The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

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#217 மன்றம் வந்த தென்றலுக்கு மஞ்சம் வர நெஞ்சம் இல்லையோ?
(மௌன ராகம், 1986 )

Tremendous number by SPB! Right from the Ah-Ah stuff that starts in the prelude, this song belongs to him and he thoroughly enjoys singing the lines that are very appropriately written to support the movie's theme! rAsA ofcourse gives his beautiful support by way of the motown drum sounds (I think, quite different anyways) and the exotic sax work! The sweet way the interludes end, give a pause before saraNam can start is another interesting feature of this number.

Mohan got one of his few worthy on-screen performances in MR. Though he had many "silver-jubilee-hits" in a successful career, he had very few remarkable roles. The others that come to mind are nenjaththaikkiLLAthE (was it his first TF?), nooRAvathu nAL & payaNangaL mudivathillai. PM because it was the first of his mike movies. A cheerful face that can easily get gloomy (and earn sympathy) was his USP and he possibly made the best use of it in his career that was supported in a tremendous way by IR's music & S N Surendar's voice.

Revathy got the best of both worlds - bubbly young girl who did kuRumbu things and a serious woman who acts as a kalluLi mangini. Both in the same character, and made the best use of it. I didn't like the 'pOdA dEy' thingy much but it was one of the most talked about items from the movie and also one that was enjoyed by many others. So, MR got a pass mark for comedy in this movie (but he gets negative marks for the crass comedy in AN, a movie we won't discuss in this thread because no SPB in AN).

I don't have fond memories associated with this song - the usual stuff (bus travels, teakkadai listens). Interestingly, this song is really timeless in my case. I had listened to this involuntarily right from its arrival until the time I was last in India - wherever I went. A remarkable feat! Possibly that is the reason Balki wanted this melody to be showcased to Bollywood and he did a fine job cheeni kum, in Shreya G's voice plus freshened up orchestration, is a fine manifestation of this timeless melody to those speking Hindi!