Genius Revisited - Part 1

In all my previous posts, I have tried to substantiate my claim that we have a genius in our midst that somehow we find it hard to recognize. I am writing this in dismay as India never honored such musical geniuses well. Raja once said ‘Being in film music is like meditating on Mint Street’. He does the meditation so well that there is not even a distant second contender in the last 3 decades.

There are two types of geniuses: clever and magical. The clever one finds a solution or a technique that no one is able to think of. But once the genius explains how he/she did what he/she did, it is easy for the talented ones to follow it to the tee. Examples from science include Edison or Michael Faraday. The magical genius is one who explains what he/she did and still no one is able to do that even if they are talented. Examples from science include Albert Einstein or Richard Feynman. In my view, Raja falls under the category of a magical genius.

In the music world, Raja uses garden variety tools. All the musical instruments he has are available to all his competitors. All his competitors are trained in the musical systems that he is exposed to. And yet, nobody is able to perform his magic! Let me illustrate, with three examples, how the talented is unable to recreate what the magical genius created::

Rosapoo Chinna Rosapoo from Suryavamsam (1998) was a raving hit and was composed by another MD. The melody line had very close resemblance to Rasathi Unnai Kanatha Nenju from Vaidehi Kaathirunthaal (1984). Ten years later, which tune do we remember? Why? It is not just the melody line that matters – it is the careful orchestration that went with the 1984 melody that has made it survive the test of time. Separating the melody line can buy you some popularity but the magical genius behind the orchestration is impossible to replicate! Hear the original Raja magic...



and now hear the imitation or 'inspiration' as film musicians call it....






Ilaya Nila Pozhikirathu from Payanangal Mudivathillai (1982) is perhaps one of the most popular tracks of Raja. It had wonderful jazz guitar play and one of the finest interludes of Raja. Nile Nile Ambar in Kalakaar (1983) was redone by Kalyanji Anandji on arrangement with Raja, according to a reliable source. Though it had some good strumming guitar work and Kishore kumar singing it, when you hear the two tracks, the genius behind the original is completely missing. Hear the original Raja magic...


and now hear the jazz composition being butchered, Bollywood style...


Enade Edo from the film Prema (Telugu – 1988) was a great Raja tune with his inimitable signature. The song had great orchestration and the interludes have some great counterpoints (the second interlude where the synth and flute in counterpoint mode is mesmerizing). Anand Milind, who made a living by stealing Raja tunes not only copied this tune in the Hindi film Love (1991) – Saathiya Tuune Kya Kiya, but also used the exact same two voices – SPB and Chitra. Once you start paying attention to the interludes, you will notice that the genius of the Telugu song is completely missing. You can try to reproduce the melody line, you even get the same voices, but not he magical genius of the interludes. Let's hear the original Raja Telugu track...


Let's now hear the Anand Milind attempt, with the interludes...


Many of today's music composers at best can only aspire to be like Raja, it has proved impossible for anyone in the last 3 plus decades to get even at an arms distance from this gifted genius.