Home   Forum   Wiki   Notes   Register   FAQ   Sitemap   About Us   Contact Us  

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!

---

Neel's VJ Songs

---

Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: s0 (@ 139.95.250.2) on: Fri Apr 4 18:30:59 EST 2003
  
  ennada, rendu naala Saravanan SOTD thread pakkame varalaiye-nu oru doubt. great to see you continue your posts here.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Fri Apr 4 20:37:31 EST 2003
  
  Saravanan -
  The heartiest aspect about reading your posts these days (to me) is that they also signal your well-being in those war torn geographies. Bless you - and keep safe.
  And thank you for this back to "usual" moment. It is like a drenching shower for parched earth. Usual=Essential :-)
  
  Your diligence, dedication and delight in this exploration of VJ songs is obvious and visible to all those who read your posts. As a critic and a writer myself, I take great pleasure and reassurance in your writing - and all the more, because you are celebrating one of the most unsung and prodigious in film music. VJ has never learned to play the "Memory-Is-Media" game (or Bad Publicity is Still Publicity so Suck It All UP!)
  It might have something to do with her "excessive" classical training, or just her correct understanding of the words "Dignity" and "Professionalism."
  
  The crucial difference between singers like Seergazhi, T Loganathan, TMS, Suseela, Varalakshmi, LRE, VJ, Sasirekha - is that their voices formed and rose from the "pit" of their stomach - not from the "tip" of their tongue.
  Can you imagine any of the successful current singers pulling off a Varuvan Vadivelan or Marudamalai Mamaniye like it was all a walk in the park?
  
  The challenges in film singing are less and lesser these days. Wispy, ethereal and electronically blended voices are in. Human, Spirited, REAL voices are out.
  Given that everything is done and delivered from the shiny edges of the synthesiser, small wonder that people discuss technicalities and generalities more and more. Vadivelan Vandhalum, Vachika Vidiyal Varum Endra Uththiravadham Illai.
  
  (PS: I was going to post more details on ghazal / sher/ Qu'wwali - but I noticed that av had provided a link to another write-up about these things. I believe that answered your queries? )
  
  
  
  
  
• From: Subbu (@ 216.52.49.9) on: Sat Apr 5 01:16:47 EST 2003
  
  Saravanan,
  
  You mentioned that in "Varuvaan Vadivelan", singers of the the famous ‘Bathu malai ThiruMuthukkumaranai paadi vangiduvom’ were Bangalore AR Ramani Ammal,
  Seergazhi Govindarajan, TMS and chorus. I remember the "Chorus" included P. Susheela, LR Eshwari, MSV also. Kalai mela uLLa kovam innum theeralayaa? PS-ai marandhutteengaley" :-))
  
  I think "Sathiya Thirukkolam" starred by Jaiganesh and Latha while "Neeyindri Yarumillai" was with Muthuraman and Chandrakala (who acted with MGR inn U Su Vaa)
  
  Thanks
  
  
• From: Cinema Virumbi (@ 210.214.85.49) on: Sat Apr 5 13:49:30 EST 2003
  
  Saravanan,
  
  Did Seerkaazhi act in Devar's 'ThiruvaruL'? I am finding it difficult to recollect, though I have seen the film twice!
  
  
• From: s0 (@ 139.95.250.2) on: Sat Apr 5 21:57:20 EST 2003
  
  not meaning to break the discussion.
  I have just been listening to "Romba naalaaga" on my walkman in the background while trying desperately to get some work done.. totally unsuccessful! I found my concentration getting jolted back to this really really cool song quite a few times. especially when VJ enchants with her "Aaha" in between SPB's lines. wrong choice of song (&artists) when trying to do something else :-)
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 213.42.1.171) on: Sat Apr 5 23:34:55 EST 2003
  
  Thanks all, for your encouragement and patience in putting up with my infrequent apperances.
  Though Thursday and Friday constitute our weekend, at this time of the year, there's work all 7 days- luckily Friday evening there was little official work I could do without getting some vital info, and that was not forthcoming- so I used the respite to write this chapter. Vadivelan manasu vechaan, ezhutha vechaan, valarndhadhu chronology :)
  
  Naaz- AVR's link was informative. But I'm sure you can add to it?!
  
  Subbu- no deliberate intention to leave out PS's name, I assure you! Its ages since I've heard that song, and the voices I could recall were Ramani Ammal, TMS and SG. Thanks for your inputs.
  
  C V- I think Seergazhi Govindarajan appeared as a Baagavathar in Thiruvarul.
  
  sO- That's a problem I too face very often! Initially it works well- I mean I do get some work done. But presently, the song gets the better concentration, and my mind wanders on lines like other songs by the singer(s), or by the same MD, or some other such statistics, that I quite forget that I was engaged in statistical work of quite another kind: Cash Flow Budgets and Break-Even Analysis seem mundane then!
  
  
• From: av (@ 132.206.72.151) on: Sat Apr 5 23:46:57 EST 2003
  
  Naaz:
  
  [That link was a mere digression speaking about a very different aspect of Ghalib's ghazals. I posted it because I found it interesting and coincidentally you were talking about ghazals.]
  
  I agree with your observations about how modern music has become "digitalised" and IMO "excessively" westernised for no reason. I would however feel its not the singers' fault. There are more than three female singers (both in the North and in the South) of today who can do justice to similar difficult songs, and they have. Its just that such songs are often dismissed as "boring" or "not in tune with modern times". If film composers give them intricate classical songs, some (not all - a *few*) of today's singers can do phenomenal justice to those songs. I have always adored Chitra's and even Nityasree's voice in this regard (I admit I havent heard so very many songs by Nityasree).
  
  Sarvanan: Thanks and thanks and thanks and thanks! Such lovely write-ups. I envy you :-).
  
  BTW, I recently heard "thottili thodangidum" by Vani. Her forceful passages in the first minute of the song didn't only leave me transfixed, they left me craving and craving for more, and made me reach out to the rewind button more than 20 times. Her voice in this song is "magical". It is superfluous to add anything more. The wonderful use of the percussion adds beauty to an already divine masterpiece. And let me add this one line: till recently, I did not know WHAT I had missed.
  
  Thanks, everybody. Ciao.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Sun Apr 6 00:39:13 EST 2003
  
  s0-
  "Romba Nalaga" is an enchanting duet. Surprisingly, it was also competently picturised. Another delectably "distracting" one by the same team (SPB/VJ/SG) was "Ragam Thalam Pallavi Adhu Kadhal Bhoopalame" from Theerpugal Thiruththappadalaam. Subtle and giddy at the same time. Give it a listen, if you haven't already.
  
  Saravanan -
  I can definitely add to it. In a few days, I will get around to a "close reading" of one of the ghazals from Parvaaz. Hopefully, that will both inform and address your queries. Regarding the Qu'wwali genre, I wonder if you have heard the song "Thangachchi Ponnu...Thala Gunijikoma..." from Kizhakkum Merkkum Sandhikindrana..? It is a "filmi" Qu'wwali that comes to mind (in Hindi my all time favorite is "Raaz Ki Baat Khedho Tho Jaane Mehfil Mein Bhi Kya Ho" by AB/Rafi.) However, I will also do my best to include this digression when I get around to the ghazal.
  
  Av -
  I was not faulting the singer or MD or any one in particular. Merely a recognition of the shift in emphasis in the industry as a whole, and the proliferation of so many indistinct and feeble voices. Also, my point was regarding the style of singing. Nowadays (so I am told) every song is done in "bits", and singers have to hang around the studio for hours on end to do their "bit".
  Thottilil Thodangindum is a fine example of what Mr. Malik considers "excessive training." Just that beginning nattuvangam is all you need to know about the calibre and capacity of the singer. Some other such moments that are invaluable to me include:
  Sugamana Ragangale, Azhigya Kalai Nilave, Nadhamenum Kovilile, Nalamo Ena Naan Kaetpaen, Abinaya Sundari, Aanathineeara, Sangeetham Pada Gyanam Ullavargal Vaendum (oh the irony) Thiththom Thiththom Ena Padinal...
  Such superlative "excess."
  
  Of course, there is a more telling subtextual interpretation to Mr. Malik's observation. But I won't get into that now.
  
  These days I listen to VJs songs at the website just to discover the beauty of language, pronunciation, and richness of expression. As you say, searching qualifiers to describe VJs mastery as a singer can only be futile and "superfluous" - but god, how it flows!
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Sun Apr 6 00:56:54 EST 2003
  
  Small error -
  One song in the list from Kuppaththu Raja should read : thindhom thindhom ena adinal (not padinal). (tried humming it right now and discovered the blooper)
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 213.42.1.171) on: Sun Apr 6 04:43:53 EDT 2003
  
  Naaz- Yes, I have heard ‘Thangachipponnu thangachipponnu’. Regarding filmi Qu’wwali (so that’s how its spelled!) songs, I always see that they have men and women sitting on either side, kneeling and having long scarves perhaps tied to their wrists. The chief singer on either side will be supported by many who clap their hands and join in the chorus enthusiastically. Are real like Qu’wwalis also like this?
  
  ‘Paaradi kanne konjam paithiyamaanathu nenjam’- Vallavanukku Vallavan is a great example- Savithri appeared in just this song in the film, and Ashokan and Manohar on the other side had a blast. ‘Yemma Kannu’-Ellorum Nallavare and ‘Paavayargal maan poley’- Orey Mutham (at least the beginning of the song) are other instances of Tamizh film Qu’wwali.
  
  In Hindi, my favourites are ‘Hai agar dushman’ –Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin and ‘Parda hai parda’-AAA. Does ‘Yaar hai’-Zanzeer qualify to be a qu’wwali?
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.28.203) on: Sun Apr 6 10:05:06 EDT 2003
  
  Saravanan -
  Yes, the "filmi" depictions of qu'wwalis are often demarcated as "contests" or "stage-shows" - all along gender lines with choric extras!. This, of course, is creative license (as much as manju bhargavi's dance/ costume in Shankarabharanam is "bharatanatyam" or Ramarajan's swaying steps in Karagattakkaran can be called "karagam".)
  The sequences in AAA, HKSKN, Zamane Ko Dhikhana Hai and other such are corruptions, but in the popular (filmi) understanding of this tradition they are deemed qu'wwali.
  If you are really interested in listening to authentic renditions of this genre may I suggest The Sabri Brothers (of Pakistan) or the early albums of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( incidentally, qu'wwalis, in a pure, traditional sense, are always a male domain with only men in the chorus. It is in these "modern" avatars that female singers have been ushered.) In the female category, the most popular name in the Indian scene was/is Shakila Banu Bhopali.
  There are shades of this type of composition/singing in the VJ solo from Paththini Penn :"Ulagengum Nam Veedu, Adhil Yenna Ellaikkodu"
  
  I will give you a few more historical/contextual leads in the next post, just rushing to meet an article deadline for this 'noon.
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.22.38) on: Sun Apr 6 11:23:23 EDT 2003
  
  Naaz
  "as much as manju bhargavi's dance/ costume in Shankarabharanam is "bharatanatyam""
  
  I don't think what she did in sankarabharanam is bharathanatyam, I think it is kuchipudi. And she herself is a well-trained kuchipudi dancer. She was the disciple of the famous Vempati china satyam and has given over 2000 performances all over the world.
  
  So I don't know if Ramarajan's karagam was pure or not, but I don't remember anyone mentioning/writing that Manju bhargavi's dance was not pure.
  
  

---

List all pages of this thread

Post comments