IR celebrated his 77^th birthday June 2, 2020. Even though I wanted to write about him, I held back since I don’t have anything new to say about them. IR has been in the industry for more than 40+ years. His life has been pretty much an open book, meaning, everyone from last 3 generations of people from South India know about him. So much has been written about him. So many urban legends about him. “How there was a power cut during the recording for his first movie Annakili. Usually considered inauspicious, but as luck would have it not for Panchu Arunachalam. Same Panchu Arunachalam gave him the screen name Ilayaraja and rest as they say is history”. How within 4 years, 1976-1980, he scored music for 100 movies, Moodupani being his 100^th movie. That he wrote his symphony in less than a month. So many soundbites which makes any discussion about him interesting and make us go awe. I don’t know how much of it really happened. To me, a man who has composed music for 1000+ movies, has so many hits against his name, and still active in the industry, he is indeed larger than life.

I don’t have technical knowledge of music, can’t identify or name ragas. My appreciation and love for music is more about feel and how it moves me, more visceral than technical. With my limited knowledge what impresses me about IR’s body of work is how he seamlessly integrates different genres of music, like folk music with Indian classical, and western music techniques. I grew up listening to Tamil film music. Lots of them. Till my high school years didn’t pay much attention to music directors or singers. Know about them but no inclination to know more about their work, which I did with actors. IR was slowly creeping in though with his distinct work from late 70s movies, Mullum Malarum, Sigappu Rojakkal, Priya, Nizhalgal, Murattu Kalai, Ullasa Paraivagal, to name a few. It is hard to say which movie or which song did it for me, that made me look for IR’s signature. Was it Alaigal Oivathillai? Or Paneer Pushpangal? Kozhi Koovuthu? Raja Paarvai? Don’t know. 1983 & 1984 pretty much sealed it – samples from those 2 years: Mann Vasanai, Aduththa Varisu, Vaidehi Kaththirunthal, Nallavanukku Nallavan.

It wouldn’t be incorrect to say IR redefined BGM for Tamil movie industry, introduced movie and character themes. He blended the music to the narration which made a huge difference to the movie watching experience. Imagine Mullum Malarum or Johnny scenes without the theme music. In Mullum Malarum how silence is effectively used and how BGM makes us feel Valli’s emotional swing. It is amazing he still has the motivation to excel, if you are in doubt check out movies Merku Thodarchi Malai (2016), and Psycho (2020). He has mastered the art of blending music to the narration.

It is kind of interesting to find out that in 1983 IR composed music for a new director, Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam, for his Kannada movie, Pallavi Anu Pallavi. Of course, we know him by his screen name Mani Ratnam, who also celebrated his 64^th birthday June 2, 2020. I haven’t watched that movie yet, but came to know about it when I hit upon the hypnotic song Naguva Nayana. Can’t say why, I like the Kannada version than the Tamil version. My exposure to MR happened with Pagal Nilavu. Pagal Nilavu, an interesting movie, I liked the climax (Mahendran’s Uthiri Pookkal climax influence?). We had to wait for Mouna Ragam, to experience the master at his peak. Flowing and breezy story, well defined character arcs, and great performances from the lead actors. Movie excelled in technical departments too, with lighting and BGM. And yes, great songs which still stand the test of time. (Interesting aside: It is kind of interesting to observe how the same story outline, what if you end up marrying someone else than the person you fell in love with, gets differentiated in beautiful ways in the hands of talented directors, Antha 7 natkal, Nenjaththai  Killathe, and Mouna Ragam from Baghyaraj, Mahendran, and MR). He introduced his famous short, crispy dialogues. This movie remains one of my favourites and the famous line “verupadu-nu onnum illa, aana perusa oru eedupadu illa” still etched in my memory. I would say upper middle-class protagonists, city bred, well-educated, both hero and heroine with agency and ambition, became his successful template. His comfortable template too.

Then came Nayagan, a story influenced by Godfather, but was wonderfully recreated, keeping the original’s core feel, and translated beautifully to local milieu. Great team work and perfect blend from MR, Kamal, P.C.Sreeram, and IR. Agni Natchathiram, a film about two hot shot half-brothers is a great example of how to make a musical masala movie. I would say his first movie where he started choreographing the song sequences in music video format. Continued the breezy story telling technique with Anjali and Idhayathai Thirudathe.Thalapathi, story adapted from Mahabharatha, showcased his artistry, how good a director he is. We all knew Surya had to reveal his identity to Deva. We all waited for that scene. MR knew it too. Like an expert magician, he placed the key scene with right amount of drama at the right moment, and oh man, what a goosebumps sequence it was. Hard not to get moved by that scene, and I get an emotional choke whenever I watch it. When he based his stories outside TN like Uyire, Bombay, Guru, or Raavan, it didn’t work for me. They are well made, no arguments there, but I couldn’t connect with them as I did with Alai Payuthe, Iruvar, or Kannathil Muthamittal.

MR worked with IR for his first ten movies. Together they elevated the Kollywood industry to next stage with their focus on theme music, and BGM that goes with the narration. It is hard to visualise one without the other when you watch these movies. Imagine Mouna Ragam, Nayagan or Thalapathi without the theme music. How BGM elevates already well framed scenes. Nayagan scene works without BGM too. But with BGM it uplifts our emotional response. Thalapathi scene will work only with BGM, the music connects the audience to their past events and tears start to well up in the eyes.

I have tried so many times to make IR playlist with the goal of not having more than 300 songs. List will keep growing, goes beyond my goal. Then I split them in to multiple playlists, melody, fast, on the road, romantic, orchestration, night-time, etc. to manage it better. Not happy with any of them, I start over again. Lately, stopped maintaining any playlists. Just pick a playlist from one of the music apps, Maestro, Prime, or Spotify and listen to it 😄