Who put the goat in there?

November 14, 2007 on 10:06 am | In Backstage Pass, General Musing, Music |

Ah, Bollywood!

I first fell in love with Indian movies when I stumbled across one on the International Channel one lazy Saturday afternoon. It was in Hindi with no subtitles but it turned out that would not be a particular impediment to following the movie. In one scene the young hero is struck with a sudden, excruciating headache. “Brain tumor,” I hooted at the TV. A scene later he’s in the doctor’s office and the doctor solemnly intones “Bren toomoreh.” Score!

It’s a musical. They’re ALL musicals. Even the ones about suicide bombers have extravagant song and dance numbers atop moving trains.

You don’t need to know the language to enjoy them, but it invites all kinds of speculation - as in this hilariously subtitled video:

Benny Lava, I don’t care who put the goat in there. I love you!

Who knew that, in a twist of fate, we’d find ourselves playing these songs? For cheering crowds?

But that’s how things go in the movies. Latha Sambamurti, fellow Redmond Arts Commissioner and accomplished singer in Hindi, Tamil and other languages of India, has somehow charmed us into yet a third band. Here’s a clip from last weekend’s big Diwali festival in Seattle:

I’m looking for a song to sing myself - and thought I’d found one. But Latha quickly disabused me of the idea. “It’s in Tamil,” she shook her head solemnly, “Too difficult.” She demonstrated the three supposedly different “n” sounds. “Na. Na. Na.” They are absolutely indistinguishable, but she insists they are completely distinct. “You could say the word ‘make’ but it would come out as ‘pig’”, she insisted, “People will laugh.”

I suspect her of wanting to hog the Tamil songs for herself.

See more like that one:

2 Comments »

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  1. I love that subtitled video. What a hoot. I then went to listen to the song from Dil Se…and could hear new lyrics!

    Can’t wait to see the new band in action.

    See you Saturday.

    Comment by JeanAnn — November 15, 2007 #

  2. Greetings to readers of this blog! I don’t read this blog regularly, but was drawn to it through a link on a YouTube video of my band’s performance that I am showing some guests at home tonight…

    Well, I am Latha Sambamurti, the Redmond Arts Commissioner and Indian singer referred to in this blog! On the whole, I enjoyed reading this blog entry. From my (Indian) point of view, it is certainly interesting to read on the web about how an (English-speaking) American is drawn to Indian films and film music to the point of active involvement in stage rendition of Indian film songs!

    A few little clarifications:

    > She demonstrated the three supposedly different “n” sounds. “Na. Na. Na.” .

    Here’s a link to an article on Tamil (the language) in Wikipedia:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_language#Consonants

    Read “Consonants” under “Sounds”. Look at the table under “Nasals”– the three “n” sounds referred to by the blogger are: the alveolar, the dental and the retroflex. The phonetic inventory in this table captures the empirical reality in Tamil quite accurately.

    The “make” vs “pig” distinction referred to by the blogger, in Tamil, is “paNNi” (retroflex n) vs “panni” (alveolar n). Tamil, like all other Indian languages, has numerous such pairs of consonants. The distinctions are often a source of puns and humour— unintended humour when the speaker/singer is in denial about the distinctions! BTW my dinner guests tonight are (native-)Tamil speaking, and are having a hearty laugh already!

    To drive home the point from an English vowel perspective: Imagine hearing “your son is very autistic” when what you should rather hear is “your son is very artistic”! From the perspective of consonants, look at “I’d like to putt” vs “I’d like to butt”

    I am also reminded of the “retard” vs “retired” joke in Borat!

    > They are absolutely indistinguishable,

    Read my comments above. How can one produce the distinctions in speech or song, if one cannot hear, or one is steadfast about not recognizing them, in the first place !!!

    > but she insists they are completely distinct.

    I don’t insist upon the distinction any more than I “insist” on the law of gravity, or on the distinction in English between “autistic” and “artistic” !!

    > I’m looking for a song to sing myself - and thought I’d found one.

    Pray tell us how you found it.

    > I suspect her of wanting to hog the Tamil songs for herself.

    I guess this is the “Mischief” part in “Music, musings and mischief” :-)

    Cheers,

    Latha

    Comment by Latha Sambamurti — November 16, 2007 #

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