Raja's Gems - the latest one you heard...Part 3

**V_S** · 10th July 2011, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by Sureshs65

Listening to the awesomeness called 'Virumaandi'. How can a person who has been churning folks songs for 25 yrs come out with such wonderful mix of folk and modern!!! His creativity seems inexhaustible. Especially if you check out 'Annanmaar Kadhai' and 'Bhavani Varugira' from 'Ponnar Shankar'. I love every song of 'Virumaandi', the most fav one being 'karumaathur kaatukkulle'. This was another album when it came out I thought was just an OK album!!! The watermark those days was whether Raja's album could raise to the top 10 and best the albums of Rahman and Harris!! Stupid, I know but we are dictated by the times, aren't we. Now, I have no hesitation in declaring it as one of the best albums of the first decade of the 21st century. What imagination, what creativity, what innovation!!! Excellent tuning, wonderful orchestration and authenticity. This is a tape which once I put in my car stereo runs for atleast a dozen times before a change happens!!

Well said Sureshji! Those were times when (still today) people are caught up with 'style' rather than substance. If a folk song rustic like this, then it is an outright dismissal and stylish songs marching way forward. Virumaandi one of the golden soundtracks in TFM history, but sadly except 'onnavida', other songs are not known much.

**Google Adsense** · 10th July 2011 10:38 PM

**Plum** · 11th July 2011, 01:06 PM

Badli Yeh Hawa (Shiva 2006 - Hindi)
Oru NaaL mAlaiyil (Udhayam - Shiva 2006 - Tamil)
manasA adagavA (Shiva 2006 - Telugu)

endha mozhila kEttAlum deiva kuzhandhai kural & isai kadavuLin thiRan - pErinbam, pErinbam. Back to back these 3 songs since Saturday. This is divine. I dont think I need to listen to any music for another 1 month. kAdhula fullA inba thEn pAinju over flow Agi veLLamAgi pOchu.
adhilum telugu version - maybe I am biased but once again namma Subbu's words vindicated - (i.e.) Sundar Ate Lungi nil... )

**tvsankar** · 11th July 2011, 02:18 PM

Telugu versionku link venum Plum...........

**raagas** · 11th July 2011, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by Sureshs65

Listening to the awesomeness called 'Virumaandi'. How can a person who has been churning folks songs for 25 yrs come out with such wonderful mix of folk and modern!!! His creativity seems inexhaustible. Especially if you check out 'Annanmaar Kadhai' and 'Bhavani Varugira' from 'Ponnar Shankar'. I love every song of 'Virumaandi', the most fav one being 'karumaathur kaatukkulle'. This was another album when it came out I thought was just an OK album!!! The watermark those days was whether Raja's album could raise to the top 10 and best the albums of Rahman and Harris!! Stupid, I know but we are dictated by the times, aren't we. Now, I have no hesitation in declaring it as one of the best albums of the first decade of the 21st century. What imagination, what creativity, what innovation!!! Excellent tuning, wonderful orchestration and authenticity. This is a tape which once I put in my car stereo runs for atleast a dozen times before a change happens!!

I like some of the songs a lot, though not all. But I do have some favourites. But the one concern I have is - why does IR, a disciplinarian, sacrifice his composition/melody to the personal whims of Kamal Haasan by allowing him to sing, with apasruthis? I am sure the same songs would sound much better with a trained singer? I mean, whats the point of having a wonderful composition, when a singer butchers it? And why does IR tolerate that? Why not exercise his discipline there? does his personal relationship precede his relationship with music? somehow, I dont feel convinced to believe that IR too, perhaps, wanted the same output, with all the apasruthis! I feel IR just becomes party to Kamal's self-indulgence and thereby to the massacre of his compositions.

There were few songs that Kamal sang well, probably back in 80s/early 90s but in albums like Virumandi, i feel his apasruthis are too evident!

**Plum** · 11th July 2011, 03:48 PM

raagas, dont know but I think unna vida captures the spirit of the song much better than SPB's ninnu thappa. I think Raja has always understood that fidelity to the movie is the primary purpose of the song - and even purely musical considerations come later. You could say there are some songs where Kamal doesnt do justice but by and large, he does. It is afterall, his own movie and he doesnt settle for lower quality where it comes to his movie.

**raagas** · 11th July 2011, 04:35 PM

Plum,

I dont mean SPB either. I am sure there must be many other options. and Onna Vida is a fantastic composition and I love it a lot too. And perhaps Kamal's rendition was better in that song, compared to others. But generally, the album as such has lot of Kamal dose... rather Kamal 'coarse' dose. May be it suits the rustic character on screen, but ultimately music listeners listen to the album and not see it all the time. and my concern is about the composition as such! Sometimes I feel like skipping some IR-Kamal songs (some, not all), just because my listening pleasure is comprimised! few songs in virumandi come in that bracket. But i feel glad that for some songs, IR doesnt let Kamal do the job. like say Vazha Osai. Again, i dont mean to say that IR doesnt know what he is doing! He does. Just that he probably gives in to the compromise at times! (i think).

**Plum** · 11th July 2011, 04:41 PM

Oh yes but Virumandi for me is unimaginable without Kamal's vocals. Just nobody else can do justice - you have pushpavanam kuppusamy for folk but he'd sound wimpy, SPB too smooth and polished(as he infact did in the telugu version). Perhaps Malaysia Vasudevan.

**Plum** · 11th July 2011, 04:45 PM

And the success of the album is in putting off listeners like you for coarseness - not coarse in the Deva (white lagaan kozhi types) way but coarse in a Virumandi way. I did watch his story raptly but introduce me to the real life Viruman, and I'll be recoiling in horror, unable to face his acid barbs, and coarse, straight talk. The songs need to be interesting, with all the regular listenability factors yet put you off purely because of Viruman's voice - both physical and meta-physical.

There are a whole lot other native singers from periya karuppa thevar to several other no-names in the album. I, for one, rejoiced in the native voices it showcased, including Kamal's own inner gramAththAn.

KV · 11th July 2011, 05:11 PM

Nice points there Raagas and Plum.
Raagas, I think certain singers have this unique ability of being exceptionally emotional, their voice and rendition brimming with life and soul, while technically, their vocal chords might not necessarily be hitting the notes with the required precision. Kamal is one such singer. For that matter, I would even bracket IR, the singer, in this category. If one considers the overall context of some of these songs, these guys, more than make up for their technical handicap with their superior comprehension of the movie’s situation, mindscape of the characters in it and the lyrics. I do understand that this could be beyond the general, fathomable parameters to judge/enjoy singing/music for a person who isn’t too familiar with the background or language. To flip it around, this works as a perk if one does happen to know a bit or two about these exterior aspects. Which is why I feel Kamal is one of the strong points in this album. And To me, it is this factor that, more often than not, puts IR on a higher pedestal than other singers (in my books). I’d take such voices any day over look-at-me-I’m-so-cool auto-tuners and technically-besh-besh-but-emotionally-so-so Mandhu Balayyas.

**raagas** · 11th July 2011, 05:43 PM

I guess it is all about our personal preferences! i mean, the kind of music/singing one grows up on and is accustomed to. And like you said, it also depends on one's familiarity with aspects other than the composition - ie., context, language, situation etc. May be thats why, I felt that even IR struggled (and faltered) with sruthis in that sad song in Gaayam-2, no matter how much I loved the composition. I have nothing against his singing. I have my own favourites, like the same IR effortlessly rendering a breezy melody in Nandalala. Or even that amazing folk song in "Pazhassi Raja". There are IR songs where i felt he was perfect. but, there are some, where i the struggle/faltering disturbs the (my)experience slightly(Gaayam-2). But i know there are many who didnt feel so for Gaayam-2 song. Like i said, it all comes to the individual connect with a composition. Anyway, on this note, let me revisit that Gaayam-2 song.