DhooL.com Song Of The Day

Song of the Day # 1005

From: bb on: Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:24 pm  

Song of the Day: vaanam namadhu thandhai from dhaagam.

http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/1005.html

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- Saravanan writes:

Forays into realistic narratives in Tamil Cinema have more often than not had to face stiff resistance, abject ridicule, or even more mortifying, callous indifference. S. Balachandar’s ‘andha naaL’, the comrades’ cooperative effort ‘paadhai theriyudhu paar’, JK’s ‘unnaippOl oruvan’, Singitam Srinivasa Rao’s ‘dhikkatRa parvathi, John Abraham’s ‘agrahaarathil kazhuthai’, Jupiter Chinnadurai’s ‘arumbugaL’, Jayabharathy’s ‘kudisai’, Nimai Ghosh’s ‘sooraavaLi’, Mouli’s ‘ivargaL vithyaasamaanavargaL’, Komal Swaminathan’s ‘oru indhiya kanavu’ and ‘anal kaatRu’, Chandran’s ‘hEmavin kaadhalargaL’, Durai’s ‘oru manithan, oru manaivi’, Arun Mozhi’s ‘kaaNi nilam’…. These are some such experimental endeavours over the years that come to mind…. Some of them had front-ranking stars in them; some had obscure performers dishing out outstanding performances….. Some of them had wonderful music, some of them had no songs at all…. Some of them were bolstered by technical brilliance, some of them suffered from glaring technical inadequacies…. Some of them elicited critical recognition, many of them did not secure the appreciation they deserved…. Most of them were commercial catastrophes; some of them like JK’s ‘pudhu seruppu kadikkum’ could not find any distributors and remained in the cans… Yet they all had one common factor…the heartwarming sincerity with which they were crafted, and the genuine intentions of these valiant filmmakers to usher in a new wave of parallel cinema for a discerning audience- an audience that probably never existed in the first place….

Last week we had a look at ‘yaarukkaaga azhuthaan’; this time let us take a look at ‘dhaagam’ (1974/ Kavyachitra), another off-beat movie that remains tucked away in the memories of the few who had watched it during its brief appearance at the marquee, and more in the memories of the aficionados who remain mesmerized by its music. The movie was directed by Babu Nandankodu, an alumnus and later lecturer of the Madras Film Institute. Babu Nandankodu had several innovative ideas on filmmaking, and when Vayyathurai, another alumnus of the Film Institute came up with an engrossing storyline, they set about putting a screenplay into shape. T.N. Janakiraman came forward to produce this pioneering effort. Vayyathurai handled the cinematography as well. M.B. Srinivasan, ever willing to involve himself in such fervent, inventive efforts, took upon himself to compose some worthy songs for the movie.

The story related the travails and travels of the visually-challenged Shekhar and his affectionate wife Sarada. Shekhar and Sarada are orphans who have lived in the Gandhigram Ashram as long as they can remember. The sympathy that Sarada nurses for Shekhar blossoms into love, and they get married with the blessings of the elders in the Ashram. They venture out of the Ashram into the city and try to eke out a decent livelihood. Sarada secures an employment. However, unable to overcome the manifold evils of an urban society, Shekhar and Sarada return to the serene sanctuary of the Ashram. Muthuraman and Nandita Bose played the lead roles of Shekhar and Sarada. Major Sundararajan, Rajkokila, Jayaseelan and Pandaribai lent support to the proceedings.



Despite a well-told story with finely-etched characters whom we come across in our everyday transactions, understated and realistic performances, outstanding camerawork and enchanting music, ‘dhaagam’ which was completed and censored in late 1972, found commercial release belatedly in February 1974, only to be sent back to the cans in unceremonious haste.

Nevertheless, the annals of Tamil Cinema would record ‘dhaagam’ as the first full-length commercially released movie made by the alumni of the Madras Film Institute, and thus Babu Nandankodu and Vayyathurai will gone down in history as the path breaking forerunners of subsequent alumni of the Institute who made a name for themselves such as Rudriah, Robert-Rajasekharan, Aabavanan and R.V. Udayakumar. In subsequent years, Babu Nandankode made much acclaimed Malayalam movies such as ‘swapnam’, ‘youvanam’, ‘sathyathintE nizhalil’, ‘bhaarya illatha raathiri’, ‘maanasa veeNa’, ‘kamapravam’ and ‘ahalya’. He also acted in Sivan’s 1980 movie ‘yaagam’.

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‘dhaagam’ remains entrenched firmly in our memories mostly because of MBS and his music. Besides the haunting Sahana keepsake ‘urugidum vELaiyilum’ (Janaki) that commences with a brooding Yesudas singing Bharathiar’s lines ‘vaanamengum parithiyn jyOthi’, like the clouds that open up to release bracing showers to a parched land MBS comes out with the bountiful semi-classical ‘vaanam namadhu thandhai’.

vaanam namadhu thandhai from dhaagam
Sung by S. Janaki, Muthuraman & Chorus
Lyrics by Poovai Senguttuvan
Music by M.B. Srinivasan
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Asked to recite the lines ‘annaiyum pithaavum munnaRi deivam’ as part of their lessons, the children in the Ashram who have no parents wonder at the meaning; they raise naïve, tremulous queries on their own arrival in this world. Filled with compassion for these orphans, and determined to give them the comfort and consolation they seek, their teacher sings to them the lines

vaanam namadhu thandhai, bhoomi namadhu annai,
ulagam namandhu veedu, uyirgaL namadhu uRavu….

Reiterating the concept of the earth as mother and the sky as father which is common to most cultures, (except perhaps the Egyptians who hold the sky as mother and the earth as father), Poovai Senguttuvan goes further to elucidate the origins of the rivers in the mountains, flowers in the creepers, honey in the flowers, fish in the waters…. He says that Mother Nature is the universal being with whom every living creature shares an inseparable bond…

Reminiscing on this song in his ‘uLLaththin OsaigaL’, Poovai Senguttuvan writes that MBS gave him absolute freedom to write… ‘kavingargaLai naan kattupadutha maattEn… ungaL viruppam pOla ezhudhungaL’ MBS is supposed to have encouraged the lyricist. MBS expressed his delight at the simple evocative lines that the lyricist came up with. Poovai Senguttuvan goes on to add that though the song did not fetch him any awards, it was taken up for critical analysis in several literary workshops in colleges.

Setting the lines to a delightful tune that surges and ebbs in tantalizing waves, MBS holds one in a spell with his dainty flourishes and famed choral arrangements. During those long years when she had to remain in the sidelines, in Tamil cinema at least, Janaki did not fail to make a fetching statement in each of the few opportunities that came her way, and this surely was one of them…. How much empathy she brings to the lines, and how mellifluously does she render them…



Janaki turns 71 today. She has been in the news in recent times… her moving speech at the grand felicitation to A.R. Rahman had the Oscar winner’s eyes fill with tears. She was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Mysore University last month. Let us wish the blessed chanteuse a long life filled with good health and happiness, and hope that greater honours come her way….

- urugidum vELaiyilum from dhaagam: http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/310.html

Tags: S.Janaki

Categories: Jayakanthan/M.B.Srinivasan songs

Discussion Page in DhooL on this Song

http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8439