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V.Kumar: Malarum NinaivugaL

Topic started by bb (@ 24.6.231.170) on Wed Jul 7 00:37:21 EDT 2004.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Saravanan is starting a new series on V.Kumar, titled 'V.Kumar: Malarum NinaivugaL'. He has been in touch with V.Kumar's wife and son and is planning a comprehensive series of articles on V.Kumar. I am sure this will be a treat for VK fans. This will also feature unique introductions to the songs by V.Kumar himself, in his own voice. Thanks to Govind and VK's family for their help on this.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: sk (@ 216.52.229.252) on: Fri Oct 1 12:41:33 EDT 2004
  
  Saravanan:
  
  Here is an mp3 of achcham vittu nANam vittu...
  http://asia.f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/geethakee/vwp2?.tok=bcq7VKUBcrSwqtS.&.dir=/PS&.dnm=achcham+vittu.mp3&.src=bc
  
  dheiva sankalpam is a silly movie. I will write to you separately abt it.
  
  
• From: OISG (@ 195.229.241.186) on: Fri Oct 1 13:46:10 EDT 2004
  
  unakennna kuRaichal- A song which should suit GG on and off screen.What an emotion MSV brings out when he sings "andha ninaivE indRu pothum".VK has struck gold with the Vali's lyrics,MSV's voice and on screen GG.
  
  kannadiyil narai therigirathu
  magaLukku kadaikku poi pattu pavadai vangaveNdum
  maganin full pant kodyil kaigirathu
  unga experiencekku idhu sadaharana velai ..
  udan velai seibavarin paarattu(?)
  
  enkenna kuraichal - Saravanan writeupudan indha paatu irukkum varai.....
  
  
• From: T (@ 12.33.141.40) on: Fri Oct 1 13:51:21 EDT 2004
  
  sara, i was waiting for ur writeup on velli vizha and u sure didnt disappoint..:) great writeup...
  
  
• From: T (@ 12.33.141.40) on: Fri Oct 1 13:54:21 EDT 2004
  
  Does the link for 'unakenna kuraichal' work?? its not working for me :(
  
  
• From: thumburu (@ 83.89.145.50) on: Fri Oct 1 14:37:41 EDT 2004
  
  Saravanan, iam waiting impatiently for "Arangetram", a hard hitting masterpiece from KB-VK combination, a movie which shook me.
  Wonderful writeup about VV!!!
  VV was a movie ahead of its times.
  Where are directors like KB today?Given the present TF standards, I should appreciate our current TFM mds, who still manage to come out with listenable melodies
  
  
• From: GK (@ 206.132.99.2) on: Fri Oct 1 16:53:50 EDT 2004
  
  Unakkenna Kuraichal Nee Oru Raja: IMHO, I think this song is probably one of the best that MSV has sung, and that includes he has sung in movies that he composed music. Somehow, I am moved by the pain in the voice. This song reminds of a song that SDB sang in Amar Prem. These songs, though not similar in tune, are quite similar in the heaviness the emotions that they convey. A fantastic composition. Great writing by Saravanan adds to the beauty of the featured songs as usual.
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 195.229.241.186) on: Sat Oct 2 02:20:02 EDT 2004
  
  Thanks, friends, for your heartening responses!
  
  veLLi vizha is a great album, and each song is worth cherishing. 'unakenna kuRaichal' is, of course, the icing on the cake. Incidentally, last night as I was tearing off yesterday's page from the Rani Muthu Calendar, I noticed that yesterday happened to be 'mudhiyOr dhinam'!
  
  sk, thank you for promptly making the deiva sankalpam song available!
  
  OISG, enjoyed your kavithai :)
  
  T, the link for 'unakenna kuRaichal' works fine for me. Can you try again?
  
  thumburu, aaNdavanin thOttathilE azhagu (viraivil) sirikkum :)
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 195.229.241.186) on: Sat Oct 2 02:27:44 EDT 2004
  
  All, here is a rare treat- The link for the lilting 'ullathil nooRu ninaithEn' song that I had mentioned in the write-up. It is a great SPB/PS duet from the film maappiLLai azhaippu, composed by V.Kumar. As I had only a cassette recording of this song, I could not give an audio link. Thenraja was kind enough to send me a mp3 version of the song last night. Thanks, Thenraja!
  
  http://in.f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/nat_saravanan/vwp2?.tok=bc8TaKUB0GREsGI4&.dir=/&.dnm=ullathilnooru.mp3&.src=bc
  
  
• From: Da Vinci (@ 24.194.147.4) on: Sun Oct 3 10:00:25 EDT 2004
  
  Saravanan,
  
  I must have seen ‘veLLi viZA’ when I was in high school, but the songs ‘nAn satham…’ and ‘kAthOdu…’ have ever been in my memory, the former for its unconventional style and the latter for its breath taking melody. I am astonished that they are by V.Kumar too (as I had been earlier with many other songs that were mentioned here). ‘kAthodu…’ is a treat for any musician, by its glide of minor and major notes that go so natural with the flow of the tune. It is not just a harmonic scale, or an accidental note (as one observes often in many songs of Ilayaraja) that V.Kumar seems to have used, but a consciously felt note that was different to the scale, which he forces in, but which never goes out of sync with the flow of the original tune, but only enhances beauty to it! I think it is a rare achievement, seldom found in many music directors of the film world and is a distinct style of V.Kumar that we seldom see in his contemporaries (including MSV) as well. ‘nAn unnai vAzthi…’, ‘unnidam mayangugirEn…’ and ‘kAthodu…’ all have that unique style of V.Kumar stamped in them.
  
  
• From: raj (@ 61.246.255.3) on: Mon Oct 4 04:33:09 EDT 2004
  
  Velli vizha !! ... Padam vandhu Velli vizha aandu aagivittadhu ..
  
  Even now the scenes and Songs are memorable ones..
  
  Credit to KB-VK-Vaali
  
  Vaali's lyrics for both NAan satham pottu than paaduven and Kaadhodu than naan paaduven are amazing..
  
  "Valarndhalum naan innum sirupillai than
  Naan arindhaalum adhu kooda nee solli than
  unaketra thunaiyaga enai maatrava
  ..
  
  Paaloota oru pillai azhaikindradhu
  naan padum pattai oru pillai rasikindradhu
  enakkaga iru nenjam thudikindradhu
  idhil yaar kettu en pattai mudikindradhu "
  
  & Unakenna kuraichal . holds good form KB, VK, Vaali, GG himself..
  Lyrics are apt and well sung by M.S.V
  
  Vaali deserved more Credit..
  
  A Wonderful Film and Wonderful write-up by Sara asusual
  
  
• From: G.Ragavan (@ 61.16.168.131) on: Mon Oct 4 07:20:22 EDT 2004
  
  Velli Vizha, the wonderful movie and the songs still haunts our mind. The trend breaking album with tantalizing songs. Hats off to VKumar and all the singers, Valli the lyricist, KB the director, the instrument players in the archestra and the recording engineers.
  
  
• From: Senty (@ 192.35.84.5) on: Mon Oct 4 15:51:59 EDT 2004
  
  Great thread guys, keep it going...
  Iam also waiting for arengetram.....
  1.Aandavanin thotathiley azhagu
  2.Moothaval nee koduthai vazhvilley
  great songs
  
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 195.229.241.186) on: Wed Oct 6 00:14:56 EDT 2004
  
  Da Vinci, raj, G.Ragavan & Senty, thanks for your responses!
  
  
• From: Senty (@ 192.35.84.5) on: Wed Oct 6 11:16:54 EDT 2004
  
  Is this song by v.kumar ??
  "palinginaal oru malligai
  paruvathal mani mandabam"
  
  
• From: SK (@ 199.90.34.67) on: Wed Oct 6 13:45:16 EDT 2004
  
  Isn't it from tht Jaishankar movie from Modern Theaters?
  Sort of James Bond type of movie![vallavanukku vallavan? vallavan oruvan?.. I'm not sure]
  MD ...is it Vedhaa?
  
  'saravaNanE thuNai!!!'
  
  
• From: vengayam (@ 61.0.54.190) on: Wed Oct 6 14:19:03 EDT 2004
  
  SK,
  vedhave thaan.
  Jai with Vijayalalitha in Vallavan Oruvan
  Saravanannukku niraya vellai irukirathu! unearthing more treasures ;-))
  
  
• From: bb for Saravanan (@ 24.6.251.57) on: Wed Oct 6 23:48:10 EDT 2004
  
  

  Part XIII - kaalam namakku thOzhan

  
  We now enter the 1973 pages of the VK narrative.
  
  And as is our wont, let us take a cursory look at the tfm scenario in that year. MSV was still the undisputed monarch, and his wide-ranging works that year included the semi-classical treat ganga gowri, and the thumping triumph ulagam sutRum vaaliban. bharatha vilas, gowravam, rajapart rangadurai, ponnoonjal, sooriyagandhi, sollathaan ninaikiREn, alaigaL, pookaari, sondham, school master, thalai prasavam, maNippayal, engaL thaai… irrespective of their commercial fate, MSV’s music was sheer magic in all of them. KVM gave some good songs in anbu sagOtharargaL, but his work in pattikaattu ponniah and engaL thanga raja was by and large disappointing.
  
  Kunnakkudi Vaidhyanathan bagged kaaraikaal ammaiyaar, raja raja chOzhan and thirumalai deivam. Shankar-Ganesh proved their detractors wrong with their excellent work in amman aruL, and acquitted themselves rather well in albums like manjaL kungumam, nathaiyil muthu, veetukku vandha marumagaL and radha. A.M.Raja made a grand re-entry as a MD in veettu maappiLLai. T.R.Papa struck gold in maRupiRavi. G.Devarajan stayed on in the fray with vijaya. The obscure N.S.Thyagarajan elicited instant notice with his refreshing songs in vaLLi deivaanai. Jaya-Vijaya made a telling statement in shanmugapriya.
  
  It was a good year for V.Kumar as well; the films that he got were more misses than hits at the box office, but his work was impeccable in all of them.
  
  * * * *
  
  Let us begin the year with VK’s works in the film malligai poo (Geethalaya). Malligai poo starred Muthuraman, K.R.Vijaya, Pramila, Srikanth, Cho, Sukumari and others. It was scripted and directed by N.S.Maniam.
  
  The story was an interesting account of how the follies of the past come to haunt a happily married couple. She is tormented by an unscrupulous drama actor, who blackmails her with a photo showing them in a love scene; while the husband has his own troubles- he is forced to involve himself in the problems of his earlier inamorata. Of course, all things fall in place in the end.
  
  Lyrics were by Vaali, and VK came up with some good songs.
  
  Let us listen first to this alluring duet nee pOtta mookuththiyO maaNickam, sung by TMS & PS. I believe this lilting song was quite popular in its time; and I have listened to it on Radio Ceylon even in the late 70s. The short violin bit in the second interlude comes as a pleasant surprise.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/neepotta.rm
  
  The next song is the famous PS solo naan koNda maangalyam. When I mentioned this song to Swarna, she promptly recollected the lines. And she informed me that the song actually begins with a thogayara that goes ‘ medaiyittu pandhalittu moondRu mudichittu oor paarkka en mannavan pOtta thaali meenatchi nee kaakka. Unfortunately the version I have begins straightaway with the pallavi. A song tailored for PS and she sails through it in soulful style.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/naankonda.rm
  
  Vaali fills the lines with sentimental analogies, recalling the feats of mythical heroines like Savitri and Nalayini, the draws parallels with the celluloid heroine’s doings. VK makes this song a memorable semi-classical treat.
  
  Let us now give TMS his due, for he has enjoyed himself nonchalantly in this breezy number papamagapa nee nee paatta rasippa pa pa. Chorus voices add to the appeal, and the chaRanams progress in delightfully unpredictable paths.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/papama.rm
  
  The next song is an archetypal TMS pathos solo, idhu yEn nadandhadhu. Vaali’s lyrics are filled with ruminative self-reproach, and VK paints a picture of morose emptiness.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/idhuyen.rm
  
  The last song in the album, muruganukku moothavanE is a veritable treat. A rare therukoothu recounting the tragic tale of the heroic Vellaiyamma. I knew I had this song somewhere in my collection and dug it up after a determined search. Listening to it after ages was a revelation, for I was astounded to note that VK has called the veteran P.Leela to sing this song. I had been secure in my belief that the only Tamil songs that PL got to sing in the 70s were the unforgettable sakunthalai kaaviyam in engirundhO vandhaaL and the scintillating thillaana in thiruneelakandar. This song showed how wrong I was!
  
  Consolation was not far off- Swarna herself was not inclined to believe me when I told her that PL had sung a song in malligai poo, and what’s more, Swarna too was among the singers in the song!
  
  But when I played the song over the phone, she was immediately flooded with recollections! She dazedly agreed that indeed female voices were those of P.Leela and herself; and identified the male voices as S.V.Ponnusami, S.C.Krishnan and Seergazhi Govindarajan. She said wonderingly ‘eppadi indha arumaiyaana paatta maRandhu ponEn?’ She could now remember vividly how VK made them repeatedly rehearse their lines, as even a slightest mistake by any of them would mean all of them singing again. All the 5 singers stood close to each other, and took turns at the mike, she said.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/muruga.rm
  
  A classic drama, with all its operatic frills, crafted with painstaking care by VK. He passes the grueling test in flying colors, and shows with aplomb that no genre of song is beyond his capacity. I would like to know if this song found adequate airtime, at least in the immediate moths of the film’s release!
  
  * * * *
  
  The next film we’ll be taking up is peththa manam piththu (Victory Movies) The film starred Muthuraman, Jaya, Savitri, Major Sundararajan, Manorama and others. It was scripted by V.C.Guganathan (who later married Jaya!) and directed by SP. Muthuraman.
  
  It was a pedestrian tale of a rich girl (Jaya) falling in love with the poor hero (Muthuraman), and marrying him in the face of stiff opposition by her status-conscious father (Major Sundararajan). And several hackneyed reels later the rich father realizes how wrong he was. I recall watching this movie on TV as a child, and was particularly struck by Savitri’s brilliant performance. One scene stands out in memory, wherein she comes to Jaya’s house, and we come to know later that she is already dead and that it was her spirit that visited Jaya!
  
  I recall only song from the film…the enchanting kaalam namakku thOzhan sung by TMS & PS. The impecunious man and his loving wife sing to their infant son, and express evocatively their respective feelings. They are in their humble hut, and he sings regretfully of the deprivations she has had to endure by becoming his wife. She smiles at his concern, and tenderly assures him that his love is all that she cares for.
  
  Thoughtful, illustrative lines by Poovai Senguttuvan (thanimaramaai nindRavanai thazhuvugindRa poonkodiyaaL enna sugam kaNdaaLada? kodiyuNdu maramuNdu kuzhandhaiyenum kaniyuNdu, kuRai enna kaNdEnada?) add to song’s enticement.
  
  Listen to this beautiful song by VK, sung with understanding by the mesmerizing minstrels:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/kaalam.rm
  
  We’ll continue to explore the 1973 trail next week…
  
  
  
• From: Swami N (@ 220.227.179.5) on: Thu Oct 7 01:12:16 EDT 2004
  
  One song missing in gemini-sowkar movie rengaraatnam. It is like this. Athaadee parakudhu kaathadi, arezu sirikkudu koothaadi. It was by PS (solo) for ara-loosu character Sowkar. It was also famous.
  
  

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