Oscar Thamizhan 'Isaipuyal' AR Rahman News/Updates

[JamesDap]

I object only to gramathu raja being used in a derogatory sense and that is the only sense I have generally heard it being used in. I also do not like disdaining his contribution in Indo-Western fusion; just because Western is not of our culture doesn't diminish the musical achievement. To call him gramathu raja baldly without qualification seems to imply he was not as good in other genres which would be a misinformed view. It's not just a few non folk based movies. There are at least as many landmark films with non folk based music as the folk based ones. The image stuck because his initial success was built on Annakilli and 16 Vayathiniley but it is certainly not an accurate description of his work by any means. You think of IR as the man who brought Tamil folk music to the mainstream and in this way characterise the identity of his music as local. I look at all the myriad influences in his music and astounding versatility and characterise his music as universal. Language is the only barrier for any person outside the South wanting to listen to his music; the emotions he conveys through his interludes alone, before we even get to the vocals, are such that any person from any background could relate to. So, no, I don't regard his folk work as his 'speciality' as much as I love it. The concept of IR having any one particular speciality after 950 films is anathema to me.