Dhanam - An Insight
The negative opinions of Dhanam's audio should have been expected. What made me a raja fan were those complicated yet endearing orchestration that you hear in Dhanam's songs. Its easy to just say its a album showing occasional raja prowess. But how many here know what is raja's prowess or can they explain them? Its quite shocking to see that some IR fans do not know about raja's strengths and limit him to their own preferences.
Yes we all do love his anandha raagam sort of tunes but that is not what made him a composer of almost godly music standard. It is his overall orchestration that made him like that. Those unimitable guitar touches in en iniya pon nilavey and the unique backgrounds used in the prelude of poongatru of moondram pirai are out of the world and not mentioning the incorporation of jazz as a background to the initial melody in poo poothadu in mumbai express. I once listened to mayanginen solla thayanginen song from naaney raaja naaney mandhiri. Even though the tune was lovely and with just the flute carrying the melody in places the raja touch was missing. It was then i heard Ilaya nila. The tune in ilaya nila if you ask me is as similar as any tune Raja is giving us now including Dhanam but the orchestration makes it so alluring that you just cant get it out of your mind. Hear the combination of the train and flute in chinna thayaval and you would just feel a sudden surge through you at times. One is a natural sound and the other is a sound made by a man-made instrument but they come in hand to make the song as memorable to us as any other raja classic.
It is this touch that carries itself throughout Dhanam. I dunt think anyone could play such energetic patterns for the veenai in the second interlude of kannanukku enna vendum or the flute in unakulley irukkiren. Or should we mention the tribalistic drums in dhanam dhanam and the strange yet fitting rhythm used in kattilukku mattumthaan? Talking about the latter if anybody bothered analysing the song it brings back one of raja's abilities to maintain silence in between the important stanzas to maintain the tune.
Let us remember that it is the accompanying guitar that made machanai paarthengela endearing to the public. It is this uniqueness that we have and are seeing in raaja now despite whatever tunes he gives us. But some fans have forgotten to see this and solely believe raaja is gone. I ask them if anyone else could give en kannanukku a classy bass accompaniment in the prelude other than raaja? For all of them who have just dismissed raaja as the master who has lost his touch, do you all seriously know what is his touch? To say in tamil "Kazhutheyku theriyuma karpoora vaasanai?"
Yes we all do love his anandha raagam sort of tunes but that is not what made him a composer of almost godly music standard. It is his overall orchestration that made him like that. Those unimitable guitar touches in en iniya pon nilavey and the unique backgrounds used in the prelude of poongatru of moondram pirai are out of the world and not mentioning the incorporation of jazz as a background to the initial melody in poo poothadu in mumbai express. I once listened to mayanginen solla thayanginen song from naaney raaja naaney mandhiri. Even though the tune was lovely and with just the flute carrying the melody in places the raja touch was missing. It was then i heard Ilaya nila. The tune in ilaya nila if you ask me is as similar as any tune Raja is giving us now including Dhanam but the orchestration makes it so alluring that you just cant get it out of your mind. Hear the combination of the train and flute in chinna thayaval and you would just feel a sudden surge through you at times. One is a natural sound and the other is a sound made by a man-made instrument but they come in hand to make the song as memorable to us as any other raja classic.
It is this touch that carries itself throughout Dhanam. I dunt think anyone could play such energetic patterns for the veenai in the second interlude of kannanukku enna vendum or the flute in unakulley irukkiren. Or should we mention the tribalistic drums in dhanam dhanam and the strange yet fitting rhythm used in kattilukku mattumthaan? Talking about the latter if anybody bothered analysing the song it brings back one of raja's abilities to maintain silence in between the important stanzas to maintain the tune.
Let us remember that it is the accompanying guitar that made machanai paarthengela endearing to the public. It is this uniqueness that we have and are seeing in raaja now despite whatever tunes he gives us. But some fans have forgotten to see this and solely believe raaja is gone. I ask them if anyone else could give en kannanukku a classy bass accompaniment in the prelude other than raaja? For all of them who have just dismissed raaja as the master who has lost his touch, do you all seriously know what is his touch? To say in tamil "Kazhutheyku theriyuma karpoora vaasanai?"
posted by Chandrasehar at 7:49 PM
9 Comments:
I agree with you. Dhanam is a very nice album and I have been enjoying it since the day I bought it. I don't like the 'Ulagam' song but all others are of high standard.
S.Suresh
ya..
Ur correct..Except Ulagam songs rest are good. Happy to hear raja sir's songs after a long time.I like the orchestration in dhanam,kannanukku songs. Expecting more high standard projects from Raja sir!!! Raja Raja thaan!!
You are absolutely right. Orchestration in Dhanam shows Raaja's prowess. Katiliku, Koothu onnu, kananuku, and unakullae are my favorites. Very good blog which appreciates Raaja. Raajavuku oru O!! :)
Hi
Actually Dhanam will not figure even in the top 100 list of Raja. Why do we prop it up just because it is Raja? The genius is certainly past his prime.
mohan
He still is here..Mumbai express is no mediocre album...jazz redefined to suit indianish tune rather than the other way round which is the current norm for jazz in indian music was something pathbreaking. Its just that we do not want to realise and not appreciate it as much as his 80s and 90s stuff. Thiruvasagam came in the 2005, nuff said. He is there...can you realise?
Well, it may not figure in his top 100 because he has given so many excellent albums. I love Dhanam for the experimentation. Infact I have been hearing a lot of the latest film albums from the current favorites and in none of these 'hit' albums do I see any great imagination.
Well, if someone who gives 'Uliyin Osai', 'Dhanam' and a lovely 'Mallepoovu' is past his prime, I wonder what we can say about the other current music directors !!!
Thats the problem...everytime i read a comment about raja in tfmpage it has some sort of ignorance of his present day music and glorifying his past only. Fans who know IR know that his music is not bound by periods of time. He is a masterclass composer capable of weaving anything.
Someone who can define genres using indian music is no composer past his prime. Dhanam had alot of experimentation like suresh said, shame that we just ignore because we dunt like the "style" of the songs. Ithu raja fans solruthu thaan periya vali. :'(
Hi Chandra,
Definitely Raaja is a great composer and beyond comparisons especially with the present MDs. Being an ardent fan of IR, i always listen to his songs. Listening to the other MD's songs dont give me a 'complete' feel of enjoying a song with all the nitty gritty of sounds of instruments, the pattern, melody of the tune, experimentation involved in the song, etc.
But when it comes to certain recent movies of raaja, i dont get the feel always. Even in Dhanam, except kannanukku, the other songs didnt give me an appeal. I dont know how to express this. Bits and pieces are really great. Interludes are brilliant. But overall the song as a whole doesnt appeal. When we listen to his intermediate melodies, there are many examples to cite, which always give you a kind of feel that other songs dont give. We really enjoy the song! The song will take you IN and you get involved in the song completely, irrespective of whatever mood you are in.
I dont rate IR, dont criticize IR, but as a core fan of him, i feel his latest albums like dhanam, kangalum kavipaduthe, alagar malai are failed to impress to the extent the other albums like Nandhalala and Naan Kadavul. Sometimes, the tunes, the music arrangement, makes you to switch to the next song. Even in Alagar Malai, kelaku velukkuthu and muthama and enna senjalum songs are of that category. I dont know, why, i might be grossly wrong in guessing, his simple melodies, with simple orchestration, not with synthesized sounds which sounds very monotonous, catch your heart and make you cry. I dont dare to compare his own songs but drawing comparison strikes me when i listen to his golden songs.
I am not tired of listening to Naan kadavul and nandhalala, irrespective of how many times i listen to. But films like Madhu, KKP, Dhanam dont really come up there. Directors dont explain things in detail and dont spend much time with him dont get soul stirring songs, i guess.
I dont know how to end this, i keep on writing this for the past ten minutes without interruption, words fall in places, but still i feel i havent expressed my feeling truly in the way how i feel inside....
Regards,
Saravanan
I do notice that some fans do have a liking to a totally effervescent tune but IR's variety is such that he has different type of songs that please different type of fans. I am the more hardcore type, a typical IR orchestration is enough to make me listen everytime. I do accept that people do not like his albums but i only have problems when you mention that the albums show the worst of raja.
When you describe in such a way you have to elaborate which parts and what really makes you feel that way. Most of the fans i come across always mention his synth and recording quality which i feel is not that bad. In fact only two albums from 90-00 have this sort of problem. I felt at ease in listening to the rest.
I think you mean you want to hear a realistic flowing IR orchestrated song barring his use of synth backed with a totally fresh tune. From that perspective i can understand where you come from but i feel that IR is repackaging his old songs in a new format which after a while sounds very fresh and amazingly catchy. Azhagar Malai is one such album. I believe you should just leave everything behind and listen to it like your listening for the first time. It will certainly be very breezy on your ears. :D
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