# Ilaiyaraaja - Singaaravelan to July 93
#
# Credits: kanniks@uceng.uc.EDU (k kannikeswaran)
# Author: K Kannikeswaran
# (posted in soc.culture.tamil)
#

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Ilaiyaraaja - Singaaravelan to July 93
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Third in the series of five articles on Ilaiyaraaja

An interesting observation with respect to the various transitions in Ilaiyarajaa's career. If you look at the album jackets, you will see his picture on all of them. The late seventies and the early eighties showed him as a young man clad in a kurta or a shirt, playing a guitar, with a smile. In the mid eighties, the picture was of a slightly older more serious looking person, and in the late eighties and in the nintiesit is that of a godman like person. The most used pose is that depicted in the background on the album covers of How to name it and Nothing but wind.

While music was an incidental item fifteen years ago, and the music director was an essential but not a prominent ingredient in a movie teamthings have changed now. It is Ilaiyaraajas picture that is promptly displayed. He has been adorned with titles such as Raagadevan, Isaignani etc. There is a dialogue by Gowndamani in Singaaravelan, "Isaiyila aarvam ullavan ellam isaignania aaga mudiyuma?"

Singaravaelan was another milestone in the successful partnership between Kamal and Ilaiyaraaja. The next big hit in this partnership is Tevar Magan, with a host of folk songs, all delightfully tuned and beautifully orchestrated, esp. "Potripparadi penne" where the folk violin slowly blends with a major string section in the first interlude. The song Manamagale is very different from any of his other songs in that importance is given only to one instrument..

To sidetrack, one of the very few songs without any interludes composed by Ilaiyaraaja is "Kaattuvazhi pora ponne kavala padade" from Malayur mambattiyan. Also, the first song where Ilaiyaraaja repeated a music interlude was "madana moga roopa sundari" from Inrupoi naalai vaa.

Koottukkoru pattusattam, Chinna chinna etc. were the hits from the Prabhu film Sentamizh pattu while Walter Vetrivel boasted of "Chinna raasaave" a catchy rythm based song.

1992 also saw the arrival of Roja and Raghumaan with his hit Chinnachinna aasai. Deva apparently a former assistant of Ilaiyaraaja also began to score music for a number of films.

There have been a number of melodious songs in this period reminiscent of early Ilaiyaraaja such as Ellorum Sollum Paattu, Nalam Vaazha ennalum en vaazhtukkal and so on.

The emphasis of today's hits seem to be more on catchy tunes and beats for the most part.