- Lyricist
- Pulamaipithan
- Singers
- K. J. Yesudas, K. Swarna
- Music director
- V. Kumar
- Movie name
- Nalla Penmani
- Movie release year
- 1979
- Lyrics added on
- 12 Dec 2023
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
Inangalilae enna inam penninam is a delightful romantic duet from the film Nalla Penmani (1979), composed by V. Kumar with lyrics by Pulamaipithan. The song stands out for its brilliant wordplay built around Tamil grammar concepts, specifically the three phonetic categories of Tamil consonants: Mellinam (soft), Vallinam (hard), and Idaiyinam (medium). Through these grammatical metaphors, the couple expresses affection, romantic desire, and admiration for female beauty. Throughout the track, romantic imagery involving pearls, honey, flowers, and fish adds layers of charm and poetic elegance.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Grammatical Metaphor / Wordplay
“Mei ezhuthukalil irukkum antha mellinam”
Pulamaipithan uses Tamil consonant classifications (Mellinam for softness, Vallinam for hard intense passion, and Idaiyinam for the female waist/middle) as poetic devices to describe love and body features.
Iyaibu (End Rhyme)
“Inangalilae enna inam penninam”
Systematic usage of the rhyming suffix '-inam' across consecutive lines (penninam, mellinam, vallinam, idaiyinam, poovinam, meeninam, muthinam, noolinam).
Metaphor (Uvamaani)
“Un thunai thedum meeninam”
Comparing sleepless restless eyes to fish searching for companionship.
Did you know?
Trivia
Lyricist Pulamaipithan, a renowned scholar of Tamil literature, ingeniously incorporated Tamil grammatical categories—Vallinam, Mellinam, and Idaiyinam—into a romantic duet, making this song an unmatched example of literary cleverness in Tamil film music history.
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