Anything about IR found on the net - Vol 4

app_engine wrote: Sean Roldan, MD of power pANdi, directed by Dhanush

Funny guy

In a way, Dhanush is like Ilayaraja. He does serious work, but it’s very elemental in nature and appeals to the general public.

நடத்துங்கப்பா!

ஒரு ரெண்டு படத்துக்கு பாட்டு போட்டுட்டு இவங்கதான் music கண்டு பிடிச்சா மாதிரி பேசறது..... தாங்கலை..... this guy, anirudh.....OMG

Another IR reference in a Deepa Ganesh article - this one on Shivaranjani rAgam

For a bit, let’s move away from this canvas. Consider, this song from the film Brahmachari , “Dil Ke Jharoke Mein” (1968, Shankar Jaikishan). The song opens with a preliminary statement on the piano, it’s staccatto and quick. There is a human chorus singing in a kind of dissonance, whereas the trumpets and violins plunge into an impassioned and restless Shivaranjani. Till the main melody begins, you just cannot tell that “Va Va Anbe Anbe” from the Tamil film Agni Natchathiram (1988, Ilaiyaraja) is Shivaranjani. This song, like “Dil Ke Jharoke Mein”, changes the pace of Shivaranjani which is usually slow -- the former uses this pace to speak of a collapsing love, the latter illustrates sensuousness. Hence, in both these songs, you can at once feel the presence of Shivaranjani, and its absence. They charter a course that is so unusual to the raga. Each of the songs enlisted in this piece is a masterpiece in itself. But what makes Lagi Na Mora Jiya or Dil Ke Jharoke Mein or Va Va Anbe so special? In all these three compositions, the songs don’t draw your attention to the raga, but the nature of the composition itself. It takes you to the core emotion and as you get sucked in, you want to decode its signifiers -- what raga is it? what tala is it? etc. But the moment of identification is also the moment in which meaning emerges -- the song becomes more than the raga, and the raga becomes a mere excuse for what the song wants to convey.

Keep using IR name

நுால்களை, இசையமைப்பாளர் தேவா பெற்றுக் கொண்டார். அவர் பேசியதாவது:இளையராஜா மாதிரியான நல்ல இசையமைப்பாளர், நல்ல தயாரிப்பாளர், சிறந்த நடிகர், நடிகையர் கிடைத்தாலும், இயக்குனர் வெற்றி பெறுவது, அவரது கையில் தான் உள்ளது. 

This blog post (book review) informs that uthirippookkaL Mahendran has written a book

இசையைப்பற்றி பேசும்போது தன் பல படங்களுக்கு இசையமைத்த இளையராஜாவைபற்றிக் கூறி நெகிழ்கிறார்.

பாடல்கள் மட்டுமின்றி சினிமாக்களில் பின்னணி இசையால் கதைக்கும் கதா பாத்திரங்களுக்கும் உயிரூட்டுவதில் இளையராஜாவை மிஞ்சியவர்கள் யாருமில்லை என்று சிலாகிக்கிறார். அவர் படங்கள் வெற்றி பெற்றதற்கு ஒரு பெரிய காரணம் இளையராஜா என்று பாராட்டுகிறார். தன் படங்களின் ஜீவன் இளையராஜா என்கிறார்.

posting here so it gets some traction, been doing some reading on Sudalaimadan for a friend's docu and chanced upon
'Madugam' some intriguing legend involved.

We perform for seven to eight hours continuously during festivals (kodai) at temples of folk deities, primarily Sudalai Madan, in the southern districts. Short performances are unthinkable in our profession,” says V. Muthu Perumal, the ‘annavi' or main singer of the troupe.

“Legend has it that they were brought to earth to sing and dance for Sudalai Madan, the deity of the graveyard. He is seen as an incarnation of Lord Siva,” explains Dr. A.K. Perumal, who has done extensive research and published books on folk arts. One of the Saivite saints Thirugnanasambandar refers to Siva as “Kaadudaya sudalai podi poosi yen ullam kavar kalvan.” (The One who smears the ashes of the graveyard and captures my heart)

In some parts of Tirunelveli district, the Kaniyan performer makes a slight cut in his hand and allows a few drops of blood to fall on betel nut leaves to be offered to Sudalai Madan. “Blood from artists' tongues will also be offered in some temples,” says magudam player M. Ganesan, showing the permanent scar on his hand.

Raaja connect, you can watch headbang to its rhythm 

Something that we've heard / read many times from different sources.

However, this information is never boring

This time, coming from a person, who is probably closer to ARR & Santhosh Narayanan.

https://www.thequint.com/celebrities/2017/03/14/sai-shravanam-talks-on-a-r-rahman-ilayaraja-santhosh-narayanan

Ilayaraja is God

The way he creates music or understands it is something no one can replicate. To compose a symphony, he doesn’t need to hear the music, or play it on his harmonium. It’s all in his head! I have mastered many of his songs and albums, in addition to recording them.

I was working on this album called Swappnam. The string section of the orchestra had all assembled.

Ilayaraja came in and said, ‘What are these people doing here?’

‘Sir, you said you’d record the strings today. That’s why they’re here.’

‘Oh!’

He had clearly forgotten this ‘little’ detail. He thought for a moment, asked for a pen and some paper. Started to write. After a few minutes of furious writing, he handed over a bunch of papers and said, ‘get these xeroxed. Give it to the orchestra and let’s record.’

The musicians all received their photocopy. They rehearsed for a bit and then performed the notations. I had tears in my eyes as the symphony unfolded.

In a matter of minutes he had written separate notations for the different sections of the orchestra – the violin, viola, guitars, etc.

Sad to read a "news report" like this
http://www.sify.com/movies/buzz-ilaiyaraaja-and-spb-are-no-longer-in-good-terms-news-tamil-rdpqfXdecaibj.html

Legendary singer SP Balasubramaniam and ‘Isaignani’ Ilaiyaraaja have worked together on hundreds of hit songs in the last four decades. But the buzz is that the duo is no longer in good terms! A reliable source says “SPB has recently performed some of the hit songs he sang for Ilaiyaraaja on the US tour and for which, the latter has sent a legal notice to the organizers saying that they didn’t get any prior permission”.

There had been a recent discussion with "thamizh padam" director Amudhan on twitter. 
(Pls refer the VM thread in this forum for details)

He had concluded that we shouldn't worry about ANY power trying to eclipse the fame of maestro. (Obama / Kohli / Rajini names used)

"The fame, based purely on music, will outlive" may be the reasoning.

My reply was that propaganda CAN mask his greatness and in fact malicious propaganda had already done enough harm to him since 1992. (I only mentioned that he is compared to inferiors. The reality is even worse - it is a historical fact that he was pushed out of almost ALL big budget projects when at the peak of his musical creativity - i.e. from that sparkling 'rAkkammA kaiyaththattu' in 1991 to doing just nAttuppuRappAttu kinds in a matter of few years...the situation on budget / resources had been getting progressively worse, even though his creativity was / is no less. Within a matter of few years, political maneuvering pushed him to a situation of living off of only other languages).

Our fellow IRF's @mayilSK & @raaga_suresh seem to generally agree with Amudhan on this "prophecy" aspect (that IR's fame will survive despite all propaganda and will eventually prevail on the strength of his music alone).

I'm no prophet to say one way or other (whether future will remember IR purely on the power of his works or not). Only time will tell. 

However, I need to state the following observations, which most people will agree with me: 

- That IR is still remembered fondly by a lot of TN-ers is MOSTLY BECAUSE there are still a number of channels that PLAY his music. (Let them be transports / light music troupes / public address systems / FM stations / TV channels / websites / youtube channels / cheap MP3 disks / MP3 jump drives / new movies playing old songs etc).

- Most of these, if not all, are guilty of some copyright violation or other. That way, they deny IR / his family a portion of their earnings (mostly indirectly, some directly). This is obviously wrong and illegal, even though it contributes in some way to keeping IR's fame afloat i.e. years after he got pushed out of top commercial spot.

- Now that KR & others are pushing hard (sending legal notices to light music programs etc.) this kind of "popularizing media" can get affected, in some way - even though it won't be totally curbed due to weak laws in the country and weaker legal system that implements it. At the max, it can kill the enthusiasm of some, if not all.

- Another observation is the general trend of dwindling of the "followers of IR music" on social media. This is a feeling and not data based fact   At least some will agree with me on this (as can be seen on the hub, our forum, FB / twitter messages, disappearance of other former things like IR yahoo group etc). 

While me or anyone of us have absolutely no control over these happenings, we HAVE TO AGREE that such things do and will have an impact on any remembrance of IR's music in the coming generations. 

OTOH, what can we personally do - as individuals (however few we are) ? That is, without getting into the wrong side of legal / ethical systems?

1. Keep shouting, with whatever data / facts we have! 

2. Whatever time and opportunity we get, keep pouring out our appreciation for IR's music - in whichever area we are operating - in person / social media / otherwise! 

3. Whatever resources we can allot, keep giving'em to "official" releases (such as Maestro App / raajafm.com / #IR_Official_YT).

Wonderful and moving post sir!

The reality is even worse - it is a historical fact that he was pushed out of almost ALL big budget projects when at the peak of his musical creativity - i.e. from that sparkling 'rAkkammA kaiyaththattu' in 1991 to doing just nAttuppuRappAttu kinds in a matter of few years

It is really heart-wrenching how all this happened. Despite no matching talent for him, how he is treated shabbily in the industry and by our own people is really not just disappointing, but a perennial sin. The data you provide is very vital to keep their insulting mouths shut. Hats off for that

V_S wrote:
It is really heart-wrenching how all this happened.

Unfortunately, most TN-ers (especially media fellows) never highlight this. Often, what we hear / read is "பழையன கழியலும் புதியன புகுதலும்' kind of nonsense stupidity, totally ignoring the sabotage / conspiracy portions.

That's why every time I read this MSV-IR-ARR thingy, my irritation ekiRifies!

A couple of things such numskulls need to be reminded of, from time to time (discussed a lot in tfmpage, BTW) :

1. IR replaced a waning MSV purely on musical merit - while there had been a ton of political attempts to remove IR from commercial top spot for years, before they clicked with rOjA / aNNAmalai kinds, even when IR's musical creativity wasn't challenged by these fellows ever.

IR replaced MSV when MSV was "mostly sodhappifying" for many years. If someone does not agree with me, please check out the SPB-pre-IR thread in the music miscellany forum OR go to MSV's official website msvtimes.com and browse his filmography in the mid 70's. To MSV's credit, he did spring back & some good stuff came out as a response to the new IR-competition (ninaiththAlE inikkum, for e.g.) However, most of his output was dull, nothing extraordinary musically and also not clicking with the public - despite continuing to do big projects! For e.g. he was almost exclusive with NT for a couple of years, due to IR-TMS ladAi. Also, he continued to have KB / mukthA / AVM and other big names, including KH-RK at times. Even if some of them were "good", they were far inferior to IR's fantastic output!

Now, compare that with what IR was hitting out in 1990-92. We don't have to go anywhere else but just the projects he did for MR, who switched to ARR.
Anjali / geethAnjali (Telugu) / thaLabathi. (There is this idiotic FB post whose link Sureshji pointed out in twitter today that said IR was a spent force from 1988. That fool must have lived in another planet between 1988 and 1992 or suffers from amnesia)


2. When he arrived in 70's, IR or his "promoters" had absolutely no way of engineering "partnership break-ups / grabbing big companies" etc., even if they wanted. OTOH, anyone partnering with IR got targeted for defection, right from the day he hit it big! 

Of course, per many accounts, the IR camp never attempted it anyways and even worked against it, e.g. like the episode during signing up with director Sridhar. Fact of the matter is, after reaching the top spot on his own merit, IR did partner with MSV himself! That way, there was no malicious propaganda at all, that can be attributed to the IR camp, ever!

I don't have to elaborate on the never-ending malicious propaganda against IR. It is for everyone to see - read. Well, even after replacing him from commercial top spot, it never went away, because of the insecurity of the competition. 

I've read a news even in recent years! That is, after a decade into the new millennium, meaning 20 years after the alleged removal of IR from top spot, there was this case dragging Gautam into court - allegedly for switching to IR for NEPV thus "making losses" for the producer.

Excellent points and facts again Can't agree more. I used to say this earlier too, if all these ugly events didn't turn up, he would have went on for another 1000 films easily, as his musical instincts and capabilities are always on fire and it never diminished a bit, all these 25 years. Like a historical myth of epics, people believed in the myth without even understanding how a genius like Maestro would suddenly disappear from the musical scene. Even the same MSV, while Maestro was ruling 80s, the number of films MSV did in 80s was the most, even compared to his 60s or 70s. Maestro always had immense respect for his gurus and mentors, and never stepped into them. He was mostly working on the new directors who came to him. The guys who came after Maestro don't have this kind of respect for the elders, nor do they know how to recognize a rare genius like Maestro. Instead they were busy working on their marketing and back-stabbing skills to uproot a rare musical wisdom to sustain their presence, rather than honestly combating only through music. Even now they don't seem to realize what sin they are committing/committed.

V_S wrote:Excellent points and facts again Can't agree more. I used to say this earlier too, if all these ugly events didn't turn up, he would have went on for another 1000 films easily, as his musical instincts and capabilities are always on fire and it never diminished a bit, all these 25 years. Like a historical myth of epics, people believed in the myth without even understanding how a genius like Maestro would suddenly disappear from the musical scene. Even the same MSV, while Maestro was ruling 80s, the number of films MSV did in 80s was the most, even compared to his 60s or 70s. Maestro always had immense respect for his gurus and mentors, and never stepped into them. He was mostly working on the new directors who came to him. The guys who came after Maestro don't have this kind of respect for the elders, nor do they know how to recognize a rare genius like Maestro. Instead they were busy working on their marketing and back-stabbing skills to uproot a rare musical wisdom to sustain their presence, rather than honestly combating only through music. Even now they don't seem to realize what sin they are committing/committed.

Film industry has always been full of politics.  SJ cheated SD out of Filmfare awards.  Then RK backstabbed SJ.  LP blackmailed Ghai into signing them up for Ram Lakhan over RDB (and Pyarelal was a one time friend of RD).  So on and so forth.  I don't know much about the history of MSV's times but from what I have read, he did cultivate his friendships and associations in the industry which protected him from getting outmaneuvered.  IR did not have too many friends in the industry by his own admission and plus I am increasingly led to believe he doesn't have good advisors/close circle.  There have been too many decisions in recent years that left a bad taste in the mouth (including now suing SPB if the rumours are to be believed) to let this aspect go lightly.  I feel bad for IR's sake that he let the politicians get to him but I also blame him for the company he keeps and not using better judgment himself.

My reply was that propaganda CAN mask his greatness and in fact malicious propaganda had already done enough harm to him since 1992. (I only mentioned that he is compared to inferiors. The reality is even worse - it is a historical fact that he was pushed out of almost ALL big budget projects when at the peak of his musical creativity - i.e. from that sparkling 'rAkkammA kaiyaththattu' in 1991 to doing just nAttuppuRappAttu kinds in a matter of few years...the situation on budget / resources had been getting progressively worse, even though his creativity was / is no less. Within a matter of few years, political maneuvering pushed him to a situation of living off of only other languages).

+1

IR replaced a waning MSV purely on musical merit - while there had been a ton of political attempts to remove IR from commercial top spot for years, before they clicked with rOjA / aNNAmalai kinds, even when IR's musical creativity wasn't challenged by these fellows ever.

Karu. Pazhaniappan has given a new spin, apparently Raaja was stifling new talents viz a viz new directors form making a entry and if not for Kavithalayaa's Roja/Annamalai/Vaaname Ellai the industry would have stuck in limbo, wonder which talent(s) stifled saw the day of sunlight after these movies.

Wizzy wrote:

My reply was that propaganda CAN mask his greatness and in fact malicious propaganda had already done enough harm to him since 1992. (I only mentioned that he is compared to inferiors. The reality is even worse - it is a historical fact that he was pushed out of almost ALL big budget projects when at the peak of his musical creativity - i.e. from that sparkling 'rAkkammA kaiyaththattu' in 1991 to doing just nAttuppuRappAttu kinds in a matter of few years...the situation on budget / resources had been getting progressively worse, even though his creativity was / is no less. Within a matter of few years, political maneuvering pushed him to a situation of living off of only other languages).

+1

IR replaced a waning MSV purely on musical merit - while there had been a ton of political attempts to remove IR from commercial top spot for years, before they clicked with rOjA / aNNAmalai kinds, even when IR's musical creativity wasn't challenged by these fellows ever.

Karu. Pazhaniappan has given a new spin, apparently Raaja was stifling new talents viz a viz new directors form making a entry and if not for Kavithalayaa's Roja/Annamalai/Vaaname Ellai the industry would have stuck in limbo, wonder which talent(s) stifled saw the day of sunlight after these movies.

Yesh, we would have been deprived of Azhagiya Laila if IR's reign had not continued.  I mean, what purpose was served in Deva/Sirpi getting more projects at the expense of IR?  This had jackshit to do with IR's 'decline'.  That said, there were some 'fatigued' OSTs for big banner films at that time (Uzhaipaali/Kalaignan) so maybe he was simply getting bored of scoring for these kind of films and didn't resist when they were yanked away from him.

crimson king wrote:

V_S wrote:Excellent points and facts again Can't agree more. I used to say this earlier too, if all these ugly events didn't turn up, he would have went on for another 1000 films easily, as his musical instincts and capabilities are always on fire and it never diminished a bit, all these 25 years. Like a historical myth of epics, people believed in the myth without even understanding how a genius like Maestro would suddenly disappear from the musical scene. Even the same MSV, while Maestro was ruling 80s, the number of films MSV did in 80s was the most, even compared to his 60s or 70s. Maestro always had immense respect for his gurus and mentors, and never stepped into them. He was mostly working on the new directors who came to him. The guys who came after Maestro don't have this kind of respect for the elders, nor do they know how to recognize a rare genius like Maestro. Instead they were busy working on their marketing and back-stabbing skills to uproot a rare musical wisdom to sustain their presence, rather than honestly combating only through music. Even now they don't seem to realize what sin they are committing/committed.

Film industry has always been full of politics.  SJ cheated SD out of Filmfare awards.  Then RK backstabbed SJ.  LP blackmailed Ghai into signing them up for Ram Lakhan over RDB (and Pyarelal was a one time friend of RD).  So on and so forth.  I don't know much about the history of MSV's times but from what I have read, he did cultivate his friendships and associations in the industry which protected him from getting outmaneuvered.  IR did not have too many friends in the industry by his own admission and plus I am increasingly led to believe he doesn't have good advisors/close circle.  There have been too many decisions in recent years that left a bad taste in the mouth (including now suing SPB if the rumours are to be believed) to let this aspect go lightly.  I feel bad for IR's sake that he let the politicians get to him but I also blame him for the company he keeps and not using better judgment himself.

CK, My views are similar to yours.

There is no point in lamenting about what happened some 25 years ago. Does Raja want to be part of this music industry politics and all these legal wrangles his coterie seems to be getting into?

He has the skill to rise above the din. Unfortunately, he does not have the interpersonal skills. At this age, he needs to make an attempt to redefine the rules of the game. As I mentioned in my other posts on orchestration, he must formulate the rules of diffusion music that will be carried forward by the music world.

He needs to accept that this run-of-the-mill music composition for movies will get him on the same space as kids a fourth of his age and a 100th of his experience and 1000th of his skill.

When Tesla can open source its design why not Raja? That's the world we live in, and he is still old fashioned thinking that this is tantamount to giving away your crown jewels. On the contrary, he may have a Model 3 that others will be gasping to catch up.

ravinat wrote:

CK, My views are similar to yours.

There is no point in lamenting about what happened some 25 years ago. Does Raja want to be part of this music industry politics and all these legal wrangles his coterie seems to be getting into?

He has the skill to rise above the din. Unfortunately, he does not have the interpersonal skills. At this age, he needs to make an attempt to redefine the rules of the game. As I mentioned in my other posts on orchestration, he must formulate the rules of diffusion music that will be carried forward by the music world.

He needs to accept that this run-of-the-mill music composition for movies will get him on the same space as kids a fourth of his age and a 100th of his experience and 1000th of his skill.

When Tesla can open source its design why not Raja? That's the world we live in, and he is still old fashioned thinking that this is tantamount to giving away your crown jewels. On the contrary, he may have a Model 3 that others will be gasping to catch up.

Absolutely, for better or worse, we live in a world where the concept of IP commands very little in music in the sense that only a fraction of what could be made earlier off singles/album sales can be made now by the artist.  As an established player, IR can actually collaborate from a position of strength but it doesn't appear as if he sees it that way.  Android only cemented the Google hegemon further, far from sinking it.  This is something IR could have done long ago but it's not too late even now.  He used to say TV serial music directors would nick it in no time if he released BGM on tape/CD.  And then Myskkin talked him into it.  So he has been slow to understand what all ways he can distribute his music and reach out to larger audiences and been too dependent on the traditional modes of distribution which have gradually become redundant.

Pursuing these copyright violations is doing more harm than the money it is/can bring in. Somebody should reach out to IR and make him see the light of the day. Actually, my understanding is the producers had the copyrights to the film's songs. I think even IR mentioned this but in same breath insisted that he had the rights to the background score. Anyways, not to cross-swords with him or his team, I feel like requesting him to stop pursuing this matter. Let him do more new projects with more tighter agreements. (This is also what got TIS into trouble). I am pretty sure new projects also will bring in more money than a few coins from the royalty. (I suspect KR is misguiding him again).

(I suspect KR is misguiding him again).

It his cake still he should stop using Raaja numbers for all the b grade films he composes, recently
he had used 'Enna Enna kanavu Kandayo' in its entirety for a full scale ezhavu sequence in 'Pagadi Aattam',
thanks to him I have to relive this trauma whenever I listen to that song from 'Valli' 

90களில் நடந்ததுக்கு இப்போது புலம்பி என்ன பயன்? இருந்தாலும் ஒரு ஆற்றாமையில் பேசுறோம். 

குறிப்பாக, பொதுவெளியில் இந்த அநீதி கூடுதல் பேசப்படுவதில்லை. அதனால் மேலும் எரிச்சல் வருகிறது. சும்மா எப்பவும் 'எமஸ்வி-ராசா-ரஹ்மான்' என்று மக்கள் உளறுவதால் வரும் சினம்.

மற்றபடி, இதனால் இன்றோ நாளையோ மாற்றம் வரும் என்பதற்காக அல்ல.

வயது நாள்தோறும் கூடி வரும் (இப்பவே 70-கள்), அவ்வளவாக மின்னாத மூத்த மகன் + குடும்பத்துக்கு இப்போதும் ஏதாவது செய்ய வேண்டிய சூழலில், அவருக்கு என்ன தோன்றுகிறதோ அதைச்செய்யட்டும். 

இதுவரை கொடுத்ததே ஏராளம். 

இப்போதும் கிட்டிக்கொண்டு தான் இருக்கிறது. ('ஆட்டக்காரி மாமன் பொண்ணு' கூட மற்ற யாருக்கும் இன்று கனவளவில் தான்!)

அப்படியாக, "புகழ்ச்சி மனநிலை"யில் நிற்பது தான் எனக்கு உவப்பு  

புதிய எதிர்பார்ப்புகள் = 0 

BTW, one relative who claims to have met IR and had a jovial conversation with him says rAsA rates his grand kid (Yatheeshvar?) as a "music-genius-prospect" ('அவன் தான் அப்படியே என்னை மாதிரி' or something similar).

It could be a general "grandpA-pride" but then IR is somewhat "gnAni" in this aspect and one cannot easily brush it aside like that. 

Personally I think he had spotted some spark in that kid. 

I'll be watching out for that "kutti-isai-gnAni" in the future

MD Barani in new avatAr of FD

இளையராஜாவின் வாய்ப்புகள் அனைத்தும் பரணிக்குச் செல்கின்றன என்று அப்போது உங்களைக் குறித்து பேசப்பட்டதே?

இசையுலகில் நான் குருவாகக் கருதுவது இரண்டு பேரை. முதலில் என் தாயார் சின்னம்மாள். மிக நன்றாகப் பாடுவார். சிறு வயதில் கடைக்குப் போயிட்டு வாப்பாண்ணு அனுப்புவாங்க. கடைக்குப் போகணும்ன்னா எனக்கு ஒரு பாட்டுப் பாடுங்கன்னு சொல்வேன். சின்னப் பசங்க கடைக்குப் போக மிட்டாய்க்குக் காசு கேட்பாங்க. நான் எனது அம்மாவிடம் அவங்க பாட்டைக் கூலியா கேட்டு அவங்கப் பாடி முடிச்சதும் அவங்களுக்கு அழுத்தி ஒரு முத்தம் கொடுத்துட்டுக் கிளம்புவேன். பாட்டு அப்படியிருக்கும். நாள் முழுக்க அவங்க பாட்டு மனதில் கேட்டுக்கொண்டே இருக்கும்.

இரண்டாவது குரு இளையராஜா. ராஜாவின் பாட்டு என்னை மட்டுமில்ல; பலரை சினிமாவுக்கு அழைத்து வந்தது. அதில் நானும் ஒருவன். ஒரே நேரத்தில் பதினைந்து படங்களுக்கு மேல் ஒப்பந்தமாகியிருந்த நேரம் அது. அப்போதான் ராஜாவின் வாய்ப்புகள் எல்லாம் எனக்கு வர்றதா எழுதினாங்க. அதற்கு அப்போதே நான் விளக்கமளித்திருக்கிறேன். இளையராஜாவின் பாதிப்பு என்னிடம் இருக்கலாம். ஆனால், பரணியின் பாட்டு என்று சொல்லும் விதமாக என் மெலடிகளைத் தனித்துவத்துடன் அமைத்திருக்கிறேன். என் பெயர் எழுதப்பட்ட கோதுமை மணிகளை மட்டுமே கடவுள் எனக்கு அளித்துவருகிறார். அதேபோல் இன்னொன்றும் எனக்குத் தோன்றுகிறது. இயற்கை என்னிடம் எந்தத் திறமையைக் கொடுத்திருக்கிறதோ அதை இந்தக் காற்றுவெளி வாங்கிக்கொள்ளாமல் என்னைத் திரும்ப அனுப்பாது.

app_engine wrote:BTW, one relative who claims to have met IR and had a jovial conversation with him says rAsA rates his grand kid (Yatheeshvar?) as a "music-genius-prospect" ('அவன் தான் அப்படியே என்னை மாதிரி' or something similar).

It could be a general "grandpA-pride" but then IR is somewhat "gnAni" in this aspect and one cannot easily brush it aside like that. 

Personally I think he had spotted some spark in that kid. 

I'll be watching out for that "kutti-isai-gnAni" in the future

Reminds me of an opportunity that I had to visit Ilaiyaraaja at his house in 2003 (thanks to producer T. Siva who accompanied us).   We were waiting in the front hall for Ilaiyaraja to come and meet us from inside. During the waiting period, Ilaiyaraaja's wife, Late Mrs. Jeeva came out and gave us fruit juice. We were having a small talk with her when she mentioned that Yateeshwaran was the world for Ilaiyaraaja.  She said when he comes back from work, he spends all his time playing with Yateeshwaran.  Her face was full of pride when said that.  (Very positive feeling with just that one interaction with Mrs. Jeeva.  She personified such grace and affection during our interactions with her.)

When Ilaiyaraaja came out to meet with us, he was extremely graceful too.  After the initial introductions of we are big fans etc., I was finding myself not very coherent in terms of what to say next.  In fact, IR sensing that, started a conversation asking us where we were in the US and what I was doing etc.  Then I commented to him that how there are his songs for every emotion we go through and told him that I use the song "Koovungal Sevalgale" from Thanikaatu Raja when I need a pick-up in my emotional state.  After we came out, my wife chided me for picking that song of all his songs to talk about during this rare meeting with him.  

He was very gracious and took a picture with our family.  In fact, the picture was taken by T. Siva.  (Interestingly, while we were waiting to go inside his house, producer T. Siva warned us that he cannot guarantee what mood IR will be in.  He said that he is very close to them and almost a member of their family but still at times IR, if he is in a bad mood, would not even speak to him when he was at IR's house  .  Thankfully for us, IR was in one of his best moods when we visited him)

Then I commented to him that how there are his songs for every emotion we go through and told him that I use the song "Koovungal Sevalgale" from Thanikaatu Raja when I need a pick-up in my emotional state.

I can visualize Raaja  going   antha paata.. /

Wizzy wrote:

Then I commented to him that how there are his songs for every emotion we go through and told him that I use the song "Koovungal Sevalgale" from Thanikaatu Raja when I need a pick-up in my emotional state.

I can visualize Raaja  going   antha paata.. /

I remember his puzzled look   however, in my & that song's defense, I loved that song because it was such a perfect song for call to action/war.....the composition and the orchestration builds to that frenzy (in comparison a song for a similar sequence in Ayudha Ezhuthu does not stimulate similar level of ezhuchi....)