Presented in this BLOG are some movie songs composed in the same RAGA, which will help getting an idea of how a raga sounds. It is aimed at providing an introduction to CARNATIC MUSIC.
Recently, I watched the movie 'Chembaruthi' on video. One of those unethical, "kuppai" screen printed video cassette, you know, that gives you a vision like that of a "soda-butti" watching TV without his spectacles! Illayaraja has done a fantastic job in that movie. Though I had heared all those songs many times while I was in India, watching that movie created a reminiscent train of thoughts in my mind, about Illayaraja, his music, the dramatic change he brought about in Thamizh cinema.
I thought that it would be worthwhile to discuss his music, particularly the CLASSICAL aspect! I am aware that it is not possible to write about all his carnatic oriented songs, about how he has handled those ragas, how he has deviated from the classical style etc. But it would definitely be interesting to pour out our ideas once in a while in a random order of the ragas covered by him.
In "Chembaruthi" there are six songs, out of which 4 are carnatic based. All the songs were "sooper hits". To a guy who knows carnatic music, the ragas are explicit, and to a non-classical rasika, they are just great tunes! This was one of his specialities, to give the raga in almost good shape and also make a good cinema tune out of it. And ofcourse, the rhythm should give scope for good dance movements so that the hero and heroine could share their love by dancing!
Maybe, many of his tunes have to be branded as semi-classical or light music (even though the raga form might be pure) only because of this rhythm factor.
"Chalakku Chalakku Selai" is one good number in chakravaagam. There is no impurity in the tune (like any anniya swaram). He has confined to classical 16th, Sa Ri1 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Da2 Ni2 Sa. Ofcourse, not to mention, that the lyrics is very bad, fighting to degrade the song from semi-classical to light music. In the charanam the heroine says "kalyaanam aagama paay poda venam, ennala aagaathu aamaam". You know, some good heroines with morality do say such deterrant, anti pre-marital sex things to the always advancing heroes!
Illayaraja has only few chakravaagams in his account. In the janya raagas of chakravaagam, he has excellent numbers. Like, Malayamaarutham.... Sa Ri1 Ga3 Pa Da2 Ni2 Sa, Sa Ni2 Da2 Pa Ga3 Ri1 Sa. His first malayamarutham came as a pleasant surprise in Sridhar's movie (for whom he always had a soft corner) "Thenralae ennai thodu". I distinctly remember how the 'Ananda Vikatan' magazine wrote in glowing terms about "kannmani nee vara kathirun- then" song in malayamaarutham. Yesudoss and Uma Ramanan had done a wonderful job in that song. Ga Pa Da Sa Ni Da Pa Da Pa Ga, Ga Pa Ga Sa Sa Ri. What a wonderful start! The sharp rishabam gave a beautiful colour to this song. Maybe Illayaraja's first malayamaarutham was "poojakaana neram" in "kaadal ovium. That was a good song too.
Dheepan chakravarthi had struggled to keep in pace with that tune (like some violinists get into trouble with Sesha- gopalan's pace!).
Then came "Thendral vanthu muthamittathu" in malayamaarutham in "Oru odai nadiyagirathu"(another sridhar's movie). Gosh! That was a fast song too. Krishnachandar and S.P.Shailaja tried their best, but probably spoiled it. Particularly, S.P.Shailaja has sung like the shrill sound you hear when you apply the breaks on a car that you bought for 500 $! There are two other songs in which he has deleted both Ni and Ma in chakravaagam. I don't think that such a raga exists in carnatic music with any known name. Those two songs are "amudhae thamizhae" (kovil pura), and "nila kuyilae" (magudi). They are simply excellent. One should be an artist and play those songs to know their quality.
Amudhae thamizhae starts like Sa Ri Ga,Sa Ri Ga, Sa Ri Ga Pa Ga Ri Sa, Sa Ri Sa Da Sa...Pulamai Pithan's lyrics glorified that song. In the charanam he says, if you listen to and speak Thamizh, " Oon mezhugai urugum, athil ulagam karainthu pogum", such is the beauty of this language! One cannot write any better,about the greatness of Thamizh language. (Those people like Thamizh vendan & co, who have no other job other than inundating the S.C.T with meaningless news about Thamizh Ezham, now, have a point!).
I vaguely remember a song "naan irrukka bayam etharku" (kuva kuva vathukkal?) At that time, when I had primitive carnatic music knowledge, I had diagnosed that song as "Valaji" (Rishabam deleted in Malayamarutham, Sa Ga Pa Da Ni Sa, Sa Ni Da Pa Ga Sa, you can say that it is a janyam of chakravaagam too, eventhough theorists might say 'janyam of Harikambodi'). Maybe, that song is indeed Valaji.
Illayaraja has few songs in Revathi, another 16 janyam. Perhaps the best onces are "sangitha jaathi mullai" (kaadal ovium) and "kanavu onru thonruthe" (oru odai nadiyaagirathu). But I personally feel that MSV's melodious use of Revathi is unparalleled in the song "manthira punnagai" (Manal kayiru).
So much about chakravaagam and its janyams and Illayaraja. In chembaruthi, two of the 4 carnatic songs, are in Sindu Bhairavi raagam. They are "kadalile ezhumbura alaikalai" and "kaadhalile tholvi". Illayaraja himself has sung the former ( thso, thso rendition ) and Nagoor Hanifa the latter. Both these songs are excellent Sindu Bhairavi's. One in three of all cinema songs are in Sindu Bhairavi scale (one of the commonest cinema melodies, like the 20th mela Natabhairavi).
Illayaraja has innumerable songs in Sindhu Bhairavi, a variegated population from valai osai kalakala ena to shenbagame, shenbagame etc. One cannot list all of them. But, probably MSV's Unnakenna Mele Ninrai (Simla Special) is the best of Sindhu Bhairavi.
In "kadalile ezhumbura" the lyrics is unusually good. Probably, muthulingam or whoever was the lyrisict, had a strong tea before writing that song! That song goes to tell the pathetic life of fishermen. The lyrisict says in pallavi "kadal thaneer karikudu kaaranam irukkudu, meenavar vidugira viyarvaikal kadalile kalakudu..." (Sea water is saline because of 's fishermen's sweat). Good idea, ain't it?
Lastly,there is one song in Kaapi raaam in Chembaruthi: chembaruthi poalae (after decades, Banumathi Ramakrishna sang a tail piece of this song). His other Kaapi are ada maapila (maapilai), hei paadal onru (priya). As far as I know Illayaraja is the only one who used kaapi in cinema. All of them are good.
He starts 'ada maapila' like, Ma Ga3 Ga3 Ma Pa, Pa Ma Ga3 Ma Ni2 Pa Ga2 Ri Sa Ni3 Sa Sa. Wonderful start! To start kaapi in madhyamam and use its key phrase 'Ga3 Ma Ni2 Pa Ga2 Ri Sa Ni3' at the very beginning is an excellent approach to the tune. This is one of the instance in which his classical 'vidwat' was manifest. Even 'chembaruthi poale' he uses the bashangam of kaapi, in the very beginning, like, 'Pa NI2 Ma Pa Ni3 Sa'. Why did he choose to score tune in kaapi for both these above situations in which the bride and the groom are humoured by the 'thozhan' and 'thozhiyar' on the occasion of their betrothal. Is their any definite pattern that he follows in scoring tunes for situation? Maybe.
-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan.
Department of Vision of Science,
The University of Houston College of Optometry,
Houston, Tx 77204.
A.R.Rahman is the number one copier in the world. My friend is very much
convinced on this matter. He called A.R.Rahman as a mammoth recycling bin
that takes its own previously tuned songs and polishes it and presents it
in a different form. How dare he copy the great "kowsalya supraja" tune
and use it as the interlude music in "margazhi poovae" (may maadham). My
friend boils with anger. How dare the freshmen music director of the movie
meendum savithri (Ravi Devendran) copy the interlude of margazhi poovae
(which is itself a copied bit from kowsalya supraja) and present it in his
song. A chain of copying! My friend has lost his peace and is now a terri-
bly agitated individual. His head is hot with anger!
Is it correct to call the flute interlude in "margazhi poovae" as a copy of
kausalya supraja? A.R. Rahman has tuned his margazhi poovae in the ragam
Hindholam. Subbulakshmi's Kausalya supraja is in the ragam Sudha Saveri.
If Rahman indeed copied willfully, how could he present a Sudha Saveri tune
in a Hindholam song?
The concept of Sruthi is very illusory. We know that if we sounded a note
with any frequency (X) and another note twice its frequency (2X), then
there is an entire octave between these two notes. Be X = 1 hertz, and
2X = 2 hertz, or be X = 100,000 hertz and 2X = 200,000 Hz, there is one
and only one octave inbetween these two respective sets of notes. Thus we
will have an entire Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Sa between these notes. So, you
can take any frequency (Sa) and play the 2X frequency of that fundamental
frequency (upper Sa) and make a shruthi. Additionally if you played
X x 2 * 7/12 (read this as X times 2 to the power 7/12) with X and 2X, then,
you are adding the panchamam to the two Sa's and you get panchama shruthi.
Instead, if you played X x 2 * 5/12 (X times 2 to the power 5/12), you are
adding madhyamam to the two Sa's and it is called as the madhyama shruthi.
Shruthi forms the territorial boundaries in music. Any swara derives its
identity only with reference to the shruthi. A single note when played
alone is probably meaningless in classical music without the Shruthi. Shruthi
by itself is pleasant music. In katcheris you may often see somebody sitting
on the stage and playing the thambura. The thambura just gives the Sa Pa Sa
notes to the Katcheri. That is the SHRUTHI!! Illayaraja has many times
just used the Sa Pa Sa shruthi as the background score in cinemas and lilted
the audience by the magical effect of the SHRUTHI! Rahman also has used the
drone of the Shruthi conspicously in many of his songs and added great
melody to the songs (eg: the panthuvarali song in Rangeela sung by Swarana
Latha and Udit Narayan. What a classical piece!!)
The swaras of Sudha Saveri are: Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Da2 Sa; Sa Da2 Pa Ma1 Ri2 Sa.
If we played Kausalya Supraja the tune goes like this: Sa Ri Ri (kausalya)
Sa Ri Ri (supraja), Sa Ri Sa Ri (Rama poorva), Sa Ri Sa Ri Sa Sa (Sandhya
pravarthadhae). The above swaras have meanings only within their respective
Shruthi. If you viewed these notes from within the boundaries of a different
musical territory, then it might have a different meaning. What if you
viewed these notes from the reference shruthi of "Ri2-Da2-Ri2"?! The ragam
might change totally. It is like Pandiyarajan and S.V.Sekhar travelling
overnight and going to Kerala in Kadhanayakan!! Though Thamizhnadu and
Kerala are adjacent states, words might have totally opposite meanings
there! If a Thamizh doctor prescribed a sleeping pill to a Malayalee and
told him "ee guligai ravilae kazhicho!", he will be in trouble. Because,
"ravilae" means night in Thamizh and morning in Malayalam! See how
different the meanings are?!
What A.R.Rahman has done is, he has skillfully "copied" the Sudha Saveri
swaras and transliterated it into Hindholam as Ga2 Ma1 Ma1, Ga2 Ma1 Ga2 Ma1
and so on. We don't know if he purported to copy or if it was a strange
co-incidence. But, the fact is that a Coke can got recycled and came back
to us as a Pepsi can! Sometimes, Coke cans can get a new sticker on its
face (with no shruthi change and stuff!) and can be sold as Goli soda locally.
That has happened in the background rhythm guitar score in "kuluvaliyae"
(Muthu) song. The same piece comes in Sister Act. Illayaraja too has got
incriminated many times for such blatant similarity of his songs to other
popular songs ("en purushan thaan enaku mattum thaan" in Gopurangal
Saivadhillai was called as a copy of "dham maerae dham").
Aandholika is a pleasant janyam of Harikaambodi ragam. Its arohanam and
avarohanam are Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Da2 Ma1 Ri2 Sa. Thyagaraja
swamy has got a terrific krithi in this ragam, which is mostly sung as a
thukkada in Katcheris. The krithi is "raga sudha rasa". I have heard a
story long ago. That Padma Subramaniam had a song tuned for her dance
performance in this Ragam. At that time Illayaraja was in someway conected
with Padma's troup to earn his daily bread (probably as a "mike" boy or
something!). Then, later he became picked up by "Ms. Luck" after he made
his debut in Panchu Arunachalam's film "Annakili". He had lot of chances
flowing in his way then. Mullum malarum is a terrific movie. It must be
within first 50 films of Illayaraja. He gave a great musical support to the
director, Mahendran, tuning few totally unheard kinds of lilting tunes then.
But, he also got his name spoiled in that movie because of "copying"
Padma's Aandolika ragam tune.
The song is "raaman aandalum raavanan aandalum". That is a very crucial
song in the movie. Rajni looses one of his arms in the climax of the song
in an accident. The song is actually a tappanguthu. But, in the interlude
of the song the chorus sings a bit which goes like "samiyai kumbitta namaku
nalladhu thaan varumae". The tune is supposed to be in pure Aandholika (the
same tune that Padma used in her Dance performance earlier). Reportedly
she complained in some interview about how Illayaraja had "copied" her tune.
We know that music directors like Illayaraja and Rahman have got very fertile
mind and they have proved it by generation of wonderful tunes. The judgement
that these eminant people copied other people's work cannot be passed so
easily. It is in the innermost conscience of these personalities that the
secret dwells if they are felon or not. Perhaps, it can never be known
to the outside world unless they frankly admit like Anand Milind ("yes, we
are fans of Illayaraja, we do use his tunes in our songs")!
Madhyamaavathi is a grand janya ragam of Karaharapriya. Perhaps it is the
greatest of the pentatonic ragas (oudhuva oudhuva ragam). Its arohanam and
avarohanam are: Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Pa Ma1 Ri2 Sa. Illayaraja
liked this ragam so much that he has atleast tuned 40 to 50 songs in this
great ragam. Madhyamavathi is distinct among other pentatonic ragas. It
is a very much gamaka oriented ragam. It is like the Thodi of janya ragas.
You can just play the notes of the 45 melam (subhapanthuvarali) in the
harmonium and make the ragam evident. Similarly you can just play
Sa Ri2 Ma2 Pa Ni3 Sa in the harmonium and make Hamsanadham ragam evident,
but, you cannot get Madhyamavathi by just playing the notes in a plain
"bland" way. You have to make the notes spicy! Gently make the Rishabham
and Nishadham oscillate above their baseline frequency, there comes the
unparalled beauty, Ms. Madhyamaavathi!!
Illayaraja has tuned a great Madhyamavathi in Mullum malarum ("adipaennae").
I think the singer is Jency. Each time I listen to this song it creates
an inexplicable feeling in my mind. The song is so romantic, so sexy,
so well sung that it directly stimulates some unknown erogenous zones in
the psyche. Illayaraja has reasonably used the gamakas well. This was
probably his second Madhyamavathi, the first one being "solaikuyilae" in
Ponnu ooruku pudhusu. Solaikuyilae starts like Pa Pa Ri Sa Ri.... A lofty
jump from madhyama sthayi Pa to tharasthayi Rishabam. Maalaikadhirae goes
like Sa Sa Ni Sa Ni.....Pa, such a prolonged nishadham. Most of the
melody of this ragam resides with the Ri and Ni. The gamakam is absolutely
important, period! Look at the beauty of Papanasam Sivan's opening in
Madhyamavathi in "karpagamae kadai kann paarai" - Sa Ri Sa Ri.... Actually
the gamakam of Ri encompasses the sadharana gandharam too. It is like
RiGa, RiGa...! Illayaraja's use of impeccable gamaka adorned Rishabam at
the very opening of the song is too classic. It is like Krishnamachari
Srikanth sending the first opening ball to the boundary!
Illayaraja has given few more Madhyamavathi's in quite pure form. En
kalyana vaibhogam in the movie "azhagae unnai aradhikkiraen" is one early
number. Sridhar's first venture with Illayaraja. Vani Jayaram has sung
this song. Then, aagaya gangai in Dharma Uddham, nee thaanae endhan
ponvasantham in Ninaivellam Nithiya, thulli thulli nee padamma (Chirpikul
muthu), thalattu pillai ena thaalaatu (?Achchani), thazham poovae vaasam
veesu (Kai kodukum kai), kuyilae kuyilae poonguyilae (Aan paavam), anandam
then sindhum (Man vasanai), azhagiya thirumaganae (Rajarishi), eeramaana
rojaavae (Illamai Kaalangal), kavidhai paadu kuyilae (Thendralae Ennai Thodu),
malargalil aadum illamai (kalayaraman), nee kaeta naan mataen (?movie) etc.
A.R. Rahman has used small bits of Madhyamavathi in the interlude of his song
"then then thithikkum then" (Thiruda thiruda). Some singer called Jadhiraja
has sung some fast swaras with pungent electric guitar sending shocks of
Madhyamavathi vibrations with his voice! (I heard that Mr.Jadhiraja is none
other than Rahman himself!) Madhyamaavathi by earlier music directors include
Ponnondru kandaen, Muthukkalo kangal, aagaya pandhalilae, etc. Can we
forget the great presentation of Devarajan in Swamy Iyyapan "hariharatmajam
viswamasrayae" sung by Jesudoss. It is a divine feast to listen to this
slow song.
Madhyamavathi is supposed to be a Mangalakaramaana ragam. Tradionally
when we end the katcheri, it is customary to end the katcheri in one of the
three ragas: Madhyamavathi, Suruti, or Sowrashtram. Illayaraja used
Madhyamavathi to end the song in one of his ragamaalika songs! enna samayalo
in "Unnal Mudiyum Thambi". The song starts with mohanam and ends with
Madhyamaavathi. When SPB sings "illayai podadi", Madhyamavathi starts.
Ofcourse, each of the raga change in that ragamalikai is made by the
accompanying nadhaswaram.
If we change the kaisiki nishadham (Ni2) of madhyamavathi in the arohanam to
kaakali nishadham (Ni3) then the raga form changes drastically. It is
Brindhavana Saranga. It is a bhashangam because of double Nishadham. Sa Ri2
Ma1 Pa Ni3 Sa; Sa Ni2 Pa Ma1 Ri2 Sa. Some of Illayaraja's song in this
ragam are fantastic. Poongatrae poongatrae (kunkumachimizh), kannukullae
anbin eeram enna (unakaaga vazhgiraen) are both enthralling songs. I cannot
forget how I used to tune to Coimbatore radio station between 10 to 11,
Trichi - 1 to 2 PM, Madras - 4 to 5 in the mid 1980's to listen to these
great songs. These Brindhavana Saranga's are as captivating as Subulakshmi's
"Sriranga Pura Vihara" or Balamurali's "kamalaptakula". The later songs
that he tuned in this raga are Penn onru thai aanadhu (Pudhiya Ragam)
and indha jilla muzhuka nalla theriyum (Priyanka). Brindhavana Saranga
by earlier music directors are Kattithanga rajavukku (?movie), thottilil
thodangidum (nilavae malarae). In the latter song MSV has used double
Nishadham in the arohanam itself (like Pa Ni2 Ni3 Sa)! It is one of the
best songs that he has ever tuned, sung by Vani Jayaram.
Mullum Malarum has another fantastic song. Senthazham poovil is a kinda
try in Bowli ragam (with lot of foreign notes in the interlude). Bowli is
one of the early morning ragas. Other early morning ragas are Boopaalam,
Revagupti, Malayamaarudham etc. When your cousin is getting married,
you are very tired during the night of Janavaasam because you went out
with your other cousins and had a "thanni" party and came back to the
Kalyana chathiram only at 4 AM to sleep. You have hardly slept for 30 mts,
and you hear the irritating Nadhaswaram vidhwan playing "pee pee" to wake
up everybody. He is playing one of the above ragams! Boopalam is Thodi
janyam: Sa Ri1 Ga2 Pa Da1 Sa; Sa Da1 Pa Ga2 Ri1 Sa. Bowli is Mayamalava
Gowlai Janyam with Ga3 instead of Ga2 in Boopalam. I have heard of one
good Bowli in the movie called as Kuzhandhai Yesu (kannae vaa, kanmaniyae
vaa).
I don't know who is the music director. Recently I heard Illayaraja's
another (probable) Bowli: Kozhikoovum naerathulae... (?Movie). I don't
remember the tune very well. But, the best Bowli came from T.Rajender.
Salangai ittaal (Maidhili Ennai Kaadhali) was a tremendous success at that
time. It is unfortunate that Rajender, a guy with full potency to challenge
big time music directors, got lost in the political imbroglio, loosing his
place in the cinema. He gave such a wonderful Kaapi ragam in his very first
movie (idhu kuzhandhai paadum thaalaatu in Oru thalai Ragam), superb
Gambeera Naatai in Pookalai Parikaadheergal (kaadhal oorvalam ingae).
Those are unforgettable tunes.
Madhyamaavathi is closely related Sriragam (Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2
Pa Ma1 Ri2 Ga2 Ri2 Sa) and Manirangu (Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Pa Ma1
Ga2 Ri2 Sa). There is one film song in Sriragam. Thoda thoda vaa mella
has been tuned by Malayalam music director Ravindran. I think the movie
is Rasikan oru rasikai. Two years ago, I heard another Sriragam song
(andhi maalai) that has been exactly tuned in the tune of Thyagraja krithi
Entharo mahaanu bavulu. That song was in a music album. I don't know who
realised it. But do know that it was someway connected with Rahman. As far
as I know, there is only one Manirangu song in cinema. Music director:
Illayaraja! "Isai rajanae un illam veenai naanae" comes in Kanni Rasi
(first film directed by Pandiyarajan). Malaysia Vasudevan has sung in two
voices (his normal voice for Prabhu, and Chidambaram Jayaraman's voice for
Janakaraj), accompanied by VaniJayaram. The fact that Illayaraja used
such rare ragas during his carreer is a standing testimony to his classical
interests.
Now, coming to the original discussion about shruthi, look what happens
to our Madhyamavathi when you start viewing it from different angles.
Increase the reference shruthi by two notes, ie., Ri2-Da2-Ri2, then the
raga changes to Hindholam. Increase by 5 notes, ie., Ma1-Sa-Ma1, then
the raga changes to Sudha Saveri, by 7 notes, ie., Pa-Ri2-Pa, the raga
changes to Sudha Dhanyasi, by 10 notes, ie., Ni2-Ma1-Ni2, then you get
Mohanam from the same swaras!! Is it not wonderful! It is like the same
man being a son, brother, father, and as uncle to different people by virtue
of different relationship.
Mohanam is a nice, melodious ragam. Illayaraja is a real Mohanapriyan.
No other music director in India would have given so many Mohanam as him.
Among his hundreds of Mohanam hits we have kannan oru kai kuzhandhai
(Bhadrakali), geetham sangeetham (Kokkarako), malarae paesu (Geethanjali)
vaan polae vannam (Salangai oli), kanmaniyae kaadhal enbadhu (aaril irundhu
arubadhu varai), poovil vandu (Kadhal oviyam), meenkodi theril (Karumbuvil),
naan oru ponnoviyam kandaen (?movie), abc nee vaasi (Oru kaidiyin dairy),
naan undhan thaayaga vendum (Ullasa paravaigal), oru ragam paadalodu
(?Ananda ragam), nilavu thoongum naeram (Kunkumachimizh), aathodu kaathaada
(Murattu kaalai), oru thanga radhathil (Dharmayudham), kasthoori manae
(Pudhumai penn), ninnukori varnam (Agninakshathiram), kaathirundhaen
thaniyae (?Rasamagan), idhayam oru kovil (idhayakovil), kukku koo koovum
(Valli) etc. Some of the recent music directors seem to be handling
Mohanam very well. Manamae thotta chinungi in Thotta chinnungi is a great
piece of Mohanam. Oh God! what a terrific rendition by Hariharan! He is
an asset to Thamizh music industry. In kaadhal kottai, Deva has given two
amazing Mohanams (vellarikka pinju vellarikka, I forgot the other one).
In katcheris, the shruthi is constantly vibrated either by the thamboora
artist or the electronic shruthi. This reminds us the reference shruthi
for that concert and we can identify a ragam with respect to that shruthi.
But, in film music, where there is no background reminder of the shruthi,
how can we identify the ragam correctly? As discussed above, it could be
Madhyamavathi, Mohanam, Sudha Saveri, Hindholam, or Sudha Dhanyasi for
the same swaras. And now comes the "nuances" or "ragalakshanam" issue!
We can still identify by figuring out the kind of treatment that has been
given to the swaras.
While you are singing in one particular shruthi, if you suddenly assume
a different shruthi and sing the same swaras implying a different ragam,
then it is called as shruthi-bedham. It is a highly scientific game that
some muscians like T.N.Seshagopalan relish playing on the dais. He could
sing Thodi and do a 1/2 kattai shruthi-bedham and make it sound like
Kalyani. The Maestro has ingeniously tuned a song recently in which he
suddenly assumes a different shruthi in the middle of the song. This is
in vandhaal vandhal rajakumaari (Oru ooril oru rajaumaari). In the Piano
prelude he clearly indicates the shruthi initially . He starts the song
like Ga3 Ma1 Pa, Pa Pa, Pa Da2 Pa, Pa Da2 Pa, Pa Da2 Pa Da2 Pa Ma1 Ga3
Ri2 Ga3 Ma1 Ga3 Ri.....
If you were to call this pallavi as a ragam
you can call it as Sankarabharanam. It is pukka! In the interlude he
follows the same opening shruthi. But, when the charanam starts, he
suddenly raises the shruthi by 4 notes and assumes the previous Ga3 as
the Pa and develops a wonderful Charukesi from there on. It is ectastic
to listen to this song again and again. Charukesi is the 26th melam with
Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Da1 Ni2 Sa. His other Charukesi are: amma nee sumandha
(annai oru aalayam), siriya paravai (Andha oru nimidam), aadal kalayae
(Raghavendrar), thoodhu selvadhaaradi (Singaravelan), chakkarakattiku
chakkarakattiku (Ullae Veliyae), poovaagi kaayagi (?movie), and
manamaalayum manjalum (Vathiyaar veetu pillai).
-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan,
Internal Medicine Department,,
Brackenridge Hospital,
15E Street,
Austin, Tx 78751.
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!
Classical Illayaraja - 14. -------------------------- The invincible AIDS virus is fast spreading in India. That is news! (Accidentally turned) bigamist Thamizh writer Balakumaran once stated in an interview that women are like masturbating bowl to men in India. Yeah, lorry drivers acknowledge that statement candidly! They will take the "sarakku" from Chennai to Thirunelvelli by their overnight lorry-borne express. In the gloomily lit bus-stations in-between, they will stop not only for "barota kuruma", but also looking for their in-expensive bowls of masturbation! There... will come the familiar figure of the betel-nut chewing red-mouthed sexy queen! Our driver's mouth will twist into a lusty leer! The indomitable Freudian force will drive the male instrument to do its procreative job in few minutes. There... will go our night queen, having earned few bucks to support her indigent family of innumerable malnourished children. In the above encounter between the two beings, not only the rapturous joy of sex, and money will have transacted, but possibly, the seemingly indolent "HIV" fellow too! Illayaraja writes in his "nila adhu vaanathu maelae" song, "pasikkudhu pasikkudhu dhinam dhinam thaan, pusicha pasiyadhu theerndhiduma?" Good question, boss! The hypothalamus in the brain is a "dhammathoondu" structure! You can place it on your nail top and squeeze it, like your grandmother used to squeeze the helpless lice from her hair! But, it is this "thammathoondu" structure that orchestrates the various vital functions of the body. When you have not eaten for a while, and when your blood sugar concentration falls, it is your hypothalamus that feels your hunger and instructs you to eat! When you've not drunk water for a while, and when your blood sodium rises (dehydration), it is this hypothalamus that senses it and drives you crazy to drink! But, Illayaraja tries to equate "hunger for food" to "hunger for sex and pleasure"! It is true that TTC bus driver gets free food at those unhygienic hotels in Thindivanam for bringing lots of customers and business for the hotel. Maybe, that is the reason why he eats three days worth of meal when he stops for those 20 minutes during your trip from Chennai to Srirangam! That is an unusual case. Most of us eat because our hypothalamus commands us to eat after sensing our low blood sugar concentrations! But, why does the lorry driver seek courtship in the shady towns of India during his long distance operation? Nothing decreases in his blood, making the hypothalamus "hungry for sex". The hypothalamus simply feels like having sex! Illayaraja showed an abnormal choice of ragam (Reethigowlai) when he tuned "thalayai kuniyum" in Sridhar's oru odai nadhiyagiradhu. He had done that earlier in choosing the same ragam for his "chinnakannan azhaikiraan" in kavikkuyil, and then in tuning "raamanin kadhai kaelungal" in chippikkul muthu. It is a very easily identifiable, very classical janya ragam that was relished by composers like Thyagaraja. But, none in the cinema arena seems to have used it in the pre-Illayaraja period. In mid seventies, here comes the uneducated music director from Madhurai jilla....! He tunes a couple of "tappanguthu" that marks his initial success! Within 2 to 3 years after his debut, he calls one of the most memorable geniuses of Carnatic music, Shri Balamurali Krishna to sing one cinema song for him. "Alright thambi" says Balamurali, and goes to the recording theatre..... Was Balamurali surprised initially when Illayaraja played the tune for him in his harmonium? If I were him, I would have been! First of all, out of the blue, why Reethigowlai? Why not the hackneyed Hindholam or Mohanam? This absolutely classical raga selection shows his desire to venture into pure, traditional ragas! It is like A.R.Rahman springing a surprise by tuning purely classical Yadhukula Kamboji interludes in kuluvaliyae (muthu)! Reethigowlai is the janyam of Karaharapriya (22nd melam). It is a vakra ragam and hence with a convoluted arohanam and avarohanam. Sa Ga2 Ri2 Ga2 Ma1 Ni2 Da2 Ma1 Ni2 Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Da2 Ma1 Ga2 Ma1 Pa Ma1 Ga2 Ri2 Sa. Its raga lakshanam is so unique that it gets imprinted in our mind easily. Beginners in carnatic music identify Reethigowlai rather facilely and this gives great encouragement to venture into learning other ragas. The jubilance of identifying a raga by ourselves initially is unparalled and even a triple 800 score in GRE Pre-Test wouldn't make you that happy! Oh man, what a joy! In that aspect, Reethgowlai could be compared to a steroid shot to Ben Johnson! In all his three Reethigowlai songs Illayaraja presents the ragalakshanam excellently in a very concise 4 minute form. He starts his kavikkuyil song as Sa Ga Ri Ga (chinnakannanan) Ma Ni Ni Sa (azhaikiraan). He has just used the arohanam of Reethigowlai without any extraneous manipulation of the ragam. In his chippikul muthu song he goes like Sa Ga Ri Ga (raamanin) Ma Ma (kadhai) Ni Ni Sa (kaelungal). A very small variation to chinnakannan song. He made lakhs of rupees for the former and lakhs for the latter! That is why he often says in interviews "there are only seven notes in music. Musicians have made infinite number of songs only with those seven notes by cheating!". He is in a way right and in a way wrong. The above two songs are cheating of the first order. He has cheated less in thalayai kuniyum thamarayae where the pallavi goes like Da Ni Sa (thalayai) Ni Da Ma (kuniyum) Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa (thaamarayae). Music is not just the melodious manipulation of different discrete frequencies of the continuum of "energy" commonly called as the sound. It is much more than that. There is another important variable in good music. That is the TIME! If I sing Sa today and sing Ga tomorrow, and Ri day after tomorrow and so forth sing one by one note of Illayaraja's chinnakannan azhaikiraan in whatever period it takes to complete the song, will it still be good music? This tells us the importance of MIND in music! There is NO music out there in the physical world! It is all in our MIND! When different swaras are sung, it is the MIND that intelligently concatenates the swaras and sees it as music. It sees a musical quality that is in actuality non- existent in the frequencies of sound, and derives pleasure by listening to it! Following the same concept, the MIND derives "sexual pleasure" from the physical intercourse of two bodies, or "eating pleasure" from eating buttered pecan ice cream, when it is set for those appropriate moods. Behaviourly, the MIND seems to be a big pleasure seeker. Philosophically it seems to be the greatest fool in the world, constantly seeking the ephemeral, mundane pleasures that are never-the-less, virtual! Reethigowlai is in no way related to Gowlai, Mayamalavagowlai, Kedaragowlai or Narayanagowlai. It is indeed closely related to Ananda Bhairavi about which we have discussed in our earlier essays. Other ragas that beginners start recognizing very easily in their journey through the vast empire of carnatic music are Sahana, Kanada, Atana, Natai, Gowlai, Anandha Bhairavi etc. All the above are vakra ragas. We have two popular songs in Sahana that had a tremendous impact on the common rasika. Parthaen sirithaen (mahakavi kaalidaas) and indha veenaiku in rayil sneham. The former tuned by K.V.Mahadevan and latter by V.S.Narasimhan. I hear that there is a song "rukku rukku" in Sahana in ovvai shanmukhi. BTW, Sahana is a janyam of Harikaambojhi (28th melam) with Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Ma1 Da2 Ni2 Sa and Sa Ni2 Da2 Pa Ma1 Ga3 Ma1 Ri2 Ga3 Ri2 Sa. Strangely Illayaraja does not have any Sahana product from his industry! Atana is a janyam of Sankarabharanam (29th melam) with a complex swara sequence. It is a bhashanga ragam as it has a double Nishadham. K.V.Mahadevan gave a superb Atana in yaar tharuvaar indha ariyasanam (?veera abhimanyu). In salangai oli Illayaraja used balakanakamaya (Thaayagaiyer's Atana composition) in the scene when Manjubarghavi dances on the stage and Kamalahasan starts dancing in the kitchen (unable to control his inherent dance flow). Atana is a very brisk and "gambeeramaana ragam"! Chalanaatai is the last (36th) melam in the suddha madhyama ragas and hence using 3rd Ri, Ga, Da, and Ni. Illayaraja is the only one who ever chose to use this rare ragam in cinema. The song is un paarvai oru varam in the movie ninaivellam nithiya. Sridhar directed that movie. Oh boy, Sridhar- Illayaraja combination has given several marvellous songs to Thamizh music! Vairamuthu's lyrics reached wonderful heights in that song. Illayaraja's use of this vivadhi ragam is very intelligent and guarded, avoiding any un melodious use of the vivadhi swaras. This song proved to be a terrific hit when compared to his use of the last (72nd) melam in the prathimadhyama ragas, which is Rasikapriya. He used that ragam to tune sangeethamae in kovil pura. He starts his Chalanatai like Ga3 Ma1 Pa (unpaarvai) Ma1 Pa Ma1 Ri3 Sa (oru varam). Then he goes Ga3 Ga3 Ga3 Ga3 Ri3 Ri3 Ri3 Ri3 (inivarum munivarum) Sa Sa Ri3 Ri3 Sa Sa Sa Sa (thadumaarum kanimaram). A beautiful interplay of immediately adjacent vavadhi swaras with an unanticipated melody that is much more than you could bargain from using such ragas. In the charanam he starts using Da3 and Ni3. He starts the charanam like Sa Ni Sa Sa Pa (chelai moodum) Da Da Da Pa (illam cholai) Sa Ni Sa Sa (maalai choodum) Ri Ri Ri Sa (malar maalai). The tune development is just excellent! I was in Srirangam when this movie was released (in early eighties). In the Vadakku uthirai veedhi sandhu, there was a guy called as "paaku cheeni". He was so crazy with this song that the cassette would be playing all the time in his house. While playing kabadi or cricket in the streets I used to get the benefit of listening to this lilting song for free, not knowing what a rare ragam it was! Look what Vairamuthu writes in that song: Just being seen by you is a great boon; even an ascetic to come in future would loose his hold on celibacy on seeing you; you are a tree bearing beautiful fruits (breasts) You are a garden that wears sari you are a flower that is worn by flowers twenty moons would shine in your finger nails; youthful dreams would bud in our eye corners as our fingers play on each other, as the distance between us decreases, the glowing light would dim and our eyes would close (in the ecstasy of love) Oh man, what a language he has written! An unbelievable choice of words and thought in describing the beauty of a women. In a recent song (telephone manipol in Indhian), look how the poet describes the beauty of a women in modern terms incorporating the latest technological advances in his poetry! Is she the one who laughs like a telephone bell is she the one who is like a Melbourne flower did lord Brahma use a computer to sketch her figure has her voice been made up of digital signals is she the latest cellular phone A wonderful movie by Shankar with great songs by A.R.Rahman. I think the above song is by Vairamuthu. It is amazing how these poets get such novel ideas to describe a simple thing. Grandiosity seems to be an essential quality of a poet's mind. Naatai is a janyam of Chalanaatai. The arohanam and avarohanam of Naatai are Sa Ri3 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Ni3 Sa and Sa Ni3 Pa Ma1 Ga3 Ma1 Ri3 Sa. Notice the vakram Ga3 Ma1 Ri3 Sa. Often singers sing Natai like Chalanaatai using all the swaras. Illayaraja used Muthuswamy Dikshidhar's Naatai krithi "maha- ganapathim" in the movie sindhubhairavi. Apart from that he has tuned one Natai (peigalai nambadhae - a jolly song in mahanadhi). Only Kamal can make such daring pictures about paedophiles and sexual abuse of children. In the early part of the movie, "peigalai" song has been used to show what a happy family Kamal leads. It has become a common feature in India for the government to crumble to dust once in two years costing crores of tax-payer's rupees for re-election! People have gone immune to all these and they just seem to mind their own business (like finishing B Sc and then studying a crash course in C language programming at NIIT to become a "consultant" to come to the USA). Who cares if the government survives or falls! But, a "mahanadhi" viewer is left with tears rolling down the cheek and extreme sympathy for Kamal at the horrendous turn of events in his life (even though it is just a movie). Kudos, to Kamal! Illayaraja's use of Naatai for that song is quite a surprise. He has presented a pure Naatai in that song. Ga Ma Pa (peigalai) Pa Pa Pa (namba- dhae) Pa Ni Sa Ni (pinjilae) Pa Pa Pa (vembadhae). The song ends with S.Varalakshmi singing the tail piece. Gambeera Naatai is a pentatonic ragam where there is no vivadhi swaram. So, it is distinctly different from Chalanatai and Naatai. The aarohanam and avarohanam of Gambeera Naatai is Sa Ga3 Ma1 Pa Ni3 Sa and Sa Ni3 Pa Ma1 Ga3 Sa. You could call it as a janyam of Sankarabharanam or Chalanaatai. Illayaraja's innum ennai enna seyya pogiraai in singaravelan has been tuned in Gambeera Naatai. He has used the raagam remarkably. S.P.B and Janaki have done wonders in the charanam where most of the tune is set in thara sthayi! Earlier T.Rajendar scored one song in the same ragam (kaadhal oorvalam ingae in pookkalai parikkadheergal). That is also an excellent song. If we change the 3rd Ni in the avarohanam of Gambeera Naatai to kaisiki Nishadham (2nd Ni) we get Thillang. Illayaraja has given few Thillangs so far. probably the first one was kothamallee poovae in kallukkul eeram. His other Thillang song is manadhil urudhi vendum in sindhu bhairavi (a fantastic Bharathiyar poem). Look what Bharathiyaar says in that poem: PERIYA Kadavul kaaththal vendum!! Webster's English dictionary gives the meaning for God as "the one supreme being, the creator and ruler of the universe". If so, how can we have a "Periya" Kadavul (big God)? I guess Bharathiyaar compares God to human beings and says "Periya Kadavul". In kaiveesamma kaiveesu there is one Thillang (anbae thaan thai aanadhu). MSV has given a great Thillang "nalladhor veenai seidhae". That is in K.Bala- chandar directed varumayin niram sivappu. Kamal is a big Bharathiyaar fan in that movie. Nalladhor is also a Bharathiyaar song. Illayaraja has used a ragam that is closely related to Thillang in kavarimaan (Thyaagaiyer's Brovabaarama in Bahudhari ragam). Because of the unique "vakra" phrases, many of the above mentioned vakra ragas are very easily identifiable. Vakra ragas are a boon to beginners as they help to get a start in carnatic music. If there is a vakram in a ragam, and if that is what gives the important ragalakshanam to the ragam, then that is how it has to be sung! You cannot go like Sa Ri2 Ga2 Ma1 in Reethigowlai or sing like Ma1 Ga3 Ri2 Sa in Sahana. These are absolutely not permissible. Why these strict strictures? I read in a book recently that there was a Chinese sage called as Li Ling. He would usually be naked in his house. When somebody asked about it to him, he said "I consider the whole world as my house and my house as my cloth. So, why the hell are you entering my trousers?"!! Nature made men to intercourse with women to procreate and sustain life on earth. That is a rule. If man tries to enter into another man's trouser ignoring the ordinance of Nature, AIDS awaits him inside the other man's trouser! If the lorry driver in India defies the present day societal norms and seek polygamous pleasure, then AIDS awaits him at the gates of pleasure! Regulations and rules make our life go smooth. Rules enriched carnatic music and gave rise to an excellent variety of ragas. Till Nature gives her treatment of gradual evolution to things, what be now, let be in future! -Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan, Internal Medicine Department, Brackenridge Hospital, Austin, Tx 78751.
This is the 11th of 15 articles titled Classical Ilayaraja appeared on Usenet in the 90s. I’ve added links to the songs, so you can listen as you read. You could also try my Tamil song search.
V.G.Pannerdass has got an experimental animal in his V.G.P Golden Beach near Madras! That is his “goorka”. He pays that watchman only to stand near the gate with an expressionless face. Whatever the passersby do, he would stand there with the same old expressionless face! Let Kamal Hassan do all the “seshtai” that he does in the last scene ofMoonram Pirai, the VGP goorka’s mask like face would show neither happiness nor sadness! He’d neither cry nor laugh. The VGP management is so proud of this guy that it is even ready to bet a hefty prize money if that would motivate somebody to make this guy cry or laugh. I cannot help wondering at VGP’s morbid taste in having this kind of a person at their gate.
Now, can we consider the usage of raagas to make this person change his emotions? If Ilayaraja goes before this person and sings his Valli song (enna enna kanavu) or Payanangal Mudivadhillai song (vaigaraiyil) in Subhapanthuvarali raagam, would it make his affect sad? It perhaps would, because some of the raagas indeed have a powerful negative effect on one’s affect, causing him to go to the lows! Let SPB go before this person and sing his Mayuri song (idhu oru mananaatiya medai) in the raagam Brindavana Saranga, or L.Vaidyanathan sing his veeNaiyadi nee enakku (Ezhavadu Manidhan) in Kalyani, would it make his affect happy? It perhaps would, because some raagas indeed have a very powerful positive effect on one’s affect, causing him to go to the highs! (This is what music therapy basically aims at, right?). Now, the question is, are there any raagas that can really make this person laugh or at least to open his pursed lips and give a smile ?!
The human species is very conceited that only it can laugh! It has concluded that the sense of humour is an essential human quality. Maybe, during the innumerable years of evolution, it is the only species that has somehow successfully learnt to expressively manifest its inner humourous feelings. Just because the animals do not widely open their mouth and laugh (as many of us do often, much to the disgust of our neighbours!), the old ancestral members of our species seem to have concluded that the animals do not have any sense of humour. I at least know of one another species that can express its humour well! Buy a pocket of “kadalamittai” and start ascending the stairs of Trichi Malaikotai to have Lord Ganesha’s darshan. Those garrulous monkeys ‘gumbal’ there will stealthly follow you and at one oppurtune moment “rag” you and snatch away your kadalamittai with a swift agile attack! While they recede away from you (or rather you recede away from them) the victims report noticing a kinda derisive laughter by the monkeys! Anyway, if raagas can cause sadness and crying, can it also cause a person to laugh!
Music directors often face this challenge, when directors tell them a comical situation in their movie and ask for a tune. M.S.Viswanathan has done a fantastic job in the movie Bale Pandiya. The song is neeyE enakku enRum. MSV tuned that song in chaste Sudha Danyasi. The situation of that song is a very comical one, Sivaji Ganesan and first class actor M.R.Radha vying with each other in their jest. The lyrics too is quite comical. But, the question is, does the Sudha Danyasi raagam of the song have an element of humour in it! Probably not.
Ilayaraja too has used pure classical raagas to suit humourous situations. In Thambiku Endha Ooru, Madhavi is a city girl. Hero Rajini is a country brute! Madhavi happens to come to Rajini’s village once. And now, even a small “paapa” with a rubber nipple in its mouth will tell the rest of the story: Rajini will sing a song critisizing Madhavi, Madhavi will get irritated, then she will fight with Rajini and vice versa, and when the villain comes, both of them will start loving each other and finally, the extras in police dress will come and arrest the villain….! Can you try to guess what raagam Ilayaraja has used for the comical song! Arabhi!
Arabhi is a Sankarabharanam janyam. Its arohanam and avarohanam are Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Da2 Sa; Sa Ni3 Da2 Pa Ma Ga3 Ri2 Sa. It is a very pleasant raagam. It is closely related (sanchara-wise) to Devakandhari. There are no cinema songs in Devakandhari. But, in the pre-Ilayaraja period we have got one Arabhi song. That is Erikkarai mElE. I guess it has been tuned by the then giant K.V.Mahadevan. T.M.S starts the song in his “ganeer” voice in the madhyama sthayi dhaivatham. Ilayaraja’s first Arabhi song is “aasai kiLiyE arai kilO puLiyE..”
Malaysia Vasudevan has sung this song. He is one of the best singers of our time, who has been appropriately used only by Ilayaraja. Malaysia does not seem to have got any proper training in classical music. His voice is like a resume with record of BA (history) from Madras University and 2 months of computer training in NIIT! If you give it to a proper bodyshopper it will come to California. Otherwise it will just go to teach 7th standard history text in Madras Corporation school! (Thou shall not take offence, dear resume!) Like Rahman uses the “thagara dappa” voice of Suresh Peters wonderfully and sells it, Ilayaraja has used Malaysia’s unpolished voice excellently in many of his highly classical songs. aasai kiLiyE is one such instance….The song starts like this Ma Pa Da Sa, Da Sa Da Pa, Pa Pa Da Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa Ri, Ri Ma Pa Da Da Pa Da Sa….It is a fantastic song, giving all the raaga-lakshanam of Aarabi in a very pure form. Even though the avarohanam of Aarabi just lists all the swaras of Sankarabaranam plainly, there is a specific way by which you got to use those swaras to make it sound Aarabi. The temporal duration (karvai) of Ma is usually protracted while the gandaram is just touched upon very rapidly. Thus Ma Ga Ri Sa is sung like Ma….GaRi Sa. Also, we can practically omit the usage of nishadam and the raagam would still be unblemished. Ilayaraja has not used Ni in this song. The lyrics of this song is funny.
aasai kiLiyE arai kilO puLiyE azhugina thakkaaLiyE mEyura kOzhi ellaam aaguradhu kariyE adiyE en arumai thavakkaLaiyE
If the hero taunts the heroine by calling her as “spoiled tomato” then it is understandable. When the hero calls her as “half kg of tamarind”, what does it mean? But, that is how the song goes…. Now, lately Ilayaraja has given two more Aarabi songs. One song goes likemannavanE mannavanE manasukkEththa thennavanE (Thandhu Vitten Ennai). I think it is a Vijayakanth movie song. The song has been sung by SPB and Janaki. It is a very melodious song. He has used Ni in this song. The last Aarabi that he has given comes in the movie Pudhupatti Ponnuthayee. The song is madhurai vaazhum meenakshiyE. This is also an unbelievably classic song sung by K.J.Yesudoss and Janaki. One can very easily learn Aarabi with the help of these cinema songs! But, does Arabi have an element of humour? Probably not.
Carnatic music is like Choolaimedu 24 hours polyclinic in Madras. You go there with just symptoms of common cold. But the Doctor there (who has not yet cleared the subjects that he failed in final MBBS) has lots of surprises for you. He says that you are very week and almost coerces you to have the supposedly invigorating 5% glucose drip (which hardly has a total of 25 gm of glucose in it!). Carnatic music has got lot more surprises to give you than this Doc! There is a raagam which has got the same arohanam and avarohanam as Aarabi (Sa Ri Ma Pa Da Sa; Sa Da Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa; Since we can sing Aarabi without using Ni, we can say so) The raagam is Sama, another janyam of Sankarabaranam. Even though Aarabi and Sama are swara-wise identical, they are totally two different raagas sanchara wise. The difference comes in the way we deal with the gandaram. In Aarabi, the Ga is just touched upon while we go from Ma to Ri. In Sama, we can be little more liberal (time-wise) with Ga. Also, there are certain special prayogams in Sama like Ma Pa Da Ma. So, these minute details make a drastic difference in these raagas.
MSV is the only one who has beautifully used this wonderful raagam, Sama in cinema. He has given two Samas. One is in the movie Sirai. The story is a revolutionary plot charecterizing the pathos of Lakshmi, an innocent rape victim. She is the wife of a Brahmin priest, Prasanna. After the rape the priest finds her repulsive, and she decides to go and live with the rapist (Rajesh)! In the first few scenes there is a song to portray the kind of love the priest and his wife have for each other. The song is naan paadi kondE iruppEn in the raagam Sama. Oh, boy! What a song! What a classic Sama piece! Vani Jayaram has sung this song. The heroine says:
saahithyam naanaaga sangeetham neeyaaga naal thOrum isai archchanai en paadal nee kEtka un kaNgal enai paarkka naanE un varadhakshinai
How beautifully the poet (Kannadasan?) has written about their love. Later, after the rape, the hypocrisy of the hero’s love gets fully exposed. Very rarely, we get to see such classic song, classically acted and classically picturised (director: R.C.Shakthi). The second Sama that MSV has given is mounaththil viLaiyaadum manasaakshiyE (Nool Veli) This song has been sung by Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna. It is a great song. These are all great contributions of MSV to Thamizh cinema music.
Recently, in the movie Sathi Leelavathi there is a very humourous song. The song has been sung by Kamal Hassan himself. This maarugO maarugO is in the raagam Kaanada. Kaanada is a major gana raagam. It is probably now less sung in the katcheris than about a few decades ago (the popularity of a raagam seems to go through a cyclical change through years!) Kaanada is a janyam of Karaharapriya. Its arohanam and avarohanam are Sa Ri2 Ga2 Ma1 Pa Ma1 Da2 Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Pa Ma1 Ga2 Ma1 Ri2 Sa. The key prayogam that gives Kaanada its identity is Pa Ma Ga Ma Ri Sa. Ilayaraja has followed the grammer of this raagam sincerely in the pallavi and charanam. But the interlude music is not very good. Because, he used this raagam for a humourous situation, does it mean that it has an element of humour in it! Probably not.
Earlier, he used Kaanada in a very majestic way in the movie Sindhu Bhairavi. The song ispoomaalai vaangi vandhaan. Yesudoss! With the drone of the Thamboora, and the usage of very minimal instruments, it is a fantastic song. Rahman has few Kaanada’s to his credit too. First, pudhu veLLai mazhai in the movie Roja. There is another number kisu kisu nammakul kidaiyaadhu (Manidha Manidha). There is a liberal Ni3 in this song. Deva scored a Kaanada song too (thennamara thoppukullE kuyilE – Michael Raj) Earlier, how can we forget the old gem mullai malar mElE by the music directors of yesteryears. Dharbari Kaanada is closely related to Kaanada. While Kaanada is the janyam of the 22nd melam (Karaharapriya), Dharbari Kaanada is a janyam of the 20th melam (Nadabhairavi). Thus we use sudha daivatham (Da1) instead of Da2 (sathuchrathi daivatham) in Darbari Kaanada. Ilayaraja has a few songs in this raagam. The best example is aagaaya vennilaavE in the movieArangetra Velai. Uma Ramanan and Jayachandran (or Yesudoss?). Uma Ramanan is another unfortunate singer (like Malaysia). Only Ilayaraja has exploited her marvellous voice to the maximum capacity. Recently he has used her in Paatu Paadava (nil nil nil; an half boiled Vasantha) and in Pudhupatti Ponnuthayee (oor urangum nErathilE; a superb Hindholam). Perhaps his first Darbari Kaanada is isai mEdaiyil (Illamai Kalangal) sung by SPB and Janaki. There is another one in the movie Mounam Sammadham (kalyaana thEnnila) by Yesudoss.
A couple of years ago, cinematographer Ashok Kumar directed a Hindi movie called as Kamaagni. Reportedly he had sexploited the heroine from top to bottom as the story was some kind of abstract Freudian theme! (P.C.Sriram did the same to Ishwariya in his movie Meera. Is there any association between camera-men turned into directors and hard-core sexploitation?) My brother tells me that there is a very good Darbari Kaanada song in that movie. And, it seems Ilayaraja has done a very rich re-recording in that movie, mostly in Darbari Kaanada!
There is a song in the movie Enga Ooru Paatukaaran in which (I presume) that our village hero “pasu nesan” Ramarajan milks his cow (the meaning of the song goes like that). I don’t know if that scene was supposed to be comic in that movie, but since Ramarajan would have mostly come in his “touser”, probably it was a comedy scene! Can you imagine what raagam Illagaraja has used to tune this song azhagE nee pErazhagi? Kunthalavarali! Look at the selection of raagam! Kunthalavarali is a Karaharapriya janyam. Sa Ma1 Pa Da2 Ni2 Da2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Da2 Pa Ma1 Sa. He has used this raagam very beautifully in this song sung by SPB. Particularly the thara sthayi Sa Ma prayogas are very good (veerangalum dheerangalum…) Maatai paal karakaradhuku Kunthalavarali kEkudha! I don’t know if there are any more kunthalavarali songs in cinema music.
Man is essentially a visual animal. He gets most of the information from the external world as a tremendous fund of visual input. The visual information interacts with his intellect and can cause all different kinds of emotions. Just look at the “heart-wrecking” scene of an old thaatha accidently walking on a banana skin and falling on the ground! It might be a real humourous scene! Just look at a self-assumed hero (trying to show film in front of a ladies hostel with his 2 stroke Kawasaki Bajaj!) skid and fall on the ground! It might be a real humourous scene. Strangely, just auditory input alone doesn’t seem to have the capacity to evoke man’s sense of humour! Sure that music can cause sadness and happiness. But, humour?! Recently, Music Television showed Beavis and Butt-head farting in public, with a fantastic “background” score! That music indeed seemed to be very humourous. But, if I had put off the TV and let my room-mates hear that “music” alone, I doubt if they would have at the least made a smile!
