SOTD #884: anbu mEgamE from engammaa sabatham

[bb]

Song of the Day: anbu mEgamE from engammaa sabatham.

http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/884.html

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- Udhaya writes:

Song: anbu megame ingu Odi vaa
Film: Engammaa Sabatham
Singers: SPB, VJ
MD: Vijayabasker

I can never forget this forgettable movie because of this song. I can never forget the lackluster Eliots beach because of this song. I can never forget Vijayabasker because of this song. In fact, this is the song that got me hooked on Vijayabasker and made me unearth all his wonderful tunes.

Hearing this song in my pre-puberty days, I was already feeling privy to a certain alien sensation that was to arrive thanks to this song. There was this inexplicable flavor of affection that I hadn't experienced until that point in my life and I was yearning for whatever it was when I heard this song.

Every time I hear this, my mind tiptoes through the beach sand under a smoky moon where the warmth of a lover's hug waited not too far.

- KMW_Shoe noted the lyrics here: http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=169

- Wouldn't this have been a perfect song for A.M.Raja?

Tags: S.P.B , Vani Jayaram , Vijayabhaskar

[Udhaya]

bb,

A.M. Raja would've been soothing and melodious, no doubt. I can hear him sing 'anbu deviyE' in his signature style. But the emotional longing that SPB registers here just makes it unfair to compare with anybody else.

[Cinema Virumbi]

Friends,

Sometime in 1974, I saw this B/W film at Chromepet Vetri. The film had MN Rajam as engamma with Muthurman, Vidhubala (daughter of magician Bhagyaraj), Sivakumar, Jayachitra, Major and Asokan (I think the sabhatham was against Asokan). For a change, the viewer is kept guessing throughout whether Asokan is a villain or not! Towards the end, Major, MNR’s jailed husband, emerges as a hoax and Asokan the nice and mistaken guy!

In one scene, Jayachitra and Vidhubala display some Karate talents on ‘pEttai’ rowdies with Siva and Muthu restricted to only applauding, making you realize that any hero/ heroine/ comedian/ character artiste can easily perform these dummy feats on screen!!! (I think several years later, in 'Pandian' or some such film, Rajini keeps watching while Khushboo fights the villains, a sequence which was not at all digested by his die hard fans! ‘enna thalaivaa?! pombaLap puLLa fight pOduthu! nee summa vEdikkai paarkkiRiyE’ types!!). The other pleasing song in this film was ‘vaa, iLamai azhaikkiRathu! en idhayam inikkinRathu!............. kanavu palikkinRathu’.

Another Jayachitra film which was a roaring hit around the same time was ‘akkaraip pachchai’.

[OISG]

A.M.Raja :?:
BB,your கற்பனைக் குதிரை needs a Jikki...er..Jockey.AMR was a good singer. But in this song SPB has taken great efforts singing in a low-heavy pitch to bring the night effect. I fully concur with Udhaya.

This song is an all-time classic and whenever you talk about VB you need to need to mention this song.

Perhaps the best song AMR missed was "நீ ஒரு காதல் சங்கீதம்" from நாயகன்.

[vengayam]

I know that I am again risking " Saravanan & udaya" raising eyebrows but let truth be told I am not a great fan of Vijayabhaskar. I always find him to be a sort of half way house between Shankar- ganesh and MSV. I felt that Tamil Film Industry gave him ample opportunities. the "underrated " tag does not wash with me. Even in this 3.11 minute song, after a somewhat safe opening the song meanders into mediocrity. The way VJ splits thunai as thuu naai is a bit annoying. SPB also has lost the cute telugu accent without getting the pucca tamizh accent. so over all so so!
I mark SPB's career into three phases
1. initial ayiram nilave vaa, iyarkkai ennum, malligaipoo vaangi vandhen
aval oru navarasa naadagam, angam puthu vidham cute telugu singing
2. Kamban emandhan to sippi irukkuthu to kannil enna to innum enna seyya pogiri where hejust could not go wrong belting one great number after another
3. post innum enna to present where his voice is in tact but something is missing the joy , challenge, whatever.

In between stages one and two there were some numbers where his efforts wavered between mastering the language and joy of expression -with mixed results. this song at least for me fits into this category.

By the way wasn't "vanaja girija " an updated coloured version of " engamma sabatham" ? urvashi angle was added along perhaps.

[app_engine]

தூக்கத்தில் நடக்கிற (அல்லது அது போல் நடிக்கிற) பாட்டுத்தானே இது?

One of those very few movies that I watched in theater during childhood with parents...

An average song and I tend to agree with vengayam on this song...

but I loved SPB during this period too -தேன் சிந்துதே வானம்...உன்னை நான் பார்த்தது வெண்ணிலா வேளையில்...on a hottu summeru morning...all those songs were from this period I think...

[vinatha]

Nice , nice , very nice, Udhaya!

[vijay]

Terrific song. SPB wipes VJ off completely(sorry hardcore VJ fans). I would have thought this was already made SOTD long time back considering all the unsung MDs being feautured here. I am surprised. Anytime this song gets in my mind early in the day, end up humming it for the rest of the day. AM Raja does'nt have the required heaviness/depth in his voice to pull off a song like this. PBS would have been a touch too bassy. This is something made for SPB. The tune and the flow is excellent throughout.

[Udhaya]

vengayam,

Dakshinamurthy-ai paRRi karuththu vERupaadu irundhadhu. Vijayabaskeraip paRRi koLgai, ilakkaNa, agaraathi aLavil vERupaadu vandhuvittathu.

naam enRaavathu sandhiththaal ulaga nadappaip paRRi pEsuvOm. isaiyaip poruththamattil naam vERRu mozhikkaarargaL!

[OISG]

Vengayam , I am surprised indeed. VB certainly was somewhere between SG and MSV. To me VB is the unsettling bouncer TFM sent to MSV followed by the yorker that was IR. (Maragathamani was the bouncer that IR faced followed by the inswinging yorker that was ARR).VB was the first genuine alternative that TFM had in 1970s to MSV.(Pre-IR days i mean). மயங்குகிறாள் ஒரு மாது is a landmark album.

Lets look at the pre-IR days MSV alternatives.

KVM was never a threat and by mid70s he had found his Caymen islands in NTR land. GKV could not get out of MSV mould despite delivering hits in Kannada. SG were wayward but they gleefully accepted the 2 place.VK lacked the fire the unsettle MSV .Kunnakudi was -in your terms :) a "Ummachi" pada MD. We saw single song hits from Govardhan (varaprasadam) Jaya-Vijaya (Padha Poojai) and some others. MBS kept himself out of contention. "swami" had just a couple of forays into TFM during 1970s.In such a scenario VB delivered hits and for a brief period was the choice of Balachander,CVS,SPM.(In fact durig that period SPM was considered a director of substance!).

This song i remember was a chart-topper for some considerable time during those days and SPB is just mind-blowing.

[Anniyan]

CV,

Certainly VB was a welcome change in pre-IR tfm scenario. He never had the influence of any MD and had a style of his own and did some splendid wonderful tunes in Mayangugiraal ...and Kaalangalil aval vasantham. Even his Manajal poosi manjam konda...(Kovai Soundararajan and L R Anjali) was unique and very pleasant that time.

[Nazir sultan]

Wonderful song.

I used to listen on Cyclon Radio in my boyhood.

It gives glad whenever listen with wonderful singing of my favorite SPB.

Thanks

[vengayam]

udhaya,
I think we would be better off discussing music! ulaga vishayangallil " en vazhi thani vazhi".
coming back to Vijayabaskar. I have never said that he is bad or anything. I have listened to his songs, liked some disliked some . My feeling is that I could not discern any separate style that was a departure from the existing trend ( MSV of course)
OISG,
I totally disagree that Vijayabaskar shook MSV even a wee bit. no bouncer or yorker here. Ithu eppadi irukku enraal
"Balwinder singh sandhu was the only reason of India's 1983 triumph "
romba over ithu!
I like his "oru puram vedan" "manjal poosi" etc . enakku oho enru padavillai. that is all.
If you mention jaya vijaya, why did you leave out L Vaithyanathan. He was good. shyam was good in a couple of movies. govardhan had "pattanathil bootham " also.
But by and large TFm can be categorised for convenience into
G R era
Visu Ramu
MSV
IR
ARR.
that does not mean there were other MDs like KVM,SMS, CRS SG etc.
I think for you(udhaya,OISG, Saravanan?) Vijayabaskar represented what Bharadwhaj and Deva (yes I do like him a lot
) is to me.

[Cinema Virumbi]

OISG,

In your analysis of the Pre IR period, you have mentioned CV Sridhar and K Balachander working with Vijayabhaskar. I think both ' SowndharyamE Varuga Varuga' (IMO, the only Sridhar & VB film) and 'Thapputh ThaaLangaL' (Again IMO , the only KB & VB fim) were released in 1978-79, which is clearly the Post- IR period as IR entered the TFM scene with 'annakkiLi' in May 1976!

Also, the question of Maragathamani alias Keeravani alias MM Kreem shaking IR at any point of time simply doesn't arise!

[vengayam]

OISG,
As CV has pointed out , thappu thaalangal was the only KB movie for VB.the project fell into VB's lap because MSV wanted the title to be changed! MSV could not score "thappu thaalam" KB felt the script demanded the title and the rest is " geography" :wink:

while on the shooting stars,
I liked ML srikkanth (ninaippathu niraiverrum)
sivajiraja( chinna chinna megham song)
chandrabose was ok (mathurageetham in spite of "inspiration")

sulamangalam-
(vtarasu- sirgazhi ) was also ok in a certain genre. may be we should add in "Pastor " magamayi" Rajan! By the way was it rajalakshmi or Jayalakshmi who weilded the baton ?
Did Joseph krishna score for any movie like the other MSV assistants- goverdhan, sam (shyam)?
kelvi inge Saravanan enge?
On conclusion I want to add that I always wanted Vijayabaskar to do well - as an underdog- make no bones about it. I am just not comfortable with VB being given an "extrordinary composer " tag. MOM was good but by no means was it a landmark!.
KN , Karnan,16 vayathinile( more than Annakilli),salangaioli ( for a dubbed movie), Roja and again sticking my neck out Boys these are landmark albums!

[Babu]

I started listening to this, without any idea of what song it was. And when it started, wow! As udhaya mentioned, I had heard this in my pre-adolesent days and had immensely liked it. I still remember this song and the lyrics after all these years! Human mind is incredible.

Thanks udhaya.

[KRISHNAN K]

Surprised at "yardsticks" being set for evaluating MDs. I do not think that is fair. It also depends on individual "rasanai". V.Kumar for example has produced some wonderful songs ( movies like Velli Vizha, ethir neechal, school master etc). For sure KVM was not a threat but it equally true that no MD was a threat to his talent. Songs from Thiruvilaiyadal etc. still find no equals. I visualise music directors like sweets. Some prefer one to the other.

[rajsrini]

Krishnan, 'talent evalulation-la enna democracy? All vengayam is saying is that VB isnt anywhere near MSV , which is not a unreasonable statement to make. VB kuppainu solli iurndha quesiton panni irukkalam.
Perhaps, 20 years hence Bharadwaj and SAR will receive similar status (as conferred upon VB here) in a similar forum. That wouldnt change the fact that they are/were midgets when compared to the giants of the era like IR, ARR... idhula politically correct -a all MDs are equal-nu sonna , well, difficult to accept. MSV is a great MD - this is a fact irrespective of individual taste or opinion. VB as good as MSV-nu oruthar sonna...well...that can only be a matter of taste/opinion.

Liking a song or not could be a matter of taste but greatness is conferred upon , rather recognised in people based on consistent excellence - and on that score, VB can never, never be the equal of MSV. Infact, nor can KVM.

[vijay]

SAR and Bharadwaj wont be bestowed with any status 20 years from now. Maybe utmost, they might get Veda's status(if at all he has any status). Whereas VB, much like MaragadhamaNi or Hamsalekha, will be regarded as one of those very successful other language composers(kannada in the case of VB) who also forayed into TFM and in spite of doing very less movies still managed to leave a mark with a handful of memorable melodies

[app_engine]

vijay:-)

vEdA status'kku dEvA irukkar'nnu maRandhutteengaLA? ivangaLukku adhuvum koodakkidaikkAdhu...ayyO pAvam...

[vijay]

Deva, despite his lifts, has probably given more original songs to remember than both SAR and Bharadwaj combined

[genesis]

Happy to see YSR is not even in the discussion! :)

[vinatha]

அன்பு மேகமே இங்கு ஓடிவா .......பாடலை ஜாலியா this cool , cloudy night கேட்டுண்டே walk வந்தேன்.
recalled உதயா's குட்டி posting about his feelings /fondness for this romantic song .
kind of nice ... good old dhool days with உதயா and his picks ...ம்ம்ம்ம் :)
thanks, Balaji.
Vinatha.