The more I listen to his songs, the more am I left with a sense of stupefaction. A feeling
of completeness, a feeling of nothingness..
This applies more to his ‘early years’ songs and the reason is pretty simple- I would have
listened to these songs more, more than the ‘80s, ‘90s and the ones from the 21st
century ( too many ‘mores’?).
‘Devan Thiruchabhai MalargaLe’
from ‘Avar Enakke Sontham’(1977) is one of the many
songs which gives me that feel. What attracts me first is the western classical
style orchestration dominated by the brass flute (it has its own charm, doesn’t
it?), the strings and the guitar. But what is astounding here is the ‘tanpoora’ sound in the background
(mainly in the Pallavi and before
the end of each interlude). Quite unthinkable!
Next are the vocals. . If I said that the voices of PooraNi and Indira sound as fresh as morning dew, I am sure I wouldn’t be
exaggerating. Somehow, these two voices were not used at all after this. As far
as I know, the two were part of the chorus
voices in many songs after this.
The guitar
theme-which runs as a leitmotif-
gives this song a very unique flavour. But this theme music got into a
controversy with many claiming this to be a straight lift from ‘Sholay’. I have even read some posts
where people have said that ‘Raaja paid a
tribute to R.D.Burman by using his music’. However, the fact remains that
it was Raaja who composed this bit
for a Kannada film- at least 2-3 years before the release of ‘Sholay’- when he was assisting G.K.Venkatesh!
The much forgotten accordion appears in the charaNams
and also in the second interlude,
giving that sense of nostalgia(or should I say adding to the sense of
nostalgia?). But there is one more forgotten sound in film music and this one
too appears in the second interlude. It is the ‘whistle’(no, not the ‘vuyeee’
whistle, but the melodious whistle from one’s lips).
Ah, yes! This song follows the Harikambhoji scale (Mixolydian
scale in western music).
What gives the song the impetus is of course the
flute. It is silky; it is charming; it is subtle; it sparkles; it is vibrant;
it is pulsating.
Then why wouldn’t it give me that ‘nothingness’ and
‘completeness’?
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