SOTD #600: pOtri paadadi poNNE from Devar Magan

[bb]

Song of the Day: pOtri paadadi poNNE from Devar Magan.

http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/600.html

- Song of the Day hits # 600! Thanks to all of you for your kind support!

- Sung by Sunderrajan, Mano and Kalaivaanan. Music by Ilayaraja. Lyrics by Vaali.

I took out and looked at the cassette that I had bought when Devar Magan's music originally came out. The price was 29 Rupees, by AVM Audio. The credits don't mention Ilayaraja as a singer for this song. I think I bought the cassettes of Devar Magan and Pandiyan together; my Pandiyan cassette was dumped long time ago.

Devar Magan was a milestone in Tamil Film History. Few films had the scope and the depth that Devar Magan had. Kamalhasan once mentioned that writing Devar Magan was equivalent to writing a couple of novels. The story was an epic and would probably go down as the best one that Kamal ever wrote.

On paper, the story looks like one that could have been split into 2-3 films. A history of feud between brothers, a son who has left the village and has become alien to its sentiments, a love affair between the son and an urban girl, rising tensions between the two families, death of the father and the son's ascension to the throne, the sacrifice of his love, his coming to terms with his new naive wife, his desire for an egalitarian social setup and to get rid of the feudal landscape, the sabotage of the village ceremony and the final climax.. phew! These are subjects that are worth a detailed look over several films. The bane of Tamil cinema, as always, is to cramp as many subjects as possible into one film, thereby losing its focus. Our films throw the concept of a three-act structure out of the window and easily run into seven or eight acts. Devar Magan falls for this as well. As a result, we end up with a sprawling, long film. That it still managed to keep the attention of the viewer is really a big achievement of the film.

BTW, did I mention an initial fight to show off that the hero knows how to fight, a song praising him as a "thamizhachi paal kudichchavan" and a struggle over a temple that is claimed by both families, a tale of an ineffective police unable to do anything without witnesses?

Devar Magan has given some of the most memorable scenes in tamil movies. The scene featuring Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal where Sivaji tries to persuade Kamal to stay back, with rain falling on the background, was one of the best scenes featuring Sivaji in a long time. The close-up side shot of Kamal and Nasser warning each other has been done over and over in several films. A simple shot of Revathi feeling a tickle and thinking that it was Kamal only to realize that it was not him but a strand of flowers in her first night, was such a poetic way of portraying the situation. Good films boast a couple of great scenes. Devar Magan had at least half a dozen.

Devar Magan had a good acting and technical ensemble that elevated the film. It was Sivaji Ganesan's best role in quite a while, no over the top acting that Sivaji was known for, a role that made us feel bad about how the tamil film industry wasted such a talented actor. Nasser stood up and even stole a few scenes from Kamal. Gowthami played her part very well. It was Revathi's performance that I didn't quite agree with. She won the best supporting actress national award for her role, but I thought it was an amateurish caricature of a simple village girl. Every scene with Revathi seemed to tell me that she was consciously portraying a naive girl. It was not a natural performance. Thalaivasal Vijay, Kaakkaa Radhakrishnan, Vadivelu, S.N.Lakshmi, even Sangili Murugan and Madan Bob did well. Renuka went unnoticed in her role as Thalaivasal Vijay's wife, till she hit big time with her TV serials.

It is hard to say what Bharathan contributed to the film. In Kamal's films, the directors are usually dummies, but Bharathan was not a pushover either. There were stories of a rift between Kamal and Bharathan during the filming. The life behind the visuals was P.C.Sreeram. He has said in countless interviews that he wanted to portray the color of the earth, a brown motif, for the movie. Ilayaraja's music was one of his finest. In a film where the songs could have easily been the the ones to drag the film down, inji iduppazhagi and pOtrip paadadi poNNE turned out to be classics.

pOtrip paadadi poNNE is one of my favorite songs. The prelude and the first interlude were probably his best. I distinctly remember the first time I heard the song. I listened to the pallavi and then thought, "No way these voices would go on for the entire song, SPB would clearly take over after the pallavi". I was proven wrong, and that was the best decision for the song. Just as the first interlude starts, the village women wading through red chillies on brown earth in slow motion, was the best piece of editing to go along with the music, since the jump of sheep synchronized to the music in "azhagiya kaNNE". The only sore point in the rustic song is the "ding dong dOi" that somehow doesn't sound like what the folks would really sing like.

- SOTD #500 : uLLamellaam thaLLaadudhE from dhoorathu idi muzhakkam.
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/500.html

- SOTD #400 : paadum pOthu naan thendral kaaRRu from nEtru indru naaLai, madai thirandhu from nizhalgaL.
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/400.html

- SOTD #300 : chinna chinna aasai from Roja.
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/300.html

- SOTD # 200 : thendral vandhu theeNdum pOdhu from avathaaram.
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/200.html

SOTD # 100 went unnoticed :)

[sssss]

Thanks 600 Golden songs !

Very good effort... keep it up.
Best wishes

[Saravanan]

Congrats bb! Great going!

And a wonderful pick to celebrate with!

This song, along with the other bits, is perhaps the haunting soul of the movie. And all the bits put together, the short Sivaji version (his unforgettable ‘yEi kutti kazhuthai…paadhilaya thodangRathu, mudha adiya paadRee’), the heartrending 'vaanam thottup pOna maanamuLLa saami' and ‘vettaRuva thaangi veesugiRa ooril’ both beginning with the chorus voices, with SPB taking over in style, and ending with 'pOtRip paadadip poNNE', manage to narrate the entire story.

bb, really enjoyed your write-up too. OISG often feels that Devar Magan is an example of a “Complete film” and I find myself agreeing with him. And as you have written, the film has so many unforgettable scenes with ample scope for nearly every actor to have his/share of the limelight. Gowthami’s train scene was an eye-opener about her acting capabilities.. her ‘Go..man..go’ was filled with so much repressed anguish. Kallapart Natarajan’s performance when Revathi’s marriage gets stalled (one wonders what serendipity made Kamal recall such forgotten old-timers like Kallapart and Kaka!), Vadivelu’s dialogue about the loss of his hand, S.N.Lakshmi telling Kamal to go ahead and kill her son…these are scenes that stand out with among the best performances that Tamil Cinema has ever come across. A great film.

I remember this film being released for Deepavali ’92. If I remember right, it fell on 25th October that year, and I was immersed in my CA exam that was scheduled for the first week of November. I had to wait impatiently till they got over (I had forbidden even my friends who were not doing CA from watching it till then :) ), and the day the exams got over, we all went to Prarthana to watch this film.

Btw, other films that were released for Deepavali ’92: Rajini’s Pandiyan, Satyaraj’s Thirumathi Pazhanisami, Saratkumar’s Thaaimozhi, Prabhu’s Senthamizh Paattu, Bhagyaraj’s Rasukkutti, and Vijayakanth’s Kaaviyathalaivan.

[Ravi]

SOTD is a great collection. Thanks to the organizers for taking their time and effort to give valuable insights into these songs.

Is there a way to play these songs randomly or through some sort of selection?

And is there a place/thread to suggest songs?

Thank you.

Ravi

[rags]

Way to go BB,Sara and MS. Congratulations.

[Guest]

Dear bb,
Nalla selection.Unga write up nalla iruku.Indha film song album vandha time Deeoavali time.Sad version ketta podhu ninaithu kondaen"Intha timeil yen kamal oru sogamana film release pannanumnu"
Saravanan,naan solla ninaithadhai neenga solliteenga!!!
Lyrics ku value koduthu ezhudha patta song.
Thangathuku veru matru unda kooru
kalangadhae raasa kalam porakkum
nalliravu sendra pinnae velli muliakum!!! nam feelings kum serthu , ezhudhapatta varligala nianithu kolvaen.

Enaku dhideerenru indha film ninavu vandhadhu.
Rusi kanda Poonai.
Indha filmil oru song matum dhan kettu irukaen.Sung by S.Janaki.
song;Kanna nee engae.She sings lle a child.
Matra songs ellam eppavo oru dharam kettu irukaen.
1.En nejam unnodu
2.Enna sugam andha sugam
3.Sandhana mettu
Unga listil indha song ellam serthu kolveergala?
With Love,
Usha Sankar.

[aruvi]

I didn't really enjoy this film till I got older. I remember the hype that went behind "Inji iduppalaki" and thinking what's wrong with these people. But I must say, I think that this is one of those albums where every one of IR's songs, bits and whole, were a gem. I had the opportunity to see it again a few months back. I have to say that my favourite scenes were b/w Kamal and Sivaji. I especially loved Sivaji's reaction when Kamal tells him he is not leaving the village. He was a great actor.

[OISG]

Milestones………….Devar Magan’s songs would suit 1000th and even 10000th.

Feroz Khan saw Godfather, made the atrocious Dharmathma and if Hagen had seen it I am sure the horse’s head would have be replaced by Feroz’s. MR saw it and made Nayagan, a work vacillating between inspired and unabashed copy. Scores of Indian film makers saw and we may even have a Ramarajan or a Rahul Roy version :wink: . But none has seen the movie the way Kamal had seen and with an Indian perspective. When all other versions would simply go down the drain as “copied” Kamal’s Devar Magan will alone stand the test of time under “Inspired” column.

From IR to PCS on the back screen and from Sivaji to KaLLapart on screen, I am able to see Kamal’s contribution, his all pervading greed to make a memorable movie and to touch a chord the way C V Sridhar attempted in the 1960s and Mahendran in the late 70s.

A run-down story of village feud, few feudalistic lords throwing up tantrums, violence, some mega scenes and where does the “inspiration from Godfather” come from?
1.Puzo’s characters were excerpts from real Lanksys and Al Capones from the Bronx and so are Kamal’s characters -you could bump into any one or all of them from Manamadurai to Kariapatti to Theni. Right from conducting a car festival to handing down the charge to wards, everything is fixed; the laws and rules, never written, but never would they change for centuries.
2. A touch of irony –the values attached to family and family life by both Sicillians and the Devar Community despite their trigger-happy daily life.
3. A wayward first son- not the right choice to take over
4. An introvert second son who takes up the job reluctantly
5. A love abroad
6. Portrayal of father –son relationship. Vito’s belief in Michael tallies with Periya Thevar’s confidence in Shakthi.
7.Kay’s walkout and Gauthami’s
8. The confusions of Kallapart and his Italian counterpart in Godfather
9. Roth’s looks and Kaka Radhakrishnan’s

Above all Kamal could indianize the subtle violence – “kaLuvura kailaE thinganum thingara kailE kaLuvanum” is the synopsis of violence equivalent to “Made him an offer he can’t refuse”

As for the music IR could translate Kamal’s visual thoughts into music ( the scene when Masarau ponnE starts shows how involved the MD is )and the movie should remain among one of his top 10 works with NizhalgaL,Johny. Unfortunately Devar Magan was the only movie to match & utilize his musical genius in the 90s. Kamal, SJ,SPB have given IR the needed output to perfection.

Chitra won the national for her the Hindi “Inji iduppazhaga”. You get an advantage when singing with Kumar Sanu – even I would sound like SPB/BMK if Sanu is my co-singer. To become an HCIRF listen to the Hindi version’s songs by Anu Malik.

Great choice BB. Last week when things turned pretty bad at work, I reached home late, logged on Dhool and listened to all my favourite songs for almost 4 hours non-stop. I could not have asked for a better relaxation process. Thanks pal. I told this to Saravanan too,over phone. Your team is doing a great job.

[eden]

great choice, bb! congrats for reaching the 600 milestone!

You guys have kindled my interest to watch this movie...Though I loved the songs, I never cared for this film before (because of having enough of violence on screen and the title of the name smells blood:-() Looks like there had been a few good scenes with great performance by Sivaji and others...will watch in the next opportunity...

[eden]

OISG, didn't SJ win NA for inji as well?...

[rajdes]

Congrats BB , Saravanan , MS and everyone else involved . You are doing a great job.
OISG, a heart-felt post - enjoyed it though I wonder if you could call Shakti introverted ? ("Sandhu pottu, sandhana pottu ...thaamizhachi paal kudichavanda - doesnt sound like an introverted character, does it? )

[rajdes]

Congrats BB , Saravanan , MS and everyone else involved . You are doing a great job.
OISG, a heart-felt post - enjoyed it though I wonder if you could call Shakti introverted ? ("Sandhu pottu, sandhana pottu ...thaamizhachi paal kudichavanda - doesnt sound like an introverted character, does it? )

[Guest]

a Class song

and great lyrics by Vaali

[Star]

nice choice for 600th song. After dilly-dallying for over a year, parents finally agreed to get a cable connection. rmbr my mother eagerly questioning the cable guy when he will put Devar Magan as the 9 PM cable movie.

[bb]

Mathy wrote:

thanks bb for the wonderful service you have been doing.

-Mathy

[Lokesh]

Saravana,
Beautiful article. Straight, simple, down to earth, humble.


There is a dearth of activity in the forum. V Kumar thread is also inactive. The only solace is SOTD. Which is often too little.

[rajesh]

BB, i do remember the scene in which Sivaji Ganeshan approaches Kamal not to go out of the village...

Earlier Kamal would have said..he will start a restaurant in a city....
Sivaji would react to that in this scene..by telling Kamal to include
himself in the restaurant for the Grinding job.... he would struggle
to tell the word Grinder....instead he would say..intha...ithuu ...athaaamla
intha.. ithu and at the same time...his actions will be that of grinding...
A typical action by as a Villager... that you can't find in any other actor.
May be , its an idea from Kamal Hassan...

I hope i have conveyed what i meant in that scene...

Another one malarum ninaivugal about this film....i do remember rushing for this film along with the queue :lol: with all of my fellow class mates....since it was a deepavali release for Kamal...

Regards
Rajesh

[Guest]

devar 'magan' is the son of god 'father'

[guest]

this song could be used for strepsils ad. what's others opinion ?