The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

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#71 அந்தி மழை பொழிகிறது, ஒவ்வொரு துளியிலும் உன் முகம் தெரிகிறது
(ராஜ பார்வை, 1981 , ஜானகி & டி வி கோபாலகிருஷ்ணன் உடன் )

Vairamuthu explained the lines in the pallavi as "இந்திரன் வீரிய மிக்கவன். முந்திரியும் வீரிய மிக்கது. அப்போ இந்திரன் தோட்டத்து முந்திரிக்கு எவ்வளவு வீரியம் இருக்கும்? " With that kind of background came this stunner in Kamal's 100th movie. As later ridiculed by some of my collegemates, what VM intended for the boy to sing as ' ragasiya rAththiri pushtham' was given to Janaki and vice-versa by one of the culprits - IR / KH / Singeetham and ended up as a comedy. However, during the +2 days of its arrival, we lapped the lines up and were so thrilled with the song.

That apart, what a song! The mridhangam - whenever IR chose to use it in a song (obviously he did very selectively), the effect was stunning! Add TVG's voice AlAp backed up by tablA and judicious use of drums - terrific concoction. As the movie was about a violinist, free-flowing violin sounds were a given. SPB & SJ singing with passion / emotion a sweet melody made this song evergreen!

I remember Sujatha writing about 'one nice evening with Kamal' when he was privately show-cased that panthuvaraLi instrumental special from the movie. If someone can find that Kumudam article somewhere in the world, please, please, post it here or give a link. It's worth gold / platinum / diamond! I had that piece recorded in a number of cassettes and it was a regular walk-man listen for years! (Don't have it at present, high time I search the web around for that. That violinist / chitraveeNa combo on jaya TV is an appreciable effort but with the original strongly etched in my mind, couldn't appreciate to the point of clapping. It's possible GA had a feeling like mine...chinnappasanga, nallA irukkattum).

Like I mentioned before, rAjapArvai is among a few rare cases of me liking a movie that flopped. (I fancy myself to be a front-bench TN-er in movie appreciation). Recently visited portions of it on the web and was full of pullarips / tears! KH