http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/631.html
- Saravanan writes:
‘anbu vandhadhu’ (two versions) from sudarum sooRaavaLiyum.
Song #1 sung by SPB:
http://www.dhool.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl? ... uvanspb.rm
Song #2 sung by SPB, L.R.Anjali, TMS, & S.Janaki:
http://www.dhool.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl? ... uvantms.rm
Lyrics by Kannadasan. Music by M.S.Viswanathan.
* * * *
sudarum sooRaavaLiyum (1971/ AVM-Chitramala Combines) starred Gemini Ganesh, Muthuraman, ‘veNNiRa aadai’ Nirmala, M.R.R.Vasu, Thengai Srinivasan, Surulirajan, S.N.Lakshmi and others. Chandramohan (with Kamalhasan dubbing for him!) and Jaya made their debut in this film. It was scripted by V.C.Guganathan and directed by the celebrated Kannada director S.R. Puttanna Kanagal.
A fairly engrossing story climaxing in a heart-rending twist, bolstered further by a riveting screenplay, restrained, yet powerful performances and diligent direction make the film worth watching.
The album was another winner from the prolific Kannadasan-MSV team; all the songs are memorable and fit perfectly in the turns the narration takes. Besides the two SOTDs, there is a breezy TMS/LRE duet ‘anubavam thaanE varavENdum, yaaridam kEttu peRavENdum’, and two scintillating solos, both by SJ: the lilting ‘muthu maNi kaNNanukku enna ninaippu’ and the soulful ‘ thaalikku vEli tharum thalaimagaLE’.
* * * *
Manickam (Gemini Ganesh) is finding it increasingly difficult to make both ends meet, and his two motherless children Raja (Master Aadhinarayanan) and Meena (Baby Indira) are forced to go hungry most days. Manickam cannot to bear to see the little ones suffer the pangs of hunger. But what can he do except shed tears of despair? Enters a wily scoundrel (M.R.R. Vasu), who cashes on Manickam’s poverty, and lures him to forge cheques and get them encashed. Manickam hesitates, but succumbs finally to the temptation. He is paid well for carrying out the crime, and goes home, carrying his share of the spoils joyously.
“Meena, catch! Raja, catch!” he cries excitedly, as he throws the apples that he has bought for them. And as the famished children catch the fruits in wondering delight, Manickam laughs aloud with happiness, for now their days of deprivation seem a distant dream. He takes the kids out for a treat, and as they enjoy themselves in the old Madras zoo, he sings this song, lost in joyous dreams of a prosperous, carefree future….
naalu pErgaL vaazhum vaazhvu
naamum vaazhalaam..
dhinam nalla aadai nagaigaLOdu
malargaL soodalaam
kaNNiraNdil kalakkamindRi
amaidhi kaaNalaam
kaalam vellum vellum endRu
uRuthi kOLLalaam
uRavu koLLalaam
thaayillatha piLLaithannai
naan vidamaattEn..
naanillatha pOthu
dEvan kaividamaattaan!
Alas! Little does he know how prophetic his last lines are! He reaps the bitter harvest of the sins he sowed, and gets arrested. And it is only God who arranges the unfolding events in a way that the orphaned children find shelter and succour in a kind-hearted woman’s house. Meanwhile, Manickam serves his term and is released, but where will he search for his kids from whom he was separated in Chinglepet Railway Station? His crooked accomplice accosts him, and convincing him that his search for his kids was futile, persuades him to go to Bangalore with him. Manickam is coaxed gradually into falling back to crime, and takes to drink as well. He can’t help thinking of his children, and drink is his only comfort. As the years roll by, Raja grows up to be a responsible, honest youth (Muthuraman), and Meena, his doting sister, grows to be a naïve, cheerful girl (Jaya). The song reflects all this…. Manickam drowning his sorrows in drink, the child Raja remembering his father and singing the lines, the passage of time, the very special, firm bond that has evolved between brother and sister, and Raja’s staunch determination to take care of Meena…
aatRu veLLam pOna pinbum
aatRu maNNilE..
varum ootRu veLLam pOlirundhu
uRavu koLLuvEn..
parivu koLLuvEn!
deivam paartha piLLai pOla
thangaiyai paarppEn..
selvam paartha yEzhai pOla
nimmadhi kaaNbEn!
* * * *
How adroitly MSV employs the same tune (Tilak Kamod?) for the two songs, weaving it around Kannadasan’s poetic lines! And what wonderful vistas of familial bliss and love, each one studded with distinct beauty, does the kaviyarasar paint in his lyrics!
This song surely must rank among the best of SPB’s early years, and the fervent hopes of the future that the lyrics beckon find delightful delineation in his rendition. And as for the second version- SPB drawls over the opening lines in a drunken stupor, L.R.Anjali sings for the child, MSV’s interludes verily mirror the years rolling by, majestic TMS is what the steely, resolute lines of Raja need, and S.Janaki is a late entrant, the last pleasant surprise that MSV stores in this ballad…