What made ppl to turn towards IR

[kbee]

I am a hard core IR fan. This is a question normally one doesnt ask themselves, but I started wondering what made "Hindi listening" ppl to turn towards IR music.

In case of ARR, we all know that he created a fusion between western and indian and produced the tunes, so far long time for ppl who only listened to indian music (across india), this was a good change and started liking ARR music, but IR didnt bring any western or anything else. IR's folk songs are introduced heavily much in mid to late 80s than early 70s.

So whats special about IRs music that turned our ears towards tamil music?

I am eagarly waiting for answers from music critics.