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Raaja’s exploits with the bass guitar have been well documented and celebrated in the internet today that nearly everyone acknowledges that the numerous songs with mind boggling bass improvisations are among his innovations to Indian and more particularly, Tamil Film Music. One more song in that hallowed list is Megam Kottattum from ‘Enakkul Oruvan’, a film on reincarnation, also happening to be Shobana’s Tamil debut and a Hindi remake.

If one observes the beginning, it starts with heavy drumming to evoke a thunderous atmosphere of rain in the set and the acoustic guitar takes over for some stylish grooves. But follows with SPB is out of the world. The first two lines of the pallavi, Megam Kottatum… and Minnal Vettatum… are exactly the same as far as the composition goes. But look at what the orchestration does to those lines. The bass plays at a higher octave for the first line and follows that by going into a lower octave for the next line. We ‘get the feel’ of having heard something different when all he did was play around with the orchestration for the same tune. The pallavi climaxes in a peak and the start itself is a six.

The interlude is the 80s definition of Rajastyle, with the lead guitar running riot backed up by the violin and SPB yelping with yeah yeah yeah and going along to the charanam. No moment is repetitive or boring and they are so packed with orchestral spunk. SPB’s lengthy single note pauses at nija mazhaiyai and naangaL are punctuated by some excellent chorus at that point to not make the note blank. These add ons ornate a tune so much and the chorus also adds on to the feel of pouring rain and contribute actively to the song too. As he finishes the climax, the guitars go wild as he raises the pitch so as to be his wingmen as he ascends on his throne. This is already knockout stuff.

The second interlude is different with a singular drum beat followed by what sounds like conga drums which add a different rhythm pattern to the already existing drum beat (polyrhythm!). One very noteworthy aspect of Raaja’s music from what little I’ve observed is how he adds instrumental tones, rhythms and tunes to a song upon already existing tones, rhythms and tunes one on another as though building a fort brick upon brick. The way he builds a composition is an exceedingly lovely art in itself (look no further than Sundari Kannal Oru Sedhi as a pristine example where in the interludes, one instrument adds on another as the first keeps going on and more and more tunes keep coming one on top of the older ones to lead us to a grand finish). Adding on to these beats, SPB enters with a van van van van rock-ish burst which suddenly morphs into an Indian sounding flourish (only SPB possible) on to the second charanam. All the while as he sings, the bass guitar keeps cutting into his musical phrases and gives a new dimension through the virtuosity it brings. SPB is also brilliant in the second charanam improvising from the first with brighas at mazhai vandhaale’s ‘aale’ with extra emphasis and all of this goes quite some way in elevating the song. It ends with the pallavi on the chorus fully supported by an outstanding bass and lead guitar.

As we are ready to acknowledge this as a masterpiece, there is a postlude too. It is needed to carry the narration forward as the hero receives a vision of his previous birth with the kiyay karate sounds followed by a flute that gives the necessary oriental feel and that is followed by an outstanding polyrhythm with the drums and the Mridangam as Kamal and Sripriya alternate in their break and classical dance forms. Polyrhythm in itself is a difficult concept to incorporate. He does it twice in a song, once aiding the narrative along the way too. As they say often on Twitter, Infinite Genius.