மலர்ந்தும் மலராதவை 1

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

மலர்ந்தும் மலராதவை 1:

உயர் கவிகள் தந்த வரிகள்....

As part of the SOTD series, I had presented many years back a string of noteworthy songs from movies that never got to be released. Let us look back at some such songs again, for they are surely worth resurrection.

In his ‘என் ஜன்னலின் வழியே’, Vairamuthu refers to such songs as ' உறங்கி கிடக்கும் மொட்டுக்கள்’. I am not too sure if that’s a fitting description, for though the films these songs were composed for were nonstarters, the songs did come alive and they still live vividly in our memories, thanks to Radio Ceylon. Good old தமிழ்ச்சேவை இரண்டு was never unduly perturbed about the film itself. Thumping successes, dismal failures, straight Tamil movies, dubbed debacles, released and running new films, soon to be released hopefuls, unreleased losers… all candidates were on equal footing on Radio Ceylon’s scales and were given an impartial hearing. And as long as a song was found meriting airtime, Radio Ceylon went all out to celebrate and propagate it.

And the worthy station went an extra mile by coming with a programme called 'மலர்ந்தும் மலராதவை', an exclusive 15 minutes a day devoted to lovingly adopt, nurture and pamper orphaned gems from films languishing in the cans, never to light up the silver screen, never to revel in the excitement of the marquee.

For today, let us listen to the SPB marvel 'மங்கை ஒரு திங்கள்’. When I first shared this song as ‘Song of the day’ some time in 2003, there were many who responded with incredulous delight at reconnecting with a long-lost treasure. Since then the song has been widely circulated, and we now have it (only the audio, of course) even in YouTube.


Searching for hidden treasures in an unobtrusive recording center in Virudhunagar sometime in the early 90s, I had almost replaced a dusty vinyl record of ‘முன் ஒரு காலத்தில்’ back to its hibernation when my eyes fell on ‘மங்கை ஒரு திங்கள்’ listed in the tracks. My heart leapt in delight as memories came of the summer of 1983 when this song found regular airtime in Radio Ceylon. The song had captivated me at the very first listen, for the arresting word play, MSV’s astuteness in keeping the orchestration minimal, and of course, SPB! Kannadasan, MSV and SPB collaborated to create some priceless keepsakes where the alliterative lines were sheer poetry, they ensconced snugly onto MSV’s tantalizing trellis, and SPB understood the nuances and the notes, and went all out to immortalize them- Remember ‘தேரோட்டம்’ and 'வான் நிலா நிலா அல்ல’?

I had not heard it in all the intervening years, and to rediscover it now in Virudhunagar was a indeed pleasurable thrill. I lost no time in getting all the songs of the movie recorded. Besides this one, they were Kodaiyilae pachchai thanni’ (Kannadasan/ Vani Jairam), ‘Nallaarukkum nallaarukkum namma mala thenu’ (Kannadasan/ P. Susheela & Chorus) and ‘Otta paanaiyila nanda vitta’ ( Udhayanan/ P. Susheela). The record sleeve showed Malayalam actor Sudhir and Alam in an embrace. ( At circumstances such as these, it is a blessing to have only the audio!)

Listen on to this forgotten song, a quintessence of the craft of the great Kannadasan. A song where the imaginative lyrics take the center stage- and MSV wisely makes the music so inconspicuous with just the guitar providing an encouraging backdrop, and gives SPB a free hand with the song, and how SPB has enjoyed himself in this almost unplugged outing!

Song: Mangai oru thingal
Film: Mun Oru Kaalathil (Sajitha Creations/ Unreleased)
Vocals: S.P. Balasubramaniam
Lyrics: Kannadasan
Music: M.S. Viswanathan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpuoeBw-OtY




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