DAPPAN KUTHU

Dappan kuthu , Gaana pattu , kutthu song and whatever name they are called in other south Indian languages have now become so common that every film has one irrespective of the context of the film. Even a high-fi movie has one. Why are these songs so famous? We will never know. It has the same beats as a “mariamman koil thiruvila” song has or the beats played by drummer at somebody’s death –“saavu molam “ … either way it is the same kind of beats ….. these used to be the songs which mostly would be heard in slums .. these were the poor man’s songs, now they are heard every where. Is it because we unknowingly get an urge to dance to the beats which one wouldn’t get if he/she was listening to a melody or because the young generation wants to look cool and doesn’t want to listen to the “old fashion songs” … But every year if one has a look at the national filmfare awards it is always the melodies which bag all the prizes not the dappan kutthu … So, even though these songs are far more popular the “other songs” these donot bag the coveted prize. One can argue that the panels for selecting the songs are old rags but even if teenagers were put as panels they would still select the melodies. Why did these songs come in the first place? Is it because someone wanted to remove the influence carnatic music had over film songs or because some music director could do only dappan kutthu songs. If you take for example one music director from Tamil Nadhu he is more famous for his dappan kutthu songs than for his other songs