As a kid, I could sleep only to specific film songs as lullaby, like 'Brindavanamum' from Missiyamma (got my age right!). I grew up with film music, at the cost of good alma mater. The MSV duo ruled my pleasures, with some numbers of KVM also as favourites. I went crazy later years for the Burmans, Beatles, Shadows, Ventures, Jim Reeves and the like. Alongside I was melting with carnatic numbers as well and I had my own favourite artistes and ragas. I had short stint away from my home state when I was a little out of touch with Tamil film music. When I returned in the late '70s, I found a new name ruling the film music scene. ILAYARAJA. What was different? Well, everything. Specifically the orchestrisation. Thank God, TMS got off the scene eventually admitting his shaking voice. So new voices sang lilting tunes. The cult was omnipresent, in tea shops, in buses, in radio and of course in homes. Cassette recording kiosks sprang up, feeding the new cult with great music of high quality. Instantly I fell for it. From then on till now, music for me has been only Raja's songs. I also found out that re-recording could lift film scenes to terrible heights. Whatever musicians of modern times claim as their best were delivered by Raja in early '80s itself. Everytime I listen to others' compositions, my passion for Raja gets enlarged. None of these guys are able to present songs without the Raja effect. There are many tunes of Raja which make me melt, weep, float. There are songs which I hear repeatedly, just for orchestra interludes. There are sure flop films which ran only for the music. Many music directors in Tamil and Hindi survive today by quietly lifting Raja's old hits and polishing them with the synthesisers. They don't feel ashamed as they have no better stuff up on their sleeves. Raja holds classical music at his command as the base and blends ragas amazingly with folk or western genres. I will not fill this space with samples as there are popular links where you get never ending streams of Raja's music. If you have not heard his music with rapt attention, try once preferably through hi-fi gadgets. You can easily feel the difference. I am not trying to market his songs and no one needs to. I have tried only to share my thoughts as to HOW and WHY it is RAJA for me.
As Vaali put it, "Ilayarajavai ariyaadhaar ariyaadhaare".
