Echoes of the Maestro – Song 40 – Oru Maina Maina Kuruvi

While the Uzhaipaali album is itself wholesome and all the songs from this album are my absolute favorites, this song is special, especially for the absolute dance value this song has. Eventhough, though this song can be termed the cabret type of song the sheer difference in Music Illayaraja shows while a new song lead lady shows up is brilliant.

Echoes of the Maestro – Song 39 – Vizhiyiley

Some time ago, I shared a song from the movie “Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri”. Unlike earlier movies where Thalaivar (Rajnikanth) often played villain roles and actor Sivakumar played the lead, this movie was a complete turnaround. “Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri” also received two Filmfare awards, one for Best Tamil Film and the other for Best Tamil Director.

Echoes of the Maestro – Song 38 – Aasai Nooru vagai

Talking about the Rajni – Illayaraja combo and not talking about Aasai Nooru Vagai is a grave injustice to both. For my Generation, that is 90’s kids Kutty bhai Yuvan Shankar Raaja was the one who introduced this song through his remix in the “Kurumbu” movie.

Echoes of the Maestro – Song 36 – Rajathi Raja un Thanthirangal

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.