Brownsploitation at its best

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As much as I love Bollywood and the genre’s dance sequences, it is definitely important to recognize that Indian cinema encompasses more than just mainsteream Bollywood film. Not only is arthouse cinema on the up-and-up, but regional language film has always been a strong contributor to the entertaining of the masses. So, it is with great pleasure (thanks flats) that I present to you one of the coolest examples of a brownsploitation-film dance sequence EVER. It’s from a Tamil film entitled “Ellam Inba Mayam” (1981) and the song is Solla Solla Enna Perumai. Enjoy.

Click for the BEST. VIDEO. EVER.

Dolomite, eat your heart out. Can any of our Tamil speaking readers tell us what the song is about?

183 thoughts on “Brownsploitation at its best”

  1. I don’t think it’s brownsploitation as much as Kamal Haasan (the hero) in disguise as a very cool late 70s – early 80s disco star infiltrating the bad guy’s den to vanquish him with the help of his yellow-clad female relief.

    This video was forwarded to me a week ago by a white American friend who was suffering from a bout of cultural confusion after watching it. She couldn’t understand what the choreographed sequence was for. Naturally, I gave her the explanation that all South Asians are born mind-readers and telekinetics. This is why when a brown boy meets a brown girl in, say, Delhi, they instantly fall into step and are able to anticipate each other’s every move in a dance set in Paris or Aruba.

    Sollu Sollu Enna Perumai – Say, Say, My Pride?

  6. This is supposed to be a parody – right?

    Gargi–I think this is the real deal and not a parody.

    ANNA: The Snow White poster was one of the first things I noticed when I stopped concentrating on trying to pick up the dance-steps. I think I am going to break out some of them the next time I’m out.

  8. re: the alien comment, i don’t want to start a flamewar, so i will clarify: when i hear hindi music or people chattering in gujarati or punjabi, if i strain i can pick up a lot of what they are saying since it isn’t that different from bengali. when i hear tamil or malayalam, it sounds like i should understand it (the accent), but when i listen closely it remains utterly incomprehensible (the linguistic reasons are well known obviously). i understand why this is happening rationally, but it always weirds me out 🙂

  9. Dude moves like David Brent. Beyond awesome. And the cigar smoking cat in the suit is none other than Sir Vidia, I’m sure of it.

    Wicked good.

  10. And we think of Bangladeshis who find Nicole Kidman more attractive than Kareena Kapoor as alien life forms 🙂 By the way, here’s the translation: Kill Whitey. Kill Whitey. Whitey be dead. Kill Whitey

  11. This song is a typical one (luckily not seen these days) sung by the hero in villain’s den. The hero is in disguise, he has a different hairstyle.. 🙂 .

    While searching for info. about this song, I found a comment

    Coming to IR’s song, name any genere of music and he’s got songs in it. From classic to Rock, to R&B to Rock and Roll. Although his forte is Fusion, if he decides to give a pure classical or western classical music, he sticks to it in an absolute profound manner. Have any one listened to his “Solla solla” from Ellam Inbamayam(1981). His use of chorus for orchestration in that song is mind boggling. Thats pure Rock and Roll. Listen to Niram Piruthu from Time, thats pure WCM. For fusion , take “Andhi Mazhai” from Raja Paarvai. Another interesting fustion would be of “Megam Karukkayile” from Vaithegi kaathirunthal. Its interesting to note that the guitar accompanying the song is actually Western in its inception but the vocals are folksy. Coming back to the original topic, Come back ilayaraja, never has he gone out of scene man, its only us who havent been listening to his gems of 90’s. He will always rule the Music scene in India. Hail the genius

    in http://www.lazygeek.net/archives/2004/07/come_back_illayaraaja.html

    I don’t know the technical details of music. But the songs mentioned “Andhi Mazhai” and “Megam Karukkayile” are gems (like a lot of songs from Ilaiyaraja)..

  13. By the way, here’s the translation: Kill Whitey. Kill Whitey. Whitey be dead. Kill Whitey

    lol!

  14. So Ilayaraja comes back into the discussion here on SM. Hear all ya Himesh fans! This man, Ilayaraja is the real deal! And he has a unique voice too!

  15. I actually really enjoyed that.

    This is the golden age of desi Youtube videos, I think. (BTW, is anyone making a definitive list somewhere? Collecting them all?)

  16. Sajit,

    Thanks a million for posting the clip. Get the video/DVD of Ellam Inba Mayam literally everything (or the world/life) is (suffused with) pleasure and watch this fabulous slapstick entertainer – never a dull moment. The movie dates back to about 1979-81. Kamalahasan is cleverly repititive and long ago learnt that the way to fame is to act it out in fronmt of a fawning press. But where slapstick is concerned Kmalahasan has always delivered and his creativity is limitless (all the way to his recent comedies, Tenali, Panchatantram, and Pammal K. Sambandam. This movie was inspired by Peter Sellers’s Soft Beds and Hard Battles, 1074 and as foreign movies took their time coming to India we had to wait for 5 years before we got to see Soft Beds…. Kamalahasan saw the movie and was inspired to use the theme. I will tell you something about this sequence without giving away the spoiler. The villain (dear old Jaisankar, alas! no more) used to know Kamal at one time and now has forgotten about him. The villain’s daughter is seeing Kamal for the first time, and this is about 15 minutes into the movie. There’s a lot more fun to come and a whopper of a dappankuthu based on the Carnatic varnam Raravenu Go’opala Rajita Sadguna Jayaseela…

    So sepiamutiny finally got to hear about that obscure musician from India called Ilayaraja (who Naushad thought had achieved so much that the work of the veterans like him amounted to little and in whose presence of course Ilayaraja is known to always have remained standing and never taken his seat). Check out Ilayaraja’s oratorio, Tiruvasakam in Symphony sometime. Ilayaraja is a treasure and his music will always please, inspire, enthrall, move, and…words fail me.

  17. Razib:

    I know Hindi and Punjabi. When I hear Gujarati, it sounds to me like a bunch of Hindi words I never heard before…so I know what you’re talking about, I feel like I SHOULD understand it but I don’t. Bengali sounds familiar too but because of a major pronunciation shift it sounds less familiar than Gujarati/Marathi, etc (words which would be pronounced like ‘hut’ in other northern Indian languages are pronounced like ‘hot’ in Bengali; and ‘sun’ becomes ‘shon’) Punjabi and Hindi are close to each other, some sentences would be virtually identical in the two languages. Tamil/Telugu etc. sound VERY different to me (but similar to each other and to the other South Indian languages).

  20. Shiva: So this is where the “maaman veedu, machi veedu” song was from. Heard that when I was a kid and no one could tell me where it was from!

  21. I was totally going to post “if you come today” just now!!

    Dr. Rajkumar was the best.

  22. My favorite Ilayaraja song.
    From youtube As a kid I used to listen to All India Radio in the evenings and would get very hyper if this song came on and someone would have to slap me. The guitar is awesome, leaves you wanting more somehow.

  23. This is the golden age of desi Youtube videos, I think.

    No, my friend. This is the golden age… of AMARDEEP.

    I agree with this sentiment though. I try to download whichever youtube vids I can. I’m guessing that youtube will be shut down or otherwise penalized due to the staggering costs it’s having on the Two Minute Clips From Movies and Music Videos Industry.

  24. As much as I love Bollywood and the genreÂ’s dance sequences, it is definitely important to recognize that Indian cinema encompasses more than just mainsteream Bollywood film. Not only is arthouse cinema on the up-and-up, but regional language film has always been a strong contributor to the entertaining of the masses.

    Someone told me that Bollywood was, in its origins, essentially a knock-off of Tamil films. Is this true?

    From the land of Nayak, Saurav

  25. The Best Ilayaraja instrumental in a song! Maybe best song ever! Poongathave… Horrid video but try imagining Sathyajit Ray’s early movies to this sound. According to Razib’s comment @ #8, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Violins..

  26. All that pelvic-thrusting is taking a toll on me…

    Btw, I still think the joke’s on us and they’re all tongue-in-cheek. Have to be!

  27. Rasudha: Thanks. Better than the stupid Raaga link that I posted of this song last week. This way a lot more people get to hear it! We could do with less of “Mic” Mohan though 😀

  28. Garrrrrrrrrrrgi,

    This is clearly a case of who’s laughing at whom. In the context of this movie, the dancer is mocking the rich & therefore evil guy and his western ways by aping western music and dance of that period, disco. The commentators on youtube are enjoying themselves by mocking this video. Are they mocking their own heritage? hmmm…or maybe its just brownsploitation boogie… wan chiku wank wank…solla solla enna perimai…

  29. anantha:

    We could do with less of “Mic” Mohan though

    if I knew the face that went with that voice…only downside to youtube ; )

  31. Someone told me that Bollywood was, in its origins, essentially a knock-off of Tamil films. Is this true?

    There are no separate entities in the strict sense from day one. Actors, actresses, movie directors, producers, camera crew work in different regional industries as opportunity arises and move around. Kamalhassan acts in 6 regional (including Bollywood) centers of film making. Nepali actress like Manisha Koirala even makes movies in the Malayali film industry. Abhishek B. is becoming big rage in Bhojpuri film industry. Sharmilla Tagore started with Satyajit Ray in Bengali films.

    I think it all stated from Bombay circa 1917, and is the main hub.

    That is why Amitabh does not like the word: Bollywood and always talks as Indian film indsutry.

  33. Right, hilarious videos and all, but could someone explain the term ‘brownsploitation’ for this n00b? I feel like I’m missing something here.

  35. Please, please go easy on the guy. To his credit, he duped an entire state into thinking he could dance, with just 3 moves. 🙂 But Ilaiyaraja’s music is to die for. The man continued to be inspired to dish out classic tunes, knowing they’d all be butchered onscreen. Here’s a latter-day Ilaiyaraja/Kamal combo that’s much better, with a tip of the hat to ‘Bill Haley and the Comets’.

    one ‘o’ clack, two ‘o’ clack rock! :))

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FthnViwkCs0

  37. @rasudha #25,

    The Best Ilayaraja instrumental in a song! Maybe best song ever! Poongathave…

    i haven’t heard much of illayaraja’s music, though i have heard a lot abt him. now, i must say the song you linked is impressive. typically, my opinion of the many “classical” filmi pieces i am asked to listen to is not very printable, to say the least. admittedly those pieces usually come with the recommendation: “you will love this, it is very classical and melodious”. to me, use of the word “melodious” is the signal to buy ear plugs :).

    on the other hand, this song is fresh sounding in a dangerously common raga—hats off! someone who can pull this off cannot be bad at all. i think i will dig up more of illayaraja’s pieces.

  41. brownz-in-film.

    Razib,

    You are correct.

    With increasing frequency, Pakistani actors, actresses, singers are being hired by Bollywood, Bhojppuri film industry, and Indian TV.

    Feroze Khan was in Pakistan few months ago, got drunk, and blurted some serious embarassing stuff, and now supposedly is not welcomed in Pakistan anyomore.

    Nepalis have been in Bollywood for a while.

  44. There are no separate entities in the strict sense from day one. Actors, actresses, movie directors, producers, camera crew work in different regional industries as opportunity arises and move around. Kamalhassan acts in 6 regional (including Bollywood) centers of film making. Nepali actress like Manisha Koirala even makes movies in the Malayali film industry. Abhishek B. is becoming big rage in Bhojpuri film industry. Sharmilla Tagore started with Satyajit Ray in Bengali films. I think it all stated from Bombay circa 1917, and is the main hub. That is why Amitabh does not like the word: Bollywood and always talks as Indian film indsutry.

    Kush, this is all very well and good from an Indian nationalist standpoint :p but what I was trying to ask is if the style of Bollywood movies of the 70s and 80s wasn’t predated in Tamil film. i don’t know much about desi film, but it’s seems implausible to say it’s all and has always been one big hodgepodge without separate strands that would help you distinguish Satyajit Ray from Dil Chahta Hai.

    On an aside, check out this awesome timeline of Indian cinematography.

  45. Readers might be interested to know that one of the pioneer film directors in Tamil was actually an American by the name of Ellis R. Dungan who knew no Tamil. Check out the Internet Movie Database for a list of his Tamil movies. Also relevant is this article by S. Muthiah in The Hindu which contains a picture of Ellis Dungan. Incidentally, the Internet Movie Data base gives only his year of birth (1908) so it is possible that Mr. Dungan is still around with us. (I may be wrong and would appreciate being corrected.)

  46. Navaratan Kurma, bytewords,

    I checked out the songs.. Ilaiyaraja’s movie (Payanangal mudivathillai) came out in 82, and Kalakaar came out in 83, checked the story of kalakaar in imdb and the stories look similar. Maybe it’s an unsaid / unwritten arrangement. I don’t think people acknowledge others’ contribution in India yet.. The target audience is different for tamil and hindi movies (pre internet days). Also it is hard to find and punish plagiarism.. and I don’t think anyone is above ‘internalising’.. So the music directors just ignore .. It is hard to be creative if you do 30 movies in one year.

    I like the “starting tune” of this song from Ilaiyaraja very much.. It is mesmerising. link Would like to know if it has been used somewhere else..

  47. Kalakar is an attempted remake of Payanangal…. Kalyanji-Anandji asked Ilayaraja that they be permitted to use the tune ILaya Nila…. Ilayaraja is reported to have agreed to it on the condition that they let him use a Mahendra Kapoor number from Upkaar which Raaja said was his favourite K-A composition. Raaja had Yesudas render the song in NeegaL Kettavai -very hauntingly- some time in 1988. Raaja began performing on stage in his late teens around 1962 and over the next 15 years performed as a sessions musician all over India.

    Yes, Maaman Oodu Machaan Oodu… is the song I mean, it’s in Bhilahari right?

    There has been a lot of exchange of ideas, people, themes, and methods all across the movie industry in India.

  48. Kamal Hasan – The original triple threat all-in-all Alughu Raja of Tamil movies. My favorite Kamalsploitation movie has got to be Sakala kala vallavan.

    The illayaraja songs people are linking to here are awesome, now I’m that much more motivated to go and download some. He has a great voice too, I was trying to find a link to Thenpandi Cheemayile from Nayakan, but could’nt.

    This is clearly a case of who’s laughing at whom. In the context of this movie, the dancer is mocking the rich & therefore evil guy and his western ways by aping western music and dance of that period, disco

    I also noticed that in the last 15 seconds of the clip everyone breaks out into a semi-dapankuthu, maybe they are trying to say that deep down, no matter how western your ways, no one can resist breaking out into a good dapankuthu……Ah Podu!

  49. Here is a piece on Ilyaraja in Outlook India. I would also heartily recommend Ilyaraja’s Thiruvasagam in Symphony, which shiva the original brings up. I can understand very little Tamil, but its really not necessary to know any to feel the bhakti in this creative piece.

    To ears attuned to listening to Manickavasagar’s Thiruvasagam sung by Oduvars (Shaivite temple singers) in traditional panns (precursors to ragas), Ilayaraja’s attempt could amount to blasphemy. To upholders of “tradition”, this fresh engagement with the ninth-century bhakti saint’s ecstatic outpourings—involving the 90-piece Budapest Symphony Orchestra, 60 East European voices with a choir of 25 children, a choir of 60 Indian voices, 40 Indian musicians and 10 voices from New York—may seem an odd mixture.

    Manickavasagar is associated with the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition.