Thursday, 13 September 2012

 
 About Ilayaraja Sir
Ilayaraja, the musical genius and the only Indian music director to work with London Philharmonic Orchestra, is one of the best and evergreen music directors in South Film industry.

Born as Daniel Rajayya in Pannaipuram, Madurai, Ilayaraja took to music when he was 14. He dropped out of school and joined his brother Pavalar Varadarajan, who was a musician for the Communist party of India. With his brother, Ilayaraja travelled all over Tamil Nadu performing concerts. They were called Pavalar Brothers. In 1968, Ilayaraja moved to Madras and joined Master Dhanraj. Under his guidance, Ilayaraja was trained western classical. He learnt Carnatic under singer T.V.Gopalakrishnana. Ilayaraja took the Tirnity college of Music examination and bagged gold medal in classical guitar. He then joined G.K.Venkatesh as assistant music drecitor. His first film as music director is Annakkili. The film was a run away musical hit. His prolific scores continued with films like Amavasya Chandrudu, Vasantha Kokila, Pallavi Anupallavi, Mounageetham, Abhilasha, Nireekshana, Kirathakudu, Rakshasudu, Sagarasangamam, Sitara, Anveshana, Ladies Tailor, and many many more.

Ilayaraja composed music for more than 750 films in all the four South Indian languages. There is a special touch of Ilayraja in blending the western and classical. His tunes are always refreshing. No wonder he has got such a huge and loyal fan base.

Ilayaraja is the best in Background Score films like Geethanjali, Mounaragam, Nayakudu,Kaalapani, dalapathi, anjali, abhinandana and more

Ilayaraja won the Best Music Composer Award instituted by the Government of India three times, in 1984, 1986 & 1988.
He was also conferred with the Cultural Doctorate in Philosophy of Music by the World University Round Table, Arizona, USA.
He also holds doctorate degrees from the Annamalai and Madurai Kamraj Universities.

First Asian to compose Symphony (Symphony No. 1) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) of London.

Presented with 'Kalaimamani Award', an annual award for excellence in the field of arts, by the Government of the State of Tamil Nadu, India

Conferred the title 'Isaignani' (wisest in the field of music) in the year 1988, at Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India.

Award of Appreciation presented in the year 1994,by the Foundation and Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America.

Bestowed with the honorary citizenship and presented with the key to the Teanech Township, by Mr. John Abraham, Mayor of Township of Teanech, New Jersey, U.S.A., in June, 1994.

Wednesday, 12 September 2012

THE PASSION OF MUSIC: KING OF ILAYARAJA

THE PASSION OF MUSIC: KING OF ILAYARAJA: he following review is by a user and is not IndiaGlitz's take towards anyone or anything. Written by Ramesh Ganapathy Much anticipate...

KING OF ILAYARAJA

he following review is by a user and is not IndiaGlitz's take towards anyone or anything. Written by Ramesh Ganapathy

Much anticipated, skeptical, unbelievable, worried are some of the adjectives that have been used with NEP in the past week leading to its launch. Now that the time has come, it's time to see if the Maestro will be able to deliver with an album on which everybody has his or her eyes on. And trying to pass judgment will probably be the toughest thing I've done yet. Anyway, here goes...
Saayndhu Saayndhu - Yuvan Shankar Raja, Ramya (Upvote)
            Saayndhu Saayndhu is the opening song of the soundtrack and is not a first- time listen for all of us. If you have been following things around, you'd probably heard it somewhere over the past month. It looks like an offbeat, slow, modern song for the most of it but orchestrations in the interludes indicate otherwise. Chords, and few clarinet pieces that add a sensual feeling to the song heavily back the lines throughout.
Yuvan takes up most of the lines in the track and it's seems to be down his corridor of emotional but kind of sluggishnes(remember Kaatrukulle from Sarvam?). At the high-pitched notes, he is impressive. Ramya gives you an impression with the few lines she gets, and almost sounds too western in the final parts of the song. I can already start imagining how the visuals will be for this one.

Kaatrai Konjam - Karthik (Upvote)
            Kaatrai Konjam, the first song in the album takes you back to the 80s instantly. The short prelude by the male backup voices, percussion that stops and with the track and the entire orchestration reminds you of an era that is almost never seen today in Kollywood. Clarinets, strings, flutes, pianos and vocal chords all adore the song magnificently and are available to enjoy in the first interlude. If anything, the charanam is reminiscent of Illayaraja's classics and by the time it settles in, you are glued to the song.
Karthik takes on the track and tries to bring in some youthful exuberance to the retro-like composition and succeeds. With all his subtlety in the pallavi and flowing vocals in the charanam, things become ever so gorgeous. Na Muthukumar's lyrics hitting the right notes (Illayaraja's masterful notes, that is) seem more soothing than usual. Just two songs down, and I am already preparing myself to be bowled out.

Mudhal Murai - Sunidhi Chauhan (Upvote)
            If you thought the lines 'Neethane En Ponvasantham' was going to be used as a gooey romantic catchphrase throughout the film, you might be wrong. It turns out that Illayaraja has different plans. With Mudhal Murai, he composes a dark, strong cry of anguish (or agony, or anything similar). The repetitive strings maintain the tone of the song through interludes that are focused on not straying
from the purpose of the song. The violin (which almost sound like another lead) accompanying the most dramatic lines are brilliant. This one is packed with so much detail that it will take you hours of playing over before you realize how good a job Illayaraja has done.
No many voices in the industry can make an impact like Sunidhi Chauhan's and choosing her is probably the best thing that could happen to song after the composition. Everything she does sounds perfect - the emphasis on strong words, the short yet expressive end to phrases and especially how she treats the not-so-short lines. Talk about taking a song and going ballistic all over it!

Vaanam Mella - Illayaraja, Bela Shende (Upvote)
            Definitely village-ey, I thought after reading the name, but I was wrong. Vaanam Mella is a blend of genres, and the orchestral of the introduction of the song tells you why. When it soon settles into Illayaraja's voice, things just seem no natural and beautiful. I honestly don't think anyone else but him can pull off something close to this.
The last time we saw Illayaraja and Bela Shende come together, we got called beautiful number in 'Machchaan Machchaan'. This one is similar, and even better. The maestro's subtle voice and Bela Shende's magical vocals that always sound sweet add more and more plaudits for it. And not for the first time in the album, Na Muthukumar's pen has found the right words, without over-exaggerating or over-emphasizing, but still capturing the poetry in emotions.

Pudikale Maamu - Suraj Jagan, Karthik (Upvote)
            With typical college-hero introduction song, the soundtrack takes a pleasant turn with Pudikala Maamu. Comparing with 'Yethi Yethi' (again Gautham Menon, but with Harris) offers a lot of retrospect. Illayaraja is more confident in leading with the vocals and the percussion makes way for the singer to make an impression, making the lyrics a lot more expressive. Suraj Jegan, known from 'Give Me Some Sunshine' from 3 Idiots sounds like a rugged young Hariharan who is totally psyched about being a teenager.
Just when you think the song was totally hip and western, it takes a wicked turn and become a folky number in the latter half. Na Muthukumar deserves come credit again on his part for this. Why it was composed this way is unclear and the sudden change doesn't help the song much. However, Karthik and the very down-to earth percussions sound natural and rebellious. Some retro touches here and there and it suddenly becomes a wise man's song. It will totally take you by surprise.

Yennodu Va Va - Karthik
            Yennodu Va Va is another track that is a leaf out of Illayaraja's rich music from the 80s. It might sound a bit old fashioned for today's generation, but the slow paced beats and straightforward lines aren't enough to write it off. The singer pausing between lines now and then indicates that the song is clearly old- fashioned, just like it did with the first track. With his composition, Illayaraja makes the pallavi a bit serious and the charanams more casual.
This is the third song for Karthik in the soundtrack, and he gets an opportunity to showcase his different sets of skills. Versatile as he is, it doesn't take long for you to forget (temporarily of course) his renditions in the other renditions as you listen to this one. Na Muthukumar's lyrics don't have the same impact here as they did in 'Kaatrai Konjam'. Good to listen, still.

Pengal Yendral - Yuvan Shankar Raja
            Six songs into the album, I finally hit a song that I couldn't enjoy much. For some reason, this one sounds a lot like Yuvan composed it. The added rock effects, overly dark tones and continuous beats are not very common for Illayaraja. And in all fairness, it doesn't really come closing to expressing agony. Instead, the track seems to have taken the wrong lane and turned into hatred lane.
What is with Yuvan and 'i-hate-you-love-failure-songs'? He is quickly becoming the master of such songs, and somewhere in Tamil Nadu, there's probably a bunch of lonely sad boys who are worshipping him for it. Also, the continuous bashing of love and also probably the heroine along with the usual hate feeling, which follows right after love, is highly overdosed. Shocking, after so many good numbers.

Sattru Munbu – Ramya
            The last track of the album is almost as dark as the previous one. For some reasons, the sad songs have gotten piled up at the last. The right place for ‘Sattru Munbu’ would have been before ‘Mudhal Murai’ for it’s a diluted and more-mature version of it (the love scale always goes from mature to crazy). The orchestral is also a bit soft and the string section is a lot more prominent. The interludes however try to reflect on both on the magical love that has been lost and the disaster that’s about to follow. It’s slow, but more than bearable.
Ramya looks to be a good singer, and the frailty in her voice (like that of the sad heroine) is almost felt. But, this is more of a dead-end song when you have Sunidhi Chauhan on the other end. I felt that it’s more likely to be used as a background score.
Phew. This was probably the toughest music review I have written until now. One, it took me a lot more listens before I could judge a song properly and two, I was quickly running out of technical words to praise Illayaraja’s work. Packed with a lot of amazing (truly) compositions, this one is gonna be a roaring hit with everyone, the young and the old. Illayaraja might be old, but some of his numbers come close to sweet sixteen like anyone else’s. And when they do, they blow you away.

Rating – 4/5 – for some Illayaraja magic that never grows old.
Verdict – This man can still (and probably always will) weave magic!