- Lyricist
- Kannadasan
- Singer
- S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
- Music director
- K. V. Mahadevan
- Movie name
- Naan Nanethan
- Movie release year
- 1980
- Lyrics added on
- 19 Jun 2022
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
'Vaanavillin Varna Jaalangal' from Naan Naanethan (1980) is a celebrated classical-inspired Tamil song composed by K. V. Mahadevan and rendered by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. Lyricist Kannadasan compares the heroine's sublime grace and features to the magical spectrum of a rainbow and the artistic perfection of paintings created by Raja Ravi Varma. Rich floral imagery is used throughout, equating her smile to jasmines, her lips to hibiscus blossoms, her eyes to conch flowers, and her cheeks to pristine white lotuses. In the second movement, the lyricist paints a picture of her delicate waist and cotton-soft feet, grandly proclaiming that her beauty elevates the sacred tradition of the country by effectively becoming a 'fifth Veda'. Melodically intertwined with Carnatic swara passages (solfège), the song remains an enduring tribute to classical Indian aesthetic art and poetic romance.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Metaphor (Uvamai)
“Ravivarman kaigal varaintha kolangal”
Compares the visual elegance of the woman to masterwork paintings created by the legendary Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma.
Metaphor (Uvamai)
“Punnagaiyil pooththezhuntha malligai pookkal / Aval ponni idhazhgal semparuththi pooththidum pookkam”
Directly equates her smile to blooming jasmine flowers and her golden lips to vibrant hibiscus blossoms.
Simile (Upamai)
“Adiyadiyaai eduththu vaikkum panju paadhangal”
Describes her delicate steps as being as soft and light as cotton.
Hyperbole (Uyarvu Navitchi Ani)
“Aval azhagai serththu intha naattil ainthu vedhangal”
Exaggerates her elegance by asserting that her beauty serves as a fifth Veda added to the four traditional Indian scriptures.
Did you know?
Trivia
The song makes a explicit cultural homage to Raja Ravi Varma, whose iconic 19th-century oil paintings defined classical Indian feminine beauty. Kannadasan's phrase 'ainthu vedhangal' (five Vedas) is a famous literary hyperbole often used in Tamil poetry to describe supreme aesthetic or cultural achievements alongside the four Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Vedas.
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