SOTD #796: oththaiyadi paathaiyilE from nimirnthu nil

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Song of the Day: oththaiyadi paathaiyilE from nimirnthu nil.

http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/796.html

- Udhaya writes:

Song: oththaiyadi paathaiyilE
Film: Nimirnthu Nil
Singers: TMS, PS
MD: MSV
Lyricist: Vaali

CSR and Ramesh, your request is being honored, thanks for your patience. As I mentioned before, this song didn't completely set foot in the themmAngu category because of a certain reticent formality in the rendition. The diction doesn't have the colloquialism and ease that IR brought to TFM. This by no means is an indication of the composer or singers' limitation. It could have been a concerted effort by the movie makers to project the song in a middle of the road way to accomodate any scenery when filming, who knows!

All this nitpicking is only for the sake of my themmAngu categorization, which the song certainly didn't require to exist. The song by itself is a winner on many levels. The more I listen to MSV and KVM's oldies, the more amazed I am at how effortlessly their sandhams climb and cascade without getting far from the central melody. This looms as a larger feat when compared to contemporary TFM songs where the sandham lies etherized, flatlining its meager existence. MSV's tune sweeps us into a picturesque meadow spreading to an endless horizon, buoyed by hollow beats and a melodic flute. Regardless of our agreement on the
song's themmAngu quotient, it's melodic thrall on us is undeniable.

[guest. ramesh.p]

Dear Udhaya

Thanks a lot. You are right , this one was picturised in dream sequence.

MSV's tune sweeps us into a picturesque meadow spreading to an endless horizon, buoyed by hollow beats and a melodic flute

I will fly back to village atmosphere whenever I hear this flute piece.

once again thanks.

regards
ramesh

[Guest]

Good pick Udaya.One of my fav. TMS could have played down a bit. But we are looking at a 60s song in 2006 perspective! RaviC was the man with the midas touch then.

Problem with TFM is one song would lead you to hum another. I have been humming Shankar-Ganesh's "Palabishekam" song by VJ "aalamarathu kiLi". The sandhams of the charanam "piLLayil osandha piLLa" sound pretty similar to this song's pallavi.

OISG

[Udhaya]

Ramesh,

I'm glad you got to enjoy it. If this was a dream sequence, then the middle of the way treading with the rendition makes sense.

OISG,

Thrilled to have you back with us. I've missed your knowledge and whipsharp wit. The connection between 'aalamaraththuk kili' and 'oththaiyadi' is so obvious after you bring it up. I guess instances such as this would make untrained ears like mine mutter, "engEyO kEtta mAthiri irukkE" without the exact source.

Once in awhile such connections occur to me by accident. Humming ARR's 'kARRE en vAsal vanthAi' led me to IR's 'nI kEttAl nAn mAttEn enRa solvEn' which in turn led me to MSV's 'AgAyap pandhalilE'.

[Guest]

Thank You Udhaya and Balaji for the song. Sorry for the delayed reply.

While the definition of themmangu allows it or not, as you rightly say, its folkish melody sweeps you apart. While the words and rendition needs to be compared alongwith other contemporary songs to categorise this, I rate this as another "Thaazhaiyam poo mudichu" equivalent on many aspects. Anybody who plays this in a keyboard can realise how "free flowing" (like a river stream) this song is covering all ranges of the scale!

Slowly one day Udhaya may change even his definitions to include this song!

Again Many Thanks for this wonderful song.

CSR

[KRISHNAN. K]

I have gone through all the songs classified as "Themangu". Nowhere anyone has spelt out the grammar or requisities of the same. I would like to know clearly the basis on which a particular song has been classified or left out of the category.

[Udhaya]

Krishnan,

In the very first themmAngu thread I had outlined some characteristics to designate a song as themmAngu. In a few of the early threads this point came up again and again and got refined, contested, and expanded.

I just came up with some criteria that made sense to me, based on my reading up on folk songs and their origin. None of this is set in stone. If you don't consider a song as themmAngu, just say it with or without proof and it will get added to everyone's views on the subject.

This is just an informal attempt at looking at certain songs that have a certain flavor to them in a new context. By no means is this a definitive delineation of themmAngu or its part in TFM.

[mythila]

Sounds fresh even after decades have rolled by. The flute is captivating. PS's voice has the sweetness of "ELaneer" [That short twirls she gves to the word "kaNNukuLLe" is interesting]