Vairamuthu (
Tamil:
வைரமுத்து; born
Vairamuthu Ramaswamy on 13
July 1953) is an
Indian Tamil poet and
lyricist.
Debuting in the film
Nizhalgal (1980) with the lyrics for the song
"Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January
2009.
His partnership with
Academy
Award Winning composer
A.
R. Rahman has resulted in critical praise, awards, and box office hits.
He was awarded the
National Film Award six times for
Best Lyricist, the most by
any Indian lyricist. He is a recipient of
Kalaimamani, while also winning awards from the
Government of Tamil Nadu for his
contribution to
Tamil
literature.
Early life and
education
Vairamuthu was born to Ramaswamythevar and Angammal of Mettur in a
middle-class family. When he was four, the village gave way to
Vaigai Dam and the family moved
to
Vadugapatti
village, community in
Theni near
Periyakulam.
| “ |
I loved and enjoyed, growing Tamil movements of the time, the sweet
Tamil of Anna, thoughts of Periyar, the poetic Tamil of Karunanidhi, the
influence of great poets like Bharathiyar and Bharathidasan encouraged me to
write poems even when I was just ten. I was brought up in a lower middle class
Tamil family with the usual poverty, hopes and frustrations peculiar to a Tamil
youth. One thing I would like to mention about my younger days. I had a
conviction that I was born to serve the Tamil language and it would come within
my spell. An unknown voice urged me to go wherever my love for Tamil takes
me |
” |
.
The ambience of the village is said to have inspired him to write poems.
According to him, Tamil and Rationalist movements of the sixties stimulated his
poetic zeal. The speeches of
Periyar &
Anna, the writings of
Karunanidhi and the works of eminent poets like
Bharathi,
Bharathidasan and
Kannadasan and the life in the
countryside shaped the young poet's thinking. At the age of fourteen, he was
inspired by
Thiruvalluvar's
Thirukkural to write a
venba compilation of poetry, strictly adhering to the
yappu
grammar rules of Tamil poetry.
He joined
Pachaiyappa's college in
Chennai where he was acclaimed as the
best speaker and poet. While in his second year of
B. A. and barely nineteen years of age,
Vairamuthu published his maiden anthology
Vaigarai Megangal. It was
prescribed for study in
Women's Christian College. Thus, he
achieved the distinction of a student poet whose work was taken into curriculum
while he was still a student.
| “ |
The one that was first published was the poem that the Editor of the
Pachaippan College Students Journal, Then Mazhai, sought from me. Then I was
twenty. It was a viruththam type of poem titled iLa nenjin Ekkam (the yearning
of a young heart), published in 1970, Poems are molded by times. A poet of
Sangam period had no scientific material to present. He had the opportunity to
write on nature. Kamban centered his poems on Bhakthi or devotion to God. It was
the basis for that period. The struggle for independence provided the material
for Bharathi. His works were molded by that period. Poets after Sangam
literature, Kamban, Bharathi and Bharathidasan and after the ascendancy of the
movement to hold the Tamil flag aloft, you cannot ignore the impact of
contemporary education and knowledge, and science in his works. This is the age
of science. Hence the poets of the period have necessarily to sound the voice of
science. As the air fills a vacuum, I strive to fill my poems appropriately |
” |
[2]
His second work,
Thiruththi Yezhudhiya Theerppugal, in
pudhu
kavidhai (free verse) form was published in 1979. He made his film debut in
the succeeding year when he set lyrics for Bharathiraja's
Nizhalgal.
| “ |
Poetry satisfies you always. A movie lyric does that now and then. A
poem is a creation inspired by the feeling that is poetry. The one that affects
me, the one that prompts me to write, the one emotion that I have experienced;
that alone is poetry. A movie song is different. Emotions that are experienced
by a character, which are not real, gets into me and writes with that which is
real within me and comes out as a lyric. Most of the times, it may not be my
real feelings. I write the lyric for a drunkard to sing. In the song, he is
under compulsion to justify drinking. That is the nature of that character. That
view may not be acceptable to me. It is the demand of the character in the
movie. The case of Sita's abduction by Ravanan could not be acceptable to
Kamban. If he hadn't brought out the acceptable fact that Ravanan abducted Sita,
he would have distorted the epic. Likewise, I present emotions not acceptable in
a song. Hence poetry always satisfies me and movie lyric whenever it reflects
emotions, is acceptable to me
Awards and
recognition
Vairamuthu holds the record of winning maximum number of National Film Award for Best
Lyrics (six times). He is also a recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. The
"Tamil Development Society of Madras" conferred on him the title of
Kaviyarasu in 1986. His Kaviraajan Kavidhai narrating Subramanya
Bharathi's life in Pudhu Kavidhai earned him the Bharathi Literature
Prize.
|
” |
.
Partial
filmography
கால்நடை
அது பால் பொருட்கள் வழங்குதல் , உழவு மற்றும் போக்குவரத்து அதன் பயன்பாடு மற்றும்
உர தனது நிபந்தனையற்ற குறித்து இருக்கும் பாரம்பரிய இந்திய பரப்புதல் ஒரு முக்கிய
பங்கு வகிக்கின்றன. இந்த செல்வம்
கால்நடை தமிழ் குறிப்பு விளக்குகிறது . பொங்கல் பின்னர்,
கால்நடை பாராட்டியுள்ளது. கிராமப்புற
தமிழ்நாடு , போன்ற Jallikkattu அல்லது காட்டு புல் ஷ்ரூ போன்ற சாகசங்களுக்கு
விளையாட்டு நாள் அம்சங்கள் இருக்கின்றன . Maattu
பொங்கல் நெற்றிகளில் குங்குமம் ( குங்குமம் ) விண்ணப்பிக்க வென் பொங்கல் ,
வெல்லம் , தேன், வாழை மற்றும் மற்ற பழங்கள் ஒரு கலவையை ஜூன் , கால்நடை எங்கள்
அங்கீகாரம் மற்றும் பாசம் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் மாலை அணிவித்து அவர்களை அலங்கரிக்க
கருதப்படுகிறது
