Part 5

(continued from Part 4)
Commercial film music if often look down upon with an air of contempt, and condescension, and often disregarded when talking about an illustrious career. A graph is usually drawn upon the high classical and semi-classical notes that a particular singer or a music director has hit upon in his lifetime, completely ignoring probably the equal, if not greater, amount of work, passion and effort that went into the making of regular commercial music. What is commercial music? The one without any redeeming values whatsoever in regard to the situation of the song, the lyrical content or the musical contribution? A situational song usually has the weight of the context backing up the need of the song and consequently the musical quotient. A classical or a semi-classical piece, for most of the times, escape the close scrutiny based purely on its lineage, even when the song is completely out of place. As an example, make the case for the song "neyyamulallO naereLLO" in the movie "Subhalekha". The song appears to have come completely out of the blue and totally out of context. And for the only reason that the composition was by the much revered Annamaarcharya, it gets to pass off as one of the great songs in the movie. Commercial music seriously lacks that kind of backing, and neither is its cause helped by the parameters of commercial cinema, that songs be placed more at regular intervals than at opportune moments, however much they seem to be out of sync with the natural flow of the movie. In such a situation, how much responsibility should the lyricist and the music director take on trying to create something out of nothing. What would be the inspiration for the lyricist to come up with great words that in the final product may mean absolutely nothing, and what would drive the music director in pushing himself beyond the boundaries of his imagination in coming up with a haunting hummable tune?

The above needs to be understood by the discerning listener before dismissing a song completely as just another commercial tune. Under such a stifling and support-less structure, if a music director consistently comes up with one winning tune after another and the lyricist matches up the music director's passion by providing words that would breathe life into an otherwise moribund moment, the result is exactly what transpired during much of the 80s and 90s, as Ilayaraja infused life into many a commercial movie, often with the aid of greats lyricists like Veturi, Aatreya, Sirivennela and the like. This is a journey into the seemingly easy but often hardest part as a music director - composing commercial film music.

Post his arrival, Ilayaraja's career moved along two parallel and equally rewarding paths - one, where his music aided the cause of the movies (the ones with Viswanath, Vamsi etc), and another, where his music provided the lifeline to the movies (the commercial potboilers made under the rest). As much easy as it was to dismiss the songs in the latter catetory, considering the output turned in by Ilayaraja, it is quite apparent that he made no distinction between the two in his mind, in terms of the opportunity, creativity and finally the equality in quality. The contrast would become even clearer, if one were to look into the case of other music directors, and their contributions in passable fares. Considered to be outstanding in their own right, Laxmikanth-Pyarelal's compositions for Subhash Ghai's cinema do not quite match up with their efforts in a no-name or smaller profile movies. Though it is unfair to an extent blaming the lack of right intent on the part of the music director, it is equally to the music director to provide for the entire content without the support of any context. This is where Ilayaraja scores over the rest of the lot, in the manner in which he took up the challenge of repititon and tedium, and treated them as opportunities to always do something that he hasn't done before, creating a vast repertoire of songs that would stand on their own merit without the clumsy clutches of commercial movie context/content.

The cue for the song would not be anything more than the hero and the heroine looking into each other's eyes approvingly, and moreover 20 minutes has passed on since the last song. It is another regular duet and yes, the hero can dance a bit. So the song needs to be peppy, catchy and importantly, danceable. Also it would help if the song is "different" (the dreaded word that no one seems have the right definition for), something that wasn't heard before. The baton has been handed down to the music director and here was what he came up with - The drums wake up from slumber and rattle about their presence. The guitar joins in the moment when the drums fall silent. The male voice chimes in at the lower note and the female voice pitches in with a higher note. A few seconds pass before each of those sounds find a point to merge into the harmony. The lyricist comes up with a "saayamkaalam" and the trumpets blare, he adds "saagara teeram", the trumpets blare again, "naa cheli voLLO", trumpets, "chali sandaLLO", trumpets, "rOjoo mOjugaa, jalsaa chaeyarA, virajAji poola gandhamanTi andamanta neediraa" concludes the pallavi. And the music director was just getting started. What follows in the interludes was exactly what the director wanted - something he has never heard before - 2 sets of trumpets, one at a lower note and the other at higher, competing with each other as flute, guitar and drums are trying to have say in the medley. That song from "Challenge" was one the most complex, complicated and very exhilarating musical arrangement in Ilayaraja's career, for the sheer energy and gay abandon that comes across in the final product, an output that has far surpassed the context and the expectations. 20 minutes pass by; time for another song; hero looks disarmingly this time into the heroine's eyes; another duet; this time the song reads "induvadana kundaradana mandagamana madhura vachana..." - completely different from the previous one and yet, dropping even iota of energy. Another 20 minutes, another duet; this time, the heroine looks enchantingly into the hero's eyes - "Om Saanthi Om Saanthi vayyaari vaasanthi" and the hits just keep comning on.

Every regular telugu (for that matter, any language) duet has pretty much the same aim and apparatus. Aim: To make a catchy, hummable, yet, danceable duet. Apparatus: Foreign locales (sometimes, the geography dictating the kind of instruments at work), dancing stars, junior dancers and costly costumes. Procedure: Introduce the foreign element early into the song to establish the mood, cue in the chorus to account for the background dancers, start the beat and stir the mix slowly. Result: "ek dO teen sakhee priyaa, ninne maine pyaar kiyaa". Movie: Rudra Netra. The hundreds and hundreds of songs that Ilayaraja had composed for such kind of routine, regular dancing fares duets and the innumerable number of memorable tunes he chalked out of such situations speak volumes about his prowess and his passion. Each opportunity offers a chance. Each chance poses a challenge. Each challenge is again an opportunity to rise to and above the situation. But for this singular drive, a personal motivation for excellence, no other reason befits the quality of his output for even the most mundane moments. Here is a duet - "Subhalaeka raasukunnaa kalayO nijamO", here is another - "kalyaa nijamaa toli raaya haayi mahimaa", and another - "khajuraahO lO kasi praemaa", and another - "sarasaalu chaalu Sreevaaru vaeLa kaadu", and another - "raasa leela vaeLa, raayabaara maela"...and the list goes on. The worse the situation, the better was his composition. The movie - "Chaitanya". The backdrop was race car driving. There was absolutely no room for a duet and yet movie rules mandates the need for it. There are no hooks for the song - no special reason why it needs to be sung, no special traits of the hero or the heroine to go with, no help whatsoever from the director. The result - an absolutely bewitching number, sung by Balu at his basest best and what can be characterized as one of his career's best - "paapa eeDu gOla, paapa paeru jOla, oogutOndi baala, yavvanaala DOla...".

There are a different kind of duets that do not fall under the above standard fare, that try to gain some respectability by setting themselves apart from their boisterous brethren, by being meaningful, slow, and not necessarily, foot-tapping. They are the semi-classical in the semi-classical vs classical comparison, but in the reverse. They lack in stature and the grandeur, when the director visualizes them on the screen, yet they seem to possess the longevity and the much needed soul, that its prodigal sibling so seriously lacks. From among the classical, semi-classical, light and the loud, these little light lilting numbers truly mirror the musician's capabilities, given the right mood, context, singers and the words. These are the moments that a music director pines for, craves for and lives for. The musical arrangement for such tunes remain strictly perfunctory. The singers are in their right elements to elevate the beauty of the tune. Withe all the pieces in place, the parade starts - "maLLee maLLee idi raani rOju, malli jaaji allukunna rOju", "karigipOyaanu karpoora veeNalaa, kurisipOyindi O sande vennela", "jaabilli kOsam aakaasamalle vaechaanu nee raakakai", "priyatamaa, nanu palakarinchu praNayamaa", "nelaraaja, iTu chooDaraa", "ennO raatrlostaayi gaanee, raadee vennelammaa"...The simpler the tune, the greater the enchantment; the greater the enchantment, the stronger the effect. There are more than can be counted, the experience is richer than the words can try.

Consider the song, "nee meeda naaku idayyO.." from the movie "rAkshasuDu". A supposedly seductive number, Ilayaraja turns the situation right on its head to give it a delightful feel with a disarming tune and haunting melody. Take the lyrics out that would give away the intent of the song, and the usage of flute (the instrument of choice for purity) and the purposefully slowed down beat and tempo make the case for this song to be filed under a soft under and not under anything else. Here is a music director who brought the much needed credibility and respect for commercial film music, here is a music director who treated the job of creative tunes for repetitive situations with the same vigor as scoring for a much venerable situation, here is a music director who made the listening experience of commercial music no less inferior to listening to a classical or a semi-classical piece.

Continued in the next part: What would the music director had done, if he had everything going for him - the situations, the words, the singers and the visionaries (the directors) who wanted the right music for the context?

Continued in the next part

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