The Maestro

28thDecember2011,6PM,NehruIndoorStadium,Chennai.Anaudienceofover10,000comprising ofthewhoswhoofIndiancinema,therichandthepoor,themaverick,elite,dumb,educated,illiterate, everykindofpersonyouwouldfind,waitedwithbatedbreath,withthetensionofafatherstanding outsidethelaborwardinahospitalwaitingtoheartheshrillsofhisfirstchild.Theywaitedforadhothi cladmanof68,whohassince1977mesmerizedmillionswithhismusic.IlaiyaraajaorRajaasheis affectionatelycalledbyhisfans(whofeelgratifiedcallingthemselvesdevotees)wasbackonapublic dais,performingLiveafter6years!13musiciansfromHungaryhadspeciallyflownintopaytributeto thisman.TheyincludedsomeoftheworldsbestJazzmusicians.TheentiretroupeofIlaiyaraaja comprisingover50peopleonavarietyofpercussionandnonpercussioninstrumentswaspresent.Ever sinceAnnakilireleasedin1977,forovera35yearsthisman,nothingshortofageniushasbeen churningonemasterpieceafteranother.ThisarticleisashorttributetotheMaestrowhointhewords ofdirectorBalakrishnan(ofPaafame)istheonlymusicdirectorinIndia. Rewind35yearsback,toanerawhichwasdominatedbydoyensintheindustrysuchas M.S.ViswanathanandK.V.Mahadevan,cameIlaiyaraajawithablendofruralfolkmusicofTamil Naduandwesternorchestration.Throwingeverysinglebitofconventionalismoutofthewindow,he createdwithsuchfinessesomeextraordinarycompositionsrightatthebeginningofhiscareer.Beit MachanapatheengalafromAnnakiliorthehauntingmelodySenthurapoovefrom16 vayathinilehisfirstfewcompositionsmadeitsoobvioustotheworldthatherewasamanwhowould changethewaymusicisbeingmadeinIndia.HerewasamanwhocouldblendthebestofTamilfolk, Westernclassical,Carnatic,Hindustani,Rap,Pop,Jazz,Vedic,Arabicandyetmaintainnativesplendor withsuchalarmingeffortlessness.Justafewfilmsoldin1978,MangalampalliBalamuralikrishna (consideredadoyenofCarnaticmusicandsomeonewhohadchallengedandexperimentedhimself) walkedintoRajasstudiostorecordanumberforthemovieKavikuyilexpectinganotherfolksong. RajaplayedoutaclassicalcompositioninReetigowlaiaRaagam(scale)sofar(then)untouchedby anymusicdirectorinIndiaandthuswasbornthecelestialmelodyChinnaKannanAzhaikiran.The result:adumbfoundBalamuralikrishnaandafewmillionothers. Fromthenonforthenext20yearsRajaruledtheroostlikenootherinTamilandtoagreatextentin Telugu.ThesecrettoasuccessfulmovieformostproducerswastofirstgetIlaiyaraajaonboardthe crewofthefilmbeforetheycouldsignupahero.Hundredsofmoviesthatwouldhavesunkwithouta traceattheboxofficerantopackedhouses,thankstothisman.WhetheritwasKamalHassanor RajnikanthorChiranjeevioranunknownheroforthatmatter,almosteverysinglemoviefromthelate 70stillmid90shadRajacomposingmusic.Todatehehascomposedmusicformorethan950films spanningacrossTamil,Telugu,Malayalam,Kannada,MarathiandHindi.Ifthatisanastonishing number,holdon,hehascomposedseveralotheralbumssuchasNothingbutwindwithPandit HariprasadChaurasia,HowtoNameitwhichisatributetoBachandSaintThiagaraja,The MusicMessiah,Thiruvasagamaculturalcrossoverprobablythejewelamongallofthemwith theBudapestSymphonyOrchestraplayingtothetunesofRaja,tothelyricsofManickavasagara ShaivaiteBhakthipoetwholivedduringthe6thand7thcenturyAD.Hehastobecreditedwith

The Maestro

introducingSymphonytotheIndianaudience.TheHindifilmLajjahadIlaiyaraajadoingthe backgroundscorewiththeBudapestSymphonyOrchestra,afactthatisboundtosurprisemanyofyou. Rajasharesaspecialrapportwithdifferentmoviemakers.ThelikesofKamalHassan,Bharathirajaa, ManiRatnam,Balki,Mahendran,K.Balachander,BaluMahendraandnottoforgetK.Vishwanath havealwaysmanagedtobringoutthebestinIlaiyaraaja.Thesewerethefilmmakerswholeaptoutof thetalkiegenerationandmadecinemaavisualmedium.ItisthusnotverysurprisingthatRajasbest cameoutwiththeirassociation.WhocanforgetValaiyosaifromSathya,Madaithirandhu fromNizhalgal,PadariyenPadippariyenfromSindhuBhairavi,KanneKalaimanefrom MoondramPirai,MounamanaNeramfromSalangaiOli,CheeniKumhainfrom CheeniKum,SenthazhampoovilfromMullumMalarum,KattuKuyilikufrom Thalapathitomentionafew.SingerssuchasK.JYesudas,S.PBalasubramaniam,Malaysia Vasudevan,Mano,S.Janaki,Chitra,AnuradhaRamanan,Swarnalathahavealwaysbeenhisfirst choicesandhavegivenusafewthousandmelodiesamongstthem. RajaredefinedBackgroundMusic(BGM)andgaveitanewdimension.BGMwhichwasjustafiller untilthen(1970s),becameacharacterinamovieandverycentralinmanycases.Therearescenesin NayaganorMounaragamorSalangaiOlithatyoucanrecognizelisteningtotheirBGM.No wonderthen,thefirsttimewhenNationalAwardsforBGMwasinstitutedRajabaggeditfor PazhaasiRaja.GetontoYouTubeandsearchIlaiyaraajaBGMandyougetalibraryofthose. Eachoneisamasterpiece.WesterninfluenceisverydominantinRajasviolinarrangementswiththe bestprobablybeingRajaParvaiwheretheprotagonist(Kamal)isablindviolinist.Thetitletrackof themoviebeginsonaseriousPantuvaraliscale,withaCarnaticensembleandascendstoacrescendo beforetransitioningintoafullfledgedwesternorchestrationrepletewithdrumsandthebassguitar (nobodyhasgiventhebassguitaranidentityasRajahasdone). Rajahasadornedseveralawards,andseveralmorewillfollowsuit.Nottoolongfromnow,Raja himselfwillbethetitleofseveralawards.RajaisaGoldMedalistinclassicalGuitarfromTrinity CollegeinLondon.HeisthefirstAsiantohavecomposedafullsymphonythatwasrecordedbythe RoyalPhilharmonicOrchestrainLondon(whosepatronhappenstobeHerMajestyQueenElizabeth andPresidentLordYehudiMenuhin).MostofIndiasentriestotheOscarshavehadIlaiyaraajascoring musicforthem.Nayaganwhichwashis400thfilmislistedbytheTIMEMagazineasoneofthetop 100moviesfromacrosstheworldtohaveevergracedthesilverscreen.BritishBroadcasting CorporationreleasedalistoftheWorldstoptensongsin2002andAdiRakkammaKaiyaThattu sungbyS.P.Balasubramaniamand(Late)SwarnalathaforThalapathiwaslisted4th.Thisafter peoplefrom155countriesvoted.RajaisverywidelyrespectedinsouthIndiawhereheisworshipped bymany,notoutofsycophancybutbecauseofthepurebliss,joyanddivinitythatheprovidestohis devotees.TheGovernmentofIndiahasconferredonhimthePadmaBhushan(thethirdhighest civilianhonor).HehasalsoreceivedtheNationalAwardfourtimes,3formusicdirection(Sindhu

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Bhairavi,RudraVeena,SagaraSangamam)andoneforbackgroundscore(PazhassiRaja). MidwaythroughmyeffortIrealizehowsillyitwasofmetohaveattemptedtoreduceRajatoan articleinourNewsletter,whenheisthesubjectofdoctoralresearchforhundredsofmusicstudents aroundtheglobe.However,IthinkRajafallsintothatcategoryofmortals,amerementionofwhose namewouldsendusintoraptures.Havingsaidthat,itisimportantformetostatewhyIdecidedto writethisarticleinthefirstplace.WeallhailfromsuchdiversebackgroundsofIndia,thatitisdifficultif notimpossibletorelishdifferentregionaltastesandsensibilities.Rajaisageniuswhosecreationsare beyondtheparochialbordersoflanguage,cultureandnationalidentities.Unfortunately,thatisnothow weallviewit.SatyajitRayorM.SSubbulakshmiorHariprasadChurasiaarelegendaryfigures,butthey wereassociatedwithregionalidentities.AskacinemaenthusiastfromGujarataboutSatyajitRay,he willgoWow!AskamusicloverfromDelhiaboutM.S.Subbulakshmiandtheyfeelgoosebumpsall over.IsRajasuchageniuswhocanbelikenedtothesegreats?Rajaistotodaysgenerationwhat Beethoven,Bach,Thiagaraja,Tansenweretotheirgenerations.Afterallnoothercomposerhas composedaSymphonythatwasrecordedbytheRoyalPhilharmonicOrchestraofLondonand,no othercomposerwhohascomposedasymphonyhasetchedoutKeerthanaisintheirpurestclassical forms,orchestratedTamilfolk,Indianrap,jazz,westernclassicalthelistisendless.Iendwithashort tributetothislegend,Isaignani,PadmaBhushanIlaiyaraaja. Manyatune,manyarhythm, Justoneman,Icantfathom, AllthatIfeignisjustignorance, Thismanisallprovidence, Sixtyeightgoldenyears, Thouhaslived, MarudhanayagamisallIamwaitingfor,tosayItoolived, Underyourlordship, OhLord!OhRaja! Manyatune,manyarhythm.....
AnandGovindarajan PhDStudentChemicalEngineering OklahomaStateUniversity