This is not a post to prove or disprove the supremacy of one over the other! It is just my take on this discussion, my contribution to topic that has been hot in the last one year or so. What I think makes my part in this unique is that I am a diehard fan of both, and so this is a different perspective into the same thing.
To discuss this, one firstly needs to understand the history of Tamil cinema and film-music. Tamil cinema's first real phenomenon was M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. MKT, as he was popularly known, was a one-man army, like Rajnikanth today but in another sense. He composed and sang his own music, acted, and even produced his own films. The man had girls all over the state swooning over him, possibly the only Tambrahm guy to have ever done that (Kamal Haasan was Tambrahm too, but still the adoration MKT enjoyed was undivided). Sadly, all we know him today, more or less, is for this. Then, he was convicted of a murder, went to jail, and when he came back, the adoration was all gone. By then the Dravidian movement had taken roots, and the scripts of Anna were ruling the roost. This also marked the advent of Tamil Nadu's first real composer duo, Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy. They, coupled with the music they composed for the likes of Sivaji Ganesan, MGR et al, held the movie-watching audience in sway for long. My dad, for one, is a die hard fan of the duo, so much so that he wouldn't even consider songs which were composed by MSV, post the duo broke up, as great! The duo, for a long time, held the audiences captive to mainly melodic tunes, MSV was also called "Mellisai Mannar" (literally meaning "King of Light Music", but the title was conferred to mean "King of Melodies") for the same. There was a funny ring of western music in their tunes as well, such as in this. On hindsight, it does seem an excellent composition, after all it was contemporary then. Much of their strength also lay in the beautiful lyrics of this man. That period was considered the golden age for lyricists, something that has never been replicated since the advent of Raja, and subsequently Rahman. A few samples of Kannadasan's gems with the duo are here and here. But, one thing they never managed for a long time, was the ushering in of western instruments.
It was around this period that Daniel Rasayya (later Ilaiyaraja) debuted with Annakili. It was a rural subject, something that proved to be his forte in the years to come, just like Rahman debuted with Roja, a pan-Indian subject, something that he has come to be known for over the years. Both had the fortune of instantly capturing the hearts of the audiences. I believe someone's real talent shows in their first album. This is because, future albums might contain songs composed over a week, a month at maximum, but the debut album always consists of songs which have been planned for years. The afore-mentioned two, and also Ismail Darbar (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam), Harris Jeyaraj (Minnale), Anirudh (3) are examples of first albums which were smash hits and at the same time very acclaimed. If Raja's Machana Paathingala sent audiences into a frenzy, Rahman's Chinna Chinna Aasai added a new dimension to Indian music. Raja's ascent, as in the case of Rahman, was immediate. It helped his cause that MSV was composing music for lesser movies at the period. The advent of Raja also pushed MSV to the limits, which was healthy for Tamil cinema. MSV was forced to prove his expertise in more modern genres as well, which resulted in this classic (I am yet to listen to a song that outbeats the lyrics of this one). He also came up with one of his best melodies, in collaboration with Kannadasan during this period. But the period truly belonged to Raja. He was composing music for nearly 30-40 films a year, and if there was a hit song in Tamil cinema in this period, it belonged to Raja. The rest, as they say, is history. There wasn't really a competitor till Rahman came about.In the 90s though, Raja did come up with some absolute classics, but there is no denying the 90s belonged to Rahman, as much as the 2000s did not (come on, he came up with awesome albums each time he composed, but he cut down on the number of movies drastically). So this is where comes the comparison, both these geniuses have impacted Tamil music in a gargantuan way, but we people would never take an art form as plainly an art, will we? We feel the need to analyse and squeeze the feel out of it!
Raja's main contribution to music here is definitely the introduction of western instruments. The guitar, which was almost unheard of, up until then, made a grand entry with Raja. Some of his most beautiful urban classics have got a strong guitar support, the beginning strum of En Iniya Pon Nilave is enough to send fans into a frenzy, or this, another of my favorites. Rahman's greatest contribution has been the introduction of technology into Indian music. Also the extensive use of rhythmic patterns, and beats, which existed, but in very small numbers before him. Some of his earliest hits, both, typical dance numbers (the modern day item songs), or even melodies, had a strong beat pattern. Raja's strengths lay in his folk numbers, something at which he was a natural as a result of his upbringing, while Rahman's lay in multi layered composition. While it has to be Raja who is the unopposed Raja of orchestration, Rahman always stood miles ahead of the rest when it came to trying new sounds (in this case, composing with plainly human sounds) out. Raja had the ability to dictate musical notes, and throw out sheets to the various members of the orchestra, but if you notice clearly, there wouldn't be a juxtaposing of various instruments at a time. With Rahman though, the juxtaposing is his strength. That is why I believe Rahman's songs grow on you. The more you listen to them, the more the various layers keep presenting themselves, and the more you fall in love with the composition.
Evidently, both have their strengths, with no clear weakness. Most of my friends like the music of these geniuses, but invariably swear by one. I believe Raja's tunes are very endearing due to the fact that they are very simple. They are hummable by anyone, and though it takes a genius to compose them, but for his full-fledged musicals such as Sindhu Bhairavi, Saagara Sangamam or Punnagai Mannan, the songs in most of his movies are ones which anyone can try his/her hand it. It is in the language of a layman. As with Rahman's music, I believe the songs speak to the soul, such as this one. The music is not very simple, but definitely soulful, something you can't sing along with easily, but can listen to, on and on, and find newer stuff each time, like peeling open an onion. One thing I'd put to Rahman is that his strike rate is definitely higher, and that too with some competition around, unlike Raja, who was the undisputed king in the 80s, with not really a great strike rate. But, the quantity of composition of Raja, is huge, so with that huge a sample space, a dip in strike rate, is maybe acceptable. Also, the number of genres Rahman has dabbled with are significantly higher than Raja. Maybe that is because of the kind of opportunities Raja got, as compared to Rahman. (I heard this from Raja the other day. Raja's equivalent of Rahman's this)
But, at the end of the day, all these are plain statistics, because you and I, know that the music is what speaks. So, let us stop the arguings, and click on each of these links, and more, and listen to the musics :P :)
To discuss this, one firstly needs to understand the history of Tamil cinema and film-music. Tamil cinema's first real phenomenon was M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. MKT, as he was popularly known, was a one-man army, like Rajnikanth today but in another sense. He composed and sang his own music, acted, and even produced his own films. The man had girls all over the state swooning over him, possibly the only Tambrahm guy to have ever done that (Kamal Haasan was Tambrahm too, but still the adoration MKT enjoyed was undivided). Sadly, all we know him today, more or less, is for this. Then, he was convicted of a murder, went to jail, and when he came back, the adoration was all gone. By then the Dravidian movement had taken roots, and the scripts of Anna were ruling the roost. This also marked the advent of Tamil Nadu's first real composer duo, Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy. They, coupled with the music they composed for the likes of Sivaji Ganesan, MGR et al, held the movie-watching audience in sway for long. My dad, for one, is a die hard fan of the duo, so much so that he wouldn't even consider songs which were composed by MSV, post the duo broke up, as great! The duo, for a long time, held the audiences captive to mainly melodic tunes, MSV was also called "Mellisai Mannar" (literally meaning "King of Light Music", but the title was conferred to mean "King of Melodies") for the same. There was a funny ring of western music in their tunes as well, such as in this. On hindsight, it does seem an excellent composition, after all it was contemporary then. Much of their strength also lay in the beautiful lyrics of this man. That period was considered the golden age for lyricists, something that has never been replicated since the advent of Raja, and subsequently Rahman. A few samples of Kannadasan's gems with the duo are here and here. But, one thing they never managed for a long time, was the ushering in of western instruments.
It was around this period that Daniel Rasayya (later Ilaiyaraja) debuted with Annakili. It was a rural subject, something that proved to be his forte in the years to come, just like Rahman debuted with Roja, a pan-Indian subject, something that he has come to be known for over the years. Both had the fortune of instantly capturing the hearts of the audiences. I believe someone's real talent shows in their first album. This is because, future albums might contain songs composed over a week, a month at maximum, but the debut album always consists of songs which have been planned for years. The afore-mentioned two, and also Ismail Darbar (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam), Harris Jeyaraj (Minnale), Anirudh (3) are examples of first albums which were smash hits and at the same time very acclaimed. If Raja's Machana Paathingala sent audiences into a frenzy, Rahman's Chinna Chinna Aasai added a new dimension to Indian music. Raja's ascent, as in the case of Rahman, was immediate. It helped his cause that MSV was composing music for lesser movies at the period. The advent of Raja also pushed MSV to the limits, which was healthy for Tamil cinema. MSV was forced to prove his expertise in more modern genres as well, which resulted in this classic (I am yet to listen to a song that outbeats the lyrics of this one). He also came up with one of his best melodies, in collaboration with Kannadasan during this period. But the period truly belonged to Raja. He was composing music for nearly 30-40 films a year, and if there was a hit song in Tamil cinema in this period, it belonged to Raja. The rest, as they say, is history. There wasn't really a competitor till Rahman came about.In the 90s though, Raja did come up with some absolute classics, but there is no denying the 90s belonged to Rahman, as much as the 2000s did not (come on, he came up with awesome albums each time he composed, but he cut down on the number of movies drastically). So this is where comes the comparison, both these geniuses have impacted Tamil music in a gargantuan way, but we people would never take an art form as plainly an art, will we? We feel the need to analyse and squeeze the feel out of it!
Raja's main contribution to music here is definitely the introduction of western instruments. The guitar, which was almost unheard of, up until then, made a grand entry with Raja. Some of his most beautiful urban classics have got a strong guitar support, the beginning strum of En Iniya Pon Nilave is enough to send fans into a frenzy, or this, another of my favorites. Rahman's greatest contribution has been the introduction of technology into Indian music. Also the extensive use of rhythmic patterns, and beats, which existed, but in very small numbers before him. Some of his earliest hits, both, typical dance numbers (the modern day item songs), or even melodies, had a strong beat pattern. Raja's strengths lay in his folk numbers, something at which he was a natural as a result of his upbringing, while Rahman's lay in multi layered composition. While it has to be Raja who is the unopposed Raja of orchestration, Rahman always stood miles ahead of the rest when it came to trying new sounds (in this case, composing with plainly human sounds) out. Raja had the ability to dictate musical notes, and throw out sheets to the various members of the orchestra, but if you notice clearly, there wouldn't be a juxtaposing of various instruments at a time. With Rahman though, the juxtaposing is his strength. That is why I believe Rahman's songs grow on you. The more you listen to them, the more the various layers keep presenting themselves, and the more you fall in love with the composition.
Evidently, both have their strengths, with no clear weakness. Most of my friends like the music of these geniuses, but invariably swear by one. I believe Raja's tunes are very endearing due to the fact that they are very simple. They are hummable by anyone, and though it takes a genius to compose them, but for his full-fledged musicals such as Sindhu Bhairavi, Saagara Sangamam or Punnagai Mannan, the songs in most of his movies are ones which anyone can try his/her hand it. It is in the language of a layman. As with Rahman's music, I believe the songs speak to the soul, such as this one. The music is not very simple, but definitely soulful, something you can't sing along with easily, but can listen to, on and on, and find newer stuff each time, like peeling open an onion. One thing I'd put to Rahman is that his strike rate is definitely higher, and that too with some competition around, unlike Raja, who was the undisputed king in the 80s, with not really a great strike rate. But, the quantity of composition of Raja, is huge, so with that huge a sample space, a dip in strike rate, is maybe acceptable. Also, the number of genres Rahman has dabbled with are significantly higher than Raja. Maybe that is because of the kind of opportunities Raja got, as compared to Rahman. (I heard this from Raja the other day. Raja's equivalent of Rahman's this)
But, at the end of the day, all these are plain statistics, because you and I, know that the music is what speaks. So, let us stop the arguings, and click on each of these links, and more, and listen to the musics :P :)
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