'Kalai Nilavu' RAVICHANDRAN

[mr_karthik]

அன்புள்ள மகேந்திரராஜ் சார்,

எங்க பாப்பா படத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற 'நான் போட்டால் தெரியும் போடு' என்ற பாடலை எழுதியவர் கவியரசர் அல்ல, கவிஞர் வாலி அவர்கள் எழுதிய பாடல் அது...

[mahendra raj]

அன்புள்ள மகேந்திரராஜ் சார்,

எங்க பாப்பா படத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற 'நான் போட்டால் தெரியும் போடு' என்ற பாடலை எழுதியவர் கவியரசர் அல்ல, கவிஞர் வாலி அவர்கள் எழுதிய பாடல் அது...

Hi Karthik,

No, all the songs in 'Enga Paapa' are by Kaviarasar Kannadhasan alone. I had this EMI (Angel) record and even the local radio station once borrowed it from me for a programme on Kaviarasu Kannadhasan. Their copy went missing and that was the reason they took it from me. But just to make sure after seeing your comments I double checked it in the net for the full movie to see the credit titles. Thank God, there is one copy uploaded and available in Daily Motion. I cant find the full movie on Youtube. The surprising thing is that there was no mention of Kaviarasar's assistant (Panchu Arunasalam) name too. Just Kaviarasu Kannadhasan's name appears on the credit titles for songs. That means he must have written it himself on the spot with the team, I presume. Vaalee was in BR Banthulu's 'Ayirathil Oruvan', 'Nadodi', 'Rahaysa Police 115', 'Thedi Vandha Maapillai' etc. as a second lyricist after Kaviarasu Kannadhasan. You can check this out in the Daily Motion website after Googling first, Karthik.

[mr_karthik]

Mr MR,

But once Kavignar Valee told in an interview, that 'pottaal theriyum' song was written by him.

In another time he told, in his initial stage of his career, some songs which were written by him were not been credited by his name and went un-noticed.

You know well still there is dispute between the fans about the song "vizhiye kadhai ezhudhu" from Urimaikkural, whther it was by Kannadhasan or Valee.

[Gopal.s]

Dear Mahendraraj/Karthik,
I agree with Karthik as it is expressly told by Vali in an interview that nan pottal theriyum is written by him. Vizhiye kathai ezhuthu is recorded for dhasara pollodu intended remake with sivaji in lead after Hero 72 by Sridhar.(MSV told in an interview in Mega TV) written by Kannadasan. Later,it was used in urimai kural as a last minute inclusion.

[Gopal.s]

எஸ்வி சார்,
நிறைய நேரமிருந்தால் இங்கே வந்து போடலாமே?

[Richardsof]

Athey Kangal (The Same Eyes) is loads of fun. My DVD has this fabulous teaser leading up to the menu. How could you resist?

After a funky track over animated titles, the story kicks off with a bang. A spin on the country house murder mystery, AC Tirulokchandar opens with a murder staged to look like a suicide, a further murder attempt and a complement of suspects on the spot. A voiceover in the film asks that viewers refrain from spoiling the film for others so I will do my best to comply.
Athey Kangal_Murder 1Athey Kangal_Nahiin
The suspects include landlords Kamalanathan (S.A Ashokan), Vimalanathan (Ceylon Manohar), a visiting doctor friend (K Balaji), Nair the cook, and their resident physician. Things are further complicated when their niece Suseela comes home from college for a holiday, bringing a gaggle of girlfriends. Who will be next? And whodunit?
Don’t get too caught up in the murder mystery. The characters only give it occasional attention and they are easily distracted from the sense of impending doom. Despite the death toll, the tone is generally light and the romance between Bhaskar (Ravichandran) and Suseela (Kanchana) takes the centre stage. They meet, they like what they see and love blooms.
Athey Kangal_paintAthey Kangal_p
Athey Kangal_Nagesh and RavichandranAthey Kangal_the breakup
Bhaskar is a jolly and uncomplicated hero except for pretending to be married (to Nagesh in drag) so he could rent a room reserved for married couples. He is working as a musician at the Hotel Emerald and seems happy with his life and prospects.
Suseela is equally straightforward. When she found out her true love was already ‘married’, she severed communication with him. But when he stalked her and produced both his wife and the explanation, she forgave him and enjoyed the absurdity of the situation as much as I did.
One of the best things about having a boyfriend in a hotel band appears to be access to the dress up department for New Year celebrations. This is such a demure can-can and yet it does provide the obligatory riot of colour (and a glimpse of tinsel trimmed bloomers)

There are abundant clues and red herrings. A cigar stub is found near all the victims, a mysterious lady in white flits around, Kamalanathan goes on ‘out of station’ journeys and just how many pairs of two tone wing tip shoes can there be? The aunty who survived a strangling attempt is unhinged and in danger. Following her near-strangling she also develops a fear of knives, loud noises and tomato sauce. Suseela starts to receive death threats over the phone and Bhaskar finds himself drawn into the hunt for the killer. This is good as the police have a sporadic and not very productive involvement in the case. Everyone seems to have been told to maintain an ominous expression with the intent to keep them all as viable suspects.
Athey Kangal_death threatAthey Kangal_the girls are afraid
Suseela puts on a brave face and surrounds herself with her friends but the threats escalate and so does her fear. The girls stay with Suseela and while they have very little dialogues, they do have excellent outfits and accessories which give them some individuality. I was tickled by their idea of suitable attire for social work in a village. Susi’s friend Julie is another bright spark although why why why would you look upon Nagesh and find insta-love?
Athey Kangal_the dragonAthey Kangal_social workAthey Kangal_Susi and friendsAthey Kangal_NYE 2Athey Kangal_NYE 1
The costume team reserved their best efforts for the ladies, and maybe Nagesh. I cannot think of a good reason for his pale pink satin dress with red velvet dragon applique but I am pleased they came up with it.
Athey Kangal_RavichandranAthey Kangal_plead and fondle
AC Tirulokchandar has opted for a broad, slightly over the top, style from his actors. Ravichandran looks like he is having a fine time in most of his scenes and gives the dancing a decent try. While there should be a question mark over this plausible stranger he is just too nice to be the real killer. Kanchana is bubbly and a good match for Ravichandran, although thankfully her dancing is better. I did wonder at Suseela’s ability to seemingly forget that her life was in danger but maybe it takes more than a gunman mortally wounding her birthday cake to rattle Susi. It was nice to see a heroine who isn’t a total panic merchant. Nagesh is reminiscent of Jerry Lewis, and that stops me from liking him wholeheartedly. To be fair, he does enliven some scenes very nicely especially the dances or musical breaks.

Veda’s music is wonderful. Borrowing heavily from the James Bond theme at times, the tone is jazzy big band and brassy. The songs are beautifully filmed and have an exuberant and cheeky humour. There is a wonderful scene where Suseela and the girls are scared at home alone. As a way of whistling in the dark they put on a record and the dramatic percussion is a very funny counterpoint to their increasingly fearful faces.
The visual design is a delight from start to finish. The main mansion set is crammed with sculptures and taxidermy, just the thing to create startling shadows and get the nerves jangling. The interior designer loved feature walls with elaborate mouldings. There is excellent use of windows and niches framing shots, giving a sense of people lurking. I like the way the windows in the aunt’s room look like eyes gazing down at her. No wonder she was a basket case.
Athey Kangal_bird lampAthey Kangal_familyAthey Kangal_the phone
Athey Kangal_pertinent questionAthey Kangal_interior 5Athey Kangal_interior 6


I like the relationship between Bhaskar and Suseela as they seem to have similarities in their approach to life and are equally committed to song interludes wherever possible. The comedy is painful at times and I just don’t think fat or wearing a dress is an automatic joke. But the hijinks are in keeping with the rest of the tone so while I could wish away the comedy uncles they aren’t a total disruption to the narrative. The supporting actors, and iMDB is useless for naming them, are mostly fine.
There are a few vague similarities to Teesri Manzil in the Bhaskar and Suseela romance and the murder mystery, but the story is different in some details and the level of angst is considerably lower. Often with older films I find myself taking lots of notes or making diagrams and charts to keep track of who’s who. I just sat back and enjoyed Athey Kangal immensely. 4 stars!
COURTESY - CINEMA CHAT

[mahendra raj]

Hi Karthik and Gopal,

What you both stated is news to me. I agree with the 'Vizhiye Kadhai Ezhuthu' song background story. That was discussed a few years ago. 'Enga Paapa' was released in 1966 by which time Vaalee had already carved a name for himself. I doubt very much that he wrote that song but Kannadhasan was given the credit. There could be no reason for that, even film politics as BR Banthulu was equally friends to both of them. So far, there was only one song where a doubt was created as to who the actual author was, Kannadhasan or Vaalee. That song is 'Kan Maiy Endhi Vilayadi' from the 1965 film ' Pookaikku Vandha Malar'. It was discussed a few years ago in this Forum but was inconclusive. I took the liberty to clear the doubt with the producer of this film, Mukhta Sreenivasan, himself. Unfortunately he too could not recollect since it happened a few decades ago.

Of course, doubts will always be there if more than one lyricist is mentioned in the credit titles as very seldom songs are attributed individually. In 'Enga Paapa' it was a case of a solo lyricist as mentioned in the credit titles and also on the disc. Just cannot think of Kannadhasan taking the credits for a song which he never wrote. Vaalee has time and again said that many of his songs were mistaken for Kannadhasan's and he was proud of that.

Vaalee had a sharp mind and he had this gift of recollecting things which happened eons ago in the minutest of details. I have been reading about him in equal footing with Kaviarasu Kannadhasan since time immemorial. Therefore, for him to say publicly about this song is something new to me. Was the Vaalee's interview over TV and if so could you please tell more? I am very anxious to know more about this revelation.

Bye the way, it was common knowledge in the Malaysian literary circles that the song 'Ullathil Kathavugal Kangalaada' ( Iravum Pagalum 1965) was written by a Malaysian who was aspiring to make it big in Kodambakkam but was unsuccessful. However, this song made it into this film but was attributed to Aalangudi Somu as he was an established lyricist and also for commercial reasons. After this bitter experience he returned to Malaysia and vowed never to enter Kodambakkam again. I am sure Vaalee cannot be placed on the same footing like the novice Malaysian.

Before I sign off I apologise if I have in anyway interrupted the smooth following of our icon Ravichandran's thread by writing on the origins of a song in his film. For my part, I will try and write about him as and when time permits as I feel I will be doing a service to a fellow Maaysian. Thanks and with regards.

[adiram]

Mr. Eswee,

In Athey-KangaL, Vimalanathan roll was done by S.V.Ramadoss, the famous villain that time, and not by Ceylon Manohar.

[adiram]

Sorry Eswee,

Just now I have noted the mistake is not yours, because it was taken from the Cinema Chat Net.

[mahendra raj]

Hi Esvee,

Thanks for taking us down memory lane, to be precise, the year 1967. Athey Kangal was the first Tamil thriller in colour. The voice over telling viewers not to divulge the suspense was something novel but not new. In Kaviarasu Kannadhasan's 'Vaanambadi' (1963) a very young Kamalhassan tells the same in a hushed voice towards the end of the movie. Vaanambadi was not a thriller but a suspense-like movie.

I agree with you that in the dance sequences Ravichandran was not up to his mark which was obvious. When he was here in Malaysia many years after the film's release this question was posed to him. He replied that he was involved in an accident where his right leg was quite badly injured. He was forced to avail medical leave during the shooting of this movie. He also told us that the director, AC Thirulogachander, asked him to use a metal walking stick for the song 'Oho Ethanai Azhau' as his movements were awkward due to the injuries sustained on his leg. In certain scenes he can be seen actually limping but all of us mistook it for his style!

If I am not mistaken this was the first and last film for Vedha as the music director for AVM Productions. It seems he was asked to come out with original numbers instead of 'xeroxing' popular Hindi and Western numbers like what he used to do. After the recording work was over and the discs printed it was brought to the knowledge of AVM Productions that the 'Boom boom maatukaaran' song was a western number but craftily tuned to a local Tamil folk song! The song 'Kannukku Theriyaatha' was a bit akin to the 'Dekho Abto' song in 'Janwaar' (1965) by Shammi Kapoor both in presentation and movements. That was the period when The Beatles ruled the music world and it was common to see our film folks in Beatles attire, especially the long haired wig. Even MGR appeared like that in 'Parakkum Paavai' (1966) for the song 'Sugam Ethilae". The Can Can song infusion into a Tamil film was a novelty and without doubt Vedha did a good job out of it.It is a pity that the haunting and melodious 'Chinnappen Oruthi Irukkiraal' by TMS and PS were left out in the movie. This song is a all- time hit of Vedha, even today as it appeared original in music treatment. The teaser song 'Pombalai Oruthi Irunthaala' by TMS and ALR created a mild stir those days for its double entree meanings. The words 'soduja', 'bhakada' etc. words are of Sowrashtra origin given by AL Raghavan to enhance the richness of the song. Incidentally, both ALR and TMS are of Sowrashtryia origin. All the songs are by Vaalee, who by this time, had already made a name for himself after Kannadhasan.

Yes, it had a bit of 'Teesri Manzil' influence in some scenes but actually it was more like 'Gumnaam' (1966) a thriller with Manoj Kumar, Nanda and Pran in the lead. It is a pity, films of this genre can only be seen once obviously because of the suspense ending. Of course, that should never bar anyone from seeing Athey Kangal again, at least for Ravichandran and the popular songs.