Ilayaraja, the Thyagaraja of film music

Many of you may be aware that music composer Ilayaraja recently completed composing music for his 1000^th film  - a Tamil movie titled ‘Tharai Thappattai’. Fans like me are hoping that he will be acknowledged as the world record holder for the largest number  of compositions in popular culture someday soon.

Till then, who is celebrating this milestone?  Unfortunately not  too many outside the Tamil film industry!! That’s tragic, as his is no mean achievement.

The reason for this milestone not being widely acknowledged by the artists fraternity lies in their attitude to popular music. The connoisseurs of art in our society have traditionally considered popular music a poor cousin of classical music. 

I beg to differ.

In my opinion, as a music composer, Ilayaraja deserves to be put on equal pedestal with a classical music composer, say a Thyagaraja or a Tansen.

Is the genius of Ilayaraja for real?

Let me play the devil’s advocate here first by raising two key questions.  

1) Can film music composition be an independent art form when it borrows heavily from the cornucopia of classical music?

2) Or is it such a big thing to walk the path laid out by the musical giants such as the Carnatic music trinity or the Western music trinity who have composed elaborate musical works, works that have stood the test of time and continue to inspire today’s generation of musicians?

Well, I think the answer to both the questions is a big resounding ‘YES’, and here’s why.

Good music is about touching a chord (pun unintended :))

Good music, I'm sure you will agree, is something that appeals to our emotional brain; chords that soothe our mind and rejuvenate our soul.   It is a harmonious combination of melodious strings and meaningful lyrics that elevate music to being a soulful experience.

Taking this as an acceptable definition of good music, let's compare the scope of work of a classical music composer vis-à-vis that of a popular music composer.

To start with, take the case of the Carnatic music trinity (Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshithar and Shyama Shastrigal). The key rasa (emotion or feel) in their compositions is Bhakthi or devotion. They may have composed their songs under different situations (Thyagaraja's compositions, for instance, are believed to be anchored in incidents from his real life),  but their compositions remain primarily rooted in the communication/propagation of devotional ideas. Again while composing, these composers may have used different ragas,  each imparting  a different emotion,  but the flavour that dominated these ragas eventually was the Bhakthi rasa.

Secondly, the works of the classical music composers were confined to a particular genre of music – mostly classical, or sometimes folk as in the case of composers such as Purandhara dasa or Annamacharya.

Now, contrast this to the demands from a film music composer.

His primary mandate is to compose  music that'll help communicate or reinforce a specific emotion - love, pathos, anger or yearning - as the situation in his film demands. 

While this does widen his canvas, it also calls for immense creativity and a sound knowledge of well...sounds, and their ability to invoke a chosen emotion.

And using sounds to kindle a desired sensation is something that Ilayaraja excels in.

Here, I've compiled a set of navarasa (nine expressions) kritis of Ilayaraja, that convey  a specific feeling or an emotion brilliantly.

(I'd urge you to listen to the music with your eyes closed to have a singular musical experience. Wherever possible, I've used audio-only tracks as I found the visuals distracting at best and utterly unbefitting at worst.)

I must add that in several of these compositions, Raja has effectively  harnessed the feel native to a raga. For eg, Hamsanaadam, a sensuous evening raga has been used brilliantly in ‘Isaiyil Thodunguthamma’  from the movie ‘Hey Ram’ whereas a peppy raga such as Shanmukhapriya has been used to convey joy in the ‘Tham Thana tham thana’ number (links given below).

The Navarasa  kritis of Ilayaraja

 (Here, I've deviated from the accepted list of navarasas to compile a selection more fitting in a filmy context.)

Wonder (Adbhutham) - Idu Oru pon malai pozhudu

Romance (Sringaram) - Kaadalin deepam onru

Sensuousness (Sringaram) – Isaiyil Thodunguthamma

Yearning (Sringaram) – Sundari kannal Oru seithi

Sympathy (Karuna rasa) - Uchi vaguntheduthu pichi poo

Joy -  Tham Thana Tham Thana Thaalam

Heroism  (veeram)  - Manitha manitha

Pathos–  Then paandi seemaiyile

Devotion (Bhakthi) – Amma endrazhaikatha

Film music calls for equal if not more creative prowess than classical music
(My apologies to TM Krishna who has been vociferous about his disdain for the music that passes off as classical music in film songs :))

Ok, I can hear the classical  music aficionados cry themselves hoarse saying that film music composers don't have to operate within the grammatical framework laid down for classical music. In other words, a film musician does not have to maintain the purity of a particular raga or tala (rhythm) in his music.

True, technically, a film music composer does seem to have more latitude as compared with his classical music counterpart; but that is the whole point!!! 

The less well-defined the framework, the more difficult the job!!

Imagine you are asked to make a nutritious Kimchi salad. If you have sliced cabbage, garlic, ginger and oodles of soya sauce, then it's no big deal. How you slice the cabbage, how long you marinate it, whether you roast the spices or not and the amount of soya sauce you add decides the quality of your salad. But, you've got to take care of only four ingredients and use them in pleasing  proportions,  and you are done!

That’s classical music for you – nice and healthy  for those who have the appetite for it.

On the other hand, if you are asked to make a tasty salad for children, seasoned with stuff they'll enjoy, but also uses healthy stuff such as cabbage, garlic and ginger in titrated doses to make it a nutritious meal, then that becomes a tricky proposition!!

You have to mull over various options before you can arrive at something tasty that children (rasikas like us) like, at the same time ensuring that the specified ingredients are used and the health quotient of the salad is not overly compromised.

And that precisely is the challenge before film music composers!

Having said that, there are several compositions of Ilayaraja that are rooted in hard core classical music ragas. Here's a very small sample:

Classical Ilayaraja

Aadal kalaiye de an Thanthathu - Raga Charukesi

Janani Janani - Raga Kalyani

Sollayo Vai thirandhu - Raga Shanmukhapriya

Om Nama Shivaya - Raga Hindolam

Mogam ennum theeyil - Raga Kanakangi

Click to read an interesting blog on the use of Classical ragas by Ilayaraja in Tamil Film Music

Moreover, film music also requires a deep understanding of a wide genre of music - from Indian classical to western classical to folk to pop to even African American music now.

And music aficionados who follow popular  music do admit that Ilayaraja was extremely adept at giving a native feel to western classical rhythms. Here’s a list of songs from his repertoire which combine indigenous and western classical to create a unique musical experience.

Quintessential  Ilayaraja

Poova eduthu Oru malai

Kanmani nee vara kathirunden

Pani vizhum malar vanam

Putham pudhu Kalai

Thendral vanthu theendumpothu

Yetho Mogam Yetho thagam

Oru Jeevan azhaithathu

Kodiyile malliyapoo manakkuthey

Of course, no eulogy of Raja would be complete without mention of his folk music based songs in Tamil films. He is one man who is credited with having given folk music its due through his compositions. Again a very small sample from his popular hit list:

Folksy Ilayaraja

Madurai marikozhundu vaasam

Vetti veru vasam

Sandu pottu Oru sandana pottu

Kuzhal Oodum kannanukku

And that’s not all.

Orchestration is a key component of film music, and Raja excelled at it

Yet another realm that a film music composer has to be adept at is orchestration,  which demands a deep proficiency over musical instruments besides the judgement to use them wisely to suit a given situation.

On this count, Ilayaraja is considered a class apart from his peers who frequently outsource the BGM score, interludes and the orchestration required for a movie/song. Ilayaraja  is indeed a rare music composer who is known to handle the entire spectrum of music composing right from orchestration, arrangement of instruments to notations.

While Raja is known for his love affair with the violin, and has used the instrument extensively across his works, he was himself a gold medalist in Guitar from London’s Trinity College of Music.

Here’s a list of some songs which stand testimony to his superb orchestration skills. This is one area where his genius literally pours out.

Instrumental Ilayaraja

(Check the lovely preludes and interludes in these songs.)

Thuli  ezhunthathu paatu

Endha Poovilum vaasam undu

En Iniya pon nilave

Poo malaiye thol seravaa

Ilaya nila

Rakamma kaiyathattu

Ananda ragam meettum

Poonkathave thalthiravai

Paruvame pudiya padal

Aasaiya Kathula Thoodu vittu

Above all,  the film music composer has to choose the right vocalist who can carry his piece-de-resistance  effectively to the audience.This calls for high inter-personal skills to coordinate with various artists and get the desired output.

And last but not the least, he has to balance the artistic expectations of his director and the commercial expectations of his producer.

To summarise: the propensity to convey a wide range of emotions musically, proficiency in several musical genres, the artistic acumen required to use different instruments to varying effects, and above all the ability to create music within a specified commercial and artistic framework, would, in my opinion, put film music composers on equal footing with the great classical music composers of the yesteryears.  

With that, I rest my case.

Ilayaraja has been the most prolific music composer ever

Of course, every film music composer is expected to deliver on most of these parameters. What makes Ilayaraja extra special?

Simply, the quantum of his work!

Over 5000 compositions across 1000 films, not counting independent compositions (‘How to name it’, ‘Nothing but Wind’ and the ‘Thiruvasagam’ symphony) is no small feat!!

Even accounting for some repetition, some more mediocrity and several inspired pieces, it is still a whopping number of original compositions for any individual composer!!

And finally, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The fact that Ilayaraja has been in the reckoning over the last four decades amidst wide ranging cultural changes in our society is proof of the timeless of his music.

Friends, even if we discount all the above analysis and statistics, we owe it to this man for having given us all several great musical moments and many sweet memories of the best part of our lives!!