The 80th birthday celebration of ace lyricist Vaali was a grand function in Chennai on Saturday evening which was attended by actors, directors, musicians, and literarians among others.

Speaking on the occasion, Superstar Rajinikanth likened the poet to the Ramayana character Vaali, who stood supreme when pitted against competitors. "This Vaali's strength is similar to that Vaali," he said.

Kamal Haasan, going down the memory lane, said he forced Vaali to rework on the Unnai Ninachen… song in 'Aboorva Sagodharargal' which had made the lyricist angry. "The new song won Vaali a National Award."

Kamal released a collection of songs penned by Vaali. The two volumes of the poet's works were received by film director Shankar, who recalled his association with the lyricist from the film 'Kadhalan' for the song 'Muqqala Muqabla…' to the 'Sivaji' song, 'Adhiradi…'.

Thuglaq editor Cho Ramaswamy, veteran music composer M S Viswanathan, Brahma Gana Sabha president Nalli Kuppusami Chetty, actors Suriya and Sarojadevi, singers T M Soundararajan, P Suseela, Vani Jayaram and others took part.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has greeted Vaali on his 80th birthday. In his greetings, Karunanidhi said Vaali had made a very big contribution to the development of lyrics in Tamil cinema.

A good number of popular songs, written by Vaali have been ringing in the ears of cinema-goers in Tamil Nadu. "You have a very big chapter in the history of Tamil cinema lyrics," the Chief Minister said in his message.