IlayaRaja's New Albums 2013-15 - Mahendran film/Thaarai thappattai/Mythri

[Sureshs65]

Now that we looking forward to movies of Raja in 2012, here are some thoughts of mine as to why 2012 is going to be a critical year for Raja and his fans.

First thing I could gather from whatever has been happening last year is that Raja has slowly realized two things: One, he is still a big brand in South India. Second, there is a need for brand building if you want to maximize the value of your brand.

The first step taken in this direction was when Raja signed up with Malabar Gold. That was definitely an indication that he was realizing the value of his brand. Then comes the fact that nowadays he appears in almost all music releases, in movie publicity etc. The high point of this was the year end live concert.

His understanding of market seems to have made him more flexible. Subashree Tanikachalam in her facebook updated had noted that Raja read out exactly what was given to during the concert publicity campaign. He flew down to Andhra a couple of times to publicize the audio of 'SreeRamaRajyam'. In most of the film publicity that he appears nowadays he speaks safely. While he does once in a while give his opinion of things, he is more subdued nowadays and talks to the point. The publicity of 'Dhoni' is an example. He doesn't hesitate to face the camera nowadays, it looks like.

You can also infer that he is listening to feedback by the fact that he has stopped singing much in the movies that he is scoring now. Last year we heard him sing 'kudhikira' from ASK and 'kaatu vazhi' from 'Tandavakone' (I am discounting the song in 'Ayyan' which was recorded much earlier.) Both those songs required Raja's voice and in case of 'kudhikira' it is said that the team insisted he sing it. Secondly, there has been no Bhavatharini in his recent songs. In olden days he may given 'avanithumbi' or 'chengkadhir' to Bhava but nowadays he has not been using her. One more indication that he is hearing the market.

His flexibility is also seen when he readily agreed to Prakash Raj for a full manual orchestra, letting Jaya TV folks (and fans) chose the songs for the concert and when he agreed to Bapu's request for tuning to all pre-written lyrics. I guess he has always been flexible but somehow an image of him being an inflexible person had been painted. Now I see a focused building of an image which shows the flexible side of his.

So what will this lead to? This is an important question to us fans. First, I think more producers and directors may be willing to approach him, once they are sure they can put in a request to him for something they want. Additionally they will also be clear that Raja will participate in the publicity drive, which has become an inevitable feature of film business nowadays. Given this, I believe there are higher chances of Raja taking up more movies in the near future.

Ofcourse, we have to realistic as well. As of now I don't think the young heroes of today will work with him given the need of their fans for a certain kind of music. For example, heroes like Vijay, Ajit or Mahesh Babu etc may not switch over from their current favorites. What I feel will happen is that whenever a movie has high emotional content the director will approach Raja. 'Dhoni' is an example. Similarly any devotional / mythological movie may have the directors approaching Raja for music. Everyone knows how much depth he can add to a movie with his BGM and I wouldn't be surprised if some directors take up different subjects confident that Raja will score for them.

Last year we saw films like 'SreeRamaRajyam' and 'Snehaveedu' doing well. The music of "SreeRamaRajyam' was received very well and so there is lot of expectations on the Sathya Saibaba movie. The trailer of the Kannada film 'Prasad' looks good. I am sure 'Dhoni' will release soon. Hopefully Raja will sign up movies which actually release rather than movies like 'Thandavakone' and 'Sengaathuboomiyile' which still lie in the cans.

All in all, as I said, this year will be the one where we will have a clear of what is in store for fans like us in the near future. My assessment is that Raja has now accepted the realities of the market and has changed himself to be in tune with it. I for one am happy with it. For I know whatever external changes he makes, his music quality will never change and he will never compromise of the musical front. So more power to him. Which indirectly says, more power to us