#ILAYARAJA HINDI SONGS SERIES#

Yet, Janaki had a range and an ability to bring out the mood of the song which suited IR more. He did use her voice for many songs, which turned out to be hits as well. Was that why he utilized S Janaki more in the early days? Sources close to him said that Raja continued to look upon P Susheela as a Goddess, and almost worshipped her. When there was an altercation, it is said that Raja had to leave the room. It turned out later that the sound engineer had failed to record what Raja had played. There was a misunderstanding when at a recording of another music director in RajaвЂ™s early days as a guitarist, P Susheela felt he had not played a chord. Shooting moved away from sets to outdoors to capture nature at its best, with IlayarajaвЂ™s music providing melody and rhythm to nature. Youth took over the film industry, bringing in new talent among cinematographers, sound engineers and other technicians. Established singers like T M Sounderajan and P Susheela had to take the back seat.

This was soon to be a gale, sweeping aside veterans and young music directors alike. Ilayaraja brought with him a fresh breeze. Bharatiraja teamed up with him in Padhinaaru Vayadhinile, and the duo went on to deliver many hits, providing a new framework to the Tamil film industry. Ilayaraja was soon in demand, churning out hit after hit. When some said he could never replace MSV and his brand of Carnatic-based songs, IR came up with Kannan Oru Kaikuzhandhai in Bhadrakali with amazing improvisations like different tunes for Yesudas and P Susheela for the same lyrics in the song, the overlap as in En Kanmani (Chittu Kuruvi) and in the near-breathless song in Kanmaniyae (Dharmayuddham), the seamless Western-Indian combo in Minminikku Kannil Oru Minnal (Sigappu Rosakkal) вЂ“ IR was like a roller-coaster ride, providing wave after wave in a musical tsunami.

For those who thought it was a flash in the pan, came other hits. And suddenly, as the songs played out from the radio, the song Machaanai Paatheengala sung by S Janaki took Tamil Nadu by storm.ДЄs the other songs too like Annakili Unnai Thaedudhae became popular, crowds flocked to the theatres, swayed to the songs, and Annakili turned out to be a hit. For two weeks, the film limped at the box-office. Since there were already a few Rajas around, Rasaiah was given the name Ilayaraja.ДЄnnakili had a poor opening. A few persons, who were not convinced of RasaiahвЂ™s mettle, felt the film was doomed. IlayarajaвЂ™s first song for the film Annakili was marred by a bad omen вЂ“ a power cut just before the recording began. Ilayaraja was looking for opportunities to make his own mark but there were no takers. Panchu said he was fed up with the domination of Hindi film music in Tamil Nadu and wanted someone to break the stranglehold of Hindi music. It was then that Panchu Arunachalam, an associate of Kannadasan, was looking for a music director who would provide folk-based music for his film Annakili. Ilayaraja was making a living by working as an assistant for music director G K Venkatesh. Singer S P Balasubrahmanyam and RajaвЂ™s music troupe would present music performances including the then popular Hindi songs at various places. Moving to Chennai to seek a fortune in the film industry, he and his brothers stayed in a small lodge in Mylapore, attending classes of Dhanraj Master and hoping to meet some director or producer who would give them an opportunity. It was perhaps this practice that enabled Rasiah to have almost a computerized memory of songs for particular occasions. Their speciality was converting popular Tamil and Hindi songs into numbers which served as propaganda for the Communist party. The Paavalar brothers travelled across the length and breadth of the State.

#ILAYARAJA HINDI SONGS SERIES#

(This is the second part of a series on the maestro. How did Ilayaraja reach cult status? Coming from a small village in southern Tamil Nadu, with virtually no education and no musician in sight except his elder brother Paavalar Varadarajan whom he would accompany for music performances as part of Communist party propaganda, Rasaiah as he was known then had no traces of a musical genius in the making. This article was first published in 2018.

Ilayaraja hindi songs