There had been varied opinions about the performance of Tamil film music these days. Some are in favour of it and some, plainly speaking, are just sick of it. I belong to the second group. I am still basking under the glorious days of M.S. Viswanathan and Ilaiyaraja. Of course, I make an exception to listen to Rahman.

M.S.V., as he is fondly known among his fans, is presently in his semi retirement, working occasionally for T.V. Serials. But Ilaiyaraja is still around, somehow seemingly defeated, as demonstrated by the lesser number of assignments and hit songs. Has he retracted his claws, which had gripped us audiences so firmly from the late seventies up to the early nineties? Perhaps not. But why the grim near-silence in his part. With the eventual success of the predominantly pop-influenced composers during the nineties, he is now even being blamed for the non-existence of marketable music up to the period when Rahman was making waves breaking one record after another in audio sales. And yes, that was to the point that Rahman was approached by Sony to make two albums under his own name. Indeed, it was a remarkable and staggering achievement for an Indian cinema music composer.

The nineties saw the emergence of pop-culture in India. MTV, V Channel usually consisting of cheaply made dance tracks thinly disguised as songs. Likewise, youth worshipping culture was becoming successful imports. The ship carrying those elements was moving too fast, lost control and wrecked the Tamil film industry, and it had never been the same (at least for this writer). Boys with the acting talent of underage circus clowns and a collection of fungus called actresses filled the screen to loathsome level. Many young directors stormed the screen like twisters, with recycled stories and run-of mill techniques and cliché ridden sceneries, and claimed the respect of somewhat awakened audience; awakening triggered by MTV and the rest of the imports.

Amidst all these happenings, a remarkable thing happened to the commerce concerning the dear old Tamil cinema. Suddenly, soundtracks meant a lot to the business. Before, they merely served the function of a propeller for certain emotional level in the film. One of the tools the director used to tell his story. It all seems now for every twenty minutes of bored scenes and stiff performances, the audiences were supposed to be given breaks with exotic locales and fantastically absurd dance tracks; sung by singers who never understood what they are singing about nor bothered about the clarity of the words they are saying (or singing if you call it so), and performed by actors, actresses and a dance group whose motivation are money and fame. And the good news is, or bad news depends on where you stand, they sell.

And that was the time Rahman - who had the right education, exposure and, most importantly, talent - stepped in. He had the right sense for both pop and cinematic music. He has the uncanny ability to hit both targets, but unfortunately most of them just preferred to use him for the former, as exemplified by films like Vandi Cholai China Rasu, Puthya Mannargal and Jodi where he just provided the songs.

Cinematically speaking, Indian film does not deserve a talent like Rahmans! I would be happier of he works in Hollywood where they have different altars for background scores and songs. (note: we know now he did Bombay Dream for Andrew Lloyd Webber, yessss)

During the last decade there were many evidences of dead projects in form of C.Ds and cassettes of songs which were heard but never seen (eg; Gangai Amaran's Poonjolai and Kunjumon's Kodiswaran). It was an eerie feeling listening to them now. Its like listening to the howl of wolves and scratches on the door but not seeing anything or anybody. God Almighty!

Ilaiyaraja composed music for cinema. That's plain and simple fact. That was why he was least bothered about the sound quality of some of the songs. It was not his job. Rahman took the initiative and had a hand in sound engineering, which explains partially the heavy cost of hiring him. Some of Ilaiyaraja's music were recorded in stereo and some not, depending on the given budget. Stereo or not, it worked. It is still working, at least for this writer. It would not be right to put him in the same level of the avant garde of Tamil film music, i.e, in the same class as Viswanathan or Rahman. He absorbed the elements pioneered by Viswanathan and carried it a few step further. His songs, like Viswanathan's, elaborated the emotion of the particular scenes and explored it within four or five minutes. Apart from visual lyricism, which were not particularly in its finest moment especially in the eighties, music was almost the most indispensable mechanisme in the art of filmmaking, and Ilaiyaraja's contribution was monumental. I wish I could name films as examples, but how can I possibly do that? Titles of these film and songs too many and I might slip.

His music spoke on behalf of the performers, which in a way explains why he used very few lyricists and singers. Vairamuthu and Vali was employed most of the times. The former, at that time, was never compromised by marketing dictations. He wrote the contents of his heart out for the characters. Vali's versatility knew no boundaries and now, entering his seventies, he still manages to outrank the rest of his peers writing the most youthful lyrics. Singers like S.P. Bala, Janaki and Mano was used again and again because they were not only signers but the vocal actors compatible with any given visual performances. S.P. Bala is a monster of a singer, no pun intended. That man can do anything with his voice. Together with the rest of the regulars, he was there within Ilayaraja's reach. The assignments were just too many for Ilaiyaraja to pause and ponder about hiring a new singer who needs coaching and, maybe, constant yelling, thus draining the composer of his energy and time. Most recording is done on single take, so why go for new inexperienced singers?

Sure he was greedy as hell, accepting any job coming his way, but he never failed the buying customers. There were some forms of compromises which were not much of a bother. Those economic contributions worth so much to the nostalgics especially when they are reflected at these times of phony artistic pride and deliberate quality downgrading for the sake of feeding fast food junkies.

The most constant accusation on him was the fact that he rarely had pioneered other forms of music, say like Reggae, hard rock and retro, depending on the period these music was facoured in those places. If you listen to the fast paced dance tracks of his, especially in the eighties, you will notice the strong influence of Jazz horns and percussions. And I'm afraid that's all there is to claim his adaptability in western pop fares. Reggae, hard rock or whatever, do they suit the particular song sequence? How much can they contribute to the emotion of the song. That's why he resorted to the acoustic guitar (his forte), Carnatic foundations - which found deep respect among the torch bearers of the traditional style - and symphony orchestra, heavier on the violin and other string instruments, which has since become cliché and scoffed upon by present day listeners.

Present day busy composers like Deva and Raj Kumar does not have to travel far west to accommodate new sources for ideas. They have Rahman for that. Deva is like a miserably inadequate burglar, often exposed each time he steals tunes, and even the whole ensemble consisting of popular English songs or themes. Raj Kumar's music is like this little dog which is chasing its own tail. One day its going to get tired and fall down, or somebody might shoot it on the account of its mental instability. How both of them are going to be remembered is beyond me. I try not to think about them even now.

Singers who are singing now, with an exception of a few like Unni Krishnan and Harini, has no idea what particular emotion they should project for the song. You can't blame them. The composer themselves have no idea about it. Hold it! Even the director does not know anything about it.

Back to Ilaiyaraja. I feel that it is fair that he is not too much involved in films nowadays. He is still doing a fantastic job, say in films like Hey Ram, Anthapuram and Thirunelveli. It is good that he is playing a very small part in an era I consider as the worst period of Tamil film industry. The golden period is without question from the fifties till the seventies. Ilaiyaraja was the bridge between these two periods, somehow like an icon. He gave a perfect definition, alongside M.S.V and Rahman, of cinema music for the southern Indian film industry.

Note: 25/06/2002

I always look for redemption. Sometimes I feel that I have been hard on the present day composers. See the Radio 4 article in my Misc Article section, and you will know that I have since given up listening to radio. It must have been more than a year. So, did I miss anything?

Absolutely not. This is probably my ego or arrogance speaking, but I wrote the above piece three years ago (there is a mention of Raj Kumar who is nowhere in Tamil film scene now) and nothing much has changed. I suppose that's why I felt that there's nothing wrong with publishing the above now.

I have also given up on Ilaiyaraja. Recently, I listened to Kasi, his supposed comeback. Someone said it was a throwback to the late eighties (say like Karagattakaran). But what I heard was a hack job, very lazily done and unenthusiastically produced. I am not a fan of Hariharan, but he is capable of splendid job especially when he is singing for A. R. Rahman. Here he is hopeless. I suppose a more senior singer like S.P. Bala, Jesudass or even Mano could have spice them up a bit. Even then, the songs are dead. I feel sorry for Ilaiyaraja. I always hesitate in calling him a maestro or a genius. But I will never hesitate a second to confess that I listen to his old songs every night before sleeping. I still do, and I guess I will for a long time.

It was my mother who said that he just changed according to time. He can't be doing the same thing again and again. She is right. But the change was not effective. I suppose, I just go back to those CDs and relive the moment as and when I want. I don't have to wait for him to crank out something great. That might just never happen. If it does, goddamit I would be the first to rejoice.