Kodai Kaala Katre: A tribute to Malaysia Vasudevan

'kodai kaala katre, kulir thendral paadum paate', thus goes one of the famous songs from the movie, 'Paneer Pushpangal' sung by Malaysia Vasudevan. The phrase 'kodai kaala katre' means 'summer breeze' and that was an apt description for some of the melodies that Malaysia Vasudevan sung.

Malaysia Vasudevan's voice was not the soothing kind, a 'cool' and 'gentle' voice. He did not possess the softness of Balasubramaniam nor did his voice possess an inherent melody like Jesudas. His was a rough voice, a 'manly' voice. If the other male singers like SPB and Jesudas represented spring and winter, Malaysia represented summer. His was a voice which blazed into your ears and burnt itself into your conscience. You either loved it or hated it on the first hearing. To be honest, it was the second feeling that came over many during his initial days. He sounded like a poor copy of C.S.Jayaraman or as a poor man's T.M.Soundararajan. This was further reinforced when he was called to deliver tunes which were parodies of the tunes of yesteryears. Tunes like, 'madana moha roopa sundara', 'anada then katru', 'aasai kiliye',  and many more. And many thought he was good for such songs or for rough 'dappangkoothu' / fun songs like 'podhuvaga en manasu thangam', 'ennama kannu soukyama'. To his great credit, with the help of Illayaraja, he proved everyone wrong by delivering some amazing melodies, which will continue to live forever. While Malaysia Vasudevan's output is varied, this post is not to showcase his versatility. I am only going to deal with a few melodies that he delivered and argue as to why he was the right man to deliver these melodies.

Let us start with the song, which is also the title of this post. 'kodai kaala katre'. I don't know why Raja specifically chose him for the song but he is the perfect fit. For his voice provides the summer heat against the cool breeze which is the melody of the song. Instead of it becoming a cool evening breeze on a spring day, Malaysia Vasudevan's voice turns it into a cool breeze during a hot summer day. All said and done, don't we enjoy the cool breeze more on a summer day? It also perfectly suits the situation of the song, which is picturized in mid afternoon. 

Let us take another outstanding melody and see how Malaysia Vasudevan's voice moulds it. This song is from the film 'Nandu', 'alli thanda bhoomi'. Malaysia Vasudevan starts it very softly but there is no escaping the roughness of his voice. It is like holding an umbrella against the blazing sun. You are in shade and yet you can feel the heat. And it is this warmth that gives the song a very different tinge. This song about nostalgia doesn't become utopian nor mushy because of Malaysia Vasudevan's voice. It becomes a lived experience. Contrast this to 'senthazhampoovil' where using Jesudas's voice Raja creates an utopian world. It is a world we would dream about. Everything is inch perfect. Whereas this song becomes a lovely recollection of the past making it not an utopian world but a world we had lived in. And I feel this happens due to Malaysia Vasudevan's voice.

Now, lets take this song from the movie, 'Dharma Yudhham', 'oru thanga radhathil pon manjal nilavu'. This is a typical film song in which a brother extols the virtues of his sister and proclaims the strength of their bond. The sort of start-stop nature of the initial part of the pallavi coupled with Malaysia Vasudevan's voice make us believe that it is a real brother singing about his sister. Contrast this to 'ven megam vinnil nindru paneer thoovum', which SPB sings in 'Naan Sivappu Manidhan'. Here SPB hits all the curves with great precision. When he goes, 'vidikalai velli meene' and ends with 'en vaazhve unnal thaane' you know you are in the presence of a great singer. But in case of 'oru thanga radhathil' you are standing in front of a loving brother and not in front of a singer. 'Dharma Yuddham' also had the other beauty, 'aagaya ganagai', again by Malaysia Vasudevan.

The roughness of his voice was also one reason why it suited Rajnikath's screen persona so well. Rajni was always portrayed as the rough and tough, rebel type of guy. And Malaysia Vasudevan's voice conveyed that effortlessly. Not only in songs like 'poduvaga en manasu thangam' but in this lovely duet as well. 'sugam sugame' from the movie, 'naan potta savaal'. It is just like how a real rough man would sing a melody. The summer heat effect again. This Suddha Saveri beauty is tempered by the 'heat' in Malaysia's voice. We all ofcourse know of the other Suddha Saveri beauty that Malaysia Vasudevan sang for Raja, 'kovil mani osai'. 

Now let's listen to his lovely melody sung by Jency and Malaysia Vasudevan, I love the contrast between Jency and Malaysia's voices here. The melody which initially Jency starts is brought down to earth by Malaysia Vasudevan's voice. The melody gets enhanced when they sing it together in the end.

Raja was never averse to including Malaysia Vasudevan in his experimentations. And this song is an example of the amazing experimentations that Raja did. Raja mixes a very earthy, folkish melody with western classical music, rock music and with carnatic music!!! Malaysia's voice perfectly captures the earthiness as well as the carnatic and rock music elements present in this song. I personally don't think anyone else could have done greater justice to this song. 

This song from 'En Uyir Thozhan' is another proof of the experimental mind of Raja. It is always the case the Raja fuses other elements like WCM, Rock, etc in such a way that they sound very 'local'. In this song too he uses the western style chorus to great effect. Inspite of that, the song sounds very folkish. One of reasons for that is the voice of Malaysia Vasudevan. He very casually brings in the earthiness to the song. No wonder Raja made him a part of many of his experimentations.

Finally, without much commentary I give you 'paruva kalangal' from 'Moodu Pani'.

As I had stated earlier, the biggest success of Malaysia Vasudevan was in converting every song into a lived experience of the listener. For those whom every song is a melody, Malaysia Vasudevan may not have been upto mark in some songs and they would prefer other singers to have sung those songs. But for those whom songs represent a part of their lives, they would never part with the voice of Malaysia Vasudevan. For in this voice, they discover themselves.

As the Bee Gees song goes, ".. and you come to me on a summer breeze, keep me warm in your love and softly leave", Malaysia Vasudevan came on a summer breeze, kept us warm with his songs and gently left us. He has given us many songs which we would want to carry with us to our graves. May he rest in peace.