Though in matters of music nothing could be said for, or with, certainty, Ilaiyaraaja, for this writer, will remain the best ever musician. The sheer numbers of the southern maestro, who of course started with Tamil, is mind boggling. From his Wikipedia page, "He has composed more than 7,000 songs, provided film scores for more than 1,400 movies and performed in more than 20,000 concerts." And the sheer longevity is also astounding.
Though he has been in the film industry since the early 70s, his first official Tamil film was Annakili in 1976. From then on he has been a music machine (though nothing about his music is ever falls in the category of robotic monotony), and he is relevant to this day in two ways: One, his songs from his early days are still unmatched and never look dated. Two, his present day numbers themselves carry a freshness and speaks in the idiom that will appeal to the youth.
The great man turns 80 today. It is an age of great significance in the Indian tradition --- Raja is a great believer in the cultural mores of the land. And here we list 5 movies from his humongous oeuvre (5 out of over 1400) that we like for the unique rerecording. Mind you, we have not chosen these movies not just for their songs. The latter criteria is an impossible one, for all his songs across movie are brilliant. Also, do remember this is just a personal choice, and you can come up with your list. There is nothing final about this. Heck, the writer himself may come up with a totally different list on another occasion.
And for the sake of spread and appeal, the list also includes one each from Telugu and Hindi languages.
Sagara Sangamam
This is among his tour de force. A dance-based Telugu film, it offered plenty of scope for Raaja to leave his unmistakable stamp and style. The songs in this film are for the ages. The film underscored Raaja's remarkable grasp of Carnatic music. The background score is of legendary portions.
Raaja did not take the easy way out of using riffs from the film's songs to fill the screen. The RR was astoundingly creative and heightened the emotions of the story. It is verily a lesson on how to score background music that is not too dominating but add value to and make bright what is unfolding on screen. Little wonder that the film landed him a much-deserved National award.
Sagara Sangamam is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Veedu
This is a quaint movie about the aspirations and ambitions of a middle-class couple to build a small house for themselves. It is a tender tale, and Raja's catchy refrains, with violins and flute enjoying a pride of place, adds an extra beauty to it. The filmmaker Balu Mahendra used tunes from Raja's famous fusion album How to Name It. The instrumental album, which comprised 10 Indo-western fusion tracks, was one of biggest selling albums of the time.
The tunes fit the film's frames to a T. The greatness of the composer was that he could invoke in his pieces both Saint Thyagarajar, the iconic composer-singer in Carnatic music, and also the western classical musical genius Bach.
Now we hear that there is sequel in the making on How to name It.
Veedu is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Cheeni Kum
While Ilaiyaraaja was colossus in the southern film world, his undoubted brilliance was not experienced by Hindi-film going audience. Director Balki, who has Tamil roots but operates in Bollywood, always thought it was a shame that Raja's music lay undiscovered in Hindi. And when the ad-maker turned director announced his first film Cheeni Kum in 2007, there was only one man he could turn to for music.
Balki also did another thing. He made Raja re-tune some of his great hits in the South for the Hindi audience. For instance, the famous Jaane Do Na song, in the voice of the amazing Shreya Ghosal, was a beautifully tweaked version of the blockbuster Jotheyali from the 1981 Kannada movie Geetha. The titular number Cheeni Kum was itself was a reprise of the Mandram Vandha song from Mouna Ragam. Pure bliss all.
Cheeni Kum is available on Zee5.
Thalapathi
Thalapathi, featuring Rajnikanth who needs no new adjectives, and Mammootty, is a hall of famer. It was made by Mani Ratnam, who incidentally shares his birthday with Raja. But when you listen to the background score of the film --- haunting, lilting and gripping --- you'll understand that the two shared more than same the birth dates.
In fact, Raja-Mani combo (till the latter went to A R Rahman, a story that is for another day) is impossible to match in Tamil. Under Mani's direction, Raja had worked in 10 films starting with Pallavi Anu Pallavi in Kannada (starring Anil Kapoor and Lakshmi, among others), and each and every film had songs that are among all-time greats. Thalapathy's song Raakamma Kaiyathattu reportedly topped a viwer-voted BBC poll for the best song ever.
Thalapathi is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Vikram
It's an appropriate film for the occasion. For, another movie with the same title, and starring the same Kamal Haasan, is hitting the screens tomorrow. It is believed to be a spiritual sequel to the 1986 film of the same name. And quite naturally, the new Vikram has borrowed musical cues and song riffs from the original.
The old Vikram was ahead of its time not just for its content and treatment, its music was also futuristic. The title song with computer synth sound and funky effects was something that was unheard in the 80s. Ilaiyaraaja's rerecording to the sci-film in James Bondish genre was spectacular. It was an 101 on how to score for mass masala movies.
The Telugu version of Vikram is available on YouTube.
