Read the full article on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/two-scenes-in-nayakan-that-showcase-how-effectively-ilaiyaraaja-uses-music-to-tell-a-story/
Ilaiyaraaja’s music does not call out attention to itself; it is woven into the fabric of the movie itself, writes FC Reader Adhithya KR
Music is a primal force, and when coupled with the moving image, it makes cinema a different beast compared to the novel. There’s a story that you can go back and relate to your friends, sure, but there are also scenes etched in your mind because they moved you so much.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2020 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
Baradwaj Rangan 
Jaga_Jaga
February 26, 2020
pardon the spamming! Look forward to your review of “Mafia”!
LikeLike
Madan
February 26, 2020
Brilliant one! This is like my favourite topic ever. I think we could take such examples from different movies spread across his career and discuss unto eternity. So what is striking about this is he is able to make the music blend into the frames instead of standing out jarringly, but without veering too far from his signature. Something about his hooks, his melodies, his chords always tell you it’s Raja. The – almost frightening – upshot then is his ‘signature’ itself is broad enough to fit every kind of cinematic oeuvre. How is that even possible? Well, one just has to say it’s Raja fossible and leave it at that.
LikeLiked by 3 people
shaviswa
February 27, 2020
Brilliant article. I can relate to every word written here. Raja is known for his songs and definitely there is stuff there to write maybe a 100 such articles. But his BGM in films are equally brilliant and they have helped many a film survive on that. Exams Idhayam. Without his BGM that film would have failed horribly
LikeLiked by 2 people
AdhithyaKR
February 27, 2020
True. Ilaiyaraja is almost always instantly recognisable. There have been times I’ve mistaken some scores to be by Ilaiyaraja on forest hearing them, like Aruvi or 96, but the pattern of music use in the film reveals that it’s probably inspired by him but not him. I wanted to write about other scenes as well, like the brilliant graveyard scene in Onaayum Aattukuttiyum or Rajni and Shobana’s parting in Thalapathy. Or Shivaji’s death in Thevar Magan. Or the sinister killing scenes in Aboorva Sagodharargal. Or the theme which plays every time Karthik and Prabhu confront each other in Agni Natchathiram. The list is probably endless… In every case, the music never oversteps its bounds though it has every right to do so. Maybe I’ll write more about this topic again. Thanks Madan 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Shankar
February 27, 2020
Baddy has written about Nayagan bgm in other articles specifically about his foster dad’s suicide scene, killing the inspector scene etc., where the musician choices lay continuity to the story. One of my fav bits is this and how it elevates this tender scene…
And to think this and the other pieces are composed in minutes watching reel after reel, with almost no prep work, but still resplendent in themes for characters, continuity in scenes, evoking the images even while just listening to the score…really incredible! This is one man that has fully understood cinema and how music can underscore it!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Shankar
February 27, 2020
Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai title theme
LikeLike
Shankar
February 27, 2020
One could write a lot about Raja’s title scores and this is one of my favs…conveys so much emotion in a melancholic way.
LikeLike
Shankar
February 27, 2020
And a fav from Raja Parvai
LikeLiked by 1 person
MANK
February 27, 2020
The climax of Tevar Magan, as Kamal makes that long walk after killing Nazar
LikeLiked by 1 person
H. Prasanna
February 27, 2020
@Adhithya KR, good article. I remember reading an old review of nayakan in ananda vikatan where they said Ilayaraja is invisible in his 400th movie, and that is how good this movie is. As you have said, his invisibility is a high compliment for the maestro.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Murali
February 27, 2020
I few points I want to make from above posts:
Not all IR quality of recordings are bad, 83-86 sounded good which were made by emmy at Prasad.
Recording quality of Thalapathy is not that good as claimed above. It was way bad than films like Agninatchathiram. Pl listen to the LP…..
VTV had music bits ripped off from English albums eg Aromalae song has influence of Pink Floyd…. in another song he has used the same bits as song from the Film, “Pretty in Pink”…. Pl browse YouTube you will know.
Some songs that are posted in YouTube as 24 bit digitally remastered are all only Eqed songs not remasters as claimed….
N Murali
LikeLike
Madan
February 27, 2020
Shankar : Absolutely! The BGMs are amazing enough but then when you think about how quickly he composed them, the level of talent is simply daunting and that still feels like an understatement. To write straight fair copy ALL THE TIME without even having to hear what the part is going to sound like is just ridiculous. If he didn’t have so many detractors, I would be tempted to wonder if some of these Raja superman stories are apocryphal, but the greatest tribute to his talent is even they only attack his personality and dare not question or doubt his abilities. Nancy Wilson once said unless you feel you were put on this earth to sing or play, don’t try to make a career out of music. Well, Raja certainly is one of those people who was born to compose music.
LikeLiked by 3 people
AdhithyaKR
February 27, 2020
Yes! The lyrics match the situation too, “Nalliruvu pona pinbu velli mulaikkum,” when he looks at his pregnant wife. The music is haunting.
LikeLike
AdhithyaKR
February 27, 2020
Oh, could you post a link to Baddy’s article about Ilaiyaraja?
LikeLike
AdhithyaKR
February 27, 2020
I’m sorry, which parts of the article are you referring too? Didn’t get the references to Thalapathy and VTV.
LikeLike
Mani
February 27, 2020
@ Shankar – thanks for the “Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai title theme”…Not well known (like many other great pieces of maestro), but amazing work!
LikeLike
Madan
February 28, 2020
No idea about the LP version but I have the AGI music remasters of both Dhalapathi and Agni Natchatram. Not only do I not have any problems with the sound of Dhalapathi, it’s better than Agni, the recording I mean. One reason could be it was recorded in Mumbai and not Prasad studios. His Mumbai recordings always turned out better, maybe the studio there was better equipped, idk.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Madan
March 8, 2020
Listened to the BGM of Kaadhal Kavithai twice/three on the commute, one of his most beautiful. As people have mentioned in the comments, sounds like something done for a Hollywood romance. I would have never guessed from the songs (of which I only like Diana) that the score would have been so top notch.
In fact, I was so captivated by the score I had to watch the film knowing full well that often times the film falls short of what his scores sound like standalone.
I had to say it wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be with Prashanth and Isha Koppikar though Kasthuri’s modern girl act was rather awkward (both the trope, which fits into the annoying loosu ponnu set up albeit balanced by her reflections on the misogynist male gaze, and her etching of it). Prashanth does falter as expected in the more intense scenes but the score fills in for gaps in the acting dept, helped on by the support cast, and in lighter moments, he fits into a Karthik-like mould well. And even with how predictable the paigam version of You’ve Got Mail’s conceit is, the score helps lend weight to the emotional moments. I appreciate such films better now than I might have then, given that our films appear to have forgotten how to dream and reach for the stars lately and are instead little more than narcissistic parades of superstars (talking of mass films) for their fanbase.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Madan
March 12, 2020
Decided to write about the Kadhal Kavithai background score. I do feel it’s one of his most beautiful scores.
LikeLiked by 1 person
gnanaozhi
March 15, 2020
Lovely write up. There was his masterclass in a 1-1 in Goa in front of a live audience, the host (forget his name now) asks him to compose a BGM on the spot… And in 30 seconds, he weaves together such a brilliant bgm that I was awestruck at the sheer genius of it.
LikeLike