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ARR's use of S. Janaki

Topic started by Shashi (@ eed02958.mayo.edu) on Fri Dec 11 11:53:00 EST 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hi everybody

It is interesting to note that during his entire career so far ARR has used S.J in only 5 songs so far. Not that it bothers me; infact I am pleasantly surprised. I have felt SJ is very talented but unfortunately her voice does have some 'pisuru' in most of her songs. I have listed below ARR/SJ combi. songs.

1. Ottagaththai Kattikko...SPB & SJ (Gentleman)
2. Kathaazha Kaatu Vazhi...Jayachandran & SJ (Kizhaku Cheemayile)
3. Errani Kurrathaisi...SPB & SJ (Kaadhalan)
4. Uvathi Kalai..Pakka Gentleman.. SPB & SJ (Super Police)
5. Thaniae Thaniae..SJ (Rangeela)

In fact even among these songs the first 2 are the ones worth mentioning. Song 5 in Rangeela is a wonderful in Asha's voice (hindi version) than the tamil version.

What do others think about this--a welcome change or is it otherwise? May be there could be a vote on the 'survey section' if tfm administration group notices this thread.

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Responses:

• From: aruvi (@ spc-isp-tor-uas-77-29.sprint.ca) on: Fri Dec 11 12:35:19 EST 1998
  
  Shashi
  What change are you talking about.
  
  
• From: Shashi (@ eed02958.mayo.edu) on: Fri Dec 11 12:44:40 EST 1998
  
  The change I am talking about is the 'trend towards using SJ less' and other singers more.
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.22.246) on: Fri Dec 11 13:15:16 EST 1998
  
  i feel SJ herself has opted to sing less and not that she is being used less.
  
  
• From: Shankar (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Sat Dec 12 02:38:24 EST 1998
  
  IMO, Sj 's version of jiyA jalE was better than Lata's.
  
  
• From: Ravi (@ envy.cs.umass.edu) on: Sat Dec 12 11:41:12 EST 1998
  
  ARR has not used KJJ very much. Apart from Duet, he hasn't ben using Chitra and SPB also that heavily. Nowadays he isn't using UnniK that much too. Come to think of it.. Who has he used a lot? From the other discussions going on in this forum, it seems that ARR hasn't used any one singer too much and keeps changing them often. So avarOda preferences mattumE TFM trend aagi vida mudiyaathu. As regards SJ, I personally feel (this is another way of saying IMHO, BTW ;-) that it is ARR who is losing out in this scenario.
  
  
• From: SR Kaushik (@ nova6.cs.wisc.edu) on: Sat Dec 12 12:38:39 EST 1998
  
  Ravi: Yeah, ARR does not use SPB regularly but he does use Hariharan in every film of his, be it Hindi or Tamizh.
  
  IMO, its an unwelcome trend as I find HH's voice increasingly monotonous.
  
  
• From: Venkat (@ lpcat102.oardc.ohio-state.edu) on: Sat Dec 12 12:49:36 EST 1998
  
  * I think HH's voice is OK but not as versatile as 'gana kerreti' SPB.
  
  * Regarding to less uasge of S Janaki- that's becuase she has not been doing well and opted to sing less. When she was visiting U.S. in July, 1998 she had to be admitted to a hospital in Houston due to ill health.
  
  * 'Gana Kerreti' SPB is alo singing less songs and more involved in acting and other aspects of cinema. It is not a bad sign especially 75% of the songs coming out are nothing but junk.
  
  
• From: NagasubramaniaN (@ fw.baan.nl) on: Mon Dec 14 09:58:46 EST 1998
  
  hi,
  'Kaththaazankaattuvazhi' is by TK Kala i think ., am i correct ??
  NagasubramaniaN
  
  
• From: Ram Kumar (@ 206.103.12.125) on: Mon Dec 14 12:43:27 EST 1998
  
  No Nags ! Its by SJ only.. Infact the lines
  "thavalaikkum pombalaikkum rendu edam dhaane" in her golden voice, still lingers in my ears !
  
  thanks
  
  
• From: nakkeeran(nTv) (@ inet35.us.oracle.com) on: Mon Dec 14 14:14:52 EST 1998
  
  Thank god.. SJ was saved from singing junks like 'bombay madras delli..'. His recent songs do not deserve one as talented as SJ.
  
  I would say it's a welcome change indeed!
  
  All the above IMO.
  
  
• From: Srinivas (@ pup32.stanford.edu) on: Mon Dec 14 15:46:27 EST 1998
  
  I agree with Ravi and SRK. ARR is breeding more monotony, while attempting to break monotony by using HH's voice.
  
  
• From: Dev Mannemela (@ hydra.avid.com) on: Mon Dec 14 20:51:07 EST 1998
  
  Hi Nakkeeran,
  
  Wonder why she didn't save herself from sinking other "junk" like
  "Kai Valikkuthu" (with M.Vasudevan). Don't know
  from which movie. I just listened this "classic" on the mailbag web site..
  
  IMHO, she (and almost anyother singer) will gladly sing any junk that comes her way..
  ...
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ spc-isp-tor-uas-90-5.sprint.ca) on: Mon Dec 14 21:57:53 EST 1998
  
  Dev Mannemela
  
  Junk or not it is their work. Why do I feel like their is a hint of sarcasm in your comment?
  
  
• From: anandaum (@ 202.185.109.125) on: Wed Dec 16 06:17:13 EST 1998
  
  I think it is because of her legendary label which made ARR to use her only in songs which needs only her voice where others can not be substituted.
  
  I think we should pity ARR for not utilizing this great singer which has mesmerising voice rather than wondering why ARR did not use SJ much.
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ spc-isp-tor-uas-72-92.sprint.ca) on: Wed Dec 16 07:40:28 EST 1998
  
  As far as I am concerned, it's only the fact that ARR is using his voice too often that drives me crazy. Don't these MD's know how they sound. We have got singers way better than them.
  
  
• From: Dev (@ hydra.avid.com) on: Wed Dec 16 15:02:42 EST 1998
  
  Aruvi,
  
  Oh! That's was all sarcasm.
  
  A lot of us seem to have the tendency to put
  a "positive" spin on things..
  
  If SPB is not singing much these days, it's because he is opting not to and he is better off not singing these mediocre modern day songs...
  
  If S.Janaki is not singing much these days, it's again because she is so much better off not singing these junk..
  
  As if they all have been singing nothing but classics through out their careers.
  
  Infact I would say a large percentage of their (or any mainstream singer's ) output is trash; And it is not their fault..
  
  ...
  enough of rambling;
  My point here was that for whatever reasons, S.Janaki isn't singing much; I don't know if her health is failing her (but keep in mind, she was pretty much out of telugu and non-IR MD's music, even when she was actively singing lot of IR songs, say 3 or 4 years ago..)
  
  But what is the point in making stmts like
  "she is better off not singing these junk",
  when infact she has been singing junky songs
  through out ??
  
  
• From: Shanmugam Murugappan (@ 208.236.83.6) on: Wed Dec 16 16:13:03 EST 1998
  
  Dev Mannemala,
  
  Well said. I fully agree with your views. SJ and SPB have both sung some junks quite equivalent (or maybe even worser than) to that of "Bombay Madras Delhi...".
  
  What about this song in the film "Chamundi" sung by SJ :
  
  "kadhava saathu kadhava saathu mama...
  naan ..... ....... venum aiya aama..."
  
  Don't you feel it is a junk.
  
  What about the following songs :
  
  "adikkudhu kuliru..." (Mannan) - Rajni & SJ
  "pallikoodam pogalaamaa..." (Koyil Kaalai) - SPB & SJ
  "vaa raasa vandhu paaru..." (Adutha Vaarisu) - SJ
  "padhinettu vayadhil ilamottu..." (Sooriyan) - SPB and SJ
  "laalaakku dol dabbima..." (Sooriyan)
  "eppadi eppadi..." (Indhu) - SJ
  "yeh kutti..." (Indhu) - SJ
  "nethu raathiri..." (some movie) - SPB & SJ
  
  Maybe they sung these songs to prove their variety!!!
  
  Of course, is is not their fault.
  
  A striking fact is that, none of the above songs were tuned by ARR.
  
  ARR had used SJ well in all the films that you have mentioned.
  
  But, I agree with Ravi that, it is a loss to ARR that he didn't use PS, SPB, SJ, Chithra, KJY too much and not the reverse.
  
  
• From: Rafiq (@ 216.0.34.90) on: Wed Dec 16 21:31:16 EST 1998
  
  Just one point, ARR used SJ in Vandicholai Chinnrasu for the song "Parotha Parotha". Pretty much a junk, I felt.
  
  
• From: nakkeeran (@ inet35.us.oracle.com) on: Wed Dec 16 21:32:41 EST 1998
  
  By "junk", I mean songs that simply dont mean anything. Vulgar songs that were quoted above definitely have a meaning in each line, which you can realize and if not interested, ignore the song as it is. ( This is not to say that I like such songs.) But what on earth does songs like
  - akkadaannu naanga nada pottaa
  - telephone manipOl sirippaval ivalaa
  - mercury pookkal..
  
  mean? Simply, for the sake of being fashinable and fit the rythm, can you throw in a lot of english words and call it a tamil song?
  
  Also, what percentage of songs that came in the last decade or so were "junk", according to you? And what is the situation these days? Am I to simply accept the fact that having mostly english words and few tamil words here there to identify it as TFM, is indeed trendy and feel happy about 'Strawberry penne.. symphony penne' and all? Mebbe I should now move on to listen to english songs, which are atleast pure and stick to one language.
  
  I might sound a bit puristic; mebbe it's b'coz i've been mostly outside of Tamil Nadu since the "revolution" started, and failed to feel the "heart-beat" of the TN public. If that would discourage me from listening to trendy songs.. so be it!
  
  
  
• From: nakkeeran (@ inet21.us.oracle.com) on: Wed Dec 16 21:38:17 EST 1998
  
  My previous post was in response to Dev.
  
  
• From: UV (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Wed Dec 16 23:02:19 EST 1998
  
  Shanmugam,
  ARR is the one who tuned this wonderful number "edhukku poNdAtti" (kizhakku cheemayilE) , though NOT sung by SJ.
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ spc-isp-tor-uas-78-66.sprint.ca) on: Wed Dec 16 23:55:19 EST 1998
  
  Hey UV!
  
  Neraiya thamil ankalukku piditha paadalai ippadi kochai paduthalaama, thalaiva?
  
  
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ 206-104-48.ipt.aol.com) on: Thu Dec 17 00:19:11 EST 1998
  
  aruvi:
  Kandippaaga indha Tamizh aanukku indha paatu thulikooda pidikkaveyillai ! Coming back to ARR's use of SJ - why would ARR want to use SJ ? His songs depend more on clarity of the singer's voice and youthfulness - both of wihch are not present in today's SJ. Of course, this is only a polite way of saying that any 'mechanical' singer can do ARR's job :-) All the better if the singer has a 'different' voice ! SJ, PS, Chitra all have classical (read traditional) voices and an independent style that is projected over a period of time - this results in their singing particular songs for particular heroines and thereby giving a meaning to the term "play-back singer" ! Since that no longer matters, ARR is in no way obliged to use SJ. What loss are you talking about ? Thalaikku mele vellam ponaal, jaanenna mozhammenna ? Arthamilla, ubayogamilla intha paatugala ivanga paadina yenna, yendha muniyamma vandhu paadina yenna ? For those who complain that all of them sang junk songs in their time, I would like to say that junk songs formed a percentage - small, but not negligible - of all the songs then. It is the other way round now - every third song is meaningless and the two inbetween will invariably have poor tunes :-)
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ tbefw1.scar.edu.on.ca) on: Thu Dec 17 13:00:42 EST 1998
  
  Srinath
  
  Yaar mela intha kopum?!
  
  

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