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A soulful track in its Tamil version transforms very beautifully in Cheeni kum, title song, while Sooni sooni retains the original’s feel, quite appropriately. Baatein hawa reworks the original’s playful nature amazingly well, even in the Hindi version. That the backgrounds are considerably updated and spruced-up, works in their favor. Even Jaane do na’s Hindi reworking showcases the amazing interludes of the veteran composer in full glory, amidst an elegant tune. The theme melody and sax melody are simply enchanting, going with the film’s mood. If this doesn’t get Ilayaraja closer to North Indian Hindi film audiences, chances are, nothing else will!
Keywords: Ilayaraja, Cheeni Kum, Balki, Balakrishnan, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal
Note 1: So why do the words ‘North Indian’ have a strike through? I guess there’s some sense in the first comment by Mumbaiya, even though I did not intend such a divide while writing this post. Thats the reason why I chose to change it to something specific.
Note 2: Here’s trivia on the South Indian originals, for the curious listeners. The title song and Sooni uses Ilayaraja’s tune ‘Mandram vandha’ from Maniratnam’s Tamil film, Mouna Raagam (1986). Baatein hawa is a reworking of the song, ‘Kuzhaloodhum kannanukku’ from the 1986 Tamil film, ‘Mella thirandhadhu kadhavu’ which had composing credits shared between Ilayaraja and MS Viswanathan. Jaane do na uses the tune of Ilayaraja’s Kannada song, ‘Jotheyali jothe jotheyali’ from the 1980 film, ‘Geetha’.
