The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

[KV]

phew! backlog cleared! a list of eternal songs and some nice memories, app. Keep 'em coming!

"Apart from reminding me of the walkman listens, this also brings to mind the visits to Bangalore that started by the end of the year 1986 (the employer had HQ there). I used to visit / stay with a college wing-mate every now and then - when the company guest house room couldn't be booked for e.g....or even otherwise because his room was walkable, < 100 meters, from the middle point of Commercial street. Many of the Bangalore bachelors of 80's possibly recall this place called "Rubin House" close to commercial street supposedly run by a Jew. It was in that place that me and the friend (who lived there in a bachelor room) had talked a lot about this song one evening!"

My, my! Memories couldn't get more overlapping than this! Rubin house was enroute to my school (the one that was just a few yards away). As a kid, before getting my bicycle, I used to go by walk and sometimes with a couple of my friends. As a routine, while returning from school, we used to stop daily at Robin House to drink water (that had a distinct taste, probably a tank that was rarely cleaned) from an old tap they had inside. I was really fond of the old-world charm the building possessed with dimly lit rooms and a kind of serenity that it always seem to wear. Lovely place... enigmatic, poetic, nostalgic and serene. Alas, the place doesn't exist anymore . It was knocked down last year to make way for a pomp jewelry showroom. A piece of history torn off Dispensary Road. RIP. Thanks for bringing back all these memories, app.

App, RC, grouchy, great pointers on Vikram! The movie was really thrilling back then.. all the hi-tech stuff was pullaripps stuff!
And regarding Dimple, as an evidence of her popularity and craze among youth, here's a first-hand experience. My chithappa was/is a crazy fan of her's and had a big poster of her clad in a bikini () put up in his room! The poster stayed there till he got married, after which a baby's picture (with the words: god speaks to us through kids!) tooks its place! (I should've kept that poster with me, but sinna pulla, vevaram paththala. Damn!)

[app_engine]

nanRi rajkumarc & KV!

I'm sad there's no Rubin house anymore

Interesting to read about your uncle's dimplemania

3 songs are due today (Sat / Sun / Mon)...after manjakkuruvi, it will be AKK

[Plum]

Dimple is over-rated. She looks horribly made-up and plastic in both Saagar and Vikram. A dirty-looking Anil Kapoor did a "ravikumar in pagalil oriravu" on an equally dirty-looking Dimple in (jaanbaaz?). Traumatic memories.

[app_engine]

#224 ஏஞ்ஜோடி மஞ்சக்குருவி
(விக்ரம், 1986 , சித்ரா / ஷைலஜாவுடன்)

This page from tfmpage gives some inspirational pointers to portions of this number. Interestingly, that page also talks about the portions of the same Jewish folk song getting reused by rAsA for MDM So, looks like rAsA loved that Jewish folk song. Even given the inspiration, this song sounds very local - especially from the time KSC's voice enters, the song is so good - typical rAsA stuff that is from his TN-Kerala border area, with a small Malayalam flavor. Couple of Srilankan Tamils asked me in an Indian store yesterday about MullaipperiyAr. (Unusual to see them in Detroit area, may be visiting from Toronto and their Thamizh was definitely very interesting to listen, after a long time). As one watches helplessly the turn of events and worries about the immediate future to that region, there's also definite anger about the total mismanagement of any natural resource by human governments!

Another song typically enjoyed much during bus travels. On screen, one can see Amjad Khan (yes, the dacoit Gabbar Singh of Sholay) watching Kamal dance with two girls. Whenever I think of Amjad Khan, I'm again reminded of the Rubin House friend who used to keep talking about him whenever we walked on MG Road and crossed the Utility Building. (Is it true that Amjad Khan owned that building at some point of time, as claimed by my collegemate?). Well, I cannot separate Amjad Khan and RDB's mehboobA, he is definitely legendary!

Though energetic, somehow Kamal's dancing in this song wasn't impressive to me then (& now). OTOH, SPB is phenomenal with a lot of energy! With similar powerful output from the two female singers and some delightful percussion work, the song is a powerhouse without question!

[app_engine]

#225 காலை நேரப்பூங்குயில்
(அம்மன் கோவில் கிழக்காலே, 1986 )

The sweet flute, violins, veeNai combined with that lovely tablA rhythm and excellent SPB singing! WOW! This song was an instant winner when I first heard this on a bus and has never failed to drench me with so much of pleasure ever since! The song smells morning so blatantly that even in midnight one can feel that freshness by listening to this number. A number from R Sundarrajan / Vijayakanth / Radha horror. Of the RS movies that I watched, this was the only intolerable one. (Well, there were only a few that I've seen - PM, NPP, AKK, VK & RR). However, what songs! This one is like morning dew and rAsA was kind enough to include a Janaki version as well on the cassette. (I don't know which one got used on screen).

A couple of my year mates, mechies, got selected by the Cbe based GD tools (most TN-ers possibly remember the famous scientist GD Naidu & his museum) in the campus interview. Though the pay was low (~1K), just as an interim & to gain some NC machine exposure, they worked there for a few months (before moving to greater jobs, abroad etc). IIRC, before taking up bachelor accommodation at x-cut road, one of them - a close buddy - had stayed with some friends in CIT (Coimbatore Institute of Technology) hostel for a while. So, I had the opportunity to stay in CIT hostel a couple of times and even taste their mess food, when visiting him Obviously, we had to go to a movie know? Well, I'll have to also remind here that this friend is the same as the ambi chEchi fan

So, we went to her sister's movie, AKK. Thoroughly, horribly frustrated with the movie - though we were both fond of R S prior. enna seyya? But the songs! Oh, what a great treat they were! KJY had un pArvaiyil OrAyiram, PJ had poova eduththu oru & MV had oru mooNu mudichchAla muttALA AnEn - each one take one. IR-RS happily gave SPB 3 songs, however Each one of a different genre and great in their own right! The first one in this post that smells morning is a sweet melody, soft and close to light-semi-classical and SPB handles it with elegance!

[app_engine]

#226 சின்ன மணிக்குயிலு, மெல்ல வரும் மயிலு
(அம்மன் கோவில் கிழக்காலே, 1986 )

One of the most popular songs of TFM, ever!

The real patti-thotti-town-city hit! It was when I collected my final results, course completion certificate etc from Trichy and returning to native (a few months after joining the job) that I heard the song for the first time on the bus and was stunned! Being in Kerala and a little bit out of date, I didn't yet clearly understand the reach of that song inside TN. I still remember the way in which the woman who was sitting in the same row of the bus (opposite side) talked about the song in a loud voice!

(She was talking to the another country woman sitting next to her and not to me )

இந்தா எங்க வீட்டுப்புள்ளக ரெண்டும் இதக்கேட்டா ஒரே குதியாட்டம் தான்!

அப்பிடி ஒரு ஆட்டமோ ஆட்டம்!

இநத மாதிரிப்பாட்டு நான் இதுக்கு முன்னாடி கேட்டதே இல்ல, யம்மாடியோ!

You don't have to guess that my heart was thuLLifying like anything! This is praise from a typical, not-so-much-educated, not-so-much-aware-about-complexities-of-music etc TN lady who by her natural instinct instantly giving certificate to rAsA for one of his finest, rarest compositions the accolade it deserved! It's a different kind of feeling - that I myself had become a crorepathi or something like that for a while I don't think I've experienced such a feeling prior or after - typical fanboy feeling but I don't feel ashamed to write that - since it was a truly deserving song of "rAsA genre" - like nothing before or after IMSO!

The unrestrained use of guitar, flute, country drums, chords - even shenoy - gives the song such an elated feel and SPB enhances it multiple times by his zestful singing. Though the on-screen thingy is quite comical, it's not too irritating considering the song itself is a free-for-all kind number and any childish pranks that VK does to Radha are tolerable, why, even a little bit enjoyable because of the tremendous feel given by the song

That way, though me and my friend got totally irritated by the movie, we had the fun of watching the whole theater sing / clap / dance etc for the chinna maNikkuyilu song. Also, the film had a terrific run in the BO I think, if one goes by the 100 day etc posters that used to herald more-or-less-the-correct fate of the movies those days. (There could have been few political manipulations here and there but not to the extreme levels as seen years later). That way RS-VK combo had another big success after the Revathy movie VK which had phenomenal rAsA songs as well (no SPB there and hence wasn't on this thread).

I had heard the kuyilu song 1000's of times since then, on headphones / radio / buses / street / teakkadais / cassette players of friends / relatives / on the web / in the car but never ever got bored! What a tremendous entertainer of a song with great interludes that jumped out of rAsA's mind when he was probably in one of his happiest moods! And it is very difficult to listen to this song without at least Attifying one's head (if not tapping on the nearest available object or with your foot)!

[baroque]

kaalai nera poongkuyil..... abhogi composition, soothing Bala's voice/humming prelude to rejuvenate the exhausted mind
அப்படியே repeat லே - n times போடவேண்டியதுதான்,பாடலை !
பாலாவே சரணாகதி!..

Forever fresh IR-SPB solo!

மனசுக்கு இதமா , you are amazing ! I love you very much , பாலா!

vinatha.

[balaji]

App-Engine

"Kaalai Nera Poonguil" is all my all-time favorite, what a great melody.

In the movie seems to be a duet (SPB-SJ)


Still love the SJ and SPB solos better. I have heard SJ's solo once (May be Raja made them sing separately -like many other songs - Then combine them as duet for the movie)

Bala

[PARAMASHIVAN]

Dimple is over-rated. She looks horribly made-up and plastic

Flau

She was good in "Meendum Meendum vaa" song

[app_engine]

nanRi, balaji for the youtube link & the information about the "duet"

Nice to see Param back after a long time (looks like it takes Dimple to get him here )