“I contain multitudes,” wrote Walt Whitman in the ‘Song of Myself,’ and I couldn’t help thinking about the depths of what that meant on Sunday morning. Like me, tens of thousands of Tamil music fans made their way to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai with their hearts eager to know the answer to just one question: “Which Ilaiyaraaja would we get to experience today?”
Sure, there is just one ‘Isaignani’ Ilaiyaraaja, the corporal being celebrated as the ‘King of music.’ But if the last 50 years of Tamil music have taught us something, it is that Ilaiyaraaja contains multitudes. There’s an Ilaiyaraaja we listen to when we miss being cradled by our mother; an Ilaiyaraaja is perennially waiting to pacify a newly broken heart; there’s one for when we miss the smell of petrichor, one for late night ruminations, and one for when the breeze hits us through the windows of buses and trains; I, for one, have even met an Ilaiyaraaja who extended his arm into the darkness I was once drowning in.
The Ilaiyaraaja we met on Sunday at the From Raaja With Love concert was also someone we were all too familiar with — except it seemed like there were one too many hindrances to what should have been an once-in-a-lifetime meeting. The event saw quite a few mishaps, be it a backstage malfunction and in-ear monitor issues that singers seemed to be visibly powering through. When it comes to the tracklist, one even wondered whether Raaja’s legal battles (with Saregama and Echo) might have ended up limiting his options; though featuring many popular songs that fans like yours truly were mesmerised by, those who were eager to meet a ‘concert Raaja’ who would balance popular chirpy songs with chartbuster soothing melodies seemed disappointed.
The management of the show has further snowballed into another issue. Many attendees, especially from the Gold ticket section, complained that setting up a videography stage in the middle of the stadium was a poor call, as it obstructed much of their view of the stage. Most attendees who watched the event from further back have complained about the lack of speakers and LED monitors, apart from the poor maintenance of the seats.
All that said, a music lover willing to power through all these troubles was still in for a magical night — after all, it’s Raaja we are talking about. In a quintessential Raaja fashion, the maestro kick-started the concert by imbuing an aura of divinity in the air. ‘Janani Janani’ carried the blessings of Devi (and Raaja) across the ocean of music pilgrims, and it continued when singers Anitha Karthikeyan and Srisha Vijayasekar took to the stage to croon ‘Amudhe Thamizhe’ from Koil Pura. In a classic Raaja concert moment, the performance turned quite meta when he corrected Srisha, before looking towards the crowd and saying, “This is why I am here” — akin to the moment in the Koil Pura song when the music teacher corrects his student during her rendition.
When the next song began, all those classical tones furthered into our hearts as a wave of techno sounds coursed through the ground. The heavy bass of ‘Rajadhi Raja’ was met with applause, and when the moment that I was waiting for came, neither Raaja nor the crowd disappointed. “Eppavum naan Raaja,” sang the King, smiling and looking towards his subjects, as they roared and surrendered to his magic, as they had done for over 50 years.
The next song, the composer said on the microphone, was 40-50 years old. “Pazhaya paatu,” he sniggered with a mix of pride and sarcasm as Shweta Mohan began to play the titular song from Annakilli, Raaja’s debut film that turned 50 this year. An elderly man sitting a row behind me rejoiced that he had never heard this song live, and Shweta pulled it off with ease and grace. In particular, her humming of the interlude before the line that goes “Kanavoda sila naal” stood out.
“SPB Charan!” introduced Raaja to a loud cheer; the crowd knew it had to be a classic sung by Charan’s late legendary father and voice twin, SP Balasubrahmanyam. An electric guitar solo prompted us all to erupt from our seats. Charan deserved all the applause for how he pulled off a song as difficult as ‘Madai Thiranthu.’ “Pudhu raagam padaippadhaale naanum iraivane,” went the lyrics, and even though Raaja disagreed with the sentiment, the cheers from his devotees proved otherwise.
The packed stadium felt a gust of cold breeze for the first time when Karthik sang ‘Megam Kottatum’. Those who have heard the song from Enakkul Oruvan would understand the uncanniness of that timing. Speaking of SPB songs, Haricharan even recreated the late singer’s classic laughter during his performance of ‘Raakamma Kaiya Thattu’ with Anitha.
The concert then saw Madhu Balakrishnan’s rendition of ‘Pazhamudhircholai,’ Ananya Bhat’s ‘Oho Megam Vandhadho,’ and an impressive Vibhavari Apte Joshi singing ‘Anandha Raagam.’
It was then time for Yugendran, introduced by Raaja as Malaysia Vasudevan, the late legendary singer and father of Yugendran. Singing ‘Aasai Nooru Vagai’ is never an easy feat, and yet it seemed like Yugendran was over-stressing every word. Raaja noted how he was introduced to Vasudevan back in 1968. “Jeyachandran and Vasudevan are difficult to teach,” joked the composer, adding that Yugendran got right what even his father often didn’t.
Raaja then, in a welcome surprise, took over the vocals after a performance of ‘Meyaadha Maan’ and sang ‘Indha Maan’ and ‘Vaan Megangale.’
After Srisha’s ‘Oru Jeevan’ and Ananya Bhat’s ‘Kaattumalli’ performances — Ananya struggled with bad in-ear feedback — a series of speeches, film promotions and announcements followed.
Later, when Gangai Amaran sang ‘Poojaiketha Poovidhu Nethu Dhana Poothadhu,’ Raaja noted the mistake in the track’s pallavi lyrics, stating who would do pooja with flowers that bloomed the previous day. “But that’s what music does; music can make you overlook such mistakes,” he observed. Shoba Chandrasekhar was introduced to the stage by director Parthiban as “the mother of the ‘raaja’ ruling Tamil Nadu,” and Raaja spent quite some time discussing Shoba’s theatre origins and the unfortunate decline of theatre music.
After Shoba’s performance of ‘Kannan Oru Kai Kulanthai,’ Charan brought the more familiar Raaja to the concert. It was something truly bewitching to see the Full Moon shining bright in the sky as ‘Ilaya Nila’ serenaded the romantics in the crowd.
Madhu Balakrishnan’s ‘Raja Raja Chozhan’, Karthik’s ‘Vanithamani,’ and Shweta Mohan-Haricharan’s ‘Poo Maalai Oru Paavai’ followed. Most must have felt a tug in their heartstrings when Vibhavari paid a heartfelt tribute to Asha Bhosle by singing ‘Shenbagame.’ Shweta then teamed up with Madhu for a stirring rendition of ‘Thendral Vandhu Ennai Thodum,’ after which Karthik joined Shweta to bring the magical SPB-Chitra song ‘Kadhal Kavithaigal Padithidum’ to life.
The From Raaja With Love ended with a spectacular performance of ‘En Jodi Manja Kuruvi,’ the energy ushering some to even stand up and dance.
As I returned home, I was still humming — if not the Raaja I saw on Sunday, the Raaja I have for late-night metro rides continued to comfort me. This love knows no bounds.
Published – June 01, 2026 08:30 pm IST
