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Salil Chowdhury

Kokila (1977)

The debut film of director Balu Mahendra, featuring unforgettable music by Salil Chowdhury including the haunting classic “Sanje Tangaali Maisokalu”.

Kokila Poster

Film Information

Language: Kannada

Lyrics: Udayshankar

Kokila (1977) is one of the most admired Kannada film works of Salil Chowdhury, known especially for its deeply emotional compositions and minimal orchestration.

The film starred Kamal Haasan, Shobha, Roja Ramani and was remade in Hindi by Balu Mahendra in the 1990s. Salil's title theme and background passages include a brief vocal performance by Sabita Chowdhury, borrowing a motif from “Kaise Manau Piyawa” (Chaar Deewaari, Hindi).

Songs

Nr Song Singer(s) HndMalTamTelKanBngOth
KK1 Oy Gum Gum Gum S. Janaki AD4----SC12-
KK2 Sanje Tangaali Maisokalu S. Janaki -VK3---LM21-

Notes & Background

Kokila was the first film directed by Balu Mahendra and features one of the most emotionally powerful compositions by Salil Chowdhury, “Sanje Tangaali Maisokalu”.

Music enthusiasts have compared this song to the Bengali original “Aaj Noi Gun Gun Gunjan Premer” sung by Lata Mangeshkar, though the Kannada version is uniquely haunting and stands on its own.

The song “Oy Gum Gum Gum” appears truncated in all known film and VCD copies. Salil used a completely different arrangement here compared to its Bengali inspiration “Ei Ghum Ghum Ghumanta”.

A rare background cue features Sabita Chowdhury softly singing “Kaise Manau Piyawa” from the Hindi film Chaar Deewaari, proving once again Salil’s extraordinary cross-language musical continuity.