Ilayaraaja vs A.R. Rahman

There has been a very interesting discussion ongoing about Ilayaraaja and A.R. Rahman on two blogs I respect deeply, Suresh's Yours Musically, and Emjay's 7swara.

I have said much of what I feel in the comments pages of these posts, I just wish to reproduce here one of my comments to another blog post on Emjay's blog.

I, too, am speechless at the level of pure "aathanggam" evidenced by the search queries. 

I agree with all that people say about Ilayaraaja's talent and legacy, and I understand the silent pain that he hasn't been recognised internationally.

But at a time like this when an Indian has won the Oscars, two at one go, it is surely a moment for pure awe and pride. When Abinav Bindra won the Gold at the Olympics, nobody asked "Why didn't P.T. Usha win in 1984? The swim team trains so many times a week, why haven't they been recognised?". When he won, we were all proud of him and felt a sense of awe and wonderment at the achievement. But when Rahman won the Oscars, the fact that the first thought of some people is to search for these terms on the net is plainly disgusting. 

Raaja-vai veriyoda rasippathu veru, Rahman-ai veriyodu veruppathu veru. The two are not the same, and the latter is quite a sad state of affairs. Just my opinion.

I think there is a clear distinction to be made between a person who likes a certain composer and a person who hates all other composers actively. Feeling bad that your idol doesn't have recognition is one thing. Getting angry and indignant when another composer gets an award is closer to the behaviour of an extremist/crazed fanatic than to that of a fan or music lover.

Not all music is equal, and (to quote Orwell) some are more equal than others. Some people like Rahman, some like Ilayaraaja. Some enjoy the western rap interludes of Yuvan, some like the smooth pop feel of Harris, some enjoy the gaana of Deva. There is nothing wrong with that; if art wasn't subjective, it would lose its beauty. But please, let's get this hatred out of the way.