In a recent interview (a month or two old now), Superstar Rajnikant mentioned that Illayaraja composed more superhit songs for his counterpart and friend Kamal than for him. While Rajnikant might be right, it irked me a bit. I thought I should highlight some of the superhit and hidden gems from Thalaivar’s movie albums.

At the top of the list is one of my all-time favorite songs. I’ve been singing it in my head for the past week. It has a mixed music style – Illayaraja starts the song in a Western with the keyboard and drums, then shifts to folk with the flute and Thavil in the 2nd charanam. The transition is smooth, and towards the end, Raaja brings it back to the Western style.

This song is a delight to listen to because of Raaja, SPB, and Swarnalatha. It’s even more delightful to watch because of Kushboo. More than Rajni, it was Kushboo who caught my attention in this song. Just for that, you can watch this song numerous times. *wink wink*

Just listen to the song, it starts with Keyboards… pause…. drums…pause…keyboard, and both keyboard and drums. One more beauty of the song is that Western or folk rhythm keeps playing in the background with the keyboard filling only the gaps during the song, while it shifts to folk also you’ll find a similar pattern. There must be numerous such songs in Illayaraja’s composition what are your favourites? Do let me know.

Song – 36

Song: Raajathi Raja un Thanthirangal
Movie: Mannan
Singer: SPB and Swarnalatha
Lyricist: Vaali
Actors: Rajnikanth, Vijayashanthi, Kushboo, Manorama, Visu, Goundamani, Pandari Bai and many others
Director: P. Vasu