Did Illayaraja copy ?

posted by Woodooz on Wednesday, May 18, 2005 23 comments
To me Illayaraja is a musical God. So, when someone said he had copied a song, I was deeply shocked. Not because he cannot copy, but because the song was my personal favorite ever. This really triggered an argument when we were discussing the song “Ilaya nila Pozhigirathu”. There also exists a Hindi version which is remarkably similar to this one. Apparently it is one of Kishore Kumar’s best (Neele Neele Ambar par from Kalaakaar) and the one’s speaking for it were not willing to budge.

I had to prove those who were arguing with me wrong. So, I set out on doing some groundwork. I was so glad to find out that the Tamil version was released in 1982 while the Hindi version came in 83. And I also sat down and listened to both the songs completely. True that both the songs are great in their own respects, but one has to acknowledge the Hindi version was inspired by the Tamil. The use of guitar is strikingly similar and the entire first stanza sounds exactly the same as the Tamil version.

Listen to the songs when you have the time. Both of them are amazing…

I don't listen much to Hindi music. But then this sure is a good song.
http://www.raaga.com/channels/hindi/movie/H000240.html

I really have no words to describe this song. Am not sure if it was Vairamuthu or Vaali, but the lyric is just out of this world. I have used my very little poetic expertise to translate my favorite lines from this song.

The roaming clouds roam around,
Have they lost their address,
And so, do they shower tears of rain,
Calling for a redress ?

And ofcourse needless to say, SPB is at his best as always. I always wonder how he manages to bring out such melody in his voice.
http://www.raaga.com/channels/tamil/movie/T0000139.html

Now with data backing me up, I can meet my opponents head on :o))) After this I realized how much I love Illayaraja’s music… and that should explain why you can expect more about his music here in my blogs.
Woodooz

23 comments:

  1. anantha5:37 AM, May 25, 2005

    Hmm.. Came here from Toerag's! Abt those two songs, one version of the story is that Kalyanji Anandji liked Ilaya Nila so much that they asked him for the song to use in Hindi (as Neele Neele Ambar in the movie Kalakaar) and in return Ilayaraja received the tune for Kanavu Kanum vazhkai aagum (movie: Neengal Kettavai) which they had used as Kasme Vaade ( movie: Upkaar).
    You can throw this info at your friends :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:16 PM, May 30, 2024

      Upkar movie,kasma vale is earlier than Neengal kettavai, kanavu kaanum

      Delete
  2. Woodooz10:37 AM, May 25, 2005

    Hi Anti, you are right. I found that out when I was looking for more info on Ilayaraja and Kalyanji Anandji...

    "Kanavu Kaanum Vaazhkai" did not trouble me much... I was happy that "Ilaya Nila" was a original score.

    Thanks for dropping by :o)

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  3. nithyananda8:47 AM, October 20, 2006

    beautiful piece of research work man...! i had a friend who argued abt the exact same thing !!!

    And i didnt have the facts ready yet, so i let it b. now i forwarded it to him and got back at him :D !!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anupama10:30 PM, November 13, 2006

    Rehman was a Boy in 1982 when Ilaiya nilaa was released and key board might have been a Toy for him. Kindly apply logic before posting such questions.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous1:55 AM, January 19, 2007

    Anupama, please read the post properly before replying. He was talking about some song in the year 1994 and not 1982.

    ReplyDelete
  6. syam10:39 PM, February 16, 2009

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. aRndom11:15 PM, November 13, 2009

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2ec8IoFsRY&feature=related

    llisten to the latter half of it ...from 2:27.....

    and then to this

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1YwlqeWCAE&feature=PlayList&p=320A594048F85DC5&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=6&shuffle=13250

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown12:00 AM, December 25, 2009

    hi friends....thanks for ur valuable comments...me too had this confusion for a long time and there will be a big debate around us about ilaya nila song............after reading this i m clear now.......our maestro is not a copy cat like rahman.......THE ILAYARAJA....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:23 PM, May 30, 2024

      Listen to Upkar movie, remake of Tamil Movie Pazhani: Kasma Wale..... Yes copied tune. When Upkar was released Mr Prince (Ilayaraja has not entered Cine field)

      Delete
  9. Allan Prince9:38 PM, February 22, 2010

    Here is the shock for who ever say Ilayaraja did never copy. You will start to think when you listen the song Darling Darling from the movie priya and then listen to "Sunny" from Bony M.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Unknown11:32 AM, October 24, 2010

    Hi, I too am a fan of Ilayaraja. There is a beautiful song composed by Ilayaraja in a malayalam movie called 'Yathtra'. it goes like this; thannannam thanannam thalathiladi mandara kombathoroonjaliladi"

    When I was watching an english classic movie called "the sound of music" which was released in the 60's, I came to now that the tunes used in this movie was similar to the one which was composed by Ilayaraja for the mal. Film in the 80's. It cannot be co-incidence at all.. If anyone has doubt, listen to the song 'these are a few of my favorite things" from Sound of music.(Chorus version).I feel it was a copy.

    Vinay Parijath

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  11. Anonymous1:27 AM, December 24, 2010

    Hi,
    The song Jeevan Se Na Haar from Door ka Rahi (1971) bears an eerie resemblance to Ilayaraja's Poovarasanpoo Poothachu from Kizhakke Pogum Rail. Why?

    JS.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Unknown12:33 AM, August 25, 2012

    COOL...! ILAYARAAJA is my God.. He's defined music! He wont copy...! I was damn sure ilaya nila came first and the hindi one came out later!!! and i felt very happy too! Long live GREAT MUSIC KING ILAYARAAJA- ISAIKADALIN RAAJA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:15 PM, August 19, 2024

      copy songs of Ilaya Raja

      Movie Name - Mouna Raagam Song Name - Theme from Mouna Raagam Copied from original Song -- Flash Dance theme
      Movie Name - Murattukkaalai Song Name - Entha poovilum vaasam Copied from original Song -- Antonio Ruiz-Pipo's 'Cancione et Danza: 2. Danza'.
      Movie Name - Chinna Veedu Song Name - Chittu kuruvi Copied from original Song -- Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in e, Op. 95: Scherzo: Molto Vivace
      Movie Name - Chinna veedu Song Name - Chittukkuruvi vetkapaduthu Copied from original Song -- Dvorak's New world symphony - 3rd movement
      Movie Name - Chatriyan Song Name - Poottukkal pottaalum Copied from original Song -- 'My favorite things' from Sound of Music
      Movie Name - Thaippongal Song Name - Kan malargalin Copied from original Song -- ABBA's Money money money
      Movie Name - Priya Song Name - Darling darling darling Copied from original Song -- Boney M's number, Sunny
      Movie Name - Priya Song Name - Akkarai seemai azhaginiley Copied from original Song -- 'Kites' by Simon Dupree
      Movie Name - Kizhakku Vaasal Song Name - Ada veetukku veetukku Copied from original Song -- Mozart's 25th symphony, 1st movement.
      Movie Name - Kalyanaraman Song Name - Kaadhal Vandhiruchu Copied from original Song -- Lady in Black' by Uriah Heep
      Movie Name - Nireekshana Song Name - Theeyani Copied from original Song -- 'My favorite things' from Sound of Music
      Movie Name - Neengal Kettavai Song Name - Kanavu kaanum Copied from original Song -- 'kasme vaade' from the movie Upkaar
      Movie Name - Nallavanukku Nallavan Song Name - Chittukku chella chittukku Copied from original Song -- The Tale Of The Kalendar Prince from Rimsky-Korsakov's 1888 work by name 'Scheherazade'.
      Movie Name - Oru kaidhiyin diary Song Name - A B C nee vaasi Copied from original Song -- George Bizet's 1897 L'Arlésienne Suite Number One, 4th movement, called 'Carillon'
      "En purshan thaan . Enakku mattum thaan" is a attai copy of " Dum mare dum "
      Kadhal Kavidai is lifted from a Ghazal by Hariharan ( Album: Halka Nasha).. The song Jeevan Se Na Haar from Door ka Rahi (1971) resemblance to Ilayaraja's Poovarasanpoo Poothachu from Kizhakke Pogum Rail.(1978)
      There are more than 700 different ilayaraja inspired songs Here is Not enough space to list..
      Better ask his brother Gangai Amaran who was with him when Ilayaraja was copying…
      Kadavul Copy Adipparaa?

      Delete
  13. Anonymous1:10 AM, September 18, 2012

    Dear All,
    Ilayaraja is very clever that he used to take(COPY) all the notes from old orchestras, which no one or one in a million would listen(and that too he must be a tamilian updated with tamil film knowledge).
    Ilayaraja will be remembered only by the people of 80s and 90s.Yes we will be immersed in those songs, as we had NO musicians or no choice at that time or no musicians were allowed to grow (like today) at that time.Today's musicians have internet and the music reaches very fast.And so do the information about copied music.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jai4:47 AM, October 15, 2012

    Dear Anonymous,

    Just because you have a keyboard and a computer does not mean you can say anything...what is your achievement to even say something about IR. Remember he has composed more than 5000 songs and countless BGM's not like this generation of Music directors most of whom compose only songs and do not even worry about BGM's (Either they compose some music or somebody else does the BGM).

    If you are saying he composed all his 5000 songs using somebody else's notes then i have to give it you that you have pulled out the most exciting piece of story which would be front page news in most media outlets, instead of you posting some useless comments here, you can very well submit your theory to a new agency at least it would make your uneventful life something eventful.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jai5:17 AM, October 15, 2012

    My 2 cents about IR's music is he like any good musician is definitely inspired either by Western or Carnatic or Folk. He is humble enough to accept it in many forums/shows how many of his songs originated. I can give a whole list of such songs which were inspired, but the point of fact is everyone is inspired by somebody else this applies to people of all fields and music is no exception. In fact Music originates from Nature and everyone is inspired from Sounds from nature so we could see IR using Cuckoo's cooing in one song or ARR using train sound in another do we call them copying sound, no those are called creative use of those sounds.

    As a music director a person has to undergo lot of compromise to fulfill everyone's wishes (Be it the producer or director or hero). Many a times somebody may influence the music director to use some popular songs or songs of some genre which are trendy at that point in time. During those times the music director would have an option to either lift the entire song and just change the beats or instrument arrangements (There are many such examples and I do not want to go in detail of those instances) or he can get inspired and very creatively orchestrate the song so that it may remind of the original but sound completely new. IR belongs to that league of music directors.

    Some such inspired songs of IR are below

    1. Ennavendru solvadhamma from Rajakumaran inspired from the song Athai madi methai adi

    2. En jodi Manja Kuruvi from the movie Vikram. This song is inspired from a hebrew folk song Havila Nagila

    3. Vaa Vennila from Mella thirandhadu Kadhavu. This song is inspired from Vaan Medhile from the movie Chandi Raani

    4. Endha Poovilum from Murattu Kaalai, inspired from a 20th Century Spanish Song

    5. Darling Darling from Priya mentioned in this post is inspired from a Boney M number

    6. Inji Iduppazhagi from Thevar Magan, it is inspired from a SD Burman song called Yeh Dil Diwana hai

    7. Even Gangai Amaren was saying in one show that the song "Aayiram thamarai" from Alaigal ooivathillai was inspired from a folk song IR's mom used to sing.

    These are some examples, of course there could be some carnatic songs which would have inspired him to create film songs. But hats off to him for making songs simple and using folk music to create a wide variety of pleasing music.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Unknown4:35 PM, March 12, 2013

    So much for the love for Raja Sir :) Nice going

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous12:51 PM, July 15, 2014

    What makes me wonder is that how did his song ‘Kanavu Kaanum Vaazhkai Yaavum’ (Composed in 1984) in Neengal Kettavai come about exactly as the much earlier song ‘Kasme Vaade Pyaar Wafaa’ composed by Kalyanji Anandji for the Hindi film Upkaar(Composed in 1967).
    How come his song ‘Chittu Kuruvi’ from the film Chinnaveedu sound like Symphony 9 of Czech classical composer Antonin Dvorak?

    The theme music of the Malayalam film Yaathra is also the theme music of the Classic western film ‘Sound of Music’. And, it is a very obvious that few of his films songs have been deeply influenced by Disco Pop groups like ABBA and Boney M?

    I don't think that all his creations are entirely unique and original.
    However, is it up to the people to judge whether to call it Copying or Getting inspired.

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  18. Unknown3:10 PM, September 14, 2019

    time has changed now from the days you are talking, still IR is the Best. IR RoXXXXX

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous9:38 PM, January 03, 2021

    I am die hard fan of bollywood music, but occasionally follow Tamil music which is very rich. Sad to hear that your friend said Ilayaraja has copied the music. Ilayaraj's music is so diverse and compositions are beautiful. I have heard his songs and have been his fan though I don't understand Tamil. Just ignore such fools.

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  20. Anonymous2:03 AM, November 25, 2023

    Hindi "Kalaakar" is an official remake of the Tamil "Payanangal Mudivadhillai". So the Hindi version could/should have come only after the Tamil version. Obviously the Hindi version would've have had the right to reuse the tunes but the Hindi team decided to compose freshly while retaining part of the music for one particular song. As simple as that.

    ReplyDelete

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