The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

[PARAMASHIVAN]

veLLichchalangaikaL youtube :



another 'aiyyO pAvam Radha'

yEn intha Kolai veri , She was a good dancer

[app_engine]

#94 அம்மா அழகே
(காதல் ஓவியம், 1982 )

Relatively short song, SPB solo, sung very emotionally. The supporting orchestration creates the "serious context" to the song -possibly depicting a scene showing trouble / difficulty of the lead character. I think it was around this time that IR had adopted this style of combining the bhaktippAdal-style sounds with regular light music songs for effect creation - sometimes in temple setting and on occasions even otherwise. This song could have been in temple setting as the blind singer was always seen around kOvil prakArams but vaigaraiyil vaigai karaiyil was in a recording theater setting, longing for a lover, with very similar orchestration as rAga dheepam ERRum nEram.

In sum total, when a movie character was in distress, IR started using this kind of orchestration (and possibly similar rAgams) to create a specific effect on the audience. There could have been similar attempts during the pre-IR era (especially by the light music kings) and IR got inspired from them or it was another trick he tried on his own...more like the former as I get reminded of the 'solladee abirAmee' song of TMS whenever I hear these numbers (rAga deepam, vaigaraiyil, ammA azhagE, sangeetha jAthi mullai)

[PARAMASHIVAN]

அம்மா அழகே பாடல் எனக்கு மிகவும் பிடித்த ஒன்று SPB sir மிகவும் அனுபவித்து பல இடங்களில் நம் மனதை கலங்கடிப்பார்

[app_engine]

#95 குயிலே, குயிலே எந்தன் கீதங்கள் கேட்காதோ
(காதல் ஓவியம், 1982 , ஜானகியுடன்)

Another emotionally charged number, this time SPB is supported by SJ to pizhinjify people's hearts. Add IR brand shenoy (which takes all kinds of avatars in his music, typically on folk themmAngus) and you have a song that can throw people into depression. The way in which this pair concludes the saraNam is simply goosepimple stuff!

Actually, the whole K-O album, if listened to continuously can throw people into real emotional low (regardless of whether that person is suffering from any kind of negatives in real life or not - luvvu or otherwise). For e.g., at the moment I don't have anything specific to feel this low that I'm thrown into after ammA azhagE and kuyilE kuyilE. Not any grave personal thing I'm going thru but still I feel depressed Power of music!

Though this album has a couple of numbers that can be called "happy" (poovil vaNdu & nathiyil Adum poovanam) and two "neutral" (nAtham en jeevanE & veLLichchalangaikaL), one gets into gloom because even in those songs the singer's pathetic plight (blindness) comes to mind and one cannot really get into a happy mood. I think the fate of this film got decided the day BR thought of making a movie on the lead character without sight

Sure, there are tons of brilliant real-life musicians who are blind but somehow those movies that have them as main char didn't seem to click in TN. (rAja pArvai, K-O, kAsi...such gloom doesn't seem to work well...BTW, thangappadhumai does not belong to this category; is there any big success story?)

[San_K]

wov great app. Kadhal Oviyam is one of finest album ever created in world film history.

Somehow I link Kuyile Kuyile song to Bombay's Uyire Uyrie song. Don't know why

[V_S]

Great write-ups App for such a power packed compositions and singing! This is again one soundtrack every aspiring singer wanted to sing and get somewhat close to what SPB has achieved. But SPB is too high to reach him. But just the feel we get when we sing these beautiful songs itself is enough to satisfy our apetite.

I think the fate of this film got decided the day BR thought of making a movie on the lead character without sight

Again great timing! Super analysis on how all movies of this kind figured at box-office

[app_engine]

She was a good dancer

There's no question Radha was a good actress and a decent dancer as well. And, was quite beautiful!

However, classical dance was not her strong area IMO and neither BR was a connoisseur in that area. Accordingly the end-product makes one feel sorry for both Radha and BR. (BTW, I don't think BR was a connoisseur in the classical music domain too but he was fortunate to have IR / SPB at their peak).

BTW, Plum, you had a question about 'kanavukkanni' which warrants some details...

I don't remember having any fascination for actresses during school years (due to the brought-up / village circumstances / not watching movies from 7th to +2 etc...I've even thought at times that MGR movies should not have those heroines at all and all those asingams). If anything, even after growing up a bit, I found the "seen-every-day-in-3D" much prettier than those ammaNees on posters.

After entering the college, in a new environment - going to movies with friends etc, I found the likes of Sridevi to be pretty (moonRAm piRai effect at that time).

Which was what I told - to a ruffian senior who was ragging me one day. (After washing their clothes for one hour+, it was typical for those fellows to have some more entertainment...typically done collecting a few wingmates and all of them poking fun at the freshie, asking questions of maRRa nature including this standard "who is your fav actress" question).

What followed my answer was such a roaring laughter by that gang which then had more probing questions (not printable here) for about 30-60 minutes and a lot of brainwashing in extreme language, thoroughly smashing away any respect a 16 yr old could have had for matinee idols on that domain.

appuRam enga irundhu kanavukkanni business ellAm varum? pOyE pOyAch!

Still, over a period of years, some actresses whose presence made the movies - strictly movies - more likeable were : Savithri, Padmini, Sridevi, Radha, Revathy, Gautami & many others (actually it's a very broad band with me having no vanjakam)

[genesis]

BR did a total sodhappal and so was the hapless hero and the movie became a terrible flop. IR talks about it in varalARRu suvadukaL with some sense of humor:

I have seen this movie in theater during the one week it was there. I was too young to understand the story line. But when I rediscovered this album in my later teen tears, I always thought it was a good movie did not work well with masses like Rajaparvai. Such nice songs with good lyrics... it is hard to imagine the movie was "sodhappal"... Well, IR does have many movies to his credit in this category: Ninaivellam Nithya comes to mind immediately. BR must have at least narrated the story well to IR and Lyricist... they did a fantastic job. IMO, this is the best album in all BR movies... Mudhal Mariyadhai comes very close though.

[groucho070]

Kathal Oviyam album is a different movie altogether. Watched the movie, and it is instantly forgettable. It's like You forgot what you ate but the aroma tingling in your nostril and the smell on your finger is something else altogether. Listen to it, you and you see a different movie altogether. Listen to the entire album and you see your very own love story you concocted with accordance to your own sentiment. No Bharathiraja, No Radha, no Cyclops. It's make it up as you go, as you traverse through the aural ecstasy.

This is again, one of those movies where you want to file a police report against the filmmakers for total desecration on the work of art.

Thanks app. Wonderful writing as usual.

[PARAMASHIVAN]

App anna

What you said about this "sad" , "depressed" feel for K.O songs are spot on! Such is the power of IR +SPB ! Like you said, even if you are in "jolly" mood, these songs can make you feel sad without any reasons! I am highly addicted to this "Depressed" mood created by these songs!