To me, it will always remain HER song. Sadly for me, in all the years that I followed her and listened to her live, she did not sing the song even once. My guess is that Paarkadal Alaimele was one of the many pieces that she, out of deference to a failing voice and health issues, gave up in her final years. But to me it will always remain a song that defined that great musician called MLV.
When MLV sang it at a wedding
Many years ago, a scion of a Luz Church Road stately home told me that no wedding in the family was complete without an MLV concert. This was one of those large households whose residences stood on both sides of the road and weddings happened in the garden of one of the many houses. 1960 was no different said my friend and it being just after the release of Raja Desingu, everyone was keen that she sings Paarkadal Alaimele.
MLV being the sport she was obliged and in the silence of that era, whatever mics and speakers there were in use carried the song on to the road. A public transport bus stopped outside the house and did not budge till the song was over. Such was the impact of the song.
Raja Desingu – a forgettable film
As a film Raja Desingu is mediocre at best. I would say it was the first of the many that marked the end of the historical in Tamil cinema. I found it insufferable. Those were days when fast forward and rewind (on a VHS) were pains and I don’t recall if I sat through the film till the end. Everyone put up a sub-par performance. And I have not come across any proof of the veracity of the movie’s storyline. No historic account of Raja Desingu (Tej Singh in reality) has this version.
The Song That Was (Not) In The Film
and it was only after I was through most of it that I realised that Paarkadal Alaimele never was in the movie. Apparently, the producer felt a Muslim character dancing to a Hindu mythological theme was not acceptable. I am informed by Wikipedia that the song was later re-included but it could do nothing to save the film which was a flop.
The lyrics, by Udumalai Narayana Kavi are not the best of this poet. They have a strange mix of classical Tamil, plenty of Sanskrit words and also colloquial Tamil. And some of the rhyming is quite suspect as is the metre. It is G Ramanathan’s tune that lifts the song out of all recognition and of course, MLV’s singing. Her lightning fast phrasings and her bhrga laden voice are perfect for a song of this kind. And the MLV Padmini combo is always special.
The Raga-s in the Song
The Dasavatara song is set in nine ragas which are as follows –
Pallavi – Shanmukhapriya
Matsya – Kedaragaula
Koorma – Sama
Varaha – Athana
Narasimha – Mohana
Vamana & Parasurama – Bilahari
Rama & Balarama – Kanada
Krishna – Kapi
Kalki – Shivaranjani
Nine ragas for a Dasavataram is interesting. The placing of Mohanam and Bilahari one after the other is a stroke of genius – just like Sankarabharanam and Kamboji appearing one after the other in Dikshitar’s Sri Viswanatham. The section on Krishna is set to a much faster tempo than the rest of the song and it is also a much longer verse.
Listen to MLV sing it in a concert
Now why did I put up this post? Last week I heard Vaak’s upload of a 1975 MLV concert at Sastry Hall where she has sung this song. That was her heyday when her voice was still at its best. Listen to it here.
The last stanza Kalki avataram is Vijayanagiri and not shivaranjani