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Vani Jayaram's songs

Topic started by avvaiyar (@ 203.116.61.132) on Wed Jan 27 02:29:28 EST 1999.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

I'm a new visitor to this website. I couldn't see anyone discussing about Vani Jayaram's songs.
Let me start this one.(It had been there previously pls. forgive me!)

"Ezhu swarangalukkul ethanai paadal..
Ithaya surangathul ethanai kelvi...
Vaazhum manitharukkul ethanai salanam.."

Wow! Beautiful voice!

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Neel's VJ Songs

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.21.232) on: Sun Mar 2 22:34:06 EST 2003
  
  Saravanan
  That was a lovely post! More than anything else, it took me back to some personal attachment to the movie "Chilakamma cheppindi". I am writing this more as a reflection than as a relevance to this thread. Pardon my indulgence!
  
  This movie was directed by Eranki Sharma who is my grandfather (my chinna thatha) and was produced by Chalasani Gopi. As you mentioned it had Rajni in it. I think it was his 5th or 6th film. My grandfather worked with Balachander as an assistant director (most of the behind-the-scenes directorial job used to be taken care of by him) for a very long time after which he decided it was time for him to take the plunge and he directed his first film "Chilakamma cheppindi". He was lucky (not for too long though), his first film was a huge success. His film even got the Andhra Pradesh Nandi Award. But then, after a couple of failure films, he had to resign his position and go into oblivion. The couple of films that he directed were real good ones. He had a great influence of Balachander though. To listen to him tell me how he, alongwith a bunch of others from the KB camp, "discovered" Rajnikanth and Chiranjeevi among others and everything after that that brought them to be superstars, was just awestriking and interesting.
  
  I didnot know that Nizhal nijamagirathu was a remake of CC and that KB directed it.
  
  Thanks for allowing this little flashback.
  
  
• From: OISG (@ 193.188.97.152) on: Sun Mar 2 23:58:14 EST 2003
  
  Saravanan
  
  Now i understand what words like "THOROUGH","PROFOUND" mean.To write history without taking sides and passing opinions is a difficult task.Your post is a shining example.
  
  All the best.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Sun Mar 2 23:58:32 EST 2003
  
  Saravanan, Kaumudi -
  I was under the impression that Nizhal Nijamagiradhu was indebted to the Malayalam film, Adimagal? Or am I way off the mark again?
  
  
• From: Cinema Virumbi (@ 203.197.220.210) on: Mon Mar 3 02:05:55 EST 2003
  
  Saravanan,
  
  Some trivia!:
  
  1. KB's film 'neerkumizhi' was his original play named 'mezhuguvarththi' with nagEsh as a terminaly ill patient.
  2. When Shobha died a sudden death, some of her older films were screened in Madras with posters screaming in black :
  'nizhalil nijamaagi, muLLil malaraagi, pasiyil oorvasiyagiya engaL ShObhaave- unakku engaL kaNNeer anjali!'
  3. I will be equally thankful if someone can tell me the location of Crown and BhuvanEswari and whether they exist at all today!
  4. 'nizhal nijamagiRathu' was the first film where Kamal was seen doing a good amount of 'Bharatanaattiyam', bare chested and with trousers on! When it was screened in T Nagar Krishnaveni, some youngsters were seen at the counter, bare chested and with trousers on! ( I don't think they knew ' Bharatanaattiyam' though!)
  5. I always felt that Anumanthu of NN resembled Nedumudi vENu a lot!
  
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Mon Mar 3 09:09:20 EST 2003
  
  Naaz
  I am not sure. I did not watch NN. I was just going by Saravanan's post and took it for granted.
  
  
• From: av (@ 132.216.68.183) on: Mon Mar 3 09:48:41 EST 2003
  
  Bharatanatyam with trousers on! ROTFL!
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Mon Mar 3 10:01:28 EST 2003
  
  CV -
  There was another smelly controversy when the film Salangai Oli (Sagarasangamam) was released:
  All the bharatanatyam doyennes and scholars went on ad nauseum (pun intended) on whether Kamal Haasan should have shaved his armpits/moustache for the dance scenes - for all male dancers who practice that classical art are meant to be "smooth as silk." Examples of Udaya Shankar and Dhanajayan were trotted out...
  One could have easily dubbed the hallabaloo in the press as "Shaving (Dis)Grace" ! :-)
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 213.42.1.175) on: Tue Mar 4 11:30:33 EST 2003
  
  Thanks all, for patiently bearing with my irregular appearances. I am afraid it will be like this for some more time.
  
  Naaz, I don't know about Adimaigal, but NN was definitely a remake of the Telugu film Chilakkamma Cheppindhi. I have seen both CC and NN. CC means, I think, 'The parrot said'- the story commences with Thilakam coming from her village to work in Indhu's house. On the way, she stops at a roadside kili josiyar, who, based on the card picked by his parrot, predicts that a king would marry her.
  
  Kaumudi- CC's director was your thatha? Great! Was the story also his? How come he didn't direct the Tamizh remake? Please share with us more of his memoirs.
  
  CV- there was a revered old man, living near my uncle's house in Adyar. His name was 'No-Shirt Varadachari'! He was a freedom fighter, who vowed that he would not wear a shirt till India attains independence- thus his name. He got so used to his way of (un)dressing, that he remained that way even after 1947 and he ramained that way till his death a few years back. In every election, he would stand as the first person in the booth to exercise his franchise.
  
  Similarly, our Kamal is of a similar nature- at every possible opportunity on-screen, he is bound to take off his shirt ( and more!). Bollywood, of course, has its Salman 'shirtless' Khan.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Tue Mar 4 12:49:26 EST 2003
  
  Saravanan -
  Like I said...hope the stress is on "some" and not "more" in your idaivelai!
  
  I think the film was called Adimagal and not "Adimaigal." Perhaps it was Shoba's first malayalam film? I have to do some google searching to see if it throws up any definite answers to this query.
  
  About this "shirtless" machoism: What do the critics say? "Look how their pecs emote?" :-)
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Mon Mar 10 12:13:12 EST 2003
  
  Sorry for being responsible for this undesirable digression,
  
  Saravanan
  Sorry for the delay. Yeah, my thatha is the director of CC. The story was also his own. He wanted to direct the telugu movie first for obvious reasons. Then the movie went on well both with the masses and the critics. That's when I guess KB liked the storyline, success aspects etc and decided to make it in thamizh. KB used the exact story/screenplay that my thatha had. Also MSV was the music composer for CC. Also, my thatha decided to use Rajni for telugu (it seems like my thatha liked him a lot for his spontaneity) and KB used Kamal in thamizh. My thatha made sure he introduced/promoted new faces in the industry, especially the ones from film institutes - Chiranjeevi, Narayanarao etc.. Lots of all this old stuff is interesting to listen to.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Tue Mar 11 20:33:50 EST 2003
  
  Kaumudi -
  That was an interesting tidbit of biography. I was not aware of your "filmi" connections! Your "thatha" sounds like a pioneer of sorts in TelFilm Industry. Did he direct any other films?
  
  I've been waiting with loads of patience to see you resume the evocative telugu translations...it might just inpire me to do some more of the hindi ones...Shall we commit ourselves to this all over again?
  It would make for engaging reading, and will also be a boon (this is my optimism!) for those who don't speak Telugu or Hindi. Deal? :-)
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.109.28) on: Wed Mar 12 10:16:11 EST 2003
  
  Naaz
  Yeah, I do have filmi connections, not just in acting part of it, but also in the music department. One of my other thathas (amazing thathas, huh?) was the chief violinist with KVMahadevan - the way VSNarasimhan was with IR!!
  
  The current thatha directed other films after CC mostly in telugu - Kukkakaatuki cheppudebba (Chiranjeevi), Naalaga endharo etc etc. The few movies that he got to direct won critical acclaim and awards, but they didn't mean much to the masses. However, it is nice to see people like Chiranjeevi, Narayanarao et al talk about this so-unknown person (my thatha) who was one of the persons responsible for their uprise in the field.
  
  About the translations: I haven't forgotten them at all and you have to believe me. I had a major problem - my computer was attacked by a wretched virus, which started eating up stuff and I had to do a major cleanup like reformatting etc. And so, I have been stuck without my computer for the last couple of days. I will have to get back all my software and files etc. This might take sometime - a day or so. I will resume with a translation as soon as I can. I made a promise and I won't back off!
  
  Meanwhile, I urge you to start off with one Hindi translation. How about that? But thanks for all the encouragement.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Wed Mar 12 11:32:23 EST 2003
  
  Kaumudi -
  
  Thank you for the details on your thatha's biography. It there any monograph/piece on his work available on the net? Please post a link if there is one, I'd be interested in reading it.
  
  
  Starting off (and you'd better keep good pace too :-)) -
  
  I've been meaning to do this for sometime, but have not found the right moment lately. Now, I know that the "right" moment is always the moment you make "right" (tautological, but it works!) This is one such.
  
  Here's a quick Primer on Ghazals (VJ webpage, under Urdu. Title of album: Parvaz - The Song Bird)
  
  GHAZAL 101:
  
  A brief and elliptical "History":
  
  The Ghazal form of poetry was introduced in India by way of Persia, and the Mughal dynasties. The link of this poetry to the "Sufi" tradition is perhaps its most significant "divine" aspect. Sufis sing the songs of "Love of God". The "Ghazal" does have this ambiguity, where the poem can be interpreted as a salutation to "Love of God in all its Human Manifestations." Hence, the preponderance of the need for "consummation" or "to be part of, or become" ONE with God and or the Beloved.
  The Ghazal in a sentimental nutshell is inalienably "Romantic."
  
  If you thought the word "ghazal" was too much like "gazelle" (a deer) then, that's a good sign and place to begin. Ghazal in Arabic (origin of the word) was pronounced as "Ghazaal". One can only conjecture (in an interpretive sense) what the word "deer" might have to do with "romantic" verse. Well, a close look at the use of the word "Maan" in Tamizh, in both native mythology and contemporary literature, will reveal only the obvious: The grace of the deer. Maanvizhi, Ilamaan, Maanottam/nadai, - it is all about poise, attraction and fragility.
  That is the heart of the Ghazal too. Deer/Dear might also be another aural coincidence ( or not?).
  
  The man credited with popularising the Urdu Ghazal (for the Arabic or Farsi exponents of this form were not popularised in India) is authoritatively, Amir Khusrau. The period of is practice of the Ghazal form is noted to be during the Khalji and Tughlaq dynasties - circa 1253 - 1325 AD. Mirza Ghalib ( the man who took the form to its zenith in India, and who's given name was Assadullah Khan) - the "father" of the contemporary "ghazal" as it is now known, was around the time 1797-1869.
  (cf. Gulzar's Mirza Ghalib was a fine essay/imagining of MG's life and loves. It was produced as the TV series in the late 80s.)
  
  In my next post I will try to enlist the "formal" components of the Ghazal. Stay tuned!
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Wed Mar 12 13:41:54 EST 2003
  
  Contd - from above post:
  
  "Sher-Shayari" - a phrase that is used to describe an esoteric inclination in a person finds colloquial (and pejorative) equivalents in tamizh "Kavidhai Gividhai" and "Bajanai Gajanai" and other such expletives that often are a "put-down" to any lyrical pursuit.
  
  Let's begin with "Main Shayar Tho Nahin" - a song that cut across all linguistic barriers in India (the only other ones that comes to mind are Mehbooba Mehbooba and Dum Maro Dum.)
  What makes a "ghazal" and what makes a "shayar":
  
  A "Ghazal", is a composition made of couplets - anywhere from five to the outer limit of fifteen. It might help to compare the Ghazal to the English Sonnet: The latter is divided into two sections - the Octave and the Sestet. The first section of the sonnet poses a conundrum/issue/query (Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? for example) and the sestet attempts a response. The Ghazal takes this technicality and reduces it to the "couplet" form. The first line of the proposes, and the second line (almost always) raises the stakes with an internal "paradox" - this is the unpredictable element in the Ghazal. In other words, the nature of the second line, in imaginative terms, should be to both amplify and astonish with contra/diction.
  
  Let me quickly list the components of the ghazal form of poetry:
  
  As I have said in the preamble, Sher/Kavidhai is the first necessity. Two lines with ONE composite and comphrensive meaning/emotion.
  
  For example, here is a line from Parvaz:
  "Thu Hame Jab Kabhi Yaad Aaye,
  Cheth Ki Chandni Yaad Aaye." Full meaning: Your memory returns, with the memory of moonlit night."
  
  That is the "Sher" - Couplet. This can be demarcated further with two specific names: Misra-e-Ulla or the first line of the "sher" and "Misra-e-saani" which denotes the second line.
  
  In a Ghazal, it is an absolute that both the lines in the couplet be of "equal" length. This is essential for metric precision, and syllabic emphasis (It establishes through sound the "rhyme scheme" to the listener.) This is known as Beher - and in the Urdu language there are 19 beher (or syllables) and these can vary in length too - long, medium and short.
  
  The internal Rhyme of the couplet (try saying the line I have provided as example) and the "sound" will reveal the concise nature of this scheme. This is the spine of the "ghazal"
  
  This important component of the form can be defined as:
  "Radeef":
  This is a "rhyming" word or phrase.
  
  To use the same VJ ghazal as example:
  "Yaad Aaye" is the first couplet is the Radeef.
  
  Then there is the rhyming word which occurs before the Radeef - which is termed as "Qa'afiya":
  
  In the ghazal I am using as an example, you can mark this in the opening passage, which is enunciated without musical accompaniment:
  
  "Jaise virane mein chupke se bahaar aa jaa ye...
  Jaise birmar ko bewazaha karaar aa jaa ye"
  
  Aa jaa ye: Radeef
  Bahaar/Karaar: Qaafiya
  
  Then there is what is called "Maq'tha": The signature, and usually the last couplet in a composition, where the poet inserts his/her name into the work. Ghalib's work is a good example for this. This aspect is also prevalent in Bhakti poetry, where you find Meera, Sur, Kabira, Anandghan - and many saint poets "personalising" their adulation/admiration/invocation - with their own or pseudonym.
  
  Let me, while I am at it, also list the most celebrated names in "Ghazal" poetry within the Persian/Indian context:
  Jalaluddin Rumi, a legendary Sufi master and poet from Persia (1207-1273) is perhaps the "Kamban" of the Ghazal form (in Farsi)
  Ghalib (Assadullah Khan) 1797-1869 and Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1910-1984) the two most credited names for the later ghazal years in India.
  And from Kashmir, there is the renowned Habba Khatun, who lived in the 1500s.
  
  There are many more "shayars" I might have missed, but this as I said, was a quick, brief and elliptical "History" of the Ghazal.
  
  In my next post, I will do my best to take your through a ghazal from Parvaz, and point out aspects of singing and enunciation, in keeping with these formal aspects I have just listed.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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