Music And Movies

Setting tales to music is something that happens naturally in our culture. Harikatha, Burra Katha, Villupaatu etc  are loved even today. (Though that tradition has probably given way to film based 'light music' in many places. ) Such musical stories were told in films as well. We will examine two such songs which at the first view seem to be at the opposite end of the spectrum but are actually close cousins if we look at it from a different angle. There are many musical tales present in old Telugu films. A couple of them which are very famous are the harikatha in the film 'Vagdanam' and 'Girija Kalyanam' from the film 'Rahasyam'. We will look at the second song here. 'Girija Kalyanam' is about Parvati's love for Siva, her desire to marry him, Manmada trying to entice Siva, Siva burning Manmada with his third  eye, Rati pleading with Siva, Siva bringing back Manmada to life and then marrying Parvati. Gantasala provides music for the