Songs of a lifetime - # 2

Song : Idhazihil Kadhai

Film : Unnal Mudiyum thambi

Lyrics : Muthulingam

Singers : SPB, Chitra

MD : Illayaraja

Yet another example of the creative genius of Illayaraja, this song is a also perfect example of both visual and aural delight.

Background :

Unnal mudiyum thambi was KB's remake of his award winning Telugu movie " Rudra Veena". The story deals with the apathy of the high society towards the downtrodden and the hero's fight to change it. Carnatic music forms a strong backdrop of the movie with the hero's family being a family of carnatic musicians.

This song is a romantic duet after the hero learns the name of the heroine in the movie. This is where the genius of Illayaraja comes to the fore as he composes the song in the same raga as the heroine's name - Lalitha. Lalitha is not a commonly used raga in cine music but Illayaraja creates the perfect romantic duet with excellent orchestration and soothing use of the flute in this song. The interludes are vintage raja!

This is one of the best SPB - Chitra duets. SPB won the national award for Rudra veena.

Trivia :

1. Illayaraja won a national award ( His 3rd) for Rudra veena.

2. Gemini ganesan played the role of father in both the Telugu and Tamil versions.

3. The Telugu song ( the equivalent of Idhazil Kadhai) starts as " Lalitha priya kamalam" signifying the name of the heroine and the raga.