Maestro Ilaiyaraja New Albums 2011 - Hello Jaihind / Sri Rama Rajyam

[Sureshs65]

Here is my take on 'Ramarajyam'. Reviewing song by song will make it lengthy and also bore people. So will do a short take and then ramble on on related things

'Jagadanandakaraka', 'Sreerama Lera', 'Gaali Ningi Neeru', 'Kalaya Nijama' and 'Seetha Seemantham' are bound to impress everyone. 'Ramayanamu' is probably the best song of the album. Superb Sindhu Bhairavi and Chitra nails the emotion perfectly. The other songs are good as well but who will like which one and will not like which one, I cannot say. All in all, Raja has not given anyone any reason to complain.

Raja, as far as this movie is concerned, seems to have realized what Bapu expected from him. The idea seems to be to give what the listeners will perceive as songs for a mythological movie. Tunes which must be soothing, raga based and with classical instrumentation. Raja does that to most extent. He gives instantly catchy tunes, lot of raga based tunes and uses classical instruments like mridangam, tabla and veena (may not be all the while though.) In other words, one of the recent albums of Raja were the expectation wrt to music has perfectly matched what was delivered. This is a surprise for me, because for the last couple of years, with the possible exception of 'Sengaathu Bhoomiyile', what I expected from a particular film were never in sync with what was actually delivered. Of course what was delivered was far better than what I expected but there was a mismatch. To give some examples, people expected some old style songs for 'Jaganmohini' but he delivered a knockout of a rock album, when people expected another 'Guru' he delivered a very different 'Pazhassi Raja', who expected the youthful exuberance of 'Paa'? Or that he would knock us out this way with 'Thandavakone'? So in a way 'Sreeramarajyam' is different in the sense Raja just decided that he will deliver what is expected by the people. That is one reason everyone is quite happy with 'Sreeramarajyam'. Our expectations have been fulfilled. And to be the contrarian, that is why I am a disappointed, though I am happy with all the songs. (Confusing people is what I do well )

To be honest I was not sure how 'Sreeramarajyam' would turn out to be basically because Raja's bhakthi albums on Ayyappa, Ramana Maharishi and on Saibaba were definitely not in tune with what people expected from a bhakthi album. They were bhakthi as seen by Raja and not as perceived by most people. So the expectations never matched. I love each of those albums because I like Raja's approach to the subject but I know for sure for the general public, they find it better to listen to lot of L R Eshwari and others. So whether Raja will take his own route or will follow the standard path I wasn't sure. He has followed the standard path and that has ensured a wider audience now. Everyone is liking this album without reservation. That is good.

Even though synth and other modern instruments are used, Raja hides them quite well. K had an interesting point that Raja was using store bought loops in one song. (Raja fans must now think of newer factors to accuse other MDs ) In this song too, Raja immediately hooks you to the tune, SPB's singing helps, and you don't realize that a store bought rhythm loop is playing in the background. Also Raja very nicely uses some folk tunes. 'Rama Rama Rama ane Rama Mandiram' has a nice charm of its own. Overall, Raja manages to get the Telugu touch completely in this album. Knowing Raja, this is something expected. The virutham in Mohanam by SPB, the 'rama rama', the 'Devulle Mechina' rhythmic pattern, everything is close to the Telugu people's heart. So getting their approval is not going to be hard. Going by all reports people seem to quite happy with the songs.

This album interests me more for the alternate possibilities. First: Jonnavidhula's lyrics are nice but not something to shout about. He is done the needed job. What if Veturi was alive and was given the job. Or what if Bapu had asked Sirivennela to pen it. What would have been the quality of lyrics? Would it have been a level higher? We don't know. The second possibility is: how would the tunes have turned out had Raja been asked to tune first and then lyrics were written? That to me, is an interesting possibility. An unfettered Raja can surprise you by what he can do. That is why I see beauty in this album, melody in this album, freshness in this album but not surprise. Having said that I must say that this album is mint fresh. Everything sounds so fresh, the tune, the voices, the orchestration. That is one more reason why people are liking this album in large numbers.

The singer selection is good as well. SPB back with Raja has made many people happy and for good reason. SPB does deliver a good punch. (I felt that towards the end of 'gali ningi neeru' he became a bit over dramatic but we can forgive that .) Chitra as usual is rock solid. Shreya is sweet as ever though in the 'Seetha Seemanthamu' songs she has a few problems wrt pronunciation. I personally felt that song should have gone to Shweta, who does a wonderful job in the other songs. Sriram does a neat job in ' Sreerama Lera', while Tippu surprises everyone with a superb rendition of 'kalaya nijama'. Everyone associated with this album would be proud of their participation.

Overall a mint fresh, soothing, melody based album, which has everyone rooting for it.