സംഗീത സന്തോഷങ്ങൾ - IR & MFM

plum wrote:kunnathe - seiyungo seiyungo

At a glance, it appears to be a tougher exercise than Adhi ushus Will start the process sometime during this week

Meanwhile, wanted to have a little more fun with Adhi Ushus...

Since it was a "montage" song and no lip sync necessary, IMHO, Vaali sir could have gone for totally different lyrics or at least some translation that is 'not-so-mallu-sounding'...

So, will post my own "dubbing lyrics" (some exercise for brain)...in the next post

BTW, whether musically best sounding or not, my version "can be sung suitably" with the melody but much closer translation of the original (i.e. more literal than the dubbed version used by movie makers)....

Solicit comments / criticisms :

One version of pallavi :

காலை மாலை தோன்றி மலர்ந்ததிங்கே , ஆஹா
பண்ணும் பறையும் தோன்றி நிறைந்ததிங்கே
அறிவு நிலவின் ஒளி சுரந்தும்
சித்தர்கள் தம் வேள்வி கொண்டும்
இசை வெள்ளம் பாய்ந்து வந்ததிங்கே

Alternate version of pallavi:

முதல் காலை மாலை பூத்ததிங்கே ஆஹா
முதல் ராகம் தாளம் நிறைந்ததிங்கே
அறிவு நிலாப்பால் கறந்தும்
மாமுனிவர் தவம் செய்தும்
இசை கங்கை ஓடி வந்ததிங்கே!

For the first saraNam :

காரிருளின் கதவுகளை நீக்கியவர் யார்?
தேன் குளவிக் கூடுகளை அகற்றியவர் யார்?
ஒலி எழுப்பக் கணவாய் எல்லாம் தாண்டி வந்ததார்?
யானை ஏறா மாமலையின் அமைதி உடைத்தார்!

எம் விடுதலை மேல் நீலவானம் போல்!
பாடுகின்றதாரோ? காற்றோ? காட்டருவிகளோ?

Second saraNam:

வேள்வியிலே கோல் கடைந்த கைகள் யாவை?
வாழ்வினிலே அறிவென்னும் தீப்பொறி தோன்ற!
கதிரொளியின் சுடர் நிறைந்தோர் உயிரின் நாளம் போல்
நூறு மலர்ச் சிந்தனையின் தழல்கள் எழும்பும்! (or எழும்ப!)

எம் விடுதலை மேல் நீலவானம் போல்!
பாடுகின்றதாரோ? காற்றோ? காட்டருவிகளோ?

App ji,
You can become a lyricist. Nice translation and way better than the dubbed meaning and words.

mikka nanRi V_Sji, for reading & for the kind words!

Unfortunately, I haven't been reading Thamizh a lot (for many years) and currently struggle to get even very simple words in place

That I lived outside the state for too long doesn't help either...looking back at those school / college days when I could write pages of Thamizh (prose / poem) in no time...well, bad for me / good for others

Starting next adventure - kunnaththe konnakkyum of pazhassi rAjA, the terrific number sung by KSC!

Look at the youtube :



As before, let me first post the lines in Malayalam and get the transliteration in English / Thamizh tomorrow :

Pallavi:

കുന്നത്തെ കൊന്നയ്ക്കും പൊൻ മോതിരം
ഇന്നേതോ തമ്പുരാൻ തന്നേ പോയോ
പല്ലക്കിലേറിയോ വന്നു രാവിൽ
പഞ്ചമിത്തിങ്കളോ കൂടെ വന്നു (I doubt it may be ഉണ്ണ്)
 
വരവേൽക്കുകയായോ കുരവയിട്ടു കിളികൾ വഴി നീളേ
വരി നെൽക്കതിരാടാ  വയലണിഞ്ഞു ഒരു നവവധു പോലെ

saraNam 1:

ആരേ നീ കണി കാണൂവാൻ ആശ തൻ തിരി നീളുമെൻ
പാതിരാമണി ദീപമേ മിഴി ചിമ്മി നിൽക്കുകയായ്
ഓരോരോ തിരിനാളവും ആ മുഖം കണി കണ്ട പോൽ
ചാരുലജ്ജയിലെന്തിനോ തുടു വർണ്ണമായ്
ആയില്യം കാവിലെ മണിനാഗത്താന്മാർക്കിനി ആരാരോ പാട്ടുമായ്  ഒരു  പാലൂട്ട് നേരുന്നു
തുണയായ് വരണമിനി ഉടലിൽ നാഗമണിയുമരിയഹരനേ

saraNam 2:

ഈ ശംഖിൻ തിരു നെഞ്ചിലെ തീർത്ഥമായൊരു നീർക്കണം
സ്നേഹസാഗരമേദിനി കനിവാർന്നു നൽകിടുവാൻ
ഈ മുറ്റത്തൊരു തൈമരം പൂത്തു നില്പതിലാടുവാൻ
മോഹമാർന്ന നിലാക്കിളി വരുമോയിനി
കാതോരം ചേർന്നിനി കഥയേതാദ്യം ചൊല്ലണം
പാടാത്ത പാട്ടുകൾ ഇനിയേതാദ്യം മൂളണം
ഇനിയാ തിരു മൊഴി തൻ അമൃതു തേടുമരിയമധുര നിമിഷം

V_S wrote:

Malayalam/Telugu/Kannada industries found the genius in Maestro right in 70s itself. They certainly know whom to recognize. 

 I beg to differ regarding Telugu industry. It is true that Raaja gave some wonderful songs in Telugu. But most of his Telugu output is driven by commercial considerations only and only some part of his output is driven by "their respect for his genius/art". If they spotted Raaja in 70s itself, it again is purely out of commercial considerations.

kunnaththe (what a lovely song) English transliteration :

Pallavi:

kunnaththe konnakkyum pon mOthiram
innEthO thamburAn thannE pOyO
pallakkilERiyO vannu rAvil
panjamith thinkaLO koode vannu
varavElkukayAyO kuravayittu kiLikaL vazhi neeLE
vari nelkkathirAdA vayalaNinju  oru nava vadhu pOlE

saraNam 1:

ArE nee kaNi kANuvAn Asha than thiri neeLumen
pAthirA maNi deepamE mizhi chimmi nilkkukayAy
OrOrO thirinaLavum Amukham kaNi kaNda pOl
chAru lajjayilenthinO thudu varNNamay
Ayilyam kAvilE maNi nAgaththAnmArkkini
ArArO pAttumAy oru paloottu nErunnu
thuNayAy varaNamini udalil nAgamaNiyum ariya haranE

saraNam 2:

ee shankhin thirunenjilE theerthamAyoru neerkaNam
snEha sAgaramEthini kani vArnnu nalkiduvAn
ee muttaththoru thaimaram poothu nilpathilAduvAn
mOhamArnna nilAkkiLi varumO ini
kAthOram chErnnini katha EthAdhyam chollaNam
pAdAththa pAttukal ini EthAdhyam mooLaNam
iniyA thirumozhi than amruthu thedum ariya madhura nimisham

hA!

What a lot of syllables and words packed into the melody!

IR-ONV-KSC-Hariharan masterpiece, without question!

And, in Thamizh (O how sweet the last line!) :

குன்னத்தெ கொன்னய்க்கும் பொன் மோதிரம்
இன்னேதோ தம்புரான் தன்னே போயோ
பல்லக்கிலேறியோ வன்னு ராவில்
பஞ்சமித் திங்களோ கூடெ உண்ணு
வரவேல்க்குகயாயோ குரவயிட்டு கிளிகள் வழி நீளே
வரி நெல்க்கதிராடா வயலணிஞ்ஞு ஒரு நவ வது போலே

ஆரே நீ கணி காணுவான் ஆஷ தன் திரி நீளுமென்
பாதிரா மணிதீபமே மிழி சிம்மி நில்க்குகயாய்
ஓரோரோ திரி நாளவும் ஆ முகம் கணி கண்ட போல்
சார லஜ்ஜயிலெந்தினோ துடு வர்ண்ணமாய்
ஆயில்யம் காவிலெ மணி நாகத்தான்மார்க்கினி
ஆராரோ பாட்டுமாய் ஒரு பாலூட்டு நேருன்னு
துணயாய் வரணமினி உடலில் நாகமணியுமரியஹரனே

ஈ ஷங்கின் திரு நெஞ்சிலெ தீர்த்தமாயொரு நீர்க்கணம்
ஸ்நேக சாகர மேதினி கனிவார்ன்னு நல்கிடுவான்
ஈ முற்றத்தொரு தை மரம் பூத்து நில்ப்பதிலாடுவான்
மோஹமார்ன்ன நிலாக்கிளி வருமோயினி
காதோரம் சேர்ந்தினி கதயேதாத்யம் சொல்லணம்
பாடாத்த பாட்டுகள் இனியேதாத்யம்  மூளணம்
இனியா திரு மொழி தன் அம்ருது தேடுமரிய மதுர நிமிஷம்

Ks Suka shared this song in his soundcloud page and ever since i heard it , have fallen completely in awe of the song .. 
A spectacular composition with so much of twists and turns , wonderful rendition and fantastic scope for instrumentation ..the repeat button had to be pressed automatically..a great discovery

Oarmagalai - Oomakkuyil 
https://soundcloud.com/ks-suka/oarmagalaai

Start 'kunnaththe' translation now

I'm sure it's going to be a toughie

കുന്നത്തെ കൊന്നയ്ക്കും പൊൻ മോതിരം - the first sentence is not that tough, all are Thamizh words only (vallinam turned into mellinam for the first two words, that's about it) :

കുന്നത്തെ = குன்றத்தே = on the hill

കൊന്നയ്ക്കും = கொன்றைக்கும் = for the konnai / konRai tree

പൊൻ = பொன் = gold

മോതിരം = மோதிரம் = ring

So, the translation is  "golden ring for even the konnai tree of the hill", pretty simple isn't it?

However, is it that simple? What does the poet mean? How can a tree get an ornament that is meant for finger? I still cannot figure out

May be the picture of the konnai maram will help :



Fruitage of this tree is considered 'vishukkaNi' (equivalent of chithiraikkani in Thamizh) that herald the arrival of the Malayalam new year. May be there's a connection there...

Or, it could be the beautiful flowers that are in yellow color are referred as 'pon mOdhiram'...

Going by this wikipedia page for கொன்னை , it doesn't seem to be all that out-of-ordinary tree.

Please look at the ponniyin selvan references :

wikipedia wrote:
2.அவனுக்கெதிரே பூந்தோட்டத்தில் கொன்னை மரங்கள் சரஞ்சரமாகப் பொன் மலர்களைத் தொங்கவிட்டுக் கொண்டு காட்சியளித்தன (பொன்னியின் செல்வன், கல்கி )
3.அதன் கரைகளிலே பூத்துக் குலுங்கும் புன்னை மரங்களும் கொன்னை மரங்களும் கடம்ப மரங்களும் எத்தகைய மனோகரமான காட்சியாயிருக்கும்? (பொன்னியின் செல்வன், கல்கி )

That way, the translation of 'even for konnai maram' sounds a lot more appropriate

However, we'll be able to decipher the real thought of the poet only after we translate the whole pallavi.

Which will happen in the course of next few days..

Next line :

ഇന്നേതോ തമ്പുരാൻ തന്നേ പോയോ? - once again all words are common with Thamizh


ഇന്നേതോ - இன்று ஏதோ - why today

തമ്പുരാൻ - தம்பிரான் (அரசன் / வேந்தன் / தலைவன் / ராசா) - the king

തന്നേ - தந்தே - had given

പോയോ? - போயோ? - and gone?

Obviously, this line alone is not meaningful. We got to combine with the first line of "golden ring for even the konnai tree of the hill".

So, the loose translation in English for the first two lines can be :

Why, had the King given golden ring for even the konnai tree of the hill and gone?

Now what does it mean in the context of the movie?

IIRC, it's a situation of the king in exile paying a visit to his wife (the queen) in a palatial home. I guess she didn't leave the palace when the king ran away or she moved to another location from their palace but didn't go to the jungle with the king and the king secretly pays her a visit...bad memory, someone please confirm.

Let's worry first about the context - the meaning will automatically fall in place once we know that (Also, we need to interpret the rest of the pallavi too, to get the whole picture)!

 Line #3 : പല്ലക്കിലേറിയോ വന്നു രാവിൽ

Once again all Thamizh words, except that the last once has an opposite meaning

പല്ലക്കിലേറിയോ - பல்லக்கில் ஏறியோ - riding a palanquin

വന്നു - வந்து : வந்தார், வந்தான், வந்தாள், வந்தது எல்லாத்துக்குமே வன்னு தான் மலையாளத்தில் வேறுபாடே இல்லை - came / arrived

രാവിൽ - காலையில் ( and not ராத்திரியில்) - in the morning

Loosely, "Did he come in a palanquin in the morning?" (Obviously, the reference is to "thamburAn")

Line # 4 പഞ്ചമിത്തിങ്കളോ കൂടെ വന്നു

Earlier, based on how KSC sings, I speculated could the last word of this line be "ഉണ്ണ്" - I think that was a bad assumption. I don't believe the singer bothers about "eating together" (കൂടെ ഉണ്ണ് - koode uNNu) but most probably "coming together" (കൂടെ വന്നു - koode vannu). The words koode, vannu, uNNu are all common with Thamizh and not difficult to translate at all!

But then, who came with the thamburAn in the early morning?

പഞ്ചമിത്തിങ്കളോ - panchamith thinkaLO - here thinkaL / thingaL is not a difficult thing for Thamizh people as they have the same word  (திங்கள்) which means moon. (The same word is used for Monday / Moon day, that comes after "Sun"day). Of course, in Thamizh, thinkaL could also mean "month" (which is again derived from the moon cycle and thus related) but here that ambiguity does not exist. It denotes the beautiful nilA / moon / chandiran / thinkaL!

So, it is some kind of moon - the panchami moon.

Now, what is that panchami (or panjami)? Here comes the vadamozhi connection

pancham / pAnch denotes the number 5. (pancha bhootham / pancha pANdavarkaL / pancha thanthiram). Accordingly, it is the 5th day's moon (Counting from the new moon).

Many of us are familiar with the term "moonRam piRai" - the third moon day. Here you add two more to make it the fifth moon day. (Likewise, "ashtami" should mean the 8th moon day and "navami" should mean 9th moon day - those who are familiar with this correct me if I'm wrong, it's my guess).

So, the lady sings " And, the 5th day moon, came along" (with the thamburan who came in the early morning, riding a palanquin).

Now comes the lines 5 & 6 that sound the sweetest to me in the pallavi

Line 5 : വരവേൽക്കുകയായോ കുരവയിട്ടു കിളികൾ വഴി നീളേ (varavElkkukayAyO kuravayittu kiLikaL vazhi neeLE)

This part is all Thamizh, with minor vallinam-mellinam variations and can easily be translated. The only possible toughie word is "കുരവ" (kurava) which is same as "kulavai" in Thamizh, a popular form of chorus popularized by IR in TFM (though the form of shouting is very common in TN country side from time immemorial)!

(sample : the chorus in the 'aRaichcha sandhanam' song, prior to the starting of tablA'd prelude, just after the folk thogaiyaRA)

Here, that sound is imagined to be made not by women but by birds / parrots, to welcome the thamburAn

വരവേൽക്കുകയായോ - வரவேற்கின்றனவோ? - are they welcoming
കുരവയിട്ടു - குலவையிட்டு - making the happy kurava sound
കിളികൾ - கிளிகள் - parrots
വഴി നീളേ - வழி நீளமும் - through out the way

"are the birds making happy kurava sound through out the way for welcome"

(BTW, kiLi is not the typical word used for parrot, it is thaththa. On a day-to-day life, I have heard the word kiLi being used only for the cleaner in private buses, who also gives prompt to the driver to stop-start, his musical sounding "poovA(m)" had always been amusing to me)!

App: I think the pallakil ERiyA vannu is for the heroine...at least, that's what the visuals show (Kaniha in pallakku arriving as flowers and birds accord her welcome)

I am still not satisfied by your konnaikkum modhiram thannu explanation - I think we are missing something here.

I think the situation is something like this:

Pazhassi and his family and retinue are forced to abandon the "padhinjarE kovilakam", which is where the movie begins. Company forces just miss their departure and end up looting the premises in frustration.

Pazhassi sends the family along with his brother-in-law(mAkAm's - Kaniha - brother, Kaitheri Ambu, played by Suresh Krishna) to a safe house and then he sets upon a separate mission of meeting the Kottayam Raja to incite him to be the nominal leader of the revolt. (The background here is that Pazhassi had cousins or nephews who were in contention with him for the Pazhassi thamburan position and Kottayam raja was the figurehead of the clan. His support meant a larger area of people who would then support the Pazhassi rebel war).

The plan is Pazhassi will join the family after the mission but I think the mission doesnt help him much. Kottayam raja remains vazha vazha kozha kozha.

So I suppose Kaitheri mAkkam's "pallakkil ERiyA vannu rAvil" is a recap of her own arrival into the palace in exile, which corroborates with the visuals

appadiyA?

Good catch - obviously I'm missing the movie episode completely (watched one time, with limited interest).

I thought the song's situation is Mammootty meeting his wife after a gap

Please feel free to catch / highlight flaws in the explanatory part!

As for the literal translation, I guess there are no errors so far

Yes she does meet him after some time. Basically, Pazhassi, for all the warrior king image, was a paavam brahmana thamburAn responsible for a few villages. In his own family lineage, he wasnt like a direct heir of the major raja in his clan. avar pAttukku poNdAtti, romance-nu irundhavara usuppEthi guerillavAkkittAnga.

So I suppose Makam never had been away from him for that long before. It probably took a few weeks those days to go around on horse and meet people a few 100 kms away and come back.

I watched the youtube once more

Yes, it is the 'thamburAtti' who comes in the pallakku

Interestingly, it is she who collects the flowers of konnai maram which is carried in the tray by a sEdippeN later on. I am sure it has both literal (means contextual / cultural) meaning and symbolic meaning (esp. the mOdhiram part).

I've re-established my contact with the old colleague of Palakkad (on FB)

He being a musical / lyrical, if only has some spare time, can throw his insight on this song.

Let us see

Last line of pallavi, line #6 : വരി നെൽക്കതിരാടാ വയലണിഞ്ഞു ഒരു നവവധു പോലെ
(vari nelkkathir AdA vayal aninju oru nava vadhu pOlE)

Excepting the 'nava vadhu', all are Thamizh words only Even nava vadhu is not unknown to older people in TN. (Nowadays, we still see the use of 'varan' - mAppiLLai / bridegroom but don't see that much of 'vadhu', which got totally replaced by 'poNNu / pudhuppoNNu' - of course, I'm happy about it and not complaining).

That way, oru nava vadhu pOlE = புது மணப்பெண் போலே = like a new bride (though the thamburAtti had been married for quite a while, today she is so thrilled to invite thamburAn feeling like "just married").

Obviously, there had to be some more comparison & ornamentation - the comparison seems to be with the whole land that has lovely paddy fields as ornaments.

Let's translate the first part of the line word by word :

വയലണിഞ്ഞു = adorned with the fields
വരി നെൽക്കതിരാടാ = that have ranks (or rows or files) of paddy with no ripe ears

So, the rough translation of the whole pallavi can be summarized as below :

Why, had some King given golden ring for even the konnai tree of the hill and gone?
And, did she (the queen) come in a palanquin in the morning, accompanied by the 5th day moon?
Are the birds making happy kurava sound through out the way for welcome?
And the land adorned with fields having ranks of paddy without ripe ears, like a new bride?

It feels so lovely and one instantly gets transported to the greenery of malai nAdu!

No need to even watch the visuals (which are nice too!)

Dusting the thread...the saraNam(s) of 'kunnaththe' is pending to be done

Let me start it during this week

karayanO mizhineeril thuzhayanO jeevitham - Aa Raathri (1982) 

A pathos song, only K J Yesudas possible. Even in this kind of song, the usage of cellos (to create the tension), guitar, piano without disturbing the melancholy mood is to be noted. What a melody! 


karayaanO mizhineeril thuzhayaanO jeevitham
ividennum vEthaaLaangaL kaniyaanO sthree janmam
aniyaanO sthree janmam

sathyamenna rathnamE evideyaanu neethi
moodidunnu nin mukham kanakam kondu maanavan
kaLankam puraLum niyamam ennum ividam vaazhumpOL

kaazhcha pOya lOkamE chiriyil mungi neeyum
ozhukidunnu kaalavum thamassil mungum bhoomiyil
urukiyurukum chEthanakaL abhyam thEdumpOL

AhA, what a sweet song!

mikka nanRi V_Sji!

Evokes the same feel as 'vizhiyOraththukkanavum' song of rAjapArvai

From the "Anything about IR..." thread :

Sureshji wrote:
What I am more surprised is with Raja's stature in Malayalam. It shows the musical taste of Malayalees is unparalleled. If you take the films of 80s and early 90s, which was sort of peak period for Malayalam cult films, Raja's involvement was very less. He was never part of the Hariharan-MTV team, which went with Bombay Ravi. He was not part of Bharathan's team. Nor was he part of Sibi Malayil - Lohita Das team of the 90s. The only exception was Padmarajan with whom he did 'Moonam Pakkam' and 'Season'. If you take the cult movies of 80s like 'Takara', 'Perumthachan', 'Vadakkan Veera Gatha' and many more, you will not see Raja in them. Similarly, the best of Sathyan Anthikad did not have Raja in it. By the time Sathyan came to Raja, he had moved away from Sreenivasan and people swear that the movies that Sathyan made earlier were much better. Ofcourse the 90s of Sibi Malayil - Lohita Das did not have Raja. Infact Fazil also for many of his movies used a different MD in Malayalam and came to Raja when the movie was made in Tamil.

Given this background, it is surprising that Raja is held in such high esteem throughout Kerala, both by the common man and by the connoisseurs..

My thoughts on this :

1. Agree with your observation on the "taste" aspect of Malayalees. Not just in music, for the most part in fields of fine arts, their appreciation of talent is remarkable. This is the first and foremost reason. Though they're very politically polarised refraining from patronising "outsiders" -where IR was an exceptional exception-, they are very open-minded in merely "appreciating" talents outside KL. (In other words, they'll talk, write tons etc. about outside talent but typically won't employ :lol:IR was an obvious exception there).

2. With too few songs coming out of MF compared to what the consumers could spend their collective time/money/resources on music, I believe there was always a huge market for non-MFM  in Kerala. That is one of the reasons why one would see Latha M's huge posters typically on KL music shops. I've posted once upon a time in tfmpage contrasting IR (or ARR) pictures in TN music shops v/s KJY/KSC/LM pictures in KL music shops. Here one has to look at another facette of the same phenomenon, of having the necessity to consume music outside MFM. Result? Huge, huge set of listening ears for IR's TFM

3. That way, even though a typical inland Mal person may have least respect for a TN-er ("pANdi") and may make fun of TF in everyday conversation (or in their movies) etc, they could not escape listening to the voluminous output of IR during his peak years. I've heard 'enna saththam indha nEram' kind of songs even at remote villages of KL - recorded in gulf-based "Thomson cassettes".  Also, I've heard Malayalees from remote country side singing 'kuzhaloodhum kaNNanukku' & 'ninnukkOri varNam' just like that

4. rAsA's generous use of KJY & KSC in TFM during 80's was another reason for a big % of TFM "entering" KL households. (e.g. those hugely successful Fazil movies). Once it enters through such gateway, the next automatic thing that happens is making them slaves of his terrific orch (= making people "sing" instrumental portions / interludes etc)! Bowing to the one who makes such brilliant stuff is a natural consequence Finally, rAsA became a household name!

5. rAsA being not part of many winning combos that made great movies was somewhat a blessing in disguise Movies other than HH-Bombay Ravi ones had limited use of songs themselves. (Typically 1 or 2, max 3 in a movie - to make the overall narrative interesting). The focus was on script and music was a back seater and wouldn't have earned rAsA much fame. For e.g., if one asks who was the composer of kireedam, you won't get instant answer from an average Malayalee. What good it could have done to rAsA had he scored a couple of great songs in such a film? OTOH, his phenomenal songs in average movies (OLangaL / yAthrA / atharvam / friends etc and the post-2000 Sathyan Anthikkad) made sure people DID NOTICE him

6. Heavy polarisation of KL people towards ICM. (One or two from any average Palakkad household would have had minimal ICM training, can sing classicals or at least appreciate classicals without "lightening" them, for e.g.). IR being no pushover in that domain definitely helped in getting such recognition (which most post-IR MDs can only dream of).

The above are just quick thoughts - will share if others come up in mind

Add balu mahendra, salilda and bombay ravi to the list og outsiders employed by mfm.