அவள் அப்படி ஒன்றும் அழகில்லை - அங்காடித் தெரு

Set to a very simple and pleasing tune, the lyrics are just superb. Though I have not seen the movie yet, I can understand how this song relates to the story line just by the name of the movie and the looks of the actors. Na. Muthukumar has done a fabulous job with the lyrics. Of course, the simplicity and the meaning that comes through in Tamil is simply not easy to translate... "She is not that beautiful, yet there is no match for her! Her dark color is nothing to write home about, yet it is not a handicap!" "Her education is nothing to brag about. I began studying her and haven't finished yet. I don't like the clothes she wears, yet I have not forgotten to notice them" "She did not have any pets while growing up and doesn't stop when I am taking care of her. She was not fortunate to have dolls to sleep with nor was I born like a doll myself" "Her hair is not long, yet I was lost in that forest and never returned. The ring in her finger is not gold, but the yearning to hold her hands have not subsided yet" "There is nothing like her relationship with me, just nothing!" "She never wore a silk Sari, but there is no comparison to the Chudithars that she wears. It never hurts when she yells at me because there is nothing like how much she cares." "Her fragrance is nothing like that of rose. My breath stops without her! She has no parents or relatives but there is nothing like her relationship with me, just nothing!"

அவள் அப்படி ஒன்றும் அழகில்லை அவளுக்கு யாரும் இணையில்லை அவள் அப்படி ஒன்றும் color இல்லை ஆனால் அது ஒரு குறை இல்லை அவள் பெரிதாய் ஒன்றும் படிக்கவில்லை அவளைப் படித்தேன் முடிக்கவில்லை அவள் உடுத்தும் உடைகள் பிடிக்கவில்லை இருந்தும் கவனிக்க மறக்கவில்லை அவள் நாய்க்குட்டி எதுவும் வளர்க்கவில்லை நான் காவல் இருந்தால் தடுக்கவில்லை அவள் பொம்மைகளை வைத்து உறங்கவில்லை நான் பொம்மை போல பிறக்கவில்லை அவள் கூந்தல் ஒன்றும் நீளமில்லை அந்த காட்டில் தொலைந்தேன் மீளவில்லை அவள் கை விரல் மோதிரம் தங்கமில்லை கை பிடித்திடும் ஆசை தூங்கவில்லை அவள் சொந்தம் இன்றி எதுவும் இல்லை எனக்கு எதுவும் இல்லை அவள் பட்டு புடவை என்றும் அணிந்ததில்லை அவள் சுடிதார் போல எதுவும் சிறந்ததில்லை அவள் திட்டும் போதும் வலிக்கவில்லை அந்த அக்கறை போல வேறு இல்லை அவள் வாசம் ரோஜா வாசம் இல்லை அவளில்லாமல் சுவாசம் இல்லை அவள் சொந்தம் பந்தம் எதுவும் இல்லை அவள் சொந்தம் இன்றி எதுவும் இல்லை அவள் சொந்தம் இன்றி எதுவும் இல்லை எனக்கு எதுவும் இல்லை

அழகாய் பூக்குதே - நினைத்தாலே இனிக்கும் (2008)

A very nice melodious song composed by Vijay Anthony. Anuja Iyer looks pretty hot in this song compared to her reserved Muslim girl acting throughout the movie. Not surprisingly, yet another lovely love song. "It (Love) blossoms so beautifully and attacks you pleasantly. The hearts caught in love are acting like uncontrolled bouncing balls" "Yearning to speak incessantly and with love, the words are bombarding against each other, but when we are closer it is the silence that would speak! Just when I am waiting to be caught in the prison of my lover's hands, I see the sanctum santorum with no one and my eyes cry..." "Let us both appear together in God's dreams. Let us think of living in the lines of poetry. When we both walk we only see one shadow and in that one shadow we both are seen! I laugh sometimes and cry sometimes because of you, my love" "The sweetness of you invades my heart when I think of the sanctum sanctorum. When I think of you again, you cause so much pain in my heart! You became the pot full of water from those little drops of water and in half a second you made my hair grow grey! The one moment that you are not here, I appear to be a dead body!" Again, watch the video below to make a judgement on Anuja Iyer. This is the first time I am hearing the singers Janaki Iyer and Prasanna and they have done a terrific job!

அழகாய் பூக்குதே சுகமாய் தாக்குதே அடடா காதலில் சொல்லாமல் கொள்ளாமல் உள்ளங்கள் பந்தாடுதே ஆசையாய் பேசிட வார்த்தை மோதும் அருகிலே பார்த்ததும் மௌனம் பேசும் காதலன் கை சிறை காணும் நேரம் மீண்டும் ஓர் கருவறை கண்டதாலே கண்ணில் ஈரம் கடவுளின் கனவில் இருவரும் இருப்போமே கவிதையின் வடிவில் வாழ்ந்திட நினைப்போமே இருவரும் நடந்தால் ஒரு நிழல் பார்ப்போமே ஒரு நிழல் அதிலே இருவரும் தெரிவோமே சில நேரம் சிரிக்கிறேன் சில நேரம் அழுகிறேன் உன்னாலே .. கருவறை நினைத்தேன் உயிர் வரை இனித்தாயே மறுமுறை நினைத்தேன் மனதினை வதைத்தாயே.. சிறு துளி விழுந்து நிறை குடம் ஆனாயே அரை கணம் நொடியில் நரை விழ செய்தாயே நீ இல்லா நொடி முதல் உயிர் இல்லா ஜடத்தை போல் ஆவேனே ..

இது தானா - சாமி

Samy is a very enjoyable movie starring Vikram and Trisha. I really like Vikram and in this particular song, Trisha looks very nice, clad in either a Sari or half sari. And the song, sung by Chitra, is a great one. "Is this the day that I have been so eagerly waiting for? Is this really the day? Is he the one, is he really the one who will adorn the garlands?" "I became yours, really yours, as my afternoon dreams became reality. My days are moving like molasses as the day of marriage approaches, perhaps because of the weight of my sweet feelings. I will sing a song for myself without my lips opening or raising my voice" "The thought of the dramas that will be enacted in our house feels so sweet! As I try to hide from you, I can see the desperation in your eyes as you search me. You will eventually find me in the turns of the stairs and pretend that you still haven't seen me. Then you will turn suddenly and bend my hips; below the steps you will give me a bear hug; the fears, fearing themselves, will vanish; and shyness will hide themselves" "Sunday lunch is yours to do and you love to cook. Then you will sit me down and ask me to watch you when you decide to wash your clothes. While the whole town shudders at the thought of you (you are policeman), you act like a little child and my face brightens because I am so proud! As a result, our two worlds shrink a few notches and my soul flowers in happiness. And I grow few inches in height!" Listen to it below.

இதுதானா இதுதானா எதிர்பார்த்த அந்நாளும் இதுதானா இவன் தானா இவன் தானா மலர் சூட்டும் மணவாளன் இவன் தானா பகலிலும் நான் கண்ட கனவுகள் நனவாக உனதானேன் நான் உனதானேன் திருமண நாள் எண்ணி நகர்ந்திடும் என் நாட்கள் சுகமான ஒரு சுமையானேன் இதழ் பிரிக்காமல் குரல் எழுப்பாமல் நான் எனக்கான ஒரு பாடல் பாடிக்கொள்வேன் இனிமேல் வீட்டில் தினமும் நடக்கும் நாடகம் இனித்திடுமே ஒளிந்திடும் எனையே உனது விழிகள் தேடியே அலைந்திடுமே மாடியின் வளைவினில் என்னை கண்டு பிடிப்பாய் பார்க்காதவன் போல் சிறப்பாய் நடிப்பாய் விடுமென திரும்பி என் இடை வளைப்பாய் படிகளின் அடியினில் என்னை அள்ளி அணைப்பாய் அச்சங்களும் அச்சப்பட்டு மறைந்திடுமே வெட்கங்களும் வெட்கப்பட்டு ஒளிந்திடுமே ஞாயிறு மதியம் சமையல் உனது விரும்பி நீ சமைத்திடுவாய் வேடிக்கை பார் என என்னை அமர்த்தி துணிகளும் துவைத்திடுவாய் ஊருக்குள் அனைவரும் உன்னை கண்டு நடுங்க வீட்டினில் நீ ஒரு குழந்தையாய் சிணுங்க பெருமையில் என் முகம் இன்னும் மினுங்க இருவரின் உலகமும் இருவரி சுருங்க மகிழ்ச்சியில் எந்தன் மனம் மலர்ந்திடுமே என் உயரமோ இன்னும் கொஞ்சம் வளர்ந்திடுமே

முன் தினம் பார்த்தேனே - வாரணம் ஆயிரம்

முன் தினம் பார்த்தேனே பார்த்ததும் தோற்றேனே சல்லடைக் கண்ணாக நெஞ்சமும் புண்ணானதே எத்தனை நாளாக உன்னை நான் பாராமல் எங்கு நான் போனேனோ நாட்களும் வீணானதே வானத்தில் நீ வெண்ணிலா ஏக்கத்தில் நான் தேய்வதா இப்போது என்னோடு வந்தாலென்ன ஊர் பார்க்க ஒன்றாக சென்றாலென்ன துலா தொட்டில் உன்னை வைத்து நிகர் செய்ய பொன்னை வைத்தால் துலாபாரம் தோற்காதோ பேரழகே முகம் பார்த்து பேசும் உன்னை முதல் காதல் சிந்தும் கண்ணை அணைக்காமல் போவேனோ வா உயிரே ஓ நிழல் போல விடாமல் உன்னை தொடர்வேனடி புகை போல படாமல் பட்டு நகர்வேனடி வினா நூறு கனாவும் நூறு விடை சொல்லடி கடல் நீலம் மங்கும் நேரம் அலை வந்து தீண்டும் தூரம் மனம் சென்று மாறுதோ நேரத்திலே தலை சாய்க்க தோளும் தந்தாய் விரல் கோர்த்து பக்கம் வந்தாய் இதழ் மட்டும் இன்னும் ஏன் தூரத்திலே பகல் நேரம் கனாக்கள் கண்டேன் உறங்காமலே உயிரொன்று உரையைக் கண்டேன் நெருங்காமலே உனையன்றி எனக்கு எது எதிர்காலமே

Again, I love this movie and the songs. Harris Jeyaraj has done wonders, especially with the guitar. This is an old style dance in the movie - Surya and Simran. "I saw you the other day and lost the moment I saw you. My heart became sore and is full of small holes like the sifter". "Where did I go for all these days without seeing you? All those are wasted days". "You are the moon in the sky, but I am the one who is waning down here! Why don't you come with me so we can go to the village together?" "If I keep you on a weighing scale and balance it with gold, the scale would fail, won't it, my beauty?" (This is not referring to literally weighing her, as you can see!) "How can I not hug you and leave when you look directly at me and speak and I can notice the love oozing out of your eyes?" "I will certainly follow you just like your shadow. I will also touch you just the way smoke would and move out. I have hundreds of questions and dreams. Please answer them!" "You gave me your shoulder for me to rest my head. You came close to me by locking our fingers and pulling me. Why are your lips alone still so far away?" And so on it goes. Listen to the song and enjoy.

Nenjukkul Peithidum - Vaaranam Aayiram

Hariharan is at his best in this song and Harris Jeyaraj has done a wonderful job on all songs in this movie. Surya and Sameera Reddy look fabulous together in this movie where Oklahoma City bombing is a central theme.

"Heavy rains in my heart; A lotus disappearing in the water; the weather is changing suddenly; It is all your fault, my love" "The waves go on non-stop; a beautiful star is swimming in my heart; you are wearing the color of gold and you are golden yourself"

"Oh Shanthi, carrying my life why adid you go past me? You are my poem, my love"

"Something about you attracts me; The front of your nose adds a mystery to it; Nothing fake about you and you have abundant smile" "Whereever you stand, the price shoots up; Whichever path you follow, it freezes into snow; Please come with me to my house and see me, I am sure you will like me". "I don't know who she is, so my heart refuses to follow her; I don't know whether it is true or false, so heart, please don't follow her".

And so it goes. What a fabulous song! Please watch it below:

Paadhi Kathal Paadhi Muththam - Modhi Vilayadu

This is a really nice tune with a mixture of both semi-classical and semi-western tunes with a sudden infusion of a short raga alapana.

Hariharan-Leslie team set the music for this and Bombay Jayashree and Sunitha Sarathi have done a fabulous job.

"Half love and Half kisses is not simply enough, my dear. My dress has caught fire from my passion for asking for the the other half of kisses. My whole womanhood is on fire!"

"You started a fire on my lips that melted my heart and when I reach the top, should I just push you away?" Oh boy, some pretty racy stuff here, especially you start imagining all sorts of stuff while reading in Tamil.
"For you, my love, to love me I lowered my protective belt. You came in like a cat looking for milk and I willingly showed you where the pot is! With fear you showered in my lips and half way through you waited on the mat"

"Which set of lips resembles the smell of roses? Which parts of my body provide the ultimate happiness for a woman? You, who has mastered Vatsyayana, the author of Kama Sutra, please tell me! "

As always I strongly suggest that you view the embedded video and make your own decision. But, I love the song and the rendering of it.

Un Azhagukku Thaai Poruppu - Aalavandhaan

Beautiful song and I know for sure that I am going to royally mess up the translation. BTW, I did not particularly like the movie. This who song is about "responsibility" and play of words based on that.

"Your mom is responsible for your beauty and Tamil is responsible for your intelligence". "The skies are responsible for your fame and the earth is responsible for your patience". As you can see, the second line is a reference to how we compare one's fame to the skies and one's patience to the earth (at least in Tamil, they say that the Earth is so patient as to put up with all of the abuse of the people who live on the earth).

"The flowers are responsible for your color, and the mountains are responsible for your heart". OK, I have a feeling that the comparison of mountains to Nenju actually refers to the breast of the woman! "The Cuckoo bird is responsible for your voice and I am responsible for your child"

It continues like this... Enjoy the song here. I like Raveena Tandon's look at acting in this movie, though some of the previous movies I have seen, I felt she should not be acting.

Siragugal vanthatu - Sarvam; சிறகுகள் வந்தது - சர்வம்

You must listen and see the song on YouTube (link provided below). What a great song! I have not been able to get the tune out of my system for the past three days. Yuvan Shankar Raja has done a tremendous job and Javed Ali and Madhushree have sung reasonably well. My complaint about the non-Tamils killing the lyrics continue. Half of what Madhushree (Bengali, apparently) is saying is simply cannot be heard! I have marked the guesses with a (*)

"Wings arrived so I could fly some place; Nights ended slowly in my eyes; My thoughts are yearning to see you". "My dreams are overflowing, where do I collect them? Mountains come together so I can go in (Weird and I have no idea what this means)..."

"In search of you, this yearning, this path, this travel all became the words I am uttering now".

As I am going through this, I am planning to dump futher translation because it won't do justice to the beauty of lyrics. Definitely a case of "lost in translation". If you don't understand Tamil, just sit back and enjoy the beautiful tune, fantastic picturization and Trisha!

Mudhal Mazhai Ennai - Bheema

A beautiful song, sung by Hariharan and Mahathi. Harris Jeyaraj set music and the tune is mesmarizing.

"The first rains fall on me and make me wet. The windows (yours) opened for the first time". The female counters "The first rains fall on us and make us wet. The closed windows (mine) opened (for you)".

" An anonymous bird called me and my heart followed the call and flew gently".

"You appeared in my dreams and I captured you using my eye as the camera. In my entryway I smell you and realize it was where you stood y'day". "Whereas the poem made no sense to me so far, I understand the entire meaning now! (I am so happy as a result) that I am flying like the umbrella that left my hands when the wind blew".

"If I don't see you one day, that day does not exist in my life. On the other hand, if I see you one day, the length of that day is just not enough!". "The happiness lasts both during the day and night and never leaves my heart. The closeness of you in my life lives even after I die!"

There is nothing special in terms of the lyrics, except these are words that the young lovers tend to blabber all the time... Enjoy the picturization and the song:

Poo Vasam - Anbe Sivam

Fabulous Melody by Vidyasagar. I was reminded of this song when I heard this being sung recently by my absolute favorite Renu (I can't yet figure out why they don't use women's last name in India) in Airtel Super SInger competition on Vijay TV with another talented young man Arul.

The hero of this movie is an artist and this song is sung in the movie while he was asked to paint a mural in the company owned by the evil father of the heroine, who is in love with him.

"The smell of a flower will start its travel when I begin drawing a flower. When I draw fire, it will come and burn your finger. If all those that don't have life get life, what will happen to me who already has life? I am a drawing who gets/buys life"

"Drawings are created by joining dots; Hearts join similarly in epics; Just as lines become parts of drawing, little fights become true love; To draw the sky you need blue paint; what color should I use to draw our love; Let us use the color of our blush with the brush that is the finger and draw our love!" - This is something. And in Tamil, it is brilliant!

"Where is the life in a drawing? It is in the eyes of the intent oberser. Where is love in a woman's body? It is where a man doesn't touch. You are an artist who is also a poet; and an artist who knows to woo the women; Just the way the rain tricks the clouds and joins the soil fall in my lap and join me".

I have attached here Renu and Arul singing it as well as the original from the movie.

Vaana Ville Vaana Ville - Ramana

Beautiful song. Music by Ilayaraja and sung by Hariharan and Sadhana Sargam.

The singer seems to be enjoying the nature around her in the first stanza...

"Why did you come now Rainbow? Sprinkle those beautiful colors that you brought on our hearts. Those cute little birds the flying happily schmoozing with others and the cold mist from their wings are spraying all around. Hey mother breeze, C'mon and sing"

I love the second stanza. "Regardless of the country where the Cuckoo birds are from, they sing the same song. Regardless of which country the parrots are from, they all have a hint of baby talk when they talk. Does the breeze ask us what caste we belong to before touching us? Does the rain fall after inquiring which country it is about to fall in?"

The next stanza seems a little incoherent to me compared with the rest of the song lyrics and if I remember, this has something to do with the context in the movie. I highly recommend that you listen to this song.

Adhi Manidhan - Bale Pandiyaa

I really like the tune of this song rather than the lyrics because some of the lyrics does not make sense unless you know the story line of the movie.

Of course, it is a love song... "This is the real love after the love of the ancient man; We are the real pair after Adam and Eve"

"My thoughts changed upon seeing you and I fell in love after hearing you. Long ago, Damayanthi used the swan as the 'messenger' and today the sister is acting as the messenger; which is the real love?"

The rest is very hard to translate, so I won't.

Just sit back and enjoyt the song.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/tamil/s/movie_name.4296/

Kallellam Manikka Kal Aaguma - Aalayamani

Here I am, sitting all alone on a Saturday afternoon after watching my favorite college basket ball team (UConn Huskies) blow past Texas A&M... Scanning some of the old songs, I came across this.

The master, Kannadasan, has done a fabulous job thinking outside the box, as always. Sivaji - TMS combination is perfect. Saroja Devi - too fat, too artificial, I am sorry I have no idea why she was such a big hit those days!!!

Getting back to the song - "Would any stone be as precious as Ruby (mAnikkam)? Would all Art be what your eyes are conveying?" Would any word be a pure Tamil word? Would any sweet be as sweet as your lips?"

"It is Thiruvacagam that exposed the beauty of young Tamil. Your (tamil) words turn stones into fruits. It is your eyes that say "Yes", but your hips say "No", those hips that look like lightning". Though the subtelity of the message here is lost in translation, I still remember my Thyagaraja master in high school who defined the "perfect" Tamil woman - with Minnal Idai (lightening hips) and thunder thodai (thunder thighs). He would draw, with a single line representing the hip and a large butt and associated large thighs... The large thighs, he would say, have a serious purpose!!! Oh, good old days in Colombo!!!

"Your mother was Kamban's Seetha; Your daughter is Kalidasa's Shakunthala; You are the Amaravathi that Ambikapathi hugged passionately". Let me not transate the last line.

So, all these seemingly disconnected sentences... I think the power of this song has to do with the rhymes and what some would consider the typical Kannadasan double speak. Sick minds would interpret "Your thundar thighs say "No"" one way and the others some other way. Same way - why is the hip compared to the lightening - it has something to do with how thin it is, but also may have a deeper meaning in that just like the lightening has a path and effect where it strikes, hip may be compared to that... I know that I am not making sense here, that is because I need to be careful about what I want to say. Enjoy the song though:

Carnatic Music - Wesleyan Students

I know that this is off topic. But you must really listen to this to believe it. These are both undergraduate and graduate students at Wesleyan University in Middletown CT (where I work) trained by Professors Balu and David Nelson performing at last year's Navaratri Festivals.

Wesleyan has a tradition of Navaratri festival (not necessarily coinciding with the dates, but typically in late Sept/early October) which was begun by late Sangeetha Kalanidhi Prof. T. Viswanathan (Viswa). It is typically a four day celebration where professionals sing or dance. This year, as a prelude to Prof Balu's performance, the students sang and it was just awesome. Hope you enjoy it.

Also, I need to get back to keeping this blog more active... So I am planning to write more often.