Tamil

Tamil is the language spoken primarily in Tamil Nadu, the southern-most state in India and home to the unofficial southern capital, Chennai (formerly Madras). Tamil Nadu offers a wealth of folk traditions, including pulayar, a hill tribe music that often includes bird mimicry and accompanies traditional dances. Kulavi is the music of women farmers, and nayyandi melam is a folk interpretation of the classical Carnatic tradition. But film music is the state's true love; the first film was screened in Tamil Nadu in 1897, and over a century later Tamil films are second only to Bollywood pictures. Tamil films have spawned such talents as composer/music director A.R. Rahman, director Mani Ratnam and the revered composer Ilayaraja, who transformed Carnatic raags (melodies) into top-selling pop hits.