Why are Non-Tamil singers favoured over Tamil singers?Is it fair?

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Why are Non-Tamil singers favoured over Tamil singers?Is it fair? Why are Non-Tamil singers favoured over Tamil singers?Is it fair?

Topic started by Tamilian (@ jrc-6-14.tm.net.my) on Wed Feb 4 09:59:08 EST 1998.
All times in EDT/EST +9:30/10:30 for IST.

Responses:

From: Amar (@ worf.qntm.com) on: Wed Feb 4 12:18:00 EST 1998

I don't think this topic makes any sense. First of all, we should be proud to be a Tamilian( or whatever we are ) but should be mature enough to be open-minded and broad-minded to accept anything good from anywhere. "Maatraan Thoattathu Mallghaiyum Manakkum" yenbathai oppukkollaveindum, yetrukkollaveindum.

Tamil Singers yenru yaarai ninaikkireergal? Yenakku therintha pala nalla, popular Tamil Singersil palapeir non-Tamilian. Singers like, TMS( sowraastrian ), SPB, P.Susheela, S.Janaki, KJ Yesudass, S.Varalakshmi, Chitra, Swarnalatha, Jayachandran, AL Raghavan(another sowraastrian), and so on.... are all non-Tamilians, Avargalai pidikkavillaiyaa?, Avargal Paadalgalthaan Inikkavillaiyaa?

Yenakku therinthu original Tamil Singers, Sirgazhi Govindarajan, Vani Jayaram, maybe some of the old timers. Ivargal mattumey poathumenraal, we would have never gotten all the great songs and voices that we have come to enjoy.

Whoever with great voice and that sounds appropriate should be welcome and appreciated!
From: Deepak Mahadevan (@ pc109.renewal-iis.com) on: Wed Feb 4 13:55:21 EST 1998

I agree with Amar on his reply. The bottom line is a good voice and good song no matter who sings them . I am a very old fan of Ghazal singer Hariharan. He is accepted in the North even though he is from South. Now he started to sing for Tamil movies. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a new singer who is trying his best to make it big in the Tamil Playback world. His Name is Rajesh Krishnan ( Pure Tamilian). He sang a song in the Movie "Unnaye Kalyanam Pannikaren" a dubbed version of a Telugu Super hit "Ninne Pelladutha". The song is very good and his voice is excellent. He is sings for Kannada movies right now. I hope to see more songs to come.
From: vijay (@ 129.252.29.214) on: Wed Feb 4 14:18:02 EST 1998

the topic can be rephrased as 'why are north indian singers in vogue today?" and i can say that no amount of openmindedness is sufficient to accept people like udit,hariharan etc. singing for murali,rajnikanth.no voice match and absolutely atrocious.just to introduce a different voice on the soundtrack and make the cassette
look catchy is the aim of present day MD's and that is why they keep using these singers.

luckily kumar sanu has sung only one song under deva and all of us have escaped.
IR was one of the first to call lata,asha to sing in perhaps a very few numbers and most of them were hits.but today,irrespective of the starcast
or the film people like hariharan and udit are there in every film.

only if u know the meaning of the song u can modulate your voice and express the appropriate feeling like what SPB does.otherwise it is going to be very bland .
also use of singers like kavitha,sadhana sargam when talented people like chitra swarnalatha etc,. are there is unexplainable.
vijay
From: MSK (@ dhcp-877019741.qualcomm.com) on: Wed Feb 4 15:35:43 EST 1998

Well, I don't care as long as song sounds good. But one thing i found that north indian playback
singers add a special touch to the song b'cos they do not have the same accent as tamil speaking singers. Songs like "kaathal Vaaniley" (By preethi uttam singh in Raasaiyah) Valaiosai (By lata in Sathya) and more recently kavitha krishnamoorthy in Devathai ( Naal thorum enthan Kannil) are songs i like very much just for their voice. I do not know if these singers can speak tamil, but my guess is that they wrote the tamil lyrics in hindi (or some other language) and sang
- may not be good for all type of tamil songs., bu somehow i like their voice in these songs..
From: MPR (@ dyn07.iacc-t23.ndsu.nodak.edu) on: Wed Feb 4 19:43:53 EST 1998

MSK:

I couldn't believe it, I have the same taste. In my opinion, their (female) voices add some more flavour to the song. But when it comes to male voices, somehow I don't like it. I like all the songs you listed and some more, 'muththirai ippOthu'(only for Kavita's voice) from uzhaipAli, 'senbagamE senbagamE' from enga OOru pAttukkAran,
'ArArO ArArO' from Anand, and 'engirunthO azhaikkum' from some karthik movie. Thanks for reminding me, I will add some of these in my page soon.
From: MSK (@ dhcp-877019741.qualcomm.com) on: Wed Feb 4 20:55:24 EST 1998

MPR.,

"Engiruntho Azhailkum " song is from "En Jeevan paaduthu" starring karthik and Saranya. It has a other good songs too.

Yes., I forgot "Muthirai ippothu". Vow!! What a song. I do not know how IR chooses a singer for a particular song. All of a sudden why shd he choose kavitha for this song - he could have chosen SJ, Chitra, Swarnalatha etc etc.. .

Same is the case with the Raasaiya song.! I am hard core fan of SJ. But still i believe that the "Kaathal Vaaniley" song she could not have done better than preethi utham singh. This is something that IR does once in way and all of them are Gems.
From: srikanth (@ 24.minneapolis-06.mn.dial-access.att.net) on: Thu Feb 5 01:52:58 EST 1998

Hi,

---> to be a singer one needs a good voice,
(based on the above fact this topic is meaningless.)
A singer might come from any part of the world.

Getting the language pronounciation is matter of time..
Asha bhosle is a very good example for this.

Srikanth
From: NOV (@ 202.184.134.10) on: Thu Feb 5 04:39:48 EST 1998

Amar - It is interesting to note the almost absence of Tamil singers in TFM. You have listed two and I will continue...

1. Sirgazhi Govindarajan
2. Vaani Jeyraam
3. Malaysia Vasudevan
4. Hariharan (He is a Tamilian!)

Any more?

What about MDs-turned-singers?

1. Ilayaraja
2. AR Rahman
3. ??
From: Amar (@ worf.qntm.com) on: Thu Feb 5 09:55:44 EST 1998

NOV:
I think Hariharan is a "Paalakkaattu Mallu", isn't he?
From: Ramki (@ b233.bernhard.wmich.edu) on: Thu Feb 5 10:34:53 EST 1998

Amar You are rite . Haris a Malayali and also
ARR.

Few other tamil singers are BSsasirekha,LREswari,
MSRajeswari,Anuradha Sriram,SNsurendhar,Deepan Chakravarthy,TLMaharajan,TKKala,Kalyani Menon,
and mmmm Deva:)))
From: Amar (@ worf.qntm.com) on: Thu Feb 5 11:49:09 EST 1998

Ramki:
Thanks for the update. Kalyani Menon's last name implies that she is a Mallu and that could be her husband's and she could be a Tamilian - I don't know.
From: rajamahadevan (@ draco.eisi.com) on: Thu Feb 5 11:59:45 EST 1998

Amar / Ramki:

A clarification reqd. Is Hariharan a malayalee from Palghat or is he a Palghat guy who speaks tamil ( In palghat and other parts of kerala one finds many who speak tamil at home with a generous mix of malayalam words nd whose food include vengaya sambhar oooh! mouth waters olan, kaalan, elisheri, aviyal , sorry for digesting/digressing :)

Raja M
From: Ramki (@ csg01.cs.wmich.edu) on: Thu Feb 5 12:09:37 EST 1998

Raja Im not sure abt whether Hari is a palghat tamil or malayalee but as far as ARR is concerned hes a pure malayalee(like MSV)

Amar Kalyani menon is sister of TKSKalaivanan and TKKala,so you can guess who her father is:).
From: Ramki (@ csg01.cs.wmich.edu) on: Thu Feb 5 12:10:18 EST 1998

Raja is is elisheri or ericheri??:)))

Sorry for the digression again
From: aruLarasan (@ psiphi.umsl.edu) on: Thu Feb 5 12:18:20 EST 1998

Warning: Digression

yEnpA, erichchEri, aviyalellA, gnAbagap paduththaRInga?
pAttap paththip pEsunganA, sA-pAttap paththi pEsaRIngaLE, nyAyamA?
From: raja mahadevan (@ draco.eisi.com) on: Thu Feb 5 12:46:58 EST 1998

Ramki:

I think Elisheri - though a Palakkaddan will say Elicheri :)

Arularasan:

What about Vetha Kuzhambu ? :)

Raja
From: bs (@ neptune.bt.com) on: Thu Feb 5 13:44:48 EST 1998

Before the digression is over I will also jump in. As far as I know the el* mentioned above is called erusseri (vegetables are cucumber/pumpkin). There are others also Pulissery (tamarind rice like preaparation..)Erusseri is a standard item in Onam feast.. In Palghat the Tamilians(mostly Iyers) speak a Tamil-mixed Malayalam in home.. Majority cant read/write Tamil and cant understand pure/accented Tamil..All are fluent in malayalam and learn it as first language too.But a Tamilian can survive because everybody understands Tamil in the town & suburbs but pretty difficult in the interior areas..
Coming to the topic, from what I have read somewhere, Hariharan is a Mallu having roots in Thiruvananthapuram, which is similar to Palghat that it shares a Kerala border with TN.
ARR is a pure Mallu(oldname of Dilipkumar)...
U cant compare UditN&KSanu with the people listed above : In that list everybody has consciously developed the affinity/fluency in Tamil..KJY having a heavy accent has taken lot of trouble before singing in Tamil films..Jeyachandran,who at onetime has outshown KJY in Malayalam filmdom, couldnt make as big as KJY because he couldnt control his accent as well as flexibility.SPB being a Telugu adapted to Tamil so well that until recently I thought he was Tamilian.. Everybody has worked hard to get to a place among the hearts of Tamilians..But not UditN..Somebody even quips that imperfections in pronounciation adds to the beauty of the song..Its just crap..I cant digest any of Udit's song..Asha Bhonsle's rendition of something like Thallippo,,Mellappo,*** etc etc..song in NerukkunER is the most horrid example of what the MDs of post-IR era has done to TFM..Slowly they R killing the lyrics,pronounciation..Ippadi than KRoda puthu padam NINIla irunthu Athi..Adi athi.. song folk songnnu ninaichu ketta, humming - check it up..check it upnnu.. Bayanthu poi adutha pattu ketta Udit Man"a"matha Desam pogalamannu ketkiraar..(intha "a" Udit toucham.. Kanravi)Ellam namma neramnnu ninaichi gammnnu thungitten..
From: NOV (@ 202.184.134.10) on: Thu Feb 5 19:44:05 EST 1998

Thanks to everyone for writing in about Hariharan's origins. Well, how do you account for this:

In a recent interview in TV Malaysia, before his "Colonial Cousins" concert, he said that he is a Tamilian who spent most of his life in Bombay. Could he be wrong? :-)))

ARR being a Mallu comes as a total surprise to me. Can anyone confirm this? Please do not be confused by the fact that his father was a MFM MD - that won't make him a Malayalee.
From: srikanth (@ 3.minneapolis-06.mn.dial-access.att.net) on: Fri Feb 6 01:40:09 EST 1998

hi
Ar is no way a mallu , Mara Tamilzan

Srikanth
From: Tamilian (@ brk-25-205.tm.net.my) on: Fri Feb 6 07:37:57 EST 1998

Dear Amar,I am sad to read that you have said that this topic does not make sense.The main reason I started this topic was just to justify why actual Tamil origin people are not given the support and encouragement to sing in their
own Tamil films.
Iagree with you that when a singer who sings apart from his mother tounge the praises goes to the language,in this case it is Tamil.

Of course singers like SPB ,PBS,AMRaja,KJ
Jesudoss are very good singers there is no complaints against them.But in recent times how many actual original Tamil singers have emerged in TF World?
How are we going to be proud of our very own kind?

Please do not mistake me as being as a racist.
I am actually voicing out on behalf of them.
As the saying goes God only help those who help themselves,but are we helping ourselves?.
Obviously the answer is NO.

Just for more info, Hariharan is a Tamilian as he has said himself and also in an interview which appeared in Kumudam magazine about 2 years ago.As for TMS, he is a Sowrastrian ,but these
Sowrastrians have actually assimilated in the
respective States where they have settled.In this case he is a Sowrastrian Tamil.Other prominent Sowrastrian Tamils are Vennirai Adai Nirmala and not forgetting,AL Raghvan.

But whatever is the Tamilians and the TF World
are a generous lot who have made others successful than their own people
From: VEERAPANDIYA KATTABOMMAN (@ jrc-5-220.tm.net.my) on: Fri Feb 6 09:01:54 EST 1998

Ramki,just for your info, Kalyani Menon is Cameraman turned Director, Rajiv Menon's mother who debuted in Minsara Kanavugal,as a Director.

It is amazing that in a state of 50 million Tamils,
hardly any singers are introduced whereas there are other Non-Tamil speaking singers being introduced.
It is actually sad and I think the MDs are the culprits who should take note of this and make some positive changes.

Whatever can be said and done the Tamils are the suckers who are always the losers in the end!
From: Amar (@ worf.qntm.com) on: Fri Feb 6 10:53:54 EST 1998

Hello Mr Tamilian:
I am sorry to have hurt your feelings, that was not my intention. However, I just don't favor any topics on sensitive issues such as race, caste, religion, language, nationality, etc. Many of us would and could make very positive and objective comments but a few, accidentally or intentionally, might spill out comments that could hurt many of us and could spark off a "heated discussion" - do we need that?

I understand your concerns but I don't think the MDs are up against opting Tamil Singers. Either, the good, new Tamil Singers are not coming forward to sing in TFM or they just don't get the right opportunities to make it big in TFM.

I sincerely hope TFM world changes for the better but not at the expense of avoiding or neglecting talented singers from other origins.
From: gk (@ uswgco99.uswest.com) on: Fri Feb 6 13:25:31 EST 1998

ARR is a tamilian.Previouslly called A.R.Dilip kumar.I remeber him as a prodigy, playing the piano in many wonder ballon programs.( late 70's).
From: bs (@ neptune.bt.com) on: Fri Feb 6 15:09:40 EST 1998

As far as my knowledge is concerned he was born in Kerala but his father's death forced him to come over to Tamilnadu in search of a job. This is from the site http://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~subraman/rahman/articles/one.html

The influence of the Mappilah songs of North Kerala can be easily seen in his songs..Kannalane from Bombay is a typical song of that genre..Read somewhere that a Muslim Periyavar blessed him for success and thats why he changed his religion to Islam by taking the name of Rahman from Dilipkumar..
I agree with Amar that a talented singer should be given his due without taking his background into concern.. But the singer has also to put in his heart and try to learn Tamil..
From: Thomas (@ access-isdn1-24.oz.psu.edu) on: Fri Feb 6 20:36:33 EST 1998

Vani Jayaram is also Malayalee!
From: aruLarsan (@ psiphi.umsl.edu) on: Sat Feb 7 14:53:16 EST 1998

Should we continue much further. How do we categorize one
as a thamizhan, malayAlI etc? Do they live in the area where that
language is spoken or do they speak only that language? Calling
TMS as sowrAstran (rather non-thamizhan), unni krishNan (another
non-thamizhan), yEsudhAs (yenpA avar pEsarath thamizhukku
ennA koRaichchal?) etc is non-sense (to say the least). It is
onething to criticize using people like udit nArAyaNan etc.
who (for no fault of theirs) kill the song and language and
it is entirely another matter to feel that many good singers
like (s jAnaki who wrote that kaNNan song - i forgot it - and
it was much better than the usual muNdu kinda junk). Let's
list and blame the music directors and spare these arrows.

What happened to yEshodhAs's Voice Bank? No one gives a damn. Many
a times it looks like only nepotism (like surEsh pEters, bhavadhAriNi,
chithrA, etc.), pre-established identity (like hariharan, unni
krishNan, harini, prasannA, etc.) are at work and not real talent.

Please Please don't call them who have lived in TN and spoken thamizh
throughtout their life as non-thamizhan. That would be a real
stretch of, if you don't mind my using this word, racism.
From: Nithin Sreedevan (@ nc.pr.mcs.net) on: Sun Feb 8 15:07:04 EST 1998

Anbu Tamizh Makkale,Thaimargale, Sahodarargale!

Please do not forget, that Tamizh is the mother of all south Indian languages, and it is the yearning of every child to be with their Parents, roots some day. Don't you all agree?

Tamizh panpu, according to me is older than know consciousness of human civilization, and perhaps the progenitor of Rama's kingdom and the MahaBharatha.

Tamizh panpu is an ocean and therfore has the capacity to welcome back everyone of her diaspora.

Me, a non-tamilian, consider myself as belonging to Tamilnadu as MGR once said, Anbukku Naan Adimai, Thamizh Panpu Naan Adimai.

So, please let us be proud to know that non-tamilians who have a longing to be a part of the most profound, gentle and religious culture known on this earth, are doing their greatest to make us all feel more rich and happy, with their ceaseless efforts and diverse contributions to popular Tamizh culture.
From: Sathiya Keerthi (@ panorama.nus.edu.sg) on: Mon Feb 9 01:18:21 EST 1998

I agree with ArLarasan and Nithin. As far as TFM
goes, the origin of the singer should not be given
any importance. (Konjam vittaal idhukkum SC/ST type
Quota koNdu vandhuduvaanga!)

AdhE nEraththil, Thamizhai sariyaaga uchcharikkaamal
irukkum singers should be heavily criticised!

In this respect, TMS (one without Tamil origin)
stands 100 miles ahead of Hariharan (one who has
Tamil origin) as a Tamil singer!
From: Tamilian (@ brk-24-102.tm.net.my) on: Mon Feb 9 10:10:41 EST 1998

Dear Thomas, Vaani Jayaram is a Tamil ,and not a Malayalee.I will actually like to know how many Tamil singers are there in other dialect films.

If we have a good number of Tamil origin singers
in other dialects than I shall accept as it is a fair
game.

Can anyone account for this.
From: sudhakar nair (@ bkj-cache81.jaring.my) on: Wed Nov 10 00:29:11 EST 1999

well does the name hariharan sound like a tamil name to any of u...... i mean..... there were great writers in kerala by the name of hariharan in the early 16th century.... unless.... hariharan is tamilized.... :)..... even MGR claimed to be a tamizhan for popularity sake... and does that mean he's a tamil??....???!!!!!

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