Guest article by Anuradha Warrier
(There are some guests on whose arrival you exclaim, “Wo aye hamarey ghar khuda ki qudarat, kabhi hum unko kabhi apne ghar ko dekhate hain!” Anu writes an outstanding blog spanning books, movies, music and whatever. She is also a writer and editor. With all that, and with the constraint of having grown up outside Kerala, it is indeed a very kind gesture on her part to agree to write on similar songs from Hindi and Malayalam movies. With such generous people I am confident we should be able to cover all the major languages in India in which such cross fertilisation with Hindi movies and songs have taken place. Thank you , Anu, for your excellent article. – AK)
I’d been following the mega-series of posts by Mr Ashok Vaishnav on the various combinations of multiple versions of songs on Songs of Yore with great interest. With AK hosting these posts, and Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh and Mr N Venkatraman writing on the links between Hindi-Marathi and Hindi-Tamil songs, it’s been a journey worth travelling.
I do not presume to have the knowledge of music that any of these gentlemen have; this post came about as a result of my telling AK that Hindi film tunes crossed boundaries into my home state of Kerala as well, and asking if listing them in the comments would be an issue. In return, he promptly asked me to develop that into a post. So, with trepidation, here I am, writing a guest post for the first time. I agree with Mr Venkatraman that inspired/adapted songs from each of the four South Indian languages should have a separate post of its own; that said, I will only be writing about Malayalam film songs.
Having grown up outside Kerala, my initiation into Malayalam film music, apart from the songs I heard over the radio, came much later in life. As is the case with Hindi music, I tend to like old Malayalam songs, with certain exceptions being made for some excellent work in later years. I would like to acknowledge the great help and support that a fellow blogger, Cine Matters, gave me when I was floundering, wondering where to begin.
1928 (1930 – the jury is still out on this one) witnessed the birth of Malayalam Cinema. This was when the first silent movie Vigathakumaran (The Lost Child), directed by JC Daniel, was released. What is interesting about Malayalam cinema is that once talkies became the norm in the intervening two decades, Malayalam film songs drew their inspiration heavily from both Hindi and Tamil songs. For instance, the iconic Mohammed Rafi-Noor Jehan duet Yahan badla wafa ka reappeared as Manoharamee rajyam. Unfortunately, I cannot find a video or audio clip for this song. It seemed that the state’s rich musical heritage was being deliberately ignored in favour of imported compositions.
It wasn’t until Neelakuyil (Blue Cuckoo) in 1954 that the state of matters changed. Neelakuyil was a milestone in Malayalam films – a social drama that dealt with feudalism, untouchability and the treatment of women by society, made by a band of idealistic youngsters, and it changed the face of Malayalam cinema setting it firmly on the path of realism and in the social ethos of the state. Scored by K Raghavan, the songs introduced Malayalam folk music into Malayalam films for the first time.
Let me begin with pre-Neelakuyil examples. On his website, Cine Matters listed quite a few songs from Jeevitha Nauka (The Boat of Life) and Ponkathir that were direct lifts from old Hindi songs. Jeevitha Nauka, released in 1951, was Malayalam filmdom’s first ‘super hit’. With a theatrical run of more than 280 days, the film was simultaneously made in Tamil and Telugu and later, a dubbed version in Hindi was released. Its music director was the venerable V Dakshinamoorthy. In his debut film, Nalla Thanka (1950), the veteran music director was forced to adapt songs from Tamil, Hindi and Telugu. For those who understand Malayalam, here is a clip where he describes the brief given to him in those early days.
Here are two songs from what Cine Matters calls the ‘Xerox’ years. There is absolutely no effort to mask the origins, and songs have been taken from as many Hindi films as possible.
Malayalam 1: Akale aarum kaividum (Jeevitha Nauka/1951/MD: V Dakshinamoorthy/Singer: H Mehboob)
Hindi 1: Suhani raat dhal chuki (Dulari/1949/MD: Naushad/Singer: Mohammed Rafi
Malayalam 2: Anandamekoo bale (Jeevitha Nauka/1951/MD: V Dakshinamoorthy/Singer: P Leela)
Hindi 2: Hawa mein udta jaaye (Barsaat/1949/MD: Shankar-Jaikishen/Singer: Lata Mangeshkar)
Music director Mohammed Sabir Baburaj, better known as MS Baburaj is often credited as the man who engineered the renaissance of Malayalam film music. Having learnt Hindustani music in his childhood, he pioneered the use of Hindustani ragas in Malayalam music. His professional association with lyricist P Bhaskaran and singers KJ Yesudas and S Janaki resulted in some of the evergreen hits in Malayalam film songs.
Malayalam 3: Kadalivazha (Umma/1960/MD: MS Baburaj/Singer: Jikki)
This film saw the emergence of a new musical talent who would enthral listeners for almost two decades. Music director, MS Baburaj, who had made an indifferent debut in Minnaminungu (Firefly) three years earlier, began a new phase with the success of this film and carved a place for himself in the pantheon of the greats. Interestingly enough, this song mimics both lyrics and picturisation of its Hindi original. While the musical connection may seem tenuous to most listeners, that is because the music director, Baburaj, seldom copied the tune as it is. From what we have listened to from his huge body of work, one can safely say he was inspired by the tunes he heard to create his own, leaving his unique stamp on the final creation. The cawing of the crow signifying the arrival of a visitor seems to be a belief common to many cultures.
Hindi 3: Mori atariyan pe kaaga (Ankhen/1950/MD: Madan Mohan/Singer: Meena Kapoor)
Malayalam 4: Tamasamenthe varuvaan (Bhargavi Nilayam/1964/MD: MS Baburaj/Singer: KJ Yesudas)
A great fan of music director Naushad, Baburaj was inspired by the veteran composer’s tune from the Muslim social Mere Mehboob to score not one, but two songs in Malayalam. This was a true case of inspiration and paying allegiance to the master – while Mere mehboob tujhe was composed in Raag Jhinjhoti, Baburaj used Raag Bhimpalasi for Tamasamenthe varuvaan. He later reworked his own tune for its twin version Pranasakhi njan verumoru from Pareeksha (1967).
Hindi 4: Mere mehboob tujhe (Mere Mehboob//MD: Naushad/Singer: Mohammed Rafi)
Now, here are two songs from Avalude Ravugal, Malayalam cinema’s first ‘Adults Only’ movie, which became notorious outside Kerala – for all the wrong reasons. A powerful film based on a prostitute’s life, it dealt with the emotions that a ‘fallen woman’ feels, and the way society treats her, even as it uses her services. Music director AT Ummer mentioned in an interview once that he was ‘forced’ to use Rajesh Roshan’s composition from Swami. One wonders at the compulsions that also led him to recycle RD Burman’s tune from Jheel Ke Us Paar for the wonderful lullaby from the same film.
Malayalam 5: Ragendu kiranangal oliveesiyilla (Avalude Ravukal/1978/MD: AT Ummer/Singer: S Janaki)
I personally prefer the Malayalam song to its Hindi original. The words seem to flow better, the Malayalam lyrics are definitely more meaningful, and S.Janaki’s voice has the pathos down pat.
Hindi 5: Pal bhar mere kya ho gaya (Swami/1977/MD: Rajesh Roshan/Singer: Lata Mangeshkar)
Malayalam 6: Unni aaraariro (Avalude Ravukal/1978/MD: AT Ummer/Singer: S Janaki)
What was a plaint in the Hindi film became a lullaby in its Malayalam avatar. Both songs are equally fascinating to listen to, and both are equally poignant, but for different reasons.
Full credit for the songs attaining their evergreen status goes to lyricist Bichu Tirumala for writing lyrics that fit so well into the Malayali ethos, and to S Janaki who sang both numbers.
Hindi 6: Keh rahe hain ye aansu baraste hue (Jheel Ke Us Paar/1973/MD: RD Burman/Singer: Lata Mangeshkar)
Malayalam 7: Mazhavil kothumbileri vanna (Adwaitham/1991/MD: MG Radhakrishnan/Singers: MG Sreekumar, Chitra)
A political thriller from Priyadarshan (as far as I know, the film’s plot was original), the film had a wealth of very melodious songs; again, as far as I know, they were all original compositions. So it beats me why MG Ramachandran had to be ‘inspired’ by:
Hindi 7: Mausam hai aashiqana (Pakeezah/1972/MD: Ghulam Mohammed/Singer: Lata Mangeshkar)
Malayalam 8: Ende manassiloru naanam (Thenmavin Kombathu/1994/MD: Benny-Ignatius/Singers: MG Sreekumar, Sujata)
Is it a sign, I wonder, that most of the ‘inspired’ songs in this list belong to Priyadarshan’s films? -What is a bigger shame is that music director Benny-Ignatius received the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music for this film. See if you can identify the classic Hindi song from which this is unashamedly ripped off.
Trivia: RD Burman had been signed on to compose music for this film, but he died before completing the score, and Benny-Ignatius was signed on.
Now listen to the Hindi original…
Hindi 8: Piya milan ko jaana (Kapala Kendal/1939/MD: Pankaj Mallik/Singer: Pankaj Mallik)
Malayalam 9: Kaliveedurangiyallo (Desadanam/1996/MD: Kaithapram/Singer: KJ Yesudas)
A copy, in my opinion, that far surpassed the original, whether it was the poignancy in the lyrics (the Hindi version was a nursery rhyme), the richness of the arrangement, or the depth of emotion in the singer’s voice.(Actually, it would be interesting to find out who copied whom in this song – both films were released in 1996.)
Hindi 9: Ghar se nikalte hi (Papa Kehte Hai/1996/MD: Rajesh Roshan/Singer: Udit Narayan)
Malayalam 10: Njan oru paatu paadam (Megham/1999/MD: Ouseppachan/Singer: KJ Yesudas)
So the ode to middle-aged romance is mangled beyond belief in this supposed-to-be-comic picturisation. (Watching Mammooty dance is unintentional comedy, anyway.) This is one of the should-never-have-been-touched songs that leaves the listener/viewer with only one question: What were they thinking of? (Actually, once I learnt that this was a Priyadarshan film, I stopped wondering.)
Here is the classic original…
Hindi 10: O mere zohra jabeen (Waqt/1965/MD: Ravi/Singer: Manna Dey)
Now, for the reverse… Apart from Salilda, who delighted in rearranging his compositions in multiple languages, I found a couple of instances where popular songs from contemporary Malayalam films ‘inspired’ their Hindi counterparts. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to know that the director was Priyadarshan and the music directors were Nadeem-Shravan. Two of the songs in the former’s Saat Rang ke Sapne, a remake of his own highly successful Thenmavin Kombathu, were recycled from other Malayalam films. (Ironically, Thenmavin Kombathu’s musical score used one of Hindi cinema’s iconic songs – copying and reverse copying? Why doesn’t it surprise me with Priyadarshan? It does surprise me that Nadeem-Shravan agreed, though. Not because I have any great faith in their ability to compose original tunes, but because they were usually ‘inspired’ by Pakistani and Arabic tunes.)
The title song of the Hindi version Saat rang ke sapnon mein was recycled from Poo venam (Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettu), while Jhoot bol na was ‘inspired’ by Paathiraakkili from Kizhakkan Pathrose.
In my trawling the web, however, I found that Malayali music directors have been, by and large, composing original songs (though I still found more songs than I’d hoped to find). Perhaps the reasons lie in the fact that our movie scripts are still rooted firmly inside the state, or if they do meander outside, the ethos is still Malayali. Music directors could, therefore, work within these constraints, not needing to go outside the state for ‘inspiration’. It’s also the reason why, until recently, we did not have many really good ‘western’ songs.
Secondly, for a small state, we have a wealth of folk music upon which to draw – Mailanji paatu, Oppana, Koyithu paatu, Vadakkan paatu, Pulluvan paatu, Ottamthullal paatu, Vanchi paatukal, Vilpattu, apart from the rich traditions of Carnatic classical music. In the many decades since Neelakuyil released, charges of plagiarism against a Malayali music composer have been few and far between (though, sadly enough, not completely unknown). In today’s times, that is a refreshing thing.
{ 93 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting post, Anu – thank you! I must admit that I stopped even listening to the Malayalam version of Ae meri zohrajabeen after a little while – forget about watching it; there was something just too awful about it. My favourite, of all you’ve linked to, was the Malayalam version of Pal bhar mein yeh kya ho gaya. The Hindi song is one of my favourites, and while I can’t tell how well the lyrics flow in the Malayalam version, it did sound better to my ears. Off to listen to it again. 🙂
Anu ji,
Thanks for your wonderful article. You have really tried to bring out the strngth of malyalam cinema,here.
Using other language tunes and songs was pretty common till about the early 60s,brfore it became a “Theft”. Till then in a friendly atmosphere,it was a willing ” cultural Exchange’
My introduction to Malyalam films was not that praiseworthy. In the early 50s and 60s,we,in Hyderabad equated Malyali films with only
“Bedtime” stories. There was a Theatre ‘Lighthouse,on the Gunfoundry area,which invariably showed ‘these’ films as morning shows.
It was later in the 70s and 8os,I came to know about the new wave films of malyalam,which were actually the Flag-bearers. I saw many malyalam films,without understanding a single sentence,but understanding and appreciating its theme,presentation and treatment to the subject.
you have mentioned about the First silent films.
the First Talkie film in Malyalam was BALAN-1938.
here is my contribution to this article-
A song from malyalam film-Neelapponmaan-1975,in which the song “Theyyam Theyyam Thaare’ was based on Hindi film ‘Awaaz’-1956 song by lata- Dhitang Dhitang Bole (which was based on original Hemantkumar NFS in Bangla,MD- Saleil chaowdari)
here is malyalm son link – http://youtu.be/-ljy4xE31Ek
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Anu ji,
This may not be directly connected to the theme of this series,but it seems to be a Historical song in malyalam films,being from the very first Talkie film-BALAN-1938.
It is One minute song by M.K.Kamalam,with music by K.K.Aroor and Ibrahim.
http://youtu.be/-UM5ahljtxU
Thanks Anu for a great introduction to Malayalam film music. My favourites would be the two versions ascribed to ‘Mere Mehboob’ – although I would say they are original enough to be termed as ‘inspired’ and not ‘copied.’
I am sure it is not a one way traffic between Malayalam and Hindi cinema. Bollywood must have also adapted/adopted tunes from Kerala. Do we look forward to another post covering that aspect?
@dustedoff: I don’t blame you for not wanting to watch the Malayalam version of Ae meri zohra jabeen… I couldn’t bear to watch it either. I think I should have added a disclaimer saying, Watch at your own risk. 🙂 And yes, there is something very haunting about Raagendu kiranangal.
@ Arunkumarji, thank you for the appreciation. It may not have been ‘theft’ but I don’t know that I would call it a ‘willing cultural exchange’ either. 🙂 The fact is that Malayalam films of that age were hardly known outside the state boundaries. No one would have known that the songs were being lifted wholesale. A whole industry came up on writing lyrics that fit the metres of Hindi and Tamil songs until Neela Kuyil.
It was sad that Malayalam films came to be associated with soft porn outside the state. Again, the simple truth is that, in those years, Malayalam films depicted a whole lot of adult themes (without any gratuitous exposure, mind you) which allowed wily distributors to insert clips of blue films made outside the state into the film, when it was shown outside. Couple that with some really lurid posters, and it is no wonder that Malayalam films earned such a bad rap.
Thank you for posting the Malayalam version of Dhitang dhitang bole… I refrained from using any of Salilda’s songs because he always used his tunes across languages; mostly, it was arranged differently. Thank you also for that link to the song from Balan. You are right that it was the first talkie in Malayalam. If I’m not mistaken, it was not until Nirmala 1948 that song and dance became a vital part of Malayalam cinema.
@Subodh: Compared to the other posts in this series, I find myself falling woefully short, so thank you for the appreciation. And yes, Mere mehboob really ‘inspired’ Baburaj. Thamasamenthe varuvan is more a homage to a music director he admired, than a ‘lift’. Baburaj is considered one of Malayalam film music’s greats; unfortunately, he died young.
I don’t think Malayalam songs transpose well to other languages. Even today, the better Malayalam movies do not really have lip-synced songs, unless the hero or heroine is a singer or something. We tend to prefer our cinema a tad more realistic; for escapism, we come to Hindi. 🙂 Jokes apart, the superstar vehicles (read escapist entertainers) rarely have scope for songs (they are too busy being supermen). I haven’t come across many, except the ones I wrote about in the post.
Anu ji,
I have also tried to locate the lovely song song from NALLA THANKA-1950, ” manoharamee Rajyam” sung by Augustine joseph,Mani and Leela,but could not get it so far. I tried to get the “Ezhu Rathtrikal”-68 song which has the tune of ” aa jaane wafa” a song of 53,a song from Ashadeepam-539kan mani vaa vaa , which has a ditto tune of Albela-51 song-dheere se aaja ri, chandrika-1950 song-kezhuka athmasakhi,which has a tune of ‘Preetam aan milo’ by C H Atma, but looks like the uploading of Malayalam songs is rather on the slower side.
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Anuji,
Thanks for your very able addition to the series.
To an uninitiated one, like me, the rationale for drawing from the songs of one language to to other does not matter at all, what matters, at the end of the day, the fact that such an exchange has been happening, happening quite meaningfully and does make an impact in the language where the songs are imported.
Transposition of a song into another langauge requires tremendous contribution by the lyricist of the importing language, as compared to writing lyrics to an inspired tune. But, in both the cases, the song not only has to sound totally native, but also has to fir in a situation , not necessarily similar to the original one.
I hope some day, some one in the know does throw light on the ‘why’ part of a particular song being ‘selected’ to be transposed in a given situation at the import end.
Arunji, Malayalam songs from that vintage are hard to find. But all of Salilda’s compositions (in any language) are available on salilda.com.
Gautam has done a yeoman job cross-indexing each tune with its ‘copy’ in other languages. That is the main reason I did not use any of Salilda’s compositions for this post. He used his own tunes anyway, and it was more a question of arrangement.
Ashok Kumarji, thanks are due to AK for hosting my article on his site. I’m glad you enjoyed the post and the songs. I agree with you that in such cases of transposition of one song across boundaries, the lyricist plays a very, very important role. He has to know both languages, for instance, the sequence, the metre, and then try to compose something similar in rhyme. Not an easy task by any means.
Which reminds me, I have not thanked you, AK, for all the kind words you said about me.
Anu ji,
It is not only Salil Chaudhari’s tunes that were made into malyalam films.
Take the case of C.Ramchandra,for example. When ANARKALI was made into Malayalam in 1956,almost ALL songs in the southern version were using the same tunes.
Further, Azaad-55,which was a remake of Tamil film malaikkallan-1954,was also made into Telugu,Kannada and Malayalam versions ,in addition to Simhalese version too.
The Malayalam version was titled TASKARVEERAN and the following songs had the tunes as mentioned-
1.Vannalla vasant kalam(Dekhoji bahar aayi)
2.Pkalle pokalle pokalle nee (Na bole na bole na bole re)
3.Malar therum mandahasam(kitna haseen hai mausam)
4.Chaplam chaplam(Aplam Chaplam) etc etc..
Of course,as you rightly said,songs from that era are really not to be found easily,but atleast we have the information.
@ Subodh Agarwal ji,
I tried hard to find out films remade in Hindi from malayalam and I was successful in only ONE film
Malayalam film AGNIPUTHRI-1967 was remade in Hindi as DARPAN-1970. Since I could not get any songs of Agniputhri,on You Tube,it was difficult to know about Hindi versions of those songs.
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Anuji,
Thank you for the excellent article. A wonderful exposition and introduction to the World of Malayalam films and its songs.
After listening to the clip of V Dakshinamoorthy, I was keen to listen to this Malayalam song. To listen to this one minute audio clip, click on the third song from the bottom of the list, then on audio-play button that will appear on the next screen.
‘Thoraadhashrudhaaraa ithu theeradhashrudhaaraa’ by Kaviyoor Revamma from ‘Jeevitha Nauka’ (1951), lyrics Abhayadev, music V Dakshinmoorthy
http://en.msidb.org/listSongs.php?tag=Search&lyricist=Abhayadev&category=musician&artist=V%20Dakshinamoorthy&limit=193&page_num=1
The Hindi original
‘Ab mera kaun sahara’ by Lata Mangeshkar from ‘Barsaat’ (1949), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri, music Shankar Jaikishan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuXCnr2P0j8
The first three songs made good listening. H Mehboob had a good quality voice. I heard him for the first time. Jikki’s rendition of the third song, ‘Kadalivazha’, was wonderful and I felt it was not an exact copy. No doubt M S Baburaj was a popular MD. The wordings were also good. The old traditions and beliefs are vanishing and I feel the new generation would find it difficult to appreciate the lyrics.
The next two songs (#4), the first in Bhimpalasi and the next one in Carnatic Sindhu Bhairavi (which resembles Hindusthani Bhairavi) were superb. The two compositions reiterate the prowess of M S Baburaj. I am in full agreement with Subodhji’s comment on this. The rest of the songs made good listening, ‘’Ragendu Kiranangal’ in particular.
Let me add few more.
We all know that Salil Choudhury composed music for several Malayalam films. In the year 1986, the Malayalam director Hariharan signed the famous Hindi Film MD Ravi to compose music for his Malayalam film ‘Panchagni’. He composed music for at least 15 Malayalam films under the name ‘Bombay Ravi’. Here is a beautiful Malayalam song set to Carnatic Raagam Kamboji (akin to Khambaj That of Hindutahni music). Singer Chitra won the Best singer award twice, while singing for Ravi.
‘Saamaja sancharini’ by Chitra from ‘Parinayam’ (1994) lyrics Vasudevan Nair, music Bombay Ravi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ocJd4B8zU
Another song composed in the Raagam Mohanam (Bhoopali)
‘Uthralikkavile’ by Yesudas from ‘Vidyarambham’ (1990), lyrics Kaithaparam, music Bombay Ravi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s6WbnIldt8
While Ravi composed several beautiful original compositions for Malayalam films, Lakshmikant-Pyarelal retained their original Hindi melodies in the film Vidhi (1968), a remake of the film Taqdeer (1967).
‘Amritham Pakarna Raathri’ by Yesudas from ‘Vidhi’ (1968), lyrics Vayalar, music Lakshmikant-Pyarelal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QNm3HHOUFw
Subbaiah Naidu preferred to use C Ramachandra’s tune for the Malayalam version. It seems Azad was made before the Malayalam and Telugu versions. In fact the Hindi song ‘Kabhi Khamosh Rahte hai’ from Aazad was replayed in the Malayalam version.
‘Malar thorum mandagasam’ by P Leela and Srinivasa Rao from ‘Thaskara Veeran’ (1957), lyrics Abhaydeva, music Subbaiah Naidu (?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVVtSQ8v-YM
There were few more melodies repeated from the Hindi version like ‘Chapalam Chapalam’ which was repeated in the Telugu version too. But I will be happy to have them in the appropriate Telugu post.
Finally let us listen to a song from a Malayalam film for which music was composed by the great NAUSHAD.
‘Anuraaaga lola Gaathri’ by Yesudas and S Janaki from ‘Dhwani’ (1988), lyrics Yusuf Ali Kecheri, music Naushad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YLhElqKVwI
The original Ghazal was composed by Naushad in the Raag Patdeep for the unreleased film Habba Khatoon. If I am not mistaken Carnatic Raag Gaurimanohari resembles Raag Patdeep. Akji had introduced this Ghazal in his earlier post on Naushad and Md.Rafi. Naushad speaks about Md Rafi before the song.
‘Jis raat ke Khawab aaye’ by Md. Rafi from the unreleased film ‘Hubba Khatoon, lyrics Ali Safdar Jafry, music Naushad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NUAci4wkEE
Besides the rich wealth of folk music you have mentioned, there are other rich classical dances like Kathkali, Mohiniattam, Koodiyattam,Chakyaar Koothu,Ottam Thullal, Theyam and many more. The Travancore Maharajaas were great patrons of classical music, dance and other art forms and thus they played a significan role in the preservation of those rich traditions of the state.
It is claimed that the Arab Traders brought Islam to Kerala sometime during 7th or 8th Century. In fact there is a story that Baba Budan, an Arab brought with him some coffee seeds, and thus started the coffee plantations in the western ghats of Karantaka and Kerala. The Syrian Christians trace their advent even earlier. Even the Jews came and setlled here. All of them brought with them their tradition and culture and contributed to the rich traditions of the state. Justifiably one should be proud of this cultural and natural bounty of ‘Gods own Country’.
To end on a personal note, Some of the visuals made me nostalgic and reminded me of my school days, when we used to spend our vacations at our maternal grandparents at Thayyoor, a village in Thrissur district.
Thank you once agin Anuji.
I have posted Jesudas’s version of the song ‘Samaja Sancharini’ instead of Chitra. Sorry for the mix up. Here is the correct link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBcacQXQnvA
Anuji: A very nice piece indeed. Enjoyed listening to the songs. You needn’t have worried about the content. Your knowledge of Malayalam songs is very commendable. I wouldn’t know how to put together a post like this for Bengali songs although I am a Bengali and have been listening to film songs for ages.
AKji, Arunji, Subodhji, Venkatramanji and others who have contributed to this website : Kudos and please keep ’em coming. I eagerly look forward to new posts on this site.
Arunkumarji – hats off to you! Even I could not have managed to find the information that you seem to just produce out of your hat! 🙂
I didn’t know about Agniputri at all! Much less that it had been remade in Hindi. Thank you so much. Of course, by the late 80s and early 90s, there were plenty of Malayalam/Tamil films being remade. Faasil’s Aniyathi Pravu was remade as Doli Saja ke Rakhna; Siddique Lal’s Ramji Rao Speaking was remade as Hera Pheri; Satyan Anthikad’s Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam was remade as Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar; Faasil’s Manichitrathazhu was murdered in Bhool Bulaiyya and the less said about Billu Barber which was the tortured remake of Mohanan’s sensitive Katha Parayumbol, the better. (It is interesting that these are all remade in Hindi by Priyadarshan.)
Actually, the comments section is much more interesting to me than my own article because of the immense amount of information that knowledgeable people like you, Ashokji, Subodh and Mr Venkatraman provide. (That is also what made me a bit wary of writing this in the first place.)
I do know about Azaad being remade in Malayalam as Taskaraveeran and in Sinhalese. And Anarkali following the same tunes. The difference there, is that C Ramchandra did not use his own tunes -t he music director was MS Baburaj and the lyricist was Vayalar. With Salilda’s tunes, it was he himself who reused them across languages.
Mr Venkatraman, thank you. 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed this foray into Malayalam film music. Parinayam was such a beautiful film and had such lovely songs. Thank you so much for that link.
Naushad’s foray into Malayalam was limited to that one film, Dhwani. But ‘Bombay’ Ravi got his second lease of life in our state thanks to Hariharan, when Bombay filmdom stopped appreciating his kind of music.
Lots of interesting tidbits in your comment, and so many familiar songs to listen to – thank you. And to resort to a cliché, it really is a small world after all. My native place is Thrissur proper. 🙂
Soumya – thank you! It’s comments like yours, and the appreciation I get from my readers that make all this worthwhile. I’m humbled by these economiums because my knowledge of music is in no way comparable to the others who have written posts before in this series; I’m glad to be able to provide a glimpse into the rich tapestry of music that actually belongs to my state. Thank you, all.
Soumya – doing an article on Bengali songs adopted in Hindi film would be a richly rewarding experience, although restricting it to ten songs would be difficult. S D Burman, Hemant Kumar and Salil Chowdhary – to name only three – have freely used their tunes in Bengali in their Hindi films. My favourite is ‘Ei raat tomar amar’ by Hemant Kumar from ‘Deep jwele jai’ which was gave rise to not one but two songs in Hindi: ‘Yeh nayan dare dare’ and ‘Tumhara intzaar hai’. Hemant Kumar used some elements of the original Bengali song in one of them, and some others in the second one.
Do try writing a post on this theme. There is a first time for everyone. The post I wrote for SoY was the first piece of writing I ever did – beyond noting on official files.
At this rate, I would soon forget the Hindi original songs; Tamil, and now Malayalam have a special upbeat feel about them. Thank you Anu, and Thank you Venkataramanji, not only for your posts, but your comments by which you have been adding so much.
Arunji,
How many Dhitang dhitang bole we have? It seems we might have a post on just this song. That gives me a thought for another category. How many songs are there which were dubbed/adapted/copied in all the four South Indian languages? There should be a fair number of such songs. If we make it a little more flexible, how many Hindi songs have been copied in at least any four language films?
I see song #4 has drawn everyone’s attention. It also drew my attention most, and I would like to share with all the readers that I had a bit of ‘discussion’ on this song among some others, with Anu, while putting up this post. I felt that it was a very clear copy of Maine chand aur sitaron ki tamanna ki thi, and very different from Mere mehboob tujhe. Similarly, song #3 I felt was very close to Brindavan ka Krishna Kanhaiya, rather than Mori atariya pe kaga bole. But Anu, using her prerogative as the author, firmly put her foot down, and I had to yield without demur. However, she allowed me to mention it in my comments. I have to thank her again that she had not let this, what Subodh had once described as, non jhonk between us come in the way of doing this Guest Article. 🙂
Thank you AK ji for you kind words.
Maine chand aur sitaron ki tamanna ki thi is also based on Bhimpalasi.
AK ji,
If you have a category of Hindi songs into any 4 languages,or Songs common to 4 S.I. languages,then the number of songs may exceed 50 easily.
In the early era of 40s,50,and 60s,many popular tunes from Hindi were taken in by Southern brothers. Languages like Kannada and Malyalam,which had comparatively late and slow development of Indegenous Film industry were full of songs from elsewhere.
It was a common practice to make movies in 2 or 3 languages in Madras Studios,at a time-or at a staggered time(like Azaad,for example). So mostly,song tunes in many cases were common.
Telugu and Tamil grew together in Film making,taking Hindi with them in late 60s and 70s,though,by that time the song exchanges had diminished to a great extent,with emergence of new composers everywhere. Only dubbing or remaking films was continued.
There are cases where even Marathi films like ” LAKHACHI GOSHT”,
was remade in Telugu (Vaddante Dabboo),with almost all songs in the same tunes. I have some such songs with me.
-AD
Subodh ji : Thanks for your encouragement. Writing an article on Hindi-Bengali cross-overs would be trivial – just take composers S.D. Burman, Hemant Kumar, Salil Choudhury, R.D. Burman, Shyamal Mitra and others and the list of songs would be very long indeed. But these composers simply recycled their tunes composed in one language into the other. The real challenge is finding songs composed by different composers who were “influenced” by a song in one language and simply used the tune in another language. The Hindi-Tamil, Hindi-Malayalam, Hindi-Gujarati posts bear testimony to that. I was racking my brains to come up suitable examples in Bengali but could come up with only one example. “Mere Mehboob Tujhe” from Mere Mehboob (1963) composed by Naushad and “Ami Je Jalsaghare” from Antony Firingee (1967) composed by Anil Bagchi. The resemblance is only in the mukhda. The songs in Antony Firingee are all excellent. I really need to dig deeper in order to write a post worthy of this forum.
AKji,
Brindavan ka krishna Kanhaiya, the original is from Telugu-Tamil films Missamm-Missiamma. It is a tune of Saluri Rajeswararao. I think that was only tune followed in the Hindi version. In any case, the third song does not seem to be similar to it.
Arunkumarji,
I think that there was lot of Marathi, Parsi theatre influence in the early days on south Indian theatre and films. I think they used to tour before any Telugu, perhaps Tamil plays started. I do not whether they toured Kerala too. You can perhaps tell us about these early influences. I think that some of the first south Indian films were made in Calcutta, Kolhapur, Pune .
Arunkumarji,
I mixed up some dates. I have been browsing through ‘Kanyasulkam’ by Gurajada Apparao published in 1897, after it was staged for a few years.. He said that when he wrote the play “Itinerant Maharashtra troupes staged Hindi plays in the Telugu districts and made money. Local companies copied their example and audience listened with delight to what they did not understand.” He later on said that the practice was declining. So the situation regarding plays was probably different by the 30s and 40s. The second edition of the play was translated into English a few years ago under the title ‘Girls for Sale’ and unfortunately still the best play in Telugu.
Soumya,
It is great to see that you have seriously started thinking about writing a guest article. I have sent you a mail.
Arunji,
Oh, I did not realize that there would be so many of such songs. If there are some interesting features about these songs which can fit in a novel theme, we might later consider doing posts on them.
Gaddeswarupji,
I was aware of the original tune of ‘Brindavan ka Krishna Kanhaiya’. It has been mentioned in the comments in my article on Raga Durga. I should thank you for the interesting information on the impact of itinerant theatre groups on the local music.
i want to know from which English or other language tune is used in Malayalam movie song starting with darlings of mine – minnaram -movie name.I think its a English christian song. Pls reply
@Preemu,
It is not one song – Darlings of mine is a medley of old English nursery rhymes. There isn’t one particular tune they are following.
Recently I came across this song.
You will find the link to the audio version of this song here.
Hey kaliyodamey from Thiramala (1953) by K Abdullah Khader and Shanta P Nair, lyrics P Bhaskaran, music Vimal Kumar
http://oldmalayalamcinema.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/thiramala1953-naushad-shantha-p-nair-anokhi-ada-1948-and-a-paperboat/
Kyon unhe dil diya from Anokhi Ada (1948) by Surendra and Shamsad Begum, lyrics Shakeel Badayuni, music Naushad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e-60J8sddY
Venkataramanji,
This is an interesting discovery. To my ears, the adaptations of famous songs in Tamil sounded better, and in many cases, even more pleasant than the original. This confirms Naushad’s popularity wide popularity in the entire South India.
‘Kaliveedurangiyallo’ and ‘Ghar Se Nikalte Hi’ are very different songs. Both are in two ragas.
Mere Mehboob Tujhe inspired Thaamasamenthe ? … . at least it could have been hum se aaya na gaya .. by Talat 🙂
BTW.. the Avaludey raavukal issue was also mentioned by S Janaki in an interview on Asianet…. that the director IV Sasi was so determined about using those songs in his movie… not only the tunes.. he even “punched in ” ( the old version of cut and paste ) .. the group violin interludes from the original Hindi sound track while those songs were being recorded live.. again I am not speaking off my.. I have proof .. the video in which S Janaki says this.. so please ….:)
Thamasamenthe is a straight lift..but the original is not Mere Mehboob.The original was mentioned in an interview Anto had given to Mathrubhumi weekly few years Back & Thoppil Anto sung it infront of me once.I was shocked!
Mr Ramachandran,
Nowhere in the article have I stated (and nor will I do so) that Thamasamenthe varuvaan is a ‘straight lift’ of Mere mehboob tujhe. In fact, I have, both in the article and in the comments, stated that Baburaj was inspired by the tune, and this was his way of paying tribute to a man he idolised – Naushad. This, by the way, was in an interview that Baburaj had given a very, very long time ago in a Malayalam magazine. I wish I had the magazine, but obviously, I don’t. Other than that, I am not so knowledgeable about music that I would dare make such comparisons. I had read about the composer’s intention behind the song, and so put it out there – that is all.
True.I am saying Thamsamenthe is a straight lift.I had listened to the original-Anto sung it for me.Now I spoke to Ravi Menon who writes on songs-he says Thamasamenthe was inspired by Hum Se Aaya na Gaya sung by Talat Mahmood in the 1957 film,Dekh Kabira Roya.It is lengthy.But the song Anto sung was different-same length of Thamasamenthe
Arunkumar Desmukh has said that he could not find songs of Agniputhri(1967)on youtube.All the songs of that film are there in dhingana.com.
Here is a list of Agniputhri songs:
1.Kannu thurakatha daivangale
2.kilikili parunthinu
3.agni nakshatrame
4.Aakasathile nandini
5.I(e)niyum puzhayozhukum
6.rajeevalochane
AK can do the research now!Kannu thurakatha & Iniyum puzha are there in gaana.com.Kili kili & aakasathile are there in raaga.com.Youtube has kannuthurakatha,Iniyum & kilikili.
I spoke to Thoppil Anto now-he says the original of Thamasamenthe is Hum se Aaya na Gaya.Babukka wanted Talat to sing Thamasamenthe,but didnt succeed.Yesudas succeeded only in the 23rd take.Finally Babukka roped in Talat for Dweep-Kadale,neelakadale…Anto’s number 09388324095.
Anu, Ramchandran
There is no great mystery in Thamsamenthme. Without knowing anything about who gave what interview to whom, I had doubts about this song’s claimed similarity to Mere mehboob tujhe, which I still have. Since strains of Bhimpalasi are very prominent in the song, I mentioned Maine chaand aur sitaron ki tamanna ki thi. Some other knowledgeable readers have also mentioned the Bhimpalasi connection. Therefore, it would sound similar to some other songs in this Raga too.
In the early years,it had been the practice to imitate hindi in malayalam-listen to the songs written by Abayadev.Even carnatic Keerthanas have been taken as such.For instance ,the celebrated Atmavidyalayame is written to the tune of Manasa sancharare…It is V Dakshinamoorthy who refused to lift after a few thefts.
Anuradha has left out the movie,Vettam.Atleast two songs of that film ,Mazhathullikal &Oru Kathilola are thefts.I dunno the original.Either of you should attempt an article,Priyadarsan & the Art of Stealing.Like the producers & directors of yore,he asks his composers to steal.Ousepachan & Beny-Ignatius have acknowledged this.When noone is ready to steal,MG Sreekumar does it for him(Kancheevaram,for example).Three movies mentioned by Anuradha here have been directed by him:Advaitham,Thenmavin Kombathu & Megham.
Ramchandran,
Here is the song Mzhathullikal from Vettam
And, as one of the comments shows this is copied from Kal ho na ho, though I must say, it is avery poor copy.
Oru kathilola from the same movie appears to me more than one song, and seems to be inspired from several songs.
Now,from Tamil to Malayalam.The award winning song,Innale Ente Nenchile in movie,Balettan(2003)has been lifted from Ilaiyaraaja’s song,Thenpandicheemayile in movie,Nayagan.Composer M Jayachandran has admitted this.
I read Venkataraman’s comments.I want to share something interesting:For samajasancharini,music was composed by my friend,Manoj Krishnan,who was assisting Bombay Ravi.Manoj was asked to do it by Hariharan & lyricist Yusuf Ali Kecheri when Ravi was not available at the time.I heard this from Kecheri & Manoj confirmed.Anyway in the creditline of the film,it is Bombay Ravi.BTW lyricist of Parinayam is YusufAli & not MT Vasudevan Nair,as mentioned by Venkat(some sites have wrongly mentioned P Baskaran as lyricist).
Venkat has mentioned Amritham pakarnna rathri in Vidhi.There is another dubbed song in it,Priye pookukille….Another dubbed music of Laxmikant Pyarelal in malayalam is in the film,Jeevithasamaram(1971),dubbed version of the Dharmendra,Rakhee starrer,Jeevanmrithyu.Jhilmil Sitharom Ka becomes,Chinnum Ventharathin.Another song is Hey Mane.
The only film Laxmikant Pyarelal originally did in malayalam was Poonilamazha(1997).Here is the list of songs(AK can find out whether they have been adapted from LP’s hindi songs):
1.Thaka Thanka
2.Tharakam,Deepakam,Marivil
3.Chilu Chilu Chira Chira
4.Aattuthottilil
5.Illa,Illa,Marakkilla
6.Mizhineer
7.One Sip,two sip
Director Bhadran had announced a movie called Sidartha in 1987.Shooting didnt take place,but songs recorded.One song sung by Yesudas is not only a lift of the 1965 hindi song,Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hai,the song begins with the same lyric!K S Chitra’s version begins with,Doore Doore Doorathai…I request you to take the original hindi & malayalam versions from Youtube & post here.
Tere Mere Sapne is in the film,Guide(1965)
In her reply to me,Anuradaha has said that she is “not so knowledgeable about music”.It is a fact.I have commented a lot-now Im taking a break.
Finally,Do you know that Muhammad Rafi has sung in a malayalam movie?That too to Kuthiravattam Pappu!
Sorry a line is missing in my earlier comment:”not so knowledgeable about music”.It is a fact applicable to everyone.
( which means,Anuradha is being modest since music is an unfathomable sea.;I commented coz i found her erudite.In my comments I have made it clear I am ignorant about Hindi music).
We all know Thamasamenthe is set to raga,BhimPalasi,which is a combination of two ragas,Bhim & Palasi.So, here is a list of famous hindi songs in BhimPalasi:
1.Beena Madhur Kuchu Bol/Ramrajya(1943)/Saraswati Rane
2.Asmanwale Teri Duniya Se/Laila Majnu(1953)/Talat & Lata
3.Aa Neele gagagan Tale/Badshah(1954)/Lata
4.Tere Sadke Balam/Amar(1954)/Lata
5.Maine Chaand Aur Sitaron Ki/Chandrakanta(1956)/Rafi
6.Hum Se aaya na gaya/Dekh Kabira Roya(1957)/Talat
7.Nagma o sher ki/Ghazal(1964)/Lata
8.Naino me Badra Chaiye/Mere Sayya(1966)/Lata
9.Khilte hain Gul Yahan/Sharmilee(1972)/Kishore
Seven of these songs were there prior to Thamasamenthe….Bhargavinilayam was released on november 22,1964.Among these only 2 songs have any similarity to Thamasamenthe:Hum se aaya & as AK rightly said,Maine chaand.
Subodh has mentioned Beena Madhur in his article on songs & ragas.
When I wrote this,I saw there was a movie called Ghazal (1964)in hindi.Malayalam too had a movie Ghazal(1993),a box office disaster.Music director was Bombay Ravi& two songs became popular.1.Isal Thenkanam 2.Sangeethame ninte Divyasamrajyathil(sung by Mini Anand,where is she now?).I strongly feel Isal Thenkanam has an original!
Ramchandran,
Here is Isai thenkanam
And you are looking for this original, not from Ghazal, but from another movie, composed by Ravi.
Mujhe pyar ki zindagi dene wale by Rafi and Asha Bhosle from Pyar Ka Sagar
It is from Anuradha’s article I learned the song,Manoharamee Rajyam is nolonger available.It was written by Abhayadev for the film,Nallathanka(1950), music composed by rama Rao & Dakshinamoorthy & sung by Augustine Joseph,father of Yesudas.I thought I will be able to find it.I spoke to Aravindan,son of Abhayadev-they have only lyrics(lyrics is there in a couple of sites like en.msidb.org,search for songs of Abhayadev).Then I spoke to Unnikrishnan Namboodiri(9447109203)who has all malayalam songs(he sells on demand,give him the list).He too doesnt have this.There is a clipping of Abhayadev speaking on songs of yore in youtube. 4 songs from this film are available:
1.Enbamerum(raaga.com)
2.Amma than/P Leela(youtube)
3.Manam Thanna Mariville/Pallam Joseph(youtube)
4.Shambo/Leela(youtube)
5.Karanamenthamo/Vaikam Mani(youtube)
In the same year,another film,Sasidharan appeared.The song,Neeyen Chandrane,Njan Nin Chandrika,written by Thumpamon Padmanabhan Kutty ,composed by Kalinga Rao & sung by Kaviyur Revamma was a hit.Please post it & the original,Tu Mera Chand,Mei Teri Chandni(Movie,Dillagi,1949-here even the lyric has been lifted!)Malayalachalachitram.com has a list of 417 songs written by Abhayadev.
Thank you AK-first time Im listening to the original.
Anuradha’s article wrongly mentions M G Ramachandran as music director of Advaitham.It is M G Radhakrishnan,elder brother of MG Sreekumar.
There is a song sung by Subha in Priyadarsan’s 1994 movie,Thenmavin Kombathu-Nilaponkal Ayelo.Which hindi song is the original?R D Burman was signed to do its music,but died before he could .Any song of him lifted?
I t is final now:audio of Manoharamee Rajyam is not there.It is because this song’s gramophone record was never made.There were 15 songs in the movie,Nallathanka.Records were made of only of 5 songs. We lost 10 songs!I got this info from the authority on malayalam songs,Vijayakumar(09446333920) who has all the available songs.Vijayakumar had met Vaikam Mani who had acted & sung in the movie.Mani,father in law of Sreekumaran Thampi,shared this information.There is one more person whom I contacted-engineer,George Mampilly:he says 22600 songs have been made in malayalam movies sofar & he has around 19500 songs.Around 20-30 songs which were made before 1960 are not available.
“There is a song sung by Subha in Priyadarsan’s 1994 movie,Thenmavin Kombathu-Nilaponkal Ayelo.Which hindi song is the original?”
Sun mere bandhu re… S D Burman Sujata..
Mr Ramachandran,
You have provided a lot of interesting information and songs. Your period of active commenting in Soy coincided with my period of absence. Thanks for pointing out (comment #40) that the lyric for Parinayam was by Yusuf Ali and not by Vasudevan Nair. I stand corrected. I was not aware of the fact that the music for Samajasancharini was composed by Manoj Krishnan. Did he give music for any other film?
Listened to the songs of Agniputri (1967). None of the Malayalam tunes have been retained in the Hindi version, Darpan (1970). The songs from this film were good. In fact the Hindi film Jeevan Mrtyu was a remake of the Bengali film by the same name released in 1967. The Malayalam version songs in the voices of Yesudas and Janaki were interesting. The four songs from Nallathanka(1950) also made good listening.
Doore doore was another interesting song. I have come across Hindi lyrics used in Bengali film songs. But use of Hindi lyrics in a South Indian film was new to me.
Tere mere sapne …doore doore, Sidhartha (1998) by Chithra and Yesudas, lyrics Bichu Tirumala, music Shyam (?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiWnvif6P8E
I find a similar trend in this song too. A beautiful song. But in the track list I could not find the name of Yesudas against this song!
Sangeethame ninte divya saubhagyathin,Ghazal (1993) by Chithra and Yesudas, Lyrics: Yusuf Ali Kechery, music, Ravi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uJaYD__gkg
Here is the Malayalam adoption of Naushad’s song composed for Dillagi (1949)
Neeyen Chandrane,Njan Nin Chandrika, Sashidharan (1950) by Vaikom Mani, Kaviyoor Revamma, lyrics Thumbamon Padmanabhankutty, music Kalinga Rao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbQX00AkNTU
SSW,
Nilaponkal Ayelo may remind you of the song Sun mere bandhu re. Both the songs might have some similarities, but I do not think the Malayalam song is an adoption. We can find similar folk tunes in Malabar regions. Please correct me if I am wrong. Let us listen to this well rendered folk tune.
Nilaponkal Ayelo… From Thenmavin Kombathu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNgLTd_3H2g
This article by Anuradha Warrier is total plagiarism.I have read this in Malayalam written by some other author.Better to take this off the site.
Ramachandran,
Which author and where? You may pass this to that author who can take it up directly.
Dear readers,
It is ten days since Mr Ramachandran made his astonishing accusation that this article is ‘total plagiarism’. I asked him to cite the source, and to make sure that he gets it, I wrote him a mail too. I sent him several reminders when I did not get any response from him. Till date he has not replied.
Those readers, who follow Anu’s blog, would see a connection with what Mr Ramachandran has been doing there. He started with incoherent comments, gradually became offensive and, finally, personal and insulting. All this for no apparent reason.
Earlier, when he posted some comments here which were unnecessarily unpleasant I wrote to him. I thought he understood. He also sent me his personal details, though I had not asked for it, according to which he is “A Malayalam writer. Historian & Journalist. Was political correspondent, Malayalam Manorama; News Editor, The Week. Owns the reputed English book shop, HAMLET in Cochin.” It is surprising someone with such credentials should indulge in such odd behavior. Obviously, he has some problems and needs help,which can be given only by his family and friends. We can only give him our best wishes.
I quote verbatim the mails I wrote to him to make the context clear. With this, I am closing this absurd accusation.
Quote begins
March 16
“Dear Mr Ramchandran,
I refer to your comment dated March 15 on the above article in which you accuse that it is ‘total plagiarism’ of a Malayalam article by another author. I asked you for the source and the author. I am still waiting.
You have actively commented on this article earlier and you did not find anything wrong with it except an oversight about a name. About ten days ago you commented on her blog on her article on Bharat Gopy that her guest article on Songs of Yore was ‘mediocre’. Your comment came out of the blue and had nothing to do with her post on Gopy. This has been preceded by your other personal and vicious comments on her blog for no reason.
Anu writes so well that she does not need to copy from anyone. She has been very generous in attributing her sources. Even in her guest article in question she has attributed sources wherever necessary. From whatever I have known of her, she is a very honourable person with a high sense of ethical behaviour.
Readers of both her blog and SoY are highly educated and intelligent people, and they can see a pattern in what you are doing.
Had it been the rantings of a semi-literate juvenile, I would not have wasted my time on it. But you mentioned to me that you had been an editor with reputed journals, and that you are a Malayalam writer, historian and journalist – in short, a person of high accomplishments. Therefore, I am sure you realize that what you are doing is not denigrating Anuradha Warrier, it is putting you in a poor light. I suggest for your consideration that you can still redeem yourself by posting an apology on SoY as well as to her personally, and make a fresh beginning.
AK
March 18
“Dear Mr Ramachandran,
I am still waiting for your response. Being an editor yourself, you can appreciate your unsubstantiated accusation cannot hang like that without bringing it to some logical conclusion.
If it happened in occasional fits of irrestible and irrational impulse, you should be able to think it through when you are normal, and make appropriate amends.
AK
March 20
“Dear Mr Ramachandran,
I am still waiting. Since you have commented on my recent post, it is clear you are keeping yourself abreast of what is happening on the blog. Therefore, I am sure you are getting my mails and reminders. I intend to close the matter soon, with the outcome of our correspondence.
AK
March 24
“Dear Mr Ramachandran,
This is in continuation of my earlier mails regarding your comment on March 15 on Anuradha Warrier’s guest article on SoY. It is 9 days since you made the accusation that her article was “total plagiarism”, without citing any source from which it was allegedly taken. I have not yet got any response from you to my repeated mails. I propose to conclude the matter by posting our correspondence on the site tomorrow.
AK”
Quote ends
I feel hit by a speeding bullock cart!
I fully and truly endorse the stand taken by AKJi, even if Mr. Ramachandran continues to lament that he has been hit “by a speeding bullock cart”.
Dear Mr. Venkatraman
I did not see your post number 56.
On the song in Themavin Kombathu, I think it is definitely inspired by Sun mere bandhu re. Of course this is a personal opinion so it cannot be counted definite. If you will listen to the rhythm it is the same number of beats. There are too many similarities in the melody both in the mukhda and antara . There are slight variations especially in the counterpoint but the main melody is the same. In the Malabar the two most famous genre of folks songs are the Vadakkan Pattu and the Oppana pattu. The Vadakan pattu rhythms are completely different . The oppana pattu which is traditionally sung by muslims have typically faster syllables.
Personally I think Benny Ignatius just lifted a bit from Pankaj Mullick and S D Burman.
AK,
I was surprised by your initial reply to Mr. Ramchandran.
I must congragulate you for giving an apt reply.
Nobody should be allowd to shoot and scoot.
Ashokji, Mumbaikar8,
What does one make out of Mr Ramachandran’s latest comment after all that has happened? A man who has gone completely off his rocker? Let us hope he comes back better.
Apropos of Mr.Ramachandran’s accusation: I wish to categorically and unequivocally deny that this article is plagiarised in any way or form. Ethics, both personal and professional are the yardstick by which I measure myself, and I take intelluctual property rights very seriously. To have that attacked, without making the least bit of push to answer the charge, therefore seems like cowardice.
I had no intention of responding to Rama Chandran after the imbroglio on my blog, the culmination of which was a personal attack against another blogger. (I deleted the comment and banned him from my blog.) But upon advice from a trusted friend, I wish to record my response to this egregious libel. Because I blog under my real name, and I wish to have no false accusations levelled against me that are not even rebutted.
Dear SSW,
This is in response to your comment #62. My comment (#56) was also a personal opinion. But you are the expert. Thanks for the response.
This is for the above comment #47/48.
The music director Ravi of North Indian films and Bombay Ravi are the same person. Hence he used his own music in both the songs. You can verify this from himself in an interview on youtube.
http://youtu.be/bkorO2ZZAv4
Watch at 16.54
Not sure whether anyone will revisit this article – but let me still bring it out : The song tangathala taalam from Ennennum Kannettante (Music : Jerry Amaldev)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXtC1gtLHZk
seems to be inspired from Piya tose naina lage from Guide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zeIsIwx5Xs
Looking forward to the experts opinion on this
Praveen,
The songs sound very different to me. If you mean its picturisation, that too appears very different to me.
AK sir – not the picturisation, of course. Anyway I felt the two songs similar, after hearing it again now 🙂 Will wait to see if anyone else felt the same way – even my wife agrees with me (which in fact is a rarity!!)
Re reading my post, I felt that there is a chance of misunderstanding, when I said no one will be revisiting this article. What I meant was that the regulars would have moved on to newer subjects – not that the article is not worth a revisit. Would thank Anuji for this wonderful post
There is Malayalam version of ‘Jane Nazar Pehchane Jigar’ (Film-Aah), sung by Prem Nazir in the film, I don’t know the name of the film as well as the actress, also who are the singers. Kindly mail to me.
Also the popular ‘Piya Piya Piya’ from ‘Baap re Baap’ also has a Malayalam version again sung by Prem Nazir and some actress in the film. I would like to know that also.
Thank you and regards
What about Malayalam 1965’s movie Chemmeen was dubbed and released in Hindi as Chemmeen Lahren with all the songs. The music was composed by Salil Chowdhary and Chemmeen marked Salil Chowdhary’s debut in South Indian music.
Could you please give a total list of songs & movies dubbed from Malayalam to Hindi and reverse?
Nice article..
One correction: Dhwani song “anuraga lola rathri” si sung by Yesudas & P.Susheela. not S.Janaki.
@Kalai
You are right. I stand corrected. Thank You
This relates to Ramachandran’s comment on “Nilapongal ayallo” sung by Subha in “Thenmavin Kombathu”. The song is a copy of “Sun mere bandhoore” composed and sung by S.D. Burman, for film “Sujata”.
I would like an opinion from the experts here on these two songs :
The super hit Bole Re Papeehara
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE3In4E9zlM
and this Malayalam song, innenikku pottukuthan from Guruvayur Kesavan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heUFDvlQU88
Is the Malayalam song inspired from the Vasant Desai hit?
Parveenji,
In my humble opinion, Innenikku Pottukuthan is not an inspired song. Both songs are based on the Raag Miya Ki Malhar. Nice song.
Thanks for the clarification Venkataramanji.
At the same time, am mighty pleased that I was able to recognise the similarity of tunes based on same ragas – am generally Raga blind 🙂
Dear, you missed two songs from the very film (Jeevitha Nauka) copied from hindi movies.
1. copy of [Chhod gaye balam mujhe haye akela chhod gaye]
2. copy of [Ab mera kaun sahara]
Kuljeet,
Welcome to SoY.
Hi , I am a Malayali very much in love with the songs of the 40s and 50s and I just came across this site . It makes fascinating reading. I came to like the Hindi songs composed well before I was born and from my father primarily who couldn’t speak a word of Hindi but was obsessed with Hindi songs from that era. During the pre Neelakuyil days , most songs were copied from popular Hindi songs of that era and here are some that I think have not been listed in this blog or in the comments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTSCMEshYX8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbCr4frATAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Dit0nwQ1k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZH8cn6Ivws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtDAUnJbbqo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoGTyoTCxz0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxWGuSJBM_s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1PdBlZOfkg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCFZKCuNJtg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xKzDmVVQOA
Naushad was phenomenally popular in Kerala and during his Rattan to Uran Khatola period , he never disappointed Malayalis ( or indeed the rest of the country).
Mathew Zacharia,
Welcome to SoY and thanks a lot for your appreciation.
Fantastic article.
I love very much the songs of the forties and fifties.
Thank you so much for sharing this.
A song from Malayalam film Chandralekha- Innale Mayangunna Neram (Music-Berny Ignatius) , the tune is copied from a Hindi Song. Pl tell the original song
Welcome to Songs of Yore. Can you please give the YouTube link of the song?
nice post sir thanks for this information
Kumar,
Welcome to SoY and thanks a lot for your appreciation.
AKji,
I just now noticed the query posted by Anil TK (@84) more than a year back. I feel the Malayalam song “Innale Mayangunna Neram” from the film Chandralekha (1997) is very near to the Hemant Kumar’s composition “Bhanwara bada naadaan hai” from Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam.
Here are both the links.
The Malayalam song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjMjspepRSc
The Hindi Original
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHyRikMZXqw
And what a coincidence, we are discussing Shaqeel and here comes another Shaqeel song.
Can anyone tell me other language song for “man dole mera tan dole.. Mere dil ka gaya karaar re.. Kaun bajaye baansuria..” Movie: Naagin(1954)
https://youtu.be/gE5kJH73VvA
Wow! Interesting article !Was looking for something when I came across this site . And as Anu said the comments are even more interesting. I am a Malayali born and brought up in Mumbai. But my dad was very interested in music both hindi and Malayalam so have grown up listening to both.
Havent been go through the entire comments but will come back to read. Actually I was looking for the Malayalam equivalent of this Hindi song. ‘Yeh dil aur unke nigahon ke saye’ from the 1973 movie ‘Prem PArbat’ Song sung in the same tune. I think there is one though am not sure.
https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tFP1zcsNjAtNjNLLjdg9BKoTM1QSMnMUUgsLVIozcvOBACaKwoH&q=yeh+dil+aur+unki&rlz=1C1OKWM_enIN771IN771&oq=yeh+di+aur&aqs=chrome.3.69i59l2j69i57j46j0l4.5817j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Since the original video is not available, this song has been superimposed on many other songs.
Thanks
Bindu Jose,
Welcome to SoY. I hope the writer of this post responds to your comment.
The song ‘unaroo vegam nee sumaraani ” of film “moodal manju ” was composed by hindi film music director Usha khanna.
Does any body know her original song of the same tune in hindi?
Hello,
Does anybody know which hindi song by Salilda was used in Chemmeen- ‘chakara, kadapurathini utsavamayi’? He composed music for many Mallu films and liberally swapped music over from Bengali/ Hindi songs to mallu songs.
Sabu