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Can hariharan be considered an able successor of SPB ?

Topic started by vijay (@ 129.252.29.219) on Wed Jun 10 19:08:42 EDT 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

With hariharan getting to sing a song in almost every film including films done by IR there is a popular notion that he might be the next SPB.But my doubt is whether he would create the same impact that SPB had in the last twenty years, or would he fade away soon? also is he capable and versatile enough
of holding the top spot in TFM ?awaiting your opinions.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Indian (@ proxy.qatar.net.qa) on: Sat Jun 13 09:13:13 EDT 1998
  
  Vijay,
  May be you are irritated by 'uyire' song, but one song is not enough to judge one individual's talent. You are 100% right, that 'uyire' is not ca classic to be referred as others are praising, but there are beautiful melodious numbers from HH.
  Certainly, he is no where comparable to SPB but that doesn't mean that he is not a good singer.
  
  
• From: Srikanth (@ 161.225.48.3) on: Mon Jun 15 12:13:32 EDT 1998
  
  Hi,
  
  Atlast we have agreed upon a thing !
  People asking for Uyeri in Pepsi U C is not for the song.
  if it is a Females request it for Aravind Swami,
  - Males request is to see Moni's ......... while running, - I am sure about .
  Thungamugi voice - perfect.
  Enai thalata should have sung by SPB...
  
  Srikanth
  
  
• From: pg (@ gate02.merck-medco.com) on: Mon Jun 15 12:48:21 EDT 1998
  
  Now I am listening to poonthOttam I get the same feeling : SPB should have sung meettAdha veeNai & vAnathu thAragaiyO. Hariharan has done a decent job but SPB would have been better.
  
  Somehow I am getting the feeling that SPB is feeling like TMS at the end of his career... I only hope this is not true.
  
  
• From: Udhaya (@ 205.218.142.217) on: Mon Jun 15 13:28:44 EDT 1998
  
  pg one major difference in SPB TMS comparison. TMS had gone nasal several years before he was banished from TFM. But SPB still has it. I must add that HH sounds perfect in ghazals.
  
  
• From: pg (@ gate02.merck-medco.com) on: Mon Jun 15 14:31:40 EDT 1998
  
  Udhaya :
  
  I am not talking about SPB's voice here. SPB is the best there is. (Just listen to SPB in 'unnai pArtha pinbu nAn' in kAdhal mannan - just fabulous !)
  
  But Hariharan & Unnikrishnan have usurped SPB's and KJY's place in TFM. SPB is no longer the no 1 choice. Even IR has been forced to use Hariharan bcos HH is no 1. In many interviews KJY has sounded disgusted with the current state of TFM ("no melody - only beats, I told IR not to call me unless there is a good melody" etc).
  
  And someone mentioned that SPB had given a similar sounding interview recently (I haven't read it if this true).
  
  In every interview of TMS, he sounds so bitter at being overtaken by SPB et al. And he continues to bevleive that IR was the cause of his downfall.
  
  And sometime back there was a rumour that SPB sang in kAdhala kAdhala and KR didn't like SPB's singing and he sang the song himself !
  
  
• From: Udhaya (@ 205.218.142.217) on: Mon Jun 15 15:03:33 EDT 1998
  
  Interesting, pg. Kudos to KJY for sticking up for quality. I also heard that SPB had openly said that he didn't want to be part of a song that had double entendres and vile lyrics. Maybe they are just being choosy, which is good. HH and Unni deserve the opportunity because they are younger, poorer, and hungrier. But I just hope that they haven't usurped KJY and SPB who are still in their prime.
  That's an astonishing rumor about Kaadhala Kaadhala. KR subbing for SPB is like Jim Carrey subbing for Sir Laurence Olivier. BTW I'll stop the digression and the potential muckraking right here.
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.22.135) on: Tue Jun 16 00:57:31 EDT 1998
  
  first let KR do his job in composing and then he can concentrate on singing!
  hariharan may have commercially succeeded because of bombay in which i did not like the song'uyire uyire' even a bit.his irritating voice should not carry him far.i hope raja gives more opportunities to SPB and brings him back to the original position.
  
  i just heard the top 10 in indadirect.com.ATROCIOUS!
  all songs including the ones in poonthottam,dharma and a lot of vijay starrers were atrocious.it is just hariharan and unni all the way and makes me think how these guys came up to this level.not even one song was worth hearing more than once.i hope the other songs in poonthotam and dharma are good.
  GOD SAVE TFM!
  
  
• From: Indian (@ proxy.qatar.net.qa) on: Thu Jun 18 09:03:40 EDT 1998
  
  It is really paining to hear KJY and SPB replaced by UK and HH. They are nowhere near their quality, rendering and versatility. Ofcourse they may be good singers and deserve good oppurtunity but to come up to this level of comparison is too much. and regarding KR's news of 'kadala kadala' dubbing for spb, I think it's good for spb. None of the songs were worth hearing and KR should revise himself for the quality music. What's just come is cacophony.
  
  
• From: badri raghavan (@ 206.103.12.125) on: Thu Jun 25 07:10:38 EDT 1998
  
  well!
  
  some observations.
  
  1."nobody heard of hariharan before tfm." that's a gross understatement and that too coming from srikanth (if my RAM serves me right). he did an album with asha bhonsale and i heard it way back in 1989 and i was then wondering why this guy was not around in hindi movies. he gave albums after albums in ghazals and some of them are really great. one should listen to his diction (sad that he has not invested time and effort in tamil pronounciation as much as he did for urudhu) and his melliflous rendering. coming back, he was popular in different circles even before bombay.
  
  2. "he is singing the same kind of songs unlike spb" - this is the era of core competencies my friends! not of diversification. fun apart, hh has had so much of a grounding in ghazals that there is a definite bias towards soft numbers. i cannot think of many numbers of dappankuthu songs of yesudas on the lines of vacha parvai theeradhadi or vachukava unna mattum nenjukule. why castigate hh just on this ground and more so when he is at the beginning of his career in tfm. spb admirers please look for evidence of variety in the early years of spb, kamal etc. one needs to establish himself before he can afford to choose and for others to trust him to take different routes.
  
  3. "he is singing in a rather monotonous voice devoid of emotion" just a request - listen once again to anbe anbe in jeans and you will find the emotion in describing the mellidai and the torso. in fact i felt that he had resorted to an overkill of different emotions and variety.
  
  4. "spb would have sung ennai thalata varuvalo much better" - well the fact is spb did not get to sing it and period. on one hand we have somebody lamenting that spb got variety because others were denied opportunities and in the same breath we ask for the opposite. it is not too much to ask for consistency, eh?
  
  having done my share of critquing, let me now agree with some very valid issues raised in this topic.
  1. hariharan must improve his diction and sooner the better for him.
  2. since he is at his prime now and age is catching with him fast, he should also try for some variety and not get labelled and stereotyped.
  
  i recall spb mentioning in an interview in doordarshan that once the listening public is tired of his voice, he must make way. the increasing opportunities for hh is an indication that the public likes his voice and wants to hear more of his. in today's context, i do not think there is anybody who can fill the void of spb (if he decides to call it a day or is forced to) other than hariharan. like it or not, he looks like a successor. how good or bad only time will tell.
  
  
• From: Geetha (@ gatekeeper.oracle.co.uk) on: Thu Jun 25 10:39:58 EDT 1998
  
  Badri: Hear hear....This is the best analysis I've seen of HH so far. I can't see why prople are comparing SPB and Hari. His Ghazals are fantastic and I must say, the way you've brilliantly presented the case, I agree with your conclusions wholehartedly. Thanks for this great insight.
  
  
• From: Srikanth (@ 161.225.48.3) on: Thu Jun 25 12:41:45 EDT 1998
  
  ."nobody heard of hariharan before tfm."
  I did not say it...I repeated what HH told in an interview..he also added that He would have not had any of the oppurtunities if he had not been used by AR...AR is person who brought out his voice.
  Hearing HH voice before..how many of TFMers here listen to gazhal. I have not heard much ..Majority of TFM fans do not hear Ghazals.
  This is because.. 1: Languge...
  2. Raja and co was providing much better music.
  3. I feel there are Tamil lyrics which are as good as a ghazal..
  So There was no possiblity for an average fan to hear Ghazal , If at all I hear, I have heard Gulam ali, Pakaj udas, or anoop jalota..
  HH was unknown.
  It is too early to Compare him with SPB.
  I wish HH changes his style a little..and gives more modulation..
  I heard his new song for Deva..still he sings the same way.....unable to identify whether the song is a love song or a pathos song..
  Srikanth
  
  .
  
  
  
  
• From: vasanth (@ toliman.cc.umanitoba.ca) on: Thu Jun 25 14:22:33 EDT 1998
  
  Badri: Kudos for ur indepth analysis of Hariharan and SPB. I started liking ghazals only after listening to Hari's ghazals. He uses to sing (Ghazals)a lot in Doordrashan. I always wondered why he couldn't make it big in Hindi films inspite of singing good songs in Lamhe, and even in the recent Border. I was really glad when he became quite popular in TFM. Even his colonial cousins album was great. May be he will scale more heights, if he could work more on his Tamil diction.
  
  
• From: Bharat (@ isdbsd1-inet.ci.mil.wi.us) on: Thu Jun 25 15:51:12 EDT 1998
  
  Hariharan's new interview for The Hindu can be found at:
  
  http://webpage.com/hindu/daily/980626/09/09260704.htm
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.27.248) on: Thu Jun 25 23:43:33 EDT 1998
  
  badri,
  SPB got to sing a variety of songs because of his versatility and not because others did not get opportunities.even as easrly as 1979 he has sung a soft classic like 'ilamayenum pongaatru' and a dappankuthu song like 'abhishega nerathil ambalai tharisikka' from azhage unnai araadhikiren.perhaps IR was able to explore his versatility better then MSV.i do not think hariharan could have sung both the above songs as well as SPB.
  
  regarding yesudoss in spite of the fact that he is a classical music singer he has attempted dappankuthu songs which shows that he was versatile too to a certain extent.
  
  have u heard 'erikarai poongaatre' from thooral ninnu pochu?he has sung the song with all its rustic flavour.'thanni thotti thedi vantha' a dappankuthu song and 'poomalai vaangi' a classical song in the same film(sindhu bhairavi)!
  
  and above all hariharan's voice never suits kamal's or rajni's voice or for that matter any of the leading heroes .kamal has once said that he asks SPB to do the dubbing for him always for telugu movies because his voice suits kamal's very well.
  
  
• From: badri raghavan (@ 206.103.12.125) on: Fri Jun 26 00:53:16 EDT 1998
  
  hi vijai,
  
  thanks for your comments on my observations. there is no doubt that spb is a versatile singer and he has proved it again and again. i had mentioned that one does not get to exhibit versatility very early in his career where he is struggling to get into the industry. i hope hh gets to exhibit his other talents.
  
  i do not feel that hh emerging as a successor to spb hinges on his ability to suit rajini or kamal's image who are giving an average of a movie per year. people were not comfortable initially with spb singing for sivaji and mgr because they had associated tms' voice with those giants. it is only a matter of time before all these get realigned.
  
  my comparison with jesudas is being further reinforced by your bringing to the table only one additional dapankuthu song. i only said that do not judge a person's calibre by just his seemingly lack of versatility.
  
  srikanth:
  i shall suggest a couple of ghazal albums of hh in my next posting and if you get hold of them, pls listen to the melodies. hh has also composed the music for his albums and some of them are truly great.
  
  geetha and vasanth: thanks for the nice words.
  it is more than a coincidence that hh's interview appeared in the hindu this morning. unfortunately the interviewer asked questions relating to his albums and hfm rather than tfm.
  
  

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