Emotions and Pain : Maestro Composed
iView Author: SRIDHAR MAYUR (Hyderabad, India)
Email: With held
Emotions and Pain : Maestro Composed
There may be many articles written in PFC on “Ilayaraja-The Maestro”, but I have picked a special and most-liked theme of guys
who like music(any form). That’s ‘emotion and pain’. You badly need those songs, it’s more like a hurt-medication for your
hearts which are already wounded, yep that’s the feeling I’m talking about. There are compositions and then there are
Ilayaraja compositions for this theme. The basic difference is you sink more deeper in the latter’s compositions, and more
faster than the actually emotion that you’ve gone through. Sometimes it makes me feel did Ilayaraja really go through all
these emotions in all kinds of distress as a human being. I am sure not, it’s a gift and the gift on which he has improvised
during his lifetime and his work speaks of the same. If you are a director/technician you can enact or you must have seen
it(emotion) somewhere and then you direct the scene or make your technicians discuss on it and make it work, but as a
composer you really need the ability to innovate music in your own way and that too it should make one feel exactly the same
and to make it perfect each time you do and then garner acclaim, its nothing but the work of a maestro-an apt title given to
Ilayaraja. Unfortunately, most of the north indian audience are not aware of his works, not sure of the reasons(that’s
another topic altogether). Lets look into the songs which have made us feel the way the characters have felt, maybe the
actors have not done the justice practically on screen, but if you know the lanuguage(a bit) and understand music your heart
will become the character and make you emote and what wonders will it do if you are in the same situation as the character
for ex: ‘ek tuta hua dil’/'virigi poyina manasu’/'vidanji pona manasu’). So, lets move on…my first pick is(and again these
are only my* picks. I may have missed many, so please do add them to the list as we discuss/if we discuss after this post ;)
), so my first pick….
Unna nenachen pattu padichen – Aboorva Sagodarargal
The pain of ‘ek tuta hua dil’/'vidanji pona manasu’, well emoted by kamal hassan, or a dwarf kamal hassan. And the music between the anthras is impeccable, or should I say pain invoked.
Vedam anuvanuvuna nadam – Sagara Sangamam
I loved this song, because this shows the pain of a student/disciple who has insulted her master/guru. Now, she regrets her
mistake and knowing the fact that her master is on the death bed, she is caught between pain of losing her master and her mistake.
This song explores the boundaries of classical ragas. This is from the epic movie ‘Sagara Sangamam’.
Chinna thaayaval – Thalapathy
The pain of a mother who lost her baby and then the song shifts into the baby’s pain of separation from the mother. A wonderful song
used as BGM for the movie. Really soulful.
Oh paapa laali – Geetanjali
The pain of losing a lover soon, but wonderfully composed as a lullaby. This is a song for all genres. The violin interludes
are just great. This is for the ones who are really deep-in-love.
A great song from the film Marupadiyum(tamil) ‘Ellorum Sollum paatu, solvene unnai ketu…’. Sorry, dint get the link
though. When you have been kicked everywhere and when people play with your emotions..just listen to the song, Will give all
reasons to your tears. Experience pain to the core…
And ‘Nalam vazha en naalum..’ is also a excellent song from the same film, but I think its not of the theme that I am talking about. Its a song about consoling and lots of philosophical gyan, but a great song. Go for it..
Kanne kalaimane – Mondram pirai(tamil)
I think this song will go down in history as one of the best Ilayaraja compositions. But, the best part is it sinks deep into
you and Yesudas’s voice is apt to bring tears(Only if you know the meaning. Guys who dont know tamil can watch the hindi
version ’surmai akhiyon me – Sadma’ for that experience)
Nilave vaa – Mouna Ragam(tamil)
Love and pain woven into a wonderful song; with full of emotion. Its a lovers/or should I say husbands way of getting in terms
with the reality and trying to show his true-love & caring to his partner. He uses the moon as a reference to his partner.
Thenpandi cheemaiyile – Nayagan(tamil)
The BGM song of Nayagan. Awesome movie with a awesome song. This song is the pain of the protagonist from the start of
his life to the end, all his emotions put in a nutshell.
Priyathama na hrudayama – Prema(telugu)
Very similar to the pain mentioned in ‘Oh paapa laali’ song, however this is a lovers appreciation of his partners attributes and
song shows his eternal spirit of love when she is in the death bed.
Who can forget the gem compositions of Abhinandana(Telugu), most of the songs are synonymous to emotion and pain. Wonderful
lyrics by Aatreya. My pick is ‘ade neevu…ade nenu’
(poor video quality regretted)
Bewafa dil ko pukar in its best form and its a classic!
This is not all guys, yes…there are many and many more. However, my article and quest is to refresh the minds of people
Who have forgotten the maestro and his compositions. Any tribute will fall short of the maestro’s caliber. Remembering his
songs in itself is a wonderful feeling and if it’s got to do with emotion and pain then it’s really got to do with us…right?
Just to end the credits: Most of the songs are sung by another thespian ‘Mr.S.P. Balasubramaniam’. Kudos to him and his
versatility. Without his contribution these gems would be null or void.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
awesome compilation!!!
So many more – many many more in Kannada, Thamizh and Malayalam ones.
He is a phenomenon when it comes to tuning painful melodies – Udhiri pookkal – Azhagiya Kanne – no symphonic overtures – just simpleminimalistic arrangements that take the song right into the core of your being… Awesome genius.
Sridhar- Ilayaraja is a genius & my all time favourite composer in South India.Right from Annakili to the recent Naan Kadavul, he’s been rocking.All the songs you’ve mentioned are excellent.Will revert back soon with more one’s that I like.
Brillaint compilation. To compile all his best work will be a humungous process. the speciality of IR is that none of the list can bring in a completeness to his work, we will always be wondering in the end that you have missed many more of his favourite work. Guess there should be more articles on his songs and compilation in PFC. My personal favourites are the songs sung and composed by IR himself. He gives such a soul stirring effect to the song with his unique voice.
gr8 compilation. I love the song from Mouna Raagam. Illayaraja has so many melodious songs, that – its simply impossible to compile a list
….
Great compilation. I do not understand Tamil or Telugu but love Illayaraja’s music – when it comes to great musicians, language is no barrier. Would request you to add another compilation – this time with his western classical compositions. I love “How to name it” and “Nothing but Wind”. Many of his regional songs have fascinating interludes showcasing his western classical dexterity but it is hard to find them for one not in the mainstream of the south indian cultural scene. He is one of my 2 favorite MDs for those heavenly interludes (other being RD Burman)
Even though IR was a great MD,I feel that he has lost that magic touch.I am not a regular listener of Tamil songs and don’t have much knowledge about recent IR compositions,but Naan Kadavul music was disappointing.The film was a good one and IR has done well in background music,but songs didn’t work for me.I feel he should concentrate only on BGM and leave song compositions to his son Yuvan
Sridhar: Good collection and a brilliant effort. But IMO, you have left out the best: Vaanuyarndha Solaiyile from Idhaya Koyil. The music, the tune itself, the rendering and the lyrics came together to create something that left an uneasy ball in one’s stomach. Listen to SPB rendering the words ” Aatrangarai Orathile, Yaarumatra Nerathile, Veetrirundha Manarparapu, Vedhanaiyai thoondudhadi”
In fact, his ‘pain songs’ can be classified into three:
1. Tiff with a lover or lover getting married to someone else – Raja was good here, but it was not Raja’s best.
2. Loss of a loved one – this kind was really heart wrenching stuff – Vaanuyarndha and O paapa laali
3. Helplessness of a loved one – He created magic in this category.
Some songs from 2 & 3.
Idhayam oru Kovil
Naan paadum Mouna ragam
Idhayame Idhayame
Maadha Un kovilil (The original from Achani)
Chinna chinna roja poove
Bommukutti Ammavukku
Kanne Navamaniye (again from Bommukutti)
BIPIN: It is not impossible, but it requires herculean efforts. What Sridhar has done here is a great effort again.
Wonderful Shirdar,
Wonderful collection you have posted. I get emotional listening to all your collection. Such a heart melting tune by maestro Illayaraja.