An Ode Of Respect to the mastreo

There was a time when I never listened to any sort of music. Every time I watched a movie and a song came, I invariably used to change channels. I somehow never understood the need of songs. I went to music class for 5 years. They say if you are trained in something at a very young age, you master it. But even the most trivial of the adages have exceptions and I sure was one. I went to music classes only to enjoy the play after classes. Testimony to that was I was still in Varnam ( something similar to II level in learning the carnatic music to which people graduate in about 8 months :P) after 5 years of torturing 2 different music teachers. So what made a Gyanasuniam (devoid of a scent of talent) a good listener. There was this song from the film jhonny. "En Vaniley" a beautiful song of a genre I dont know, but with such soulful music , coupled with a soulful voice of Jency (she sang only ard 20 songs),made me listen to a full song in a movie for the first time.U can also listen it here. And it was a different sensation all together. An experience that all of us have gone through and I, for the first time :).

It was composed by my all time favorite composer, the ascetic Illayraja. I wanted to write about him for a long time. I was actually afraid that whatever I write would never befit a man of such herculean persona and musical talent. I can never appreciate the nuances of his musical brilliance. But I had to write whatever I felt about him. Every known emotion to me is associated with a raaja song. It has been just a previlage to be his fan. One of the best things to come out of his music is that I started enjoying my solitude. Leave me to my raaja collection and I can live through worst of times with ease.  For me raaja is just synonyms with music and emotions.

 He is one of the few who comes from a back ground that is different from music. He hails from a family of communists. Once in an interview, SPB had told about how he and illayraja had struggled in their formative years. Like any other musician of his era, he was overshadowed by the shear brilliance of his contemporary MS Vishwanathan, another legendary composer. But instead of waiting for his big breaks, he used his time to to learn about music. He studied western music in the Madras Music college. He also worked as assistant to many music directors through out India. He got his big break courtesy the producer Panchu Arunachalam. And as they say the rest is history.

So what is different in illayraaja that makes him unique? His humility. His dedication to work.  For composing music to any movie, he makes sure that he listens to the entire plot before composing. Another brilliant aspect of his music is the importance he gives to the lyrics. His combo with lyricist vaali is electric. Its sad that nowadays there are very few nowadays who give importance to lyrics. For those who are interested how the combo works, you can listen to a track in "Oru naan oru kanavu" on how the duo came up with the composition and lyrics for the song, "Kaartril varum geetham". Another testimony of the importance he gives to lyrics is the movie "Bommu Kutti Ammavuku". "Uyire Uyirin" song from that movie could compared with the very best of international music. Another one is "kalyana malai" from "puthuthu puthu arthangal". And the list is quite a huge one.

Yes he does have his own negatives. Like sticking to a small group singers, Not venturing out of his comfort zone and doing many solo albums etc. Like many others he has also copied a few songs. Like "kanavu kanum vazkai" was from "Kasme vaade pyar" or the famous "Neer Veezhchi Thee Mootudhae" is used multiple number of times over 10 yrs. Also the Mouna Ragam BGM is inspired from "love theme" by Georgio Moroder.

He is a very private person who rarely interacts with the media. He has admitted that he was an atheist to begin with later to become a staunch believer in his latter years. In one of his recent interviews, he was quizzed what thinks about the new trend of songs that are being dished out! His retorted back saying that if he feels that the new trend is bad and not good, his mind is obsolete and he has no right to compete. His admiration of MSV is well documented. Here is an extract from the Hindu, on the evening when MSV was honored. I cam across a very rare interview of illayraja with the frontline that I am sharing. What ever I write would never suffice a complete testimony. But for me he is someone who made me a good music listener and opened up a whole new world for me to cherish. The Debates like MSV vs Illayraja, Illayraaja vs ARR are all futile and all are great composers. We are lucky to have been contemporaries to them.