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The bitter truth about DEVA?

Topic started by Observer (@ spider-wc044.proxy.aol.com) on Mon Sep 28 20:54:53 EDT 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

DEVA has been making quite some waves (as against VS making quiet waves!) in TFM today. I am just back from india where i found how DEVA pulls masses and holds them with his reluctantly acceptable melodies.
When i spoke to my brother-in-law , (who is not so much addicted to TFM) he said DEVA is known copier. Even a kid who services tea to the bench-sitters in a tea shop readily quipped ' Deva-VA, Avar nalla copy adipar sir '. But the same kid goes dancing for 'Kothaval savadi lady nee koyambedu vadi ' from the film ' kannethire thondrinal'. When saw this film in a theater in trichy, the whole auditorium was shaking with people's whistles and dances for the song. Whether the mass support(!) for DEVA exists or not, he certainly makes them enjoy his tunes.
And to add to this truth, me being an objective lover of TFM( or any Music for that matter!), happen to record songs from some recent Tamil Movies on a CD from a recording shop. Believe it or not, 4 out of 5 songs i liked were songs composed by DEVA! The songs were from the following films,
1. Piriyamudan( bharathikku kannamma , poojavaa poojavaa )
2. Natpukkaga(garuda garuda, meesakara nanba)
3. Dharma(iru kangal pothathu)
4. Poonthottam(vanathu tharagayo)
5. kannethire thondrinal( chinna chinna, kanave kalaiyathe, easwara)

I could not be subjective, by ignoring DEVA songs for his so called plagiarism, for that I liked the melodies (Oh NO! , NOT the song 'kothaval savadi..') in the collections. Bharathikku kannamma, garuda garuda, chinna chinna kuyile all may sound like recycled stuff, and poojavaa is a copy from Gupt. But my mind (i.e conscience) readily accepts the melodies and i can not desist from humming the tunes. kanave kalaiyathe(i am not sure if this a recyle or copy) is an excellent tune. Though one may say he lifts tunes , i want to ask him(her) does that fact makes the song less popular, less molodious? Or does it make one feel like listening to the same song over and over? what kind of negative impact does it have on TFM lovers who have a genuine objective taste of songs? What is your school of thought got to say?

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: balaji (@ schubert.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Tue Sep 29 18:04:42 EDT 1998
  
  appappa, ethanai D!! but we must realise that deva haters are a minority in TFM. most of the guys who hate deva for copying, like his original ones, and also tolerate his copied ones. all the point about banning deva, etc is fine, but will not happen. the truth is that he is the MD with more films in hand than any other MD. his songs become hits as not everyone knows the source of deva's xeroxes. moreover, this reverse engineering is not restricted to music alone. people steal stories, situations and what not. if deva is to be given such a treatment, what about manirathnam(for nayakan), kamal(for his n films filched from english) etc??? i am not coming to say that copying is right etc, but i think the truth is that people are not so passionate about it. they have come to tolerate it, and of late, even enjoy it.
  
  
• From: Srikanth (@ slip-32-101-16-238.il.us.ibm.net) on: Tue Sep 29 20:40:20 EDT 1998
  
  Hi,
  Law suite! against - nothing will work out.
  "Thirudane manathrundhee therindheenal Undu"
  
  At this rate TFM will die by y2k.
  
  Srikanth
  
  
• From: Nirupama (@ mut-53-0145.direct.ca) on: Wed Sep 30 03:01:09 EDT 1998
  
  Don't do this to me again, Srinath! I'm still sitting here with the dictionary, looking up your "D" words:-) Add degrading, distasteful, disingenuous, and disgraceful to your list. There should be more, all describing the characteristics of Deva. Like you said, it's upto the listeners to take a stand and make their own choices. Producers usually go by the listeners' preference. Doesn't this man have any diginity or self-respect? He knows very well that he has a bad reputation and does nothing to change that. It is amazing!!
  
  
• From: Ramanan (@ faraday.bfsec.bt.co.uk) on: Wed Sep 30 04:22:32 EDT 1998
  
  Vijay : i think u r the vijay Narayanan . This is Ramanan.
  
  sorry for the digression.
  
  mail me.
  
  
• From: Srikanth (@ proxy1.dpn.deere.com) on: Wed Sep 30 14:20:36 EDT 1998
  
  Hi
  It is high time for DEVA to BUY some Salt in his house.
  Srinath :"Kalakal"
  
  Srikanth
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.22.246) on: Wed Sep 30 17:37:20 EDT 1998
  
  ramanan,
  no, iam vijayanand.
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ 174-216-254.ipt.aol.com) on: Wed Sep 30 19:24:49 EDT 1998
  
  Balaji:
  It is understandable when MR copies (or remakes) a classic like Godfather. Can the same be said of "Akhiyan Milaon Kabhi Akhiyan Churaon" which was 'dubbed' into Tamizh as "Dodda beda rotumela mutta barota" ? Only a sick mind like Deva's would think of squeezing as much as possible from another's success, however tarnished that 'original' success may be ! MR must have realized some amount of satisfaction from his 'copy' of Godfather - as a Director. Any satisfaction that Deva earned must have been because of the money.
  
  
• From: bhaskaran (@ 10.sacramento-02.ca.dial-access.att.net) on: Wed Sep 30 20:54:33 EDT 1998
  
  hi guis and gals i am from thanjavur.
  i do agree sometimes deva used to do copy ,but u know b'cos of work pressure only he is doing like that i belive it is a human nature.don't worry sleep well.ok.ha ha
  
  
• From: Observer (@ spider-wg043.proxy.aol.com) on: Wed Sep 30 21:35:41 EDT 1998
  
  Vijay, Shankar
  nice to hear from fellow trichy-ites like you. I lived in sundar nagar there.
  
  It seems like all the GURUs totally condemn DEVA's copying business. Why not?, after all they understand much better than novices like me what does composing comprise of. But i would like to see opinions of other DFers who have less or little knowledge in music like me and give their frank opinion on DEVA's success(!). BTW, can somebody (GURU) clarify after listening if the following songs by DEVA are lifts or copies of tunes of any other MDs
  
  1. Garuda Garuda (Natpukkaga)
  2. Kanave kalaiyathe (Kannethire thondrinal)
  3. Chinna Chinna Kuyile (Kannethire thondrinal)
  
  
• From: balaji (@ schubert.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Wed Sep 30 22:27:35 EDT 1998
  
  observer:come on, if u don't know where garuda garuda is lifted from, then u are out of touch with some of the music which is played in million households early in the morning!!!!
  
  
• From: balaji (@ schubert.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Wed Sep 30 22:34:24 EDT 1998
  
  srinath : ur justification seems to be prejudiced. MR might have had money motive rather than "satisfaction". deva might also have satisfaction of changing a western song to tamil environment!!! the justification given by u is very much one sided. godfather was a success, and so was Mrs.Doubtfire. kamal would have had money motive when he made chachi 420 a.k.a avvai shanmughi. also, ur justification seems to allude that if one derives satisfaction from inheriting some other's work and changing it, then it is justifiable. i don't feel so. if tomorrow , our sculptor(sirpi) claims that he has enhanced all the NFAK songs and brought them to a new level in music, will u agree??? the truth is this. let there be one standard on copying and whoever cuts it for whatever the reason, he should be looked at the same angle with all the "d"s of srinath. else, we should stop deva bashing. also, we should think about the majority which is ignorant and does not bother about songs being copied.
  
  
• From: shankar (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Thu Oct 1 00:54:53 EDT 1998
  
  Observer,
  neenga oru theeviramanA "dravida kazhagathukaarara"??? ;-))), right Balaji???
  
  
• From: ilayapallavan (@ 164.100.167.17) on: Thu Oct 1 07:50:00 EDT 1998
  
  hi guys,
  I think most of u r prejudiced against deva. poor chap, even though he copies ( prefer the term xerox) he gives it good. come on he has given good hits like aasai - pulveli pulveli , in nerukuru ner all the songs are good. Even the great masters u guys prefer like IR and ARR also have lifted tunes. can anybody disclaim it but they got away with it. remember the time when IR refused to give interview to ceylon vanoli because they broadcast a programme of his songs and the original hindi songs. even the old master like msv had used the music of others hindi mds. whatever may be his shortcomings, he gives the audience a chance to enjoy. remmber not all the people in tamilnadu could go for English CDs , so let us take in th positive way that he is bringing the music from different parts to Tamil moviegoers.
  
  
• From: srikanth (@ slip-32-101-16-41.il.us.ibm.net) on: Thu Oct 1 08:44:16 EDT 1998
  
  Hi Mr.ILAYAPALLVAN:
  
  He is not bringing forign music to tamil nadu he is killing tamil music.
  Deva is not fit to be called as a musician, we can call him as a BROKER (I have another word which is unparlimentry here) - who finds songs for you from western or from old songs collection in TFm or hindi,punjabi etc. Only place he has not copied is nursery rhyms. (might Have - I am not aware)
  
  Great masters copied agreed but they did not make it as thier proffession,whereus deva is doing it.
  I heard a song - na kathu nee maram - what the hell is all about?, why is deva doing this.
  I am afraid TFM will die by y2k,guys we need to do something let us talk about that than MSV and Raja and arr
  
  Srikanth
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ socks12d.raleigh.ibm.com) on: Thu Oct 1 11:10:26 EDT 1998
  
  Balaji:
  Do you know why everybody calls Deva a 'Xerox' machine ? If you see a photo and paint the same picture by hand, it is called an inspired work of art. If you slip an A4 size paper inside a Xerox machine, it is called photocopying. There is a difference. I am not prejudiced, sir ;-)
  MR is a highly educated and respected person (note: I HATE all of MR's movies except Nayagan, Mouna Raagam and Anjali !) Money is a final motive for everybody. But other factors like how you earn it also matter to some people. Sothukku lottery adikkara caseulaan, copy adichcha adhu peru 'inspiration' kidayaadhu. If Deva were to establish himself like MSV, IR, ARR or MR and then copied comething he could be given the benefit of doubt. He started his career with copying, he is sustaining his career by copying and finally he is going to destroy his career by copying. A nice epithet on Deva's tomb would be "He came, He saw, He COPIED !" :-))))))
  
  Ilayapallavan:
  I think the above answers your question too.
  
  Observer:
  Andavan kittendhey thirudura ore janman namba Deva thaan.
  
  
• From: balaji (@ schubert.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Thu Oct 1 12:17:46 EDT 1998
  
  "He came , He heard, He copied"
  will be more apt!!!! i have never said that deva does not copy. but i don't want to justify others as "inspired work of art". edhu inspiration??what about the various remakes of other films?? are they inspired works , or are they copies?? i feel that the only point of difference is that when MR makes nayagan, he did not deny that it had the influence of godfather, and people were aware of it. in deva's case, he does not have that humility. apart from that, the fact that MR being highly educated and respected etc is inconsequential. inspiration to me simply means dancing on someone else's stage.ur skill is there, but u should never hide the source.
  note: i hate deva as much as others, but i don't want to look at him as the chief person doing this. others are in it too, probably are less successful.
  and regarding deva establishing himself, he has established a reputation from which he will never be able to come out of. any new good song will be treated with suspicion and skepticism.
  observer: ippo purinchudhaa, or kadavulai koopidattumaa?????(the original is available in www.balaji.org, the website of balaji temple).
  
  

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