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IR's interview on Sun TV

Topic started by Hari Prasad A (@ dail.pppmad.vsnl.net.in) on Wed Jan 26 12:38:51 EST 2000.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Sun Tvyil Ilayaraajavin interview paarthen. About the music, in His own words, " Indhiya thirai isai ulaga varalaatrile migapperiya thuvakkam, idhai pola yaarum panniyadhum illai, pannapovadhum illai" enru solli irukkkirar. Eppadi irukka poginradhu endru ninaithaale manadhil nadukkam pirakkindradhu...

The BGM, as we all know, has been played by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. IR talked proudly about how much He enjoyed working with them, and how the conductor appreciated His work. He talked about how this was the first time a symphony orchestra has played for a film in Indian history, and how superior he felt the quality of sound and feel would be.

Later, He became sentimental about how people in India do not respect the artists we have. He felt really sad that while every small town in Europe had a symphony orchestra, there was nothing here.. One could detect even a touch of anger, when He said - " Bombayil Tata Opera Hall katti irukkanga. Yaaru vasikkappora? Adhukkum velinaattu aalungala dhan kooppiduveenga... Yenna maadhiri aalunga ellam edhukku irukkirom? naan oru film music director, yennaala symphony orchestrakkaga ellam ezhudha mudiyadhu paarunga..."

I am dying to see and listen to the movie ....

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Debater (@ slip-32-100-58-72.tx.us.prserv.net) on: Sat Jan 29 15:13:21 EST 2000
  
  The debate continues....
  
  Naveen, you brought up good points to support what IR said in the interview and is well taken.
  
  Ramaswamy, we are comparing music and not musicians. What they do off the stage is none of your concern or mine. I think you digressed the focus of the deabte...but keep posting, its nice to hear different views and perspectives.
  
  Subbiah, you said - Teamwork in CM/HM is generally not upto the mark. Let me give it a different spin. I think, this is the beauty of CM. Its all about improvisation, trying to match with the vocals and other instruments...reminds me of - taal se taal mila .. anyways, the focus of CM has always been the vocalist and extempore being the name of the game, its understandable why the flexibility exisits prompting us to say - Sabaash, seiyana potti. This is also something that IR mentioned in his interview (trying to match with the mood of the vocalist etc.)
  
  STS, u metioned that IR thinks that WCM BGM is the way to go. IR did say in the parting statements of the interview that this is a new beginning in the BGM of indian films.
  
  All said and done, i still think his desire to have symphony halls everwhere within india is far-fetched unless ofcourse there is a cultural shift to listen to WCM by the majority(of course he has the right to dream). BTW, why is WCM so predominantly used in most hollywood films etc. I wonder how BGM was during the blk & white era (indian movies), especially hindi movies, since they are slow to change the status quo.
  
  
• From: kiru (@ pppa32-resaleoakland1-2r1016.saturn.bbn.com) on: Sat Jan 29 16:15:09 EST 2000
  
  As per my understanding, WCM is used in Hollywood movies mainly for it's sounding 'grand'. It is used in movies with good 'visuals'. Imagine a chariot race, or a caravan moving across a desert or a alien planet - symphonic BGM here will enhance the visual effect.
  So this is why IR never gets a chance to do stuff like this always. One has to shoot movies like this. In, hEy rAm, there will be enough scenes like this for IR to have fun with. The guy still has the youthful enthusiasm for work even after 800 movies. Look at me, after a few years of programming I am too lazy to do coding :) :)
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.22.139) on: Sat Jan 29 17:17:28 EST 2000
  
  When Ir talked about 'fast food' it reminded me of some of my own arguments in the past in this TFMDF when I used the same fast food arguments in IR vs ARR comparisons;)) The intervieweer sounded quite dumb, sun tv could have chosen a more knowledgable person.
  
  
• From: ravi k.s. ravichandran (@ pub-dial48.aclis.utah.edu) on: Sat Jan 29 20:25:51 EST 2000
  
  Folks:
  
  Wonderful to hear IR's interview. Look at this man's exposition of this thoughts! He seems to make a conscious effort to explain in a way that everyone can understand. I love the analogy when he campares some music to Nursery Rhyms! He is very clear as to what is involved in writing notes, composing symp and how the instrumentalists play it.
  
  It seemed to me that the interviewer (sounding like a moron) had no clue about WC music when he askes: "People say that you can creat symphony like sounds from computer!". Yes you can, as IR says, but no one does it! Even today the symp. players play with life and involvement. Players consider it a high honor if they can play atleast once in Kurt Masur's NewYork Philharmonic. And that's why they are symps! I do not think, that anyone, in the right mind, would try to program a symp.! If one needs to do that, then you need to learn all the stuff involved, and once you learn it then why do you need to program it? (Corollory: may be only when someone don't know how to creat symp. music, may be try to program it somehow!) Once symp. is written, you can simply assemble musicians and play it, with life in it! Plus you can easily creat changes in it, by changing notes! And that's how WCM stalwarts like Mozart, Bach, churned out hundereds of symps and concertos! Thats exactly why sympohies are still played live, and CD recordings are made with artisits carefully selected, in studios!
  
  I think that the point IR makes when he expresses his concern about an apparent lack of interest in symp. is that there is apparently no one to promote organized form of music in India. Very true. I think his point is even deeper than that. The ability to mentally visualize music notes, rhythm and harmony of all intruments, and be able to write it down in notes so that anyone can play it, is a remarkable level of scientific form of development of any music, be it WCM or carnatic. That is one of the reasons I love WCM. Plus, most popular WCM's were created with lot of devotion to it, during times of war, worship, big and emotional events in peoples' lives. Thats' why they are able to connect with anyone, going through the same kinds of emotions, say 300 or more years after the writings of Mozart, Bach, Beethovan...You can almost feel the mental ecstacies, jubilence, despair and anger,of the composer, when you hear WCM. On the otherhand, I have not been able to make such a connection to some of the music of our own land, be it Carnatic or Hindustani, because I couldn't connect with the artists' or composers' emotions!
  
  I think the point IR is trying to make is: there is no interest in making connections with composer's/listener's soul and an attempt to promote such form of music. He said in a way that interviewer could atleast vaguely understand! Such are our audience! His point also is why influential people do not promote such approach in India, be it in carnatic, hindustani, or in a form WCM suited to our culture! True, like IR says, when that opera hall is built, western opera singers would most likely be the performers. Is there no sound or chorus or emotions or even any noise in our peoples lives that can not be composed as our own opera ?
  
  This point also leads to the thought that most of music in India is about showing how good one is in memorizing and rendering accurately, those inventions made by others. That means they are repeaters or like players in symphonies. There is no true attemp to "compose" or "invent" or even to "support" new forms organized, disciplined music that connect with the emotions of ordinary people. But wait, if the musicians do not know the emotions of ordinary people how could they creat something that would connect with them? Does it make sense ? How many of our musicians travel to other parts of the country and see how people are?
  
  Certainly a disciplined, soul connecting approach to our music would need a musician like IR! I can't name anyone else in India.
  
  I am just little more awed about IR than that I already hold so much about him.
  
  ravi k.s.ravichandran
  
  
• From: sk (@ 137.132.2.109) on: Sat Jan 29 22:25:41 EST 2000
  
  A note about the interviewer.. It was Santhana
  Bharathy, who is a TF director and actor, as well
  as an Asst Director for Hey Ram. I am sure he is
  a knowledgeable fellow. His questions were planned
  (by Kamal?) so that the interview will be easy
  to follow for general TN audience who know very
  little about WC, Symphony etc. That's my guess.
  I think Ilayaraja also knew that.. and he responded
  to the questions appropriately. But his answers
  did come spontaneously.. I don't think they were
  planned.
  
  
• From: Venkatesh (@ ww2.ssbcd.co.om) on: Sun Jan 30 07:35:41 EST 2000
  
  Prabhudas,
  
  It was none other than TT Deva, who said "unarchipoorvamana, narambu vedikkira maadhiriyaana BGM pottirukkar Raja" in the interview.
  
  
• From: Saketh@binghamton (@ 128.226.111.11) on: Sun Jan 30 10:08:04 EST 2000
  
  Mr. Ravi with regards to your comment:
  "You can almost feel the mental ecstacies, jubilence, despair and anger,of the composer, when you hear WCM. On the otherhand, I have not been
  able to make such a connection to some of the music of our own land, be it Carnatic or Hindustani, because I couldn't connect with the artists' or composers' emotions! "
  
  Most of Carnatic songs that are rendered today were mostly composed during the Bhakthi movement ( Tyagaraaja, Syama, etc) and are generally related with the Bhakthi of the composers. These songs were rendered in different situations in their spiritual journey. If you understand the lyrics (I assume Telugu is not your mother tongue) and try to correlate the poetry with the situation at which they were rendered, I am sure you will appreciate them.
  As to your statement that people are still rendering old songs and no attempt is made to produce original music, originality in Carnatic or Hindustani is left to the musician, in other words, the musician though restricted in a way by the arrangement of notes for that raaga, is allowed a free hand in revealing the nuances of the raaga. However I agree that since Carnatic music is well organized and structured, it may in a way hinder the talent of a free thinking artist.
  
  
• From: Jay Narayanasamy (@ 1cust92.tnt3.har1.da.uu.net) on: Sun Jan 30 20:39:21 EST 2000
  
  IR’s interview raises some interesting questions. Of course I don’t expect a music geneius should speak like a lawyer in the court :)
  
  If not for WCM then why don’t we start centers for CM ,Tamizhissai. Instead of repeating same keerthanas for a century why don’t develop new versions. Why should we always stick onto ‘mylapore’ shabas instead Why don’t we teach music in village schools.
  
  
• From: ravi k.s.ravichandran (@ pub-dial130.aclis.utah.edu) on: Mon Jan 31 22:46:13 EST 2000
  
  Jay:
  
  Good thought.
  
  

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