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Of these, the following were successful films ( I need your help here. I am putting
up movies I know about. If I have missed something let me know)
1. Veera (Super hit)
2. Mahanadhi (Hit)
3. Sethupathi IPS (Hit)
4. Magalir Mattum (Hit)
5. Veetla Vusheshanga (Hit)
6. Prinyanka (Moderate)
7. Vietnam Colony (Moderate)
8. Rajakumaran (Moderate)
9. Vanaja Girija (Moderate)
10. Amaidhi Padai (Moderate)
In short, there were decent number of hits for Raja in 1994, in terms of hit films.
Our concern is more with songs, so let me list out the songs which were hits and
then I will list of songs which the Raja fans of 80s like and some which all Raja
fans should have in their play list. Here is the list of ‘hit’ songs of Raja in 1994.
1. All songs of Veera (Esp Konji Konji, Malai Koil and Madathile)
2. Sree Ranga Ranganathanin (Mahanadhi)
3. Muthu Mani (Adharmam)
4. Mothu Mothu Kuthanum (Magalir Mattum)
5. Vidala Pulla Nesathukku (Periya Marudhu)
6. Vana Kuyile and Indha Jilla muzhukka (Priyanka)
7. Ooradangum Saamathile (Pudhu Patti Ponnuthaaye)
8. Anju Kajam and Vaikasi Vellikizhamai (Rasamagan)
9. Sithagathi Pookale and Ennavendru Solvadhamma (Rajakumaran)
10. Malligai Mottu (Shakthivel)
11. Saathu Nada Saathu (Sethupathi IPS)
12. Unnai Edhirparthen, Othayile and Munnam Seidha (Vanaja Girija)
13. Most songs of Veetla Visheshanga
14. Kaiyil Veenai and Saamikki naan poo parikka (Vietnam Colony)
As you can see, each film had a hit but except for ‘Veera’ or ‘Veetla Visheshanga’
or maybe ‘Vanja Girija’, we were not seeing songs of whole film being hit, like in
the golden years of 80s. I personally like almost all songs in movies like
‘Pudhupatti Ponnuthayee’, ‘Vietnam Colony’, ‘Rasamagan’, ‘Periya Marudhu’ etc
but we have to accept that the audience did not view it as such. (Ofcourse I was
also part of the audience then. The liking I have expressed in more recent.)
Let us also see what were the other hits in this year from other music directors:
1. Duet (Whole album) – Rahman
2. Kadhalan (Whole Album) – Rahman
3. Karuthamma (Whole Album) – Rahman
4. May Madham (Almost the whole album) – Rahman
5. Sevvanam and Uyirum Neeya (Pavithra) – Rahman
6. Nee Kattum Selai (Pudhiya Mannargal) – Rahman
7. Senthamizh Naatu – Vandisolai Chinnarasu – Rahman
8. Indu – Deva (Which songs?)
9. Kotta Paakum – Naatamai – Sirpy
10. Jai Hind – Vidyasagar (Which songs?)
As can be seen from the statistics, the Rahman effect was in full swing. If you
compare the number of hit songs of Raja that year and the hit songs of Rahman
that year, they may be equal !!! Ofcourse Rahman has more % hits compared to
Raja. But all these statistics do not tell us anything about the Rahman effect. The
way the songs of ‘Duet’, ‘Kathalan’, ‘May Madham’ and ‘Karuthamma’ were hits in
Chennai and other cities can only be experience. People were in deep love with
these songs and they occupied the top slots in all the countdowns that had
started then and were fairly representative of the actual hit status of the songs.
(Unlike later days when the channels would themselves buy films and songs from
those films would appear as top songs!!!). So when you look at the statistics, you
can clearly see Rahman being the top music director that year from various
perspectives.
Thanks to Rajesh for the reco. This will stay in my playlist for a long time.
Song 22:
Nadaswara Vithuvan
Posted onAugust 23, 2012 by raaga_suresh
Song No: 22
Song: Nadaswaram Vidhuvan
Film: Pudhupatti Ponnuthayi
Singers: Mano, S N Surendar, chorus
Lyrics: ??
Link: http://www.thiraipaadal.com/tpplayer.asp?sngs=’SNGIRR2984’&lang=en
This was a request by Jai. I have this theory that amongst the different types of
songs that need to composed, the toughest one to compose is the comic song.
While sad songs or happy songs get help from a raga, revolutionary songs get
their power from the orchestra. Comic songs generally get the comic element
from the lyrics. No raga is inherently humorous, whereas ragas like
Subhapanthuvarali are inherently sad or Atana can easily depict valor. If you
hear the comic songs from past you will see their high dependence on lyrics and
/or on some musical effects (like the ‘doing’ thing which is supposed to be
funny.) If you sing only the tune without lyrics, it will be interesting to see how
many tunes will make people go, “Wow, that must be a comic song.” Yet, there
have been comic songs all along and some of them have achieved cult status like
the ‘maama maple’ song, ‘aatukutti muttai ittu’ etc.
Raja has done lot of comic songs and you can see that he strives hard to get the
comic element in the tune itself. Comic lyrics do help here but Raja also tries to
get this aspect in the tune itself. It is a tough task in which I am sure Raja himself
may not be 100% satisfied with the output. How do you then get the comic
element into the tune? Let us listen to today song to understand how he gets it in
this song.
The first aspect is the rhythm. Raja has prepared us for such a rhythm that we
automatically associate the ‘thullal’ rhythm with humor. Just think ‘kadaveedhi
kalakalakkum’ and ‘yaaroda akka maga da?”. Then the tune itself, which has a
unique contour that gives us a sense of fun. Then comes the interlude with those
somewhat broken violins and the nadaswaram. The bass gives the necessary
effect to keep the fun element intact. The lyrics also help but even without the
lyrics, you can easily make out that this is a fun song. The second interlude with
the women joining in seriously is superb contrast. As with most songs of Raja,
you can easily visualize how the song must be picturized. The whole picture is in
the song.
Who is the other singer singing along with Mano? BTW, Mano and this person do
a great job in this job. The lyrics are very Gangai Amaran in nature. Maybe it is
him. Can someone confirm?