Tamil classic song Kannum Kannum Kalandhu, from the movie Vanjikottai Valiban, recreated.
Actress Sadhana, introduced to Tamil cinema as a child artist, has recreated the classic song Kannum Kannum Kalandhu. The Tamil classic song,which featured the beautiful and talented yesteryear iconic actresses Vyjayanthimala and Padmini, was a super duper hit. It was from the movie Vanjikottai Valiban which released in the year 1958.
The song depicts a dance contest between the two characters, played by the unparalleled actresses Padmini and Vyjayanthi. The costumes and dance steps were considered to be way ahead of their times. Hence it was quite a revolutionary song, for those days.
Sadhana, who is a Bharatanatyam dancer, said, “Since I am a dancer, Visual sir(late director) had suggested, in 2018, that I could recreate the song and play both the dancers from Kannum Kannum Kalandhu song. The song was way ahead of its time, in terms of choreography, costumes, acting and camera movement. To pull off a revolutionary song like this and recreate it in a contemporary way was a challenge I felt I should take up.”
Sadhana has been learning Bharatanatyam from her mother, Lakshmi Venkatesh, for the past 13-14 years. She frequently uploads her dance videos on the Instagram handle. She says, “This is what sets the song apart from other music videos. This video song will be a dual-role song. Our mission was to realise how Kannum Kannum would have been if it happened in the 21st century.”
The elegant dancer, while talking about the poise and expressions of the two great actresses, further said, “I and to emote differently for both the actresses. While Vyjayanthi amma had danced with more attitude, treating the performance as a competition, as per her character, Padmini amma did it differently, and her moves were calm and elegant.”
The recreated video wibe released today. Sadhana, along with her mother, has choreographed and directed this video. She says, “We kept the original song as our reference and have tried to recreate every shot from it, barring the shots that feature Gemini Ganesan sir and PS Veerappa Sir.” About the music. She added, “We have retained only the vocals of Nikki amma and Leela amma, and the line Sabash sariayana poatti, which are so unique. We went to Rajesh Vaidhya sir, who remastered the background music, giving it a contemporary touch.”