This is an important film in the careers
of KB
and Ilayaraja.
Ilayaraja
had been known to be the master of rustic, folksy tunes
and his remarkable genius with classical music was brought
to the fore by the matchless KB. It was also the first
film which touched upon the importance of Tamil in the
conventional, classical music realm. Ilayaraja
showed the musical prowess of ethnic Tamil songs by
including genres like thalattu, kavadi sindhu, kavidhaippattu
etc.
The story revolves around the turbulent life of a Carnatic
vocalist, JKB, whose only passion is music. KB’s
greatest strength is the finesse with which he etches
each character. Here too, the entire ambience of the
world around JKB is brought out in a realistic manner.
The body language of the musician and the accompanists
like the mridangam vidwan(Delhi Ganesh) or tampura(Janakaraj)
and the unique, clubby milieu of the musicians gives
an insider view. Sindu, the young woman shares the same
enthusiasm for music and after initial diffidence, JKB
accepts her point of view.
Their friendship deepens
and when their relationship touches a new high, troubles
crop up. She decides to move away from JKB for which
he does not relent. When she does tear away, he finds
himself lost and unable to concentrate on his music.
Enter the villains who desecrate his stature by enticing
him to alcohol. His patient wife, Bhairavi puts up a
brave front and finally acts as the sane voice in the
sentimental climax. The barren Bhairavi acknowledges
the love child of Sindu and JKB. JKB resumes his musical
journey.
Sivakumar
as JKB brought out the role with great dignity and in
the sequences which showed him as drunk, he literally
made us cry. Suhasini
Mani Ratnam as Sindu made a powerful
performance and her transformation from the chirpy girl
to the mature woman who knows the secret of her past was
effortless. She won the National award for the film. Others
in the cast like the baby-faced Sulakshana as Bhairavi,
Delhi Ganesh and Janakaraj gave good support.
Music is the center piece of the film
and no wonder it is also its crowning glory. The grand
amalgamation of classicism with mass appeal was achieved
by Ilayaraja.
The several jugalbandis wherein classical ragas in movie
songs are played take their origin from this film. Chitra's
voice stormed onto the Tamil scene with this film and
she won several accolades. K.J. Jesudas' sonorous voice
fitted Sivakumar like a T.
Small
vignettes like the musically talented car driver played
by Kavithalaya Krishnan and his superiority over his master
the respected Judge played by Raghavendar provided subtle
humor. Raghavendar’s mimicking of different stars
was memorable.
The film’s
main message was that music is for everyone if only
we had the patience to acquire it.
