Anything about IR found on the net - Vol 4

but one thing, i 200% agree with you all that i am also like you guys, in understanding raja's music/personality, like குருடன் யானையை தடவிப்பார்த்த கதை. appreciate u all for your humbleness in agreeing that! and i join you, in that

App, no problem sir. As SKV avers, ultimately we are all fans of this man and always are appreciative of him. As V_S mentions some people are not really acting their age. One thing is certain, when you are on top there will be encomiums and plaudits and when you are down no more bouquets but only brickbats. Sadly, this apparently applies to the closest of friends and family. May be we are all the more wiser seeing this unfold to a very genius in our lifetime. (Cue up that Eric Clapton song - Nobody knows you when you are down and out). (Well, IR is really not down and out, just off his pedestal)

I don't really have a problem with SKV's 'theory'.  It's only a theory and we don't know how much of it is true.  It sounds fairly plausible and IR himself said in his interview with GVM during the NEPV launch that "Ilayaraja the person died a long time ago".  I think it is people who expect a genius like IR to be normal in other ways who have an unreasonable expectation.  It's not normal for a person to be able to write music so fast and yet, by his own admission, feel it's still too slow to capture the flow that's coming from his mind.  Why should such a person be sociable in a normal sense?  Has he committed a crime?  Has he been cruel to someone?  If so, that is not condonable.  If not, what's the big deal anyway? Let's just say that most producers who worked with him only wanted to hire him for his hit making ability and not for the quality of his music.  Which is fair enough, but IR has always been on a different journey.

attempting again .....


i said that raja is not involving at non musical things beyond a point and also not gel ing with co humans beyond a point... or atleast i said in these lines..

this doesnt mean he is a jadam and i didnt mean so, App Engine Wrote:-

அவர் "இசை மூளை" மட்டுமே செயல்படும் ஒரு விதமான "மரத்துப்போன ஜீனியஸ்" அல்ல.  இதற்கு எடுத்துக்காட்டாக அவரது இசையின் #1 பண்பு - மனித உணர்வுகளை உச்சத்தில் கொண்டு செல்லல் -  இருக்கிறது என்று என்னால் அடித்துச்சொல்ல முடியும்!

i too never wanted to mean or say that he is a "இசை மூளை" மட்டுமே செயல்படும் ஒரு விதமான "மரத்துப்போன ஜீனியஸ்"

infact he can only be a much more, very very normal human being than most of us, seeing his pristine and rich clarity of speech and action, in public & studios, for 4 decades!!!

so when i say he is limiting his life around only music, it is in a way reflecting what already he himself said about himself so many times. like, he said he isnt reading news papers for past 30 years, பேப்பர் படிக்கிறதை விட்டு 30 வருஷம் ஆச்சு...

and initial portion of this video where he talks about copyrights - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqkAIJGHTG0

where he says என் இசையின் வியாபார பலாபலன்கள், அதில் என் கவனம் போயிருந்தால், ஒருவேளை இசை எனக்கு வராமலேயே போயிருக்கலாம் and he says this for something which is very very closely related to his music, business and copyrights of his own music created by him!

and in a way, i feel that, apart from concentrating deeply into one's own craft, only by living a life like this, by, kinda isolating one self with most of the உலக நடப்புக்கள், only then, one can get and make music like this. It doesn't mean totally cut of the rest of the life. instead, get all the experiences from past and current life and be ready for future life too, but only important ones. how deep one can be in his craft, still he will & has to remember so many things from past, keep updating about present and be aware of future. for example, technology. u may feel silly to read this but still! for example, one will has to naturally upgrade himself from using landline telephone and shift to cellphones, and to smartphone, at some point ( sorry,cant get a better example and cud articulate only to this level:LOL: )

so up to some level, one has to always be in touch with past present and future, how big a genius he is and how deep he wants to be in craft and how cautious he has to be in avoiding useless/waste/irritating/non-relevant stuff trying to happen around him

so raja is too perfect at it. one more example we can recall that some directors event where raja and barathiraja had a stage talk(fight ) that vid is not in youtube now.. but i still remember, after bringing raja to the stage(barathiraja was already there) the anchor fella kinda struggled to make raja talk about barathiraja, and then barathiraja pulled raja's leg in both good and bad ways, but still raja kinda stayed silent. even after raja got down the stage, barathiraja kept talking crap about him and raja. raja didnt react to barathiraja, after a point, and just kept walking to his seat, silently hearing what barathiraja was blabbering on stage. that is raja..

mostly he has never responded back to any of the crap venomous stuff by dyemandu, GA, barathiraja and now SPB. and still he will invite SPB for future concerts. and mostly raja will not even get to know what these fellers are talking in these events.. but still they made lot of money around him and still will make, in future. raja enabled a great commercial future for so many ppl like them

the reason why these ppl (dyemandu, GA, barathiraja and now SPB and few more...) behaves like this is something we already discussed so many times in so many forums :- peer pressure, etc etc. also that is not the scope of the talk, here.

So, apart from raja skipping these baddies, like dyemandu, GA,  or skipping only those venoms from them and again raja associating with them(like SPB) only for musical purposes, what kind of the relationship he is maintaining with the tons of poeple who are no-nonsense and honest to him? like kamal, panju arunachalam etc? we can surely say that he will surely have a very good, close, bonding talks with them personally, when he meets them. but will he talk more about non-musical topics, with them? mostly, no. for example, he meets prakashraj for his films composing. he meets kamal for various reasons and recently for composing. this very guys prakashraj kamal panju arunachalam, when they meet other persons, they will surely talk most of the things under the sun. but with raja, they themselves will talk only relevant stuff to raja. becos that is what raja wishes. this is what i said as raja leads a much limited life wantedly. he never wants to go to anything deeply, beyond music, be it within himself or with meeting his known friends, industry ppl etc

so this is the kind of isolation raja is into. and i brought yuvan and even jeeva, here what i wanted to convey is different. we heard about some slightly strained relationship btw yuvan and his dad, esp after jeeva passing away.. yuvan once said his dad is kinda religious person such that he will call an pundit even if a glass broke at their home... well these strains btw his wife/son are again theory which we dont know beyond a point. but raja was honest in things like he openly said to jeeva b4 marriage itself that his priority is music only, and in the raja-1000 interview with gautam, raja himself said அவர்கள்(wife&kids) என்னை சகித்துக்கொண்டு இருந்தார்கள் என்றுதான் சொல்லவேண்டும்... so this is about his personal life. we cant go further deep into this becos we simply dont know and not supposed to.

so concluding it, i also agree with below quote of app engine, adding along with what i said above..

ராசா ஜீனியஸ் என்பதோடு நம்மைப்போன்ற எல்லா மனித உணர்வுகளும் கொண்ட குருதிச்சதை மனிதர் தான். அவருக்கும் அன்பு, காதல், பாசம், வெறுப்பு, சினம், பொறாமை, அருவருப்பு, இன்பம், துன்பம் எல்லாம் உண்டு. சொல்லப்போனால், சில உணர்ச்சிகள் சராசரி மனிதர்களை விடவும் மிகக்கூடுதல் இருக்க வழியுண்டு.

Raja is an introvert and a genius. To paraphrase Einstein, "I have trouble with Dirac. This balancing on the dizzying path between genius and madness is awful".


It is not too stretching to say that Raja and Dirac are similar in many ways, but Raja is definitely not mad only a very isolated person. By nature he is a good hearted person and kind.


Such people are always misunderstood and he will be always an enigma, a puzzle or a mystery that no one can ever solve.

Yeah, definitely not mad and no more did I say so.  But the part SKV says about how even with his close associates like KH or Panju, he may not want to discuss anything other than music is exactly why people like the gumbals will perceive him as cold and 'not normal'. In India, it is expected that people should waste time with small talk before getting on with business.  Most people in film industry also adapted to this requirement but IR stood firm by his methods.

well this topic keeps growing! yes, i think/suspect that he may want to limit his topics even with his pet pals like KH, panju arunachalam, vaali etc but still, we all wud agree that he infact has got a very peculiar and great intelligence/view even in other things too!

for instance, see his below view on communism!



likewise, he either doesnt talk at all about a subject indepth, or if he talks, he talks about it with pristine crystal clarity which will have both truth/true facts and also his own view on that topic! which we have seen read and experienced most of times! we see him showcasing brilliance not only in his musical talks (which he does for 90% of the time) but also on other topics which he talks for remaining 10%

in short, we are not just fans of his music, but also for his music related philosophies, thoughts opinions too! and most of them are his own original thoughts, like his music! even his அறிவு இருக்கா, அறிவு இருக்குன்னு எந்த அறிவை வெச்சு கண்டுபிடிச்ச et all we enjoy! whereas the general public doesnt put effort to understand it and simply brands him as head weighted person

I think we can safely say most of us here recognize his high intellectual endowments not just his music and the concomitant responses/reactions of such an individual. Many in our film industry have not rubbed shoulders with such genius individuals. Even some simple casual statement/remarks will be identified as having logical holes and would be challenged. They will have tough time interacting with such personalities.
(Seasons greetings and Happy New Year to you all)

Fantastic article, again :
இளையராஜாவும் மேற்கத்திய செவ்விசையும் 

From the above blog post, this great picture:

 குழிக்கரை பிச்சையப்பா - எம்ஜியார் - இளையராஜா

Incidentally, Pitchaiyappa is the favourite nagaswaram player of music director Illayaraja. “It was late Chief Minister MGR who had asked Ilayaraja to listen to his nagaswaram and whenever there was a conversation about nagaswaram, Ilayaraja would recall that incident,” said writer and film director Suka.

Sadha sadha song.. details from Narayanan

very Informative.

http://newdhool.blogspot.in/2016/12/sadha-sadha-unnai-rajavin-ramana-malai.html

Has IR ever given a interview in BBC ?if yes can someone please the transcript of the interview.

Mysskin's usual IR praise:
http://www.vikatan.com/cinema/tamil-cinema/76596-tamil-cinema-100-years-photo-exhibition.art

இளையராஜா ரீ ரெக்கார்டிங் பண்றதுக்காகவே பிறந்து இருக்கார்

IR is supposedly relevant to the "youth", if this news report is to be believed
http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/Romancing-the-ragas/article16987502.ece

“Since the programme targeted the youth, we chose songs of composers from Ilayaraja and those after him,” said Salai Lakshana, Assistant Professor, Department of Music, Thiagajar Arts College.

While reading the blogs of some youths I observed that whenever they travel mostly they hear IR songs only. Of course other music directors' songs are also appreciated but IR is still there. 

Especially in the nights while boozing, he is their favorite:)

After 40 years, IR's TF annual count is still remarkable (especially compared to "competitors"):
http://cinema.dinamalar.com/cinema-news/54593/special-report/Music-directors-performance-in-2016-Tamil-cinema.htm

Only D Imman seemed to have done more in number

While this article is primarily about Rahman, there's a dose of IR stuff.

விடுதலையென்றால் எல்லா விடுதலையும்தான்

Not sure if the writer had been a regular in the hub...

Article on director Mahendran with load of IR references & two youtubes (senthAzham poovil & uRavenum pudhiya vAnil):

WARNING :
Please DON'T READ this article if you HAVE NOT WATCHED the following movies and plan to watch sometime in the future:
(It gives away almost the whole story / climax etc)


muLLum malarum
uthirippookkaL

http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/cinema-j-mahendran-social-milieu-was-his-canvas-55328

Guitarist from Rahman's school wants to work with IR  

Music collaborations...
It is very important to collaborate with other musicians in order to explore music. Things open up more when you collaborate. You get better ideas on how to present the uniqueness in your music. Experimentation is a way to innovative music. Talking about collaborations, one musician I would like to work with from Chennai is Ilayaraja sir.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/srinivasan-r/a-technical-guide-to-enter-the-dilapidated-palace-of-a-musical-emperor/1120360894641308

இந்த கட்டுரை MSV பற்றியது தான் என்றாலு 1) சில இடங்களில் ராஜா பேர் வருகிறது 2) இதில் MSV பற்றி சொல்லப்பட்டிருக்கும் விஷயங்கள் நியாயமாக ராஜாவுக்கு த்தான் பொருந்தும் என எனக்கு தோன்றுவது

Ravinat, App engine and other experts, request you all to discuss each line of this writeup and evaluvate, thanks

ஆனா நம்ம எய்டீஸ் தாண்டி மியூசிக்ல போக மாட்டோம் ,குறிப்பா சொல்லப் போனா ராஜா சார தாண்டிப் போக மாட்டோம்

மேற்கண்ட வரிகள் எனக்கு பிரச்சனையில்லை. ராஜாவை எப்படியாச்சும் இறக்கி பேசிடணும்னு நினைக்கிறவங்க வழக்கமா சொல்ற டெம்ப்ளேட் தான் அது.

கீழ்கண்ட வரிகள் தான் எனக்கு, இங்குள்ள msv அதிகம் கேட்டவர்கள் evaluvate செய்து சொல்லுமாறு கேட்டுகொள்கிறேன்!

எனக்கு MSV ரொம்ப பிடிச்சிருக்கிற காரணங்கள்ள ஒண்ணு, அவர் உருவாக்கின டெம்ப்லெட்ட தான் இன்னிக்கு வரைக்கும் கம்போசர்ஸ் யூஸ் பண்றாங்க, பெருசா மாற்றங்கள் எல்லாம் இல்ல. ராக் அண்ட் ரோல், ஜாஸ், ப்ளுஸ், சைக்கடெலிக் ராக், வெஸ்டர்ன் பாப், கன்ட்ரி, ஈஸ்டர்ன், அராபிக் ஏன் ப்ளுஸ் கிராஸ் (சமீபத்தில ப்ளுஸ் கிராஸ் கேட்டது சுட்ட கதை னு ஒரு படம், ஏலே ஏலே சாங், MSV யே பாடினது). வரைக்கும் கம்போசர்ஸ் இயல்பா, சுதந்திரமா syncopate பண்ணிக் கம்போஸ் பண்றதுக்கு முன்னோடி MSV தான்.

SKV, the very first line/paragraph itself raised quite a bit of doubts in my mind about the fairness of this writer. I do think MSV is a pioneer and provided a "template" for other MDs to follow. I think IR himself has credited him for that. This does not in anyway diminish the greatness of IR. While MSV might have integrated many genres/components into his music, I think IR internalized it and evolved it into a cogent model, where all elements work seamlessly as a whole.
Please note, that Rahman gives MSV as a model for how he worked with other musicians and integrated their contribution. IR is very different, to say the least.

app_engine wrote:While this article is primarily about Rahman, there's a dose of IR stuff.

விடுதலையென்றால் எல்லா விடுதலையும்தான்

Not sure if the writer had been a regular in the hub...

Fair view ..compared to the MSV article referenced by SKV later.

SKV,
I'm not an "expert" on those genres listed in your post

Other than that, at this point of time I can't access that FB post (and cannot react line by line).

However, using the "ஒரு பானைச்சோற்றுக்கு..." principle and using the sample you've quoted as the "ஒரு சோறு", I'm not going to take the pains to reach out for that article even when I reach home.  

For the following reasons :

a) As confessed above, I'm not an expert in the specified genres

b) Regardless of the claims by this fellow, MSV himself may not claim to be an expert in those genres   For all practical purposes, it was his "collaborators"  (and sometimes what those fellows had access to in those time frames) decided what kind of "genre" or "orch" could become part of the final output that will have the melody maker's name attached to it. Which was the primary reason he had to credit TKR in his first part of the career and a variety of assistants (such as Joseph Krishna) in the later part of his career. BTW, for a few films such as MTK, IR himself had done that job. So, let us not unnecessarily drag the name of mellisai mannar for all this genre business. பாவம் அவர்.

c) I've possibly never claimed IR as the pioneer for "foreign genres in TFM". (If at all there had been any instance of me posting that way before, I hereby withdraw and apologize). Every "genre" of IR song happened to be either done by some master before or it has to be called the IR-genre

We have simply too many things done by IR to appreciate / admire and spend a lifetime or more. This particular "template pioneer" business is not worth our analysis