Kaadhal Oviyam –

The 39-year-old song that still sounds fresh!

First up, I am not a musician. Just a lay listener – on a given day my playlist could include anything from an S. Janaki song from Mouna Raagam and a Billie Eilish singing about Bellyache or The Weeknd being a boisterous, self-absorbed Starboy.

I first heard an Ilayaraaja song while I was in the middle school. Irony of ironies, my private tuition teacher for Hindi was a huge fan of Ilayaraaja and I’ve heard quite a number of tracks being played in the household. I remember the songs from Chinna Thambi permeating through the walls of another room in the house

Thooliyile Aada Vanthu…

Kuyile Pudichu Koottiladachu…

Povoma Oorgolam…

Ada Uchcham Thala Uchiyile…

The cassette used to be repeated from Side A to B and back!

I think it was here that I heard strains of O priya priya from Gitanjali.

And this was when a music director wasn’t a concept I could grasp so easily.

It was at the same time that AR Rahman made his mark as a music director and I had heard the song Pudhu Vellai Mazhai on a car stereo that belong to a senior at school.

If I am not mistaken, Roja and Thalapathi released in the same year or subsequent years without much of a gap in between.

Over the years, I realized that some of the songs that I heard on the radio in Malayalam were also composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

Thumbi Vaa

Vezhambal Kezhum Venal Kudeeram Nee

Kiliye Kiliye

Puzhayorathu Poonthoni Etheela

Oru Chiri Kandaal

Of all these songs, Aalippazham Perukkan Peelikkuda Nivarthi and Minnaminungum Mayilkkanniyum were a hit with the children in the 1980s – that Raaja Sir had composed these songs was a pleasant surprise to me.

Along with the songs from Manjil Virinja Pookkal (Mizhiyoram and Manjani Kombil) and Nokketha Doorathu Kannum Nattu (Aayiram Kannumaayi and Jingle Bells), these were the first memories of music I ever heard in my life.

At that time, so many songs composed in Malayalam were inspired by or copies of hit Ilaiyaraaja songs, which I realized only too late!

Out of this, one of my favourite songs is still

Ilam poongattinodum kilikalodum kathakal cholli nee from Poomokhappadiyil Ninneyum Kaathu directed by Bhadran.

And surprise of surprises, I just realized the songs from Friends, the Siddique Lal movie, was composed by Raaja Sir too. The songs were hugely popular at that time. I was under the impression that those songs were composed by an SP Venkatesh or a Vidyasagar:

Pularikkinnam…

Thani Thanka Kinapongal…

In the past decade or so, Raaja Sir has had a long-term collaboration with Sathyan Anthicaud for movies like Manassinakkare, Rasathanthram, Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal

Melleyonnu

Aattinkarayorathu

Kodamanjin

Mandarapoo

Enough of gushing over other songs. Let’s get straight to the point.

When I started to listen to songs composed by ARR, I somehow got this feeling that the other composers were inferior in terms of music production and to a large extend, imagination. I was under the impression that a Veerapandikoottaiyile from Thiruda Thiruda or a Mannipaaya from Vinnathandi Varuvaaya were the best examples of using melody with western chords with a choir in the backdrop.

Kadhal Oviyam from Alaigal Oivathillai is an amazing achievement in terms of musical production, arrangement and sheer musical brilliance on display. I haven’t seen the movie yet, need to. The song starts with a shloka/chant and quickly transitions into a choir. Can you beat that. I am assuming that the love story involved a boy from a Hindu background and the girl from a Christian background piecing together information from lyrics and the other songs in the album.

What makes this composition really stand out and sound fresh every time you listen is the melody, the use of some complex beats that peps up the song, the quality of the choir and the breezy, dreamy way in which Raaja Sir and Jency Madam render this song. The song exudes romance at its best – innocent, warm and fun. The magical lyrics by Vairamuthu goes gaga over the feeling of being in love!

Once S. Janaki was asked in an interview whether there was a dearth of singers in Malayalam and if that was the reason so many singers come from other states to sing in Malayalam, she answered, “You have singers like Jency. So why do you need singers from other states,” or something to that effect.

Well, that pretty much sums up how much of a talent Jency Anthony was and how far she’d have gone had she chosen singing as a career over teaching music. She will be remembered for at least another 50 years because of this song!

To sum up,

This song is, as the lyrics goes,

Enrum aanandam, perimbam, deiveekam….

is ecstasy, pure bliss and truly out of this world!