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Song of 2003
 It had a record hearing of probably a billion times. It was telecast 213 times in various channels within a span of two days (New Year special programmes). It caused humming and ringtones; from physics labs in schools to reception offices in software companies.
It is the 'Manmadha Rasa' song.
If you had switched on popular Tamil channels at the stroke of midnight December 31, you'd have probably heard it - the most popular song of 2003 playing away. WHAT a way to start the New Year! What lunacy, what fallacy.
That 'black dance song', according to news reports,was the biggest hit of the year. It helped the film
(Thiruda Thirudi) gross over five times its budget; and shot upward a where-did-she-come-from singer Malathi to fame.
So, do songs like 'Manmadha Rasa' and its obvious father 'O-Podu' (Gemini) sound good? These songs indicate a definite change in cinema, yes; but do these changes augur well for it?
The point is, a song becomes a hit when it has mass appeal. Awesome music in offbeat films fail only beacuse they lack mass appeal.
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I am reminded of my days in sc..... - Prof.Ranganathan, Mutare,Zimbabwe, 1/6/2004
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the song is very good.it inspi..... - sivarajsanthosh, coimbatore, 1/6/2004
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Tamil Cinema is going through..... - Mythili Narayanan, Toronto, Canada, 1/6/2004
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why not why such hypocracy in..... - henry, dresden, 1/6/2004
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We want 'koothu'. Take the drums out, play the beat for us; that's what we want. No melody for us, seems to be the view of the indignant Tamil music listener. This koothu/item number has mass appeal. And that in turn is what makes songs like 'Manmadha Rasa' and 'O Podu' super-duper hits.
Barring the fact that 'Manmadha...' was sung in a high-pitched, different voice and that 'O Podu' showcased Anuradha Sriram's versatality; these songs were very ordinary, very average songs. They were hits not because of any magical composition, not because of any lovely lyrics, but only because of the 'item' they had in them.
Versatality and newness is welcome in music; but if it is of the 'Rasa' and 'Podu' kind, it does not augur well for Tamil cine music.
Srinivasa Ramanujam
Published on 6th Jan, 2004
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