Tamil movie audience have this burning question – Why Unnal Mudiyum Thambi didn’t win those awards that it deserved? The answer is that it was originally made in Telugu as Rudraveena. Chiranjeevi did the lead role. The movie fetched three national awards – Best Film on National Integration, Best Male Playback Singer for SPB and Best Music Director for Ilaiyaraaja. In fact, it seems, KB started the movie citing that it will fetch a national award for Raaja.
Raaja preserved all the songs from the original in the remake except for one. It’s also one of my scenes in the movie. Hero sings a song for the workers who are cutting trees and his father (a Carnatic music stalwart) listens to the song. When the hero is back home, the father chides him for changing the Raaga to fit the song.
In Tamil Kamal says the Raaga is “Suddha Danyasi” and Gemini Ganesan retorts back saying that it’s “Asuddha Danyasi”. I will leave it to you to identify the Raaga in the Telugu song.
| Song | Tarali Raada Tale Vasantham |
| Movie | Rudraveena (1988) |
| Director | K Balachander |
| Singers | SP Balasubramaniam |
| Actors | Chiranjeevi, Gemini Ganesan |
| Lyricist | Sirivennela Sitaramasastri |
The Telugu Version
Tarali Raada Tane Vasantham
Rudraveena was the original of Unnal Mudiyum Thambi. Ilaiyaraaja preserved all the songs from the original except for one - Tarali Raada Tane VasanthamThe Tamil Version
Nanjai Undu Punjai Undu
Unnal Mudiyum Thambi Scene after the song
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