The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

[Plum]

Genesis, Sorry about the notes on Vairamuthu. It is such an awful prism - dubbed telugu movie with an alien milieu for him, and a tune tailored for another language - to look at him through. That aside, I suppose I have noted about KV's lack of comfort with the milieu he set Subha Sankalpam in. I think you are right about Swathi Muthyam too, though I can't remember now exactly. It could be non-brahmin protagonists but if it is, KV does fail to evoke the same authenticity as the previous ones. Swathi Muthyam focussed more on inter-personal relationships, and milked some nice sentimental mish mash out of it, not to mention the (autism?) of the protagonist, and the widow remarriage theme. Despite all those memes, there is no specific focus on any of those aspects - the focus seems to be on kamal and his performance, a very good choice one might add, from a cinematic perspective. A good movie to celebrate Kamal, the performer as against Kamal, the creator. Possibly, by this time Kamal, the performer had accrued enough credit for his lifetime that even a zero count of good performances after that would not have reduced his standing as an actor/performer. Which is why I wish for the termination of the performer now and sole focus on the creator in him.

[V_S]

App,
Excellent post I can visualize your days there. Brought back lot of fond memories of coimbatore that too in 1986, my first year in college. I can write days and days about Coimbatore. Fine place! First time felt the freedom (away from home) and world looked so different and beautiful and we can roam wherever we wanted without any limit. Yes, our favorite time pass most of the time was in Lakshmi complex. I used to get so many cassettes recorded in the 2nd floor shop in Lakshmi Complex (forgot the shop name). Down, we had that great and tasty Gowri Shankar (so cheap compared to hotels in Chennai, that time, not sure now). Every night, we will be in one or other theatre, taking rented bicycles (fun part was, on return, leaving the bicycles at our college ground itself and escape). Who can forget those messes, where they beat every Annapoornas to shame. Round kattal that time in every mess when we were sick of hostel food. Let me stop here before going overboard.

Coming to the song, nice observation App on the multiple thuLLi (suvvi) part. It will definitely be distracting and kiddish when just listening to the song, but I think that was intentional on Maestro's part not to force another lyrics as the fun element would be lost, as Radhika was not not happy with her life and still dreaming about her fate and Kamal sings to cheer her up. You can hear that when SJ sings and cries in between. 'MaNNavan uNNai maranthathenna'. To boost her, these many 'thuLLi' was added to bring her out of sorrow. This is evident when the song finishes in the same fashion. Please hear when SJ ends 'Anbillai naan aada (that haan! excellent SJ), thoLillai naan poo pOda' and SPB finishes with thuLLi thuLLi thuLLi (without further extending). No other words or humming at the end would have done justice there, as I think first time Kamal realizes her sOgam as against the 'thuLLal' he just had during the song. So when SPB sings the last (third) 'ThuLLi', you can hear how SPB sings it differently in a painful tone, as Kamal got that sOgam into him and that's where the twist we see at the end of 'Rama Kanavemira'. Ultimately he wants her to be happy forgetting her past, hence his action.

(DTS version as said by uploader, but wonderful to listen in headphones).

(Thamizh version)

[groucho070]

V_S thanks for the link. You keep insisting on making me cry what a performance, from everyone. This video, they slapped the stereo CD/Cassette version onto the clip that had original mono sound.

[groucho070]

By the way, can you see NT there? Or is it just me, being NT crazed?

[V_S]

You are welcome grouch. Absolutely terrific performances. After successfully doing the initial aalap, Kamal feels ecstatic and runs towards the water, but suddenly stops there for a moment (to our surprise) with one leg and then steps into it. I use to love this scene very much. Thorough innocence can be seen in him. Still we are searching such type of talent in the current generation of actors, only to be disappointed.

[groucho070]

Still we are searching such type of talent in the current generation of actors, only to be disappointed.

We'd still be searching when we have grandkids

Plum: Enough with Kamaltheactor already

[Plum]

App, I think I specifically noted the reason for multiple thullis earlier in my posts and V-S has reinforced that as well - I think it is all deliberately thought out(or spontaneously formed as is the usual case with Raja). After the first stanza, Radhika is slowly drawn towards the happy interludes that the mornings on Godavari side give her with this innocent young man. She probably is convincing herself that the relationship with this man is pure, and I guess the village sees it in the same light but perhaps, his innocent utterances on spring returning to her life slowly chip at her mind as well - the transition to second interlude has her hurrying away with a bunch of "suvvis", perhaps as a reminder to herself that the joy is transient and thw white-sareed, temple-going role is her permanent fate. Lot of nuances there. The ending of the song, app has explained. But you are right, as a pop song listener, they are jarring. Incidentally, I was wondering in the 2011 best songs trend whether context, milieu had no meaning any more in pop music appreciation in reference to Vaagai Sooda Vaa, a movie apparently set in a parched rural TN village in the 60s. You wouldn't know it from the songs, nor from Chinmayee's singing, yet it is widely appreciated as a fine debut by the MD. I guess the pop music standards have shifted. I mean, it is not as if Swathi Muthyam was merely functional, merely faithful to its setting - these were also immensely popular songs. Looks like it will be a long time before we get a harmonious marriage of the two aspects again in TFM.

[V_S]

Very well explained again Plum! Now it gets more interesting to see from Radhika's angle. That's why this song gets more and more interesting. We can either view at Kamal's angle or at Radhika's angle.
SPB sings first time 'thuLLi thuLLi nee paadamma seethaiyamma, nee kaNNeer vittaal thaangadhamma'. When SPB sings second time, Maestro asks SJ to take over exactly at 'nee kaNNeer vittaal thaangadhamma' showing her (Radhika's) care for this innocent man, which transforms altogether at the end of the song. Another beauty is, the song has more lines for SPB, while SJ only has few portions in between. So aurally it is more of SPB's (Kamal) song, on the other hand, visually it is more of SJ's (Radhika) song. That's where KV scores.

[app_engine]

Great going V_Sji & Plum

thiruvizhA in thread

[app_engine]

BTW, your "balancing post" on uthattil thodangu song is due, Plum