Exploring the Enigma Called Illaiyaraja – Episode 8

With all the access to information about music composers and the music industry in general audiences currently have, it is easy to forget the contributions and achievements of yesteryear music composers. Illaiyaraja falls into this category.

In his four years as a music composer, he introduced three new lyricist in Vairamuthu, M.G. Vallaban and his younger brother, Gangaiamaran. He also introduced new singers like S.P. Sailaja, Deepan Chakravarthy, Sujatha Mohan, Jency and Kalyani Menon. In addition, he breathed new life into the careers of S.P. Balasubramanyam, S. Janaki, Uma Ramanan and Malaysia Vasudevan.

Most noteworthy of these early years of Illaiyaraja, is that once he had found fame, he very eagerly worked with new directors and this long list includes Bharathiraja, Mahendran, GN Rangarajan, C Rudraiah, PS Nivas, R Selvaraj, Puratchidhasan, N Venkatesh and M. Bhaskar. This was after only four years in the industry. In later years, he would work with debutante directors like Maniratnam, P. Vasu, Sandhanabharathi, Manobala, Manivannan, R Sundarrajan, Kasthurieraja, Prathab Pothan and many, many more.

Illaiyaraja understood better than most others about the pain of rejection and how important it is to have someone that would support and nurture newcomers to the industry. The fact that he took no fee from many of these new directors is another fact that most current critics choose to ignore when they try to paint him as a money-hungry person.

As Illaiyaraja entered his fourth year in the film industry, he experimented more readily with his music styles and genres and taking film music to a whole new realm of creativity.

Illaiyaraja’s first collaboration with director A.Jagannathan was also his first released movie for 1979. Titled Aayiram Vaasal Idhayam, the film starred Sudhakar, Radhika, Rojaramani and Vadivukkarasi. The film would have bombed had it not been for Illaiyaraja’s soundtrack. This created a bond between Illaiyaraja and A. Jagannathan that was to last until Jagannathan’s last year as a director.

Illaiyaraja also had the honour of scoring music for Jayalalitha’s last film as lead actress, Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal. This filmmarked the directorial debut of B. Lenin, the son of the legendary director A.Bheemsing, and starred Sarath Babu, Shrikanth, Fatafat Jayalakshmi and Master Sekar. The songs were all hits, with S.P. Sailaja singing both of the film’s most popular songs, Poonthottam and her duet with P. Jayachandran, Thavikkudhu Thayanguthu.

Illaiyaraja’s last release for January 1979 was Sivaji Ganesan’s Rishi Moolam which was written by Mahendran (Director of Mullum Malarum) and directed by S.P. Muthuraman. The film was not a huge commercial success but the songs have since taken on classic status.

Idhayathil ore Idam, released on 8 February 1980, was another film that would have disappeared without a trace had it not been for the soundtrack by Illaiyaraja. The film was directed by Prasath and had Srikanth and Radhika in the lead roles.

29 February 1980 marked the release of an important film in Illaiyaraja’s filmography. Titled Kallukkull Eeram, the film marked the directorial debut of cinematographer P.S. Nivas. It marked the acting debut of director Bharathiraja, albeit in a role playing himself. Sudhakar also plays himself. Kallukkulll Eeram also marked the debut to the Tamil screen of Vijayashanthi and Aruna. The assistant directors in this film were Manivannan and Manobala – both of whom would later enjoy a long and successful period of collaboration with Illaiyaraja.

The film Kannil Theriyum Kathaigal marked the debut of playback singer A.L. Raghavan as a producer. The film had five songs, each tuned by a different music composer. Illaiyaraja tuned and scored for the song Naan Oru Ponnoviyam Kannden sung by S.P. Balasubramanyam, P. Susheela and S. Janaki.

On 07 March 1980 saw the release of the lavish Kamalhaasan-Rati Agnihotri starrer, Ullaasa Paravaigal. The film was produced by SPT Films, the producers of Illaiyaraja’s debut film, Annakili and had story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics by Panju Arunachallam, with CV Raajendran as director. It marked the first collaboration between Illaiyaraja and Raajendran. The film included locations in West Germany, France and USA and was an opportunity to showcase Illaiyaraja’s vast repertoire. Apart from the hit soundtrack, each with varying rhythms and melodies, Illaiyaraja shone brightly with the film’s background score where he had four different theme tunes and 53 other unique music pieces in a display that is underappreciated by music lovers. The songs were all super hits and the film was dubbed into Hindi and Tamil.

In the same year, Illaiyaraja teamed up with Bharathiraja and Mahendran to buy the distribution rights of Mahendran’s Poottaatha Poottukkall. Despite the fresh treatment of a novel concept, the film was a complete failure and was a huge financial loss to all three. Despite this, the songs still found favour with listeners long after the film ended its run.

Then came Illaiyaraja’s second collaboration with Devar Films through the Rajinikanth-Rati Agnihotri starrer, Anbukku Naan Adimai which also marked the acting debut of Karate Mani, the first Tamilian to attain the highest ranking in Karate from Karate masters in Japan. Released on 04 June 1980, the film was a box-office hit and was boosted by a brilliant soundtrack by Illaiyaraja. Once again, apart from the songs, Illaiyaraja made his mark in this film through his arresting background score.

In Episode 9, we will examine Illaiyaraja’s other films of 1980, including his first major milestone – His 100^th film.