Song 25: Ponkatrile

Posted onAugust 29, 2012 by raaga_suresh

Song No : 25
Song: Ponkatrile
Film: Paatu Paadava
Singers: Lekha, Subha, Sindhu
Lyrics: Vaali
Link: http://www.thiraipaadal.com/tpplayer.asp?sngs=�SNGIRR2583�&lang=en

This song was requested by Shank. I must blame him for making me feel ashamed that
I haven�t heard this song earlier. I am sure this movie was released during my stay
in Chennai. I didn�t buy the tape/CD then. But what an excellent album this is.
Even the most ardent Raja �80s only� fans love �Nil Nil Nil� and �Vazhi Vidu Vazhi
Vidu�. Both these songs, though didn�t get played as much as they should have been
due to the debacle of the film, in due course of time became cult classics. I am
sure there are very few old Raja fans who don�t know about these two songs.

The song for today is a different matter. I haven�t heard it till now. Whenever I
come to hear �Paatu Paadava� I end up with only the two songs I mentioned above.
Shank�s recommendation made me listen to this. Shank is himself a composer, so his
recos being great is no surprise. I can clearly see why he has recommended this
song. I would also request him to write his thoughts about this song.

This is one more Raja song which has no major percussion instruments backing it.
The rhythm is provided by the strings and what sounds like the tap on the metal
part of the drums. (Or is it some other instrument? Ravi Natarajan, help please). A
lovely prelude with bass guitar and keyboard precedes a melodious pallavi. As usual
the pallavi is not straight and simple. And that lovely piece of flute at the very
end of the pallavi. Lovely WCM interlude with the strings, keyboard and guitar. The
initial part of the charanam reminds me of an old song but soon changes its shape.
The usual ups and downs follow with the strings very subtly providing the counter
melody. The second interlude is again a mini symphony with the flute and the
strings playing their stellar roles. The voices are pleasant and do their job well.

Another fantastic song with lot of excellent WCM work went unnoticed. This again is
terrific experimentation. Either people had taken this type of experimentation from
Raja for granted or were looking for simpler structures, I do not know, but this
song did not get the attention that it needed. (The more famous female solos in
this year were �kannalane� and �nila kaigiradhu�.) We must be glad that we have
devoted Raja fans here who point out to songs like these so that we can all enjoy
it atleast now. As they say, �Better late than never�

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Years-Raja-in-the-mid-90s&p=941780&viewfull=1#post941780