small thoughts on the song “kannazhaga”

Helloooo. Welcome back to another pointless rambling of mine (^o^).

Today I want to talk about the song “Kannazhaga” sung by actor and actress Dhanush and Shruti Haasan, respectively. “Kannazhaga” is a song from the original soundtrack of the 2012 Tamil movie 3, also called Moonu. This movie tells the love story of Ram and Janani, two highschool sweethearts. It starts out with a funeral, and the person who has died is Ram. Throughout the movie, we see flashbacks of Janani and Ram, from how Ram wooed Janani, to their married life, and the dark secrets, or ‘a second life’, kept from Janani that ultimately lead up to the death of Ram. 

Indian movies are known for the outbreak of song and dance. Moonu delivered in its diverse soundtrack. The song “Why This Kolaveri Di?” from the Moonu soundtrack actually went viral in Asia back in 2012, and received various awards. However, like I said, today I want to talk about “Kannazhaga”, which has been on repeat for the last week and is dominating my Spotify ‘on repeat’ playlist (*´∇｀*).

“Kannazhaga” starts out a beautiful melody, and we are lured in by the violin that ultimately leads up to Shruti’s ethereal opening:

“Kannazhaga kaalazhaga

Ponnazahaga penn azhaga

Engaeyo thaedi sellum viral azhaga

En kaigal korthu kollum vidham azhaga”

Translating to:

“Is beauty within the eyes? Is beauty within the limbs?

Is beauty within gold? Is beauty within femininity?

Is beauty within lingering fingers all over me? 

Is beauty within the way my hand clasps yours?”

After this, Dhanush’s beautiful and hypnotizing voice comes in to say:

“Uyire, uyire unaivida edhuvum

Uyril peridhai illayadi

Azhage azhage unaivida edhuvum

Azhagil azhagaai illaiyadi” 

Translating to:

“My life, oh my life, there is nothing superior to you

There is nothing more than you in my life

Beauty, oh beauty, without you there is nothing

Nothing is more beautiful than you in this life”

From here, the music builds up, leading to Dhanush and Shruti singing back and forth to each other. In the movie, the scene for this song is Ram and Janani alone in Janani’s family home. The two love birds sing to each other and dance around each other, a buildup to their first kiss as teenagers. 

As Ram and Janani share a long awaited kiss, Ram finishes off the song answering the questions that Janani asked in the beginning of the song:

“Kannazaghe perazhage

Penn azhage ennazhage”

Translating to:

“Your beauty is from within your eyes,

Your limbs, and the glow of your skin”

After this, the most lovely but short lived orchestral break is heard, at which point in the movie we see Janani in the present, imagining herself holding and kissing Ram, who is now forever out of her grasp. She breaks down into a sob as Ram sings to her one last time:

“Uyire, uyire unaivida edhuvum

Uyril peridhai illayadi”

Which was translated above. Like I mentioned, Ram finished off the song answering Janani’s questions of beauty. I like to think of his last lines a little more symbolically, though. Of course, there is the translation of the Tamil lyrics. To me, I think it’s a final confession of Ram’s true and undying love for Janani - to symbolize the fact that there really is nothing more to his life than Janani. She is everything to Ram, and without her happiness, life is pointless. To me, it symbolizes that Ram would do absolutely anything for her. If you’ve watched Moonu, you’d know what I’m talking about. :) 

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading! I really really enjoy this song. It’s so dreamy to me, and it is honestly goals （；＿；）. Please watch Moonu if you’d like, and here is the link to the song on YouTube as well! 

https://youtu.be/0tX2ck4Rmzk

Raveena signing off 🫂