Classical Ilayaraja - Articles by Dr. Lakshmi

These scriptures are words of Dr. Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan during his college time which deserved better formatting. These are available in TFM Page site which I read frequently..

TFM Page

Off late, the formatting of those pages have gone horribly bad and I thought of re-publishing this with kind permission from Dr. Lakshmi.

Classical Ilayaraja - Part 15

Dharmavathi is the 59th melakartha ragam. Sa Ri2 Ga2 Ma2 Pa Da2 Ni3 Sa
as arohanam and the converse as avarohanam. It is the prathimadhyamam of
Gowrimanohari (23rd melam). About couple of years ago Rahman tuned a
superb Dharmavathi song in vandicholai chinnarasu. The song is sugam sugam
vendum. I think the singer of the song is Vani Jayaram. It is one of the
best songs that Rahman has tuned in his short career so far. It is a very
sexy song. He starts the tune in the madhyama sthayi like Sa Ga Sa Ga,
with a very very prominent chord sequences in the background. While another
song from the same movie became a good hit (senthamizh naatu thamizhacheeyae
sung by the late Shahul Ameed), this lovely song based on a pure classical
ragam did not become a hit. Earlier, Rahman has tuned one more Dharmavathi
in the movie gentleman. The song is ottagathai kattikko, which came as
an unbelievable melody in that movie with a fantastic rhythm played in
the pukka south indian instrument "thavil".


Of course, Rahman had exhibited the usual (predictable) "cinema musician's
tendency" of deviating from the ragam by using some foreign swaras in both
the above songs. Even though there is predominant use of Da2 in sugam sugam,
in the charanam he uses Da3 Ni3 prayogam like Neethimathi ragam (60th melam).
In ottagathai kattikko, he very liberally uses both Ni2 and Ni3, making it
difficult to bring it under either Hemavathi (58th melam) or Dharmavathi.
For our purposes to discuss Dharmavathi, I called ottagathai kattiko as
Dharmavathi in this essay.


Rahman said in one of his early interviews that he avoided listening to
contemporary music as did not want to get influenced by that music. He
wants his music to be original and new! Alright bro, make music without
the influence of your forefathers! Let us see, if you can!


This is an ever changing world. People are born constantly and people are
dead similarly. We all have come into the world not like Mr. Jesus Christ
without a father. We have our roots strongly based on our immediate
previous generation, and less significantly on the innumerable generations
in-between from the ages of origin of man to now. Newtonian concept of
gravity was put to disuse by the "nascent" Einsteinian concept in the 20th
century. The important thing to remember and appreciate is that Newton did
prominent work on gravity before, and his ideas pre-existed the period of
Einstein. If it were not for Newton to intrigue Einstein, the latter would
not have become such a great scientist. If it were not for the stimulus of
advaitha of Sankara, neither would have Ramanujam come up with his visisht-
advaitha, nor Madvacharya with his dvaitha philosophy. Nature requires
a pre-existent state to progress to the next state. It sends Nagesh first
in the time window to do his comedy and then Vadivelu. It sends Chatruhan
Sinha first and then later Rajnikanth. We are all a small part of the
continuously self-propagating enormous force that originated in the big bang.
Nobody can molt the profound ancestral influence to become a "new" creator
(in absolute terms).


Illayaraja too, has tuned wonderful Dharmavathi's. His first was probably
in the movie vikram. The song is meendum meendum vaa. S.P.Balasubramaniam
and S.Janaki! He starts his song in madhya sthayi like Sa Sa Sa Sa (meendum
meendum) and then all of a sudden jumps one octave to the thara sthayi Sa
(vaa). He has used Mridhangam as a wonderful rhythm support in that song.
In the charanam the tune is just excellent. Pa Pa Pa Ma2 Da2 (thekku
marathil) Pa Pa Pa Ma2 Da2 (sedhukki vaitha) Pa Pa Ma2 Pa Ga2 Ma2 Pa (dhegam
idhu thaana). Even in the charanam he frequently jumps from madhyama sthayi
Sa to thara sthayi Sa. To me, it seems like Rahman got the idea to tune
his sugam sugam from meendum meendum vaa. Both are very sexy, romantic
playboy channel duets! Both of them are great in their own aspects.


Illayaraja's possibly second Dharmavathi is illam cholai poothadha in the
movie unakkagavae vazhgiraen. This was not a big hit like kanna unai thedu-
giraen vaa in the same movie. However, illam cholai is one of the mile-
stones in his career. I would say that it is one of his top bests. It has
been sung by S.P.B. He starts like Ma2 Pa Sa (illam cholai) Sa Ri2 Sa Ni3
(poothadhaa). He prolongs the kaakali nishadham and beautifully gives a
gamakam and then travels down to panchamam. Initially he uses tabla for
accompaniment and then in the charanam there is wonderful mridhangam, the
usage of which is very typical of him. Listening to this song is one of the
best musical experience that I have had in my life! In varusham padhinaaru
his "aeh, ayyasaami" is a kind of Dharmavathi with lot of mixture of Ma1.
In veera, his konjikonji is quite a pure Dharmavathi. Maragadhamani has
given a very pure Dharmavathi in thaththithom in azhagan. He has excellently
used keyboard with fantastic gamakams in that song.


Dharmavathi has two very melodious janya ragas. One is Ranjani. Sa Ri2 Ga2
Ma2 Da2 Ni3 Sa; Sa Ni3 Da2 Ma2 Ga2 Sa. The best song in Ranjani in cinema
is muthupandhalil rathina oonjalil sung by T.N.Seshagopalan in the movie
thodi raagam. Kunnakudi has tuned it in an unparalleled manner. MSV has
used Ranjani in few of his cinema raga-malikas (aezhuswarangalukkul has a bit
of Ranjani in aboorva ragangal, and also "ranjaniyai azhaithaen" in the
movie mrudhanga chakravarthi). The other popular janyam of Dharmavathi is
Madhuvanthi. There is a subtle Ma1 usage in this ragam. In the movie nandha
en nila, obscure music director V.Dhakshinamurthy has tuned one excellent
Madhuvanthi song. The song also starts like "nandha en nila". My Houston
room-mate Karthik used to repeatedly listen to this song again and again
for hours. If you listened to this song, you will know the addictive
potential of this song. Like "heroin addict", "ganja addict", we can
proudly call ourselves as "nandha en nila addict"! It is one of the best
ever recorded Thamizh cinema song!


The 10th chakram (in other words, the 4th chakram of the prathimadhyama
melaragas) has probably the more popular ragas among the prathimadhyama
melams. The 55th is Shatvidhamargini, 56th - Shanmukhapriya, 57th -
Simhendra Madhyamam, 58th - Hemavathi, 59th - Dharmavathi, 60th -
Neethimathi.


Illayaraja has given a lot of Shanmukhapriya songs. Thamthanathamthana thalam
was his first Shanmukhapriya (in Bharathiraja's pudhiya vaarpukkal). One of
his very early classical ventures that proved to the Thamizh cinema world
what kind he was! It is a very fast song sung by Jency. In his earlier days
he seems to have really liked tuning fast songs (like mazhai varuvadhu in
rishi moolam)! In thamthana song, the thabla rhythm, veenai and flute
interlude are mesmerising. His other Shanmukhapriya songs are kaadhal
kasakkudhaiyaa (aan paavam), thakita thadhimi (salangai oli), ooru vittu
ooru vandhu (karagaattakaaran), sollaayo vaai thirandhu (moga mull). We
have to remind ourselves of the earlier music directors contribution in this
ragam that includes pazham nee appa (thiruvilayadal), muththaitharu (arunagiri
naadhar), kurangilirundhu (thookuthooki), maraindhirundhu (thillana
mohanaambal). Devendran has tuned kannukkul nooru nilava in vedham pudhidhu.
One interesting thing to note is that even Thyagarajaswami has given only
one krithi in this important ragam, while cinema fellows have been handling
it quite often, the maximum number being by Illayaraja!


Shanmukhapriya uses Ri2, Ga2, Ma2, Da1 and Ni2. If we change the Ni2 to
Ni3 we get Simhendra Madhyamam. Probably, his first number in this ragam
came in panneer pushpangal. The song is aanandha raagam. This song has got
one of the most abnormal starts! It starts in thaara sthayi Ga! It goes
likes this: Ga2 Ri2 Sa (aanandha) Sa Ri2 Ri2 Sa (raagam). A beautiful start
and a wonderful job by Uma Ramanan! His second song in this ragam came in
Mukta Sundar's debut film kodai mazhai. The song is kaatrodu kuzhalin
naadhamae. The song has been sung by Chitra. A highly classical song. The
heroine gives a dance performance on stage for this song. This song also
starts in a very high pitched Ga2 of thara sthayi! I first listened to this
song while watching the movie in the theatre, and the song was just gripping!
His next Simhendra Madhyamam came in oruvar vaazhum aalayam. The song is
nee pournami. He starts this song in middle octave Ri2! The song goes like
this: Ri2 Ga2 Ri2 Ga2 Sa (nee..) Ga2 Ma2 Pa Ma2 Pa (pournami). The swara
structuring of this song is just marvellous. He uses groups of swaras up
and down like a thrilling roller-coaster ride, and later in the end of the
song he starts presenting alternating swaram-sahityam sequences that are just
wonderful! His last Simhendra Madhyamam song is thaaj mahal thevai illai
in gopura vaasalilae.


We have discussed Hemavathi ragam in our earlier essays. Nobody has tuned
Shatvidhamargini or Neethimathi in cinema! These are extremely rare ragas
even in classical sadas. If we just change the Ga2 to Ga3 in the ragas
discussed above, we get all the important ragas of the next (11th) chakram.
63rd - Lathangi, 64th - Vachaspathi, 65th - Mesakalyani (commonly, called
as Kalyani). We know that Illayaraja was the most prolific music director in
tuning Kalyani in cinema. Did anybody think that he would use the other
important ragams from this chakram in the nineties?!


Once upon a time there was a director called as "P.Vasu"! He used to shoot
whatever perversion that came to his mind during the most uninhibited of his
dreams as films! He had the extreme fortune of getting "Illayaraja's
kadaaksham" in most of his movies, and the films would be jam-packed with
superb songs! Just because of Illayaraja, those films would "runno runnunu
run" tirelessly in the theatres, with money "fallo fallunu falling" down
the roofu! Mmmmm...... Did P.Vasu know that he got one of the two great
Lathaangi songs ever tuned in one of his junk movies? The first popular
Lathaangi is aadadha manamum undo in mannadhi mannan. The song has been
sung by T.M.S and M.L.Vasanthakumari. Great song!


The other popular Lathangi came from the harmonium of Illayaraja! The movie
is walter vetrivel. The song is raasavae chitterumbu. He has presented an
incredibly pure Lathangi in a "tappaanguthu kind of format" in this song. It
was a mega-hit song reverbrating throughout the Thamizhnadu, from the slums
to the elite! Prabhu Deva and Sukhanya dance for this song. It is one of
the songs, which, when a common laymen rasika listens, he just feels it as
a "great" tune, while a knowledgeable rasika immediately recognizes the
intelligent use of a hardcore classical ragam and becomes wonder-struck!
Illayaraja has tuned another Lathangi in eeramaana rojavae (adho andha
vaanilae). But, that song was not a big hit. He also gave a Vachaspathi
in one of his songs, nikkatumaa pogattumaa neelakarunguyilae (?movie).
A beautiful song. But, it was not a big hit. I don't think anybody else
has tuned Vachaspathi in cinema.


Vijayanagari is a janyam of Hemavathi. Actually, this ragam was "discovered"
by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar in this century. He just omitted
Nishadham in Hemavathi and called it as Vijayanagari. There is a famous
M.K.T song soppanavazhvil magizhndhu in this ragam. Illayaraja tuned one
Vijayanagari in paadaadha thaeneekkal. The song is vanna nilavae vaigai
nadhiyae. He has beautifully used the Ma2 of this ragam. But, from
puritans point of view, he has done a mistake. He has also used Ga3 to
give a very sad appeal to the song. That is not permissible.


Vijayanagari is very closely related to Sivaranjani. While Sivaranjani is a
janyam of the 22nd melam (Karaharapriya), Vijayanagari is a janyam of the
58th (the prathimadhyamam of the 22nd). Sivaranjani is also a very "soga"
ragam. Kadalai urundai is called the poor man's meat, as it has reasonably
all the essential amino acids as meat, but at a lesser cost! Like that,
we could call Sivaranjani as the "cinema rasika's Mukhari or Bhairavi" as it
has the same dose of "sadness", but, in a lighter form. Sivaranjani's
arohanam and avarohanam are: Sa Ri2 Ga2 Pa Da2 Sa; Sa Da2 Pa Ga2 Ri2 Sa.
Nowadays musicians liberally use Ga3 to add beauty to this ragam.


To list all the Sivaranjani songs of Illayaraja is impossible. To list a
few that comes to the mind immediately: adi aathaadi (kadalora kavidhaigal),
unnai thaanae (nallavanukku nallavan), poovannam pola nenjam (azhiyaadha
kolangal), solai pushpangalae (?movie), kaathirundhu (vaidehi kaathirundhal),
pon manae (oru kaidhiyin dairy), vaa vaa anbae (agni nakshatiram), valli
valli aena (deiva vaaku), adhikaalai nera kanavu (?movie), kuyil paatu
(en raasavin manasilae) etc. Also, Sivaranjani is one of the unique ragas
in the sense that, it is probably the only ragam that has been handled by
every Tom, Dick and Harry calling himself as a music director. Manoj-Kiyan
tuned tholvi nilayaena (oomai vizhigal), S.A.Rajkumar tuned paatu onnu
naan paadatuma (pudhu vasantham), Shankar Ganesh tuned aval oru menagai
(nakshathiram), lately Rahman has tuned kannum kannum (thiruda thiruda),
thannerai kaadhalikkum (Mr.Romeo). In karuthamma, Rahman has scored a
fantastic song (poraalae ponnuthayee). It is also Sivaranjani based, with
weightage given to Ga3 (like Mohanam) in the happy version, and to Ga2 in
the sad version. This song unquestionably proves that Rahman is one among
the most remarkable music directors in Thamizh cinema now.


The present continuous success in the Indian filmdom might make Rahman feel
as though he has gone to the top of the globe. The total ouster of Illayaraja
from the #1 position might give a feeling of superiority than other creators
now. Perhaps, that is the reason why he said that he avoided listening to
contemporary music! Illayaraja had the same status once upon a time. He
behaved like a narcist then! He quarrelled with everybody in the cinema field
because of his superioritic complex. He spoke ill of Vairamuthu on air when
both he and Vairamuthu had been selected for national award! This behavior
pattern is not unique to Illayaraja! Almost everybody who comes to the
limelight for some reason seems to become gripped by the evil "conceit"!
Jayalalitha performed the marriage of her step son in such a grand manner
only because of "conceit"! The mind seems to constantly work with the
central thought "I", "ME", "MINE"! Nothing else matters to the mind!


Pigs like Jayalalitha and Sasikala, Maestro's like Illayaraja, Rahman,
superhuman beings like Mother Teresa, billionaires like Bill Gates, and all
of us would be dead and sleeping in our graves in just another millennium
from now! We will all be forgotten and even our own progeny would not know
us! When that be the likely practical eventuality, then why conceit? 65
million years ago, in the Jurassic age, the dinosaurs ruled the earth!
Where are they now? 65 million years from now, the homo-sapiens species
might be extinct, and even Illayaraja's microgram worth of dust might
not be found in that world! Then, why conceit? In the inconceivably
large space-time co-ordinates of Mother Nature, the infinitesimally small
human being fails to realize his mortality during his life time. He dances
proudly for "HIS" achievement, fails to acknowledge other's talents, yells
at his competitor with contempt and conceit! Oh, the director of all such
conceited activity - THE MIND! You are a conundrum!


-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan,
Internal Medicine Department,
Brackenridge Hospital,
Austin, Tx 78701.

Classical Ilayaraja - Part 14

The invincible AIDS virus is fast spreading in India. That is news!
(Accidentally turned) bigamist Thamizh writer Balakumaran once stated in
an interview that women are like masturbating bowl to men in India. Yeah,
lorry drivers acknowledge that statement candidly! They will take the
"sarakku" from Chennai to Thirunelvelli by their overnight lorry-borne
express. In the gloomily lit bus-stations in-between, they will stop not
only for "barota kuruma", but also looking for their in-expensive bowls
of masturbation! There... will come the familiar figure of the betel-nut
chewing red-mouthed sexy queen! Our driver's mouth will twist into a lusty
leer! The indomitable Freudian force will drive the male instrument to do its
procreative job in few minutes. There... will go our night queen, having
earned few bucks to support her indigent family of innumerable malnourished
children. In the above encounter between the two beings, not only the
rapturous joy of sex, and money will have transacted, but possibly, the
seemingly indolent "HIV" fellow too!


Illayaraja writes in his "nila adhu vaanathu maelae" song, "pasikkudhu
pasikkudhu dhinam dhinam thaan, pusicha pasiyadhu theerndhiduma?" Good
question, boss! The hypothalamus in the brain is a "dhammathoondu"
structure! You can place it on your nail top and squeeze it, like your
grandmother used to squeeze the helpless lice from her hair! But, it is
this "thammathoondu" structure that orchestrates the various vital functions
of the body. When you have not eaten for a while, and when your blood
sugar concentration falls, it is your hypothalamus that feels your hunger
and instructs you to eat! When you've not drunk water for a while, and
when your blood sodium rises (dehydration), it is this hypothalamus that
senses it and drives you crazy to drink! But, Illayaraja tries to equate
"hunger for food" to "hunger for sex and pleasure"! It is true that
TTC bus driver gets free food at those unhygienic hotels in Thindivanam
for bringing lots of customers and business for the hotel. Maybe, that is
the reason why he eats three days worth of meal when he stops for those 20
minutes during your trip from Chennai to Srirangam! That is an unusual case.
Most of us eat because our hypothalamus commands us to eat after sensing
our low blood sugar concentrations! But, why does the lorry driver seek
courtship in the shady towns of India during his long distance operation?
Nothing decreases in his blood, making the hypothalamus "hungry for sex".
The hypothalamus simply feels like having sex!


Illayaraja showed an abnormal choice of ragam (Reethigowlai) when he tuned
"thalayai kuniyum" in Sridhar's oru odai nadhiyagiradhu. He had done that
earlier in choosing the same ragam for his "chinnakannan azhaikiraan" in
kavikkuyil, and then in tuning "raamanin kadhai kaelungal" in chippikkul
muthu. It is a very easily identifiable, very classical janya ragam that
was relished by composers like Thyagaraja. But, none in the cinema arena
seems to have used it in the pre-Illayaraja period. In mid seventies, here
comes the uneducated music director from Madhurai jilla....! He tunes a
couple of "tappanguthu" that marks his initial success! Within 2 to 3 years
after his debut, he calls one of the most memorable geniuses of Carnatic
music, Shri Balamurali Krishna to sing one cinema song for him. "Alright
thambi" says Balamurali, and goes to the recording theatre.....


Was Balamurali surprised initially when Illayaraja played the tune for him
in his harmonium? If I were him, I would have been! First of all, out
of the blue, why Reethigowlai? Why not the hackneyed Hindholam or Mohanam?
This absolutely classical raga selection shows his desire to venture into
pure, traditional ragas! It is like A.R.Rahman springing a surprise by
tuning purely classical Yadhukula Kamboji interludes in kuluvaliyae (muthu)!


Reethigowlai is the janyam of Karaharapriya (22nd melam). It is a vakra
ragam and hence with a convoluted arohanam and avarohanam. Sa Ga2 Ri2 Ga2
Ma1 Ni2 Da2 Ma1 Ni2 Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Da2 Ma1 Ga2 Ma1 Pa Ma1 Ga2 Ri2 Sa.
Its raga lakshanam is so unique that it gets imprinted in our mind easily.
Beginners in carnatic music identify Reethigowlai rather facilely and this
gives great encouragement to venture into learning other ragas. The
jubilance of identifying a raga by ourselves initially is unparalled and
even a triple 800 score in GRE Pre-Test wouldn't make you that happy!
Oh man, what a joy! In that aspect, Reethgowlai could be compared to a
steroid shot to Ben Johnson! In all his three Reethigowlai songs Illayaraja
presents the ragalakshanam excellently in a very concise 4 minute form.


He starts his kavikkuyil song as Sa Ga Ri Ga (chinnakannanan) Ma Ni Ni Sa
(azhaikiraan). He has just used the arohanam of Reethigowlai without any
extraneous manipulation of the ragam. In his chippikul muthu song he goes
like Sa Ga Ri Ga (raamanin) Ma Ma (kadhai) Ni Ni Sa (kaelungal). A very small
variation to chinnakannan song. He made lakhs of rupees for the former and
lakhs for the latter! That is why he often says in interviews "there are
only seven notes in music. Musicians have made infinite number of songs
only with those seven notes by cheating!". He is in a way right and in a
way wrong. The above two songs are cheating of the first order. He has
cheated less in thalayai kuniyum thamarayae where the pallavi goes like
Da Ni Sa (thalayai) Ni Da Ma (kuniyum) Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa (thaamarayae).


Music is not just the melodious manipulation of different discrete
frequencies of the continuum of "energy" commonly called as the sound. It
is much more than that. There is another important variable in good music.
That is the TIME! If I sing Sa today and sing Ga tomorrow, and Ri day after
tomorrow and so forth sing one by one note of Illayaraja's chinnakannan
azhaikiraan in whatever period it takes to complete the song, will it still
be good music? This tells us the importance of MIND in music! There is NO
music out there in the physical world! It is all in our MIND! When different
swaras are sung, it is the MIND that intelligently concatenates the swaras
and sees it as music. It sees a musical quality that is in actuality non-
existent in the frequencies of sound, and derives pleasure by listening to
it! Following the same concept, the MIND derives "sexual pleasure" from
the physical intercourse of two bodies, or "eating pleasure" from eating
buttered pecan ice cream, when it is set for those appropriate moods.
Behaviourly, the MIND seems to be a big pleasure seeker. Philosophically
it seems to be the greatest fool in the world, constantly seeking the
ephemeral, mundane pleasures that are never-the-less, virtual!


Reethigowlai is in no way related to Gowlai, Mayamalavagowlai, Kedaragowlai
or Narayanagowlai. It is indeed closely related to Ananda Bhairavi about
which we have discussed in our earlier essays.


Other ragas that beginners start recognizing very easily in their journey
through the vast empire of carnatic music are Sahana, Kanada, Atana,
Natai, Gowlai, Anandha Bhairavi etc. All the above are vakra ragas.
We have two popular songs in Sahana that had a tremendous impact on the
common rasika. Parthaen sirithaen (mahakavi kaalidaas) and indha veenaiku in
rayil sneham. The former tuned by K.V.Mahadevan and latter by V.S.Narasimhan.
I hear that there is a song "rukku rukku" in Sahana in ovvai shanmukhi. BTW,
Sahana is a janyam of Harikaambojhi (28th melam) with Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Ma1
Da2 Ni2 Sa and Sa Ni2 Da2 Pa Ma1 Ga3 Ma1 Ri2 Ga3 Ri2 Sa. Strangely
Illayaraja does not have any Sahana product from his industry! Atana is a
janyam of Sankarabharanam (29th melam) with a complex swara sequence. It is
a bhashanga ragam as it has a double Nishadham. K.V.Mahadevan gave a superb
Atana in yaar tharuvaar indha ariyasanam (?veera abhimanyu). In salangai oli
Illayaraja used balakanakamaya (Thaayagaiyer's Atana composition) in the
scene when Manjubarghavi dances on the stage and Kamalahasan starts dancing
in the kitchen (unable to control his inherent dance flow). Atana is a very
brisk and "gambeeramaana ragam"!


Chalanaatai is the last (36th) melam in the suddha madhyama ragas and hence
using 3rd Ri, Ga, Da, and Ni. Illayaraja is the only one who ever chose
to use this rare ragam in cinema. The song is un paarvai oru varam in the
movie ninaivellam nithiya. Sridhar directed that movie. Oh boy, Sridhar-
Illayaraja combination has given several marvellous songs to Thamizh music!
Vairamuthu's lyrics reached wonderful heights in that song. Illayaraja's
use of this vivadhi ragam is very intelligent and guarded, avoiding any
un melodious use of the vivadhi swaras. This song proved to be a terrific
hit when compared to his use of the last (72nd) melam in the prathimadhyama
ragas, which is Rasikapriya. He used that ragam to tune sangeethamae in
kovil pura. He starts his Chalanatai like Ga3 Ma1 Pa (unpaarvai) Ma1 Pa Ma1
Ri3 Sa (oru varam). Then he goes Ga3 Ga3 Ga3 Ga3 Ri3 Ri3 Ri3 Ri3 (inivarum
munivarum) Sa Sa Ri3 Ri3 Sa Sa Sa Sa (thadumaarum kanimaram). A beautiful
interplay of immediately adjacent vavadhi swaras with an unanticipated melody
that is much more than you could bargain from using such ragas. In the
charanam he starts using Da3 and Ni3. He starts the charanam like Sa Ni Sa
Sa Pa (chelai moodum) Da Da Da Pa (illam cholai) Sa Ni Sa Sa (maalai choodum)
Ri Ri Ri Sa (malar maalai). The tune development is just excellent!


I was in Srirangam when this movie was released (in early eighties). In the
Vadakku uthirai veedhi sandhu, there was a guy called as "paaku cheeni". He
was so crazy with this song that the cassette would be playing all the time
in his house. While playing kabadi or cricket in the streets I used to get
the benefit of listening to this lilting song for free, not knowing what a
rare ragam it was! Look what Vairamuthu writes in that song:


Just being seen by you is a great boon;
even an ascetic to come in future would
loose his hold on celibacy on seeing you;
you are a tree bearing beautiful fruits (breasts)


You are a garden that wears sari
you are a flower that is worn by flowers
twenty moons would shine in your finger nails;
youthful dreams would bud in our eye corners
as our fingers play on each other,
as the distance between us decreases,
the glowing light would dim and our
eyes would close (in the ecstasy of love)


Oh man, what a language he has written! An unbelievable choice of words
and thought in describing the beauty of a women. In a recent song (telephone
manipol in Indhian), look how the poet describes the beauty of a women in
modern terms incorporating the latest technological advances in his poetry!


Is she the one who laughs like a telephone bell
is she the one who is like a Melbourne flower
did lord Brahma use a computer to sketch her figure
has her voice been made up of digital signals
is she the latest cellular phone


A wonderful movie by Shankar with great songs by A.R.Rahman. I think the
above song is by Vairamuthu. It is amazing how these poets get such novel
ideas to describe a simple thing. Grandiosity seems to be an essential
quality of a poet's mind.


Naatai is a janyam of Chalanaatai. The arohanam and avarohanam of Naatai
are Sa Ri3 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Ni3 Sa and Sa Ni3 Pa Ma1 Ga3 Ma1 Ri3 Sa. Notice the
vakram Ga3 Ma1 Ri3 Sa. Often singers sing Natai like Chalanaatai using all
the swaras. Illayaraja used Muthuswamy Dikshidhar's Naatai krithi "maha-
ganapathim" in the movie sindhubhairavi. Apart from that he has tuned one
Natai (peigalai nambadhae - a jolly song in mahanadhi). Only Kamal can make
such daring pictures about paedophiles and sexual abuse of children. In the
early part of the movie, "peigalai" song has been used to show what a happy
family Kamal leads. It has become a common feature in India for the
government to crumble to dust once in two years costing crores of tax-payer's
rupees for re-election! People have gone immune to all these and they
just seem to mind their own business (like finishing B Sc and then studying
a crash course in C language programming at NIIT to become a "consultant"
to come to the USA). Who cares if the government survives or falls! But,
a "mahanadhi" viewer is left with tears rolling down the cheek and extreme
sympathy for Kamal at the horrendous turn of events in his life (even though
it is just a movie). Kudos, to Kamal!


Illayaraja's use of Naatai for that song is quite a surprise. He has
presented a pure Naatai in that song. Ga Ma Pa (peigalai) Pa Pa Pa (namba-
dhae) Pa Ni Sa Ni (pinjilae) Pa Pa Pa (vembadhae). The song ends with
S.Varalakshmi singing the tail piece. Gambeera Naatai is a pentatonic ragam
where there is no vivadhi swaram. So, it is distinctly different from
Chalanatai and Naatai. The aarohanam and avarohanam of Gambeera Naatai is
Sa Ga3 Ma1 Pa Ni3 Sa and Sa Ni3 Pa Ma1 Ga3 Sa. You could call it as a janyam
of Sankarabharanam or Chalanaatai. Illayaraja's innum ennai enna seyya
pogiraai in singaravelan has been tuned in Gambeera Naatai. He has used the
raagam remarkably. S.P.B and Janaki have done wonders in the charanam where
most of the tune is set in thara sthayi! Earlier T.Rajendar scored one song
in the same ragam (kaadhal oorvalam ingae in pookkalai parikkadheergal).
That is also an excellent song.


If we change the 3rd Ni in the avarohanam of Gambeera Naatai to kaisiki
Nishadham (2nd Ni) we get Thillang. Illayaraja has given few Thillangs so
far. probably the first one was kothamallee poovae in kallukkul eeram.
His other Thillang song is manadhil urudhi vendum in sindhu bhairavi (a
fantastic Bharathiyar poem). Look what Bharathiyaar says in that poem:
PERIYA Kadavul kaaththal vendum!! Webster's English dictionary gives the
meaning for God as "the one supreme being, the creator and ruler of the
universe". If so, how can we have a "Periya" Kadavul (big God)? I guess
Bharathiyaar compares God to human beings and says "Periya Kadavul". In
kaiveesamma kaiveesu there is one Thillang (anbae thaan thai aanadhu). MSV
has given a great Thillang "nalladhor veenai seidhae". That is in K.Bala-
chandar directed varumayin niram sivappu. Kamal is a big Bharathiyaar fan
in that movie. Nalladhor is also a Bharathiyaar song. Illayaraja has used
a ragam that is closely related to Thillang in kavarimaan (Thyaagaiyer's
Brovabaarama in Bahudhari ragam).


Because of the unique "vakra" phrases, many of the above mentioned vakra
ragas are very easily identifiable. Vakra ragas are a boon to beginners
as they help to get a start in carnatic music. If there is a vakram in a
ragam, and if that is what gives the important ragalakshanam to the ragam,
then that is how it has to be sung! You cannot go like Sa Ri2 Ga2 Ma1 in
Reethigowlai or sing like Ma1 Ga3 Ri2 Sa in Sahana. These are absolutely
not permissible. Why these strict strictures?


I read in a book recently that there was a Chinese sage called as Li Ling.
He would usually be naked in his house. When somebody asked about it to him,
he said "I consider the whole world as my house and my house as my cloth.
So, why the hell are you entering my trousers?"!! Nature made men to
intercourse with women to procreate and sustain life on earth. That is a
rule. If man tries to enter into another man's trouser ignoring the ordinance
of Nature, AIDS awaits him inside the other man's trouser! If the lorry
driver in India defies the present day societal norms and seek polygamous
pleasure, then AIDS awaits him at the gates of pleasure! Regulations and
rules make our life go smooth. Rules enriched carnatic music and gave rise
to an excellent variety of ragas. Till Nature gives her treatment of gradual
evolution to things, what be now, let be in future!


-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan,
Internal Medicine Department,
Brackenridge Hospital,
Austin, Tx 78751.

Classical Ilayaraja - Part 13

A.R.Rahman is the number one copier in the world. My friend is very much
convinced on this matter. He called A.R.Rahman as a mammoth recycling bin
that takes its own previously tuned songs and polishes it and presents it
in a different form. How dare he copy the great "kowsalya supraja" tune
and use it as the interlude music in "margazhi poovae" (may maadham). My
friend boils with anger. How dare the freshmen music director of the movie
meendum savithri (Ravi Devendran) copy the interlude of margazhi poovae
(which is itself a copied bit from kowsalya supraja) and present it in his
song. A chain of copying! My friend has lost his peace and is now a terri-
bly agitated individual. His head is hot with anger!


Is it correct to call the flute interlude in "margazhi poovae" as a copy of
kausalya supraja? A.R. Rahman has tuned his margazhi poovae in the ragam
Hindholam. Subbulakshmi's Kausalya supraja is in the ragam Sudha Saveri.
If Rahman indeed copied willfully, how could he present a Sudha Saveri tune
in a Hindholam song?


The concept of Sruthi is very illusory. We know that if we sounded a note
with any frequency (X) and another note twice its frequency (2X), then
there is an entire octave between these two notes. Be X = 1 hertz, and
2X = 2 hertz, or be X = 100,000 hertz and 2X = 200,000 Hz, there is one
and only one octave inbetween these two respective sets of notes. Thus we
will have an entire Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Sa between these notes. So, you
can take any frequency (Sa) and play the 2X frequency of that fundamental
frequency (upper Sa) and make a shruthi. Additionally if you played
X x 2 * 7/12 (read this as X times 2 to the power 7/12) with X and 2X, then,
you are adding the panchamam to the two Sa's and you get panchama shruthi.
Instead, if you played X x 2 * 5/12 (X times 2 to the power 5/12), you are
adding madhyamam to the two Sa's and it is called as the madhyama shruthi.


Shruthi forms the territorial boundaries in music. Any swara derives its
identity only with reference to the shruthi. A single note when played
alone is probably meaningless in classical music without the Shruthi. Shruthi
by itself is pleasant music. In katcheris you may often see somebody sitting
on the stage and playing the thambura. The thambura just gives the Sa Pa Sa
notes to the Katcheri. That is the SHRUTHI!! Illayaraja has many times
just used the Sa Pa Sa shruthi as the background score in cinemas and lilted
the audience by the magical effect of the SHRUTHI! Rahman also has used the
drone of the Shruthi conspicously in many of his songs and added great
melody to the songs (eg: the panthuvarali song in Rangeela sung by Swarana
Latha and Udit Narayan. What a classical piece!!)


The swaras of Sudha Saveri are: Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Da2 Sa; Sa Da2 Pa Ma1 Ri2 Sa.
If we played Kausalya Supraja the tune goes like this: Sa Ri Ri (kausalya)
Sa Ri Ri (supraja), Sa Ri Sa Ri (Rama poorva), Sa Ri Sa Ri Sa Sa (Sandhya
pravarthadhae). The above swaras have meanings only within their respective
Shruthi. If you viewed these notes from within the boundaries of a different
musical territory, then it might have a different meaning. What if you
viewed these notes from the reference shruthi of "Ri2-Da2-Ri2"?! The ragam
might change totally. It is like Pandiyarajan and S.V.Sekhar travelling
overnight and going to Kerala in Kadhanayakan!! Though Thamizhnadu and
Kerala are adjacent states, words might have totally opposite meanings
there! If a Thamizh doctor prescribed a sleeping pill to a Malayalee and
told him "ee guligai ravilae kazhicho!", he will be in trouble. Because,
"ravilae" means night in Thamizh and morning in Malayalam! See how
different the meanings are?!


What A.R.Rahman has done is, he has skillfully "copied" the Sudha Saveri
swaras and transliterated it into Hindholam as Ga2 Ma1 Ma1, Ga2 Ma1 Ga2 Ma1
and so on. We don't know if he purported to copy or if it was a strange
co-incidence. But, the fact is that a Coke can got recycled and came back
to us as a Pepsi can! Sometimes, Coke cans can get a new sticker on its
face (with no shruthi change and stuff!) and can be sold as Goli soda locally.


That has happened in the background rhythm guitar score in "kuluvaliyae"
(Muthu) song. The same piece comes in Sister Act. Illayaraja too has got
incriminated many times for such blatant similarity of his songs to other
popular songs ("en purushan thaan enaku mattum thaan" in Gopurangal
Saivadhillai was called as a copy of "dham maerae dham").


Aandholika is a pleasant janyam of Harikaambodi ragam. Its arohanam and
avarohanam are Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Da2 Ma1 Ri2 Sa. Thyagaraja
swamy has got a terrific krithi in this ragam, which is mostly sung as a
thukkada in Katcheris. The krithi is "raga sudha rasa". I have heard a
story long ago. That Padma Subramaniam had a song tuned for her dance
performance in this Ragam. At that time Illayaraja was in someway conected
with Padma's troup to earn his daily bread (probably as a "mike" boy or
something!). Then, later he became picked up by "Ms. Luck" after he made
his debut in Panchu Arunachalam's film "Annakili". He had lot of chances
flowing in his way then. Mullum malarum is a terrific movie. It must be
within first 50 films of Illayaraja. He gave a great musical support to the
director, Mahendran, tuning few totally unheard kinds of lilting tunes then.
But, he also got his name spoiled in that movie because of "copying"
Padma's Aandolika ragam tune.


The song is "raaman aandalum raavanan aandalum". That is a very crucial
song in the movie. Rajni looses one of his arms in the climax of the song
in an accident. The song is actually a tappanguthu. But, in the interlude
of the song the chorus sings a bit which goes like "samiyai kumbitta namaku
nalladhu thaan varumae". The tune is supposed to be in pure Aandholika (the
same tune that Padma used in her Dance performance earlier). Reportedly
she complained in some interview about how Illayaraja had "copied" her tune.
We know that music directors like Illayaraja and Rahman have got very fertile
mind and they have proved it by generation of wonderful tunes. The judgement
that these eminant people copied other people's work cannot be passed so
easily. It is in the innermost conscience of these personalities that the
secret dwells if they are felon or not. Perhaps, it can never be known
to the outside world unless they frankly admit like Anand Milind ("yes, we
are fans of Illayaraja, we do use his tunes in our songs")!


Madhyamaavathi is a grand janya ragam of Karaharapriya. Perhaps it is the
greatest of the pentatonic ragas (oudhuva oudhuva ragam). Its arohanam and
avarohanam are: Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Pa Ma1 Ri2 Sa. Illayaraja
liked this ragam so much that he has atleast tuned 40 to 50 songs in this
great ragam. Madhyamavathi is distinct among other pentatonic ragas. It
is a very much gamaka oriented ragam. It is like the Thodi of janya ragas.
You can just play the notes of the 45 melam (subhapanthuvarali) in the
harmonium and make the ragam evident. Similarly you can just play
Sa Ri2 Ma2 Pa Ni3 Sa in the harmonium and make Hamsanadham ragam evident,
but, you cannot get Madhyamavathi by just playing the notes in a plain
"bland" way. You have to make the notes spicy! Gently make the Rishabham
and Nishadham oscillate above their baseline frequency, there comes the
unparalled beauty, Ms. Madhyamaavathi!!


Illayaraja has tuned a great Madhyamavathi in Mullum malarum ("adipaennae").
I think the singer is Jency. Each time I listen to this song it creates
an inexplicable feeling in my mind. The song is so romantic, so sexy,
so well sung that it directly stimulates some unknown erogenous zones in
the psyche. Illayaraja has reasonably used the gamakas well. This was
probably his second Madhyamavathi, the first one being "solaikuyilae" in
Ponnu ooruku pudhusu. Solaikuyilae starts like Pa Pa Ri Sa Ri.... A lofty
jump from madhyama sthayi Pa to tharasthayi Rishabam. Maalaikadhirae goes
like Sa Sa Ni Sa Ni.....Pa, such a prolonged nishadham. Most of the
melody of this ragam resides with the Ri and Ni. The gamakam is absolutely
important, period! Look at the beauty of Papanasam Sivan's opening in
Madhyamavathi in "karpagamae kadai kann paarai" - Sa Ri Sa Ri.... Actually
the gamakam of Ri encompasses the sadharana gandharam too. It is like
RiGa, RiGa...! Illayaraja's use of impeccable gamaka adorned Rishabam at
the very opening of the song is too classic. It is like Krishnamachari
Srikanth sending the first opening ball to the boundary!


Illayaraja has given few more Madhyamavathi's in quite pure form. En
kalyana vaibhogam in the movie "azhagae unnai aradhikkiraen" is one early
number. Sridhar's first venture with Illayaraja. Vani Jayaram has sung
this song. Then, aagaya gangai in Dharma Uddham, nee thaanae endhan
ponvasantham in Ninaivellam Nithiya, thulli thulli nee padamma (Chirpikul
muthu), thalattu pillai ena thaalaatu (?Achchani), thazham poovae vaasam
veesu (Kai kodukum kai), kuyilae kuyilae poonguyilae (Aan paavam), anandam
then sindhum (Man vasanai), azhagiya thirumaganae (Rajarishi), eeramaana
rojaavae (Illamai Kaalangal), kavidhai paadu kuyilae (Thendralae Ennai Thodu),
malargalil aadum illamai (kalayaraman), nee kaeta naan mataen (?movie) etc.
A.R. Rahman has used small bits of Madhyamavathi in the interlude of his song
"then then thithikkum then" (Thiruda thiruda). Some singer called Jadhiraja
has sung some fast swaras with pungent electric guitar sending shocks of
Madhyamavathi vibrations with his voice! (I heard that Mr.Jadhiraja is none
other than Rahman himself!) Madhyamaavathi by earlier music directors include
Ponnondru kandaen, Muthukkalo kangal, aagaya pandhalilae, etc. Can we
forget the great presentation of Devarajan in Swamy Iyyapan "hariharatmajam
viswamasrayae" sung by Jesudoss. It is a divine feast to listen to this
slow song.


Madhyamavathi is supposed to be a Mangalakaramaana ragam. Tradionally
when we end the katcheri, it is customary to end the katcheri in one of the
three ragas: Madhyamavathi, Suruti, or Sowrashtram. Illayaraja used
Madhyamavathi to end the song in one of his ragamaalika songs! enna samayalo
in "Unnal Mudiyum Thambi". The song starts with mohanam and ends with
Madhyamaavathi. When SPB sings "illayai podadi", Madhyamavathi starts.
Ofcourse, each of the raga change in that ragamalikai is made by the
accompanying nadhaswaram.


If we change the kaisiki nishadham (Ni2) of madhyamavathi in the arohanam to
kaakali nishadham (Ni3) then the raga form changes drastically. It is
Brindhavana Saranga. It is a bhashangam because of double Nishadham. Sa Ri2
Ma1 Pa Ni3 Sa; Sa Ni2 Pa Ma1 Ri2 Sa. Some of Illayaraja's song in this
ragam are fantastic. Poongatrae poongatrae (kunkumachimizh), kannukullae
anbin eeram enna (unakaaga vazhgiraen) are both enthralling songs. I cannot
forget how I used to tune to Coimbatore radio station between 10 to 11,
Trichi - 1 to 2 PM, Madras - 4 to 5 in the mid 1980's to listen to these
great songs. These Brindhavana Saranga's are as captivating as Subulakshmi's
"Sriranga Pura Vihara" or Balamurali's "kamalaptakula". The later songs
that he tuned in this raga are Penn onru thai aanadhu (Pudhiya Ragam)
and indha jilla muzhuka nalla theriyum (Priyanka). Brindhavana Saranga
by earlier music directors are Kattithanga rajavukku (?movie), thottilil
thodangidum (nilavae malarae). In the latter song MSV has used double
Nishadham in the arohanam itself (like Pa Ni2 Ni3 Sa)! It is one of the
best songs that he has ever tuned, sung by Vani Jayaram.


Mullum Malarum has another fantastic song. Senthazham poovil is a kinda
try in Bowli ragam (with lot of foreign notes in the interlude). Bowli is
one of the early morning ragas. Other early morning ragas are Boopaalam,
Revagupti, Malayamaarudham etc. When your cousin is getting married,
you are very tired during the night of Janavaasam because you went out
with your other cousins and had a "thanni" party and came back to the
Kalyana chathiram only at 4 AM to sleep. You have hardly slept for 30 mts,
and you hear the irritating Nadhaswaram vidhwan playing "pee pee" to wake
up everybody. He is playing one of the above ragams! Boopalam is Thodi
janyam: Sa Ri1 Ga2 Pa Da1 Sa; Sa Da1 Pa Ga2 Ri1 Sa. Bowli is Mayamalava
Gowlai Janyam with Ga3 instead of Ga2 in Boopalam. I have heard of one
good Bowli in the movie called as Kuzhandhai Yesu (kannae vaa, kanmaniyae
vaa). I don't know who is the music director. Recently I heard Illayaraja's
another (probable) Bowli: Kozhikoovum naerathulae... (?Movie). I don't
remember the tune very well. But, the best Bowli came from T.Rajender.
Salangai ittaal (Maidhili Ennai Kaadhali) was a tremendous success at that
time. It is unfortunate that Rajender, a guy with full potency to challenge
big time music directors, got lost in the political imbroglio, loosing his
place in the cinema. He gave such a wonderful Kaapi ragam in his very first
movie (idhu kuzhandhai paadum thaalaatu in Oru thalai Ragam), superb
Gambeera Naatai in Pookalai Parikaadheergal (kaadhal oorvalam ingae).
Those are unforgettable tunes.


Madhyamaavathi is closely related Sriragam (Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2
Pa Ma1 Ri2 Ga2 Ri2 Sa) and Manirangu (Sa Ri2 Ma1 Pa Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Pa Ma1
Ga2 Ri2 Sa). There is one film song in Sriragam. Thoda thoda vaa mella
has been tuned by Malayalam music director Ravindran. I think the movie
is Rasikan oru rasikai. Two years ago, I heard another Sriragam song
(andhi maalai) that has been exactly tuned in the tune of Thyagraja krithi
Entharo mahaanu bavulu. That song was in a music album. I don't know who
realised it. But do know that it was someway connected with Rahman. As far
as I know, there is only one Manirangu song in cinema. Music director:
Illayaraja! "Isai rajanae un illam veenai naanae" comes in Kanni Rasi
(first film directed by Pandiyarajan). Malaysia Vasudevan has sung in two
voices (his normal voice for Prabhu, and Chidambaram Jayaraman's voice for
Janakaraj), accompanied by VaniJayaram. The fact that Illayaraja used
such rare ragas during his carreer is a standing testimony to his classical
interests.


Now, coming to the original discussion about shruthi, look what happens
to our Madhyamavathi when you start viewing it from different angles.
Increase the reference shruthi by two notes, ie., Ri2-Da2-Ri2, then the
raga changes to Hindholam. Increase by 5 notes, ie., Ma1-Sa-Ma1, then
the raga changes to Sudha Saveri, by 7 notes, ie., Pa-Ri2-Pa, the raga
changes to Sudha Dhanyasi, by 10 notes, ie., Ni2-Ma1-Ni2, then you get
Mohanam from the same swaras!! Is it not wonderful! It is like the same
man being a son, brother, father, and as uncle to different people by virtue
of different relationship.


Mohanam is a nice, melodious ragam. Illayaraja is a real Mohanapriyan.
No other music director in India would have given so many Mohanam as him.
Among his hundreds of Mohanam hits we have kannan oru kai kuzhandhai
(Bhadrakali), geetham sangeetham (Kokkarako), malarae paesu (Geethanjali)
vaan polae vannam (Salangai oli), kanmaniyae kaadhal enbadhu (aaril irundhu
arubadhu varai), poovil vandu (Kadhal oviyam), meenkodi theril (Karumbuvil),
naan oru ponnoviyam kandaen (?movie), abc nee vaasi (Oru kaidiyin dairy),
naan undhan thaayaga vendum (Ullasa paravaigal), oru ragam paadalodu
(?Ananda ragam), nilavu thoongum naeram (Kunkumachimizh), aathodu kaathaada
(Murattu kaalai), oru thanga radhathil (Dharmayudham), kasthoori manae
(Pudhumai penn), ninnukori varnam (Agninakshathiram), kaathirundhaen
thaniyae (?Rasamagan), idhayam oru kovil (idhayakovil), kukku koo koovum
(Valli) etc. Some of the recent music directors seem to be handling
Mohanam very well. Manamae thotta chinungi in Thotta chinnungi is a great
piece of Mohanam. Oh God! what a terrific rendition by Hariharan! He is
an asset to Thamizh music industry. In kaadhal kottai, Deva has given two
amazing Mohanams (vellarikka pinju vellarikka, I forgot the other one).


In katcheris, the shruthi is constantly vibrated either by the thamboora
artist or the electronic shruthi. This reminds us the reference shruthi
for that concert and we can identify a ragam with respect to that shruthi.
But, in film music, where there is no background reminder of the shruthi,
how can we identify the ragam correctly? As discussed above, it could be
Madhyamavathi, Mohanam, Sudha Saveri, Hindholam, or Sudha Dhanyasi for
the same swaras. And now comes the "nuances" or "ragalakshanam" issue!
We can still identify by figuring out the kind of treatment that has been
given to the swaras.


While you are singing in one particular shruthi, if you suddenly assume
a different shruthi and sing the same swaras implying a different ragam,
then it is called as shruthi-bedham. It is a highly scientific game that
some muscians like T.N.Seshagopalan relish playing on the dais. He could
sing Thodi and do a 1/2 kattai shruthi-bedham and make it sound like
Kalyani. The Maestro has ingeniously tuned a song recently in which he
suddenly assumes a different shruthi in the middle of the song. This is
in vandhaal vandhal rajakumaari (Oru ooril oru rajaumaari). In the Piano
prelude he clearly indicates the shruthi initially . He starts the song
like Ga3 Ma1 Pa, Pa Pa, Pa Da2 Pa, Pa Da2 Pa, Pa Da2 Pa Da2 Pa Ma1 Ga3
Ri2 Ga3 Ma1 Ga3 Ri.....If you were to call this pallavi as a ragam
you can call it as Sankarabharanam. It is pukka! In the interlude he
follows the same opening shruthi. But, when the charanam starts, he
suddenly raises the shruthi by 4 notes and assumes the previous Ga3 as
the Pa and develops a wonderful Charukesi from there on. It is ectastic
to listen to this song again and again. Charukesi is the 26th melam with
Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Da1 Ni2 Sa. His other Charukesi are: amma nee sumandha
(annai oru aalayam), siriya paravai (Andha oru nimidam), aadal kalayae
(Raghavendrar), thoodhu selvadhaaradi (Singaravelan), chakkarakattiku
chakkarakattiku (Ullae Veliyae), poovaagi kaayagi (?movie), and
manamaalayum manjalum (Vathiyaar veetu pillai).


-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan,
Internal Medicine Department,,
Brackenridge Hospital,
15E Street,
Austin, Tx 78751.

Classical Ilayaraja - Part 12

Thamizh film actress Kushboo has been deified to the status of a Goddess
and a temple has been built for her in Trichi! Often I hear news like the
deification of Jayalalitha, M.G.R., and other related "chota" news like a
man in rural Thamizhnadu seeing God M.G.R in his cow's eye! These are all
instances that narrate the conspicuous births of Gods, or rather, the
conspicuous deification of ordinary human folks. Given the evidence that
these farcical news items do happen in the gullible Thamizhnadu, one has
the right to make conjectures that Jesus Christ could have been a very very
ordinary man, just like Kushboo. He could have had good human qualities and
could have helped his neighbours to buy kerosene from ration shop and old
ladies to cross busy roads like Bhagyaraj in "inru poi nalai vaa"! His
unfortunate, pathetic death at an young age at the hands of local villains
could have created a sympathy wave. And now, in this 21st century it will
be castigated as an outright act of profanity, if someone dares to question
the divinity status of the messiah.


In any religion, Gods seem to make their genesis in a very subtle way.
Particularly, in Hinduism, the births of Gods and the appearance of temples
in a region are so insidiuous. The onset invariably starts with a small
stone or a rock under a neem tree turning holy (it is heaven's secret, how
these stones are selected!). Sandal paste and "kunkum" appear on the stone
shortly and a group of people start worshipping the stone. A cascade of
events follow and a figurine appears there to replace the stone. The
figurine might take any shape in the world, a huge "Phallus" like Lord
Shiva, an elephant headed form like Lord Ganesha, a cow headed form like
"Thumburu", a fierce looking lady like "Mariatha"... Soon, a nomenclature
comes into vogue to denote this newly born "God". It could be anything, a
highly calloquial one like "vedi uppu Beerangisami" or a beautiful Sanskrit
word imported from the Indus valley! As an appendage to the name, a story
too, comes into vogue, to denote the relationship of this new "God" to the
older Gods, like "Lord Shiva's uncle's son". Look at this place after 100
years...! No kidding, a grand temple has come into being there! Loud
speakers are in eternal function, broadcasting divine songs by Seergazhi
Govindarajan, L.R.Easwari, Veeramani! You may find some of our imbecile
brotheren doing "anga pradarshanam" with their tongue bloody and impaled
with a holy needle! Oh, mother Nature! When is this alarming increase in
the population of Hindu gods going to stop (small "g" intentional)!


Carnatic ragas are like Hindu Gods. Their birth in this world is so subtle.
A tune can be born from the harmonium of Illayaraja just in a matter of few
minutes. But, ragas? Ragas encompass all the tunes in the world. A tune
could be created by Illayaraja. But, ragas? Do ragas have creators? Ragas
creep into "being" from amidst the masses. No single person creates a raga.
Can any person in this world raise his hand and claim patency to the
creation of Lord Shiva or Vishnu? The creation of gods is the result of a
community effort! Similarly ragas are the unintentional creative result of
the musical community. The creation of a raga is not bound by any time
frame. It might take ages for the ragas to take form. The form of a ragam
is not static. It keeps on changing with ages, like the present day Lord
Ganesha sitting before the computer screen with sunglasses and dirty jeans!
Remember seeing this form in your neighbour's kolu during Dasara festival?
Really?!


Thodi is one of the greatest of the ragas. It is the 8th melakartha ragam.
We know that there are 72 melaragas in carnatic music. These 72 melakartha
ragas are divided into groups of six, according to the numerical order.
Each of this group is called as a chakram. Thus we have a total of 12
chakrams. The first 6 chakrams (comprising 36 ragas) use suddha madhyamam
and the later 6 chakrams (comprising 36 ragas) use the prathi madhyamam.
Within each of the chakrams, all the 6 ragas will have the same poorvaanga
swaras (ie., Sa Ri Ga Ma). The difference is only in the utharaanaga swaras
(ie., Pa Da Ni Sa). Each chakram has a got a name to denote it. The 2nd
chakram is called as the Nethra chakram. Thodi is the 2nd ragam in the
Nethra chakram.


Has Illayaraja ever tried his hands on this great ragam? Yes! Just in one
song alone so far. Was he successful? Perhaps not! The challenge that
Lakshmi Parvathi poses to Chandra Babu Naidu is nothing when compared to
the challenge that Thodi poses to the cinema music directors. If Illayaraja
tuned a song in the Thodi scale (Sa Ri1 Ga2 Ma1 Pa Da1 Ni2 Sa), then it
will sound like Sindhu Bhairavi! Because, just playing the notes of Thodi
in the harmonium will only manifest the ragalakshanam of Sindhu Bhairavi
(even though Sindhu Bhairavi has Ri2 in its arohanam, using Ri1 plainly
without gamakam in the arohanam will be perfectly Sindhu Bhairavish). Thodi
and Sindhu Bhairavi are so closely related to each other, yet so different.
The drastic difference is because of gamakam. But for Sa and Pa, all the
other swaras of Thodi have aesthetically beautiful, terrific gamakam. So,
to get Thodi ragam out of Thodi scale, you've got to shake those swaras
(Ri,Ga,Ma,Da,Ni), like the way a Richter 8.0 earth quake shakes California
once in a while! California residents may stay at home despite such shakes,
but the cinema rasikas would simply leave the theatre at once, to "drink"
beedi or cigarette, if the swaras started shaking in a cinema song!


Illayaraja's attempt came in the movie varusham padhinaaru. The song is
"gangai karai mannanadi". It is pure Thodi. Within the constraints of
tuning a cinema song, he has tried his best to give a proper Thodi, with
all the gamakams. K.J.Jesudoss has sung that song. In the pallavi and
charanam the "heavy" Thodi identity is quite clear. But, in the interlude
music, the raga degenerates to a "lighter" status, Sindhu Bhairavi. In his
Saramathi ragam song, padariyaen padippariyaen (sindhu bhairavi movie),
when Chitra sings "sonnadhu thappa thappa" he has introduced an unwarranted
Thodi sangathi there. Why did he do that? Also, he had erroneously used Da
Pa Ma (like Marga Hindolam), in Saramathi. When the movie was released,
Ananda Vikatan made a big issue about these gramatical mistakes in that
song, and even interviewed vocalist Dr.S.Ramanathan regarding this matter!
One of my friends said that he heard Ceylon Radio identifying the ragam of
"akkam pakkam parada" (unnal mudiyum thambi), as Thodi! What a joke! Sindhu
Bhairavi ragam is like potato curry. My wife can cook it, your wife can
cook it, all wives can cook it! Illayaraja has cooked it many times, from
mani osai kaetu (payanangal mudivadhillai) to maniyae manikuyilae (nadodi
thendral). Akkam pakkam is one such Sindhu Bhairavi cooking! Let us not
praise our wife as excellent for this potato curry, which doesn't need any
skill to cook!


Thodi is unique among the 6 Nethra chakra ragas. Even though these ragas
share the same Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa, look at the way the gamakam of Ri,Ga,Ma has
evolved so specially for Thodi! Denuka is the immediate next ragam to Thodi
(the 9th melam). In his Denuka krithi "theliyaledu rama", Thyagaraja swamy
has preferred to use these swaras plainly without much gamakam, like in
Sindhu Bhairavi ragam! How did these adjacent ragas evolve so differently
from each other? Can we question the Ganesh getting an elephant face, and
the Kumeresh getting a beautiful human face, in the differential evolution
of the sibling gods?! I know of a song in which Illayaraja has used the
Denuka scale. The song is aen soga kadhaya kaelu (thooral ninnu poachu). He
predominantly uses Ni3 in this song (like in Denuka) and occasionally Ni2
(like in Thodi). The next raga to Denuka (the 10th ragam) is natakapriya.
Recently I happened to listen to one superb Natakapriya song tuned by
Illaya- raja! It came as a pleasant surprise in the movie moga mull. The
song is "nenja gurunadhanin"! It is a lovely song! The situation is similar
to the one in sindhu bhairavi, where distraught hero Shivakumar, begs for
alcohol and sings the song "thanni thotti thedi".


In moga mull, the hero Rajam is a music student. He gets a chance to
perform in the house occasion of a local big shot. He refuses that chance.
Later, his guru (Nedumudi Venu) falls sick and needs lot of money for
hospitalisation. So, the hero becomes a victim of circumstance and is
forced to go to that big shot for monitary help. The villain makes the hero
sing in his house when there is no occasion. All his friends form a crowd
and sit before the hero. While he sings, the insensitive audience talks
aloud, giggles, and humiliates the hero in all possible ways. The song is
"nenjae guru nadhanin" in the ragam Natakapriya. Arun mozhi has sung this
song. Fantastic job! I have heard a classic krithi "geetha vadhya" in this
ragam. If I remember correct, the Ri,Ga,Ma had been handled like in Thodi
(with gamakam) in that krithi. Illayaraja has used plain swaras in this
song. But, even then it is very classical and the raga identity is quite
clear. Oh, what a pathetic situation it is, to be in a financially needy
state, and to unwillingly sell one's music skill to a shameless crowd that
is absolutely deaf to music! That scene only reminded me of the nowadays
very popular marriage reception katcheris! Amidst the total chaotic
environment of maamis (talking about their jewelry), maamas (talking about
their gas trouble) and kids (playing with water gun), the musician has to
sing! Often the musicians eyes will be tightly shut up, feigning full
engrossment in his music! If not for the eye closure, who will come to save
the musician from seeing the terrible audience!


To get the prathi madhyama ragam of any sudhdha madhyama ragam, just add 36
to the order of the ragam! The prathi madhyamam of Thodi (8th) is the 44th
melakartha ragam. It is Bhavapriya. Illayaraja has tuned a song in this
scale too. That is kandhu pudichaen (guru sishyan) song. The upper half of
this ragam will be like Shanmukhapriya, and the lower half like
Subhapanthuvarali. Reportedly, some big shot (Sudha Raghunathan or some-
body) told about this song in the TV (Doordarshan). It seems that they
wondered how Illayaraja could use this ragam (normally implying sad mood)
to suit a situation in which Prabhu humours Rajni about his new,
clandestine love affair with Gowthami! Can we dare call this song as set in
the ragam Bhavapriya? I don't know. But, it is definitely an appreciable
thing to notice him venturing into unchartered areas in scale selection,
say like Bhavapriya.


Those mothers living in squalor in the Nungambakam railway station might
not have any idea about "naalanaavuku moonu samacharam" and might populate
the station with their innumerable underweight kids! That is bad for India!
As a mother, even Thodi doesn't seem to have any idea about family
planning! But, that has turned out to be good to the musical heritage of
India! Oh boy, how many kids (janya ragas) has it given birth to! Most of
the janya ragas of Thodi are hardcore classic ragas. The trinity seem to
have enjoyed very much, composing in Thodi and its janya ragas. One of its
prime janyam is Dhanyasi. Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni Sa; Sa Ni Da Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa.
Probably these ragas can never be made light and presented to the common
rasika! Illayaraja used one of the Thyagaraja krithi in Dhanyasi in the
movie moga mull. Again, the situation is similar to sindhu bhairavi, where
Shivakumar goes to a katcheri and takes over the singing of the musician on
the dais. Illayaraja used the Thyagaraja krithi "lochana" In the ragam
Dharbar to indicate the kind of musical talent that Shivakumar has (despite
loosing his sobriety). In moga mull, a drunken musician gets on the stage
and sings with a lot of abhaswaram. The hero gets on the stage and then
sings "sangeetha gnanamu bhakthi vina" in Dhanyasi. K.J.Jesudoss has sung
that song in the movie. In that situation there is a strong lecture by the
hero's guru that many present day musicians take alcohol etc! Does not a
musician (or any public figure) has every right to do whatever he wants in
his personal life? Let him drink McDonalds, smoke 555, and have a couple of
women in bikini (as cinema villains often do) around him! As long as his
hedonistic pursuits do not affect his public performance, why should we
care? Lest, alcohol companies might sue us for causing a drastic decline in
their sales!


Sudha Dhanyasi is another janyam of Thodi ragam. Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni Sa; Sa Ni
Pa Ma Ga Sa. You can also (more appropriately) call it as a janyam of
Nadabhairavi. Illayaraja has been very generous in using this scale. MSV
made an indelible mark in this ragam earlier by presenting "neeyae unaku
enrum nigaraanavan" in balae pandiya. That is really fantastic! He has
wonderfully used the Ga and Ni with gamakam in the song. Illayaraja's first
Sudha Dhanyasi is perhaps siru ponmani in kallukul eeram. Later he gave
ragavanae (illamai kaalangal), pudhiya poovidhu (thendralae ennai thodu)
poojaikaetha poovidhu (?movie), vizhiyil vizhundhu (alaigal oivadhillai),
theem thanana (?enakkul oruvan), manasu mayangum (sippikul muthu), masi
maasam (dharmadurai), nanjai undu punjai (unnal mudiyum thambi), kotti
kidakudhu (theertha karaiyinilae), kadal vanilae (rasayya), unnai edhir
parthaen (vanaja girija). In many of these songs he uses other swaras like
Ri2 etc., and hence cannot be called as pure form. In nanjai undu, he has
not used any foreign notes. Then is it classical ragam? No! K.Balachandar
(a boot licker to Illayaraja at that time, so that he could sell the movie
by publicizing Illayaraja's name), made a big arguement in the movie that
even "nanjai undu punjai" was a pure Sudha Dhanyasi. Dear sir, to call
something as classical, you should present it in a real classical form!
Just going up and down the scale wouldn't make the raga form appear in that
tune! Use the gamakam, use the nuances of the ragam, then even Semmangudi
will call it as Sudha Dhanyasi!


If one changed the kaisiki nishadham (Ni2) of Sudha Dhanyasi to kaakali
nishadham (Ni3), then is there any ragam like that? If so, what is it
called as? Illayaraja has given a couple of songs in this type of scale.
One of them came in the movie poonthotta kavalkaran. Radhika gets pregnant
and then the song goes in the background! I have read in my school biology
class (with lot of curiosity!) that a sperm and an ovum "join" to form a
baby! Look at the way the poet says about this scientific phenomenon in his
poetic language.... Sindhiya vennmani sippiyil muthaachu!! What a nice
euphemistic way of saying a vulgur thing! Gangei Amaran proved himself as a
poet in that song! Illayaraja's tune is so wonderful in that song. It is so
melodious. Vijayakanth specifically said about this song in one of his TV
interviews! Another song that I know in this scale is "o vasantha raja" in
neengal kaetavai. Since Illayaraja changed the Ni2 of Sudha Dhanyasi to Ni3
and made a new ragam out of it, can he proclaim himself as the creator of
this new ragam?


Perhaps Balamurali Krishna was very much pleased with his wife's filter
coffee early in the morning every day. He has created a ragam called as
Abhayambika! Perhaps Kunnakudi expected Jayalalitha to give medical college
admission to his last son (like MGR did for his older son). He has proudly
joined the sycophant family of ministers and created a ragam called as
Jayalalitha. If these conceited musicians called themselves as the creators
of those ragas, then Illayaraja too, could...!


Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan,
Department of Vision Science,
University of Houston College of Optometry,
Houston, Tx 77204.

Classical Ilayaraja - Part 11

V.G.Pannerdass has got an experimental animal in his V.G.P Golden Beach
near Madras! That is his "goorka". He pays that watchman only to stand near
the gate with an expressionless face. Whatever the passersby do, he would
stand there with the same old expressionless face! Let Kamalhasan do all
the "seshtai" that he does in the last scene of moonrampirai, the VGP
goorka's mask like face would show neither happiness nor sadness! He'd
neither cry nor laugh. The VGP management is so proud of this guy that it
is even ready to bet a hefty prize money if that would motivate somebody to
make this guy cry or laugh. I cannot help wondering at VGP's morbid taste
in having this kind of a person at their gate.


Now, can we consider the usage of ragas to make this person change his
emotions? If Illayaraja goes before this person and sings his valli song
(enna enna kanavu) or payanangal mudivadhilai song (vaigarayil) in subapan-
thuvarali ragam, would it make his affect sad? It perhaps would, because
some of the ragas indeed have a powerful negative effect on one's affect,
causing him to go to the lows! Let SPB go before this person and sing his
mayuri song (idhu oru mananaatiya medai) in the ragam Brindavana Saranga,
or L.Vaidyanathan sing his "veenayadi nee enaku" (aezhavadu manidhan) in
Kalyani, would it make his affect happy? It perhaps would, because some
ragas indeed have a very powerful positive effect on one's affect, causing
him to go to the highs! (This is what music therapy basically aims at,
right?). Now, the question is, are there any ragas that can really make
this person laugh or atleast to open his pursed lips and give a smile ?!


The human species is very conceited that only it can laugh! It has
concluded that the sense of humour is an essential human quality. Maybe,
during the innumerable years of evolution, it is the only species that has
somehow successfully learnt to expressively manifest its inner humourous
feelings. Just because the animals do not widely open their mouth and laugh
(as many of us do often, much to the disgust of our neighbours!), the old
ancestral members of our species seem to have concluded that the animals do
not have any sense of humour. I atleast know of one another species that
can express its humour well! Buy a pocket of "kadalamittai" and start
ascending the stairs of Trichi malaikotai to have Lord Ganesha's darshan.
Those garrulous monkeys 'gumbal' there will stealthly follow you and at one
oppurtune moment "rag" you and snatch away your kadalamittai with a swift
agile attack! While they recede away from you (or rather you recede away
from them) the victims report noticing a kinda derisive laughter by the
monkeys! Anyway, if ragas can cause sadness and crying, can it also cause a
person to laugh!


Music directors often face this challenge, when directors tell them a
comical situation in their movie and ask for a tune. M.S.Viswanathan has
done a fantastic job in the movie "balae pandiya". The song is "neeyae
enaku enrum". MSV tuned that song in chaste Sudha Danyasi. The situation of
that song is a very comical one, Sivaji Ganesan and first class actor
M.R.Radha vying with each other in their jest. The lyrics too is quite
comical. But, the question is, does the Sudha Danyasi ragam of the song
have an element of humour in it! Probably not.


Illayaraja too has used pure classical ragas to suit humourous situations.
In "thambiku endha ooru", Madhavi is a city girl. Hero Rajini is a country
brute! Madhavi happens to come to Rajini's village once. And now, even a
small "paapa" with a rubber nipple in its mouth will tell the rest of the
story: Rajini will sing a song critisizing Madhavi, Madhavi will get
irritated, then she will fight with Rajini and vice versa, and when the
villain comes, both of them will start loving each other and finally, the
extras in police dress will come and arrest the villain....! Can you try to
guess what ragam Illayaraja has used for the comical song! Arabhi!


Arabhi is a Sankarabharanam janyam. Its arohanam and avarohanam are Sa Ri2
Ma1 Pa Da2 Sa; Sa Ni3 Da2 Pa Ma Ga3 Ri2 Sa. It is a very pleasant ragam. It
is closely related (sanchara-wise) to Devakandhari. There are no cinema
songs in Devakandhari. But, in the pre-Illayaraja period we have got one
Arabhi song. That is "aerikarai melae". I guess it has been tuned by the
then giant K.V.Mahadevan. T.M.S starts the song in his "ganeer" voice in
the madhyama sthayi dhaivatham. Illayaraja's first Arabhi song is "aasai
kiliyae arai kilo puliyae.."


Malaysia Vasudevan has sung this song. He is one of the best singers of our
time, who has been appropriately used only by Illayaraja. Malaysia does not
seem to have got any proper training in classical music. His voice is like
a resume with record of BA (history) from Madras University and 2 months of
computer training in NIIT! If you give it to a proper body- shopper it will
come to California. Otherwise it will just go to teach 7th standard history
text in Madras Corporation school! (Thou shall not take offence, dear
resume!) Like Rahman uses the "thagara dappa" voice of Suresh Peters
wonderfully and sells it, Illayaraja has used Malaysia's unpolished voice
excellently in many of his highly classical songs. Aasai kiliyae is one
such instance....The song starts like this Ma Pa Da Sa, Da Sa Da Pa, Pa Pa
Da Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa Ri, Ri Ma Pa Da Da Pa Da Sa....It is a fantastic song,
giving all the raga-lakshanam of Aarabi in a very pure form. Even though
the avarohanam of Aarabi just lists all the swaras of Sankarabaranam
plainly, there is a specific way by which you got to use those swaras to
make it sound Aarabi. The temporal duration (karvai) of Ma is usually
protracted while the gandaram is just touched upon very rapidly. Thus Ma Ga
Ri Sa is sung like Ma....GaRi Sa. Also, we can practically omit the usage
of nishadam and the ragam would still be unblemished. Illayaraja has not
used Ni in this song. The lyrics of this song is funny.


Aasai kiliyae arai kilo puliyae
aazhugina thakkaliyae...
Maeyura kozhi ellam aaguradhu kariyae
adiyae en arumai thavakalayae...


If the hero taunts the heroine by calling her as "spoiled tomato" then it
is understandable. When the hero calls her as "half kg of tamarind", what
does it mean? But, that is how the song goes.... Now, lately Illayaraja has
given two more Aarabi songs. One song goes like "mannavanae mannavanae
manasukaetha thennavanae". I think it is a Vijayakanth movie song. The song
has been sung by SPB and Janaki. It is a very melodious song. He has used
Ni in this song. The last Aarabi that he has given comes in the movie
pudhupatti ponnuthayee. The song is "madhurai vaazhum meenakshiyae". This
is also an unbelievably classic song sung by K.J.Yesudoss and Janaki. One
can very easily learn Aarabi with the help of these cinema songs! But, does
Arabi have an element of humour? Probably not.


Carnatic music is like Choolaimedu 24 hours polyclinic in Madras. You go
there with just symptoms of common cold. But the Doctor there (who has not
yet cleared the subjects that he failed in final MBBS) has lots of
surprises for you. He says that you are very week and almost coerces you to
have the supposedly invigorating 5% glucose drip (which hardly has a total
of 25 gm of glucose in it!). Carnatic music has got lot more surprises to
give you than this Doc! There is a ragam which has got the same arohanam
and avaro- hanam as Aarabi (Sa Ri Ma Pa Da Sa; Sa Da Pa Ma Ga Ri Sa; Since
we can sing Aarabi without using Ni, we can say so) The ragam is Sama,
another janyam of Sankarabaranam. Even though Aarabi and Sama are
swara-wise identical, they are totally two different ragas sanchara wise.
The differ- ence comes in the way we deal with the gandaram. In Aarabi, the
Ga is just touched upon while we go from Ma to Ri. In Sama, we can be
little more liberal (time-wise) with Ga. Also, there are certain special
prayogams in Sama like Ma Pa Da Ma. So, these minute details make a drastic
difference in these ragas.


MSV is the only one who has beautifully used this wonderful ragam, Sama in
cinema. He has given two Samas. One is in the movie "Sirai". The story is a
revolutionary plot charecterizing the pathos of Lakshmi, an innocent rape
victim. She is the wife of a Brahmin priest, Prasanna. After the rape the
priest finds her repulsive, and she decides to go and live with the rapist
(Rajesh)! In the first few scenes there is a song to portray the kind of
love the priest and his wife have for each other. The song is "naan paadi
kondae irupaen" in the ragam Sama. Oh, boy! What a song! What a classic
Sama piece! Vani Jayaram has sung this song. The heroine says:


Sahityam naanaga, Sangeetham neeyaaga
naal thorum isai archanai...
en paadal nee kaetka un kangal enai paarka
naanae un varadhakshinai....


How beautifully the poet (?Kannadasan) has written about their love. Later,
after the rape, the hypocrisy of the hero's love gets fully exposed. Very
rarely, we get to see such classic song, classically acted and classically
picturised (director: R.C.Shakthi). The second Sama that MSV has given is
"mownathil vilayadum manasakshiyae.." (?Nool Veli) This song has been sung
by Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna. It is a great song. These are all great
contributions of MSV to Thamizh cinema music.


Recently, in the movie sathileelavathi there is a very humourous song. The
song has been sung by Kamalhasan himself. This "marugo marugayee" is in the
ragam Kaanada. Kaanada is a major gana ragam. It is probably now less sung
in the katcheris than about a few decades ago (the popularity of a ragam
seems to go through a cyclical change through years!) Kaanada is a janyam
of Karaharapriya. Its arohanam and avarohanam are Sa Ri2 Ga2 Ma1 Pa Ma1 Da2
Ni2 Sa; Sa Ni2 Pa Ma1 Ga2 Ma1 Ri2 Sa. The key prayogam that gives Kaanada
its identity is Pa Ma Ga Ma Ri Sa. Illayaraja has followed the grammer of
this ragam sincerely in the pallavi and charanam. But the interlude music
is not very good. Because, he used this ragam for a humourous situation,
does it mean that it has an element of humour in it! Probably not.


Earlier, he used Kaanada in a very majestic way in the movie
sindhubhairavi. The song is "poomalai vaangi vandhan". Jesudoss! With the
drone of the Thamboora, and the usage of very minimal instruments, it is a
fantastic song. Rahman has few Kaanada's to his credit too. First, "vellai
mazhai" in the movie roja. There is another number "kisu kisu nammakul
kidayadhu" (manidha manidha). There is a liberal Ni3 in this song. Deva
scored a Kaanada song too (thennamara thoppukullae kuyilae...?movie)
Earlier, how can we forget the old gem "mullai malar melae" by the music
directors of yesteryears. Dharbari Kaanada is closely related to Kaanada.
While Kaanada is the janyam of the 22nd melam (Karaharapriya), Dharbari
Kaanada is a janyam of the 20th melam (Nadabhairavi). Thus we use sudha
daivatham (Da1) instead of Da2 (sathuchrathi daivatham) in Darbari Kaanada.
Illayaraja has a few songs in this ragam. The best example is "aagaya
vennilavae" in the movie arangaetra velai. Uma Ramanan and Jayachandran (or
?Jesudoss). Uma Ramanan is another unfortunate singer (like Malaysia). Only
Illayaraja has exploited her marvellous voice to the maximum capacity.
Recently he has used her in paatu paadava (nil nil nil; an half boiled
Vasantha) and in pudhupatti ponnuthayee (oor urangum naerathilae; a superb
Hindholam). Perhaps his first Darbari Kaanada is "isai medayil" (Illamai
kalangal) sung by SPB and Janaki. There is another one in the movie ?mounam
sammadham (kalyana thenila) by Jesudoss.


A couple of years ago, cinematographer Ashok Kumar directed a Hindhi movie
called as Kamaagni. Reportedly he had sexploited the heroine from top to
bottom as the story was some kind of abstract Freudian theme! (P.C.Sriram
did the same to Ishwariya in his movie Meera. Is there any association
between camera-men turned into directors and hard-core sexploitation?) My
brother tells me that there is a very good Darbari Kaanada song in that
movie. And, it seems Illayaraja has done a very rich re-recording in that
movie, mostly in Darbari Kaanada!


There is a song in the movie enga ooru paatukaaran in which (I presume)
that our village hero "pasu nesan" Ramarajan milks his cow (the meaning of
the song goes like that). I don't know if that scene was supposed to be
comic in that movie, but since Ramarajan would have mostly come in his
"touser", probably it was a comedy scene! Can you imagine what ragam
Illagaraja has used to tune this song "azhagae nee perazhagi"?
Kunthalavarali! Look at the selection of ragam! Kunthalavarali is a
Karaharapriya janyam. Sa Ma Pa Da Ni Da Sa; Sa Ni Da Pa Ma Sa. He has used
this ragam very beautifully in this song sung by SPB. Particularly the
thara sthayi Sa Ma prayogas are very good (veerangalum dheerangalum...)
Maatai paal karakaradhuku Kunthala- varali kaekudha! I don't know if there
are any more kunthalavarali songs in cinema music.


Man is essentially a visual animal. He gets most of the information from
the external world as a tremendous fund of visual input. The visual
information interacts with his intellect and can cause all different kinds
of emotions. Just look at the "heart-wrecking" scene of an old thaatha
accidently walking on a banana skin and falling on the ground! It might be
a real humourous scene! Just look at a self-assumed hero (trying to show
film in front of a ladies hostel with his 2 stroke Kawasaki Bajaj!) skid
and fall on the ground! It might be a real humourous scene. Strangely, just
auditory input alone doesn't seem to have the capacity to evoke man's sense
of humour! Sure that music can cause sadness and happiness. But, humour?!
Recently, Music Television showed Beavis and Butt-head farting in public,
with a fantastic "background" score! That music indeed seemed to be very
humourous. But, if I had put off the TV and let my room-mates hear that
"music" alone, I doubt if they would have at the least made a smile!

-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan.
Department of Vision Science,
Universty of Houston College of Optometry,
Houston, Tx 77204.

Classical Ilayaraja - Part 10

The mind is a wondrous subset of the terrific biological entity, the brain. Literally, the heart is often alluded to as the site of thinking. In old Thamizh cinemas, the heroine would invariably say to the villain at some point (like the inevitable rape scene!) "naasakkaara, unaku idhayamae Illayaa?" while the unmindful villain would be busy disrobing her with a terrible "ha ha ha" laughter! Why does the heroine have to say this kind of a scientifically preposterous statement, while it was the villain's brain that decided to rape her, and not the poor "heart"! Does the evil mind of the villain exist in his brain? If so, where is it in the brain? Or, is the mind just the product of the functioning of the brain? A disease process affecting the frontal lobe of the brain might make an individual loose all his social inhibition and pee in the public, or to go to Bourbon street in New Orleans, or to Mardigraz in Galveston! Damaging the visual cortex of a villain might make him blind, but he might still try to follow the heroine with the help of her bangle noise! Damaging his temporal lobe might render him hearing impaired, but he might still try to get to the heroine with the help of "koondal" scent cues (refer: Thiruvilayadal!). As a last effort you may want to damage his parietal lobe, but then he would still see the heroine, even though he might not know what to do to the heroine! So, where the heaven is the so called MIND?!

The intellectual power of the mind is amazing. More than 2000 years ago, Eratosthenes sits in his ill-built mud house and thinks in the deepest crevice of his neural network "what will be the circumference of the earth". He does a simple calculation and concludes "about 22,000 miles"! Somewhere amidst the tangle of their neural network the Indians think abstractly about the non-existant numeral and make their magnum opus contribution of "nothing" to the field of mathematics! Just give Einstein a pencil and a paper and a chair and a table. He will fire a couple of neurons in his brain and say a radical theory that the matter and energy are one and the same and that they are interchangeable. As though he was the incarnation of the God himself, he would start theorizing the rules and regulations that govern the movement and functioning of various celestial bodies that are millions of light years away from his chair in New Jersey! His brain might be now floating in a jar of formaldehyde in Missouri city, but where the heaven was his MIND?!

Orchestral music is one of the greatest contribution of the minds of the westerners. Indian classical music, be it carnatic or hindustani, has always encouraged the imagination of the mind to pour out extempore, like a spontaneous volcanoic eruption on the stage. This is evidenced by the weightage that has been given to originality and spontaneous creativity on stage during alapanai (ragam elaboration), sangadhis (singing the same line in different tunes), niraval (singing the critical line of a krithi in different tunes, with lot of emotional appeal), kalapana swaram and lastly in thani avardhanam for the percussionists. On the other hand the orchestral music of the westernists is a well planned one. There might be hundreds of musicians in the orchestra. Each of them play the notes that is given to them. Unlike the Indian classical music, it needs a lot of rehersal and they have several practice sessions before going on the stage. There is creativity involved in western music too, but it is not spontaneous. The composer creates the tune sitting in a serene atmosphere, and it is brought to the public by the orchestra, with a complete suppression of any effort for individual creativity.

One of the greatest achievement of Illayaraja is that he appropriately used the best of the western and eastern classicism. To wield a huge orchestra is no joke. In many of his carnatic songs he has shown an uncanny skill in organising the orchestral music with a classical splendour.

Vasantha is a fantastic ragam. It is a popular janyam of the unpopular melam Suryakaantham (17th). Its arohanam and avarohanam are Sa Ma1 Ga3 Ma1 Da2 Ni3 Sa; Sa Ni3 Da2 Ma1 Ga3 Ri1 Sa. While traditionally it is believed that Boopalam is the ragam suitable for the dawn, Vasantha is the ragam suitable for the dusk. So, no wonder Illayaraja used this ragam for a duet which talks about the rain pouring during the dusk! "Andhi mazhai pozhigi- radhu" is a great song in the movie rajapaarvai. Kamalhasan sings this song with Madhavi. It is one of those early songs that showed the full fervency of Illayaraja's mind for creativity. The classical orchestral grandeur of this song was unbelievable at that time. I distinctly remember hearing this song for the first time in "Oliyum Oliyum" in Madras Doordarshan. Those days we were living in the
Telephone quarters in Kilpauk, Madras. Since we did not have a TV, we used to go to our neighbour's house. They had a merciless "hundiyal" right at the door, which demanded 25 paise for each program! Well, getting to see songs like "andhi mazhai" for just 25 paise was definitely worth the money!

Illayaraja starts the song with a prelude of "pop pop pop poboppo" by the chorus. The sudhdha madhyamam in Vasantha has served as the starting point for many classical krithis. Illayaraja too starts his "pop pop" in the madyamam like "Ma Ma Ma Ma Ga Ma Da". Classically, the transition from Ma to Da is not a straight one. There is a subtle Ni in between. That is, when the musicians say Da they go all the way to Ni and then drop down to the daivatham. Illayaraja starts the pallavi "andhi mazhai" like Ma Ma Ma, Ga Ma Da Ma Ga, Ga Ma Da Ma Ga Ma Ga Ri, Ma Ga Ga Ri Ri Sa. It is a beautiful start. All the hidden melody in the swaras of Vasantha are extracted in the pallavi itself. Even in the charanam his mind seems to be bent upon extracting all the melody in the Ga Ma Da transition. He starts the charanam like Ga Ma Da Ma, Ga Ma Da Ma, and the tune lingers there for a while!

This song also marked the early classics of Vairamuthu. His lyrics became a controversy too, in this song. He writes:

Andhi mazhai pozhigiradhu
Ovvoru thuliyilum un mugam therigiradhu...
Indhiran thottathu mundhiriyae
Ragasiya rathiri puththagamae....

Look, the hero who sings this song is a blind man in the movie! How can he see the heroine's face in each of those beautiful rain drops?! Perhaps that is what defines a poet's world. Physical defects get nullified in their world of fantasy! But, surely Vairamuthu got into trouble when he called the heroine as "the cashew nut of Lord Indira's garden"! Basically he means to say that the heroine is like a kind of sex bomb to the hero! She is the bible that the hero reads in the night! That is understandable. But what does this cashewnut stuff mean? Lord Indira is not known for romantic deeds like Manmadhan! Just for matching the alliteration of the words he made a senseless statement. (Recently Vaali got into trouble when he said "inji iduppazhaga" in thevar magan. Sure that ginger has got all degrees of sharp bends in its structure, but what has it got to do with the hero's hip!) In Demolition Man, Sandra Bullock may feel very much disgust- ed about what she calls as "biological transfer of fluids". But look how Vairamuthu characterises the feelings love creates during the youthful period of fantasy. He says "dreams torture", "eyelids weigh heavily", "it is like suturing a thorn inside the eye" and so on....

Illayaraja made T.V.Gopalakrishnan sing in the second interlude of this song. A short piece of Vasantha. (Earlier he had made him sing a short piece of Keeravani in "idhu oru nila kaalam" in Tick Tick Tick). There are few classical people who have tried the orchestral expedition of carnatic music. I remember the recordings of Y.M.Kamasastri often played in the radio long time ago. Invariably he would pick up a rare vivadhi ragam for his explorat- ion and have his orchestra play it. Albeit high technical quality, those recordings were not very much enjoyable. I would dare say that Illayaraja was the first guy who could appropriately use the orchestral music in a very "enjoyable" way. Later he got so much used to composing a tune for his orchestra that he started doing everything in his mind. That is an unbelei- vable state of knowledge. When the song goes like Ma Ma Ma Ga Ma Da Ma Ga, the background violin may be going like Da Ni Sa Ga Ri Sa in the upper octave. The chorus might be traversing in the Da Ni of the lower octave. The guitar chords might be vibrating in the F major area! If you could figure out that all these individual musical events would unify in a perfect harmony to give a superb Vasantha melody, just by imagining in your mind, then is it not a great task?! Where the heaven is this enigmatic MIND?

Illayaraja has given three more Vasantha songs. Man kandaen man kandaen in Rajarishi is a equally classical song . It has been sung by K.J. Yesudoss and Vani Jayaram. The song goes like Sa Sa Ni Sa Ni Da Ni, Sa Sa Ni Sa Ni Da Ni, Sa Sa Ni Ri...Sa. The second interlude is especially good. Pulamaipuththan has written this song. In the charanam he writes "kaatrukum ull moochu vaangum"! That is, when the thalaivan and thalaivi embrace each other during love, they would do it so tightly that even the wind that got caught between their bodies would feel breathless! This kind of personifying the pancha boothams and writing poetry like "fire itself would feel very hot" "wind itself would feel breathless" was started by thiruvaalar Vairamuthu! Pulaimaipiththan too, seems to have changed his style to suit the modern trend. There is a short piece of Vasantha in the ragamalika song in unnal mudiyum thambi. Enna samayalo starts with Mohanam. Then it is followed by Vasantha (ragam vasantha, naan rusithu parka rasam thaaa..), Kalyani and lastly Madhyamavathi (ilayai podadi). Recently he has tried Vasantha in a half boiled way in Paatu paadava. The song starts like "nil nil nil". It is a very different tune. But unfortunately, these good songs seem to have got lost before the incredible power of Rahman, like the local "super 501 bar" soap in Thamizhnadu got lost to the "national" washing powder Nirma!

Hamsanandhi is one of the popular janyams of the unpopular 53rd melam Gamana- chramam (the prathimadhyamam of Suryakaantham). The other popular janyam of Gamanachramam is Poorvi Kalyani. I don't know if there are any cinema songs in Poorvi Kalyani. But there are a lot of songs in Hamsanandhi. Illayaraja has used this ragam both for happy and sad occasions. Probably his first song in this ragam came in Rajni's Thanga magan. Rathiriyil poothirukum is a great song. The orchestral music is lilting. The song has been sung by the evergreen pair S.P.B and Janaki. Look at the classic "briha" (rapid vocal journey between multiple swaras in a split second) involving Ni Sa Ri Sa Ri when they sing "rathiriyil"! Pulamaipiththan has written this song too. One of his imagination in this song is ultimate! He says in the pallavi "pagalum urangidum rathiriyil.." Is it not a great idea to qualify the night as the time in which "even the day sleeps"! There is one superb Hamsanandhi in salangai oli. Vedam anuvilum oru naadam is the last song in (the climax) of the movie. It is a crucial song because Kamal dies during this song. The recording scale seems to be very high, S.P.B starting in the thara sthayi gandaram. The other Hamsanandhi songs are vanam niram maarum (davani kanavugal), aeradha mayil maelae (?needhiku dhandanai), o poo manae (iniya uravu poothadhu), raga dheebam aetrum neram (payanangal mudivadhilai). Needless to say there is a great masterpiece by an earlier music director (kaalayum neeyae by A.M.Raja).

Hamsanandi is the panchama varjaya ragam of Gamanachramam (ie., having all the swaras except Pa). Cinema music directors tend to use a lot of Ma1 in Hamsanandhi. The introduction of sudden Ma1 gives a great change to the tune. In kaalayum neeyae, A.M.Raja introduces a beautiful Ma1 when he sings 'katrum neeyae'. Illayaraja does the same treatment to the ragam when the charanam goes like "vazhai ilai neerthelithu" in rathiriyil. This kind of use of double madhyamam makes a great change to the tune! Recently he has also given a song in Gamanachramam. That song comes in the movie Vadhiyar veetu pillai (sathyaraj). The song is "hei oru poonjolai". It is a great song. One ragam before the order of Gamanachramam in the melakartha scale (ie., 52nd) is the ragam Ramapriya. Illayaraja has given a marvelous Ramapriya in the movie Moga mull. The song is "kamalam paadha kamalam", sung by K.J.Yesudoss. It is like a mini-katcheri in cinema! No wonder he gave such a pure Ramapriya because the hero is a carnatic vocalist in the movie. It is so unfortunate that such kind of "gems" go unnoticed because of the failure of the movie.

Now they say that Illayaraja makes a tune in just a matter of few minutes. He writes the tune not only for the song, but for the entire orchestra in just a matter of few minutes! He doesn't seem to follow the primitive way of playing his tunes in the harmonium and seeing how it sounds. He seems to hear the tune in his "mind". It is amazing how these minds in the creative industry could be used in such an intelligent and time efficient manner. The creation of good tunes by Illayaraja's mind could have been only a secondary act to fulfill its primary intent of aggrandizement by demanding 6 lakhs for each movie. Poor Ramanujam's mind might not have even got a penny for all those giant leaps in mathematics that it made. The reality is that it is the benefaction by these great minds in the intellectual and scientific fronts that keep the society functioning between yugas.

Coming back to the age old question "where the heaven is this MIND"? There are some people who believe that the mind doesn't exist in the brain. Maybe it is an extracranial entity. May be it surrounds the head like an electro magnetic field surrounding a magnet. Perhaps the "once upon a time" unreali- stic halo around the head of Lord Buddha in my state board history book only referred to his mind! Then, P.V.Narasimha Rao, T.N.Seshan, Cho. Ramaswamy and their other (bald) kind would have a bigger halo, as more mind is likely radiate through their unprotected head!

-Lakshminarayanan Srirangam Ramakrishnan.
Department of Vision Science,
Universty of Houston College of Optometry,
Houston, Tx 77204.