'Kanmani anbodu kaadhalan': From a love album to friendship song

The 90s Tamil song used in the latest Malayalam hit, ‘Manjummel Boys’ has stirred nostalgia among the audience, writes E T B Sivapriyan

Mandihar unarthukkola ithu manitha kadhal alla,
athaiyum thaandi punithamaanathu (the immortal love that cannot be understood by humans) 
…undana kaayam engum thannale aari pogum maayam enna, ponmane (what is the magic behind my wounds healing on their own?)

These verses from ‘Kanmani anbodu kaadhalan’ (To my love, Kanmani), a song from the 1991 Tamil film ‘Gunaa’ has been a love album for decades as it depicted the love of a mentally disturbed man (played by the legendary Kamal Haasan) for a woman (Roshini). The iconic song was shot inside a cave in Kodaikanal, a picturesque hill station in southern Tamil Nadu.

Thirty-three years later, ‘Kanmani anbodu kaathalan’ has gone viral on the Internet as a friendship album, thanks to the placement of the song’s lyrics in the climax of the latest Malayalam flick ‘Manjummel Boys’.

The movie, directed by Chidambaram, is running to packed screens for the past three weeks across Tamil Nadu with theatres erupting in joy from a pin-drop silence when the lines ‘undana kaayam...’ beam on the giant screens as a man stuck inside a 900-feet pit inside the Guna cave is rescued alive. 

‘Manjummel Boys’ is about the struggles of a group of friends from the Manjummel town in Kerala after one of them accidentally slips into a deep pit while on a holiday in Kodaikanal. The film has already entered the Rs 100 crore club.

Santhana Bharathi, who directed ‘Gunaa’ and another Kamal Haasan classic ‘Mahanadhi’, told Showtime that he watched ‘Manjummel Boys’ without any expectations.

“I broke into tears seeing people clapping, screaming and enjoying themselves in the theatre when the song was played. It was such a heart-warming moment for me that a 33-year-old song still strikes a chord with people,” Bharathi said.

The Malayalam film director was smart enough to have used the song sung by Haasan and S Janaki with Ilaiyaraaja scoring the music to depict friendship.

If ‘Kanmani anbodu kaadhalan’ is a love song for 80s and 90s kids, for the current generation it will always be a friendship album. Haasan too appears to agree. “Love goes for friendship as well…I liked the film very much,” the actor told the film crew during a lively interaction with them recently. “Actually, it was a love letter between Ilaiyaraaja and Kamal Hassan,” Haasan added. 

“The song could apply to any two people who have immense affection for each other. Kamal Haasan-Ilaiyaraaja or Kamal Haasan and myself for the bonding we have had,” the ‘Gunaa’ director said.

Recalling the making of the film, Bharathi said that Ilaiyaraaja composed the songs for ‘Gunaa’ in just about two hours. “Vaali wrote the lyrics and the composition was over in just two hours. That’s how the Ilaiyaraaja-Kamal Haasan combination worked,” he added.

The production team had initially planned a set for shooting the song sequence but it was a trekking guide who took the director to the spot behind Devil’s Kitchen in the hill station. “If not for him, we wouldn’t have known this beautiful place which has now attained an iconic status. Once Kamal sir and I saw the cave and went inside, we were adamant that we will only shoot here,” Bharathi recalled. The team had to seek the help of the forest department to make arrangements for the safety of the crew.

Speaking about how he felt watching ‘Manjummel Boys’ and the ‘Gunaa’ song trending on social media, Bharathi said, “I feel very proud that I did a wonderful film 33 years ago. Though the media didn’t talk much about ‘Gunaa’ in 1991, I am happy the movie has reached everywhere in 2024. I am happy I gave two Kamal Haasan classics — ‘Gunaa’ and ‘Mahanadhi’.”