Why I Consider IR Unparalleled

[JamesDap]

Actually, I don't see why Ilayaraja's brilliance in combining Western and Indian music shouldn't be mentioned in reasoning why he is unparalleled. That is precisely why he is unparalleled. Personal tastes may vary for individuals and not even IR nor anybody else for that matter can cater to every palate. But no other music director, no not even Rahman, has managed to combine both divergent schools of music with the depth that IR could achieve. For other music directors, the blend of Indian and Western was usually casual at best. Take the old Hindi songs where interludes with lots of violin would suddenly make way for a ghazal-based antara without resolution. For IR, it was and is a philosophy. I can say quite confidently that most people in India who wish to opine that IR is overhyped are not very much interested in Western music. And if one is indifferent to Western music, one can understand only half of his music because it is as important a part of his music as his Indian side. That one may still hail him with the best of superlatives available in English or Tamil is incidental. The very words "significant contribution in BGM AND re-recording" give it away, sorry. First, learn to use words like arrangements, chords, harmony. Everything playing in the background is not BGM (and therefore meant to be ignored). In Western, the chords/riffs are an integral part of the composition to the like extent as the vocal parts and that is the philosophy Ilayaraja also follows. If you focus only on the tune, you cannot appreciate his compositions to the fullest extent and that you cannot is not his fault (and does not somehow make him inferior).