It is said that when MS Viswanathan and Kannadasan sat down to compose a song, MSV would usually hum a tune to Kannadasan. Just as the melody is hummed, Kanadasan would just mouth pearls of wisdom that would live to be evergreens, able to stand the test of time. All MSV had to do was murmur. Kanadasan would string his verses in his mind and roll them effortlessly, all good to go at first take.
While making the 1962 movie 'Bale Pandya' (Bravo Pandya), Kannadasan brought MSV a paper that MSV thought was a shopping list. At one look, MSV thought Kannadasan had written down the names of vegetables and fruits. Kannadasan told him to play a tune that could fit the verses. MSV asked him why he was asking for a tune for a shopping list. Kannadasan insisted it was a love song and that he could explain everything afterwards.
It turned out to be a love song belted out by two couples on their wedding night. Of course, it was not a shopping list for the next morning, but a manner in which they were expressing their undying love on their first night of wedded bliss. Kannadasan then explained, in detail, each word of the song to each actor so they could act their parts. When MSV suggested that the cryptic details may not be apparent to the audience, the director then butted in to say that it is his job to frame all this on film. In the song, the poet personifies the moon as a female (as opposed to the sun as a male), where the heroine bares her soul to the moon about her love to the beau and asks the moon to be her messenger to pass the love message. The word 'kaai' can be used to mean 'to dry', unripe fruit, glow as a metal would and many more. The poet cleverly conveys all these meanings to write a love song. The song remains an evergreen and is a testimony to the poet's genius and the music director's versatility.
In literary terms, the formal term for punning and deliberate wordplay in poems is paronomasia.
Athikaaikaaikaai aalankaai
Vennilavae ithikaai Kaayadhae ennai pol Pennallavo
Nee Ennai pol pennallavo
Athikaaikaaikaai aalankaai
Vennilavae ithikaai Kaayadhae en uyirum Neeyallavo
En Uyirum Neeyallavo athikaai
Kaai kaai aalankaai Vennilavae
Kannikaai Aasaikaai kaadhal
Konda paavaikaai Angae kaai avaraikaai
Mangai endhan kovaikaai
Maathulankaai Aanalum en ullankaai
Aagumo ennai nee Kayadhae en uyirum neeyallavo
Ithikaai Kaayadhae ennai pol Pennallavo
Iravukaai Uravukaai yengum Indha ezhaikaai
Neeyum kaai nithamum kaai
neril nirkum ivalai kaai
Uruvankaai Aanalum paruvankaai
Aagumo ennai nee Kaayadhae ennuyirum nee allavo
Athikaaikaaikaai aalankaai
Vennilavae ithikaai Kaayadhae en uyirum Neeyallavo
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