[Thread: Malayalam songs of Raja] I am going to play some of the most melodious Malayalam songs Raja has composed. I set myself a limit of one song per film, else the thread will not complete today. Let's go.

We start with the first Malayalam film of Raja, 'Vyamoham'. A lovely Kalyani based number, 'poovadikalil'

Raja is always partial to Malayalees when it comes to melodies. And it started from his first film. Amazing melody wonderfully delivered by Janaki and KJY

'e nilimathan' from 'Aa Ratri'. A brilliant song

The way Raja combines energy with melody is amazing. A song of excellent energy as well as melody. The typical Raja was increasing the melodic quotient in the charanam can be heard in this song

'thanal virikan' from 'Aalolam'

Only Raja can think of such a wonderful Chakravakam. Janaki hits it out of the park.

'priyane uyir neeye' from 'Pinnilavu'

Vintage Raja. The Raja of he 80s but the Malayalam version. At a time when he was composing for 40 films a year, he could give differentiate between Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Genius is an inadequate word to describe his creativity.

Next from the iconic 'Olangal' but not the National Anthem of Kerala. Here we have 'kulir aadunnu manaththu'

The guitar in this song are extremely charming

The brilliant 'thazampoo thalil' from 'Oomakuyil'

You can't think of anyone who can compose like this. And that bass. What a progression. Janaki's masterpiece.

'mizhiyil meen pidanju' from 'Sandhyakku Virinja Pookkal'. K J Yesudas

The story is that the director was so smitten by 'vellai pura onru' that he wanted a similar song. Raja gave him this melody based on Kalyani.

'alli ilam poovo' from 'Mangalam Nerunnu'

I don't have words to describe this song. Torn between this and 'ritu bedha kalpana' from this movie. Krishnachandar's best song.

'vaalitezhuthiya' from 'Onnanu Nammal'

A Hamsadhwani number which later came to Tamil as 'ther kondu sendravan'. As usual KJY and Janaki are brilliant and the orchestration is amazingly inventive.

'konji karayalle' from 'Poomukhapadiyil Ninneyum Kathu'

This movie has only two songs but each is a #WhyRajaisGod level song. How do you choose one? No logic. Just toss of coin.

I always wonder how Janaki and Yesudas sang this number because it is so achingly beautiful that it is difficult to complete the charanam without being overwhelmed by the melody.

'unarumee ganam' from 'Moonam Pakkam'

The most heart wrenching song I have heard. There is a slower one, which is even more heart wrenching. You need to watch the movie to understand the context. G Venugopal's best by a mile.

'poovai virinju' from 'Adharvam'

This was M G Sreekumar's first song for Raja. He went home and sang this song for his elder brother, the well known compose, M G Radhakrishnan. M G R's comment: "Only Raja can compose a Keervani like this". Every talented musician of those times admired Raja

Jeyamohan once wrote about the music of 'Adharvam'. "When you listen to the music you feel it was composed by a veteran music director who was seeped in the musical culture of Kerala". Raja had this knack of understanding the music taste of each region.

'tharapadam' from 'Anaswaram'

One of the few times SPB and Balu collaborated in Malayalam. A touching melody.

'alapanam' from 'Ente Surya Puthrikku'

When a song concerns mother daughter love, Raja enters a different league. What an excellent song, this one is. Also features two amazing women, Srividhya and Amala.

Also has the unusual combination of Susheela KJY and Chitra

'olathumpathu' from 'Pappuyude Swanthan Apoos'

One more parent child song and as usual Raja is in divine form. Heard that this song was heard all over Kerala when it was released.

'thazvaram manpoove' from 'Jackpot'

Lovely melody. KJY in top form. By this time Raja had slowly shifted to Chitra from Janaki for Malayalam songs. She is here singing with KJY.

A song with a folk lilt, 'kathirum kothi' from 'Man of the Match'

Song is based on Madhyamavathi raga, a raga in which Raja has given a lot of everlasting melodies.

1996 & 1997 had three all time great albums of Raja: Kalapani, Oru Yathramozhi and Guru. To pick only one from each is going to be touch but I will try.

'aathirambile kombile' from 'Kalapani'

Picked this over others for two reasons. M G Sreekumar, the singer here, once told, "The way Raja joins the pallavi back from the charanam is unbelievable. No human can think like this". Second, Raja says he used 'poovasampoo poothachu' as inspiration for this song !!!!

I mean how can anyone every go from 'poovarasampoo' to this song. It is beyond amazing.

'thaimavin thanalil' from 'Oru Yathramozhi'

What can one say about 'Oru Yathramozhi' album? I had recommended it to a musically knowledgeable friend of mine who lamented how he had missed this album for more than a decade. MG Sreekumar and Chitra

'sharadendu paadi' from 'Kaliyoonjal'

This jazzy number is a personal favorite. A very different Raja here. And that folk tune in the first interlude is love.

There is a G Venugopal version of this song as well

'aruna kirana deepam' from 'Guru'

Guru was a path breaking album for many reasons. Each song was a gem. I don't listen to this album often because I have to concentrate on each song fully to get all the nuances. (And we still fail :) )

'chirichende manasile' from 'Anuraga Kottaram'

A Mohanam based lovely melody. The tune is so very unpredictable.

'kenu mayangiyo' from 'Kallu Kandoru Pennu'

A very different kind of song from Raja. A sad song with a middle eastern touch. Chitra is so very good in this song.

'rim jhim ragam padi' from 'Manjeeradhwani'

One more melody which has high energy

I will end this thread with a person favorite of mine. The brilliantly jazzy 'Shivamallipoove'

Based on Shanmukhapriya and brilliantly delivered by Chitra, this was a sign of new Raja. The Raja of the 21st Century. We will look at the Raja of 2000s and beyond in MFM a few days later

Thanks for following along and for all the interaction. Will meet again in a few days with the post 2000s songs (and there are many excellent melodies lying there)