Poet and lyricist Vairamuthu on Sunday said the Tamil land and its people formed the main subjects for his film songs as they could never be exhausted.

“They are like the air that constantly fills the space. They are like a human life that remains inexhaustible despite generations of writers dwelling on it,” said Mr. Vairamuthu in a conversation with Tamizhachi Thangapandian at The Hindu Lit for Life on the subject Sol Isai Porul.

Mr. Vairamuthu said he entered the film world dominated by the ideas of nationalists in the beginning and followed by the Communists and leaders of the Dravidian movement and had to draw on Tamil land and its people for ideas and make his songs socially relevant.

He went on to recite the song Chinna chinna mookuthiyam sekappu kallu mookuthiyam by K.C.S. Arunanchalam to explain how the lyricist wedded to communist ideology created a song placing thrust on red, the colour of Communism.

A lyricist could not remain oblivious to the current political and social developments and should be very careful about choice of diction and simile, he said.

When the audience questioned the presence of English words — 50 kg Taj Mahal — in his song, he said the words were introduced taking into consideration the nature of the character.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Lit for Life / Staff Reporter / Chennai – January 16th, 2017