Sequence Leading to Second Letter from IR

In the year 1977 & 78s, Films of IR were started multiplying in leaps and bounds.

Even though, many of the songs were haunting, melodical and totally innovative, every alternative film of his was criticized by some section of people for some monotonous or something that could not be comprehended by them.

Critics of journals were happy to regularly predict his downfall quickly for each of his film released.

No doubt the comparisons were with the giant, colossal figures like MSV and KVM and the contemporaries like SG, VK and newcomers like Chandrabose etc.

But for us, IR was a man of no comparison whatsoever, and who was setting his own grammar/ idioms and phrases of music!

It was the year 1978, in which almost all of the leading magazines were publishing IR's photos on the cover page and were writing numerous articles, interviews, tit-bits etc about him. All journals were trying to utilise his raising fame to their advantages. Some did that in positive way, some in other ways. Certainly IR must be co-operating with all of those journalists community (which may be a strange thing to hear for many of you !)

It was in that period, April’78 to be precise, that the second incident happened which caused the second series of letters exchanged between IR & us !

It all started with an article in a magazine.

The new and popular journal of that period “J” (to avoid controversy, I am hiding the name of the magazine and the name of Critique, here in this write-up as well as from IR's letter) had a detailed article on IR by the famous critique of those period "Mr C", with IR photos on re-recording etc.

[People of that period who knows "C" and his writings can easily imagine, what could have been his writings etc. Only God knows, whom "C" will lift or whom he will put down on the ground and crash ! As I heard that time, one famous actress was virtually on tears regarding his writings in one of the magazine about her dance in one of the sabha. He never left out even famous Carnatic composer-cum- singer also ! ]

So, when heard about the article, I immediately purchased the weekly and started reading with so much tension in mind.

But when I completed reading I was with full of heat with my blood not just boiling but started to evaporate !

Though I don’t remember all its contents now, but in nutshell, the article was full of poison and spitting venom on IR and his works !

It even doubted his ability to compose, musical knowledge about raagams etc and even ridiculing his recording music saying that he could not even manage to get the music effect and swaras from his orchestra members !

As usual, he was raising many queries, about the prayogams of ragam and swarams etc with his flavory languages (like Kedharam-sedharam etc etc)! (Now, I can correlate such things with Modulation and other technical aspects of WCM, but then I was practically a Zero on WCM).

Mr "C" considered that IR, a talented man was wasting his energy in trying to do too many films at a time and compromising and sacrificing the basic requirements of music ! So many such bla-blahs!

It was such an article that I could not take it easily and forget, and I started writing a letter of very forceful, point-wise replies for all the accusations "C" has made and sent that letter to that journal.

Incidentally, since IR’s address was available from his earlier letter, I marked a copy of that letter to IR with a request to IR asking him to write a strong letter to that journal, immediately refuting all those allegations, as all the fans should be told about the truth.

To my astonishment, I got a very quick and prompt reply letter from IR!

A single page letter, dated 16-Apr-78.

(for actual letter, click here)

(for translation of letter-2, click here)