50 years of Apoorva Raagangal (1975)

Apoorva Raagangal (Rare melodies) released on 15th August 1975, was written and directed by K. Balachander. It stars Kamal Haasan, Sundarrajan, Srividya and Jayasudha, while Nagesh and Rajinikanth, in his feature film debut, play supporting roles. The film revolves around Prasanna (Haasan) who falls in love with the much older Bhairavi (Srividya) while Bhairavi's daughter Ranjani (Jayasudha) is drawn to Prasanna's father Mahendran (Sundarrajan).

Apoorva Raagangal's theme was based on a riddle featured in the Indian folktale collection Vetala Panchavimshati about a king marrying a woman and his son marrying her mother, and Vetala, the riddler asking Vikramaditya what would be their kinship relations if these couples were to beget children.

The film featured the debut of Superstar Rajinikanth. His entry scene was shot on 27 March 1975, the same day that Balachander gave Rajinikanth his name.

The Music of Apoorva Raagangal 

(music Mellisai Mannar MS Viswanathan, lyrics Kaviarasu Kannadasan)


'Yezhu Svarangalukku' - Vani Jairam
The song that won Vani Jayaram several accolades. This ragamalika piece begins majestically in Pantuvarali and the highlight of this song is the akara traversal from lower Gandhara to the upper octave Gandhara seamlessly. To add magic, this phrase is also decorated with frills laid out gracefully over the framework of the raga. A remarkable piece that fully satisfies the die-hard classical music fan. Ragas Pantuvarali, Ranjani, Sindhubhairvai, and Kambhoji are expertly utilised by MSV.

'Athisaya Raagam' - KJ Yesudas
Starts off beautifully in Mahati raga and in the stanza that begins with ‘Oru Puram Paarthaal’, suddenly shifts to Bhairavi. KJ Yesudas breathes life into these lines and the noteworthy phrase in this stanza is ‘Maru Puram Paarthaal Kaaviri…’ — the twisty sangati connecting the dhaivata-nishadashadja deserves special mention. The anecdote goes, that MSV, wanting a novel start to the song, used a rather different scale, then on consulting legendary musician Dr Balamuralikrishna, was informed the raga in question was Mahathi.

'Kelviyin Nayakane' - Vani Jairam
A moving situational song, and the slight hint of pathos that this raga brings out is cleverly used to build up the dramatic quotient in the movie. The bright opening in the upper-octave Gandhara and the subsequent traversal to the Suddha Dhaivata are stiking. 

'Kai kotti siripaargal' - AR Sheikh Mohammed
An expertly crafted song, with mocking laughter interwoven, sung with great impact by AR Sheikh Mohammed. The expert picturisation by the legendary director K Balachander imparts a heightened dramatic intensity.


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