A
few decades ago, come Deepavali –
besides new dresses, crackers, there would be new releases .. .. and fans would
debate endlessly on superiority of their heroes .. that was a time when Rajnikant and Kamal were
ruling the roost. In 1980, remember that
in our school class room, one vividly portrayed Barathiraja calling Balachander
– a week prior to Deepavali release, exclaiming that both of them had dwelt on
the same subject [Unemployment – Nizhalgal & Varumaiyin
niram sigappu] – he went on to say that an unperturbed Balachander
replied that both had unique styles and need not worry about the other ~ not
sure of its authencity – incidentally both flopped . ..
Anbukku Naan Adimai; Ellam Un Kairasi; GramathuAthiyayam; Guru; IlamaiKolam;
Johnny; Kaali; KallukkulEeram; MooduPani; MurattuKaalai; NenjathaiKillathe; Nizhalgal;
Rishi Moolam; Soolam; UllasaParavaigal~ what brackets these together … ..
besides the fact that these all were released in 1980s – there is another – one
important at that .. the music of Maestro hearing which our generation grew !
.. ..
Pic credit : my friend Joseph Raja
Isaignani Illayaraja – is a genius, a master at work –
far different and far ahead of his era, the composer, singer, songwriter,
instrumentalist, orchestrator, conductor-arranger and lyricist made the whole
World look up to Tamil cinema music.
Have heard with awe, the way he would work with music notations and
sharing them with his group for composing music for songs and .. .. and
background scores too. Widely regarded
as one of the greatest Indian music composers, he is credited for introducing
western musical sensibilities in the Indian musical mainstream. Being the first
Asian to compose a full symphony with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London,
Ilaiyaraaja is known to have written the entire symphony in just 13 days which
has never been done before in the world. He is also a gold medalist in
classical guitar from Trinity College of Music, London, Distance Learning
Channel.
Those
days, if 60 movies were to be released in a year, 40 of them would have
Illayaraja whose music alone would ensure victory of some movies. The maestro is a recipient of five Indian National Film Awards
– three for Best Music Direction and two for Best Background Score. In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the
third-highest civilian honour in India.
In 2018, he was honoured with Padma Vibhushan. In 2003, according to an international poll
conducted by BBC, more than half-a million people from 165 countries voted his
composition Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu from the 1991 film Thalapathi as the fourth
in the world's top 10 most popular songs of all time.
On
February 2nd and 3rd, the Tamil Film Producers Council held a huge tribute to
Isaignani Ilayaraja to celebrate his contributions to the Indian film industry.
The event titled ‘Ilayaraja 75’ was held in Chennai. Most of the leading
lights of the Tamil industry marked their presence on one of the two days, and
made it even more memorable for the 1000s in attendance. Ilayaraja had a live
music concert along with his orchestra on the 3rd and enthralled the gathering.
Rajinikant’s tribute speech was heartfelt in particular.
“In
the 80s, there used to be up to 15 films releasing for festivals like Diwali,
Pongal and Tamil New Year. Raja sir used to be the composer for at least 10 of
those films. Producers used to queue up outside his studio in the hope that he
would complete the re-recording of their film. He used to manage the
re-recording of three films in a single day, without any sleep; nowadays
composers take 30 days for a single film! Raja sir would also give story level
inputs to make sure that the song’s situation makes sense. So many films have
benefited from his presence. Raja sir has also given up his salary for
producers who were in financial trouble. He has sacrificed a lot for the
industry and is an example for every celebrity on how to handle fame and
popularity”, added Rajinikanth.
Maestro
is a loner and enjoys himself being alone – yet there have been attempt to drag
him into controversies, calling him arrogant and .. .. .. ridiculous. During Chennai floods in 2015, Illayaraja did his best in helping the flood
victims, yet in a college function, a reporter kept nagging him with Q of his
opinion on ‘beep’ song. An irate Raja
sir, angrily retorted – do you have senses and what are you asking, where ?
- that was a stupid question and yet
there were some who called Raja arrogant.
Now
comes a no-brainer from ex-actor Rohini.
It is reported that actor Vikram
and Shankar were on the stage with
Ilaiyaraaja. Those hosting events many a times blabber thinking themselves to
be intelligent but end up exhibiting their dumbness. The
event's host Rohini asked the Enthiran directorShankar when he will team up with Ilaiyaaraja as fans
are expecting the collaboration. Illayaraja rightly stopped Rohini midway and
told her, "Are you trying to get me a chance? I don't like this. Why are
you taking up that topic now? He (Shankar) is working with the people with whom
he is comfortable with. Why are you disturbing him?"
It
is common knowledge that Shankar has been in the industry for decades and has
only collaborated with AR Rahman and Harris Jayaraj for his films. It is right
for the Director to work with anyone with whom he is comfortable – similarly
the music Director is at liberty to chose people / movies in which one would
work. It looks childish to ask why or
why not ? – on a stage !!
Illayaraja is a genius, stands very tall, way bigger and ahead than most others – his melodies are the best
companion when one wants to relax sitting alone, or anyone on a long
drive. A real boon to the music lovers are
his songs ..
With
regards – S. Sampahtkumar
No comments:
Post a Comment