CHENNAI: The background music of a certain T M Soundararajan song was being played and when there was a split second of silence before the words of the song were about to begin, a member of the audience, who was seen immersed in the orchestra’s presentation so far, supplied the words Orayiram Paadhayile. And when singer Mukesh began singing the song, there was applause from the crowd.
For some of those who had gathered at the Music Academy on Saturday, it was a revelation to find that this song had a Hindi equivalent, Sau Baar Janam Lenge, which was sung by Mohammed Rafi in the film, when singer Mohamed Aslam rendered it alongside Mukesh. Those who knew that both the versions exist were appreciated as both the singers supported by the orchestra – Rafi’s ultimate band – rendered the songs.
Smiling on listening to their favourite songs, expecting to listen to a few more of these Tamil-Hindi (and one or two Telugu) equivalents that they had in mind, the audience that had gathered at the auditorium went home with satisfaction. They got to listen to around 30 such songs from all genres at Innisai Vaarpugal, along with interesting anecdotes associated with them, presented by popular anchor B H Abdul Hameed, who was the host that evening.
Some of the Hindi songs were popular numbers from the days of Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar, whose songs have contemporary Tamil versions too. Melodies such as Lag Jaa Gale, originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar and presented by Surmukhi at the show and its Tamil equivalent rendered by Kalpana Raghavendar went down well with Bollywood enthusiasts. Thesulavuthey Then Malarale ( Kuhu Kuhu Bole Koyaliya in Hindi) and Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai (Oru Paadal Naan Keten in Tamil) were some of the numbers that the older members of the audience particularly enjoyed.
An aspect that stood out was the interaction amongst the singers themselves. When there were duets from both the languages presented side by side, the four of them, who even handled the chorus by themselves, complemented and appreciated each other when one of them sung few portions with finesse.
In songs such as Muthukulikka Vaarigala which were filled with more expressions and words such as aiyyo amma, the renditions were livelier, and the audience broke into applause even before the end of the song!