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Penning songs with passion
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Popular sentiments on the developments in the Tamil literary arena found expression at a function organised to felicitate lyricist-poet Vairamuthu
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A moment to cherish. Pics: S. Siva Saravanan.
IT IS a debate that refuses to die down and raises its head quite often: What is good poetry? What is the quality of lyrics that are penned for cinema these days?
A function organised by the "Vetri Tamizhar Peravai" to felicitate lyricist-poet Vairamuthu for being conferred with the "Padmashri" virtually turned into a session to discuss these issues and the present state of affairs in the literary world.
The session analysed the literary works of various poets and society's failure to recognise their talents while they were alive. "Writing a poem is like sculpting. A good poet should use fewer words to express his thoughts," said litterateur "Tamizharuvi" Manian. "There is a lot of difference between a sculptor and a mason. Many cinema songs are like the works of a mason. A good poet should expose the problems in life. Only then does it become a good work."
"Shelley poured forth verse like a flower exuded fragrance," a critic said. "A poet should be like that." he stated. The talk also centred around poets who had made a mark in the 20th century. "Bharathiar's poems reached even commoners. He made no distinction between life and poetry. His genius was not recognised when he was alive. There were hardly 20 people at his funeral," Mr. Manian observed.
But, Bharathidasan was lucky and his literary pieces were appreciated. "Now, after a long time, the works of a contemporary poet have been recognised and rewarded. A new tradition has been created," he noted.
Vairamuthu spoke about the reasons for the decline in the standard of lyrics. "Over the years, the quality of lyrics that are penned for cinema has deteriorated. During Kannadasan's time, songs were composed based on the lyrics. Now you have to pen lyrics according to the tune," he said.
"There are people who want the lyrics to have fewer Tamil words. And I have to ask them whether the movie is being made in Tamil. It is difficult to come out with good work in such circumstances."
"The cacophony of Western music that has flooded Tamil movies has sunk Tamil."
M. ALLIRAJAN
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