Well… it’s been a week since Valentine’s Day and our last segment where we played songs for Single People like yours truly. Today, we’re switching things up and going full 180. We’re going to be playing sad songs about love, Not just any random breakup songs. No, these are songs that are desperate, despairing, and dramatic. Bc yknow who doesn’t love a good sad song to cry to on a Wednesday evening.

Anyways, these are all actually quite well-known and popular songs. Most of these I even know by heart. So I hope at least one of these songs speaks to you, as you get to hear another genre of South Indian music today.

போன வாரம் தான் Valentine’s Day. அன்று, நான்கே எங்கள் மாதிரி Single பசங்ககாக சிங்கள்-ஆ இருக்க பற்றி பாடல்களை ஒளிபரப்பினோம். இனியே நிகள்சீயில், நான் கொஞ்சம் ஒரு twist வெக்கலாம் என்று எனக்கு தோன்னாச்சு. இன்று, நாங்கள் காதல் பற்றியே ஆனால் சோகமாகே பாடல்களை ஒளிபரப்புவோம். நான் தேர்ந்து எடுத்தே ஒவ்வொரு பாடல்களை எல்லாம் மிகவும் popular ஆணே பாடல்கள். இந்த பாடல்களின் வரிகளில் ஒவ்வொரு வரியும் எனக்கு தெறியும். அதனால், என் கூட இனியே நிகள்சீயே நீங்களும் ரசிப்பீர்கள் என்று விரும்புகிறேன்.

Curated Sad Tamil Playlist:

Po Nee Po (The Pain of Love) - 3 (Moonu) (2012) romantic psychological film [Tamil]

• • Composer: Anirudh Ravichander (marks his debut as a music composer)
  • Singer: Mohit Chauhan, Anirudh Ravichander
  • Lyricist: actor Dhanush
• The first Tamil song for today is Po Nee Po from the 2012 romantic psychological film, Moonu.
• The movie title, Moonu, means 3, and it refers to the 3 stages of the love that the couple in the film faces. 
• The song name, Po Nee Po, directly translates to “Go You Go”. And the inclusion of the words (The Pain of Love) in parentheses after the song name already provides enough of a general context.
• But for the actual context, this is a really sad movie from the beginning. It starts with the hero, Ram, played by actor Dhanush, ‘s funeral, from which afterwards, his wife, Janani, played by actress Shruti Haasan, goes on to find the reason behind his death through his parents and friends. The flashbacks of their love depict the ups and downs they faced since they fell in love in the 12th grade. This contrasts with the depressing truth she finds out about how her husband was struggling with severe bipolar disorder and all the troubling circumstances that arose because of that. 
• So yeah the entire film and soundtrack are very emotional. But they’re both also very successful and popular releases. The film won 3 Filmfare Awards, and Anirudh won the Best Music Director Filmfare Award in his debut work!
• But yeah, I thought this song was very fitting to be the first sad Tamil love song for today’s show, and if you listen closely, you will probably even hear me singing along because this song is INGRAINED in my blood. It’s that good.
• So here’s the song, and I hope y’all will check out the rest of the soundtrack after!

Imaye Imaye - Raja Rani (2013) romantic comedy drama film [Tamil]

• • Composer: G. V. Prakash Kumar
  • Singer: G. V. Prakash Kumar, Shakthisree Gopalan
  • Lyricist: Pa. Vijay
• The next Tamil song is Imaye Imaye from the 2013 romantic comedy drama film, Raja Rani.
• The movie title, Raja Rani, means “King and Queen”
• The song name, Imaye Imaye, roughly translates to “Eye and Eyelid”
• So the song's lyrics describe the feelings of the two lovers as they reminisce about the day they fell in love.
• I’ll provide some context about this film. It’s labeled as a comedy, but this is definitely a tearjerker, as well. Basically, the film is about a couple in an arranged marriage that they’d only agreed to to appease their parents. They’d both been in serious relationships prior to their marriage, and they’re both suffering from the trauma of those.
• So the couple is initially indifferent to each other because they both don’t have the intention of falling in love again. But the more they learn about each other and their history, the more they start to fall for each other.
• But doubts and miscommunication arise throughout before they can finally be happy in love, and so this particular song, Imaye Imaye, is about one of those moments. They’re navigating their growing feelings for each other while reminiscing about their old love, and these complex emotions are expressed so clearly in this song. This is one of my go-to sad songs, and it just goes to show just how good it is. And again, after listening to it, I hope y’all check out the rest of the soundtrack and the film, because everything is just so well done. 

Naetru Aval Irundhal - Maryan (2013) drama film [Tamil]

• மரியான்
  • Composer: A. R. Rahman
  • Singer: Vijay Prakash, Chinmayi Sripaada
  • Lyricist: Vaali
• The next Tamil song is Naetru Aval Irundhal from the 2013 drama film, Maryan.
• The movie title, Maryan, translates to "A man who never dies", and is also the name of the main character, a village fisherman
• The song name, Naetru Aval Irundhal, translates to “Yesterday, She Was Here”
• So, this movie revolves around the emotional journey of a common man to an unknown place with the hope to come home and lead a better life
• That’s kind of vague yes, but basically the film is based off of a true story of human survival adapted from a newspaper article about a real-life crisis event, where three oil workers from Tamil Nadu were kidnapped and taken hostage in Sudan by mercenaries.
• The context for this specific song, Naetru Aval Irundhal,  is that Maryan has completed his 2-year contract work in Sudan and is returning when he gets kidnapped by Sudanese terrorists along with 2 of his coworkers. After 21 days in captivity, he manages to escape but gets lost in the desert and suffers from dehydration. 
• In the end, he does manage to return back to home safely to his lover.
• But the song takes place where Maryan is stuck in the desert, desperate to be reunited with his lover, so he’s reminiscing about their memories and is in anguish, as he doesn’t know when or even if he’ll be return and just wishes to go back to the time when she was there with him.
• So yeah definitely a tearjerker of a song, one that is also beautifully crafted, instrumental and lyrics-wise, so without further adieu, let’s hear it!

Sattru Munbu - Neethaane En Ponvasantham (2012) romantic drama film [Tamil]

• • Composer: Ilaiyaraaja
  • Singer: Ramya NSK
  • Lyricist: Na. Muthukumar
• The next Tamil song is Sattru Munbu from the 2012 romantic drama film, Neethaane En Ponvasantham.
• The movie title, Neethaane En Ponvasantham, translates to "You are my Golden Springtime"
• The song name, Naetru Aval Irundhal, translates to “Just Before”
• So this movie also tells the love story of a couple, Varun, played by Jiiva, and Nithya, played by Samantha Ruth Prabhu, through three stages of their life: their school days, college life and then in their late twenties.
• We saw this same theme of 3 stages of love life in the first movie, 3, so it’s interesting to see how the same concept can be applied so differently but still just as successfully
• Throughout the movie, we witness the couple go through different life conflicts and how they resolve them, either separately or together. But eventually, once they reached grad school, they split up, due to miscommunication and differences in beliefs. They meet again years later, and that’s when we get to this song, Sattru Munbu. Here, Varun has a marriage fixed for him, and Nithya is sad about it, so this song is from her perspective, as she realizes she still yearns for him, although through time, their love has changed forms. 
• I liked how this time we get to hear from the perspective of the woman in the relationship, because typically most songs are from the perspective of the man. Also, Ramya’s voice is sooo well-suited for this type of music, because it just enhances the complex emotions in the song a little too well. 
• But I’m super excited for you guys to hear it, so without further adieu, let’s get to it!

Pogathey - DADA (2023) coming-of-age romantic comedy drama film [Tamil]

• • Composer: Jen Martin
  • Singer: Yuvan Shankar Raja
  • Lyricist: Vishnu Edavan
• The next Tamil song is Pogathey from the 2023 coming-of-age romantic comedy drama, DADA.
• The movie title, DADA, is quite literally that, Dad, Father
• The song name, Pogathey, translates to “Don’t Go”
• So this movie also has more deep or realistic underlying themes. 
• It’s about a couple, Manikandan and Sindhu, who are in love but accidentally end up becoming teenage parents. So we witness how they overcome that journey and raise their child. But there’s so much more to the film, and it became a commercial success despite this being the movie director Ganesh K. Babu’s debut film and the actors being not very well-known. This just goes to show how well-made the plot and film was. 
• This is the first time in our show where we’re seeing  Yuvan as a just a singer, and not a composer.
• And the male lead in the film is actually from a super famous reality TV show called, Bigg Boss. If you haven’t heard of it, consider yourself lucky, because you either love it or hate it, and I for one am certainly not a fan.
• But anyways, I finally picked a more recent film this time, and I hope y’all enjoy the next Tamil song!

Thodu Vaanam - Anegan (2015) period romantic thriller film [Tamil]

• aNAYgan
  • Composer: Harris Jayaraj
  • Singer: Hariharan, Durga, Shakthisree Gopalan
  • Lyricist: Vairamuthu
• One last song since we still have time!
• This is the third film I've picked today that actor Dhanush has starred in, so perhaps I have a bias here...
• I absolutely love this film, Anegan. It revolves around the theme of reincarnation with the main couple in the film through 4 different time periods, and it is definitely as interesting of a movie as it sounds, so I hope y'all check it out!

This has been Kaushika, thank you for listening to Vannan Vanam. So our segment may have been a little sad tonight, but I hope the rest of your evening isn’t! Tune in again every week to hear a different side of South Indian music! You can catch us again next Wednesday at 5pm! 

இதுவரை வண்ணம் வனம் கேட்ட உங்கள் அனைவருக்கும் மிகவும் நன்றி. வரும் புதன்கிழமை மாலை 5 மணிக்கு எங்கள் நிகழ்ச்சியை WREK 91.1 FMஇல் மீண்டும் கேட்கலாம்!