Music moods - A Musical Journey - part-5

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Click here for part 2 :
 
Click here for part 3 :

Click here for part 4:

ஒரு தங்க ரதத்தில்

பொன் மஞ்சள் நிலவு

என் தெய்வம் தந்த

என் தங்கை 

Its a song about sister.A loving elder brother sings for his younger sister.Meaning goes something like "My sister is a golden moon in a golden chariot".It was Kannadasan who penned lyrics for this song.This song comes in the movie "Dharmayudham".It is one of the best sister sentiment songs in Tamil Cinema.In India brother-sister sentiment has immense value.In Tamil Nadu,if we don't know someone,we will call them annaa-akkaa only.In North India it is "bhayya"..Like this the word varies from place to place..But the meaning remains the same. After all in our pledge,we say,all Indians are my brothers and sisters. So here we consider everyone as our own siblings[now don't come and ask me,then whom to marry :D,that is a different discussion :P].The point I wanted to mention here is whenever one listens to this song,he may think about his sister.Such a nice meaningful song it is.

The song was sung by late Mr.Malaysia Vasudevan.He is a very good singer and he was a successful playback singer to superstar Rajnikanth.His voice suited Rajni pretty well.Songs like "Podhuvaaga en manasu thangam","ennoda raasi nalla raasi" were huge hits among the masses.Still his "Vaa vaa vasanthame" from Pudhu Kavithai and "Vaa vaa kanna" from Velaikaaran remains my personal favorite.The lines "En vaanile oru deva minnal vandhadhu,en nenjinai adhu killi vittu chendradhu" from that Puthu Kavithai song are still running in my mind.

பாடறியேன் படிப்பறியேன்

பள்ளிக்கூடம் தானறியேன்

Hope you would have guessed whose entry it is going to be.Its none other than "Isaikuyil" Chitra madam.God has gifted this sweet lady with such a sweet voice.Can't stop listening to her songs.Just listen to the above song.Maestro Ilayaraja's music,K J Yesudas singing the male part of the song,Vairamuthu's enjoyable lyrics.. Still Chitra madam scores in this song.She has so many songs for her credit.Ovvoru Pookalume is another good example of Chitra madam's song.It is one of the most inspirational songs.You will get a romantic feeling when you listen to "Yaaro Yaarukkul Ingu Yaaro" from the movie Chennai-28.Just listen to this song. It is "Vizhiyile en Vizhiyile" from the movie Vellithirai.For some reason this song was not included in the movie. Lyrics were penned by Pazhani Bharathi. Just listen the way she sings this song.Especially the lines, "Naan saambalaanalum en kaadhal vaazhume" and "en indha saabangal naan paavam illaya,vidhi kannamoochi vilayaada naan kaadhal bommaya".It was like expressing her deep sorrow for her guy.For her voice modulation itself,I used to hear this song like a mad fellow,during the time it released.Daily atleast 20 times,I used to listen to this song.May sound crazy,but doesn't matter...

Actually there are so many songs of Chitra madam has to be shared,but am winding up with this..Am planning to write an exclusive post about Chitra ji soon.At times I used to think God is so mean.He has given such a great voice to this lady.Simply awesome singer.Hope many could have come across this news.Her daughter died recently.It was the most unfortunate thing to happen to anyone.Why such horrible incidents happens to good people like Chitra?Whenever I think about such incidents,I want to scream loud "enna maadhiri kadavul idhu" like how Madhavan does in Anbe Sivam.Anyway let us hope God gives her enough strength to overcome this deep sorrow and let us hope she starts singing more no. of songs again.

Well the discussion started off with music and its going somewhere else.Already in my first part of this series I have mentioned about Yesudas sir and about S P B in my 3rd part.There so many songs sung by these people, which can be discussed.I would like to mention the song "Agaram ippo sigaramaachu" here.Whats so special about that song?Music director of this movie is S P Balasubramaniam sir himself and the singer of this song is K J Yesudas sir.Many thinks that Ilayaraja composed music for this song.But it is SPB.Soulful composition.Don't wait,just watch the song here.

ஒரு இனிய மனது 

இசையை அனைத்து செல்லும் 

இன்பம் புது வெள்ளம் 

அந்த சுகம் இன்ப சுகம் 

அந்த மனம் எந்தன் வசம்

I would like to write about another singer here,whom,not many(in our generation) will  be knowing I guess. Yes she is singer Jency.She is the playback singer for the above mentioned song,from the movie Johnny.Many thinks that these songs were sung by Janaki madam.There is another song in the movie,En vaanile ore vennilaa, was also sung by her only.Most of her songs in Ilayaraja sir's music were super hits.Like Kaathal Oviyam from Alaikal Oivathillai,Meenkodi theril from the movie Karumbu vil,Ennuyir Neethane from the movie Priya etc. Meenkodi theril is a different song.I would suggest everyone to listen to that song. Click hereAayiram Malarkale from the movie Niram Maaraatha Pookkal.She is an awesome singer,who should have got a long career is what I feel.

Well I would love to discuss Yesudas sir's classical songs,SPB's mass intro songs to MGR,Rajni etc and the duet songs of all the above mentioned people for some months continuously.So much is there.Anyway have to proceed to the next 'era' in music.

Before that,I also would like to write about another person.If I write his name here,people might laugh.But honestly speaking,he is a good music director.Leave alone his funny actions in the movie.Listen to the song Vaigaikarai kaatre nillu from the movie Uyirullavari Usha.Its a great composition.Well you might have guessed who that music director is.Yes he is T Rajendar @ TR.Had TR concentrated only on music,he would have had a great career as a music director is what I believe.Also don't miss this song,a simple and soothing melody from the movie Oru Thalai Raagam.

His Naanoru Raasiyilla Raja,Noolum Illai Vaalumillai,Vaasamilla malaridhu from Oru Thalai Raagam and Vasantham Paadi Vara from Rayil Payanangalil are real classics.Don't forget to watch this Vaasamilla Malaridhu Song here:Honestly speaking TR is a very talented person.And he deserves lot of respect for his heart melting compositions atleast.Regarding his acting - no comments.

Rise of A R Rahman is something special I would say.Because when Ilayaraja sir was at his peak,no music director could survive in the industry.Now don't think that Raja sir spoiled their chances.None could beat Raja sir is the fact.But it was in 1992,one man turned the attention of the entire state,infact the entire country towards him.Yes it is A R Rahman with his music for the movie Roja.It is said that Manirathnam listened to 140 tunes composed by ARR and selected the songs,which he felt 'the best' to the movie.I don't know how far this is true,but if true,its amazing stuff from Rahman.With his trendsetting music,he announced his arrival in style and his entry marked a new era of music in Tamil Cinema[One can't compare Ilayaraja's entry in 1976 and Rahman's entry in 1992,both are different and both has their own significance].He is the first music director to survive in the industry when Ilayaraja was in top.Note the words carefully,I am saying "survived" and not "outshined",because Ilayaraja sir is still actively composing movies and many directors still prefer him. Nandalala,a movie released last year,was highly spoken about for its background music.Music director of the movie is Ilayaraja and songs too were good.

Am not going into the comparison between Ilayaraja and ARR.Both are different and can't be compared. Rahman worked with some great directors like K Balachander,Bharathiraja,Maniratnam etc.Songs in the movie "Duet" can be considered an ever-green classic.Songs in the movie Sangamam will remain in my memories forever.Especially the "Sowkiyama Kanne" song is an awesome song.

He has reached great heights now.He got one of the so called world's precious award Oscar.He won Golden globe too.But I would have been happy had he won those awards for an Indian movie.Instead these awards were given for a movie about India,a movie which portrayed India in a bad light.Anyway that is a different topic.Now am not getting into it.But I have a different kind of disappointment with Rahman.He has reduced doing music for Tamil movies.Even if he does,I feel like something is missing in it.His recent releases like Enthiran,Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya,were good though.I would be happy to see Rahman scoring music for more no. of movies in Tamil too.I want him to do songs like this :

Also like this :

Also like Kathalar Dhinam ,Alaipaayuthe , Jeans , Love Birds etc.. Whenever I listen to the Roja Roja song and Sowkiyama Kanne song, some flashbacks runs in my mind.Memories travel some 10-11 years back. Simply love those days and songs too.This is the unique specialty about songs.When we listen to certain songs,some incidents will flash in our mind. When I was in my 7th standard,we(me and other 2 friends) used to tease one girl by singing the song "Kaasu mele kaasu vandhu" from the movie Kadhala Kadhala..We will sing these lines "Ramalingam kaila kaasu" repeatedly,as her father's name is Ramalingam.Missing those days badly.I just dont want to get into it too deep,because again I will start cursing God :-(.

Anyway coming back to Rahman,in his recent releases,the song that made me mad means, "Mannippaya" from the movie Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya.Shreya Ghoshal's voice is one of the main reasons for the success of that song.Awesome song it is.I would love to hear the lines "Oru naal sirithen maru naal veruthen unai naan kollaamal kondru pudhaithene mannippaayaa" repeatedly.At times I have cursed Rahman for bringing people like Udit Narayanan to sing Tamil Songs(he may be a good singer,but he simply kills Tamil),but, for giving more songs to singers like Shreya Ghoshal,I have to praise him only.Her Tamil pronunciation is also pretty good.Moreover her voice is awesome awesome simply beautiful.

And there is also another genre of music,without which the music itself is incomplete.Folk songs. When people are in joyful mood,they love to dance.To dance,you need some fast beat songs.Deva provided such songs to us.Of-course every other music director has composed fast beat,gana songs.But I would call Deva as the trendsetter in Gana songs.His Vidha vidhama soupu seepu kannadi,kothalsavadi lady,vaanga da 420B da,Salomiya,Sirippu varudhu sirippu varudhu sithappa,Kavalaipadaadhe sagodhara etc are my favorite Gana songs.He is also a good singer.His voice suits for such fast beat songs and some philosophical songs too.His recent song Modhi Vilayadu in the movie Modhi Vilayadu(Music by Colonial Cousins) is one of the best examples for this.Deva also composed some excellent melodies like "Konja Naal Poru Thalaivaa","Mudhal mudhalil Paarthen" etc..Undoubtedly Deva is an excellent music director,who deserves lot of respect and deserves to be mentioned whenever someone speaks about music.

Above I was typing Konja Naal Poru Thalaiva and Mudhal Mudhalil Paarthen.The music director may be Deva,but the singer for this song is Hariharan.There was a period when I had lot of craze towards his songs. 

Those days there was no broadband internet,online downloads,infact CD players were also a matter of luxury those days.I used to select songs from all the movies and will write it down in a paper and will give to an audio shop called "Arun Prakash Audio Videos",when I was in Tindivanam.Cost of an empty cassette is Rs.20 and Rs.25 for recording. So total Rs.45 and I will get 12 songs(6 songs per side).Still I have those cassettes,but I don't have the tape recorder now.What a period it was!!!Would love to go back to those days!!!!

Mostly I will be listening to songs like Ennai thaalatta varuvaala,Enakkoru Snegithi,Konja Naal Poru Thalaiva,Sollamal Thottu Sellum Thendral,Semmeena,Naalai Kaalai neril varuvaala,Nee kaatru naan maram,Nilavu Paattu etc. All are Ajith-Vijay songs right?Yes his voice suits these actors pretty well. His songs to these actors will remain in my memory for a long time.

Recently Vidyasagar,Harris Jeyaraj,Yuvan Shankar Raja,G V Prakash are giving hit songs.Of-course Vidyasagar is in the field for quite a long time.And his Run is my favorite album and I also like his Gilli,Chandramukhi,Dhool,Anbe Sivam songs. Whenever I think of Harris,Ullam Ketkume and Unnalae Unnalae comes to my mind immediately.His melody songs has some magic for sure,so many times I have felt that he is repeating same tunes,but still I couldn't resist myself from listening to those songs.Yuvan means I remember Katradhu Thamizh,7G,Kadhal Konden etc.Yuvan has been a main reason for the success of so many movies.His songs have given the much needed opening to so many movies.Also the recent entry Sundar C Babu is also doing good.

When it comes for modern day lyricists,I feel Na.Muthukumar and Thamarai are the best.Kabilan,Pazhanibharathi,Viveka writes good songs,still Muthukumar and Thamarai are class apart.

But still we have to wait for some more years to see how long the modern songs lasts for.

That's it.I am completing my musical journey with this post.I believe it was a happy journey.To share some videos and audio links here,I searched for some songs in google and fortunately I got those songs,which I couldn't get before.Also I forgot to mention about so many songs like Kelviyin Nayagane from Aboorva Raagangal, Oru Naal Iravu from the movie Kaaviyathalaivi etc.Also I couldn't write in detail about so many personalities like singer Harini,Karthik,Naresh Iyyer etc.But still,I feel the journey was quite cool and I believe the readers too feel the same.Feel free to give your honest comments here.