Topic started by qw (@ 210.210.35.219) on Sat May 8 00:01:55 EDT 2004.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.
Funda on Fanah
Guest Blog 4 - Anand Chandrasekharan (Lazy Geek.net)
Just like a book on Oprah's list suddenly sees sales go through the roof, words used in a Rahman song suddenly come find themselves in vogue. Fanah may have come into popular conversation that way, but it actually has both spiritual and philosophical meaning in Islam.
One of the early Islamic writers (Ghazzali) used Fanah in the Ihya to refer to self-actualization, in a Buddhistic Nirvana Sense. In the state of Fanah, the individual loses the person in the temporal world. This kind of writing met with opposition from some interpreters, who claimed that such a moral world had never existed except in the Quran.
The general theme of the song, that love leads to a higher plane (a la Piravi pizhai, kadhal thirutham) resonates with Ghazzali's writings, which says that an understanding and following of the Tawhidi in daily life, leads to the state of Fanah.
There you have it! When Vairamuthu says Yakkai thiri, Kadhal Sudar (My body the wick, your love the flame!), we know nothing can follow but Fanah!... It probably also explains why, this is one of those rare occasions when it's hard to come up with a single word in Tamil which conveys the same meaning (and hence the Urdu word is re-used in the Tamil version).
Yaakai Thiri also known as Fanah, being the star number of the album, A R Rahman pays attention to the techno type beats and his husky vocals. The song starts with a note that is very familiar for us. I am unable to guess the number but it one of the Venga Boys - Back street Boys type music that is fast and monotonous like computer generated music. Then the music rolls into a magical world of Fanah. Vairamuthu uses the most unusual words like Yaakai, Dwaitham and Adwaitham in such a slick song and makes us to listen to lyrics despite the music being on a high note. Yaakai Thiri is a sure shot hit.
http://www.lazygeek.net/
Song Lyrics here
http://www.nanjilonline.com/music/lyrix.asp?lyrix=aytha_ezhuthu
Vairamuthu's magAKK!
Multi-lingual movies, with their other challenges also bring with them the undeniable challenge of songwriting. With Rahman and other music directors making waves in multiple languages, one can't help but compare the quality of lyrics in the Hindi and the Tamil versions of the same film.
Why this rant? Because of Mani Ratnam's Yuva/Aayitha Ezhuthu music release. Among other lyrical masterpieces by Vairamuthu, one line that stands out is "Kann Thondri Kann Kaana Kanneero" (Is this a tear that is out, yet unseen?) in the song Hey, Goodbye Nanba!
The movie itself is about identity. The letter AKK, which in Tamil can only be used in conjunction with another letter to convey any meaning; the three lead characters, who all come with different ideals and then learn from the other perspectives to define their own identity. Vairamuthu captures the essence of this dilemma concisely (in only 3 words) and yet leaves the listener with so many questions - Is the tear there? Is it gone? Is the sorrow still left after the tear is gone? Much as one hopes Aayitha Ezhuthu will leave the audience wondering about the identity of today's youth.
One can't help but sigh at the genius of Vairamuthu (not that that needed any mention), and at the same time compare it with the bland "Begana Begana" in the Hindi Version of the same song.
Lyricist Vairamuthu tries to do something different in each of his songs. This is especially true when he teams up with the likes of Mani Ratnam. Aayitha Ezhuthu has something new too.
You should be able to guess the kind of hard work that Mani-Vairamuthu-A R Rahman put into their work when you are told that each of their soundtracks is expected to bring in a business of Rs 3 Crores. This also creates an expectation from the audience. The audio of the film has been released recently and it has done justice to all the expectations that surrounded it. Vairamuthu wrote rhyming lyrics with each sentence ending with Aasai in the film Roja. This time, he has given a list of things that are love and emotions that are love. In the song ‘Yaakai thiri’, he has described love with just words. In these words, he has described what love is. He also has written a song that is going to be as good as our National Anthem. This Sahitya Academy Award winner is one of the few people Tamil cine industry is proud of.
Responses:
- Old responses
- From: DholDhol (@ 203.118.29.207)
on: Wed May 12 02:55:49 EDT 2004
Sari, May 20 varaikkum porruthu irukka vaendiyathuthaan!
- From: Dhanya (@ 202.9.181.208)
on: Wed May 12 04:59:14 EDT 2004
Thats not Dhol Dhol thts Dol Dol...pattula puriyara orey word ithuthaan...ithayum yen maathuringa???:)
- From: DolDol (@ 203.118.29.207)
on: Wed May 12 05:12:03 EDT 2004
Neenga Solvathu sarithaan.... mannikkavum.
- From: F e r r a r i (@ 202.56.254.13)
on: Wed May 12 05:21:20 EDT 2004
dhanya
mannichidumaa..avara mannichidumaa..paavam
- From: Dhanya (@ 202.9.181.208)
on: Wed May 12 05:23:41 EDT 2004
Hmm....naan kobama iruntha thaaney manikka:)
- From: F e r r a r i (@ 202.56.254.13)
on: Wed May 12 05:27:56 EDT 2004
Nee kobama illa apapdina avaru yen un kitta mannipu keataru?
kozhapudhe
- From: Dhanya (@ 202.9.181.208)
on: Wed May 12 05:29:42 EDT 2004
avar mannipu keatta naan kobama irukken-nu arthama...yen ippadi ularringa????
- From: F e r r a r i (@ 202.56.254.13)
on: Wed May 12 05:31:27 EDT 2004
ularringa or ulararinga?
- From: Dhanya (@ 202.9.181.208)
on: Wed May 12 05:36:40 EDT 2004
etho onnu....thread start pannavar kochuka porar....dont digress:)
- From: F e r r a r i (@ 202.56.254.13)
on: Wed May 12 05:39:14 EDT 2004
yaara paathu enna sollite.
Thread topic related aa post panravan kitta poi sollu. en kitta sollaadhe..
topic related post panninaa en image enna aagaradhu.
hijack gumbal kku nee badhil solluviyaa???
- From: Dhanya (@ 202.9.181.208)
on: Wed May 12 05:42:12 EDT 2004
ungala paarthu dont digress nu sonen:P
bathil thaaney sollitta pochu:)
- From: MADDY (@ 203.94.217.192)
on: Wed May 12 09:16:07 EDT 2004
i'll give u list of songs which shuld have been treated better for the sheer quality of music,lyrics in them:
1.Fanah- lovely music,gr8 lyrics but it is a disco song in the movie??!!
2.Girlfriend- gr8 fusion of boyband sounds and aerosmith sounds but was used to portray boys brushing aunties's a*ses.......
3.Kannodu Kanbethellam- gr8 carnatic music song with fast pace but messed up with funny graphics.....
4.Varaha nadhikarai oram- one of ARR's best song but was picturised in the worst possible way.....
5.kulu valile - superb malayalam folk sounds and a gr8 beat but was picturised with no asthecity from K.S.Ravikumar....
i think all directors struggle to match up ARR's music with visuals.....they somehow get good tunes from ARR but fail to deliver in their own department....
- From: F e r r a r i (@ 202.56.254.13)
on: Wed May 12 09:32:43 EDT 2004
No. ManiRatnam picturises them very well.
Imagine what would have happened if shankar had to picturise pachai nirame or snehidhane song...
(*shivers thinking of what would have happened)
- From: MADDY (@ 203.94.236.38)
on: Wed May 12 13:18:37 EDT 2004
yaa i think Mani matches almost 95% with ARR's music thru visuals....... but i thought Fanah was such a good song which i think deserved to be picturised like "Enigma(sadness)", "frozen(madona)","Desert rose"........i'm really disappointed that it is just a disco song in the movie.......
- From: magix (@ 203.101.33.210)
on: Wed May 12 22:41:11 EDT 2004
Maddy... The song moves on to the beach.. not jus in the discotheque. And we havent seen the song yet. So let's not start criticising it already! :)
But yeah, I agree w/ Ferrari. If someone completely understands the feel of a Rahman song, it's Mani.
And it began right with Chinna chinna aasai w/ none of the scenes exceeding 3 seconds(!). Pachai Nirame, in my opinion, is one of the best picturised songs.. the kind that actually makes u believe such a good song can be further elevated w/ sheer visual poetry. Kandukondain Kandukondain comes pretty close too... But then it had Ash in it! ;)
- From: jacky (@ 61.2.225.141)
on: Thu May 13 01:35:27 EDT 2004
Fanah is not bigger than the theme of the movie.
Mani would have reasons up his sleeve :)
- From: Vj (@ 203.196.170.98)
on: Thu May 13 01:38:52 EDT 2004
ah... Aish..:-)
- From: C~P (@ 61.95.159.19)
on: Thu May 13 02:15:07 EDT 2004
Dol Dol-ku ennathukku meaning vaendi irukku? Lalakku Dol Dappi Ma maadhiri dhaan indha Dol Dol-um. Indha Dol Dol, Blaaze sonna thaththuvam. Adhai anubavikkanumae thavira aaraya koodaadhu-nu Pammal Uwae Sammandham sollirukkaru.
- From: paran (@ 202.172.56.64)
on: Thu May 13 04:26:36 EDT 2004
uwek...!
- From: Dhanya (@ 202.9.180.121)
on: Thu May 13 05:28:10 EDT 2004
Aaha...congratulations Paran :)....athukaga ninga ippadi ella thread layum ippadi panna koodathu
- From: paran (@ 202.172.56.64)
on: Thu May 13 07:46:42 EDT 2004
Dhanya...ninge Dhanya-va illai C~P-a?...
anyway thanks pa....valaikappuke solli anupiren
- From: Dhanya (@ 202.9.181.209)
on: Thu May 13 09:09:04 EDT 2004
Thanks pa va???Unga kitta ethanai vaati solrathu naan ponnu nu(oru vaati thaan solli irukken i guess).....anyways ninga valayal ellam poduvingala??????:-?
- From: curses (@ 203.101.32.212)
on: Thu May 13 09:27:51 EDT 2004
vaandhiye eduthaachu.. valaiyal podaamaya irupaar? :)
Dol dol dol dol.......
- From: paran (@ 202.172.56.64)
on: Thu May 13 09:38:28 EDT 2004
chi chi ..sori pa..chih...ma Dhanya
avasarathulle ningal PONNU-ne anthe marmammaana vishiyattai maranthitten..he he he
Valaiyal?...anthe O mathiri round-a irukumme athuva?
- From: C~P (@ 61.95.159.19)
on: Thu May 13 10:21:12 EDT 2004
Adhedhaan...Vikram kooda Gemini-la poattarey.
- From: Srivatsan (@ 129.188.33.221)
on: Thu May 13 10:54:55 EDT 2004
>>avasarathulle ningal PONNU-ne anthe marmammaana vishiyattai maranthitten..he he he
idhai padicha appram naan edho oru novella padichadhu nyabagam vardhu ... 'girls/women - they are not a different sex, not a differnt race, but a completly different species altogether' appdinnu ... idharku ungal badhil enna C~P, Ferrari matrum jacky?
- From: Darwin's assistant (@ 203.101.37.68)
on: Thu May 13 11:03:55 EDT 2004
enakku therinju man --> homo sapien.
now that woman's a diff species, avanga enna hetero sapien-a?
- From: C~P (@ 61.95.159.19)
on: Thu May 13 11:04:09 EDT 2004
Naan andha novel padichadhu illai.
- From: F e r r a r i (@ 202.56.254.13)
on: Thu May 13 11:39:44 EDT 2004
naanum adha vaasichadhu illai. i mean andha novel a
- From: Balajee Nagarajan (@ 128.107.253.41)
on: Fri May 14 03:45:13 EDT 2004
meaning of the word pinniyam in the song yakkai thiri
- From: C~P (@ 61.95.159.19)
on: Sat May 15 09:09:32 EDT 2004
Pilli, Soonyam, Pindam...Pinniyam?
- From: l (@ 210.210.32.143)
on: Tue May 18 00:45:15 EDT 2004
http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/fullstory.php?id=13476562
http://in.rediff.com/movies/2004/may/17abhi.htm
http://in.rediff.com/movies/2004/may/17ravi.htm
http://sify.com/movies/telugu/preview.php?cid=2424
http://www.geocities.com/dirmanirathnam/articles2.htm
- From: Vj (@ 203.196.170.98)
on: Sun May 23 23:56:20 EDT 2004
so, finally, i've seen the movie and the "Yakkai thiri" song is indeed sung in the discotheque...whatz the comment now?
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