Rare Song 36
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sElAdum neerOdai meedhE
thEn sindha paN pAduvOmE

Movie: alAvudheenum aRpudha viLakkum
Music: S Rajeswara Rao

‘Selaadaaum neerodai meedhae’ is a remarkable song, composed by veteran S Rajeswara Rao. Listening to the song is like going on a magic journey, first by bullock cart, then by car, and zooming up in a space shuttle, and then completing the last lap again in the good old bullock cart- the song proceeds in such amazingly different velocities in different parts- sometimes it seems like it is another song altogether, but the genius of Rajeswara Rao ensures that it remains an inseparable unified whole—

PS starts off gently with

‘Selaadum neerodai meedhae, then sindha pann paaduvomae, kannodu kannum, pesaamal pesum, kanirasame suvai amudhae kaanbom ingae’,

to which AM Raja, equally tender, replies with

‘Selaadum neerodai meedhae, then sindha pann paadum maadhae, meenodu meenum, pesaamal pesum, vizhi mozhiyae kanirasame kaanbaai ingae’.

In the charanam, PS touches a high note with

‘aadharam neeyae kannalanae’

- then the transition to the next tempo with

‘Kalaignanamae, azhagu kaviyamae, kavivanarum mayangum oviyamae’

and proceeds to the next bit

‘Malai meedhae pani maadhae’,

and finally the entrancing piano leads the way back to the slow

'Selaadum neerodai meedhae’.

Jayasakthi Pictures’ Alavudeenum Arputhavilakkum-1957, stg. Nageswara Rao, was produced by ML Pathi, along with—TS Baliah! Another popular song was one in which women of different parts of the world are being auctioned, (Thillolam thillolam elam thaan vaarunga, elakkadaiyilae maadhu thaanunga) and the women themselves invite prospective buyers! (the Spanish girl sings ‘Spainin ezhil rani, varna chudar meni, La palmo ho, La paloma ho, the Chinese one sings ‘Ching ching China en dhesam’ , the Egyptian girl sings ‘’Neela nadhi kumariyum naanae, Pyramidin saayalum naanae’!!)- the song was sung by Hussain, Nithyakala, CN Rajalakshmi, PK Saraswathi and chorus.