One of the highlights of this 1977 Tamil movie, Kavikkuyil which starred Sivakumar, Sridevi and Rajinikanth is Ilaiyaraaja’s music. The movie was presented in black & white and all the songs in the movie were a great hit, especially the one sung by the late M. Balamuralikrishna (he passed away in 2016). Poster source: Bollywood Direct / Shri.Viren Desai @ The Huffington Post India
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One of the songs that were a big hit was this song titled “Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiraan” which translates to calling the young Lord Kannan sung by the late famous and multiple award-winning Carnatic artists, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna.
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This is the original version of the song from the movie. Sri Devi’s character in the movie often dreams of meeting his prince charming in the form of Lord Kannan. The composition starts off with the flute which is the favourite musical instrument of Lord Kannan, followed by the synthesizer, tabla and a number of violins. We have the nice beat of the tablas throughout the song which adds the sharp beats to the composition. Balamuralikrishna’s voice is unique and yet very beautiful to hear.
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This is one of the remake cover versions by Anupam Shankar on Youtube that helps us to greatly appreciate the lovely tune by Ilaiyaraaja in this composition. It is mentioned on Wikipedia that this composition is based on the Reethigowla raaga which the Maestro uses extensively in the song Thalayai Kuniyum Thamaraye from the 1983 movie, Oru Odai Nadhiyagirathu.
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Interestingly in one of his live concerts that Ilaiyaraaja held after a long time went on a long hiatus, he actually invited M. Balamuralikrishna onto the stage for him to sing the song. It was a very friendly and humble interaction between Maestro Ilaiyaraaja and M. Balamuralikrishna. This also gives the fans to see him and the various instruments in action for this song.