Ragamalikas in Film Music - Part 3
When I published the Part - 2 of this series, my friend and humorist K. Balakumar (@kbalakumar) asked me as to what happened to the ragamalika, 'Oru Naal Padhumaa'? I am sure many would ask that question as it is one of the very famous ragamalikas in Tamil Film Music history. The simple reason as to why that song didn't appear till now is because I have kept it for the third part of this series. In this I will deal with ragamalikas which are sung in some sort of competition and with ragamalikas used in dance sequences. Not only is 'Oru Naal Podhuma?' famous as a song but that whole segment in the movie 'Tiruvilayadal' culminating in 'Paatum Naane' via 'Isai Thamizh Nee Seidha Arum Sadhanai' is cult and has many followers. There are multiple reasons why 'Oru Naal Podhuma?' is remembered to this day: Mahadevan's superb tuning, Kannadasan's clever lyrics, Balamurali's effortless singing and above all Balaiah's out