Endrendum Raaja -- Jaya TV -- Part 1
BY Vels MP (our own Vel)
The opening teaser (documentary) on Raaja was just awesome ! Now i will list the somgs one by one.....
1) Janani Janani - Thaai Mookambikai - how many times i have heard this one, i have lost count....but when the master sat down to sing this, and as the charanams rolled by, there i was, all in tears. It touched me deep down in my soul....that first song was worth the Rs.750 i paid. Rest all was a bonus !!
2) Amma Endrazhaikaadha - Mannan -- Raaja had the audience in splits when he stressed that both he and KJY loved Amma -- and Raaja clarified jokingly on which Amma he meant , by pointing to the sky and stressed again on the word ""Ämma" -- ha ha haa. About the song, I just cannot believe KJY sang the charanams (wrongly) in his own tune. This is the first of the many other slips he would make in the show later.
3) Naanaga Naanillai - Thoongathe Thambi Thoongathe - SPB -- that ice cream voice that you can die for. Awesome shenai play and the orchestra was excellent. Shenai, flute, veenai/sitar wow wow .....
4) ( a) What is a symphony – a mini lecture and demo – Raaja summarized that a symphony is like multiple poems being recited parallely ! He conducted a mini symphony like he was a a man possessed and then went on to say this Schubert’s symphony was his inspiration to compose Idhayam pogudhaey
4) Idhayam Pogudhey - Pudhiya Vaarpugal (heart sliced into two) – the above symphony and this song merged into one and this number (sung briefly) was elevated in its effect when Maestro sung in his own voice
5) Paruvame - Nenjathai Killathe – Raaja recollected how they tried different things to get the foottap/jogging sound...the man who actually did the tapping on his thighs was then introduced....SPB was a killer in this song...he sang it to 200% perfection ! the interludes by the stunning orchestra was something out of the world !
6) Idhayam Oru Kovil - Idhaya Kovil – scintillating orchestra and in the masters commanding voice....when he pointed to the audience while singing,””enadhu jeevan needhan endrum pudhidhu” the audience exploded to a thunderous response! Man, he knows how to connect to the crowd !!
7) Nee Paartha Paarvai - Hey Ram – Raaja played the piano in some portions ...it was a great sight as the camera zoomed on his effortless movements over the piano keys....Hariharan missed the tempo and then corrected himself....surprising how he cannot get wrong such an acclaimed hit song of his own voice!!
8) En Iniya Pon Nilave – Moodupani – KJY sang this with lot of attitude & energy...powerful performances by the orchestra, and was a musical feast !!
9) Kanmaniye Kadhal - Aarilirundhu Aruvadhuvarai – I recollect a old Raaja interview where he says even before mannil indha kaadhal, he had composed breathless numbers (continuous singing is needed) – at this age, SPB sang this song with awesome breath control.
10) Aayiram Malargale - Niram Maaratha Pookal – i think karthik iyer sang this song with anitha and priya...this guy karthik had a great bass voice (of course Malaysia is still miles ahead), and could be an alternative better choice for new songs that Raaja generally gives to Tippu. Karthik sung it to near perfection ! Orchestra was bang on target, as was the case with all the songs!
11) Putham Pudhu Kaalai - Alaigal Oyvathillai – just the prelude had the audience go mad....the flute, the strings...the fine guitar lines....electric listening pleasure this song. How i wish Janaki to have been a part of this show....the second interlude strings work.....heavenly.
12) Chinna Kannan Azhaikiraan - Kavikkuyil (from the King himself BMK) – BMK hugged Raaja and SPB fondly....he appreciated Raaja for his pudhumai, thiramai etc, and then said because this china kannan called me, i have come here (china kannan he pointed was our raja)...at this age, BMK sang this song as good as the old one...the way he sang “rahasiya”in a hushed voice was nice...a reethigowlai raga treasure for us to cherish for ever !
13) Vizhiyile Malarndhadhu - Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri – strings strings strings....a look at the way this song is taxing on the violin musicians will let us understand why they call Raaja the music raatshasan......the other instruments did their jobs very nicely...bad the screen didn’t show Sada sir playing the opening guitar lines (or did i miss it ??) Anyways, Sada didn’t get enough screen space i would say !
14) Poove Sempoove - Solla Thudikkidhu Manasu – if vizhiyilae malarndhadhu taxed the violin players, this one was many times tougher...and as if this were not enough, KJY missed the timing and he didn’t start the charanam at the right time he had to. This happened 3 times before he got it right. The audience made loud noise alerting that KJY was picking the charanams at the wrong place....But this incident was a blessing in disguise as we all got the orchestra to repeat that strings bit again and again !
15) Oru Jeevan Azhaithathu – Geethanjali – In the charanams, the original lines are
“kamangal ondre en kaadhal alla kandene unnai thaayaaga”... Raaja beautifully generalized this as a common feeling to all woman – he sings ,”kamangal ondre en kaadhal all, kanaene pennai thaiyaaga” – that was proof he was not merely perfoming, but actually expressing himself to the audience. He did something similar while singing some raw lines in ándha nilava than kaiyila pudichen’during the one man show.
Let me take a breather...rest in part II
