The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

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#288 ஒன்ன நெனச்சேன் பாட்டுப்படிச்சேன்
தங்கமே ஞானத்தங்கமே
(அபூர்வ சகோதரர்கள், 1989 )

onna nenachchEn pAttuppadichchEn...

The scenes leading to this song are perhaps the best in the movie. The registrar office debacle / mom's indiscreet remark about kuLLam etc and the terrific theme music plus beautiful histrionics by Kamal are a big treat to watch! OTOH, the song is a melodrama IMHO Though the melody is extremely good and rAsA / SPB manage to pizhinjify the hearts with their respective capabilities, somehow it wasn't that big a favourite with me. No doubt I liked the fact that it was a big hit and would have heard it umpteen times but the lyricist possibly bring downs the song from gOpurakkalasam to vAsal padikkattu.

May be the repeating 'gnAnaththangam' thingy was the major irritant. Or the comical memory of the "uppu-kazhudhai-panju" story that comes to my mind when the 'uppu vikkappOnEn' line comes It totally takes my mind away from the serious nature of the song

Ofcourse, the scene where the clown laments in the circus (when a handsome man takes away his girl in the trapeze game) is goosebump stuff but the later scenes (where the clown cries in front of the mirror etc) is kind of not-so-palatable to me. Ofcourse, that leads to a turning point in the movie, helps to move the masAlA etc but somehow the song's overall stature had been reduced IMO. (Kamal & Valee may be very proud of this song but the repeated 'thangamE-gnAnaththangamE' phrase throws it back to daNAl Thangavelu era and helps bring yawn).

That being said, the line 'andha vAnam azhudhAl thAn indha bhoomiyE sirikkum' is a terrific, brilliant one and one has to give to Valee! Overall, it's a mixed bag unlike the extremely brilliant numbers pudhu mAppiLLaikku / rAjA kaiya vachchA / aNNAththa AduRAr IMO (both on & off screen)...well, better than vAzha vaikkum kAdhal...again, this comparison is strictly within the album and only my personal order of preference in listening. No question about the total album being one of the finest ever in TFM!

Back to the girl's story of not giving invitation - it was just a question of typical delays involved in the case of a financially weak Kerala girl getting a good varan (with pAvam parents / no strong brother etc). Absolutely nothing to do with the pArvaipparimARRa business In course of time, things turned positive and I was happy to attend her wedding with other colleagues and had the 'nEnthram chips and ada prathaman' on the banana leaf! (I heard her instructing her dad to take special care of us).

Then there were very normal things in life (she had a baby, her sick mom died and I visited her home for condolence, she came to our house warming...). We happily left the past as some "old memories" and could smile at each other without any iRukkam when the paths crossed occasionally within the campus. (Some may say 'ennayyA ivvaLavu chappunnu Akkitta'; however, this is not an imaginative story but a real-life itihAs of a few years, can't be altered) Just a minute, that is not the end...

I decided to leave the town, sold the house - moved to rented place for a few months - got another consultant position and quit the job. There was a send-off by workers (stage'la speech ellAm koduththAnga) and it looked like she wanted to talk to me but there were always people around. Then there was the engineers booze-send-off and another friends' dinner etc for a few days. Finally, the "going-around-to-say-bye" day.

As usual, there were other girls with her but she briskly walked to meet me separately. There was a definite sadness in her eyes. With a voice that only I can hear (Keralite women can speak to a person without being audible to others even 5 ft away, as observed by my old room-mate), she asked :

'ngangaLayokke vittuttu pOkAn thannE theermAnichchO?' (Decided to leave us all? Really?)

There was a brief thoNdai adaikkal for me but exercising great control, I replied :

'ellavarum oru thivasam pOkEndadhallE?' (Don't we all have to go one day?)

(kadhai muRRum)