Of songs and Situations - 2
“Kanmani..anbodu..kadhalan..naan”
Just these starting lines, in the nasal voice of kamal are enough to trigger the entire song. What an awesome composition by IR and amazing lyrics by the evergreen vaali !! Such is the magic of the song that, even after 3 decades, some of the catch phrases from the song have become regular every day dialogues, like, including “maaney theney” for fillers and the best of all being “manidhar unarndhu kolla” which is used to describe anything that is unmatchable in feel – parody or otherwise. Everything about that song oozes with uniqueness and wow. The location, which was till then known as devils kitchen, became renamed as “guna caves”. And such was the craze to visit those 500 plus feet deep cave that, the government actually had to ban tourists from flocking those dangerous locations. Wonder, how in the world, they moved camera and crew, in and out of that place!! Kudos to the technical team. Guess the song algorithm, that picked this song, must’ve matched the release dates of Guna and Dhalapathi, for in no other way possible, could’ve two blockbuster albums of movies that were chalk and cheese in their genre could’ve been picked back to back.
Coming back to the song, guess it is both time lucky for kamal, where he has managed to score two super duper hit songs, one each with kannadasan and vaali on similar genre – question/answer type of song situation or in this case, on conversation mode. If it was “Chippi irukuthu muthum irukuthu” from Varumaiyin niram sigappu with kannadasan, vaali takes the honours in this song. Both the songs having one theme in common being, the hero expressing his love for heroine in a roundabout manner, through the song. While in Guna, the fact that he falls in love with heroine, is revealed/expressed/shouted on top of his voice/baring his soul out open, in the former movie, subtlety steals the scene. The heroine, who acted only in this movie and vanished from tinsel town altogether is no match for the effervescent sridevi. But She still holds on to her role to the extent possible. Probably her look of awe could be more real, considering the performer in front of her, who had totally transformed himself. Guna, though being a flop movie, could’ve been a block buster and made a shining start to their career had someone else played that role. But could anyone have played it with such conviction as kamal is highly doubtful. The way he jumps over the stones, his reactions during the song, having sung it himself, must’ve really helped as well, were top notch.
Giving love letter to their lady love is probably the most embarrassingly difficult yet sweet task for any lover couple. But conceiving a situation where in one of the pair themselves write the letter, meant for her, quoted by the person, who wants to write it for her, was an awesome imagination and different level of creativity. Coupled with the genius that was IlayarRaja, you’ve covered all your bases. There is a section in the song, where it goes silent for couple of seconds, whenever kamal has talkie portions. Wonder how IR would’ve conceived it!!! Definitely make sense for it to be a collaborative effort between him, vaali and probably kamal/director as well. Finally, after mouthing the famous line around his pristine love, the song that also serves as a lullaby for the heroine, stops for a couple of more seconds and the “laa la laa laa laa la” portions begins. The camera angle would be going higher and higher, travelling along with the sound waves, outside of the cave, into the dark blue sky. If the accompanying music doesn’t uplift one along with it, I don’t know what else can or will. Probably, one of those rare songs, which could never have been better picturized, one where the lyrics, tune, acting, camera work everything blends into such a magical mix that one leads effortlessly into another.
Just these starting lines, in the nasal voice of kamal are enough to trigger the entire song. What an awesome composition by IR and amazing lyrics by the evergreen vaali !! Such is the magic of the song that, even after 3 decades, some of the catch phrases from the song have become regular every day dialogues, like, including “maaney theney” for fillers and the best of all being “manidhar unarndhu kolla” which is used to describe anything that is unmatchable in feel – parody or otherwise. Everything about that song oozes with uniqueness and wow. The location, which was till then known as devils kitchen, became renamed as “guna caves”. And such was the craze to visit those 500 plus feet deep cave that, the government actually had to ban tourists from flocking those dangerous locations. Wonder, how in the world, they moved camera and crew, in and out of that place!! Kudos to the technical team. Guess the song algorithm, that picked this song, must’ve matched the release dates of Guna and Dhalapathi, for in no other way possible, could’ve two blockbuster albums of movies that were chalk and cheese in their genre could’ve been picked back to back.
Coming back to the song, guess it is both time lucky for kamal, where he has managed to score two super duper hit songs, one each with kannadasan and vaali on similar genre – question/answer type of song situation or in this case, on conversation mode. If it was “Chippi irukuthu muthum irukuthu” from Varumaiyin niram sigappu with kannadasan, vaali takes the honours in this song. Both the songs having one theme in common being, the hero expressing his love for heroine in a roundabout manner, through the song. While in Guna, the fact that he falls in love with heroine, is revealed/expressed/shouted on top of his voice/baring his soul out open, in the former movie, subtlety steals the scene. The heroine, who acted only in this movie and vanished from tinsel town altogether is no match for the effervescent sridevi. But She still holds on to her role to the extent possible. Probably her look of awe could be more real, considering the performer in front of her, who had totally transformed himself. Guna, though being a flop movie, could’ve been a block buster and made a shining start to their career had someone else played that role. But could anyone have played it with such conviction as kamal is highly doubtful. The way he jumps over the stones, his reactions during the song, having sung it himself, must’ve really helped as well, were top notch.
Giving love letter to their lady love is probably the most embarrassingly difficult yet sweet task for any lover couple. But conceiving a situation where in one of the pair themselves write the letter, meant for her, quoted by the person, who wants to write it for her, was an awesome imagination and different level of creativity. Coupled with the genius that was IlayarRaja, you’ve covered all your bases. There is a section in the song, where it goes silent for couple of seconds, whenever kamal has talkie portions. Wonder how IR would’ve conceived it!!! Definitely make sense for it to be a collaborative effort between him, vaali and probably kamal/director as well. Finally, after mouthing the famous line around his pristine love, the song that also serves as a lullaby for the heroine, stops for a couple of more seconds and the “laa la laa laa laa la” portions begins. The camera angle would be going higher and higher, travelling along with the sound waves, outside of the cave, into the dark blue sky. If the accompanying music doesn’t uplift one along with it, I don’t know what else can or will. Probably, one of those rare songs, which could never have been better picturized, one where the lyrics, tune, acting, camera work everything blends into such a magical mix that one leads effortlessly into another.
Comments
But I'll forgive you. The song from Varumaiyin niram sigappu is a bonafide inclusion in the classic genre. Although I would have rather preferred you go even more back !