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ARR's Interview

Topic started by Srikanth (@ cerberus.ppiptc.com) on Tue Jan 5 11:30:37 EST 1999.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Arr interview : comments on Raja, check it out.

http://www.indiatalkies.com/interview.asp

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Responses:

• From: Shanmugam Murugappan (@ 208.236.83.16) on: Tue Jan 5 13:47:21 EST 1999
  
  
  Hi,
  
  There were 2 questions asked to him about IR.
  
  Q: Where do you rate yourself in comparison to
  Ilayaraja?
  
  A: He is a genius by himself and is completely self-contained.
  
  So, ARR has accepted the fact that IR is a genius. But, he was quite clever to keep him
  away from the question. The question was where
  does he rate himself in comparison to IR and he
  safely refrained by not pulling himself into
  the question. That is not wrong anyway as his
  answer may pull him into some controversy or
  the other.
  
  The second question was :
  
  Q: People say your entry washed him away and he holds you responsible for his lack of opportunity. Is there any cold war between you both?
  
  A: I wouldn't say he was washed away. A new trend had come, and the whole set of directors that existed then, also receded. The entire scenario changed in every field of film making in the South: music, direction, cinematography, everything changed together. It was not a single element. So, I got to the right people. The right young directors who made films in a different way. The change in the trend was welcomed and so was I. There is no such cold war.
  
  I think the question is crazy and the person who interviewed ARR is not aware of the current trend in the Tamil Film Industry. IR is back with a bang and he is doing more films and some of his songs are also becoming super hits. ARR was right in answering that IR has not been washed away. Otherwise, I think ARR has matured a lot and his answers will surely please both his fans and IR fans.
  
  
• From: neruppu (@ daappc12.daa.uc.edu) on: Tue Jan 5 14:44:02 EST 1999
  
  its really funny how everybody wants to know what ARR has to say about IR and vise versa.its alright if its just a curiosity,
  but unfortunately it is used as a backdrop for judging their music.infact i can remember the last time i read of an arr
  comment on IR when he said he really liked "inchi iduppazhaga- devar magan".immediately i felt a liking for ARR though at
  that time i was hating him!(actualy i was not, but with a mental state shared by many IR fans i know, i start hating the chap
  whenever a comparison comes out with IR)now i realise how naive it is. i suppose it can be attributed to the general
  personality cult so strongly prevalent in tamilnadu where a person is judged not by his works alone but also for what
  opinions he holds on every other matter! i feel IR was also subjected to this and was termed an arrogant person when he
  was candid and had nothing good to tell about his colleagues in the film industry. remember him in that tv interview when
  all he had to say about that spb 'record setting' song"mannil intha-keladi kanmani" was that "it was nothing new!" we have
  been used to the continuous B.S. that the filmwallahs drop on us in the name of mutual praise that we expect everyone to
  do it, and worst,deride someone who is so involved in his work that he has no time for these meaningless euologies!
  
  
• From: Shanmugam Murugappan (@ 208.236.83.26) on: Tue Jan 5 16:39:05 EST 1999
  
  One more interesting news from the interview :
  
  ARR says he works for 18 hours a day and he can compose music only for 5 films a year!!!
  
  Say, there are 5 songs, in an average, in each film and altogether ARR gives 25 songs per year. Out of these 25, 20 of them become hit songs. So, on the whole, ARR gives 80% hit songs every year.
  
  Not that one can devalue ARR's music just because he accepts less films a year. In fact, I am a great fan of ARR. But, sometimes, I feel there is a void in between his albums and at those times I get irritated. Whenever an ARR album is released, I get excited and interested. I listen to the song the first time, I feel it is not up to the expectation. But after repeated hearing, I develop some liking to the song. After 3 months or so, I never feel like listening to those songs again. At that time, if another new ARR album comes, the above process repeats. Instead, if there is a gap, that is irritating. Still, I like ARR. My friends say ARR is fooling people by giving instant music, interest to which, dries down after 2 months. So, he lacks in consistency in giving good music. I too get this feeling during that gap between his albums. Maybe, ARR should accept more films and continue to give consistent musical hits without any gap. Then this feeling will go.
  
  
• From: Udhaya (@ 205.218.142.217) on: Tue Jan 5 17:37:53 EST 1999
  
  Shanmugam Murugappan,
  My head is spinning trying to understand your logic.
  
  
• From: sridhar (@ 205.158.143.28) on: Tue Jan 5 18:03:17 EST 1999
  
  shanmguga,
  kadaisela ennada solla vare. yappa dei thala suthuthdhu da sami!!! ilayaraja madiriye pesariye.
  good keep it up.
  
  
• From: Shanmugam Murugappan (@ 208.236.83.16) on: Tue Jan 5 18:54:44 EST 1999
  
  Udhaya,
  
  I just can't understand that ARR works for 18 hours a day and accepts only 5 films a year.
  
  Let me put it in simple terms. I want ARR to accept more films and continue to give consistent musical hits.
  
  Maybe this is more clear. Sorry if I had confused.
  
  Sridhara,
  
  Naan solla vandhadhu purinjirukkumnu ninaikkiraenda. Confuse pannal sorry da.
  
  > ilayaraja madiriye pesariye.
  
  IR isayila mattum gnani illai. Ellathulayumae gnanidhaan. So, avara maadhiriyae naan pesaraennu solli IRa insult panna vendaam.
  
  
• From: Srikanth (@ 1cust215.tnt9.chi5.da.uu.net) on: Tue Jan 5 20:45:55 EST 1999
  
  Shanmugam:
  I tried reading your posting atleast 10 times, suthama lost my way. But I like to say one thing - Quantity does not count - quality matters, Deva works (copies) 23.5 hrs a day but do we care about his work.
  After a long time Arr has given somewhat a good interview. I like the words he told about Raja.
  He is correct also. --> Trend has changed, People need something new, there it ends.
  
  Srikanth
  (BTW:Where are the ARR bashers gone!, burried in the snow or what).
  
  
  
• From: vj (@ ref11.library.ucsb.edu) on: Tue Jan 5 21:45:58 EST 1999
  
  hi,
  i post rarely but i have been following almost all
  discussion forums for some time now...
  about ARR and IR, shanmug... was right about saying that they dont appeal initially and then they grow on you... and then just like a biological organism they decay and die! and by the time your mind is finished burying those songs we have a new set of biological organisms created by ARR to care and be curious about! IR's songs are organisms beyond mortality (well, not all but a good majority) ...
  
  but i believe that 'time' should never be a judge for quality. its Ok if a mango gets spoiled in a week but as long as it is fresh and tasty for that week, you can always eat it... SO, the constant charge that ARR hasnt genius comparable to IR should be looked again in the area of 'QUALITY' when they exist, i mean, compare a mango from both their backyards , and it doesnt matter that IR's mango lasts longer... big deal!
  
  do i make sense?
  
  vj
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.25.56) on: Wed Jan 6 00:40:06 EST 1999
  
  vj,
  why should 'time' not be a factor? u'r explanation is difficult to undestand. u have not explained why it does'nt matter that IR's mango lasts longer? it definitely does matter in my opnion. time is definitely a factor in my opinion. quality transcends all time frames. we are able to listen and appreciate the compositions of beethoven and mozart which were composed long back. IMO, lasting power of a song is a very important factor as regards the quality of a song.
  
  of course, as always the definition of 'quality' is subjective. for someone it might be the instant appeal the song creates. so, songs like chikkubukku rail which are catchy may be of high quality to that person.
  
  but in my perspective songs like paruvame from nenjathai killathe are the ones which i consider to be of high quality, those which, inspite of all the trend changes, taste changes etc. etc. continue to boggle my mind still.
  
  
• From: Anand Mahadevan (@ freedum.proxy.lucent.com) on: Wed Jan 6 11:29:52 EST 1999
  
  Q: Where do you rate yourself in comparison to
  Ilayaraja?
  
  A: He is a genius by himself and is completely self-contained.
  
  A genius, alright.But self-contained beats me.
  Any takers on elaboration.A self contained composer(every composer by default is self contained,if its a reference to the thought process) Or is my inference out of sync.
  
  
  
  
• From: Srikanth (@ cerberus.ppiptc.com) on: Wed Jan 6 12:09:08 EST 1999
  
  Hi,
  Some positive thought:
  Self contained composer: Original composer, thinks for himself, never changes for the sake of changing. I have read somehere Bach was called as a self contained musician.
  
  BTW: Every composer is self contained: need not be true always :DEVa, many hindi composers..
  
  A Decent answer by ARR. (he has learnt to talk)
  
  Srikanth (live from my Training class)
  
  
• From: Anand Mahadevan (@ freedum.proxy.lucent.com) on: Wed Jan 6 12:56:33 EST 1999
  
  "Original composer, thinks for himself, never changes for the sake of changing"
  
  Would DEVa and many hindi composers be thinking for somebody else.Guess IR has changed for the sake of changing and eveybody is original if they choose to justify.
  
  Srikanth,I am not trying to corner you but the word self-contained does'nt signify anything positive w.r.t a composer.
  ARR must have had something in his mind or he's been misquoted.
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ ss03.nc.us.ibm.com) on: Wed Jan 6 13:36:57 EST 1999
  
  Actually, the first part of the statement was even more confusing - "...a genius by himself..." was he implying that IR is not only a genius compared to others (for ex. Deva, Sirpi, etc) but is a genius by himself ? Or was he saying that IR *became* a genius by himself (as opposed to the 'geniusification' of Deva by D.S.Ramanujam, etc ;-)) ? I think ARR must have become a little unnerved by the question because it was posed with the obvious intent of drawing an adulatory comment about IR which ARR may not have wished to make under duress. I mean, get real guys, ARR should be a confident man now with his national success and high percentage of hits. Why would he want to make a statement like 'I am nothing compared to IR' or 'I have miles to go before I can come anywhere near IR' ? It is only us IR fans who think along those lines. For all we know, ARR probably thinks he is as good, if not better, than IR - which IMHO need not be the crime of the century ! I mean, he probably believes in it genuinely. But Srikanth, I don't think ARR has learnt to talk properly yet. He ought to take lessons from the master of hypocrisy, Mr.Kamal Haasan (strictly IMO) !!! It was a paethal answer to a paethal question. Ask a stupid question and you will get a stupid answer ! It reminds me of all the comparisions between Sachin Tendulkar and Sir Donald Bradman ! I personally happen to think that it is humanly impossible to bat better than Sachin ! But then I am sure there are others who think that it is humanly impossible to score at an average of 99.96 per Test !
  
  
• From: Shanmugam Murugappan (@ 208.236.83.16) on: Wed Jan 6 14:17:19 EST 1999
  
  Srikanth,
  
  Thanks for reading my posting 10 times and sorry for you were not able to understand it. My point was very clear in my next posting - I believe. I wanted ARR to compose music for more films. Well, as you said, quality matters more than the quantity. But, I will be very happy if I get more quality music from ARR than just 5 films an year. Will ARR's music quality go down if he accepts more than 5 films a year? Must be, he concentrates more on a minimum no. of films and come out good rather than accepting lot of films and coming out with junk stuff.
  
  Anand Mahadevan,
  
  Srikanth says that he has read somewhere that Bach was called a 'self-contained' musician. Then, I don't think there is anything misquoted in ARR calling IR as a 'self-contained' musician. Actually, his first answer was good. The second question was stupid. And, what else can ARR answer. It was quite a decent answer to that stupid question.
  
  In general, both the questions were asked with the motive of getting some words out of ARR's mouth to start a controversy between ARR fans and IR fans.
  
  

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