Open message to A.R Rahman - please stop the Thamizh kolai

I've never really liked A.R Rahman. I used to wonder if this was just some mindless prejudice, or because i like Illayaraja way too much (but I love Harris Jayraj too, so i'm not really partial right?)

Finally, after listening to three songs from Anbe Aaruyire, i know the reason. A.R Rahman is pseudo! What do I mean by that? Well, he is a regular Chennai dude, and he does have to earn his bread and butter by composing for Thamizh movies (Bombay dreams not withstanding). However, he tries to distance himself as much as possible from Thamizh (maybe he thinks this elevates him in some way?)Instead of simply letting his music speak for itself, he brings in singers who do not understand a single word Thamizh.

I am ok with the concept of singers singing in a different language. A lot of famous carnatic singers dont know Telugu. However, they make an effort to learn, understand, and pronounce every word perfectly. If Rahman wants to promote national integration by bringing in hindi singers, sure, thats great! But, is it too much to ask for him to make sure they dont mess words up?

Here are the songs at fault-

Mayilirage -
Music wise, A.R Rahman is FANTASTIC. This could have undoubtedly been called the song of the year. The lyrics are beautiful, beginning with the first line (Mayilirage varudugirai yennai). S.J Surya's favorite instrument is the thavil (remember Vaali's super cute sequence where Ajith sight adichufies Simran and you have a thavil-naadhaswaram combo playing the april maadhathil tune?). In this song, the thavil beats play in the background, almost throughout. A nadaswaram like instrument is also used. The male singer (Naresh Iyer) is soulful. With everything going perfectly, Rahman screws up big time by bringing in Madhushree.

She is a mediocre singer, and her thamizh is inexcusably bad. She thinks she is Alka Yagnik, and tries to sound like her. You can ignore the accent, but how can you forgive her pronouncing "kaadhal dhaan kal ezhuthu" as "kaadhal dhaan kal adithu" in the pallavi? She changes the meaning from "love is like words written in stone" to "love is only throwing stones"!!!! Also, mayil becomes "maaayil". "Iragey" becomes "irahey" and "Vaigai" becomes "Vaihai". Madhushree, did you know that there is no "h" alphabet in Thamizh.

If A.R Rahman is so anti-thamizh-singers, then he could have atleast used Shreya Goshal or Sadhana Sargam?

Thala Thala-

Sadhana does a great job, but the guy (and nobody seems to know who this singer is) does an even better job at thamizh kolai than Madhushree (if that were even possible). Heres what he does:
- Anai (as in water dam/hug) is pronounced as Aaanaaa (as in the hindi word for "come"). Was this intentional?
- Then kulam (big La) is pronounced then kulam (small la) - so "a pool of honey" becomes "a honey caste"!!!!!!!!!!

Rahman, did you lose your address book? You really couldnt find a single Thamizh singer? Or are they too fed up with your Thamizh kolai to take your phone calls? S.J Surya, neengalumaa?

Kushboo is condemned for trying to destroy Thamizh panpaadu. Why are we perfectly ok with A.R Rahman killing Thamizh itself? He need not apologize, he need not take residence up in some other state - maybe he could just rerecord the Ah Aah album using Thamizh singers? Or redeem himself in his next album atleast?