MARUDHA MALAI MAMANIYE - DEIVAM

SOPPANA VAAZHVIL MAGIZHNDHU - SIVA KAVI

CHINNA RASAVE - WALTER VETRIVEL

THAM THANA NAM - PUDHIYA VAARPUGAL

PAARTHA VIZHI - GUNA

CLASSICAL ILAIYARAAJA - 2

There are very few instances in which the identity of a rare raga in a cinema song is so well handled and shown (to the extent that) we could even use these songs as good a reference as keerthanas for those respective ragas. To quote a few, K.V.Mahadevan's 'paatum naanae' (Thiruvilayaadal) in the ragam Gowrimanohari, M.K.Thiagaraja Bhagavathar's 'soppana vazhvil magizhndu' in the ragam Vijayanaagari. These are uncommonly sung ragas. It is true that there are excellant keerthanais like 'gurulekha' (Gowrimanohari) in these ragas. But to a common rasika, it could be gone ahead and suggested 'paatum naanae' to understand Gowrimanohari, because KVM has handled it in splendid form.

The way T.M.S starts the song in thara sthayi rishabham with his perfect voice and renders it, it is like eating a 'nila pournami' feast in the banks of kaveri. That song has become an absolute reference for Gowrimanohari. The question is: Has Illayaraja any such 'reference' songs to his credit? Yes. Many!

Bhaavani is the 41st melakartha raaga. It is the 2nd raga to the right from Jalavarali! It has the following arohanam and avarohanam: Sa Ri1 Ga1 Ma2 Pa Da2 Ni3 Sa, and Sa Ni3 Da2 Pa Ma2 Ga1 Ri Sa. I have never heard any keerthanai in this raga. How did Illayaraja get the sudden idea of scoring a tune in this complex vivaadi raga? Would it be a hit with all its vivaadi swaras? Did he or Kamalhaasan have any apprehension? If they had had, maybe we would't have got this wonderful song 'paartha vizhi poothiruka' in Guna. It is a perfect song suiting the situation in which Kamal (a nut case) sees the heroine in a temple and falls in instant love with her. That heroine, Roshni (or something) was a delight to see in that movie.

The song starts like this Sa Pa Pa Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa Da Sa Ri GA...Before the song there is a virutham like piece sung by the chorus. He has handled the beauty of the vivaadhi swaras in that raga very very nicely. When you hear the words 'charanam charanam' set in the swaras, Sa Sa Ga Ri Sa it sends a thrill in your perceptual apparatus. Since the uttaranga swaras of this raga consist of chatusruthi daivatham and kaakali nishadam, it has a quality like that of kalyani (with a pradhi madhyamam).

In the interlude of this song the chorus traverse in the melodious regions of the raga (Pa Da Ni Sa). Unfortunately I don't remember the words. Maybe the lyrics is good too. Jesudoss has done a fantastic job. Even though the recording scale of this song is only around 'oru kattai', how is that it sounds as though he is reaching big heights when he sings the same pallavi in the thara sthayi? It sounds so pleasant to hear! This song is a very good good referance for Bhaavani ragam.

Guna has another fantastic 'light' song 'kanmani anbodu'. Maybe, neo-rasikas will go ahead and call this song as Sankarabaranam!

Are there any cinema songs in ragam Hemavathi? It was a good surprise recent- ly when I came to know that lllayaraja has ventured into this ragam also for first time (maybe, in thamizh film song history). That song is in the movie 'pudhupatti ponnuthayee' starring radhika. 'manam poala maangalyam' is a good example of Hemavathi. S.Janaki (the best vocal support he ever got) has sung this song. This movie is like some modern thillanam mohanaambaal. Some big shot has given accompaniment in nadhaswaram in this song. He has started the pallavi in thara sthayi gandaaram. Ga Ri Sa Sa Ni Sa NI Sa Ni Da... That is how the song goes. It is really good and pure!

Considering the sudha madhyamam of Hemavathi, the raga giant 'Karaharapriya', Illayaraja has few pure numbers in it. Ofcourse nothing can beat M.S.Viswa- nathan's 'madhavi pon mayilaal'. Probably Illayaraja first tried Karahara- priya in pure form in 'poo nadam idum mayilae..' in the movie tick tick tick. The interlude violin pieces and K.J.Yesudoss's swara alapana in that song are fantastic. For such a good tune, the lyrics was very bad. I distinctly remem- ber how the triple x filled words in the charanam like 'padukayil...' got more famous than the tune in our school!

Illayaraja should have paid more attention to the lyrics atleast when his tunes were purely carnatic. Mmmmm.... Who cared? It was all money for him! His other pure karnatic Karaharapriya are 'anandam pongida pongida', 'thana vanda sandanamae' (ooru vittu ooru vandhu). In anandam pongida pongida, the upper sancharas are excellant, like Ga Ga Ri Sa Ri Ga Ma Ga... Again,the song has been sung by Yesudoss. His voice is superb for this kind of songs. 'Thana vanda sandanamae' came as a pleasant surprise in his brother Gangei Amaran directed movie. This song was not a big hit. Probably all the attention went to 'sorgamae enrallum' in the same movie in ragam hamsanadam (but for few slips). In 'thana' (SPB), he has handled some wonderful nuances of Karaharapriya, like Ga Ri Ni Da Ni... There are few more of his semi-classical tries in Karaharapriya, like 'maamanukku' (netrikann) etc. Even his first song, 'machchana parthingala' is in the Karaharapriya scale. He liked this scale a lot. Maybe, neo-rasikas would call all of them as pure Karaharapriya.

Probably the purest of his Karaharapriya came in 'unnaal mudiyum thambi'. The situation is Kamal and Gemini fight over something. The quarrel gets very intense. At this point Gemini's dumb son (Kamal's brother), takes his nadhaswaram and starts playing loudly, to stop his kin from quarreling further. You know what raga Illayaraja selected for this situation? Karahara- priya! That scene was a musical feast in that movie. The raga was appropria- tely used. K.J.Yesudoss gave a charming vocal support to Illayaraja (singing for both Kamal and Gemini). It was like a duet between Yesudoss and the the nadhaswaram! K.Balachander used this situation to show how music was a common enjoyment in Gemini's house and how it could abate the heat of the quarell between the son and the father.

Talking about the panchama varjaya ragam of Karahapriya, that is , Sriranjani, probably Illayaraja was the best music director to use this wonderful raga. His first Sriranjani came as a tail bit in velli chalangaigal (kaadal ovium). It was a very fast bit sang by the chorus 'thannanthanimayil iru vizhi'. Even though 'velli chalangaigal' was tuned in Chandrakounse ragam, I don't know what made him give the tail bit to Sriranjani (a very strange guy, you know!) The second Sriranjani attempt came in naadavinodhangal in salangai oli. Even in this song he tuned the pallavi alone in Sriranjani, with charanam in Hamsaanandi.

This is what I dislike in cinema music directors. Why can't they adhere to a single raga? Why do they have to change from pallavi to charanam? Illayaraja was the one who did best justice to carnatic music among modern music directors. But even he fell a prey to such deviations (from purist point of view) like changing the raga for each line in few songs. His best Sriranjani came in 'nadam ezhundadadi' in Gopura vaasalilae. Again, Yesudoss! It was really fantastic. Karthik had given a comic act in that song. Probably that song toppled M.S.V's best Sriranjani 'nadam enum kovililae..' Dit it? I would say yes.

-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan.
Department of Vision Science,
Universty of Houston College of Optometry,
Houston, Tx 77204.

KAADHAL KASAKKUDHAYYA - AAN PAAVAM

YAMUNAI AATRILE - DHALAPATHI

INDHA VEENAIKKU - RAYIL SNEHAM

ANDHA VEENAIKKU - MALE VERSION - KJ YESUDOSS

MARANATHAI ENNI KALANGIDUM VIJAYA - KARNAN

 NATTAI, SAHANA, MADHYAMAVATHI.

மரணத்தை எண்ணிக் கலங்கிடும் விஜயா...
மரணத்தின் தன்மை சொல்வேன்...
மானிடர் ஆன்மா மரணமெய்தாது...
மறுபடி பிறந்திருக்கும் 

மேனியைக் கொல்வாய்
மேனியைக் கொல்வாய்
வீரத்தில் அதுவும் ஒன்று
நீ விட்டு விட்டாலும் அவர்களின் மேனி
வெந்து தான் தீரும் ஓர் நாள்... ஆ... ஆ...

என்னை அறிந்தாய் எல்லா உயிரும்
எனதென்றும் அறிந்து கொண்டாய்
கண்ணன் மனது கல் மனதென்றோ
காண்டீபம் நழுவ விட்டாய்
காண்டீபம் நழுவ விட்டாய்
மன்னரும் நானே மக்களும் நானே
மரம் செடி கொடியும் நானே
சொன்னவன் கண்ணன் சொல்பவன் கண்ணன்...
துணிந்து நில் தர்மம் வாழ... ஆ...
புண்ணியம் இதுவென்று உலகம் சொன்னால்...
அந்தப் புண்ணியம் கண்ணனுக்கே
போற்றுவார் போற்றலும்

தூற்றுவார் தூற்றலும் போகட்டும் கண்ணனுக்கே …

கண்ணனே காட்டினான் கண்ணனே சாற்றினான்
கண்ணனே கொலை செய்கின்றான்
காண்டீபம் எழுக நின் கை வன்மை எழுக
இக்களமெலாம் சிவக்க வாழ்க... ஆ... ஆ... ஆ...
பரித்ராணாய சாதூனாம்
விநாசாய ச துஷ்க்ருதாம்
தர்ம சம்ஸ்தாபனார்த்தாய
சம்பவாமி யுகே யுகே...

AA GAYA SAPNA KOI - KAMAGNI

VEDHAM NEE - KOVIL PURA

KANMANI NEE VARA - THENRALE ENNAI THODU

THENRAL VANDHU ENNAI THODUM - THENRALE ENNAI THODU

Classical Illayaraja - 6

In carnatic music, while we have three kinds of rishabham, gandharam, daivatham, and nishadham each, the madhyamams are only two kind. They are the suddha and prathi madhyamam. If only the madhyamams had life, they are certain to demand reservation for the reason that the other more populous swarams like the rishabhams are dominating the music scene, not giving enough space for the madhyamams to come up in life! However, any species that is less in population become precious in due course. That is the general law of the nature. That is true for the madhyamams too. They are wonderful precious swarams.

The prathi madhyamam is the second madhyamam. In the perceptual scale the distance between any two adjacent notes in the harmonium is the same, irres- pective of whether the notes are in the manthra sthayi, madhyama sthayi or the thara sthayi. (This is in contrast to the physical scale, where the frequency difference between any two adjacent notes in the harmonium keeps on increasing as you go to the right).

 In other words, the perceived tonal difference between any two swarams is the same. Thus the transition between Sa and Ri1, Ri1 and Ri2, Ri2 and Ri3, Ri3 and Ga3, Ga3 and Ma1, Ma1 and Ma2, Ma2 and Pa, Pa and Da1, Da1 and Da2, Da2 and Da3, Da3 and Ni3, and Ni3 and Sa will all be perceived as the same by our mind. However when you sing with the Sa-Pa-Sa shruthi vibrating from the thamboora, the 'aadhara' swarams for the shruthi, ie., the shadjam and the panchamam will have a pulling effect on their immediate adjacent swarams. It is this phenomenon that gives the beauty to the prathi madhyamam. It is for the same reason that the gap between Ri2 and Ga2 appears wide while that between Ma2 and Pa appears so narrow, giving an illusion that these notes are extremely close to each other.

The beauty of the prathi madhyamam can be well appreciated in ragas like Hamsanadham. There has been quite a good discussion about this ragam for a while in rmic. It will become hackneyed to recapitulate it once again. Just to present the gist of the material: Originally a Neethimathi janyam and hence using Sa Ri2 Ma2 Pa Da3 Ni3 Sa (and the converse as avarohanam), it later became reduced to a pentatonic ragam when singers practically preferred to eschew the usage of shatsruthi daivatham (Da3). Thus, the Hamsanadham that we hear nowadays seem to be a janyam of Kalyani, instead of the 60th melakartha Neethimathi.

Illayaraja was the only music director who tried Hamsanadham in cinema. His first Hamsanadham came in Sridhar's 'Harry met sally' kind of movie, thenralae ennai thodu. It was a typical 'mills and boons' plot, the heroine first fighting with the hero and later developing love, while the hero first develops love and later fighting with the heroine. 'Moadhal/oodal/kaadhal' sequence finally culminating in love signal from both the sides! Ah Ha! This type of plots seem to be like a never ending amudhasurabhi, giving the cinema directors innumerable situations, song sequences, and help them make lot of money. Rarely, such plots give us songs like 'thenral vandhu ennai thodum' in superb Hamsanadham. Sridhar who was almost dead at that time could make a comeback in the cinema world, because of the richness of the songs in that movie. Also, he introduced Veenai S.Balachandar's sister's grand-daughter Jayashree (who is also a cousin of the actress Sukanya) as the heroine in that movie.

Illayaraja starts his first Hamsanadham like Ma Pa Ma Pa Ri Ma Ri Ni Sa.... An excellant start! An ingenious start considering from the scientific aspect of music, because this is the first and the last song that I have heard with a start in prathi madhyamam. When you are bred in a society wherein there are certain established styles, you would automatically imbibe them and then start manifesting them. Saint Thyagaraja starts the pallavi of his 'pantu reethi kolu' (Hamsanadham) in panchamam. In this ragam, anybody would be tempted to make a start in Pa or Sa. If somebody started in Ma2, then it is an abnormal behaviour. If he doesn't deviate from the classical style even a teeny-weeny bit, and is able to sell it to the public and make a mega hit song, then it only means that he is brilliant! Illayaraja did it! He has shown this kind of non-traditional start of his songs (from the point of view of the trinity's approach to ragas) in many songs. Another example would be the kakali nishadha start in 'janani janani' and 'ammavai ninaikaadha' in kalyani.

The background rhythm in 'thenral vanthu' is a fantastic monotonous tabla beat, not exhibiting change for every line in the song. This is in sharp contrast to the newer Rahman style, wherein there is lot of high tech scien- tific manipulations of the rhythm, with a change for each line of the song. As usual, our cinema kavigner (Vaali?), has made lot of 'paethals' in lyrics in such a wonderful raga based song.

Thendral vandhu ennai thodum
aaha saththam inri mutham idum
pagalae poi vidu; iravae pai kodu
nilavae, panneerai thoovi oaivedu!

Look at the audacity of the poet, asking the 'night' to give a mat, moon to sprinkle scented water, so that the hero and heroine could indulge in carnal love! Literally, he is trying to drive the 'daytime' away so that night time could come!

The second Hamsanadham that Illayaraja gave was 'om namaha' in Maniratnam's Geetanjali. It was a good one too. The third number came in his brother Gangei Amaran's 'ooru vittu ooru vanthu'. The song was 'sorgamae enrallum'. Our village hero 'touser payyan' Ramarajan and Gowthami go to some foreign country and become nostalgic about Tamizhnadu and then sing that song. That song was one first-class example of how to popularize carnatic music. From the pallavi 'hei thanthana thanthana thantha' to the very end of the song, it is absolutely classical. In such a short piece, he has brought out the full essence of Hamsanadham. Ofcourse there are few slips, like the usage of Da2 when he sings 'namnaadu poalaguma', and the use of Ma1 when he sings 'paaka oru vazhi illayae' in charanam. He could have avoided these, and rendered a ultra pure Hamsanadham. But, what to say, cinema music directors seem to have all the right in the world to do anthing to any ragam!

He has daringly ventured to test his vocal skills in that song with S.Janaki. There are real fast sancharas covering one entire octave in such short span of time. Somehow he has done a good job! Perhaps, he thought that Ramarajan does not deserve any better voice than his! The lyrics of that song is also funny. I think he himself (or Gangei Amaran) has written that song. It goes on to narrate how village life in Tamizhnadu is much superior to that in other foreign countries.

Maadugalai meika, adhu maeyuradha paarka
mandhaiveli angu illayae hei!

In the short story collection of Fredrick Forsyth's 'No come backs' the hero happens to go to Tamizhnadu. He takes note with disgust, how people urinate in public places, defecate in streets, in Tamizhnadu. Illayaraja could have written that in his song.

Avasarama onnuku vandha sattunu
oru oarama onnuku adikka
nalla roadu illayae....

If the DMK succeeded in getting a seperate country 'Thamizhnadu', as they demanded the centre in early 1960s (beleive me, they had the arrogance and foolishness to do that, while Thamizhnadu didn't even have basic necessities like water of its own!), it would definitely make this song as the national anthem! Perhaps, LTTE Prabhakaran has already made a note of this song as the national anthem for his Thamizh Eazham!


-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan.
Department of Vision Science,
University of Houston College of Optometry,
Houston, Tx 77204.

UNNAL MUDIYUM THAMBI - UNNAL MUDIYUM THAMBI

PUNJAI UNDU NANJAI UNDU - UNNAL MUDIYUM THAMBI

Classical Illayaraja - 12
-------------------------

Thamizh film actress Kushboo has been deified to the status of a Goddess
and a temple has been built for her in Trichi! Often I hear news like the
deification of Jayalalitha, M.G.R., and other related "chota" news like a
man in rural Thamizhnadu seeing God M.G.R in his cow's eye! These are all
instances that narrate the conspicuous births of Gods, or rather, the
conspicuous deification of ordinary human folks. Given the evidence that
these farcical news items do happen in the gullible Thamizhnadu, one has
the right to make conjectures that Jesus Christ could have been a very very
ordinary man, just like Kushboo.

He could have had good human qualities and could have helped his neighbours to buy kerosene from ration shop and old ladies to cross busy roads like Bhagyaraj in "inru poi nalai vaa"! Hisunfortunate, pathetic death at an young age at the hands of local villains could have created a sympathy wave. And now, in this 21st century it will be castigated as an outright act of profanity, if someone dares to question the divinity status of the messiah.

In any religion, Gods seem to make their genesis in a very subtle way.
Particularly, in Hinduism, the births of Gods and the appearance of temples
in a region are so insidiuous. The onset invariably starts with a small
stone or a rock under a neem tree turning holy (it is heaven's secret, how
these stones are selected!). Sandal paste and "kunkum" appear on the stone
shortly and a group of people start worshipping the stone. A cascade of
events follow and a figurine appears there to replace the stone. The
figurine might take any shape in the world, a huge "Phallus" like Lord
Shiva, an elephant headed form like Lord Ganesha, a cow headed form like
"Thumburu", a fierce looking lady like "Mariatha"... Soon, a nomenclature
comes into vogue to denote this newly born "God". It could be anything, a
highly calloquial one like "vedi uppu Beerangisami" or a beautiful Sanskrit
word imported from the Indus valley!

As an appendage to the name, a story
too, comes into vogue, to denote the relationship of this new "God" to the
older Gods, like "Lord Shiva's uncle's son". Look at this place after 100
years...! No kidding, a grand temple has come into being there! Loud
speakers are in eternal function, broadcasting divine songs by Seergazhi
Govindarajan, L.R.Easwari, Veeramani! You may find some of our imbecile
brotheren doing "anga pradarshanam" with their tongue bloody and impaled
with a holy needle! Oh, mother Nature! When is this alarming increase in
the population of Hindu gods going to stop (small "g" intentional)!

Carnatic ragas are like Hindu Gods. Their birth in this world is so subtle.
A tune can be born from the harmonium of Illayaraja just in a matter of few
minutes. But, ragas? Ragas encompass all the tunes in the world. A tune
could be created by Illayaraja. But, ragas? Do ragas have creators? Ragas
creep into "being" from amidst the masses. No single person creates a raga.
Can any person in this world raise his hand and claim patency to the
creation of Lord Shiva or Vishnu?

The creation of gods is the result of a
community effort! Similarly ragas are the unintentional creative result of
the musical community. The creation of a raga is not bound by any time
frame. It might take ages for the ragas to take form. The form of a ragam
is not static. It keeps on changing with ages, like the present day Lord
Ganesha sitting before the computer screen with sunglasses and dirty jeans!
Remember seeing this form in your neighbour's kolu during Dasara festival?
Really?!

Thodi is one of the greatest of the ragas. It is the 8th melakartha ragam.
We know that there are 72 melaragas in carnatic music. These 72 melakartha
ragas are divided into groups of six, according to the numerical order.
Each of this group is called as a chakram. Thus we have a total of 12
chakrams. The first 6 chakrams (comprising 36 ragas) use suddha madhyamam
and the later 6 chakrams (comprising 36 ragas) use the prathi madhyamam.
Within each of the chakrams, all the 6 ragas will have the same poorvaanga
swaras (ie., Sa Ri Ga Ma). The difference is only in the utharaanaga swaras
(ie., Pa Da Ni Sa). Each chakram has a got a name to denote it. The 2nd
chakram is called as the Nethra chakram. Thodi is the 2nd ragam in the
Nethra chakram.

Has Illayaraja ever tried his hands on this great ragam? Yes! Just in one
song alone so far. Was he successful? Perhaps not! The challenge that
Lakshmi Parvathi poses to Chandra Babu Naidu is nothing when compared to
the challenge that Thodi poses to the cinema music directors. If Illayaraja
tuned a song in the Thodi scale (Sa Ri1 Ga2 Ma1 Pa Da1 Ni2 Sa), then it
will sound like Sindhu Bhairavi! Because, just playing the notes of Thodi
in the harmonium will only manifest the ragalakshanam of Sindhu Bhairavi
(even though Sindhu Bhairavi has Ri2 in its arohanam, using Ri1 plainly
without gamakam in the arohanam will be perfectly Sindhu Bhairavish).

Thodi  and Sindhu Bhairavi are so closely related to each other, yet so different.
The drastic difference is because of gamakam. But for Sa and Pa, all the
other swaras of Thodi have aesthetically beautiful, terrific gamakam. So,
to get Thodi ragam out of Thodi scale, you've got to shake those swaras
(Ri,Ga,Ma,Da,Ni), like the way a Richter 8.0 earth quake shakes California
once in a while! California residents may stay at home despite such shakes,
but the cinema rasikas would simply leave the theatre at once, to "drink"
beedi or cigarette, if the swaras started shaking in a cinema song!

Illayaraja's attempt came in the movie varusham padhinaaru. The song is
"gangai karai mannanadi". It is pure Thodi. Within the constraints of
tuning a cinema song, he has tried his best to give a proper Thodi, with
all the gamakams. K.J.Jesudoss has sung that song. In the pallavi and
charanam the "heavy" Thodi identity is quite clear. But, in the interlude
music, the raga degenerates to a "lighter" status, Sindhu Bhairavi. In his
Saramathi ragam song, padariyaen padippariyaen (sindhu bhairavi movie),
when Chitra sings "sonnadhu thappa thappa" he has introduced an unwarranted
Thodi sangathi there. Why did he do that? Also, he had erroneously used Da
Pa Ma (like Marga Hindolam), in Saramathi.

When the movie was released,
Ananda Vikatan made a big issue about these gramatical mistakes in that
song, and even interviewed vocalist Dr.S.Ramanathan regarding this matter!
One of my friends said that he heard Ceylon Radio identifying the ragam of
"akkam pakkam parada" (unnal mudiyum thambi), as Thodi! What a joke! Sindhu
Bhairavi ragam is like potato curry. My wife can cook it, your wife can
cook it, all wives can cook it! Illayaraja has cooked it many times, from
mani osai kaetu (payanangal mudivadhillai) to maniyae manikuyilae (nadodi
thendral). Akkam pakkam is one such Sindhu Bhairavi cooking! Let us not
praise our wife as excellent for this potato curry, which doesn't need any
skill to cook!

Thodi is unique among the 6 Nethra chakra ragas. Even though these ragas
share the same Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa, look at the way the gamakam of Ri,Ga,Ma has
evolved so specially for Thodi! Denuka is the immediate next ragam to Thodi
(the 9th melam). In his Denuka krithi "theliyaledu rama", Thyagaraja swamy
has preferred to use these swaras plainly without much gamakam, like in
Sindhu Bhairavi ragam! How did these adjacent ragas evolve so differently
from each other? Can we question the Ganesh getting an elephant face, and
the Kumeresh getting a beautiful human face, in the differential evolution
of the sibling gods?!

I know of a song in which Illayaraja has used the
Denuka scale. The song is aen soga kadhaya kaelu (thooral ninnu poachu). He
predominantly uses Ni3 in this song (like in Denuka) and occasionally Ni2
(like in Thodi). The next raga to Denuka (the 10th ragam) is natakapriya.
Recently I happened to listen to one superb Natakapriya song tuned by
Illaya- raja! It came as a pleasant surprise in the movie moga mull. The
song is "nenja gurunadhanin"! It is a lovely song! The situation is similar
to the one in sindhu bhairavi, where distraught hero Shivakumar, begs for
alcohol and sings the song "thanni thotti thedi".

In moga mull, the hero Rajam is a music student. He gets a chance to
perform in the house occasion of a local big shot. He refuses that chance.
Later, his guru (Nedumudi Venu) falls sick and needs lot of money for
hospitalisation. So, the hero becomes a victim of circumstance and is
forced to go to that big shot for monitary help. The villain makes the hero
sing in his house when there is no occasion.

All his friends form a crowdand sit before the hero. While he sings, the insensitive audience talks
aloud, giggles, and humiliates the hero in all possible ways. The song is
"nenjae guru nadhanin" in the ragam Natakapriya. Arun mozhi has sung this
song. Fantastic job! I have heard a classic krithi "geetha vadhya" in this
ragam. If I remember correct, the Ri,Ga,Ma had been handled like in Thodi
(with gamakam) in that krithi. Illayaraja has used plain swaras in this
song. But, even then it is very classical and the raga identity is quite
clear. Oh, what a pathetic situation it is, to be in a financially needy
state, and to unwillingly sell one's music skill to a shameless crowd that
is absolutely deaf to music! That scene only reminded me of the nowadays
very popular marriage reception katcheris!

Amidst the total chaotic environment of maamis (talking about their jewelry), maamas (talking about
their gas trouble) and kids (playing with water gun), the musician has to
sing! Often the musicians eyes will be tightly shut up, feigning full
engrossment in his music! If not for the eye closure, who will come to save
the musician from seeing the terrible audience!

To get the prathi madhyama ragam of any sudhdha madhyama ragam, just add 36
to the order of the ragam! The prathi madhyamam of Thodi (8th) is the 44th
melakartha ragam. It is Bhavapriya. Illayaraja has tuned a song in this
scale too. That is kandhu pudichaen (guru sishyan) song. The upper half of
this ragam will be like Shanmukhapriya, and the lower half like
Subhapanthuvarali. Reportedly, some big shot (Sudha Raghunathan or some-
body) told about this song in the TV (Doordarshan). It seems that they
wondered how Illayaraja could use this ragam (normally implying sad mood)
to suit a situation in which Prabhu humours Rajni about his new,
clandestine love affair with Gowthami! Can we dare call this song as set in
the ragam Bhavapriya? I don't know. But, it is definitely an appreciable
thing to notice him venturing into unchartered areas in scale selection,
say like Bhavapriya.

Those mothers living in squalor in the Nungambakam railway station might
not have any idea about "naalanaavuku moonu samacharam" and might populate
the station with their innumerable underweight kids! That is bad for India!
As a mother, even Thodi doesn't seem to have any idea about family
planning! But, that has turned out to be good to the musical heritage of
India! Oh boy, how many kids (janya ragas) has it given birth to! Most of
the janya ragas of Thodi are hardcore classic ragas. The trinity seem to
have enjoyed very much, composing in Thodi and its janya ragas. One of its
prime janyam is Dhanyasi. Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni Sa; Sa Ni Da Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa.
Probably these ragas can never be made light and presented to the common
rasika! Illayaraja used one of the Thyagaraja krithi in Dhanyasi in the
movie moga mull.

Again, the situation is similar to sindhu bhairavi, where
Shivakumar goes to a katcheri and takes over the singing of the musician on
the dais. Illayaraja used the Thyagaraja krithi "lochana" In the ragam
Dharbar to indicate the kind of musical talent that Shivakumar has (despite
loosing his sobriety). In moga mull, a drunken musician gets on the stage
and sings with a lot of abhaswaram. The hero gets on the stage and then
sings "sangeetha gnanamu bhakthi vina" in Dhanyasi. K.J.Jesudoss has sung
that song in the movie. In that situation there is a strong lecture by the
hero's guru that many present day musicians take alcohol etc!

Does not a musician (or any public figure) has every right to do whatever he wants in
his personal life? Let him drink McDonalds, smoke 555, and have a couple of
women in bikini (as cinema villains often do) around him! As long as his
hedonistic pursuits do not affect his public performance, why should we
care? Lest, alcohol companies might sue us for causing a drastic decline in
their sales!

Sudha Dhanyasi is another janyam of Thodi ragam. Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni Sa; Sa Ni
Pa Ma Ga Sa. You can also (more appropriately) call it as a janyam of
Nadabhairavi. Illayaraja has been very generous in using this scale. MSV
made an indelible mark in this ragam earlier by presenting "neeyae unaku
enrum nigaraanavan" in balae pandiya. That is really fantastic! He has
wonderfully used the Ga and Ni with gamakam in the song. Illayaraja's first
Sudha Dhanyasi is perhaps siru ponmani in kallukul eeram. Later he gave
ragavanae (illamai kaalangal), pudhiya poovidhu (thendralae ennai thodu)
poojaikaetha poovidhu (?movie), vizhiyil vizhundhu (alaigal oivadhillai),
theem thanana (?enakkul oruvan), manasu mayangum (sippikul muthu), masi
maasam (dharmadurai), nanjai undu punjai (unnal mudiyum thambi), kotti
kidakudhu (theertha karaiyinilae), kadal vanilae (rasayya), unnai edhir
parthaen (vanaja girija).

In many of these songs he uses other swaras like
Ri2 etc., and hence cannot be called as pure form. In nanjai undu, he has
not used any foreign notes. Then is it classical ragam? No! K.Balachandar
(a boot licker to Illayaraja at that time, so that he could sell the movie
by publicizing Illayaraja's name), made a big arguement in the movie that
even "nanjai undu punjai" was a pure Sudha Dhanyasi. Dear sir, to call
something as classical, you should present it in a real classical form!
Just going up and down the scale wouldn't make the raga form appear in that
tune! Use the gamakam, use the nuances of the ragam, then even Semmangudi
will call it as Sudha Dhanyasi!

If one changed the kaisiki nishadham (Ni2) of Sudha Dhanyasi to kaakali
nishadham (Ni3), then is there any ragam like that? If so, what is it
called as? Illayaraja has given a couple of songs in this type of scale.
One of them came in the movie poonthotta kavalkaran. Radhika gets pregnant
and then the song goes in the background! I have read in my school biology
class (with lot of curiosity!) that a sperm and an ovum "join" to form a
baby! Look at the way the poet says about this scientific phenomenon in his
poetic language.... Sindhiya vennmani sippiyil muthaachu!!

What a nice euphemistic way of saying a vulgur thing! Gangei Amaran proved himself as a
poet in that song! Illayaraja's tune is so wonderful in that song. It is so
melodious. Vijayakanth specifically said about this song in one of his TV
interviews! Another song that I know in this scale is "o vasantha raja" in
neengal kaetavai. Since Illayaraja changed the Ni2 of Sudha Dhanyasi to Ni3
and made a new ragam out of it, can he proclaim himself as the creator of
this new ragam?

Perhaps Balamurali Krishna was very much pleased with his wife's filter
coffee early in the morning every day. He has created a ragam called as
Abhayambika! Perhaps Kunnakudi expected Jayalalitha to give medical college
admission to his last son (like MGR did for his older son). He has proudly
joined the sycophant family of ministers and created a ragam called as
Jayalalitha. If these conceited musicians called themselves as the creators
of those ragas, then Illayaraja too, could...!

Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan,
Department of Vision Science,
University of Houston College of Optometry,
Houston, Tx 77204.

RAGAM TANAM PALLAVI - SHANKARABHARANAM

SAMAJA VARA GAMANA - SHANKARABHARANAM

GNANA PAZHATHAI PIZHINDHU - THIRUVILAIYADAL

RAATHIRIYIL POOTHIRUKKUM - THANGA MAGAN

Classical Illayaraja - 10
-------------------------
The mind is a wondrous subset of the terrific biological entity, the brain. Literally, the heart is often alluded to as the site of thinking. In old Thamizh cinemas, the heroine would invariably say to the villain at some point (like the inevitable rape scene!) "naasakkaara, unaku idhayamae Illayaa?" while the unmindful villain would be busy disrobing her with a terrible "ha ha ha" laughter! Why does the heroine have to say this kind of a scientifically preposterous statement, while it was the villain's brain that decided to rape her, and not the poor "heart"! Does the evil mind of the villain exist in his brain? If so, where is it in the brain? Or, is the mind just the product of the functioning of the brain? A disease process affecting the frontal lobe of the brain might make an individual loose all his social inhibition and pee in the public, or to go to Bourbon street in New Orleans, or to Mardigraz in Galveston!

 Damaging the visual cortex of a villain might make him blind, but he might still try to follow the heroine with the help of her bangle noise! Damaging his temporal lobe might render him hearing impaired, but he might still try to get to the heroine with the help of "koondal" scent cues (refer: Thiruvilayadal!). As a last effort you may want to damage his parietal lobe, but then he would still see the heroine, even though he might not know what to do to the heroine! So, where the heaven is the so called MIND?!

The intellectual power of the mind is amazing. More than 2000 years ago, Eratosthenes sits in his ill-built mud house and thinks in the deepest crevice of his neural network "what will be the circumference of the earth". He does a simple calculation and concludes "about 22,000 miles"! Somewhere amidst the tangle of their neural network the Indians think abstractly about the non-existant numeral and make their magnum opus contribution of "nothing" to the field of mathematics!

Just give Einstein a pencil and a paper and a chair and a table. He will fire a couple of neurons in his brain and say a radical theory that the matter and energy are one and the same and that they are interchangeable. As though he was the incarnation of the God himself, he would start theorizing the rules and regulations that govern the movement and functioning of various celestial bodies that are millions of light years away from his chair in New Jersey! His brain might be now floating in a jar of formaldehyde in Missouri city, but where the heaven was his MIND?!

Orchestral music is one of the greatest contribution of the minds of the westerners. Indian classical music, be it carnatic or hindustani, has always encouraged the imagination of the mind to pour out extempore, like a spontaneous volcanoic eruption on the stage. This is evidenced by the weightage that has been given to originality and spontaneous creativity on stage during alapanai (ragam elaboration), sangadhis (singing the same line in different tunes), niraval (singing the critical line of a krithi in different tunes, with lot of emotional appeal), kalapana swaram and lastly in thani avardhanam for the percussionists.

On the other hand the orchestral music of the westernists is a well planned one. There might be hundreds of musicians in the orchestra. Each of them play the notes that is given to them. Unlike the Indian classical music, it needs a lot of rehersal and they have several practice sessions before going on the stage. There is creativity involved in western music too, but it is not spontaneous. The composer creates the tune sitting in a serene atmosphere, and it is brought to the public by the orchestra, with a complete suppression of any effort for individual creativity.

One of the greatest achievement of Illayaraja is that he appropriately used the best of the western and eastern classicism. To wield a huge orchestra is no joke. In many of his carnatic songs he has shown an uncanny skill in organising the orchestral music with a classical splendour.

Vasantha is a fantastic ragam. It is a popular janyam of the unpopular melam Suryakaantham (17th). Its arohanam and avarohanam are Sa Ma1 Ga3 Ma1 Da2 Ni3 Sa; Sa Ni3 Da2 Ma1 Ga3 Ri1 Sa. While traditionally it is believed that Boopalam is the ragam suitable for the dawn, Vasantha is the ragam suitable for the dusk. So, no wonder Illayaraja used this ragam for a duet which talks about the rain pouring during the dusk! "Andhi mazhai pozhigi- radhu" is a great song in the movie rajapaarvai. Kamalhasan sings this song with Madhavi. It is one of those early songs that showed the full fervency of Illayaraja's mind for creativity. The classical orchestral grandeur of this song was unbelievable at that time.

I distinctly remember hearing this song for the first time in "Oliyum Oliyum" in Madras Doordarshan. Those days we were living in the Telephone quarters in Kilpauk, Madras. Since we did not have a TV, we used to go to our neighbour's house. They had a merciless "hundiyal" right at the door, which demanded 25 paise for each program! Well, getting to see songs like "andhi mazhai" for just 25 paise was definitely worth the money!

Illayaraja starts the song with a prelude of "pop pop pop poboppo" by the chorus. The sudhdha madhyamam in Vasantha has served as the starting point for many classical krithis. Illayaraja too starts his "pop pop" in the madyamam like "Ma Ma Ma Ma Ga Ma Da". Classically, the transition from Ma to Da is not a straight one. There is a subtle Ni in between. That is, when the musicians say Da they go all the way to Ni and then drop down to the daivatham. Illayaraja starts the pallavi "andhi mazhai" like Ma Ma Ma, Ga Ma Da Ma Ga, Ga Ma Da Ma Ga Ma Ga Ri, Ma Ga Ga Ri Ri Sa. It is a beautiful start. All the hidden melody in the swaras of Vasantha are extracted in the pallavi itself. Even in the charanam his mind seems to be bent upon extracting all the melody in the Ga Ma Da transition. He starts the charanam like Ga Ma Da Ma, Ga Ma Da Ma, and the tune lingers there for a while!

This song also marked the early classics of Vairamuthu. His lyrics became a controversy too, in this song. He writes:

Andhi mazhai pozhigiradhu
Ovvoru thuliyilum un mugam therigiradhu...
Indhiran thottathu mundhiriyae
Ragasiya rathiri puththagamae....

Look, the hero who sings this song is a blind man in the movie! How can he see the heroine's face in each of those beautiful rain drops?! Perhaps that is what defines a poet's world. Physical defects get nullified in their world of fantasy! But, surely Vairamuthu got into trouble when he called the heroine as "the cashew nut of Lord Indira's garden"! Basically he means to say that the heroine is like a kind of sex bomb to the hero! She is the bible that the hero reads in the night! That is understandable. But what does this cashewnut stuff mean? Lord Indira is not known for romantic deeds like Manmadhan! Just for matching the alliteration of the words he made a senseless statement. (Recently Vaali got into trouble when he said "inji iduppazhaga" in thevar magan. Sure that ginger has got all degrees of sharp bends in its structure, but what has it got to do with the hero's hip!) In Demolition Man, Sandra Bullock may feel very much disgust- ed about what she calls as "biological transfer of fluids". But look how Vairamuthu characterises the feelings love creates during the youthful period of fantasy. He says "dreams torture", "eyelids weigh heavily", "it is like suturing a thorn inside the eye" and so on....

Illayaraja made T.V.Gopalakrishnan sing in the second interlude of this song. A short piece of Vasantha. (Earlier he had made him sing a short piece of Keeravani in "idhu oru nila kaalam" in Tick Tick Tick). There are few classical people who have tried the orchestral expedition of carnatic music. I remember the recordings of Y.M.Kamasastri often played in the radio long time ago. Invariably he would pick up a rare vivadhi ragam for his explorat- ion and have his orchestra play it. Albeit high technical quality, those recordings were not very much enjoyable. I would dare say that Illayaraja was the first guy who could appropriately use the orchestral music in a very "enjoyable" way. Later he got so much used to composing a tune for his orchestra that he started doing everything in his mind. That is an unbelei- vable state of knowledge.

When the song goes like Ma Ma Ma Ga Ma Da Ma Ga, the background violin may be going like Da Ni Sa Ga Ri Sa in the upper octave. The chorus might be traversing in the Da Ni of the lower octave. The guitar chords might be vibrating in the F major area! If you could figure out that all these individual musical events would unify in a perfect harmony to give a superb Vasantha melody, just by imagining in your mind, then is it not a great task?! Where the heaven is this enigmatic MIND?

Illayaraja has given three more Vasantha songs. Man kandaen man kandaen in Rajarishi is a equally classical song . It has been sung by K.J. Yesudoss and Vani Jayaram. The song goes like Sa Sa Ni Sa Ni Da Ni, Sa Sa Ni Sa Ni Da Ni, Sa Sa Ni Ri...Sa. The second interlude is especially good. Pulamaipuththan has written this song. In the charanam he writes "kaatrukum ull moochu vaangum"! That is, when the thalaivan and thalaivi embrace each other during love, they would do it so tightly that even the wind that got caught between their bodies would feel breathless!

This kind of personifying the pancha boothams and writing poetry like "fire itself would feel very hot" "wind itself would feel breathless" was started by thiruvaalar Vairamuthu! Pulaimaipiththan too, seems to have changed his style to suit the modern trend. There is a short piece of Vasantha in the ragamalika song in unnal mudiyum thambi. Enna samayalo starts with Mohanam. Then it is followed by Vasantha (ragam vasantha, naan rusithu parka rasam thaaa..), Kalyani and lastly Madhyamavathi (ilayai podadi). Recently he has tried Vasantha in a half boiled way in Paatu paadava. The song starts like "nil nil nil". It is a very different tune. But unfortunately, these good songs seem to have got lost before the incredible power of Rahman, like the local "super 501 bar" soap in Thamizhnadu got lost to the "national" washing powder Nirma!

Hamsanandhi is one of the popular janyams of the unpopular 53rd melam Gamana- chramam (the prathimadhyamam of Suryakaantham). The other popular janyam of Gamanachramam is Poorvi Kalyani. I don't know if there are any cinema songs in Poorvi Kalyani. But there are a lot of songs in Hamsanandhi. Illayaraja has used this ragam both for happy and sad occasions. Probably his first song in this ragam came in Rajni's Thanga magan. Rathiriyil poothirukum is a great song. The orchestral music is lilting. The song has been sung by the evergreen pair S.P.B and Janaki. Look at the classic "briha" (rapid vocal journey between multiple swaras in a split second) involving Ni Sa Ri Sa Ri when they sing "rathiriyil"! Pulamaipiththan has written this song too. One of his imagination in this song is ultimate!

He says in the pallavi "pagalum urangidum rathiriyil.." Is it not a great idea to qualify the night as the time in which "even the day sleeps"! There is one superb Hamsanandhi in salangai oli. Vedam anuvilum oru naadam is the last song in (the climax) of the movie. It is a crucial song because Kamal dies during this song. The recording scale seems to be very high, S.P.B starting in the thara sthayi gandaram. The other Hamsanandhi songs are vanam niram maarum (davani kanavugal), aeradha mayil maelae (?needhiku dhandanai), o poo manae (iniya uravu poothadhu), raga dheebam aetrum neram (payanangal mudivadhilai). Needless to say there is a great masterpiece by an earlier music director (kaalayum neeyae by A.M.Raja).

Hamsanandi is the panchama varjaya ragam of Gamanachramam (ie., having all the swaras except Pa). Cinema music directors tend to use a lot of Ma1 in Hamsanandhi. The introduction of sudden Ma1 gives a great change to the tune. In kaalayum neeyae, A.M.Raja introduces a beautiful Ma1 when he sings 'katrum neeyae'. Illayaraja does the same treatment to the ragam when the charanam goes like "vazhai ilai neerthelithu" in rathiriyil. This kind of use of double madhyamam makes a great change to the tune! Recently he has also given a song in Gamanachramam.

That song comes in the movie Vadhiyar veetu pillai (sathyaraj). The song is "hei oru poonjolai". It is a great song. One ragam before the order of Gamanachramam in the melakartha scale (ie., 52nd) is the ragam Ramapriya. Illayaraja has given a marvelous Ramapriya in the movie Moga mull. The song is "kamalam paadha kamalam", sung by K.J.Yesudoss. It is like a mini-katcheri in cinema! No wonder he gave such a pure Ramapriya because the hero is a carnatic vocalist in the movie. It is so unfortunate that such kind of "gems" go unnoticed because of the failure of the movie.

Now they say that Illayaraja makes a tune in just a matter of few minutes. He writes the tune not only for the song, but for the entire orchestra in just a matter of few minutes! He doesn't seem to follow the primitive way of playing his tunes in the harmonium and seeing how it sounds. He seems to hear the tune in his "mind". It is amazing how these minds in the creative industry could be used in such an intelligent and time efficient manner. The creation of good tunes by Illayaraja's mind could have been only a secondary act to fulfill its primary intent of aggrandizement by demanding 6 lakhs for each movie. Poor Ramanujam's mind might not have even got a penny for all those giant leaps in mathematics that it made. The reality is that it is the benefaction by these great minds in the intellectual and scientific fronts that keep the society functioning between yugas.

Coming back to the age old question "where the heaven is this MIND"? There are some people who believe that the mind doesn't exist in the brain. Maybe it is an extracranial entity. May be it surrounds the head like an electro magnetic field surrounding a magnet. Perhaps the "once upon a time" unreali- stic halo around the head of Lord Buddha in my state board history book only referred to his mind! Then, P.V.Narasimha Rao, T.N.Seshan, Cho. Ramaswamy and their other (bald) kind would have a bigger halo, as more mind is likely radiate through their unprotected head!

NILAVE ENNIDAM - RAMU

CHINNA KANNAN AZHAIKKIRAAN - KAVI KUYIL

ENNULIL ENGO - ROSAPOO RAVIKKAIKARI

Kanniks writes:

This is a haunting song.

I did not pay much attention to this song when the film came out. The song actually hit me only during my 4th year at IIT.

The film is rosappoo ravikkaikkari.

The singer is Vani Jayaram.

The song starts with a dundunaa (ek taara), and is buttressed with some string arpegios playing the minor chord, then the flute shows a hint of a tetrachord combining the two arpegios in a melodic twist and leads into the melody.

The melody of the song is based on the scale of the raga madhuvanti – derived from the scale of dharmavati. The effective use of chords, leads to all kinds of pleasing illusions in the pallavi itself.

Then comes the fire. The strings play in unision, with ornamentation, the phrase

‘sgmp gpmp g’, with the glide from p to g and the santur chimes in.

The strings go on unchallenged, then the flute picks up at the higher end of the register and plays a solo, leading to the dilruba’s answer that leads into thecharanam ‘en manam gangaiyil’).

The song is particularly demanding and the singer does justice.

The second interlude, a dialogue between a keyboard oboe and a flute, to the background of a bed of strings, moving from the s to the n, is a masterpiece.

A sitar comes in from nowhere and steers the 2nd interlude to a stringful climax into the charanam.

This song is one of Illaiyaraja’s best and was featured in his tour of Italy. (That this and an equally great classic tumbi vaa were  featured there doesnt mean anything, if you look at all the other songs featured in the tour).

The richness of the song is a contrast to the profile of the movie, relative to the the high profile megabudget ones that float through the screens today.

Illaiyaraja’s other dharmavati is mindum mindum vaa from  the film Vikram. More on it later.

http://kanniks.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/ennullil-engo/

MEGAM KARUKKUDHU MAZHAI - ANANDA RAGAM

PAADARIYEN - SINDHU BHAIRAVI

Classical Illayaraja - 9


There was a great furore in the Indian parliment a couple of years ago. Since the daily scene there is pretty much so, does this furore need any special mention? Yes. This furore was a meaningful one! It happened when the Indian government signed the GATT agreement. No wonder, the stupid "swadeshi" oriented parties like the Bharathiya Janata party opposed the selling of India to the "videshi" through GATT. But as an aftermath, signing the GATT agreement had a terrible effect on the interest of India in certain areas.

For example, the medical value of neem oil has been well known in India for centuries. It seems some of the western pharmaceutical companies re-discovered the medical value of neem oil and started proceeding to claim patent for the product! In that case, any Indian company which tries to "manufacture" neem oil and tries to market it has to pay money to these western companies! Is it not funny and outrageous at the same time? Patenting is a powerful tool to protect ownership. It seems that it will be better if we patented both of our meaningful and meaningless traditional techniques to protect our interests.

 You may not know what will be re-discovered (and patent claimed) in the western hemisphere in days to come! Maybe, some scientist here will discover that giving unboiled rice with its hard covering (husk) to new born babies will result in the immediate death of those babies within few hours and secure patent for this finding! Conisder how this will affect the interest of our Indian mothers in the far south, who have been using this traditional technique to "close the chapter" of their unwelcomed, stigmatic female children! Poor mommas!

Saint Thyagaraja was one poor man who totally did not know anything about patenting or copyrighting one's invention or literary work! He probably did not even know that his krithis were worth anything! If he had known that his krithis were going to draw international attention in the subsequent centuries, would he have copyrighted his works? Nay! He was such a naive sadhu, the word meaning in its strictest sense. He was a perfect example of a brahman, getting up early in the morning, much before "sandhya poorva pravarthathae", and doing all the routine daily religious chores like the thrikaala sandhyavandhanam regularly.

 A brahman is supposed to eat only "moonu kavalam choru" (the amount of metabolic fuel necessary to keep the body and mind functioning), and he should not succumb to the pleasure of eating. I can see that Saint Thyagaraja didn't, from the way he looks so thin, like a freshly fleeced goat, in his portraits. A brahman should only indulge in priestly and teaching duties. He should have no malice for others. He should only think of "lokha kshemam". Thyagaraja had all these qualities. He was such a sharp contrast to those brahmin scoundrels like selvi Jayalalitha, Subramaniam Swamy etc in the political scene now, who are the incarnation of corruption, greed and evil.

Thyagaraja obtained his food by doing "unchivrithi" daily, ie., going around the temple, singing bhajans etc and accepting the rice that people had to offer as a matter of voluntary donation. He was a telugu brought up in Thiruvaiyaru in Thanjavoor jilla. He probably knew thamizh well. But he chose to write his compositions in his mother tongue telugu. Valmiki, the creator of "Rama" character, would not have anticipated that his fictitious "hero" was going to have such a profound influence on people to be born later in the time window, like Thyagaraja (and ofcourse, BJP, for political reasons!). Thyagaraja was literally in love with Rama, like Meera was with Krishna.

 He had such a powerful theoritical understanding and practical mastery over carnatic music that he could compose in any ragam. He chose to appeal to his Lord Rama through "bhava" margam, ie., tackling the God, through emotional appeals. This was in sharp contrast to his contemporaries like Muthuswamy Dikshitar, who used "bhakthi" margam. His compositions were never a verbal diarrhoea! Just a few lines, thats all. He never tried to project his knowledge in his krithis. He was so simple and such a wonderful vagheyakara, that nature would take another millenium to ordain such a man be born again in this world!

Thyagabrahmam's compositions have often been ridiculed in the cinema arena. Nobody has the right to change anything in another persons belongings, even though the person might be dead. Thyagaraja's compositions are his belong- ings. He used them to reach heavenly abode. He left his compositions for the world to cherish and enjoy, as they were written and sung by him. Nobody can tamper with his treasure, which are ours now. We have to protect them as he had it!

K.V. Mahadevan opened the gateway to the free musical society where anybody could do anything to anbody's compositions! What kind of arrogance was that, in changing the Thyagaraja form of "Dhorakuna" in the movie sankarabaranam without his consent? Having been shown the way of ridiculing Thyarajaja, Illayaraja too embarked on that task. That was his technically first innovative adventure of presenting a ragam in the light form and then in the classical form. He knowingly insulted the uncopyrighted work of the greatest saint composer the world has ever given birth to.

That song came in the movie sindhu bhairavi. The song is "padariyaen padippariyaen". The heroine Suhasini has terrific interest in carnatic music. She is one of those proponants of the so called thamizhisai. She feels that one has to sing krithis in local language so that the local mass also understands the krithis. She busts into one of J.K.B's (shivakumar) katcheri and sings this song. She starts the song like an ordinary folk song with a simple rhythm and finally ends the song in a classic Thyagaraja krithi. Throughout the song the grammer of the ragam is maintained, with a light music type of rendition in the beginning and then culminating in carnatic type of ending. She starts the song all alone. Later the accompaniests of J.K.B start admiring the tune and then accompany her.

The ragam of that song is Saramathi. It is a major janyam of the 20th mela ragam, Nadabhairavi. Its arohanam and avarohanam are Sa Ri2 Ga2 Ma1 Pa Da1 Ni2 Sa and Sa Ni2 Da1 Ma1 Ga2 Sa. Saramathi evokes a gloomy mood. There is a fantastic Thyaraja keerthanai in this ragam. That is "mokshamu galadha". Whenever some VIP puts down his head (may I translate 'mandaya poataan' like this!) B grade and C grade TV artists appear in the screen and play mokshamu galadha with a pretentious sad face (feeling very happy inside regarding the unexpected death of the VIP and hence the sudden TV chance)! Illayaraja's selection of this ragam for that situation is very appropriate. Because a major proportion of cinema songs are set in nadabhairavi scale. What you need to do is to avoid Ga Ri Sa and Da Pa Ma prayogam, thats all! When you end the song in a keerthanai, give a little gamaka touch here and there to make it classical (after all, strictly following the swara grammer, using specific prayogams, and appropriate gamaka soaked swaras are the essential ingredients of classicism).

Illayaraja starts that song like: Ri Ri Ri Ri, Ri Ri Ri Ri, Ri Ga Sa Sa, Ri Ri Ri Ri. Then for aedariyaen aezhuthariyaen aezhuthuvagai naanariyaen, he goes a little further like: Ri Ri Ri Ri, Ri Ri Ri Ri, Ri Ga Ma Ga, Sa Sa Sa Sa. Thus he starts following the grammer of Saramathi perfectly right from the start, but with a light music like technical approach initially. There is lot of "thamizhisai" preaching by thiruvaalar Vairamuthu in that song. He says

paadariyaen padippariyaen pallikoodam naanariyaen
aedariyaen aezhuthariyaen aezhuthuvagai naanariyaen
aetula aezhudhavilla aezhudhi vachu pazhakamilla
ellakanam padikavilla thalakanamum ennaku illa

In the charanam he refers to the katcheri rasikas as ignoramus crowd who nodd their heads without understanding anything (thalaya aatum puriyaadha kootam). Then he goes ahead and suggests a remedy to this deplorable state.

chaerikum sera venum adhukum paatu padi
enniyae paaru ethanai paeru
thangamae neeyum thamizh paatum paadu
sonnadhu thappa thappa? sonnadhu thappadhu appa!

Though the obvious matter of controversy in this is the language, there is much more in the issue. Nobody can deny the fact that the enjoyment of music becomes supreme if we can also understand the sahithyam. But is it not also equally true that music and emotional feelings transcend petty barriers like language etc.. When you see a hidden sadness in the portrait of Mona Lisa, it is that sadness that matters. You have to look at that piece of art as it is! You cannot try to find a replacement to that Leonardo Da Vince's monumental work by having a thamizhan draw an equivalent with a thamizhachchi's face with a sad look! When Thyagaraja's reckless brother Jalpesan throws away his pooja idol (Rama vigraham), and when Thyagaraja sings a keerthanai in that situation of utter frustration, mental turmoil and agitation of not finding his favourite idol, what matters there is the emotion that is packed in the sahityam, and not the language of the sahityam!

I heard recently that many people in the Hindhi belt above have actually started listening to A. R. Rahman's original Thamizh version of songs rather than the dubbed Hindhi version. Would not Vairamuthu be extremely happy to see his "mukkaala mukkabula" thamizh version being such a popular song even in northern India? What would his reaction be if all his songs were translated and in due course the original writer of the songs, ie., he, forgotten by the people.

 I think that the mature way of dealing with this issue is to agree to learn the translated meaning of a krithi and then continue to sing the krithi in the language the composer made it. In this way we can get involved with the emotional framework of a krithi and enjoy it thoroughly. If the slum dwelling population of Thamizhnadu can understand "choli kae peechae kya hai" and enjoy the untranslated version of the song with a "kick", then, they can also understand "Thyagaraja's Telugu krithis kae peechae kya hai". People only have to come out of their narrow minded caccoon that they have built for themselves.

Illayaraja had to end this "padariyaen" song in some classical krithi to boost the character of Suhasini in the movie. He could have ended it in Thayagaraja's "mokshamu galadha" or in some other original Saramathi krithi. But instead, look what he did! He chose Thyagaraja's "marimari ninnae" which had been originally composed in Kamboji ragam. He changed the ragam of that krithi to Saramathi and annexed it to his "padariyaen"! Can anyone be more disrespectful to the innocuous, innocent and pious athma of the dead saint? Illayaraja is a present composer. He should tune his songs to fit the previously written ones. He has no right to tailor the previously written krithis to suit his thalam, and ganam.

After shooting the film "Veedu" director Balumahendra used some portion of Illayaraja's "how to name it" as background score to the film (anyway, the music director was Illayaraja). But, there were reports that Illayaraja got furious at Balumahendra for not getting his consent for using his music album. When he is so sensitive to the way his musical works are used by his own friends like Balumahendra, how could he ruthlessly lay his hands on the Thyagabrahmam's krithi? He writes in one of his own songs (idhayam oru kovil in the movie idhaya kovil):

Naadha Thyagarajarum oonai uruki
uyiril kalandhu iyattrinaaramma...
Avar paadalil jeevan avarae adhuvaanaal,
en paadalin jeevan edhuvo adhu neeyae....

So he knows about the greatness of Thyagaraja and his compositions. Yet he has commited the disgraceful deed in sindhubhairavi.

Saramathi is technically called as sampoorna oudhava ragam, ie., sampoornam in the arohanam (having all the seven swaras of its parent ragam, Nadabhair- avi), and oudhavam in the avarohanam (five swaras). There is a ragam that has the same avarohanam as Saramathi, and the same avarohana swaras in arohanam too. That is Hindholam. Sa Ga2 Ma1 Da1 Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Da1 Ma1 Ga2 Sa. It is a great "light" ragam. Illayaraja has used it several times in his music. Subu's raga based database has a good list of the songs in this ragam. As far as I know his first Hindholam came in the movie "illamai kolam".

The song is sreedevi en vazhvil sung by K. J. Yesudoss. It is a very slow tempo song. One of his another early Hindolam came in "alaigal oivadhillai". The song is "dharisanam kidaikaadha". He has himself sung that song. Oh, it is terrible! While su-swara rendition of even a simple tune can make the listening experience magical, abha-swara rendition of even a complex tune can give a real harrowing experience! The later has happened in the above song. His unconditioned fledgling vocal cords have worked very hard like a powerful gravitational force pulling his voice down when he desperately tries to reach the upper shadjam in one instance. But the tune is good though.

 His other songs are om namachivaaya (salangai oli), naanaga naan illai (thoongadhae thambi thoongadhae), pothi vacha malligai mottu (mann vasanai), unnal mudiyum thambi thambi (unnal mudiyum thambi), naan thedum sevvandhi poovidhu (dharmapathini), kannae unai thedugiraen vaa (unakkagavae vazhgiraen), o janani en suram nee (pudhiya ragam), villaku vaipom villaku vaipom (aathma). Naan thedum sevvandhi poovidhu is a terrific piece with a wonderful rhythm (very novel at that time). It is a good westernised hindholam. A. R. Rahman has given one very pure classical hindholam too. The song comes in may madham (maargazhi poovae maargazhi poovae). It is very good. I was told that it was sung by some Houston based new singer.

If you changed the Ni in Hindholam from Ni2 to Ni3 then we get Chandrakauns ragam. Illayaraja has got a couple of songs in this ragam too. His first Chandrakauns came in "kaadhal oviyam" (vellichalangaigal). It is a fantastic song. Great job by S. P. B. What a great change does this small alteration in the location of Ni in hindolam makes to the mood quality! The tail piece of this song is in Sriranjani ragam. His second Chandrakauns came in "thai mookaambigai" (isayarasi). My brother tells me that it was called by a different ragam in one TV program in doordarshan. Anyway it should be very close to Chandrakauns. The best of his Chandrakauns is "azhagu malaraada abinayangal soozha" in "vaidehi kaathirundhaal".

Oh, what a song! Vaali has done a great job writing the status of an unconsumated young celibate widow. In his short story "siluvai" master writer Jayakanthan daringly writes about the cruelty of being a celibate just in the last line of the story narrating a nun's short bus travel. Vaali has written about the same terrible celibacy from a young widow's point of view. In varusham padhinaaru there is another Chandrakauns "karayaadha manamum undo". Lately we got two more "idhunaal vaumae" in chembaruthi, and "unnai ninachu urugum" in rasayya. A. R. Rahman has also tried Chandrakauns in his "Bombay". The Hindhi version goes like "ruk jao, ruk jao". I don't know the Thamizh version.

-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan,
Department of Vision Science,
University of Houston College of Optometry,
Houston, Tx 77204.

MANNIL INDHA KAADHAL INRI - KELADI KANMANI

Mannil Intha Kaadhalanri Yaarum Vaazhdhal Koodumo Ennam Kanni Paavaiyinri Aezhu Svarandhaan Paadumo Penmai Inri Mannil Inbam Aedhadaa Kannai Moodik Kanavil Vaazhum Maanidaa Mannil Intha Kaadhalanri Yaarum Vaazhdhal Koodumo Ennam Kanni Paavaiyinri Aezhu Svarandhaan Paadumo Vennilavum Ponninadhiyum Kanniyin Thunaiyinri Enna Sugam Ingu Padaikkum Penmayil Sugamanri Sandhanamum Sangaththamizhum Pongidum Vasandhamum Sindhivarum Pongum Amudham Thandhidum Kumudhamum Kannimagal Arugil Irundhaal Suvaikkum Kanniththunai Izhandhaal Muzhudhum Kasakkum Vizhiyinil Mozhiyinil Nadaiyinil Udaiyinil Adhisaya Sugamtharum Anangival Pirappidhudhaan Mannil Intha Kaadhalanri Yaarum Vaazhdhal Koodumo Ennam Kanni Paavaiyinri Aezhu Švarandhaan Paadumø Muththumani Raththinangalum Kattiya Pavazhamum Køththumalar Arpudhangalum Kuvindha Adharamum Šitridaiyum Šinna Viralum Villenum Puruvamum Šutrivarach Cheyyum Vizhiyum Šundara Møzhigalum Ènnivida Marandhaal Èdharkøa Piravi Iththanaiyum Izhandhaal Avandhaan Thuravi Mudimudhal Adivarai Muzhuvadhum Šugamtharum Virundhugal Padaiththidum Arangammum Avalallavaa Mannil Intha Kaadhalanri Yaarum Vaazhdhal Køødumø Ènnam Kanni Paavaiyinri Aezhu Švarandhaan Paadumø Penmai Inri Mannil Inbam Aedhadaa Kannai Møødik Kanavil Vaazhum Maanidaa Mannil Intha Kaadhalanri Yaarum Vaazhdhal Køødumø Ènnam Kanni Paavaiyinri Aezhu Švarandhaan Paadumø

ILAMAI ENUM POONGATRU - PAGALIL ORU IRAVU

MERE NAINA - MEHBOOBA

SUGAMO AYIRAM - THUNAI IRUPPAL MEENAKSHI

KANNODU KAANBADHELLAM - JEANS

MAASI MAASAM - DHARMA DURAI

VAASI VAASI ENRU - THIRUVILAIYADAL

VELLI KOLUSU MANI - PONGI VARUM KAVERI

MADURAI MARIKOZHUNDHU VASAM - ENGA OORU PAATUKARAN

POONGADHAVE THAAZH THIRAVAI - NIZHALGAL

PAATUM NAANE BHAVAMUM NAANE - THIRUVILAIYADAL

JANANI JANANI - THAI MOOKAMBIGAI

DORAKUNA - SHANKARABHARANAM

NADHIYIL AADUM - KADHAL OVIYAM

AMMA ENRAZHAIKAADHA - MANNAN

KALAIVANIYE - SINDHU BHAIRAVI

TERE MERE BEECH MEIN - EK TUJHE KE LIYE

VANDHAL MAHALAKSHMIYE - UYARNDHA ULLAM

vandhaal magalakshmiye 

endrum aval atchiye 

vandhaal magalakshmiye yen veettil 

endrum aval atchiye 

adiyenin kudi vaazha nalam vaazha kudithanam pugha... 

Bhakthanin veettOdu thangivittal 

Pandikai naal paarthu pongalittaal 

Kaamaakshiyooo meenaakshiyoo 

Abiraamiyoo Sivagaamiyooo 

Ambighai ingoru kannigai endroru 

uruvam eduthu ulavi nadanthu... 

Nanbaa pen paavai kann vannam 

Kallam illadha poo vannam 

Kandaen singaara kai vannam 

Thottaal ellamey pon vannam 

Bandham Sondham illaamal vandhadhu ingoru vanna mayil 

Veedu vaasal ellamey minnudhu minnudhu punnagaiyil 

Mayanginen Sabaash 

srgrns grnsgrn sgg grr rnn ndd dpmp 

mpndmp ndmpndm pnn ndd dpp pmm mggr 

sssss SSSSS srsn srsn srsn srsn 

rrrrr RRRRR rgrs rgrs rgrs rgrs 

pppp mmmm dddd nnnn 

sss nsd nsn grs 

nnn dnp mdn snd 

Aha.. 

pppppp dddddd nnnnn s 

pppppp dddddd nnnnn s 

En vazhi neraaga aakki vaithaal 

Ennaiyum seeraaga maatri vaithaal 

Deiveeghamey Pennaanadho 

Naan kaanavey ther vandhadho 

Mangalam pongidum mandhira punnagai idhazhil vazhiya ilamai vilaiya

CLASSICAL ILAIYARAAJA - 4

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan is a very popular carnatic violinist. He is one of the successful rebels in the field. His katcheris are a mixture of classical and commercial blend. In his classical concert he will play 'kallum mullum kaaluku methai' (Iyyappa song) and in the end say 'samiyae saranam Iyyappa' in his violin. If you go to his house he will say 'vaanga saar vaanga, enna sappida- ringa? Kaapiya, teaya?' in madhyama sthayi in his violin. If you say tea then he will turn inside and signal his wife in the kitchen 'adiyae... saarukku oru cup tea konda' in thara sthayi, ofcourse, in his violin! He doesn't talk much, you know.... Only his violin....!

Kunnakudi produced one family movie. It was a true family movie in the sense that he produced that movie, his son-in-law Mr. Ramakrishnan directed that movie (hope it is correct), and maybe, a couple of his other relatives were employed as the light-boys in the production of that movie. Unfortunately,the movie became an example of a perfect family movie in another sense too, that is, only Kunnakudi's family saw that movie! I was one poor soul who got to see that movie 'thodi ragam' by the quirk of wicked fate!

The hero was T.N.Seshagopalan. His lovely heroine was Nalini! Kunnakudi had tried to make some typical cinema story like, Seshagopalan, a famed musician pledging thodi ragam to the villain, and finally redeeming it in the last scene. I forgot if there was any heroic stunt sequences in the last scene, when Seshagopalan redeems his thodi back by befelling a dozen villains in a single punch with his fist! In this materialistic world who can escape 'sabalam'? Seshagopalan probably thought that the movie would be a big hit like 'shakunthala' starring G.N.Balasubramaniam and M.Subulakshmi, and that he could become super hero like Rajini and make lot of money!

 Anyway, coming to the point, there was a good song in that movie in the ragam kalyani. It was 'vaa vaa thalaiva vaa'. As I vaguely remember, it was a good kalyani. But, because of the dismal fate of that movie, that song did not become a hit. Even if the film had been a success, I doubt whether the song would have been received favourably by the common rasika. Because, the song is like a mini-katcheri! It is unlikely that a duet in which the hero and heroine exchange their love in a katcheri format will be liked by the common audience of the present day cinema world. So, you have no other go other than cinematizing a raga so that it is appealing. You may have to compromise in loosing some purity of the ragam.

 Considering this tight situation that music directors face in handling a ragam in cinema, I really wonder how Illayaraja could give the same kalyani as in Kunnakudi's 'vaa vaa thalaiva' without even an iota of compromise in the purity, and yet be very appealing to the common rasika. Oh God! How many kalyanis he has to his credit! The single most common melakartha ragam that he used was kalyani. He should have scored atleast 25 songs in kalyani. This 65th melakartha ragam, is neither too much gamaka oriented nor very light. It is this quality of kalyani that made him use it left and right! You don't have to employ violent shakes of the swaras to show the colour of kalyani! Simple swara phrases would suffice, to establish the raga identity. Since not much of gamaka is needed, you wouldn't be violating the so called cinema melody. 

Probably his first kalyani came in 'uthiri pookal'. It was a fantastic movie, directed by the avant garde director Mahendran. Aswini and Vijayan are husband and wife. Vijayan is hero cum villain. Aswini's younger sister (I forgot who it was) is a jolly type teen female. She is the one who sings that kalyani song 'naan paada varuvaayo'in that movie. She sits in a small sand crest in the middle of a river and sings that song. S.Janaki had done a real good job making all sorts of 'konashtai' in that song! This female is later raped by Vijayan, and that becomes the key knot in that movie. Uthiri pookal was a much talked about movie. After that, how many kalyanis followed like train of programmed events from the recording theatre of Illayaraja!

 Janani Janani in the movie 'thai mookaambigai' was a terrific hit song. It was an excellant classical piece sung by Illayaraja, Deepan Chakravarthy & Co. (He had the arrogance to push better singers to the back row, you know!). That song was rich in lyrics too. He has taken extra care to pronounce sanskrit words in that song like 'shakthi peetamum nee, sarva mokshamum nee' as sanskrit sounding. Good job! Look at the 'dhamathoondu' version of Adi sankarachariyar's advaitha philosophy in that song. 'Janani janani, Jagam nee agam nee'. He said the same thing, right? Then came his superb kalyani in director Maniratnam's first movie 'pagal nilavu'. That is 'vaidegi raman kai serum neram'. S.Janaki again. Radhika dances for this song. The rhythm in this song is wonderful. A blend of guitar and mridangam.

He gave some of his kalyanis in lighter form like those in the songs 'thevan thandha veenai' (unnai naan sandhithen) and 'vellai pura onru aengudhu' (some Rajni movie) etc. 'Thevan thandha veenai' has one speciality to it. It was a song written by kaviarasu Kannadasan and it was posthumously used in the cinema. Look at Kannadasan's opening lines in that song: thevan thandha veenai, adhil devi seidha ganam, thedum kaigal thedinal adhil ragam inri pogumo? Yes, anybody could have a veenai, but to get a ragam out of it only some fingers can do it! In the movie 'sindubhairavi' he tried to do some technical innovation in kalyani ragam. That is, in the song 'kalaivaaniyae', it was widely publicised by K.Balachandar & Co, (who were literally at the mercy of Illayaraja for the success of the movie), that that song was composed in aarohanam alone. Okay, what if a song is set in aarohanam alone, does the rasika get a special kind of melody? It was just an ordinary song. But a good piece of kalyani.

The song in 'uyarnda ullam', vandaal mahalakshmiyae was a fantastic kalyani. The situa- tion for that song was funny. Kamalhasan, a derilict, who looses all his money sings that song in praise of Ambika's entry into his house (ofcourse, she sets him right and stands a great support to him). S.P.Balu had made all sorts of 'konashtai' in that song. This is one good example for how to popularize classical music. It is pure 24 carat kalyani. In 'soorasamharam' he has given another form of 24 carat kalyani (naan enbadhu nee allavo). He introduced his troup's flautist Arunmozhi as singer in that song. In the charanam, when they sing 'paadinaen pann padinaen', it is beatiful combination of swaras Ni Ri Ga Ma Pa. It is simply superb. A similar song is 'malayoram mayilae' in the movie oruvar vazhum aalayam.

Almost each of the lines in this song, he renders in two sangathis, like for example 'vilayatai solli thandhadharu' first in Pa Pa Pa Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa Sa Ga Ri GA Sa. Then later, the same line is given in Pa Pa Pa Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Ma Ga Ri SA. Great kalyani! I think his latest kalyani is 'ammavendrazhaikkatha uyirilayae' (Rajni's mannan). In 'thalapadhi' also there is one good kalyani: yamunai aatrilae...Some north indian singer (Mithali) sang that song. Aamir kalyani is a janyam of kalyani. Though it is amir kalyani, it is 'garib' in its scope. Not much, you see...! The key phrase in it is Ma2 Pa Da Ma1 using both the madhyamams. Viswanathan/Ramamurthy made an indelible mark in this in their 'ennuyir thozhi' in karnan. Then, V.S.Narasimhan established his classical heritage (I heard his father is some carnatic big shot) in the song manasukkul ukkaandhu maniyadithai in kalyana agadhigal. Atlast came Illayaraja's amir kalyani, in 'veenai aendhum vaaniyae' (vietnam colony). I heard that Bombay Jayashree has sung this song. It is a good amir kalyani. Let us see if Bombay Jayashree attains eminance like Unnikrishnan in cinema music. More 'dabbu' in cinema, man!

 Saranga is another kalyani janyam. A beautiful, vakra ragam, again with double madhyamam. (Why kalyani has many double madhyama janyams?) MSV has scored an excellant saranga in 'konjum neram ennai maranthen'. TMS voice is honey in this song. Illayaraja gave one pure saranga in 'kanniyar parvai thanai' in the movie 'parvathi ennai paradi'. It is the title song. When the title song was in such pure saranga, I was lead to beleive that the subsequent songs might be in classical ragas too. But, alas, a big disappointment! You can never try to speculate what you will get from Illayaraja at all.

He has composed a fantastic song in one of Vijayakanth's latest movie with Kasthuri. That song is 'kukumamum manjalukku indru than nalla naal'. In that song he has used all the swaras in kalyani other than daivatam. I don't know whether any such ragam exists with Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma2 Pa Ni3 Sa aarohanam and avarohanam. If so what is its nomenclature?

 -Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan. Department of Vision Science, University of Houston College of Optometry, Houston, Tx 77204.