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From: bb on: Wed Mar 21, 2007 4:48 am
Song of the Day: Two Songs from deviyin thirumaNam.
- Saravanan writes:
Complying with Chandru’s request ostensibly, I am bringing to SOTD one of my favorite Vani Jairam solos. And with it, let me add on another irresistible number from the same album…
dEviyin thirumaNam (1977/ Shanti Chitra) was another float in the unending parade of what came to be known as ‘K.R.Vijaya movies’ that marched past the marquee throughout the 70s. Besides the punnagai arasi in the pivotal role, ‘dEviyin thirumaNam’ had in its cast Muthuraman, Padmapriya, Vijayakumar, S.V.Ramdas, Y.G.Mahendran, V.S.Raghavan and S.N.Lakshmi. Screenplay and dialogues were by Malliam Rajagopal. The movie was directed by P.Madhavan.
As is true of many of the movies of the time, if at all it defies obscurity, it is entirely to the credit of its songs. M.S.Viswanathan and Kannadasan pitch in to do their best as always, and the outcome is an album comprising 4 songs:
ammaadi konja nEram konja vENdum- Vani Jairam
muthu vandhadhu muthu vandhadhu - P.Suseela
oonjaL aadiya uLLangaL ellaam- P.Suseela & Chorus
sridEvi varam kETkiRaaL- P.Suseela & Vani Jairam
I recall watching the movie on TV as a child, but don’t seem to remember much of the proceedings. The only scene that I remember is the tiger and goat game (‘jingili pingili kadhava thiRa!’) that was played in the course of the song ‘oonjaL aadiya uLLangaL ellaam’ for it had caught our fancy then, and we played it at school in the weeks following the telecast of the movie. I remember the songs finding frequent airtime in the late 70s- ‘ammaadi konja nEram’ and ‘sridEvi varam kEtkiRaaL’ in particular found place in listeners’ choices on either side of the Palk Strait. However, as in the case of many a delightful numbers of the 70s, these songs were soon lost in the swirling mists of time, and continued to exist only in the memories of aficionados like us. When I started building up my collection in the early 90s, these two songs were among the foremost in my lists; but for many years my hunt for them was futile. Most recording center owners looked askance at me when I mentioned a movie called ‘dEviyin thirumaNam!’ Thanks to a friend who was a co-struggler (or rather co-straggler) during my CA years, I finally stumbled upon these songs, among few other elusive tracks, in an audio center tucked away in a seaside village called Thondi.
* * * *
These are my scales to weigh reality-
A dream, a chord, a longing, love of thee!
- Martha Gilbert Dickinson (Reality)
I do not recall the picturisation of this song, though I believe it was Padmapriya who sang it on screen. She begins the song with lines that suggest that she is singing to a child, yet the words go on to express the longings of a woman in love… tantalizing thoughts that bring luster to the evening, delectable dreams that bring a blush in the morning….. the luscious ache that love brings in its wake. MSV crafts a delightful tune that hops, skips and gambols with the lyrics- hark at that twang of the Sitar just after ‘ivaLthaane thOLil vaithaaL’. Vani Jairam in her heyday, and like so many songs that blossomed in the 70s from the same team, delivers another winner with a stellar performance that would have doubtless gladdened the composer and the lyricist who sought and got from her all that they wanted and more…
Listen to ‘ammaadi konja nEram’
* * * *
‘sridEvi varam kEtkiRaaL’ is for two women asserting their right over the same man. MSV, having created many songs of the same genre over the years, still manages to stamp uniqueness in each of them. Here he conjures up a multi-hued mosaic from a situation so pedestrian and prosaic. I have vague memories of Padmapriya and K.R.Vijaya doing their rounds in a temple and singing the song. The astute MSV inserts the ‘mantrapushpam’ verses that salute the Lord of Desires, with the bells clanging their approbation, thus ushering in the ambience of a temple and adding gloss to the mood of the song. The subtleties that divas pour into the lines are soulful and sublime.
Listen to ‘sridEvi varam kEtkiRaaL’
* * * *
Chandru noted the lyrics of ‘ammaadi konja nEram’ here: http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1241
And ‘sridEvi varam kEtkiRaaL’ here: http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1240
http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5862
