The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

[KV]

I vaguely remember a popular Hindi song (around the 90s I think, though I don’t exactly know) that has the same tune as the chorus of Hey Masthana (lyrics, whatever few words that I can recall, include ‘main naachoongi, gaaoongi’). I don’t know if its sixth sense, but my mind associates Sridevi in one of her Naagin avatars. How right is my hunch?

[PARAMASHIVAN]

I believe the hero is Charanraj , unsure who is the heroine.,The name Charan raj is enough to make me run away frantically, saving myself from the onscreen horror of watching him & his heroism! IR giving such melodious treat to this kinda' ''horror'' movies.. such karunai... ;D

என்னது சரண்ராஜ் ஆ I was hoping for Kamal or Karthik IR has a habbit of giving Superhits songs for mokkai heroes, typical eg ராமராஜன்

[app_engine]

Groucho,
Thanks for the picture of a gadget that I've never seen physically

V_S,
Some of my most pleasant boyhood memories are from that town. That's where I used to spend summer holidays each year with our (maternal) grand parents Thanks to the "go-to-mom's-place-for-delivery-custom", it had my clinic of birth also. (It was crossed as well, during the "walks" )

Got distracted in the election results thread for quite some time...SPB-IR next number for the day is due...

[app_engine]

#22 அபிஷேக நேரத்தில் அம்பாளை தரிசிக்க
அடியேன் கொடுத்து வச்சேன், ஜென்மம் அதுக்கே எடுத்து வச்சேன்
கண்ணே வா, கரையேறி வா, அம்மா தாயே வா புண்ணியம்
(அழகே உன்னை ஆராதிக்கிறேன், 1979 )

I remember the time when my cousin sang this song with the "bench thALam" of my younger bro and recorded on his panasonic player. That was a big hit with the relatives

Very catchy song sung with extreme kuRumbu by SPB (and Vaalee had written the lines with extreme kuRumbu too). To this day I'm shocked that this song was allowed to be sung at such a conservative home and I'm more than convinced that the music was so powerful that people simply ignored the lines Or, alternatively, the AbAsam in the lines weren't obvious to the perusoos (very doubtful, even we boys were kind of aware that it was a "sexy" song).

In any case, this song gets played every now and then on my car until now. I haven't got any objection from my co-passengers so far and continue to getting away with it

[app_engine]

Around the time period when IR has scored his first 100 (Balu Mahendra's 'moodupani' starring his wife and Pratap Pothen was advertised as IR's 100th, had English translation of the title within brackets as "the mist"), there was an interview or Q&A with him published in cinema express mag. This mag was published by the Indian Express / Dinamani group (not sure whether they still publish this).

One question asked was 'நீங்கள் இது வரை இசை அமைத்த பாடல்களில் உங்களுக்கு மிகவும் பிடித்தது எது?' (not exact words, but this was the sArAmsam).

IR's answer : சுத்தமான ஹம்சத்வனி ராகத்தில் அமைந்த 'மயிலே மயிலே உன் தோகை எங்கே' என்ற பாடல்.
(கடவுள் அமைத்த மேடை படத்தில் பாலுவும் ஜென்சியும் பாடியது, 1979). This is the #23 in the SPB-IR series being posted in this thread To get this unusual kind of approval from IR talks a lot about the song! (Ofcourse, he wasn't that philosophical those days and it helped...had he become sAmiyAr much earlier, we would have got some unpalatable replies).

The violin(s) / chords / santoor delight, that had me following the song madly wherever it got transmitted from, is unforgettable. I don't remember how many times I rushed to radio to stay close to listen or stopped walking while on a road to enjoy or loyally get into the bus that plays this number, even though it's only 3rd or 4th in the line etc (means will not start for another 30-40 minutes). SPB sounds quite mature in this song (or made to look like that by the konjals of the co-singer). There're not many SPB-Jency duets that I can quickly recall but this one is easily the top number!

If you want to have a hearty laughter, search for the youtube of this. (I've seen only once and that was enough for a lifetime).

[app_engine]

#24 பூப்போலே உன் புன்னகையில் பொன் உலகினைக்கண்டேனம்மா
(கவரிமான், 1979 )

One of the few IR-SPB songs that were for Sivaji (depending upon which of the three IR-SPB-Sivaji movies in 1979 that came first, this could have been even the first one). Well, this movie came first in my alphabetical order

Sweet song, sung with appropriate feeling and was an instant winner with me and at home! My parents as well as most of their colleagues loved this song and it was a regular in school singing competitions etc. (I never tried singing it in front of others cause I knew I couldn't do it properly. Such a tough song but you'll realize only when trying to sing )

IIRC, there's also a pathos version of this song (obviously not the preferred one)...The happy song is not one to be missed by anyone who loves IR's music or SPB's singing!

[groucho070]

This is the #23 in the SPB-IR series being posted in this thread To get this unusual kind of approval from IR talks a lot about the song! (Ofcourse, he wasn't that philosophical those days and it helped...had he become sAmiyAr much earlier, we would have got some unpalatable replies)..

You'd probably get, "it's like asking which child of mine I like" kinda reply. Thanks for sharing that app.

Mayile mayile gets repeat play whenever I play a particular collection CD. Accompanying that song is Oru Kungguma Chenggamalam, Kanmaniye Kathal Enbathu, Devathai Oru Devathai & Engenggo Sellum (Patkat Bhai), Poonthaliraada Ponmalar sooda, and few other gems. Got to dig that CD up.

[app_engine]

groucho,
I remember reading only two interviews (or something that can be called so) of IR in mags those days. He was known to be aloof from media during most of his heydays.

One was this and another was in Kumudam. (In which he said "Asha B may have the sweetest voice but SJ is the singer with top vidwatvam" and I was pullarichchified reading that)

[app_engine]

I think it was around this time period (summer of 1979) that I've started the habit of reading anything about IR that appears anywhere And used to talk to everybody about that small thing (like a brief passing remark in arasu badhilkaL etc) with craze!

Why, I even remember the typo in kalkaNdu magazine (Dad Tamilvanan was in charge then) on a question about IR's 100th movie.

The question was something like 'Hasn't IR scored his century so quickly?'

The answer that was possibly given by Tamilvanan was "படவுலகின் கவாஸ்கர்".

However, what appeared on print was "பல வுலகின் கவாஸ்கர்" See, I remember that typo even today after 32 years!

(Well, just for info, Sunny was really a big hit with his first Windies tour in 1977 as a sensational batsman and was a darling for the whole country. It was years later that people started getting irritated with him, especially when he started politics and was katta pOttufying often to reach 100)

[app_engine]

dig

kalkaNdu was published by Kumudam publications those days and had similar artwork, font, paper quality etc. It had a very decent circulation also (with its snippets, Q&A and Tamilvanan's "Sankarlal" series thuppaRiyum stories).

It had the honor of being part of a 'kiRaL' by students.

The original kuRaL is
கற்க கசடற கற்பவை கற்றபின்
நிற்க அதற்குத் தக.

The "kiRaL" was
கற்க குமுதம் கல்கண்டு கற்றபின்
விற்க பாதி விலைக்கு.

end-dig