Om Namashivaya - Kamal Hassan's Dancing Talent

This is a hit song from the movie Salangai Oli starring Kamal Hassan, Jayapradha, Sarath Babu and others. The movie is based on Kamal's dancing abilities. This song show cases Kamal Hassan's versatile dancing talent supported by very good performances by all the other actors. Incidentally Illayaraja won a National Award for this movie. The story is about Balakrishna (Kamal Haasan), a versatile dancer who wants to make it big in the field of art. But he keeps missing chances and his talent goes unnoticed and is ridiculed most of the times. He tries to battle poverty and at the same time realize his mother's dream of him turning into a great dancer. His life changes when he comes across Madhavi (Jayaprada), a beautiful girl who is also seriously interested in classical dance. She is fascinated by Bala's talent and she tries to help him get the recognition he deserves. They both soon become close friends and Madhavi gets Bala an opportunity to dance at the All India dance fest along with the country's best dancers. But a tragedy happens in Bala's life and he misses that chance. Their relationship further grows and Bala falls in love with Madhavi and proposes to her. But due to the unfortunate turn of events, they get separated and Bala sacrifices his love for the well-being of Madhavi. He turns into a drunkard ruining himself and his talent. What happens when Madhavi meets Bala several years after this, forms the rest of the story. (Courtesy Vivek Ranjit)

Vijayakanth Hits - Namma Kada Veethi

This is a hit song from the movie Amman Kyoil Kizhakkaale starring Vijayakanth and Radha. The music for this movie had been composed by Illayaraja. The movie was directed by R Sundarrajan who had given several hits during that period such as Mella Thiranthathu Kathavu. R Sundarrajan had been K Bhaghyaraj's assistant is a fact unknown to many. The lyrics for this song has been written by Vaali. As mentioned already in an earlier post Vaali has been able to adapt and adjust himself to the changing times and has proved to be a success through different generations. Vijayakanth had given a series of hits during that period. Vijayakanth had done well in comedy too. It is only during the latter part of his acting career he has tried to fit himself in to a fixed stereotype as per the expectations of his fans!

Ramarajan Hits - Sorgame Endraalum

This is a hit song from the movie Ooru Vittu Ooru Vanthu featuring Ramarajan and Gowthami. This is my little daughter's all time favourite song. Is there anything more to say?!

Prabhu Hits - Aagaaya Vennilaave

This is a hit song from the comedy suspense thriller(!) movie Arangetra Vel(l)ai starring Prabhu, V K Ramasamy, Revathy, Jaiganesh, Anju, Janakaraj and others. The movie had been directed (remade from the original Malayalam movie Ramoji Rao Speaking) by the famous Malayalam director Faazil. Faazil was not the director of the original movie incidentally (Lal & Siddique). This particular song features Prabhu and Revathy and V K Ramasamy and has been sung by K J Yesudas and Uma Ramanan. The lyrics have been written by the evergreen lyricist of Tamil Cinema Vaali. Prabhu has a flair for comedy and the comedy sequences involving Prabhu, V K Ramasamy and Revathi are enjoyable. The movie starts with small playful tiffs between Prabhu and Revathi and goes on to take a twist when a wrong call of a kidnapper is received mistakenly by Prabhu. The movie finally ends with solutions to all the twists and turns with the intervention and generosity of the kidnapped girl's father played well by Jaiganesh.  Eventually this movie had been made in Hindi by Priyadarshan and the movie had been a huge hit.

Sivaji Hits - Vetti Veru Vaasam

This is a hit song  from the movie Mudhal Mariyaathai directed by Bharathiraja. The film's music and background score are by Illaiyaraaja who is in his element. The lyrics are by Vairamuthu. The movie had been a huge hit and had received critical acclaim as well. In this movie Sivaji plays the role of Malaichami Devar married to a shrewish wife played by Vadivukkarasi who had given a great performance. She herself had admitted in an interview that she had been reluctant to do this kind of a role but had been convinced by the director. This performance had opened up a new avenue for her and she has gone on to do hundreds of similar roles both in Movies and TV after this performance. Sivaji seeks comfort and solace in his friendship with a ferry girl who has arrived newly to the village called Kuyil played very well by Radha. The friendship raises eyebrows in the village and the story goes on. One can appreciate the subtle inner meaning hidden in the lyrics of the song which portrays the relationships of the two leading pairs in the movie. Sathyaraj has played a brilliant little cameo towards the end of the movie as a villain.

Illayaraja Hits - Poove Poochudavaa

Poove Poochudavaa is a super hit song from the movie of the same title. This movie portrays a sentimental and emotional relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter. The movie directed by Fazil had stood out for its superb casting. The grandmother’s role had been portrayed brilliantly and effortlessly by yesteryear’s superstar actress Padmini and the granddaughter’s role was played by the debutant Nadhiya. Her original name is Zarina  Moidu. She had acted with most of the leading actors in Tamil and Malayalam industry. In 1980's, there had been a huge female fan following for her costumes, hair style and ornaments. After marriage she had settled abroad with her husband and two kids, and had recently made a comeback with Jayam Ravi in the blockbuster hit 'M.Kumaran s/o Mahalakshmi' This movie had been acclaimed by the critics and the masses for her performance as Jeyam Ravi's mother. In 2008, she signed as the brand ambassador for Arokya Milk. The music had been scored by Illayaraja and the song has been sung both in male and female voices by K J Yesudass and Chitra respectively.

Illayaraja Hits - En Iniya Pon Nilaave

This is a hit song from the movie Moodupani starring Prathap Pothan and Shoba, directed by Balu Mahendra. This film had been based on the superhit Hollywood movie Psycho by the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock. Prathap Pothan had given a creditable performance in the movie. This movie had been Illayaraja's 100th movie. There had been only two songs in this movie. This song had been sung by K J Yesudas. The movie had not done too well. Prathap Pothan had not been able to make a mark as an actor in the industry in spite of having been a good actor. He had married actress Radhika. But Prathap Pothan himself had become a director later and had directed movies such as Vetri Vizhaa, Seevalaperi Paandi, etc. Illayaraja had produced many such melodious compositions during that period.

Rajni Hits - Kaadhalin Deepam Ondru

This is a super hit song from the movie Thambikku Entha Ooru starring Rajnikanth, Madhavi, Sulakshana, Sathyaraj and others. This again is a song composed by Illayaraja in the 80s and is one of the favourites of Rajnikanth's fans as is evident from the 160 odd comments this song has evoked along with its quarter of a million views on Youtube. The comedy sequence featuring Rajnikanth and a snake in this movie had received rave reviews from the masses and the film critics as well. The movie had also done well. Rajnikanth had initially done negative roles and then had become a very successful hero. Sathyaraj who had done a negative role in this and several movies during that period had followed in the same footsteps and had become a successful hero later.

Murali Hits - Oru Jeevan Azhaithathu

This song can also be tagged as an Illayaraja Hit. Thi is a hit song from the movie Geethaanjali starring Murali, Nalini, Bhavya, Sathyaraj and others. This song has been composed and sung by Illayaraja with Chithra. the early 80s had been a super dominant period for Illayaraja. The female lead singer voice had always been given to S Janaki as far as Illayaraja was concerned. In fact it could be said that S Janaki had been able to achieve her glory in the Tamil Movie industry mainly due to Illayaraja. But this was the time Ilayaraja had chosen to use some new voices too and thus came the time for singers like Mano and Chithra. This particular song features Murali and Bhavya. Though Murali had been able to make a name for himself in the industry the heroine had not been able to do so.

Kamal Hits - Kanmaniye Paesu

This is a hit song from the movie Khaakhi Chattai starring Kamal Hassan, Ambika, Sathyaraj and others. The music for this movie had been composed by Illayaraja. The other heroine in this movie had been Madhavi. This movie is sort of a milestone in Sathyaraj's movie career. It is in this movie that Sathyaraj had delivered hi famous dialogue 'Thakadu Thakadu'. Though Kamal Hassan himself is not too keen to do purely commercial movie like these it is only these kind of movies of his which have really done extremely well at the box office thereby helping him come out with his other 'experimental' movies such as Gunaa, Anbe Sivam and the likes.

Illayaraja Hits - Madai Thiranthu

This is a superhit song from the movie Nizhalgall starring Nizhallgal Ravi, Chandrasekhar, Rohini and others. This song portrays the situation wherein an aspiring music director has been asked to compose music for a song and the visualization keeps switching from reality to fantasy and if you watch (hear) closely so does the music. Illayaraja's music for this particular song had been appreciated by one and all. Even the younger generation of today seem to have taken a fancy to this song (about a half a million views for this song on Youtube). Even Chandrasekhar's portrayal of the character has been appreciated by a few of the younger generation going by the comments we see on the same posting in Youtube!

Sathyaraj Hits - Adi Aathaadi

This is a super hit song from the movie Kadalora Kavithaigal starring Sathyaraj, Rekha and others. This was the debut movie for Rekha. The movie was directed by Bharathiraja. Bharathiraja had the sentimental habit of naming the heroines of his movies with names starting with the alphabet 'R' (Radhika, Rathi, Radha, Revathi, Ranjani, Rekha....!). Sathyaraj had mentioned about his experience of having worked with Bharathiraja in this movie in a comical manner in an interview. Whenever Bharathiraja had enacted an emotional scene in front of Sathyaraj, to extract performance from him, Sathyaraj had actually found it funny and used to laugh, much to irritation of Bharathiraja! The music had been composed by Illayaraja.

Illayaraja Hits - Netru Intha Naeram

This is a hit song from the movie Tick Tick Tick starring Kamal Hassan, Swapna, Radha, Madhavi and others. The movie was directed by Bharathiraja. The movie had not done too well. This song features Swapna as the singer and Kamal as the photographer. The song had been sung by Latha Rajnikanth. This was the first movie which Bharathiraja had directed after Bhaghyaraj had left him and had chosen a genre which did not suit him. When ever Bharathiraja had chosen a city based theme he had mostly failed at the box office. Not that all his village based themes had done well too.

Sivaji Kamal Hit Song - Potri Paadadi Ponne

This is a hit song from the movie Thevar Magan starring Sivaji, Kamal, Gowthami and others. The movie had been a huge hit. The music for the movie had been composed by Illayaraja. This was a movie for which Illayaraja had composed music just after Oscar Winner A R Rahman had entered the Tamil movie industry and had been making waves. Hence we can say this was sort of a come back movie for Illayaraja. Sivaji had played a small but brilliant little cameo in this movie. You can see Sivaji dominating the screen with his extraordinary screen presence in spite of several other stars being present in the scene. Vadivelu had also played a small but significant role in this movie.

Karthik Hits - Raajaa Raajaathi Raajan

This is a superhit song from the movie Agninakshatram starring Karthik, Prabhu, Amala, Nirosha and others. The movie was directed by Maniratnam and the music composed by Illayaraja. The movie had been cinematographed by P C Sriram who till date is Maniratnam's friend (as mentioned my Maniratnam himself in a recent interview). The lighting and processing technique used in this movie is supposed to be unique. But honestly it is difficult to watch the movie with all these lights coming from the wrong(?) angles! there is another unique thing about this song. The young boy who is dancing in the front row in a white shirt to the left of Karthik is none other than Prabhu Deva himself! this is the first screen appearance for Prabu Deva!

Kamal Hits - Illamai I(hi)tho I(hi)tho

This is a superhit song from the superhit movie Sakala Kalaa Vallavan starring Kamal Hassan, Ambiga and others. This movie is the biggest box office success of Kamal Hassan. The movie ran for an year. this particular song was the favourite of the youngsters of that period. This movie was inspired by an MGR film with a similar storyline. Kamal and Ambiga had starred together in a few hit films of that period. The music was scored by Illayaraja. Since the song starts with a Happy New Year Wish, this song was also a favourite New Year song of that period!

Rajni Hits - Raakkammaa Kaiyya Thattu

This is a hit song from the movie Thalapathi starring Rajnikanth, Mammooty, Shobana, Banupriya and others. The movie had been directed by Maniratnam and the music for the movie had been scored by Illayaraja. This song features Rajnikanth and Sonu Walia. Sonu Walia had been crowned Miss India 1985 ((Miss India 1984 had been Juhi Chawla)and had gone on to act in several Hindi movies after this. This movie is loosely based on the great India Epic The Mahabharatha with Rajnikanth as Karna, Mammooty as Duryodhan and Arvind Swamy as Arjun! Now Maniratnam is in the process of making Ramayana! This song had almost won and online contest a few years back as the greatest song of all time!

Illayaraja Hits - Solai Pushpangale

This is a super hit song from the movie Ingeyum Oru Gangai from the 1980s. Music by Illayaraja. Illayaraja had ruled the roost in the Tamil Movie Industry during the 80s. This song features Murali and Thara (who is a very popular Kannada actress now). This song had topped the charts of all the Radio programmes during that period for several weeks. The male voice is Gangai Amaran and the female voice is that of P Susheela. Illayaraja's mastery over folk music and his ability to compose subtle melodies based on folk is showcased in this song. Incidentally the movie did not do too well.

Rajnikanth Hits - Vizhiyiley Malarnthathu

This is a hit song from the movie Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri starring Rajnikanth, Sivakumar, Sumithra and others. This song features Rajnikanth and and the actress Meera who had acted in a few movies during that period. Rajni's versatile acting skills were brought out in movies similar to this during that period. In this movie Sivakumar plays a negative role. The music for the movie had been composed by Illayaraja.

Mohan Hits - Vizhiyile Mani Vizhiyil

This is a hit song from the movie Nooravathu Naal starring Mohan, Nalini, Sathyaraj and others. The movie was directed by Manivannan and the music was composed by Illayaraja. Illayaraja has used this same tune in other languages too most recently in Hindi in the Amithab Bachchan (and Tabu) starrer Cheeni Kum. Great composition in which ever language you hear it no doubt.