Ilaiyaraaja: the prolific Tamil composer who completely changed the game
The cinematic landscape of India is far too often dominated by the discourse around Bollywood, the film industry based in Bombay. However, the far-too-often overlooked world of Tamil cinema – or Kollywood, if you insist on the continued use of America-centric cinema puns – has produced some truly groundbreaking films. Given the fact that the vast majority of these movies were produced in the Tamil language, the works rarely travelled outside of India, but the distinctive sounds of many Kollywood soundtracks reached much further afield.
Anybody who has ever had the pleasure of watching a Tamil film will be aware of the fact that most of these works have a certain sound to them. The main person responsible for establishing that sound is the prolific composer and multi-instrumentalist Ilaiyaraaja, who has soundtracked well over 1,000 Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu movies over the course of his 50-year career. With an unimaginable number of films and soundtracks under his belt, Ilaiyaraaja could be forgiven if his work tended to dip in quality after a while, but it never did.
Each and every Ilaiyaraaja record and soundtrack album are certainly worthy of celebration, but delving into his discography is an understandably daunting task. From his very first work, soundtracking the 1976 romantic drama Annakili, the quality of Ilaiyaraaja’s work was undeniable, but as his career in composition continued, the multi-instrumentalist began to get more and more experimental. Often utilising incredible vocalists like Sistla Janaki or Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra within his work, the sounds of Ilaiyaraaja soon transcended the world of Kollywood cinema to establish the sounds of Tamil pop music as we know it.
Today, Tamil boasts one of the most vibrant and wide-reaching pop music scenes in the entirety of India, but it likely would have looked very different without the impact of Ilaiyaraaja. Throughout his discography, the composer repeatedly affirmed himself as an unparalleled innovator, incorporating elements of electronic music, pop and psychedelia into his many soundtracks, while other composers were still stuck in the old ways of doing things.
Even outside the realm of Indian cinema, it is difficult to find any composer who matches the forward-thinking sounds of Ilaiyaraaja. Even today, decades after his first soundtrack albums were released, these records remain awe-inspiring and utterly anachronistic. The best soundtracks, in any cinematic sphere, are the ones which stand alone, almost entirely separated from the film which they are invariably attached to. When it comes to the work of Ilaiyaraaja, these records are as suitable for the silver screen as they are for the dancefloors, awash with the kind of electronic funk-ridden pop that has never really gone out of fashion.
Although the output of the 80-year-old composer has,understandably, slowed down somewhat in recent years, his influence over the landscape of Tamil pop and Indian music as a whole has never waned. His continued legacy can be clearly seen within the plethora of artists who have drawn upon his work over the years, most notably the rapper M.I.A., who has sampled various Ilaiyaraaja compositions over the years.
It seems very unlikely that the world will ever see a composer match the all-encompassing influence and extensive discography of Ilaiyaraaja. With over 1,000 records to his name, it is likely that people will keep on discovering and being inspired by the unforgettable tones of his soundtracks for years to come.
