poo	K.S.Chithra / Chorus
thirumagaL un mugam kANa vENdum	Arunmozhi
vAdi veththalai pAkku vAngi thArEn	Mano / K.S.Chithra
adi panthalilE thongukiRa pudalangkAikku	Mano / Chorus
konji konji alaigaL Oda	S.P.Balasubramaniam
AththilE annakiLi thEchchu nee manjal kuLi [Bit]	Arunmozhi
KaNNai thiRanthathu [Bit]	Arunmozhi
mAdathilE kanni mAdathilE	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Swarnalatha / Chorus

Songs that were not part of the veerA cassette I had are not being included in the "hit" list (pattuppoo, thirumagaL un mugam & kaNNai thiRandha / never heard them before)...

Otherwise super hit album, without question. Let us add remaining songs here :

#1734 mundhi mundhi vinAyakanE (Mano, veerA)
Interesting melody for first line that were otherwise very popular in the folk tune of karakAttakkAran

#1735 malaikkOvil vAsalil (SL-Mano with awesome chorus, veerA)
Phenomenal song! Had been much talked and written about on forums over the years

#1736 vAdi veththala pAkku vAngi thAREn (KSC-Mano duet, veerA)
Pallavi tune is very similar to "Olaththumbathu" Malayalam song - but a totally different orchestration!

#1737 adi pandhalilE thongukiRa (Mano with chorus, veerA)
Crass song with that "yakkA yakkA" irritations added - hit nevertheless!

#1738 konjikkonji alaigaL Ada (SPB with chorus, also a short KSC version, veerA)
Excellent song - was obviously part of the IR-SPB thread in tfmpage. I love the short KSC version as well!

#1739 AththilE annakkiLi (Arunmozhi solo, veerA)
Interesting short song - similar to other short songs in the movie!

#1740 mAdaththilE kanni mAdaththilE (SL-SPB duet, veerA)
Another super hit duet in the voices of SL & SPB, played everywhere in TN those days!

Moving on to the next album - which I was not aware of the existence during 90's but became familiar much later - vietnam colony - needs a poll as to which were popular in TN:

kai veeNaiyai yEnthum [Title Song]	Bombay Jayashree / Chorus
yennavO solla vanthEn	Mano / Swarnalatha / Chorus
mArkazhi mAsam romba kuLir yedukAthA	Mano / Swarnalatha
yenakku uLLathellAm antha chinna chinna kaNNanE	Swarnalatha
sAmykku nAn poo paRikka	Mano / Chorus
thAmthari kidathOm thAdaiyil koduthOm	Mano / Chorus

Despite being overshadowed by bigger movies / albums that were in the market during that time period, a couple of songs from vietnam colony seemed to have made their way into TN (as seen by twitter comments) and let us add them to our list here

#1741 mArgazhi mAsam rombakkuLir (SL-Mano duet, vietnam colony)
Nice song, of course with the golden female voice!

#1742 sAmikku nAn pooppaRikka (Mano with chorus, vietnam colony)
Never heard before, but TN-ers vouch for it and let me report it

With that album, 1994 is done - much less albums than previous years (and surprisingly more hits than one would have imagined for that year).

Let me post the summary ASAP...

Wow....I thought "Kai Veenai" by Bombay Jayashree would have made it.  Guess it was not popular in TN! That is my favorite of the album.  If you had not heard it, you should...Outstanding composition.

Kr wrote:Wow....I thought "Kai Veenai" by Bombay Jayashree would have made it.  Guess it was not popular in TN! That is my favorite of the album.  If you had not heard it, you should...Outstanding composition.

That song got documented as part of "misra nadai" (7 beat cycle) songs in that thread sArE

Also, I've heard it being sung by super singer kids a few times! 

https://ilayaraja.forumms.net/t259-misra-chapu-raja-64-muthu-there-there-posted-waiting-for-more

(This song is part of the few posted by Drunkenmunk)

Thanks

ok, the summary up to 1994 is as below :



No current composer living on earth (and possibly those who lived in the past) can match this record I think

Even in the so called "temporary-decline" period of mid-90's, he had more hits than any of his contemporaries it appears! Just that the propaganda kings / media made us believe otherwise

Hereafter, the job in this thread should be pretty quick for each year (actually, the new millennium should be handled as "decades")...

Starting 1995 with poll for the album with an iconic song - avathAram :

chandrarum sooriyarum peththedutha	ilaiyaRaaja
arithArathai poosi koLLa Asai	ilaiyaRaaja / S.Janaki / Nasser [Actor] / Revathy [Actress]
kaNNiraNdil yERRi vaitha nei viLakkE	Chorus
thondRu thottu indRu varai	Malaysia Vasudevan / Chorus
kuNdumaNi kulunguthadi	ilaiyaRaaja
thendRal vanthu theeNdum pOthu	ilaiyaRaaja / S.Janaki

Adding 3 songs from avathAram, voted by most people as hits

#1743 arithAraththa poosikkoLLa Asa (SJ-Nassar-IR, avathAram)
Rustic and very natural, IR's voice matches Nassar's so perfectly! SJ does effortlessly as usual!

#1744 kuNdumaNi kulungudhadi (IR, avathAram)
Another very natural and effortless song for IR

#1745 thenRal vandhu theeNdum pOdhu (SJ-IR duet, avathAram)
Sort of a cult-classic now, among IRFs - extraordinary song without question! KR claims he had done the "arrangements"

Moving on to the next album, which needs a poll as well - chandralEkA

arumbum thaLirE thaLir thoongidum [1]	Arunmozhi / Geetha
arumbum thaLirE thaLir thoongidum [2] [Bit]	Arunmozhi / Unni Krishnan
tharai varAmal [arumbum thaLirE] [Bit]	Arunmozhi / Unni Krishnan
allAh un Anaipadi yellAm nadakkum	Unni Krishnan / Preeti Utham Singh
vanji poNNu pinnalil Adum	K.S.Chithra / Chorus
anal thanil vAdidum poovai poovai	Bavadharani
ammAdi adi AththAdi	Mano / Chorus
adikadi thudikkum kaNdapadi adikkum	Swarnalatha
sangili karuppanai	Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus

allah un aanaipadi was the TV hit of those times..

But i have 2 more personal favourites and these are bound to be favourites amongst IR fans as well

arumbum thalIre - it has 2 versions, one a pathos version with UnniK and the other a love duet with arunmozhi as male singer. A terrific melody that would have been an instant classic if SPB and Swarnalatha had sung it. One of many missed opportunities for IR during this period. 

adikadi thudikkum - bouncy peppy tune and wonderful singing by Swarna with a mischievous tone, but the lyrics  with repeated "i love you" in the stanzas  is a big letdown..with better lyrics this may have moved up several notches, but still I check it out now and then..

Chandralekha and other albums in 1995, had IR experimenting with a different sound and some very different tunes. Unfortunately for him, the films didnt do well, the singers werent up to par all the time and the songs went unnoticed.. I remember KolangaL, Maya bazaar 1995, Siraichaalai/KaalapaaNi and few others with quite a bit of experimentation. Certainly not run of the mill. But falling short on the presentation aspect.

Adding that solo hit from chandralEkA...

#1746 allA un ANaippadi ellAm nadakkum (Preeti Uttam Singh / UK, chandralEkA)
Sweet song - though I'm not personally fond of the percussion sounds (not just this song, many others had that "rough" feeling for me)

Moving on to the next poll - chinna vAthiyAr - not sure how these songs fared in TN :

kaNmaNiyE kaNmaNiyE solluvathai kELu	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Rohini
aththai maga raththinamE	Malaysia Vasudevan / Uma Ramanan / Chorus
intha padukkaiyilE	K.S.Chithra
vatta panthu thottu viLaiyada vantha	Mano / K.S.Chithra
love paNNidathAn intha pArku	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra

Another "one hit only" album - adding that to the list. (Interestingly, that's not my fav song - I love the "love paNNidaththAn indha pArkku" song better).

#1747 kaNmaNiyE kaNmaNiyE solluvathaikkELu (Rohini - SPB, chinna vAththiyAr)
Watched the video and it's quite funny - definitely remember hearing the song before in TN. Never realized it was a Singeetham movie   The whole album is quite good but I love that KSC-Mano song better

My fav song (only heard in recent times):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-n91iH9HjY



Moving on to the next album, which cassette I had and was a huge personal favorite - though I'm not sure how this was received in TN - ellAmE en rAsA thAn :

thoothukudi muththu muththu	Asha Latha / Lekha
azhagAna manja puRA	Mano / S.Janaki
yettaNA irunthA yettoorukku yem pAttu kEtkum	Vadivelu
oru santhana kAttukkuLLE	ilaiyaRaaja / S.Janaki
veeNaikku veeNai	ilaiyaRaaja

Adding the super hit songs from "ellAmE en rAsA thAn" - very refreshing album to IRFs during a relatively "slow" period

#1748 azhagAna manjappuRA (SJ-Mano duet, ellAmE en rAsA thAn)
Lovely rhythm arrangement and an enjoyable themmAngu mettu - the song was instantly catchy!

#1749 ettaNA irundhA (Vadivelu solo, ellAmE en rAsA thAn)
Fun song  - sung by a "பிறவி நடிகன்" who can also sing nicely! One of his fantastic capabilities is singing famous songs just like that in comedy scenes!

#1750 oru sandhana kAttukkuLLE (SJ-IR duet, ellAmE en rAsA thAn)
Sweet lullaby in SJ's voice initially - but it becomes emotional when IR enters - timeless classic!

#1751 veeNaikku veeNaikkunju (IR solo, ellAmE en rAsA thAn)
Another classic, this one in misra nadai and the inimitable voice of IR!

With that awesome album covered, let us move on to the next album - which needs a poll as well - iLaiya rAgam - not sure how the songs fared in TN :

unnai nAn sErnthirukka [Happy]	Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
unnai nAn sErnthirukka [Pathos]	mano / K.S.Chithra
maruthANi sAReduthu	Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
adi maththALam pOdum mangammA	Arunmozhi / Ben.Surendar / Chorus
nAn ondRu kEttAl tharuvAyA	Arunmozhi / K.S.Chithra
pattikAttu pAppA vantharAm	Mano / K.S.Chithra

While some of the IRFs have liking for the songs of iLaya rAgam, these are all new (and unfortunately not instantly catchy) to me personally

Since my taste mostly syncs with pAmarargaL of TN from the 70s thru 90s, no wonder this album had only lukewarm response in TN. So, pass.

Moving on to the next album, kOlangaL, which possibly had a couple of hits (as the songs were often discussed in tfmpage / movie had a decent run etc.)

oru koottil chinna kOkilam reNdu	Mano / Lekha
ullAsa poongkARRE	K.S.Chithra
theRtkE veesum thendRal	Arunmozhi / Lekha
thamizhan padaichu vachcha	Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
nERRu pArthAlE yappappAppA	Mano / S.Janaki
mounarAgam	S.Janaki

Based on responses in twitter, 2 songs were moderately popular (one of them in "midnight masala" circles) - let us document them for kOlangaL :

#1752 oru koottil chinna kOkilam reNdu (Lekha / Mano, kOlangaL)
Interesting to note that this was an IV Sasi movie   IR had given him awesome songs in the past (pagalil oru iravu, guru). This song has considerable views in YT also.

#1753 ullAsa poongAtRE (KSC solo, kOlangaL)
Nice song, listenable! Apparently moderately popular in TN.

Moving on to the next album, mAyA bazAr 1995 - that had IR's favorite acapella song (not sure if the album had any TN hits)

muththu muththu poongkodi	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
birthday pAarty vachchA	K.S.Chithra / Oorvasi [Actress]
adadA angu viLaiyAdum [thum thana thum]	Jolly Abraham
adadA oru azhagAna puLLi mAnE	K.S.Chithra
nAn poRanthu vanthathu rAja vamsathilE	Chorus
oru oorilE oru rAjakumAran	S.P.Balasubramaniam / S.Janaki / Oorvasi [Actress]

Though it is a very rare case, this happened to be one IR album for Panju sir which didn't go very well in TN - no hits.

Of course, IR himself is fond of the acapella (nAn poRandhu vandhadhu rAja vamsaththula) but the album apparently didn't make a sensation in TN

Pass... but let us do an honorable mention of that "concert-hit" song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqd3ZamZz9U


Next one to be in the poll is for "makkaL Atchi"

kathavukku kathavukku	Swarnalatha / Chorus
namma nAdirukiRa nilamaiyellAm	Malaysia Vasudevan / Mano / Uma Ramanan / Chorus
mElooru mAman mElAga pArkiRAn	K.S.Chithra / Chorus
kottum mELangaL enthan nenjil kEtkum	K.S.Chithra / Chorus
ippOthenna thEvai thappA yenna pArvai	Lekha