The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

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nanRi, V_S!

1984 had this Manivannan movie kuvA kuvA vAththukaL from which my mind only recalls the 'thEnil vadiththa silaiyE' song (sounds like Gangai Amaran singing, or it could be Krishnachandar).

There's a SPB duet pollAtha with VJ but never heard it before, so cannot feature in this thread...

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#156 நீலக்குயிலே உன்னோடு நான் பண்பாடுவேன்
(மகுடி, 1984 , ஜானகியுடன்)

In my mind, there's some relation between this song and the PS-UR sweetie 'amuthE thamizhE azhagiya mozhiyE enadhuyirE' of kOvil puRA. (Those with rAgA knowledge please confirm if both these songs are of same rAgA or family of rAgAs). Equally sweet song in a slightly faster tempo and fantastic percussion arrangement.

This song was a radio hit and I don't think the movie made any impact at all when arrived. I heard the movie name on radio but didn't even have much knowledge about it. Googling gets the info that this was a Mohan / Nalini movie. A real rare gem of a song - possibly sERRil muLaiththa senthAmarai / kuppaiyil vairam kind, going by the un-known-ness of the movie.

The swaraprayOgams in the prelude are very much similar to the 'gama-gama-gama-gari-sari-sA' of amuthE thamizhE that triggered the connection in my mind. There are other construction similarites as well, such as "semi-classical" nature, flute / veeNA combo (difference being violin replacing nAdhaswaram sounds...nayanam was specially played by MPM Sethuraman / Ponnusamy brothers in all the kOvil puRA songs).

Both SPB & SJ relish the song, enjoying while singing as they didn't get that many opportunities to sing ICM semi-classicals in TFM together under IR's baton, though they had tons of light / WCM style songs. (My mind throws nAnoru ponnOvium instantly where these two were present but it also had PS).

A truly memorable number!

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There's a SPB duet for 'manaivi sollE mandhiram' that starts as 'mAmA thaLLippadu' and it failed to make any impact with the listeners. Interestingly, two other songs from the same movie - 'mAnE mAnguyilE' featuring MV & 'AtthAdee athisayam, pArthAlE paravasam' featuring KJY have both been moderate hits having decent AIR time.

(Rama.Narayanan movie I think...which did "not-kai-kadichchufy-kind-of-biz" per reports then)

[rajkumarc]

Amazing writeups App for the 1983 songs. I haven't caught up yet with 1984 as am still re-reading the 1983 songs, a lot of biggies there. Some excellent viewpoints on Salangai Oli made me revisit the movie today. A thoroughly satisfying movie in terms of emotional and musical content. Pala idangalil kan kalanga vaithathu. Kamal nadippu, IR's score for Kamal & Jayapradha scenes

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nanRi, rajkumarc!

True, salangai oli can be revisited any number of times and never fails to impress!

Two songs are due today (one for Sunday & another for today)...both will be from a Rajini movie...

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#157 கல்யாணம் வைபோகம் என்றென்றும் வாழ்க
(நான் மகான் அல்ல, 1984 , ஜானகியுடன்)

This piano beauty is a SJ solo song for the most part with SPB just singing the last repeat of pallavi towards the end, along with chorus (after the female voice breaks down crying). Still, this is another SPB hit on record. It had a lot of time on radio / buses and other regular media. IIRC, there was a post in the hub about this song being very similar to some Hindi old number. Though I don't know such connections, when it arrived, I clearly remember branding it like "one of those piano-oldie-like songs".

This movie initially had the controversial 'nAn Gandhi alla' title which was objected by many groups and subsequently changed to 'nAn mahAn alla' - either by censor insistence or to avoid trouble with them. (Good that they did such as the posters were quite glamorous by the standards of 80's with Radha quite exposed and it wouldn't have been appropriate to associate Gandhiji's name stuck on such posters). I don't remember watching that movie (not even the songs on youtube) but guess it was a violent one, going by the title. Interestingly, a recent movie had the same title too.

IIRC, 'ommEla oru kaNNu, thillA langudiyO' was a much bigger hit in the hostel and on the streets. That way, MV scored over SPB in this movie with respect to commercial success.

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#158 மாலை சூடும் வேளை
(நான் மகான் அல்ல, 1984 , ஜானகியுடன்)

A strings beauty with the sweet SPB-SJ pair. Very pleasant melody packaged with terrific orchestration where IR possibly worked a little extra What a lovely shenoy jump-in for the second interlude! The whole "evening lovers feel" instantly gets transported to a northie marriage feel in matter of few notes, magical! Only a very complex musical mind like that of IR's can ever come up with such a seamless yet dramatic transformation! One can't help but draw some parallels to the fantastic 'hEy pAdal onRu' that has a similar interlude!

Both singers sound relishing the musical rain that goes along with their voices! romba anubhavichchuppAdi irukkAnga. The way they end the saraNam and come back to the pallavi shows how thoroughly they enjoy doing this number!

For some reason, I used to confuse this song with another in the 'nAn sigappu manithan' song because one my friends had both these together in a cassette and kept playing them frequently. A lot of sweet SPB-SJ-IR songs from that time period that one loses count!

[V_S]

Beautiful songs and excellent write-ups App on two of my most favorite songs. The shenoy in Maalai Soodum VeLai takes the song to another level as you aptly described as 'seamless yet dramatic transformation'. A very bright and brisk duet in some amazing locations.

I believe this year (1984) is totally belongs to Rajini. Right from Anbulla Rajinikanth, Kai kodukkum kai, Naan Mahan Alla and the list goes on. Every film is super duper hit and every film has memorable songs. And all Rajini films this year, I have watched in theaters, atleast once, thanks to my neighbors who are hardcore fans. I cannot forget one dialogue from this film which we used to mimic those days. Oru viral Krishnarao will say 'Mudhalaali, Ivan thaai paal'lai vaLarala, pulipaal'lai vaLarnthirukkaan'. For that Nambiar will replay ' Ivana Konjam konjama MeNNu Muzhunganum' in his style and casually chew the thangabaspam. Top class!

Apart from IR films, I loved Pokkiri Raja and that evergreen 'Vidiya Vidiya Sollitharuven'. Just humming that one gives goosebumps.

Kalyanam Vaibogham is a very emotional song for me as I have expressed earlier. One of SJ's best, if not the best. The bass portions in 'Maalai Soodum VeLai' will sound like another voice singing. So much life in bass notes. Melting flute and classical violin is the highlight , with enjoyable singing by both SPB and SJ. I even remember Rajini will walk stylishly with his hands in pocket. Adorable! Super star rocks!!

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nanRi, V_S!

mAlai soodum vELai youtube (very good video quality) :

[baroque]

Thanks for the wonderful treats, app_eng.

Naan Mahan Alla's Janu-Ilayaraja's piano delight is my favorite.

1984... joyous carefree school years.. malai soodum velai is perennial favorite

vinatha