http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/624.html
- Saravanan writes:
'kaadhalenum kaaviyam’ from vattathukkuL sathuram.
Sung by Jikki. Lyrics by Panju Arunachalam. Music by Ilaiyaraja.
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vattathukkuL sathuram (1978/ MAM Films) starred Latha, Sumitra, Saratbabu, Srikanth, Savitri, Thengai Srinivasan, V.Gopalakrishnan, C.K.Saraswathi and others. The film was produced by N.S.Mani and directed by S.P.Muthuraman.
It was a trend at that time to adapt popular novels for celluloid, and Maharsihi was one writer whose works were in demand just then. bhuvana oru kELvikkuRi, saaindhadamma saaindhaadu, nadhiyai thEdi vandha kadal were all his stories.
vattathukkuL sathuram too was based on Maharishi’s story. The film explored a theme unusual for Tamil cinema- female bonding, and the terrible sacrifice that Anu (Latha) makes for the sake of her friend Malathi (Sumitra) Sridhar’s avaLukkendRu Or manam did traverse this path earlier, though the situations and sequences were wholly different.
Babu’s camerawork in vattathukkuL sathuram was of particular appeal; the angles were innovative and the b & w frames austere and telling. Sure the proceedings had their fair share of melodrama, but the subtle and refined performances, especially Latha’s, saved the movie from becoming yet another tearjerker.
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Ilaiyaraja’s music was, of course, another highpoint of the movie. Since the story revolved around the two girls, all the 4 songs were by female singers. ‘ithO ithO en nenjilE’, the flagship number, remains a timeless ode to friendship. Tracing the years rolling by as Baby Indira and Baby Sumathi grow up to Latha and Sumitra, the opening lines are sung by Umadevi and Indira, and then SJ and BSS take over in scintillating style. ‘aada sonnarE ellOrum’ is a breezy club dance number that Jency crooned in her very first year in tfm. ‘pErazhagu mEni koNdEn’ is another club song, but the pathos which was just hinted at in ‘aada sonnarE’ becomes palpable in this song, rendered by SJ with characteristic understanding.
‘ithO ithO en nenjilE’ found place as SOTD more than 2 years ago.
To listen to it, and to know more about the story:
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/132.html
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Who knows what made Ilaiyaraja think of Jikki suddenly and summon her to sing this song? By 1978, Jikki’s glorious second innings too was showing signs of waning; her last song at that point of time was perhaps way back in 1975- ‘manathukku theriyum’ for A.M.Raja in enakkoru magan pirappaan.
A list of Jikki’s songs in the early 70s is here:
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/422.html
So when it seemed that Jikki was being exiled to oblivion yet again, Ilaiyaraja brought her back, and gave her second innings a rejuvenating extended lease. And Jikki didn’t let him down for sure. The voice that ruled the 50s with unassuming majesty was still sweet in 1978- ravages of age had not withered the charm much. This haunting song and the popularity it enjoyed showed that Jikki couldn’t be written off so easily. While it wasn’t as though she was inundated with work, some memorable songs did come her way in the subsequent years.
While IR was the MD who kept her career afloat, other MDs too called her, though sparingly. ‘naan unna nenachEn’ (kaNNil theriyukm kathaigaL/S-G), ‘andha ramanum indha seethaiyuim’ (paakku vethalai/ MV), ‘ninaithathu yaarO nee thaanE’ (paattukku oru thalaivan/IR), ‘raathiri pooththau kattu rOja’ (dhaayam oNNu/IR), ‘poovOdu kaathu vandhu’ (dharmam vellum/IR), ‘oththaiyadi paadhaiyilE’ (aatha un kOvililE/Deva), ‘iravu naadagam iraval poo mugam’ (aNNan ennada thambi ennada/ Gyan Verma), ‘selvamE chithiramE poonthErE’ (pangaaLi/ IR), ‘’vaNNa vaNNa solleduthu’ (santhamizh paattu/ MSV-IR), ‘chinnamuthu chinnamuthu’ (chinnamuthu/Deva) are some songs that Jikki sang in the last phase of her illustrious career in tfm. She had some memorable songs in Telugu too in this period, like 'jaanaavulE' in aaditya 369 for IR.
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I sing to use the waiting,
my bonnet but to tie,
And shut the door unto my house;
no more to do have I..
Till, his best step approaching,
we journey to the day,
and tell each other how we sang
to keep the dark away.
-Emily Dickinson (Time and Eternity)
Anu falls in love with Malathi’s brother. But he is disdainful of her dubious parentage and wards off her overtures callously. A smitten Anu refuses to see the writing on the wall, and asks him to meet her at nightfall in the village outskirts. The unfeeling fool doesn’t care for her tryst, and even worse, he doesn’t care for her trust. For he complains to his mother of Anu’s behaviour. The highly incensed mother draws the village elders, and the group of indignant people march towards the riverbank where Anu is awaiting him with growing impatience.
So as she waits at the rendezvous, this is the song that Anu sings softly to herself, blissfully ignorant of the approaching humiliation, and the calamitous path her life would take henceforth. She sings, with her heart overflowing with love, her dreams filled with happy tidings of their marriage, her eyes searching restlessly for the sight of her man…
Right from the opening humming, Jikki brings to life the myriad musings that the song evokes. How poignantly the longings of a love struck heart find portrayal in her caressing rendition! And IR shows his class in style, for even as the lines are sung tenderly as they ought to be, he fills the interludes with hurried, suspense-filled moments, as the angle shifts to the gang of the infuriated villagers marching towards Anu.
Let us too revel in this calm before the storm…