Maestro ilaiyaraaja news & titbits

[senthilv.com]

I welcome ur counter view.

Senthilv.com,

Being a raja fan it must have been really very easy for you to oversee things, so just sharing a counter view to your points....

Could be. I don't think I'm blind and I don't idolize him. If you have a point, put it forward, we can discuss. I prefer you not make judgements on who I am and what my feelings are towards him.

Self-depreciating????? wow... are we so blindfolded or born just yesterday? You may want to note his hand gesture when saying "will there be a screen without cinema?" - and then he points to himself saying "music(he) is not what you think, its something that can't be marketed...". I can clearly see his head weighing zillion...gazillion tons. Your posts seems to ignore it.

Already explained my view, he is not talking about himself but about music (not even his music). He is not equating music with himself. Look at the overall point he is making...He doesn't know music, which is self-depreciating anyway you look at it.

he is a great artist alright, but What makes you think his talent is wasted? Whatever popularity he's got is what he would've got and deservedly so. Let's not blame the audience for nauseating - his music is spontaneous and such distractions might not intervene. If Raja wants to make music for the sake of just music, there are countless other avenues.

He did try all possible avenues. Nothing But Wind, How to Name it, The unreleased Symphony, Thiruvasagam. It is hard to argue the level of seriousness, scope, depth and artistic level of these works. Who knows what was in store in the unreleased symphony? What other kind of works would we have seen if he had opportunity other than routine film music? Also these were his own initiatives, few musicians in India attempted such endeavors.

NEPV is a movie - involves teamwork. Without GVM, it wouldn't have happened. Let's not kid ourselves here - NEPV isn't a art but a commercial film - make no mistake about it.

Exactly my point. Although he singlehandedly made ppl star, made a film box office success and make us go back to unknown films, watch songs with atrocious picturization etc... It requires a good team or someone with a vision to get good work out of him because they have come with him asking something different. Not the same old stuff. The important point is, his music is loved by the masses, not because they are commercial. Masses are not thinking about making his song hit, they love his music because it is great! By product of that is, you get a hit. But producers are not worried about making great music, they want to make a hit. Don't you see the irony?

Also NEPV music is pretty close to an artful music we will get in an Indian film score!

Let's not kid ourselves here - you being a filmmaker, would you not want your music to be commercially hit so you can be profitable?

No. Commercial success is not the only criteria. I have rejected commercial stories/offers to pursue a film story I deeply care. Luckily, I have that choice Raja doesn't. He can pick and choose films but cannot initiate the vision of a film. He has to work within the vision (if at all there is one) that is offered to him.

if a core member of a team doesn't care about profitability and operate in a mind of his/her own, you would arrange him/her a royal departure.

it is a misunderstanding to say he doesn't care about profits and hits. His view is music cannot be sold. Not that, it shouldn't make profit. When our elders wish us, they say, live 100 years with all the happiness, love, prosperity, family life and peace. They don't just say live 100 years. When someone says his music will be hit. It will make super sales like NEPV, without mentioning it's artistic merit, they are wishing you just 100 years. It is superficial, short sighted and exploitative in Raja's case. Raja took the mic to set it straight. His view is counter-view to start with. He didn't interject and give an unnecessary speech.

Thanks,
Senthil