ENDRENDRUM RAJA

Jaya TV organized a musical extravaganza on 28th December 2011 at Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. I was told that the show is fully sold out and there are no tickets available when I checked on 24th December 2011. I still decided to go to the venue and try my luck as I had confidence in getting a ticket through the black market which is very famous in Chennai. As expected there were some people selling the tickets and I managed to get a Rs.500 ticket at Rs.1000 though I was mentally to prepared to pay even Rs.3000 to get a chance to hear the concert live.

The Concert started at sharp 7 p.m. and ended at Midnight. It was five hours of non-stop music with the Maestro Ilayaraja at centre stage throughout. The arrangement of the orchestra was very good with two rows of violin. There were no interventions or intermissions as Ilayaraja decided to provide wholesome musical treat to the audience. It was a five hours non-stop Ilayaraja show and at the end of it I was wondering why it came to an end. Ilayaraja has tuned the music for so many songs and there are so many hit songs that even 50 hours may not be sufficient.

The Indoor stadium was full of people and all the seats were fully occupied. The excessive people who managed entry were forced to occupy the aisle. I also sat on the aisle on the floor for four hours and then last one hour managed to get a proper seat. Almost the entire audience was there till 12 ‘o Clock and every song was appreciated by the audience. There were “once more” calls for some of the songs and there was also roaring applause for the “solo violin” in couple of songs. The highlight was the appreciation of the crowd with non-stop clapping and standing ovation for the joint performance of Yesudas and SPB for the Thalapathi song “Kaattu Kuyilu manasukkulle kaatrukendrum panjam illai”. The entire audience was clearly die-hard fans of the great Maestro Ilayaraja.

Ilayaraja brought some musicians from Hungary to perform. He also had more than 50 musicians on the stage. The musicians did a fantastic job and enhanced the quality of songs with the feel for the original score. Ilayaraja himself sang a few songs and was backed by an army of singers which included Balamuralikrishna, Yesudas, S.P.Balasubramaniam, Hariharan, Chitra, Uma Ramanan, Deepan Chakravarthy and Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Shri.Balamuralikrishna rendered the popular number “Chinna Kannan Azhaikiraan”. The ease with which he sang made one wonder whether he is really 81 years old. His golden voice is still intact and it was a real treat to listen to him. Yesudas is 71 years old and SPB is 65 years old and it was a real treat to listen to both of them. They sang very well though in three songs Yesudas forgot the original tune and managed some parts on his own. Chitra sang very well all the duets that were givne to her and showed her true quality and excellence in “Putham puthu kaalai”. Deepan Chakravarthy and Uma Ramanan sang “Poonkadave thaazh thiravai”.

The following is the list of songs performed at the Concert of 5 hours of non-stop:
1. Janani Janani by Ilayaraja
2. Amma endrazhaikkaatha uyir illaye by Yesudas
3. Naanaga naan illai thaaye by SPB
4. Symphony demonstration by Ilayaraja leading upto “Idayam Pogudhe”
5. Paruvame pudhiya paadal paadu by SPB and Chitra
6. Idayam Oru Kovil adhil udayam oru paadal by Ilayaraja
7. Nee paartha paadal from Hey Hariharan
8. En Iniya pon nilave by Yesudas
9. Kanmaniye kaadhal enbathu karpanayo by SPB
10. Aayiram malargale malarungal – Ilayaraja explained the style in which Kannadasan writes songs for tunes
11. Putham puthu kaalai by Chitra
12. Chinna kannan azhaikiraan by Balamuralikrishna
13. Vizhiyile malarnthathu uyirile kalandhadhu by SPB
14. Poove senpoove un vaasam varum by Yesudas (the audience appreciated the violin bit before unai pola naanum oru pillai thane malar vanthu konjum siru pillai thane)
15. Oru jeevan azhaithathu by Ilayaraja
16. Yetho mogam yetho dhaagam by Karthik
17. Madai thiranthu paayum nadhi alai naan by SPB
18. Oru raagam padalodu kaadhil kettatho manathodu oonjal aadutho by Yesudas
19. Sundari neeyum sundaran nyaanum
20. Naan thedum sevanthi poo ethu oru naal paarthu andiyil poothathu by Yesduas & Chitra
21. Gum Sum Gum from Hindi film Pa
22. Aayiram thamarai mottughale
23. Symphony by Hungary musicians
24. Poonkathave thaazh thiravaai by Deepan and Uma Ramanan
25. Sundari Kannal oru seithi
26. Ilam kaatru veesudhe
27. En mana vaanil siragai virikkum vanna paravaigale by Hariharan
28. Raja kaiya vecha athu wronga ponathille by Yuvan Shankar Raja
29. Ninaivo oru paravai by Yuvan Shankar Raja
30. Vacha paarva theerathadi machan kuri maarathadi by Yesudas
31. Kaattu kuyilu manasukkulle by Yesudas and SPB
32. Idhu oru nila kaalam
33. Medley round – Keladi kanmani by SPB; Poonkatru pudhithaanadhu by Yesudas; Manadhinile yaar thoorigai thanda oviyam by Ilayaraja
34. Kannan Oru Kai kuzhandai by Yesudas and Chitra
35. Ilamai itho itho inimai itho itho by SPB (wishin Happy New Year and concluding song of the Concert)

T.P.Anand
Chennai, India
29th December 2011