Tamil old songs
Mannulagil indru Devan - Punitha Anthoniar As usual, let us commence with her work with the Mellisai Mannar. In this year of sweeping changes and wonderful music, let us dwell on Vani's songs.
LRE was but a feeble shadow of her former boisterous self in "Vaangadi chittukkala"(Pattina Pravesam). And in the same film, T.V.Rathnam and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi were captivating in "Anbe uyarndhadhu avaniyiley". T.K.Kala sang "Oru Kaadhal samrajyam kannil varaindhaal"(Nanda En Nila) while Renuka gave the rollicking "Suraangani"(Avar Enekke Sondham).Īmong the veterans, S.Varalakshmi enchanted listeners with her soulful "Kanniraindha uruvam Kanna"(Sri Krishna Leela). BSS made everyone sit up with "Vaazhve mayamaa". Sujatha, hardly in her teens, made waves with "Kaalai paniyil"(Gayatri) and "Kaadhal Oviyam"(Kavikkuyil). "Vaazhvil Sowbhaagiyam vandhadhu" and "Pennalla nee oru bommai" were outstanding creations from this collaboration in 1977. V.Kumar too, stood by his favorite singer. And of course, the SG-Devar combo would always swear by her (Aatukkara Alamelu, Swargam Naragam). While MSV gave her wonderful songs (Vanakkam pala murai sonnen, Asadaatum aambalaya, Edho oru nadhiyil, Annan oru koyilendraal), she was also very much part of Illayaraja's works this year (Thenil aadum roja, Sugamo aayiram, Chella pillai saravanan, Sevvandhi poo mudicha chinnakka, Kannan enna sonnaan, Oru kaadhal devathai). PS continued to play a major role in the proceedings. For example, MSV made "Avargal" a scintillating SJ show all the way, KVM ensured that she gave "Oru kodi sugam"(Mazhai Megham), SG made her ask "Varalaamo Sugam tharalaamo?"(Aasai Manaivi) and V.Kumar gave her the haunting "Ennai azhaithathu yaaradhu kanna"(Oruvanukku Oruthi). And whilst she gave hit after hit under Illayaraja, others MDs too were giving her songs in greater numbers than ever before. The Janaki juggernaut, with Illayaraja in the driver's seat, had started on its historic journey. She bagged the TN State Government award too for 1977. After 20 years of being in the industry, she won her first National award this year for her "Sendhoorappoovey". KVM, V.Kumar, Vijayabhaskar, SG and Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan were the others in the reckoning.Īmong the singers, SJ was painting the town red. V.Dakshinamoorthi was spellbinding in "Nanda En Nila". TMS composed the music for "Balapareetchai" in which there were a couple of good songs. Veteran S.V.Venkataraman composed music after a long gap for "Sri Krishna Leela", which would be his last film. Chandrabose made his arrival felt, both as a singer (Aaru Pushpangal) and as a Music Director (Madhura Geetham).
He had 20 films in hand this year, and many of them had memorable songs. MSV was not much affected by this new star on the horizon, at least initially.
His clientele this year ranged from newcomers SA Rajkannu-Bharathiraja (16 Vayathiniley) to hitherto staunch MSV camp old-timers like Balaji-Sivaji (Deepam). His music was refreshingly different and there was mesmerising magic in his early creations. Ilayaraja had arrived the previous year, and while he had only 4 films in 1976, in 1977, the number had increased to 12. How I envy those who had the thrill of listening to those songs when they first came out, who read the reviews, who saw those films in the theatres!Īll I can do is try to imagine the tfm scene then. Again, how I wish I was sufficiently old during those exciting years. by Saravanan 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979Īs usual, let us meander a bit to wonder how the tfm scene in 1977 would have been. Vani Jayaram's Tamil Film Songs Chronology