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AANDARUL PAZHANI AANDAVA MURUGA
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ஆனந்த வாà®´்வு தருà®®் வேலவா...
KADHALAGI KASINDHU - THIRUVARUTSELVAR
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ஓதுவாà®°் தம்à®®ை நன்னெà®±ிக்குய்ப்பது
வேதம் நான்கிலுà®®் à®®ெய்ப் பொà®°ுளாவது
நாதன் நாமம் நமசிவாயவே
à®®ாசில் வீணையுà®®் à®®ாலை மதியமுà®®்
வீசு தென்றலுà®®் வீà®™்கிள வேனிலுà®®்
à®®ூசு வண்டறை பொய்கையைப் போன்றதே
ஈசன் எந்தை இணையடி நிழலே
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
MEENDUM MEENDUM VAA - VIKRAM
Classical Illayaraja - 15.
Dharmavathi is the 59th melakartha ragam. Sa Ri2 Ga2 Ma2 Pa Da2 Ni3 Sa
as arohanam and the converse as avarohanam. It is the prathimadhyamam of
Gowrimanohari (23rd melam). About couple of years ago Rahman tuned a
superb Dharmavathi song in vandicholai chinnarasu. The song is sugam sugam
vendum. I think the singer of the song is Vani Jayaram. It is one of the
best songs that Rahman has tuned in his short career so far. It is a very
sexy song. He starts the tune in the madhyama sthayi like Sa Ga Sa Ga,
with a very very prominent chord sequences in the background. While another
song from the same movie became a good hit (senthamizh naatu thamizhacheeyae
sung by the late Shahul Ameed), this lovely song based on a pure classical
ragam did not become a hit. Earlier, Rahman has tuned one more Dharmavathi
in the movie gentleman. The song is ottagathai kattikko, which came as
an unbelievable melody in that movie with a fantastic rhythm played in
the pukka south indian instrument "thavil".
Of course, Rahman had exhibited the usual (predictable) "cinema musician's
tendency" of deviating from the ragam by using some foreign swaras in both
the above songs. Even though there is predominant use of Da2 in sugam sugam,
in the charanam he uses Da3 Ni3 prayogam like Neethimathi ragam (60th melam).
In ottagathai kattikko, he very liberally uses both Ni2 and Ni3, making it
difficult to bring it under either Hemavathi (58th melam) or Dharmavathi.
For our purposes to discuss Dharmavathi, I called ottagathai kattiko as
Dharmavathi in this essay.
Rahman said in one of his early interviews that he avoided listening to
contemporary music as did not want to get influenced by that music. He
wants his music to be original and new! Alright bro, make music without
the influence of your forefathers! Let us see, if you can!
This is an ever changing world. People are born constantly and people are
dead similarly. We all have come into the world not like Mr. Jesus Christ
without a father. We have our roots strongly based on our immediate
previous generation, and less significantly on the innumerable generations
in-between from the ages of origin of man to now. Newtonian concept of
gravity was put to disuse by the "nascent" Einsteinian concept in the 20th
century. The important thing to remember and appreciate is that Newton did
prominent work on gravity before, and his ideas pre-existed the period of
Einstein.
If it were not for Newton to intrigue Einstein, the latter would
not have become such a great scientist. If it were not for the stimulus of
advaitha of Sankara, neither would have Ramanujam come up with his visisht-
advaitha, nor Madvacharya with his dvaitha philosophy. Nature requires
a pre-existent state to progress to the next state. It sends Nagesh first
in the time window to do his comedy and then Vadivelu. It sends Chatruhan
Sinha first and then later Rajnikanth. We are all a small part of the
continuously self-propagating enormous force that originated in the big bang.
Nobody can molt the profound ancestral influence to become a "new" creator
(in absolute terms).
Illayaraja too, has tuned wonderful Dharmavathi's. His first was probably
in the movie vikram. The song is meendum meendum vaa. S.P.Balasubramaniam
and S.Janaki! He starts his song in madhya sthayi like Sa Sa Sa Sa (meendum
meendum) and then all of a sudden jumps one octave to the thara sthayi Sa
(vaa). He has used Mridhangam as a wonderful rhythm support in that song.
In the charanam the tune is just excellent. Pa Pa Pa Ma2 Da2 (thekku
marathil) Pa Pa Pa Ma2 Da2 (sedhukki vaitha) Pa Pa Ma2 Pa Ga2 Ma2 Pa (dhegam
idhu thaana). Even in the charanam he frequently jumps from madhyama sthayi
Sa to thara sthayi Sa. To me, it seems like Rahman got the idea to tune
his sugam sugam from meendum meendum vaa. Both are very sexy, romantic
playboy channel duets! Both of them are great in their own aspects.
Illayaraja's possibly second Dharmavathi is illam cholai poothadha in the
movie unakkagavae vazhgiraen. This was not a big hit like kanna unai thedu-
giraen vaa in the same movie. However, illam cholai is one of the mile-
stones in his career. I would say that it is one of his top bests. It has
been sung by S.P.B. He starts like Ma2 Pa Sa (illam cholai) Sa Ri2 Sa Ni3
(poothadhaa). He prolongs the kaakali nishadham and beautifully gives a
gamakam and then travels down to panchamam. Initially he uses tabla for
accompaniment and then in the charanam there is wonderful mridhangam, the
usage of which is very typical of him. Listening to this song is one of the
best musical experience that I have had in my life! In varusham padhinaaru
his "aeh, ayyasaami" is a kind of Dharmavathi with lot of mixture of Ma1.
In veera, his konjikonji is quite a pure Dharmavathi. Maragadhamani has
given a very pure Dharmavathi in thaththithom in azhagan. He has excellently
used keyboard with fantastic gamakams in that song.
Dharmavathi has two very melodious janya ragas. One is Ranjani. Sa Ri2 Ga2
Ma2 Da2 Ni3 Sa; Sa Ni3 Da2 Ma2 Ga2 Sa. The best song in Ranjani in cinema
is muthupandhalil rathina oonjalil sung by T.N.Seshagopalan in the movie
thodi raagam. Kunnakudi has tuned it in an unparalleled manner. MSV has
used Ranjani in few of his cinema raga-malikas (aezhuswarangalukkul has a bit
of Ranjani in aboorva ragangal, and also "ranjaniyai azhaithaen" in the
movie mrudhanga chakravarthi). The other popular janyam of Dharmavathi is
Madhuvanthi. There is a subtle Ma1 usage in this ragam. In the movie nandha
en nila, obscure music director V.Dhakshinamurthy has tuned one excellent
Madhuvanthi song. The song also starts like "nandha en nila". My Houston
room-mate Karthik used to repeatedly listen to this song again and again
for hours. If you listened to this song, you will know the addictive
potential of this song. Like "heroin addict", "ganja addict", we can
proudly call ourselves as "nandha en nila addict"! It is one of the best
ever recorded Thamizh cinema song!
The 10th chakram (in other words, the 4th chakram of the prathimadhyama
melaragas) has probably the more popular ragas among the prathimadhyama
melams. The 55th is Shatvidhamargini, 56th - Shanmukhapriya, 57th -
Simhendra Madhyamam, 58th - Hemavathi, 59th - Dharmavathi, 60th -
Neethimathi.
Illayaraja has given a lot of Shanmukhapriya songs. Thamthanathamthana thalam
was his first Shanmukhapriya (in Bharathiraja's pudhiya vaarpukkal). One of
his very early classical ventures that proved to the Thamizh cinema world
what kind he was! It is a very fast song sung by Jency. In his earlier days
he seems to have really liked tuning fast songs (like mazhai varuvadhu in
rishi moolam)! In thamthana song, the thabla rhythm, veenai and flute
interlude are mesmerising. His other Shanmukhapriya songs are kaadhal
kasakkudhaiyaa (aan paavam), thakita thadhimi (salangai oli), ooru vittu
ooru vandhu (karagaattakaaran), sollaayo vaai thirandhu (moga mull).
We have to remind ourselves of the earlier music directors contribution in this
ragam that includes pazham nee appa (thiruvilayadal), muththaitharu (arunagiri
naadhar), kurangilirundhu (thookuthooki), maraindhirundhu (thillana
mohanaambal). Devendran has tuned kannukkul nooru nilava in vedham pudhidhu.
One interesting thing to note is that even Thyagarajaswami has given only
one krithi in this important ragam, while cinema fellows have been handling
it quite often, the maximum number being by Illayaraja!
Shanmukhapriya uses Ri2, Ga2, Ma2, Da1 and Ni2. If we change the Ni2 to
Ni3 we get Simhendra Madhyamam. Probably, his first number in this ragam
came in panneer pushpangal. The song is aanandha raagam. This song has got
one of the most abnormal starts! It starts in thaara sthayi Ga! It goes
likes this: Ga2 Ri2 Sa (aanandha) Sa Ri2 Ri2 Sa (raagam). A beautiful start
and a wonderful job by Uma Ramanan! His second song in this ragam came in
Mukta Sundar's debut film kodai mazhai. The song is kaatrodu kuzhalin
naadhamae. The song has been sung by Chitra.
A highly classical song. The heroine gives a dance performance on stage for this song. This song also
starts in a very high pitched Ga2 of thara sthayi! I first listened to this
song while watching the movie in the theatre, and the song was just gripping!
His next Simhendra Madhyamam came in oruvar vaazhum aalayam. The song is
nee pournami. He starts this song in middle octave Ri2! The song goes like
this: Ri2 Ga2 Ri2 Ga2 Sa (nee..) Ga2 Ma2 Pa Ma2 Pa (pournami). The swara
structuring of this song is just marvellous. He uses groups of swaras up
and down like a thrilling roller-coaster ride, and later in the end of the
song he starts presenting alternating swaram-sahityam sequences that are just
wonderful! His last Simhendra Madhyamam song is thaaj mahal thevai illai
in gopura vaasalilae.
We have discussed Hemavathi ragam in our earlier essays. Nobody has tuned
Shatvidhamargini or Neethimathi in cinema! These are extremely rare ragas
even in classical sadas. If we just change the Ga2 to Ga3 in the ragas
discussed above, we get all the important ragas of the next (11th) chakram.
63rd - Lathangi, 64th - Vachaspathi, 65th - Mesakalyani (commonly, called
as Kalyani). We know that Illayaraja was the most prolific music director in
tuning Kalyani in cinema. Did anybody think that he would use the other
important ragams from this chakram in the nineties?!
Once upon a time there was a director called as "P.Vasu"! He used to shoot
whatever perversion that came to his mind during the most uninhibited of his
dreams as films! He had the extreme fortune of getting "Illayaraja's
kadaaksham" in most of his movies, and the films would be jam-packed with
superb songs! Just because of Illayaraja, those films would "runno runnunu
run" tirelessly in the theatres, with money "fallo fallunu falling" down
the roofu! Mmmmm...... Did P.Vasu know that he got one of the two great
Lathaangi songs ever tuned in one of his junk movies? The first popular
Lathaangi is aadadha manamum undo in mannadhi mannan. The song has been
sung by T.M.S and M.L.Vasanthakumari. Great song!
The other popular Lathangi came from the harmonium of Illayaraja! The movie
is walter vetrivel. The song is raasavae chitterumbu. He has presented an
incredibly pure Lathangi in a "tappaanguthu kind of format" in this song. It
was a mega-hit song reverbrating throughout the Thamizhnadu, from the slums
to the elite! Prabhu Deva and Sukhanya dance for this song. It is one of
the songs, which, when a common laymen rasika listens, he just feels it as
a "great" tune, while a knowledgeable rasika immediately recognizes the
intelligent use of a hardcore classical ragam and becomes wonder-struck!
Illayaraja has tuned another Lathangi in eeramaana rojavae (adho andha
vaanilae). But, that song was not a big hit. He also gave a Vachaspathi
in one of his songs, nikkatumaa pogattumaa neelakarunguyilae (?movie).
A beautiful song. But, it was not a big hit. I don't think anybody else
has tuned Vachaspathi in cinema.
Vijayanagari is a janyam of Hemavathi. Actually, this ragam was "discovered"
by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar in this century. He just omitted
Nishadham in Hemavathi and called it as Vijayanagari. There is a famous
M.K.T song soppanavazhvil magizhndhu in this ragam. Illayaraja tuned one
Vijayanagari in paadaadha thaeneekkal. The song is vanna nilavae vaigai
nadhiyae. He has beautifully used the Ma2 of this ragam. But, from
puritans point of view, he has done a mistake. He has also used Ga3 to
give a very sad appeal to the song. That is not permissible.
Vijayanagari is very closely related to Sivaranjani. While Sivaranjani is a
janyam of the 22nd melam (Karaharapriya), Vijayanagari is a janyam of the
58th (the prathimadhyamam of the 22nd). Sivaranjani is also a very "soga"
ragam. Kadalai urundai is called the poor man's meat, as it has reasonably
all the essential amino acids as meat, but at a lesser cost! Like that,
we could call Sivaranjani as the "cinema rasika's Mukhari or Bhairavi" as it
has the same dose of "sadness", but, in a lighter form. Sivaranjani's
arohanam and avarohanam are: Sa Ri2 Ga2 Pa Da2 Sa; Sa Da2 Pa Ga2 Ri2 Sa.
Nowadays musicians liberally use Ga3 to add beauty to this ragam.
To list all the Sivaranjani songs of Illayaraja is impossible. To list a
few that comes to the mind immediately: adi aathaadi (kadalora kavidhaigal),
unnai thaanae (nallavanukku nallavan), poovannam pola nenjam (azhiyaadha
kolangal), solai pushpangalae (?movie), kaathirundhu (vaidehi kaathirundhal),
pon manae (oru kaidhiyin dairy), vaa vaa anbae (agni nakshatiram), valli
valli aena (deiva vaaku), adhikaalai nera kanavu (?movie), kuyil paatu
(en raasavin manasilae) etc. Also, Sivaranjani is one of the unique ragas
in the sense that, it is probably the only ragam that has been handled by
every Tom, Dick and Harry calling himself as a music director. Manoj-Kiyan
tuned tholvi nilayaena (oomai vizhigal), S.A.Rajkumar tuned paatu onnu
naan paadatuma (pudhu vasantham), Shankar Ganesh tuned aval oru menagai
(nakshathiram), lately Rahman has tuned kannum kannum (thiruda thiruda),
thannerai kaadhalikkum (Mr.Romeo). In karuthamma, Rahman has scored a
fantastic song (poraalae ponnuthayee). It is also Sivaranjani based, with
weightage given to Ga3 (like Mohanam) in the happy version, and to Ga2 in
the sad version. This song unquestionably proves that Rahman is one among
the most remarkable music directors in Thamizh cinema now.
The present continuous success in the Indian filmdom might make Rahman feel
as though he has gone to the top of the globe. The total ouster of Illayaraja
from the #1 position might give a feeling of superiority than other creators
now. Perhaps, that is the reason why he said that he avoided listening to
contemporary music! Illayaraja had the same status once upon a time. He
behaved like a narcist then! He quarrelled with everybody in the cinema field
because of his superioritic complex. He spoke ill of Vairamuthu on air when
both he and Vairamuthu had been selected for national award! This behavior
pattern is not unique to Illayaraja! Almost everybody who comes to the
limelight for some reason seems to become gripped by the evil "conceit"!
Jayalalitha performed the marriage of her step son in such a grand manner
only because of "conceit"! The mind seems to constantly work with the
central thought "I", "ME", "MINE"! Nothing else matters to the mind!
People like Jayalalitha and Sasikala, Maestro's like Illayaraja, Rahman,
superhuman beings like Mother Teresa, billionaires like Bill Gates, and all
of us would be dead and sleeping in our graves in just another millennium
from now! We will all be forgotten and even our own progeny would not know
us! When that be the likely practical eventuality, then why conceit? 65
million years ago, in the Jurassic age, the dinosaurs ruled the earth!
Where are they now? 65 million years from now, the homo-sapiens species
might be extinct, and even Illayaraja's microgram worth of dust might
not be found in that world! Then, why conceit? In the inconceivably
large space-time co-ordinates of Mother Nature, the infinitesimally small
human being fails to realize his mortality during his life time. He dances
proudly for "HIS" achievement, fails to acknowledge other's talents, yells
at his competitor with contempt and conceit! Oh, the director of all such
conceited activity - THE MIND! You are a conundrum!
-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan,
Internal Medicine Department,
Brackenridge Hospital,
Austin, Tx 78701.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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