Song: Naalai Intha Velai Paarthu
Music: MS Viswananthan
Lyrics: Vaali
Singers: P Susheela
Actors: Sowcar Janaki, Sivaji Ganesan
Film: Uyarndha Manithan
Today marks 67 years of P Susheela’s entry into films. As tribute, our song of the day is the legendary ‘Naalai Intha Velai Paarthu’ from Uyarndha Manithan. P Susheela started singing for films at the age of 16 in 1951, and has since recorded nearly 40,000 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and other languages. She has worked with MS Viswanathan, AM Raja, G Ramanathan, KV Mahadevan, Ilaiyaraaja, and also recently with Yuvan Shankar Raja. Through generations, she has remained a favourite among music lovers.
‘Naalai Intha’ is a beautiful song in which Sowkar Janaki sings of her love for Sivaji Ganesan, asking the moon to return the next day because her love is not around.
Sivaji Ganesan plays Raju, an industrialist’s son who secretly marries his family accountant’s daughter, and the film is about how they unite after his father refuses to accept her and burns the estate down. Janaki is caught inside but Sivaji eventually traces her. The film released in 1968, and this song won P Susheela the National Award for best playback singer, making her the first recipient of the category.