Naatu Naatu

Abstract

On 11^th January, my sister Priya shared the news that Naatu Naatu from the film RRR had won the Golden Globe Award for the Best Original Song. Not having heard the song, I watched the video immediately and enjoyed the energetic dance number. I didn’t know what the selection criteria were and if the song deserved the Award. The next day, newspapers went to town praising the song and the team behind it. Apparently, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) had been impressed by how well the song had enhanced the message and appeal of RRR as a whole. While I was happy about the success of this song sensation, the old timer in me could not but reflect that while Naatu Naatu may be new, it belonged to the genre dappankuthu that I was not only familiar with but had enjoyed hugely in my younger days. In this Pongal season why not share a few other dappankuthu hits with my friends and family, I thought.

Dappankuthu

Wikipedia informs us that dappankuthu “is a folk dance and music genre with an emphasis on percussion” and that it “is relatively informal in that it has no structured, repeated steps” that actors have to learn through formal dance classes. Dappankuthu is most prolific and popular in Tamil Nadu though variations exist in other Southern states. Even in Tamil Nadu, dappankuthu has evolved over time. If the early songs were based on classical ragas, today’s hits are more fixated on the beat. The beat itself has changed from the original folksy to the modern glitzy. In keeping with this trend, the quality of the lyrics has also dropped from the social or subtly erotic to the downright vulgar. Today, dappankuthu has been replaced by the generic ‘item number’ or ‘kuthu paattu’ where the frenzy and the focus on scantily-clad female actors.

In this post, I am sharing a few songs that are broadly in the dappankuthu genre. The choice is personal and based purely on my recall at this point of time. Not having heard too many Tamil songs in the 1970s and 1980s.  I am more than likely to have overlooked a number of other good songs. I am sure readers would be quick to point out my omissions and add to the collection of songs that we can enjoy.

Desam Gnanam Kalvi – Udumalai Narayana Kavi – R Sudarsanam – C S Jayaraman – Parasakthi (1952)

Parasakthi was an iconic film. Apart from powerful dialogues delivered by debutant Sivaji Ganesan with an eloquence never seen before, it had many memorable songs that I enjoy to this day. With prescient words like கல்வி இல்லா மூடரை கற்றோர் கொண்டாடுதல், வெள்ளி பணம் அடியே and முட்டா பயலை எல்லாம் தாண்டவகோனே, காசு முதளாளி ஆக்குதடா தாண்டவகோனே, Desam Gnanan Kalvi was what came to be known as a கருத்து பாடல். The dappankuthu part ஆரிய கூத்தாடினாலும் தாண்டவகோனே is in the second half of the song. Though it is a dance number, Sivaji shows his acting range and prowess with a light-hearted comic touch.   

Eraadha Malaidhanile – Thanjai Ramaiah Dass – G Ramanathan – TMS – Thookku Thookki (1954)

This is a dance song. In the last charanam, the genius of G Ramanathan effortlessly blends the folk tune he starts with and raga Sindhu Bhairavi. TMS sings it well. Sivaji’s abhinaya for the words சிங்காரமாய் நடை நடந்து and பாலைவனைத்தயே நம்பி வந்து, பழி வாங்கும் பூஜாரியை தேடு தடா, would do a professional dancer proud. It is believed that Thookku Thookki established TMS as the voice of Sivaji.        

Yeru Pooti Povaye – Muhavai Rajamanickam – Master Venu – Jikki – Kaalam Maari Pochhu (1956)

A less-known poet and composer have combined to create this dance song which became a hit, not the least because it launched Waheeda Rehman’s film career. The lyrics and music have a freshness and simplicity that is eternal. Sadly, the poet’s description of the exploitation of farmers by the political class and the flight from rural to urban areas continue to this day with no worthwhile correction to our development model. I have read that Guru Dutt was so captivated by this dance song that he offered Waheeda a role in his film CID also released in 1956.

Echu Pizhaikkum Thozhile – Thanjai Ramaiah Dass – G Ramanatham – TMS & Jikki – Madurai Veeran (1956)

I do not know why G Ramanathan used the tune of the MKT Bhagavathar’s famous song Deena Karunakarane Nataraja Neelakantane for this song, but it fits so well. The lyricist may well have written the words to the tune already selected. TMS starts off and Jikki joins him with her scintillating voice in the second iteration of the pallavi அய்யா எண்ணி பாருங்க and the song takes off. MGR’s dance steps show that he has been coached by the choreographer. Padmini is very natural and Jikki’s voice suits her well.      

Therodum Enga Seerana Madurayile – Kannadasan – TMS & P Leela – Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy – Bhaagapirivinai (1959)

This is a hugely popular dance number that is played on the nadhaswaram even to this day in festivals in many small temples across Tamil Nadu. The tune is generic and the music directors make full use of the chorus and the orchestra to impart vigour to the song. Picturised on a disabled Sivaji, the tempo of the song does not seem misplaced, such being the thespian’s acting skills. V-R use of the pallavi tune in the instrumental interludes to enhance the appeal of the song. TMS and Leela combine well as do Sivaji and Saroja Devi on the screen.        

Mama Mama Mama – Maruthakasi – K V Mahadevan – Jamuna Rani & TMS – Kumudham (1961)

This was one of the earliest songs of the genre that I had liked very much. The folksy tune, fast beat and instrumental score had appealed to my young mind. As I listen to the song now, I see how well Maruthakasi conveys the ideaof premarital restraint in the form of a musical dialogue between the female and male characters. Jamuna Rani’s flirtatious voice shows why she was the acknowledged specialist for such songs. TMS modulates his voice admirably to make sure that it does not sound like that of Sivaji or MGR.

Naanga Pudhusa Kattikitta Jodidanunga – Vaali – MSV – P Susheela & TMS – Oli Vilakku (1968)

This breezy number picturised on Jayalalitha and MGR is as popular for its catchy tune as it is for Vaali’s extraordinary talent for political messaging through his simple lyrics.   

Adi Ennadi Raakkamma – Kannadasan – MSV – TMS – Pattikada Pattanama (1972)

This song follows the dappankuthu tune rather than the dance form. MSV achieves that brilliantly through the brisk instrumental interlude between the charanams. Sivaji does manage a few dance moves towards the end but it hardly matters. You have already fallen in love with the song in any case. Kannadasan shows how effortlessly he could blend our religious legends into his lyrics and appeal to the common man.

Annathe Adurar – Vaali – Ilaiyaraaja – SPB – Apoorva Sagodharargal (1989)

Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu – Vaali – Ilaiyaraaja – SPB & Swarnalatha – Thalapathy (1991)

After the 1960s, the music and dance world changed. Simple tunes and group songs no longer sufficed. Big-scale songs and picturisation became popular with the younger audience. As a sample of the response of the industry, I have picked two lilting dance numbers of Ilaiyaraaja. In the first song, he uses a simple beat to showcase the dance and acting skills of Kamal and Manorama. In the other song, he comes up with a brilliant violin score that he deploys throughout the song. Choreographers Mugur Sundar and son Prabhu Deva and Santosh Sivan, the cinematographer combine with Director Mani Ratnam to deliver a visual as well as an auditory treat.

Naan Autokaaran – Vairamuthu – Deva – SPB – Basha (1995)

In the 1990s, Deva and SPB had combined to give a number of ‘title’ hits for Rajni. Songs like Vandhenda Paalkaran (Annamalai -1992) and Athanda Ithanda (Arunachalam – 1997) readily come to mind. However, I have picked the above song because of the universal popularity of the autorickshaw driver played by Rajni.

Ottagathai Kattiko – Vairamuthu – A R Rahman – Shahul Hameed & Swarnalatha – Gentleman (1993)

My next selection is one of A R Rahman’s early hits. He uses even more complex instrumental and percussion patterns than Ilaiyaraaja to create an overall appeal that is only enhanced by Vairamuthu’s bawdy lyrics.

O Podu – Vairamuthu – Bharathwaj – SPB & Anuradha Sriram – Gemini (2002)

Kalyanamthan Kattikittu – Na Muthukumar – Harris Jayaraj – Hariharan, Komal Ramesh & Mahathi – Saamy (2003)

Why this Kolaveri Di – Dhanush – Anirudh – Dhanush – 3 (2012)

To have an idea of how kuthu paattus are trending in the 21^st century, I have picked the above three songs from this genre. Their popularity is proof that the genre is alive and kicking, literally!   

Naatu Koothu – The RRR Team

After the detour of the above songs, let me return to Golden Globe Award winner.  I have used the Tamil version for convenience. Straightaway, one can see that the song is somewhat different because it is conceived as a ‘competition’ song between the natives and foreigners first, between the men and women next and finally between the two male protagonists. What sets it apart is also that it is a costume drama and dance number rolled into one. As much as Rajamouli and Keeravani, the choreographer Prem Rakshith and the costume designer Rama Rajamouli deserve praise for creating this winner of a song. In the forthcoming Oscars, I hope that they too get the recognition they deserve.

Laurel & Hardy dance to Naatu Naatu

Within days of the Golden Globe award, someone had put together a video of Laurel & Hardy dancing synced with the Naatu Naatu song. It was so cleverly done that I am sharing it as an example of social media creativity.

Before I conclude, I thank my cousins Kannan (Rukku Athai) and Ravi (Venkittu Chithappa) and friend Jack Ganapathy for suggesting the songs I can consider for this blog. Sins of omission/commission are mine alone.   

S. Krishna Kumar

20^th January 2023,

Bengaluru

Blog # 54    

Rani Muthu or Aani Kuthu for ever?

Abstract

It is an easily-understood universal law that all things – people, ideas, processes, products and even projects – have a four or five stage life from entry to exit. In the case of a product, a model based on the above law predicts that there will be an introduction, growth, maturity and decline phase. This is referred to as the Product Development Life Cycle (PDLC). In this blog, I examine, with reference to a specific product, whether the PDLC model holds good in the Indian context.     

The ‘English’ Calendar

In my school days, we would have one ‘English’ calendar in the living room of our home. It was English because it followed the year from January to December and not the Hindu solar month from Chithirai to Panguni. Typically, it was a calendar of twelve sheets, often with a lovely picture each, stuck together or spiral-bound. The best corporate calendar that was gifted to our father by a friend would get the pride of designated place on the wall. These calendars did not show the details of all the Hindu festivals, auspicious times/days for functions, etc. Our mother used to track these on the Tamil Panchangam that we would purchase ahead of the Tamil new year day. If she had any doubt, she would consult my father’s sister Parvathi Athai or her brother Raja Mama.

The ’Tamil’ Calendar

For a long time, the ‘English’ calendar served its purpose well. However, at one point, some genius seems to have figured out that it may be useful to provide the felt need of Tamil families for information on Rahu Kalam, Yamagandam, Nalla Neram, etc. usually found in almanacs, as well as the Nakshatram and Thithi of the day in the calendar itself. Thus, was born the Tamil daily calendar. I do not recall when our family started using this calendar. I guess that it must have been some time in the 1960s. I also seem to recall that there were many early entrants into this business, many of whom were from one or the other Tamil publishing houses. The first set of these were plain vanilla products. After a few years, the Daily Thanthi group entered the market with its Rani Muthu calendar depicting a painting of the God Muruga and quickly became the brand leader.

The Rani Muthu Calendar

It has become an iconic brand in the last three to four decades. The format is standardised on a thick 8”X10” cardboard. The top three-fourths of the front side of the calendar has a painting of God Muruga that is varied slightly from year to year. The bottom quarter of the board has the name of the calendar and the year. The back side summarises information on public holidays, fasting days, auspicious dates plus other information from the almanac. The thin 365 daily sheets are stuck on the board and secured by four nails rivetted through them from the back. Users peel off one sheet every morning and get all the relevant details of the day.

Rani Muthu or Aani Kuthu?

The unarticulated problem of the Rani Muthu users is that within a few months of the beginning of the year, the sharp ends of the nail begin to show up. By the time you reach mid-year, the nails are protruding quite noticeably from the daily sheets. One often gets scratched badly while peeling off the sheet in the morning. The use of the nail has also led to the publishers ignoring the quality of the gum or paste that they use to bind the sheets to the board. Gradually, the paper used has also become thinner, perhaps to make it easier to drive the nails in. As a result, two or three sheets come off when you are trying to remove the previous day’s sheet. All this leads to progressively declining customer satisfaction. But do the customers or Rani Syndicate care?

Some questions

Thirty-plus years after it officially embraced the market, do segments of the Indian economy still exhibit features that characterised them in the pre-liberalisation era? The Daily Thanthi and the Rani Syndicate are clearly market-driven. But why do they take the market for granted? Why are they not aspiring to become a regional or a pan-India player? Even their dominance in Tamil Nadu and among Tamilians elsewhere in India and abroad must give them sufficient incentive to continuously innovate and improve on their product. Why has this not happened? Is it because India is still a ‘mass’ rather than a ‘class’ market? Do not new models of mixer-grinders that attract housewives to upgrade their kitchens periodically prove that they may not be averse to paying, say Rs. 100 for a much better lasting calendar than the mediocre product priced at Rs. 50?

Some comparisons

Most countries all over the world use Chinese products ranging from toys and trinkets to industrial materials and engineering machinery. In all of them, there is continuous improvement and upgradation over time. How does the system of incentives in China work to advantage the global consumer? We are not talking here about ethnic goods meant only for the Chinese diaspora – like the daily calendar in the Indian case – but of consumer and other goods for households and industry in every nook and corner of the world. How is it that the Chinese production chain sees the whole world as one grand marketing opportunity rather than rest content on exploiting opportunities here and there? Can an India that is not similarly global in its ambitions ever be a serious challenge to China? The answer to this may well lie in the Rani Muthus of India finding the ambition and determination to take the daily calendar to the rest of India and the world. Or we may well find ourselves buying a vastly improved daily calendar from China or elsewhere in 2035! In terms of the PDLC model, Indian products may have an extended – and undeserved – maturity phase till decline is forced on them through the import route.    

Acknowledgement

My sister Usha and her husband Narayan (Bobray) were in India last month and went back to Charlotte with their 2023 Rani Muthu calendar. A few days back, we were chatting about how these calendars are getting flimsier by the year and how the nails poke, etc. That is when Bobray quick-wittedly suggested that Rani Muthu ought to be called Aani Muthu. A few guffaws later, he improved it to Aani Kuthu. Thank you, Bobray for the title and indirectly, the content of this blog!

S. Krishna Kumar

Bengaluru

9^th January 2023

Blog # 53