This is an Indian song from one of the greatest tamil movie ever, Nayagan. Nayagan is in the Time Magazine "All-Time 100 Best Films" list, issued in 2005. I was never one to watch Tamil movies, but somehow my dad managed to get me to sit down and watch this with him way back in 1987.
Then, I was still staying in Negeri Sembilan, a state found in Malaysia and I was still in school. We used to rent movies from this VHS rental shop, which was basically a damn hut with a roof on it, and it had the crappiest selection of English movies, but the absolute BEST in Tamil movies. That time, Bollywood was pratically non-existent in Malaysia.
Somehow, thanks to my dad, this was the FIRST tamil movie I watch, and it just blew my mind away. Nayagan gets it inspiration from the Godfather movie, and is changed to reflect the Indian scenario, so it is not a 100% pure copy. There are many differences that make Nayagan an orginal movie on its own.
From the movie, comes the song, Thenpandi Cheemayile on of the saddest songs from Indian movies to date. Below is the lyrics and a basic rough translation,
'Thenpandi cheemayile, therodum veedhiyile
Maan pola vandhavnai yaar adithaaro
Yaar adithaaro, yaar adithaaro...
Valarum piraye theiyadhe
Iniyum azhudhu thembadhe
Azhudha manasu thangadhe
Azhudha manasu thangadhe"
Translated -
"In the southern realm of the Pandiyas
In the streets where chariots race
He was skipping along like a fawn
Who could have hurt him?
O waxing moon, please don't wane
Don't sob your heart out
For your tears will break my heart
For your tears will break my heart"
For the plot of the movie, go to -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayakan
Read it, and I believe you'll understand why this movie stands out as a great movie.
12 comments:
This is a great movie as you said...i did not know it was made so long ago....i had only watched it 2 weeks ago...u know a movie is great when poeple still get inspired by it over 20 years later
Thanks to you i got the translation for this beautiful track.
Thanks again
I just finished watching this amazing film. This song is so beautiful and I come to tears whenever I hear it.
Thanks for the meaning! Was looking for it immediately after I saw the beautiful movie.
though i dont understand a single word from the song...tears start rolling down my eyes as soon as i hear the song or i see its video...amazing feeling!
Hello!!
First of all, Thank you so much for providing a rough translation of the classic. In spite of being a Tamil, I've not been endowed with the knowledge of reading and writing Tamil hence I've never really understood the exact meaning of the song. Till now.
By the way, the link that you provided in the post goes straight to "Nayakan" which is a random Malayalam movie. The link to Nayagan should be http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayagan
Thanks. It was very helpful
Thanks. It was helpful
Hi, I watch this movie when i was 4 or 5, ya i still remember the whole family watching it on the video cassette which my uncle bought...this is my first best Tamil song which i hum till today...it marked my childhood..
Thanks for the meaning. Really wanted to know what it means.
Nostalgic. One of the gem from Illayaraja. The isai thevan.
an amazing script but to be honest I don't think the impact of the movie would have hit home if we did not have the outstanding Kamal Hassen giving the movie if full meaning, excellent writing, singing and acting......needless to state brilliant director.
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