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Monday, December 05, 2005

Love, Sex and The Maniratnam Code*....

"The year was 1986- the decade of the romantics. They were prude and dogmatic, harping on the divinity and purity of love, absolving it of its obvious carnal and physical influences, being scandalised when love and lust were spoken of in the same breath, drawing lines to keep love away from any sexual connotation, when in reality there could be no such lines. Along came a young filmmaker, a man who espoused the very ideology that the romantics stood against, and who had it in him to call a spade a spade. The year was 1986, when Maniratnam made Mouna Ragam, and as the lines of the famous song went " Mandram vandha thendralukku manjam vara nenjam illayo..."(Breeze that blew into my living room, do you not have the heart to share my bed..."), it was to set the trend for many more such songs, songs that would be candid enough to see love as it truly is. Starting that year, in every movie he has made till date, hidden amidst the drama, action, melodrama and the "romance", if you look and hear hard enough, you will be able to seek out The Maniratnam Code, a subtle yet strong strong statement that love is as much physical as it is emotional....."

Now that I have made such a seemingly outrageous observation, let me back it with irrefutable evidence...

1988-Agni Nakshatram-Ninnukori
"Mottuththaan mellaththaan pooppoal pookka;

Thottuppaar kattippaar dhaegam vaerkka;
Poojaikkaaga vaadudhu, dhaegam unnaith thaedudhu ;"
(The bud blossoms ever so slowly into a flower;
Touch it, Embrace it, Let your body sweat it;
The flower withers yearning to be accepted, the body seeks thee;)

1989-Idhayathai Thirudaadhe-Om Namaha
"Sevvidhazh saerumboadhu jeevangal silirththadhu;
Ovvoru aasaiyaaga ullaththil thulirththadhu; "
(As the red lips joined, the souls shivered;
Passion after passion sprouted in the heart;)

A song remembered for picturisation that was way ahead of its times- Moody, mellow lighting, a panning camera that goes around lip locked lovers, who remain lip locked for most of the song,and yet there was no sleaze, there was no squirmish discomfort, there was just the reality of love.

1995-Bombay-Humma Humma
"Sollikkoduththapinnum allikkoduththapinnum muththam meedhamirukku;
Dheebam maraindhapinnum boomi irundapinnum kannil velichchamirukku;
Vaanam pozhindhapinnum boomi nanaindhapinnum saaral sarasamirukku;

Kaamam kalaindhapinnum kangal kadandhapinnum kaadhal malarndhukidakku"
(I have taught, I have given liberally and still there are kisses left;
The lamp has been snuffed out, darkness has set in, and still there is light in the eyes;
The clouds have showered, the earth's wet, and still the drizzle remains;
The passion's disarrayed, the eyes have moved on, yet the blossomed love lingers;)

1997-Iruvar-Unnodu Naan
"Acham kalaindhen aasaiyinai nee anaithaay,
Aadai kalaindhen vetkathai nee anaithaay"
(I discarded my fears, You embraced passion;
I discarded my clothing, You embraced coyness;)

More of a recited verse and less of a song per se, placed strategically following a fervent lovemaking scene, line after line makes alluring references to what transpired before. To sum it all up, the refrain that goes "Unnodu naan irundha ovvoru mani thuliyum, Marana padukkayilum marakkadhu kanmaniye" (Darling, Every second of time I have spent with you, I will not be able to forget even on my deathbed)

2000-Alaipayuthey-Kadhal Sadugudu
"Pazhagumbozhudhu kumariyaagi ennai velvaay pennae;
Padukkai araiyil kuzhandhaiyaagi ennaik kolvaay kannae;"
(Girl, at all other times you win me over with your feminity;
But in the bedroom, why do you kill me by putting on this childish innocence)

2004-Aayidha Ezhuthu-Nenjam Ellam
"Nenjamellaam kaathal,
Dhaeghamellaam kaamam,
Unmay sonnaal ennai naesippaayaa?
Kaathal konjam kammi,
Kaamam konjam thookal,
Manjathin mael ennai mannipaayaa?"

(The heart is full of love, and yet the body is full of lust, Will you continue to love me even if you know this truth;
The love is a little less, The lust is a little more, Will you forgive me on the bed;)

As far as proving the existence of The Maniratnam Code goes, this song is the clincher. As the years have progressed, the songs have become more noticeable, and their intent become easily discernable. And this song probably lays out in black and white what is on many a lover's mind...There is an openness in the acceptance of the fact that lust can dominate love in any relationship, and there is an ironic audacity in asking for forgiveness for the lust, in bed!

An artist's work is said to be a reflection of his feelings, opinions, emotions, and probably his inner self. Tracing this thread that seems to run in commonality through Maniratnam's movies, might seem to be an execrsise in futility. But the aim is definitely not to highlight the works of this auteur. It is just a matter of pleasure that an artist sees things exactly the way I see them, exactly the way they should be seen. Love is pure, divine and all the nice things they say about it, but the fact remains that of the many horses that drive this emotion, the horse that rears his head a wee bit more pronounced than the others is the horse that represents the physical aspects of love. It is possible that, it is this primal driving factor, that makes love such an overpoweringly strong emotion. There is no shame in accepting this fact, there is just honesty.....


*after the best selling novel 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown, the theme of which concerns messages hidden in an artist's work.

15 Comments:

Blogger Rudra said...

Brilliant !! Almost divine fluidity in prose and clarity of ideas. I am at loss for better adjectives :-).

Plaudits apart, you have touched upon a topic which has been debated by many creative minds who see their work not only as a vehicle of self-expression but also as a medium for ridding society of the parochialism it suffers from. Writers like Rand and Maugham have similar views on the subject, that to view love and lust as separate emotions is tantamount to sullying the purity of love itself. By and large, I think people understand this now. Barring of course, the omnipresent bigoted minded, who I perceive as now being a minority.

Since you chose to illustrate the point with Ratnam's work, the proof of concept requires an important corollary. Like lust and love, a society and its cultural values are inextricably interlinked. Indian society is witnessing a transitory phase. In this context, it is natural that there is an outcry over the increasing transparency about sex and it is natural that this trend will spur many a vehement 'moralistic' argument. The outcry over the DPS scandal, the 'gallatta' over Khushboo's remarks are but reactions of a society that is trying to find its feet in the sludge of sexual morality. The west went through similar turmoils a few decades ago with books like 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' and 'Lolita' being banned from publication.

The point is that Ratnam's overtures are part of a bigger sexual jigzaw. When all the pieces fall in place it will usher in a era of openness and security in our own sexual morality without any cultural conflicts.

2:02 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dreamer(ozzy kittendhu lift pannitiya??),
i don't quite understand how you can interpret a director's thoughts based on the lyrics of songs. ennada machan, ippadi ayitta??
regarding love pre-ratnam:
how different is
"paruvathil aasaigal koduthaan
varum naanathinaal adhai thaduthaan"
from
"mandram vandha thendralukku'?
a pot-bellied shivaji and an overly made-up sajja devi most assuredly combine to throw a wet blanket on any stirring emotion in the previous song, but the undercurrent of lust is there to be gleaned. of course, and most wisely, the audience was spared the agony of watching sajja devi writhe under shivaji's enviable body.
love has always had a carnal element in its subset which has not been glossed over, or shoved under the carpet, pre-ratnam. i don't know what gave you the misconception that love ended at sitting under sprawling mango trees and measuring the velocity of cumulonimbus clouds pre-ratnam.
slitcha ratnam-mohamo? :)

regards,
varun(eee, da)

5:06 AM, December 06, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

good selection of verses though da

5:24 AM, December 06, 2005  
Blogger Dreamer said...

Hey Varun!
Long time!
Since when did Ozzy coin the word Dreamer...Kanavu kaanrathukku kooda avan kitta kekkanumma? Anyway check out the "About me" I have acknowledged Ozzy!

Thought provoking comment from you, though I do not agree with all that you say( In other words, I was momentarily stumped, but now I have recovered:))

Firstly, do you think lyrics in films are written without the director's interference? If that is the case, is it not a amazingly freakish coincidence that every Maniratnam movie has songs that talk about love and lust together? The songs are there because Maniratnam wants them, and to make them the way he wants to, he needs the lyrics. So every aspect of a good filmmaker's movie is in some way a reflection of him.

As for you Sivaji-Saroja analogy, I never said Maniratnam is the only director to view love and lust together. I just said that this is a thread that runs through all his movies and this is such a inherent part of his filmmaking that even when he made Anjali- a movie about a special child, he had to compulsively insert 'Mottai Maadi, a song that involved lovers, lovers who were making out!

As for the ratnam-moham, I suffer from a rather chronic case of it:)

P.S. Game for a crossword challenge someday?...just like the old times:)

5:03 AM, December 07, 2005  
Blogger shakuni said...

dei,
i thought you implied mani was the first director to be bold enough - "along came.."; hence i alluded to shivaji-mama and that era.
of course, directors do interfere with lyrics da. i was only questioning the logic of awarding mani such accolades based *solely* on lyrics.
however, since you have conceded that you suffer from a chronic case of ratnam-moham, i must nippattify here itself :)
i still work on the crossword sometimes. how about you? we should probably play over the internet someday, but it wouldn't be as exciting as scribbling words surreptiously during classes :)

p.s: ungala paarthu naanum kirukka aaramichchuten!!

5:25 AM, December 08, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kailash here..

Topic well chosen. In movies, I would say love and the way it is portrayed is for the theatrical experience. Lust on the other hands is for commercial gains.
The producer plays an even more major part is deciding explicit material than the director.
Maniratnam can only be blamed bcoz he is being watched more!!

10:46 PM, March 30, 2006  
Blogger Dreamer said...

Hey Kailash,

I will have to disagree with you on that. Lust in cinema is of two kinds- one that is forcefully inserted purely for commercial gains and one that is a natural, realistic depiction of yet another human emotion. In Mani's movies, the presence of lust is a matter-of-fact occurence, and its purpose is to add to the realism, not to titilate.

11:16 AM, April 06, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey Shit
Nice perception and a good finding too!
but as Varun said, vairamuthu, or who ever is the lyricist has a major role in the lyrics of the song rather than the director. yes its the director who gives the situation, but its the lyricist who actually pens down the "thoranam of words" and making it subtle or obvious is in the hands of the lyricists, choice of words is not of the director's.

12:31 AM, May 06, 2006  
Blogger Ajit said...

"Love is pure, divine and all the nice things they say about it, but the fact remains that of the many horses that drive this emotion, the horse that rears his head a wee bit more pronounced than the others is the horse that represents the physical aspects of love."

I think it's like a spectrum and you can be at either end or somwhere in between. The quality of love probably improves on the 'pure' side. It's all personal anyway.

6:53 PM, May 18, 2006  
Blogger Just For Me said...

Well.. i think i have read it a little late to comment. But wanna to anyways.

Dreamer hats of to you and I feel "Great" to know that someone is thinking the way I do with regard to Lust and love

Varun a Pre Ratnam era for you where the lyrics goes like this in a movie called "Paar Magale Paar"

Shivaji sings - Kaadhal ennum karunai thanthen kattilil mele

And his wife sings - Antha karunaikku naan parisu thanthen thottililmele.

I think the lust was expressed here too but in a very male chaunistic way.

Vasanth Though Vairamuthu has played a chief role in these lyrics, only Rathnam had the guts to demand for those. So the credit is still with Rathnam.

12:57 PM, September 22, 2006  
Blogger Doctor Bruno said...

You have missed the most obvious song in the list... from the movie உயிரே (காதாலின் நிலைகள்)

9:21 PM, January 30, 2007  
Blogger Doctor Bruno said...

You have missed the most obvious song in the list... from the movie உயிரே (காதலின் நிலைகள்)
and then the song from Roja
ஒரு வெள்ளை மழை பொழிகிறது !!!!

9:24 PM, January 30, 2007  
Blogger Vijay said...

Came to your blog from Varun's blog...Nice hypothesis about maniratnam's philosophy on love, I tend to agree with you on this.

10:25 AM, November 02, 2007  
Blogger Dreamer said...

Doctor Bruno,

I probably missed out a lot more sterling examples. But should have included the Uyire song.

Vijay,

Varun remains unconvinced as he does on most of my posts:) Thanks for dropping by

12:56 AM, March 17, 2008  
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