We can hardly find a malayalee who has not heard the song Thannannam Thanannam Thalathiladi from the movie Yathra (1985). the song is beautifully written and can be easily sung due to the simplicity of the lyrics( O.N.V Kurup) and the pleasant music ( Ilayaraja). A students group on a trip, travelling by bus singing a song- anybody who has watched the movie or even the song will always relate such a situation to this song. The director ( Balu Mahendra) has etched the scene in the memory of every viewer.
The director and music director of the movie Classmates(2006) who have made the song Kattadi Thanalum ( Director: Lal Jose, Music: Alex Paul and Lyrics: Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma) are either inspired from the song of Yathra or has consciously attempted to make it similar. The similarity helped the song to become popular in a very short period.
The song in Jilla( 2014) Pattu Onnu is sung by S.P. Balasubramanium and Shankar Mahadevan.
Actors are Vijay ( Tamil Actor) and Mohanlal ( Malayalam Actor). The song has drum beats like in festivals.
The song Kattu Kuyilu from the Mani Ratnam Movie Thalapathi(1991) was sung by S.P. Balasubramanium and K.J.Yesudas. The actors were Ranikanth( Tamil actor) and Mammootty( Malayalam Actor). One cannot ignore the similarity while listening to the songs.
If the song in Jilla is made as a conscious attempt to be similar to the song in Thalapathy, and if he has nothing more/new to offer, then the director is doing injustice to the audience
On the whole it feels like living in Shakespearean period where similarity with a classical work was appreciated. We have done this to ourselves by making a viewership trend where a director or a script writer can easily tread and gain short term benefits. Let us be unpredictable for getting better films and songs in future.
