Celebrating a Symphonic Career

Yesterday I listened to Illaiyaraja’s Symphony Number 1 – Valiant – on loop. I am not at all qualified to talk about the musical intricacies of the piece, or the musical merit or otherwise of the four-movement symphony of approximately 45 minutes. I know only since first discovering the magic of western classical music (way back in my late teens), that symphonies are supposed to explore every gamut of emotion in a musical narrative. Illaiyaraja’s music does just that, and each time I heard the symphony, the depth of the music became more and more staggering.

To my untrained ear, Valiant stands tall with the symphonies of the great composers like Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Schubert in its glorious musical exploration, but – as a die-hard Illaiyaraaja fan – I also noted something markedly different about this symphony: While other symphonies took years and even decades to compose, Illaiyaraaja composed this symphony in just 34 days – while simultaneously working on film soundtracks and songs. I wonder how many people truly appreciate what an amazing feat that is!

However, instead of celebrating this unbelievable achievement, Indian music lovers in general and Tamil listeners in particular have been taking a morbid delight in deriding and insulting Asia’s greatest composer and who is, arguably, one of the greatest composers of the world.

I have always maintained that Illaiyaraja’s talent was being stifled in the film industry. It is very much like asking a gourmet chef to work at a fast-food outlet. Yet, despite being limited to film music – in only 1539 films thus far – Illaiyaraja’s speed at composing, the level of experimentation lauded by experts in music, and the popular appeal of his songs over his 50-year film career, there are still some who believe they are qualified enough to pass judgement on the man who rose from abject poverty and obscurity, to the man who had directors quite literally forming a queue to sign him on for their films.

It is difficult to imagine the film careers of actors Mohan and Ramarajan without Illaiyaraja’s music.

It is difficult to think of Kamalhaasan without hearing in one’s mind Illamai Idho Idho, Sorgam Madhuvile, Naanaaga Naanillai, Pudhucheri Katcheri,Kanne Kalaimaane, Raja Kaiya Vachaa or any of the hundreds of songs that marked his career.

It is difficult to think of Rajinikanth without thinking of Kaadhalin Deepam ondru; Kanmaniye Kaadhal enbathu, Amma endrazhaikatha uyir illaiye, Sundharie kannaal oru seithi, Raakamma Kaiyai Thattu or any of the other magical tunes by Illaiyaraja.

In the recent past, some “journalists” were writing about how Illaiyaraaja is totally irrelevant now and that his music belongs to an era that has long passed.
They have pointed out that he has been accepting film assignments from unknown directors and production companies because he has no other offers.

These people do not realize that Illaiyaraja, having tried for more than a decade to get into film music, knows and appreciates how difficult it is for someone to get their first break – which is why he has consistently given the same level of compositions to producers and directors – despite their standing in the film industry. A glimpse into the long list of people Illaiyaraja scored music for in their debut ventures will reveal names like Mani Ratnam, Bharathiraja, Manobala, Manivannan, R Sundarrajan, R Paandiarajan, P. Vasu, Bala and the list continues to grow. What Illaiyaraaja is doing now for unknown actors, directors and producers is exactly what he has done throughout his career, frequently taking no payment for his work.

Yet, people mock him for his efforts in fighting for music copyright to be protected in India – as it is in every other country. The people who mock him for his noble efforts are either unaware that the money he derives from this does not go to him, or are aware of this and conveniently ignore this when they attack him on social media. It is even worse when people from within the industry he is trying to protect’ join the ignorant group in mocking or insulting his efforts – Director RJ Balaji and music composer James Vasantham are two recent examples.

Despite all this negativity and the short memories of those whom he had helped as well as the personal tragedies he had to endure, Illaiyaraaja quietly continues to do what he loves most – compose music – and he does this every day with the same energy, enthusiasm and level of effort that he has done on every other day of his 50-year career as a music composer.

While the noise about his perceived irrelevance grows louder, he has been signed on to score music for directors Mari Selvaraj, Karthik Subbaraj, Thyagaraja Kumararaja and is in discussion for a project with Pa. Ranjith – all of whom were born after his debut in 1976.

Sigaram once again salutes this giant amongst us and we wish him a long, healthy and productive life ahead.