8 years it has been since the song got released. Still it is the only one song that I wouldn’t hesitate to call as my most favourite one among everything I have listened to till date. Be it Tamil, Telugu or Hindi, it is one of the few songs which sounds beautiful in all the languages, though I must admit that I don’t understand most of what is sung in Telugu. It does not matter whether it is Hariharan or Sonu Nigam who is singing it. Both their voices suit the song perfectly. And what should I say about the variety of emotions it evokes in me today? Whenever I remember all those wonderful times I spent with my sister discussing about this song endlessly after we first listened to it, both of us watching the video of this song on repeat mode almost every single day after watching the movie and becoming absolutely crazy about it, later listening to the Telugu version of this song and realizing that it sounds as nice as the Tamil version (unlike most of the songs) and listening to that too on repeat mode, the Hindi version too getting added to the list after a few years, all the while becoming more and more passionate about Rahman’s music and Mani Ratnam’s movies with every passing day – Oh it makes me so nostalgic! When I think of the times I have immediately cheered up on listening to/watching this song or when I found this song to be the greatest stress buster after a stressful day, all I can do is say a big thanks to Rahman and Mani Ratnam for giving us such a lovely song and wonder about the power of music! When I think of the times when I was so happy and watching/listening to this song made me all the more happy, I know that’s the magic of Rahman’s music and Mani Ratnam’s picturization of it only makes it all the more beautiful! And what about the times when just thinking/talking about this song, brought a smile to my face instantly? 8 long years and yet nothing has changed. Even today, our faces light up immediately if we see the song playing in one of the channels while channel surfing! Even today, this is the song that I turn to when I am so irritated with a lot of things or am feeling a bit stressed. Even today, I consider watching this song to be a great way to unwind at the end of the day. And even today, the mere mention of this song is enough to bring a smile to my face. 🙂 And till date, this song has remained THE best picturized song of Rahman and I am sure it is going to remain that way forever! The combination of A.R.Rahman’s music, Mani Ratnam’s excellent song picturization, Vairamuthu’s beautiful lyrics and P.C.Sreeram’s cinematography at its best! Now don’t tell me you don’t know which song this one is! 😉

The wedding:

If the wedding where Karthik and Shakti met first was so colourful and had a joyous atmosphere, their own wedding is not far behind in these aspects. Right from Madhavan’s blue shirt and Shalini’s maroon saree to the white garlands and the group of friends and Shakti’s sister pulling their legs and the Registrar making his presence felt through out his screen time, everything is picture perfect! Shot at Kapaleeswarar Temple, the wedding of Karthik and Shakti is the most beautifully picturized wedding sequence in Mani Ratnam’s films what with ‘Mangalyam’ scored by Rahman playing in the background. 🙂 After Karthik cleverly manages to dodge Mrs. Prema outside the temple and runs in, the beat of the song starts and you have Karthik taking the garland in his hand. If Mani Ratnam doesn’t utilize the songs appropriately, who else will? 😉
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Here I am celebrating the movie Alaipayuthey and the producer of this movie is now no more! 🙁 I was shocked to read about the sudden demise of G.Srinivasan, Mani Ratnam’s brother cum producer of Alaipayuthey and all the other movies produced under the banner of Madras Talkies. 🙁 May his soul rest in peace.

Moving on to the post, starting with the first meeting of Karthik and Shakti, it couldn’t have been picturized any better what with the joyous atmosphere of a wedding, friends and relatives pulling the leg of the bride and the groom and an excellent song by Rahman in the background! There can’t be anyone who doesn’t enjoy the conversation between Karthik and Shakti. 🙂

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During Karthik’s search for his lost wife, two scenes worth mentioning are the one where he meets his mother-in-law (this happens to be the first-ever scene that Madhavan shot for the movie) and the one where he goes to the police station to enquire what happened to the FIR that he had filed saying his wife is lost.
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Karthik and Shakti don’t have the courage to face each other with each one consumed by guilt of their own. Though Karthik speaks freely with his house owner and tells him the mistake that he had done by not taking her to meet her dad, he doesn’t say that to Shakti. Had he told her that in the right manner, wouldn’t the strain in their relationship have got eased out?
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Alaipayuthey

This is going to be very difficult to write. Though I have been writing about only some of my favourite scenes from the movies, how can I pick a few scenes from this movie as the ones that I like, when I love almost all the scenes in it!
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