Raaja - comparing 4 decades of musical output

raagas,

I think we are converging now :) Obviously neither Plum nor you nor I are trying to cover the history of Indian film music :D We do discover lot of great MDs later in life, like Jayadev, Baburaj, Devarajan, Kemchand Prakash and others. What I am limiting myself is to the songs that affected me during my early days and which now have lost their sheen. There are lot of songs from various MDs which fall in this category. In many cases, whatever then was the 'flavor of the month' or 'the flavor of the year' age pretty badly. Unlike the case of Raja or MSV (especially Vishwanathan-Ramamurthy) or Salil Da. Even some of RD Burman's songs like 'mehbooba' or songs from 'Hum Kisise Kum Nahin' are not too 'listenable' today.

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Originally Posted by raagas

I dont know how, but my admiration levels for those composers' works didnt drop even after listening to IR's works. Even today,i listen to all those works by others, appreciating the musical richness/ideas/methods instead of pure nostalgic emotional connect.

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raagas,

That I believe, is the mark of a true Raja fan. Raja considers himself a part of the grand tradition and I don't think he will appreciate if someone tells him that they listen to no one other than him. Even in his Italy concert, you know that he sang the song of Shankar Jaikishan, 'yeh shaam ki tanhayiyan' when there was no pressing need to sing a song of another MD. In the Dubai concert, he lists our Khemchand Prakash, Salil, Madan Mohan, Roshan, SD Burman, RD Burman in the list of great music directors. His admiration for MSV's music is well known and even in a very recent interview he tells in what high regard he holds C R Subbaraman. So if someone tells you that he listens only to Raja and cannot listen to other MDs, you can be certain that he has not yet understood Raja's music.

நல்லாதானே போய்கிட்டிருந்துச்சி :confused2:

eagle,
thirushi achu pola iruku....

Punnai maaran - leave nu solli iurkar..
adhan ipadi ragalai....

Bhoodhadhiruku homework madhiri - Heavy
a IR experience ai ezhuhdina, sariya irukum......

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Originally Posted by eagle

நல்லாதானே போய்கிட்டிருந்துச்சி :confused2:

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By the way you are scratching your head, you may soon become bald eagle :lol:

No offense meant. Don't worry the thread will be back on track. When we are discussing Raja's music we do sometimes get emotional and that leads us into side roads, which are also interesting. This thread is becoming like a grand epic, with multiple stories running in different threads :)

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Originally Posted by Sanjeevi

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Originally Posted by kiru

புன்னைமாறன், அருமையான தமிழில் அழகாக எழுதி எங்கள் உள்ளங்களை குளிர்விற்கிறீர்கள். ஆரவத்துடன் படிக்கிறேன், எப்பொழுதும் உங்கள் இடுகைகளை எதிர்ப்பார்க்கிறேன். மிக்க நன்றி.

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Kilo enna vilai? :lol:

no offence :)

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I feel like going into the Dharumi/Nagesh diatribe against nakkeeran in thiruviLaiyaadaL :-) (Seriously please correct the spelling)

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Originally Posted by Sureshs65

So if someone tells you that he listens only to Raja and cannot listen to other MDs, you can be certain that he has not yet understood Raja's music.

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Exactly or even music itself. For the past week or two, in my commutes I have listened mainly to two songs in one CD - unnai onRu kEtpEn unmai solla vEndum and unnai naan sandhithEn nee aayirathil oruvan.. This is a rerecorded CD..the singing is not great..but I can hear the orcestration in all its glory..Man ..it feels like almost all techniques in film music are covered in these two songs.

sureshs65 - pls check your PM

Now getting back to the topic and providing some relief to eagle :)

In contrast to what Raja was doing in Malayalam, his Kannada output during the 90s was very much in keeping with his 'traditional' image. The synth usage was minimal, the song structures and raga usage was more closer to his earlier songs and the orchestration was more with live instruments. Ofcourse the number of Kannada films that he did during this period is not too high but going by whatever he did during that period, this is what I feel. (Someone like Plum and Jai who follow Kannada Raja closely can give their views.) If you listen to 'Nammura Mandara Hoove', 'Prema Raaga Haadu Gelati', 'Usire', 'Namma Pretiya Ramu', 'Bhoomi Geethe', 'Gulabi', you can the tabla dominating in many cases, the regular usage of ragams like Mohanam and the regular singers like SPB, Chitra etc. The whole ambiance of his Kannada output of the 90s / early 200s is quite contrasting to what he did in Malayalam. Here you can see very clearly the same man, based on which language film he was doing and what the story was, was changing the tunes and the orchestration to suit that milieu. No wonder people liked the songs in all the movies I mentioned above. (Would love someone like Saagar give his views of Raja in Malayalam of the 90s and 2000s).

Of the films I mentioned above, 'Bhoomi Geethe' surprisingly has a lot of synth support. And all the films I mentioned have fantastic songs. It is a pity that 'Nammura Mandara Hoove' 's Tamil counterpart ('Kangalin Varthaigal'?) sank without a trace. NMH is an all time favorite album in Karnataka for many people.

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Originally Posted by Sureshs65

So if someone tells you that he listens only to Raja and cannot listen to other MDs, you can be certain that he has not yet understood Raja's music.

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This exactly says my thought.Absolutely right.