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Sambhar Mafia - Cooked To Kill!

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Will PMK Come To My Rescue?

Like most of you, I am not a big fan of PMK. Even though I hate them, I wouldn't mind using them to get some stuff done. The Tamil music industry always welcomes new talent and it has always had good representation from the rest of South India (mostly Kerala and AP). In recent times, we have noted the sudden increase in singers from other parts of India. IMHO, the most impressive of the lot (among the non-Southie singers) in terms of pronounciation and voice is Shreya Ghoshal. Sadhana Sargam would also come a close second. Even if they make small mistakes, we can tolerate it as their voice is so appealing.

There is a bigger headache when we talk of male singers (Udit Narayan, Sukhwinder Singh). I wouldn't mind if the PMK cracks down on some of them if they continue to cause damage to Tamil. Some say that Udit Narayan has learned over time. There might be some truth in it. The lyricist, music director and the singer have equal responsibility in ensuring that the lyrics are pronounced properly. If the singer doesn't understand Tamil, the MD and the lyricist need to come to the rescue of the singer and ensure that the final product doesn't get affected. It is in this area where stalwarts like ARR and Vairamuthu score over the others. This particular complaint can be extended to situations where a non-native speaker sings in an alien language (I'm sure Southie singers also face similar issues when they sing in Hindi).

A recent song sung by Sukhwindher Singh was one of the main reasons for this post. The movie in question is Simbhu's Saravanaa and the Music Director involved is Srikanth Deva. Do listen to the song titled Unnoda Purushanaaga / Ennai Mattum Venaam Solladhey.

The original lyrics (pronounced the right way):
என்னை மட்டும் வேணாம் சொல்லாதே (ennai mattum vENaam sollaadhE)

The original lyrics (pronounced the Sukhwinder way):
ஏனா மாட்டும் விணாம் சொல்லாதே (EnA maattum viNaam sollaadhE)

It took me quite a bit of time and research to decipher what Sukhwinder Singh was singing. I now request the good souls at PMK to issue a red card (from a Kollywood perspective) to Sukhwinder Singh in the larger interest of the Tamil population.

posted by Kaps at 11:47 AM

14 Comments:

  • There is a song in 12B also where he sings "Jothi neranjava sonnavudan samanjava podaa pooran, maala pooda pooran" which is actually poda pooran :-)

    By Blogger Yadayada, at 12:41 PM  

  • Aren't you forgetting Adnan Sami too? LOL

    By Blogger P, at 12:50 PM  

  • @Yadayada,
    You are right. 12B song is even worse.

    @Perspective Inc,
    Thanks for adding Adnan Sami to the list. He has sung very few Tamil songs, but we can't forget his goof ups in the Boys song.

    By Blogger Kaps, at 1:32 PM  

  • Kaps,
    I agree with your post word to word. But why single out sukhwinder singh alone? What about the TV Comperes? Or what about many tamilians. Do they speak proper tamizh? I feel many people speak tamil the way sukhwinder singh or sadhana sargam or udit narayan sings :)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:15 PM  

  • Udit Narayan, yes. I second that. He should do us all a favor and stop singing Tamil songs.

    By Blogger Anu, at 7:44 PM  

  • yes yes I completely agree with you. Why do you have to pay some hindi speaking guy to kill your language? Is it that difficult to get a talented singer in Tamil? I am not a tamilian but love the language and get really mad when udit narayans and sukhwinder singhs kills it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:22 PM  

  • try hearing "nilavukku neram odhukku" from appu

    By Blogger b a l a j i, at 10:20 PM  

  • agree with f e r r a r i

    A lot of tamilians (esp. in mumbai) struggle to speak good tamil. Their parents do not think it it imperative that they speak great and fluent tamil as it is their Mathrubasha.

    I think Tamil parents are the worst. Esp the ones with kids growing up in Bombay. Maybe they think its cool if the child does not know any Tamil.

    But take Sowcarpet Seths in Chennai, whatever it takes, they dont give up their Hindi and speak broken Tamil..

    I dont understand this phenomenon

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:55 PM  

  • Though i agree with whatever you have said, I agree to Ferrari...Most of the compere's on TV are pathetic...especially on channels like Sun Music...

    By Blogger KK, at 3:24 AM  

  • I think ARR should be sued for making Adnan Sami sing a tamil song. Sukhu is a shade better, I think. I still cant digest that song from Aidha Ezhutthu.

    By Blogger D LordLabak, at 10:54 PM  

  • Who will bell the cat ? How about Damilu singers themselves ? Yuvan sometimes sings like a student of Udit Narain. I liked his music in Pattiyal and Pudhupettai this year,but sometimes he does slip.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:06 AM  

  • Thought provoking...I'm Tamilian, grew up in Tamilnadu but never learnt Tamil in school. Spoke only English and Hindi in school. Does this make me like the Bombay-kids mentioned in the previous comment? Sometimes the schools we go to inculcate pride in learning English and not enough in Indian languages. This is probably the reason for the TV personalities killing Tamil pronunciation.
    I learnt to read, write and speak Tamil at home. I can read Tamil novels, and I love reading Kalki's masterpieces. I live in the US, speak Tamil at home although my vocabulary hasn't grown since I left Tamilnadu. When I visit Chennai, I can't understand the locals anymore, since even the auto driver speaks with an English/cool accent. Any comments?

    My husband grew up in Coimbatore, went to Tamil medium school and speaks Tamil at home. But his pronunciation is horrible, case in point vaaLai paLam instead of vaaZHai paZHam, maLai instead of maZHai. Does this point to the quality of education in Tamil medium schools or our collective laziness in being diligent?

    I know this is getting a little too long, but want to point out one more thing. Indians' accent when speaking American English is pronounced. So when I sing an English song, what do you suggest I do. I obviously cannot get the same accent as a native speaker, which is exactly the problem facing these non-Tamil singers. Other than practice and a will to mimic the exact sound, what other options do non-native speakers have?
    Just for the record, Tamil that is not pronounced correctly infuriates me. So I'm with you when you complain about Udit's pronunciation.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:56 AM  

  • The PMK everyone likes is Sita Patti's

    Paatigal Munnetra Kazhagam...

    http://tilotamma.blogspot.com/2006/02/odd-couple.html

    By Blogger tris, at 3:44 AM  

  • I knew on Bombay 'Tamil' who had complex speaking in Tamil. He prefered to speak with another Bangalore 'Tamil' only in Hindi.

    In Tamil we refer to this as rendum kettaan (good for nothing).

    No one say not to learn Urdu Hindi Marathi etc. Why feel complex to speak in Tamil?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:59 PM  

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