- Lyricist
- Pulamaipithan
- Singer
- K. Jamunarani
- Music director
- Ilayaraja
- Movie name
- Nayagan
- Movie release year
- 1987
- Lyrics added on
- 2 Jan 2018
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
Naan Sirithaal Deepavali is a hauntingly philosophical song from the 1987 landmark Tamil movie 'Nayagan'. Set in a Mumbai red-light district, the song explores the inner plight and detachment of women in sex work. The lyrics draw a stark contrast between forced outward cheerfulness ('Deepavali', the festival of lights and joy) and inner emptiness ('Ekadasi', the day of fasting).
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Juxtaposition / Antithesis
“Naan sirithaal deepavali hoi / Naalum ingae yegathesi”
Contrasts Deepavali (a festival of feasting and joy) with Ekadasi (a strict ritual day of fasting), symbolising the sharp contrast between outward joy and internal suffering.
Metaphor (Uvameyam)
“Anthi malarum nanthavanam naan”
The speaker compares herself to a flower garden that blooms only at dusk and a veena that plays music no matter whose hand plucks its strings.
Metaphor (Uvameyam)
“Meettum kaiyil naanor veenai”
Compares her existence to an instrument (veena) lacking agency, yielding to whoever touches it.
Rhetorical Question
“Kadalum alaiyum eppoluthu thoongiyathu”
Asks whether the ocean waves ever sleep, reflecting eternal restlessness and endurance.
Did you know?
Trivia
Composed by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja with lyrics by Pulamaipithan, this iconic song appears in Mani Ratnam's magnum opus 'Nayagan' (1987) starring Kamal Haasan. Playback singing was led by veteran singer K. Jamuna Rani along with K. S. Chithra, brilliantly capturing the melancholic cabaret style of 1960s-70s Bombay.
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