As the second largest film industry in India, the Tamil Cinema of southern India, also known as Kollywood, while being lesser-known than the highly-publicized Bollywood, is no less influential, auspicious, and daring. Going as far back as 1917, it has a richly devoted heritage having profound effects on the filmmaking history of India, and in particular through its unique and overlooked spirit from countless composer talents, adventurous, adept, freeform, and whimsical..

As the first compilation of Tamil recordings, 'Play That Beat Mr. Raja' covers only a smattering of selected music from 1984-1991, cataloging only the shining examples of an unlisted lack of boundaries, the southern Indian identity, and the free influence of the west. In their own world of soundtracks, the styles vary as quickly as the pace, with little withheld, anything but typical, but maintaining an oddity of composition and arrangement. Listening is pure transport, filling with sights and smells of the spicy darkness of theaters. The playfulness is cinematic, folkloric, and audacious. It is vintage and entirely unique, an augmented collection of classic world music.