A
felicitation ceremony to celebrate Vaali's
80th birthday was held at the Narada Gana
Sabha in Chennai on November 13, 2010. A book
titled 'Vaali 1000', which is a compilation
of Vaali's 1000 best movie songs, was released
in the function. The function was presided
over by Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty and was attended
by a host of celebrities which included P
Suseela, Cho Ramaswamy, MS Viswanathan and
Suriya. While Kamal Hassan released Vaali
1000, the first copy was received by director
Shankar.
Voice of Rajini
While everyone heaped praises on Vaali, Rajini's
speech was the highlight of the evening. Rajini
mentioned that he had personally invited Vaali
for his daughter Soundarya's wedding and was
upset when Vaali did not attend the wedding.
He added that even when Kamal and Vairamuthu
asked about his participation in Vaali 1000
function, he refused. "But since I share
a very close relationship with Vaali, I could
not resist the temptation of being here",
Rajini said. He was all in awe for the various
legends present on the stage. He said that
he holds a lot of respect for the people,
who have gathered to honor the veteran.
He recalled that it was MS Viswanathan who
first gavea break in Moondru Mudichi in the
song Vasanthe Kala... and was later utilised
in Ninaithale Inikkum and Bhairavi. He said
humbly that he is proud and it is his privilege
to be in the same generation as other legends
on stage.
Speaking about Vaali, Rajini noted that he
is a hugely talented poet and lyricist. Mentioning
Shankar who cannot be easily satisfied with
words, Rajini recalled that Vaali is someone
who can make Shankar happy with his word magic.
He added that it is remarkable that Vaali
can think and please today's generation at
his age. "I’m amazed with his talent
and he is gifted by God himself", Rajini
said.
Hit songs
"Every actor has a hit-song in his career
which cannot be forgotten. If MGR can be remembered
with the song "Naan Aanai Ittal",
I will be in people's memory with the song
"Amma Endru azhaikatha...". It is
an irony that Vaali sir has written the song
for me", Rajini beamed. Recalling that
everyone were quite unable to find a proper
introduction song for Chandramukhi, Rajini
said that Vaali entered the discussion room
rather casually and recited 'Devuda Devuda
Ezhumalai Devuda..'. "This made the whole
unit dumb-struck. May God give him a healthy
life and may Vaali continue to entertain and
enthrall audience as he has always been",
Rajini concluded.
Vaali's reply
Vaali was in his usual self when it his turn
to address the gathering. Speaking about his
non-availability for Soundarya's wedding,
he said that it was his wife's death anniversary
which was why he could not attend the function.
"Though I was physically not there at
the marriage hall, I blessed the couple from
my home. Though I could have told Rajini about
this, I somehow missed it", Vaali said.
He added that he was happy that Rajini spoke
about this on stage and he could clarify this
before everyone.
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