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An Interview with Vani Jayaram

Topic started by Neel D (@ 24.98.42.169) on Thu Aug 15 09:10:17 EDT 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Visit http://www.vanijayaram.com

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.76.127.63) on: Mon Sep 9 08:17:03 EDT 2002
  
  Now that's the quote from Vijay which for some reason just wouldn't stick! :-)
  
  
• From: Neel D (@ 24.98.42.169) on: Mon Sep 9 09:02:30 EDT 2002
  
  Naaz,
  
  Like someone said it is not what you say anymore, it is how you say it. I leave it for the reader to decide what that quote actually means or where that came from. But it does bring up other questions. Just because someone sang a CHUNK of the songs, just because someone decided to patronize someone and gave them a CHUNK of songs does that immediately make the singer superior to other singers who did not get to sing a CHUNK of the songs? Does quantity alone make a singer a "legend"? Is two or three hit songs in twenty to twentyfive years of career sufficient to say that one is a good singer and is accepted and liked by the mass?
  
  
• From: Cinema Virumbi (@ 203.197.220.219) on: Mon Sep 9 09:29:25 EDT 2002
  
  Digression
  
  Naaz,
  
  Since you seem to enjoy my occasional straying into Hindi, here's a little more:
  
  I keep translating (!) TFM into HFM and vice versa, purely for the enjoyment of my 8 year old daughter, brought up outside TN. Just see if you can tolearte(!) some:
  
  An old Dev Anand song: 'Aaah baadal bijlee chanda paanee jaisa apnaa pyar, milna hoga sanam tumhe kayee kayee baar'
  'Aaah megam minnal thanneer nilavu, ivai pol namadhu kaadhal....'
  
  A recent Akshay Kumar song: 'Chura ke neend mera goriyaa chalee'
  ' Thirudik konden thookkaththai veLLaippenn (!!!!) sendraaL! '
  
  Ulagam Sutrum vaaliban:'Namadhu vetriyai naaLai sariththiram sollum! ippadai thORkin eppadai vellum?'
  
  'Hamari jeet ko kal itihaas bataayegaa! Yeh sena haaregee to kaun si sena jeetegee?'
  
  
  Mughal e azam: 'Jab pyar kiya to darna kya?'
  'Eppo kaadhal panniyaachcho bayamenna?'(!!!!)
  
  If you enjoy this (and others don't mind this wastage of space(!), I can venture to write a few more!)
  
  
• From: av (@ 132.206.124.206) on: Mon Sep 9 09:38:21 EDT 2002
  
  IMO if an MD decides to use a certain singer effectively, it is his choice. In the case of MDs like Ilayaraaja with superlative musical abilities atleast.
  If he chose someone else over VJ, VJ fans shouldn't immediately start making excuses and attribute it to politics and ethnicity. Or use the "he knew Janaki from his early days, so he chose Janaki" kind of arguments. He chose Janaki for her fantastic vocal abilities. He found somehting in her that was unique. Every singer is unique. And again, IR surely knows infinitely more about about music than all of us put together.
  
  If Vijaybhaskar chose VJ for a chunk of his Kannada songs (its evident in his filmography after the 70s) over the local Kannada singers, it surely means he found something in VJ that he liked best.
  Are excuses like "he knew her from her early days, so he chose her" or poitics or ethnicity valid in this context? No, they arent.
  
  Similarly, IR found something exclusive in Janaki and Chitra. Thats why he chose them. And they are wonderful singer - for semiclassical, devotional as well as the lighter variety of songs.
  
  NEEL:
  Does quantity alone make a singer a "legend"? Is two or three hit songs in twenty to twentyfive years of career sufficient to say that one is a good singer and is accepted and liked by the mass?
  
  I dont really know about the "hit" part. But if a singer gives just 2 or 3 good songs, then that soinger cant be called a legend. But if he/she gives a plethora of good songs, he/she sure is a legend, regardless of whether the songs attain popularity or not. But "good" is a subjective term :-)
  
  
• From: sivaselvam (@ 161.114.88.71) on: Mon Sep 9 10:48:34 EDT 2002
  
  Hi Naaz,
  
  "Suspicious because it fails to address the "what about the homegrowns?" issue."
  
  I do not understand what you mean by suspicious?
  
  "In other words, what happens when the "legends" of the north (or the non-tamizh south) are replaced by the up-and-coming "legends" of the north (or the non-tamizh south) -- in the South? "
  
  I do not care whether singer is from North/TamizhNadu/Non Tamil South. I would like Tamizh songs to be sung by the BEST. IMO SPB, PS and SJ along with VJ are the best thing ever happened to TFM.
  
  When we feel sorry that VJ did not get many chances in HFM because of reasons other that merit should we not see only merit for preference to a singer?
  
  "What happens to those who are "of tamizh, from tamizh(nadu) and for tamizh"?"
  
  Whom do you say "who are of Tamil"?
  
  People born in Tamil Nadu or people who have Tamil as their mother tongue?
  
  I have a different perspective. I will say any one who identifies himself with the Tamil language is a Tamilian. He need not have to be born in Tamil Nadu. He need not have to have Tamil as mother tongue. He need not reside in Tamil Nadu. This is for an individual to decide whether he/she is a Tamilian/Telugite/.... It is a very pesonal thing and it is not for others to decide. This is a totally different issue. We do not need to know how one feels at heart to like him. As longs as he/she sings Tamil songs nicely it is fine with me.
  
  "I'd be only too happy with this "yaadhum oorey, yaavarum tamizh" dictum if there were proof that this were indeed a two-way street. But all evidence seems to be to the contrary."
  
  If others (say in HFM) do not give chances to Tamil singers because of nativity then I will criticize them. But just because some one sees nativity to like something I will not do the same.
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Mon Sep 9 11:20:23 EDT 2002
  
  If MDs in HFM had a choice - will they settle for SPB or Sonu Nigam? Alka Yagnik or Swarnalatha?
  
  Naaz, I will have to disagree with you here. If HFM people choose Sonu Nigam over SPB, then I would think that they have done so because of lack of nativity in SPB's hindi accent. Same is the case with choosing Alka over Swarnalatha. I don't think this happens because SPB and Swarnalatha are not native Hindi speakers.
  
  In fact, if that is the case, Hariharan, Shankar Mahadeven, KK, and of course ARRahman etc wouldn't be getting chances in the HFM scene at all. Look how profilic their career is there.
  
  I guess I agree with AVR and sivaselvam mostly in that what should be given priority is the merit and the talent which of course includes not just singing well, but also produce absolute nativity in the singing.
  
  A good example of VJ getting offers from Kannada industry was brought up by AVR. Now according to your analysis, what should the Kannadigas think about having natives lose chances to VJ, SJ, SPB and PBS? The answer is again: it is the merit and talent, not where you are from.
  
  VJ is a legendary singer who has produced so many fans with her memorable songs. But while giving her the respect she is due, it is inappropriate to pull down singers like SJ and KSC and SPB, AIMHO.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.76.127.63) on: Mon Sep 9 12:24:51 EDT 2002
  
  To AVR -
  If you are countering points / issues raised by me please show me the minimal courtesy of addressing me by name. To not do so is not only rude, it is also juvenile. Hence, I will not bother with any of the "evidence" you have offered.
  
  To Sivaselvam -
  
  Here is the "suspicious" bit:
  Let's me ask you: Is there a shortage of good qualified and equally capable singers - with impeccable pedigree (when I say "tamizh" I mean it as mother-tongue - and more on this later) - and here is a list: Deepan Chakravarthi, TL Maharajan, Seergazhi Sivachidambaram, AV Ramanan, SN Surender, Malaysia Vasudevan, Brhamanandam,...Neel has provided the other female playback singer list.
  How many opportunities did these singers get, were they "grossly inferior", were their talents exploited to the fullest, did they not deliver every time, -- and were tamizh audiences disappointed with their pronunciation, their clarity, their knowledge of music and expertise?
  Did they not get it "right" - without being given many, many opportunities to improve?
  
  Identification does not and never will be interchangeable with Nativity. I may speak tamizh just as well as my neighbour Mr. Ramamirdham, but I will never expect to be considered a "tamizh" as my mother-tongue is Urdu, and neither would Mr. Ramamirdham afford me the honorary status of "padhi tamizhan". The "who are" is of "tamizh parents," which means tamizh as thai-mozhi.
  This doesn't mean that my identification is incomplete or inauthentic. I am not a native born tamizhan. Period. Nothing anti-secular or discriminatory about that. Just a fact.
  
  Again: Are current tamizh songs (even if I were to go along with the "best" argument, which I usually resist) going to the most qualified, most exemplary? (even if they are mother-tongue tamizhars?) Or is this how it works: The tamizh singers these days really want to sound like singers from elsewhere so why not just settle for singers from elsewhere? Pray, then, what happens to singers from here and who are quite happy to sound like singers from here? I guess, that question is moot?
  
  Kaumudi -
  
  If you could help me with a list of the Kannadigas who were given short-shrift because VJ SJ and Co bagged all the songs, then I might be in a better position to articulate a response. I have not idea who the "mother-tongue" Kannada singers were that fell by the wayside...
  
  My intention is not to bring down one singer to prop up another, either. And that is precisely why I mentioned a "two-way" street. If a Sadhana Sargam Or Jency can be given one opportunity after another to prove her merit and talent (and still fumble countless times,) - then why is that same concession and consideration not given/shown a Swarnalatha or someone else who tries their best for a breakthrough in HFM or MFM? And what's more, why is a Swarnalatha or a VJ or a UR - who I am sure will be content with JUST tamizh singing - once again sidelined by MDs choosing non-tamizh others? Are these singers not talented, haven't they proven their mettle (in tamizh alone) time and again? So the "talent and merit" bit only holds that much water.
  
  Regarding ARR and the other list of singers you have provided - let's just say that a Talat Aziz or a Suman Kalyanpur or a Mohd Aziz or a Suresh Wadkar...were at the right place (and a place that should have been rightfully theirs) at the wrong time.
  
  Personal dynamics, compatibility, capability and marketability - if we can take all of these into consideration - why do we hesitate to include a fascination with "otherness" in this list? And why do we flinch to acknoweldge that tamizhars have always had a greater regard and appreciation for that which comes from outside their own cultural and geographic boundaries?
  It can only be a willful blindness.
  
  (Once again, my apologies for typos in advance.)
  
  
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.76.127.63) on: Mon Sep 9 12:45:39 EDT 2002
  
  And here is the irony (oh yes, that pazhaiya kurudi alright :-)):
  
  "In fact the reverse was true!" Was it, really??
  
  This quote once again - after multiple stick-now!! - effors slips into the wild blue yonder.
  
  

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