The Music of Hey Ram!

I have read a lot about his fans raving about his music. A fan is always biased, isn't he? Maybe not. But thats what the rest of the world thinks.

I have also heard experts express their astonishment at his stupendous abilities of composing and writing a score. From Mani Rathnam to Semmangudi Sreenivasa Iyer to Dr.M Bala Murali Krishna to Laszlo Kovacs (Conductor, Budapest Symphony Orchestra), all of them swear about his achievements and his ahead of times' abilities.

Beyond all this, the spectacular body of work (close to 900 film albums in various languages, around a couple of dozens of non-film outputs that include a Symphonic Oratorio and a carnatic classical album performed by the prodigial Mandolin.U.Srinivas) stands testimony to the talent of this great composer. Prolific!

 I am sure by now all of you know that I am talking about the one and only Maestro 'Isai Gnani' ILaiyaraaja.

Hey Ram! produced and directed by another of his genial contemporaries, Kamal Haasan is one film I consider way ahead of its times and was one of the costliest films of its times then (Y2K). Unfortunately, it didn't set the cash registers ringing as much as it appealed to the critics. The music of this film was nothing short of a miracle. You may wonder why. The below link and Kamal Haasan's interview therein, to Screen-India, is proof enough! Yet again, like a lot of his other works, this colossal work by the Maestro also had to be content with just critical acclaim. Read on...

http://www.screenindia.com/old/jan28/music1.htm

(assuming that you have read the above..)

ILaiyaraaja even reveals in his book "Yaarukku Yaar Ezhudhuvadhu? (who writes to whom?)" (which encompasses his "Sangeetha Kanavugal'-Musical Dreams) about how he identified a situation for a song (that was not part of the original screenplay) in the narrative and suggested to Kamal to include the mesmerizing "Isayil Thodanguthamma" ('Har Koi Samjhe' in Hindi) sung by Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty. If you have seen the film and heard this song, you will know why this is a Master Stroke. Master Stroke?? Nah...Maestro's Stroke, that is!

I am watching Hey Ram! for the umpteenth time as I am typing this and trust me, I can't get enough of this magnificent score. Wonder when, some filmmaker/producer will ever be inspired to release a soundtrack of films such as these! Until then, we will have to content with videos like these that show glimpses of his genius.






Videos Courtesy: CRV and Deva