http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/929.html
- Saravanan writes:
But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling, like dew, upon a thought produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think…
- Lord Byron (Don Juan- canto III, st. 88 )
Heartfelt tributes have not ceased pouring in from anguished Tamils all over the world. Sujatha (May 3 1935- February 27 2008) was truly a literary genius. Wielding many pens, he boasted a magnificent sweep of work – his non-fiction oeuvre comprises compelling pieces on technology, philosophy, religion, ancient Tamil literature, encouraging reviews of path breaking efforts of the modern school, ruminations, memoirs…His contribution to Tamil fiction is even more enviable in its infinite variety.. into his short stories, novels and plays, Sujatha inserted themes spanning romance, history, science, crime, fantasies…His prolific works reflect his prodigious genius…. a razor-sharp intellect, keen perception of everyday happenings, well-informed, analytical observations, painstaking eye to detail, usage of simple everyday language, yet in a style that was inimitably elegant, wry sense of humour and an uncanny synchronization with the mindset of current generation at any given time…. Is it any wonder that the giants of Tamil literature, led by the Chief-Minister and his daughter, turned up in multitudes to pay their last respects to Sujatha?
Besides the hordes of writers, the beacons of Tamil cinema were benumbed at the news of Sujatha’s sudden demise… Director Shankar was at the Apollo Hospital, keeping vigil along with Sujatha’s wife all through that terrible night… a grief-stricken Kamalhasan rushed back to Chennai…. Rajinikant, Bharatiraja, Balu Mahendra, Parthiban, Vairamuthu, Vasant, Rajeev Menon, Murugadas and Crazy Mohan were present to share the sorrow…. for they realized only too well that this was an irreparable loss to Tamil cinema… Even the Chief-Minister, while recalling honouring Sujatha with the ‘kalaimaamaNi’ Award and paying glowing tributes to his writing skills, did not fail to mention Sujatha’s singular contributions to Tamil cinema.
Kamalhasan dashed off an emotional panegyric to his literary mentor…
In a well-attended memorial meeting on Sunday, Kamalhasan unveiled a portrait of the late writer, and spoke on his association with him. In an event marked by the presence of the pillars of the Tamil literary world, Balu Mahendra, Parthiban, Vasant, Satyaraj, Sivakumar, Thangar Bachaan, Vairamuthu, Ravivarman and ‘Pentamedia’ Chandrashekhar represented the sorrowing film fraternity.
In his tribute, Vairamuthu lamented, “oru kadal sattendRu uLvaangi vittadhaippOl uNargiREn…”
While most newspapers and magazines have written in detail about Sujatha's towering literary achievements, let us in dhool dwell on his association with Tamil cinema.
Around the time Sujatha was writing ‘kanavu thozhirchaalai’, his novel based on the tinsel town, his novel ‘gayathri’ which had appeared in Dhinamani Kathir had already been made into a movie. Startlingly bold for its time, the story narrated the travails of a young woman who is married to a twisted villain in a house full of eerie intrigue. Starring the then upcoming Rajinikant with Sridevi and Jaishankar, the movie ‘gayathri’ (1977/ Vijayameena Films) was the brainchild of Panju Arunachalam who drafted the screenplay and dialogues. It was directed by R. Pattabiraman. Ilaiyaraja’s songs like ‘vaazhvE maayamaa’ and ‘kaalai paniyil aadum malargaL’ added to the movie’s appeal.
‘gayathri’ was followed by Panju Arunachalam taking up two more works of Sujatha for celluloid adaptation the following year. The first was based on ‘anitha iLam manaivi’, a novel that was serialized in Kumudam. A chilling whodunit, the movie was titled ‘idhu eppadi irukku’ (1978/Vijayameena Films). Jaishankar, Sridevi and Y. Vijaya acted in the movie, directed again by R. Pattabiraman. Screenplay and dialogues were by Panju Arunachalam. The movie was a commercial failure; nevertheless Ilaiyaraja’s ‘engum niRaindha iyaRkaiyil’ is a song of timeless enchantment.
The other story of Sujatha that Panju Arunachalam made a movie of in 1978 was of course, ‘priya’. One of the many Ganesh-Vasant crime novels, (I guess ‘priya’ had only Ganesh), the story serialized in Kumudam revolved around a young film actress. Starring Rajinikant, Sridevi, Ambarish and others, the movie was shot extensively in Singapore. Screenplay and dialogues were by Panju Arunachalam and ‘priya’ (1978/SP.T Films) was directed by SP. Muthuraman. ‘priya’ was the first stereophonic album in Tamil cinema and Ilaiyraja’s songs like ‘hEy paadal ondRu’, ‘ennuyir nee thaanE’, ‘darling darling darling’, ‘akkaracheemai azhaginilE’ and ‘sriraamanin sridEviyE’ ensured the runway success of the movie.
Sujatha’s next work to submit resignedly to the Kodambakkam crossover was ‘jannal malar’ serialized in Ananda Vikatan. An interesting take on the efficacy of the prison system in reforming a convict, the movie titled ‘yaarukku yaar kaaval’ (1979/Neo Manijeh Cine Productions) starred Srikanth, Sripriya and Saratbabu. Veteran Malliyam Rajagopal worked on the screenplay and dialogues, besides directing the movie. Music-director J.J. Joy is remembered to this day for that wonderful ode to parenthood, ‘sippiyin uLLE muththaadum seithi’.
Though ‘gayathri, ‘idhu eppadi irukku’, ‘priya’ and ‘yaarukku yaar kaaval’ were all based on Sujatha’s works, he was not directly involved in their making. That opportunity came soon enough. Director K. Balachandar invited Sujatha to come up with a story on a music ensemble interspersed with the romantic entanglement that the lead singer gets himself into, and Sujatha worked excitedly to come up with a plausible script for ‘ninaithaalE inikkum’. Starring Kamalhasan, Rajinikant and Jayapradha, the movie boasted of exotic Singapore locales and a brilliant album by MSV. With all this, ‘ninaithaalE inikkum’ (1979/Premalaya) did not do well. A bemused Sujatha narrated his first tryst with cinema thus, “Ninaithale Inikkum' for Balachandar was the first script I wrote for a film. Before that, my stories had been filmed, but I had not played any role in writing the screenplay or dialogue. For 'Ninaithale Inikkum,' I had written a totally different kind of screenplay. Unfortunately, owing to constraints like star dates, Balachandar did not follow my script exactly. He made several changes and looked at the film as an opera on the lines of Abba. My original script was lively and if it had been faithfully followed, it would have been a model screenplay. Anyway, no regrets and I enjoyed working with Balachandar, his assistant Ananthu, Kamal and Rajni”.
‘karaiyellaam seNbagapoo’ (Sundari Art Creations) followed sedately in 1981. It was Ilaiyaraja who had suggested to Sujatha the interesting idea of a thriller set in a rustic milieu, and Sujatha soon came up with a murder mystery against the backdrop of ancient folk songs and folklore. Director G.N. Rangarajan set about making a movie of it. Pratap, Sripriya, Sumalata, Sundar and Manorama were the principal actors. Ilaiyaraja’s ‘yEriyilE… yEriyilE elanthamaram’, ‘kalyaaNa raaman’, ‘yEruppudichavarE’ and ‘kadalellaam pichchippoovu’ found fleeting airtime. The movie was an abject failure.
Sujatha was never greatly enthused about his works being filmed. In an interview, he said, “Not only I, no writer has ever been happy with the way his/her stories have been converted into films. Asked to give his reaction after his novels were filmed, Hemingway put it succinctly: "Take the money and run." Sathyajit Ray's 'Pather Panchali' is a great film, but the original writer was not happy with it. Hitchcock once said that he would just read the novel he wanted to film, throw away and would never get back to it again during the making of the film.
I am certainly not blaming the directors. It is just that the medium is different. Compared to those who see the film, the readers are a minuscule percentage. Probably my novels would have been read by 30-40 lakh people, but the films were seen by crores. In a medium like cinema where the stakes are high, compromises are unavoidable. They don't affect me. People who have read my novels are unhappy with the film versions, but those who have not read them are happy with the films. That in itself explains the difference in audience tastes”.
Sujatha teamed up with Kamalhasan next, and wrote a story exclusively for cinema, strategically serialized in Kumudam before the movie’s release. ‘vikram’ (1986/Rajkamal Films International) starring Kamalhasan, Dimple Kapadia, Satyaraj, Lizy and Amjad Khan, was a stylish adventure movie set in an imaginary Middle-East country. Ilayaraja came up with a worthy album- the title track with its techno effects, ‘vanithaa maNi vana mOhini’, ‘meeNdum meeNdum vaa’ and ‘en jOdi manjakkuruvi’ were heard all day long. Sujatha wrote the dialogues for the movie directed by Rajashekhar.
Another movie that Sujatha was associated with the same year was ‘unnidathil naan’ (Textem Productions). Produced by Sujatha’s friend, the U.S based Shankar Ramani (along with Joesph Enok and Paul Pandian), the movie was directed by Arun Veerappan. Netaji, Shyam, Nalini, Devilalita, Thengai Srinivasan and Mouli were in the cast. Cricketer Kapil Dev made a special appearance in the movie. The story narrated the changes in the lives of two men as a consequence of a wager between two rich friends. Sujatha’s dialogues were simply brilliant. Thayanban had composed two scintillating songs for the movie, ‘ninaithaal unnaithaan ninaippEn’ and ‘naan unnidathil naan’.
The third movie based on Sujatha’s works to be released the same year was ‘poi mugangaL’. The movie was adapted from ‘kaagitha changiligaL’, which recounted the desperate search of a young woman for a kidney donor to save the life of her husband. Starring the Kannada actor Ravichandran and Sulakshana in the lead roles, the movie was directed by C.V. Rajendran.
It was some years before Sujatha next associated himself with Tamil cinema, and the director who made the return possible was Bharathiraja. Enamored of Sujatha’s ‘raththam orE niRam’, the director asked Sujatha to come up with a story set in the pre-independence era. But to Sujatha’s disappointment, Bharathiraja made some major changes in the story, and the movie ‘naadodi thendRal’ (1992/ Manoj Creations) starring Karthik and Ranjita turned out to be quite different from Sujatha’s expectations. Ilaiyaraja’s songs like ‘maNiyE maNikkuyilE’, ‘sandhana maarbilE’ and ‘yaarum viLaiyaadum thOttam’ became hugely popular. Reminiscing on the movie later, Sujatha said, “The original story I gave was about the assassination of a collector and I had put in a lot of effort. But Bharathi Raaja changed it into an ordinary triangular love story set in the pre independence backdrop”. Sujatha went on to rationalize thus, “I don't blame the directors for these failed projects. As I told you, the target audiences are different and the directors know the medium better!”
In 1993 came Director Joshi’s ‘airport’ (1993/ Madhu Films International) starring Satyaraj, bearing some startling similarities to Sujatha’s ‘j.k.’
Sujatha worked with Kamalhasan on the script of the ambitious ‘maruthanaayakam’, but the movie is yet to be made. In fact, it was Sujatha who suggested to Kamal the story of ‘maruthanayakam’. He said in this connection, “For the last 7 or 8 years Kamal had been searching for the right story to make a historical. He even had plans of doing a historical musical on the lines of 'Ambikapathi' and toyed with the idea of making a film which had only verses for dialogue. While he was examining so many ideas, I suggested why not we go into immediate past history instead of going to ancient period. It was around that time I came across a folk ballad edited by Tamil scholar Vanamamalai and published by Madurai Kamaraj University. Impressed by the ballad, I showed it to Kamal to find out if it has the potential of a good film. Kamal was initially reluctant, but agreed to go through the ballad. In the elaborate and excellent introduction was a footnote which said, "This Yousuf Khan was originally a Hindu Vellala called Marudha Naayagam. Kamal immediately jumped at it and felt that the story had all the potential of a good historical film”.
In 1998, Sujatha wrote the dialogues for Director Ravichandran’s ‘kaNNethirE thOndRinaaL’ (Sivasakthi Movie Makers) starring Prashant, Karan and Simran. During this time, Sujatha worked on Gandhi Krishna’s ‘engineer’ starring Arvind Swami and Madhuri Dikshit, but though a major part of the movie was completed, it was given up due to various reasons. When Rajeev Menon set to work on an adaptation of Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’, it was Sujatha who penned the dialogues for the movie ‘kaNdukkoNdEn kaNdukkoNdEn’ (2000/ V. Creations). An off-beat movie that Sujatha scripted in 2001 was ‘nilaa kaalam’ (Media Dreams). Directed by Gandhi Krishna, the movie fetched Master Udayaraj the National Award for the Best Child Actor. Sujatha wrote the dialogues for JD-Jerry’s taut thriller ‘whistle’ (Media Dreams/2003). P.C. Sreeram was the next to try his hand at adapting one of Sujatha’s stories for the big screen. ‘iruL varum nEram’, Sujatha’s riveting account of the gruesome horrors of rape and the trauma that its aftermath evokes that was serialized in Kalki was made as ‘vaanam vasappadum’ (2004/ R.K. Films & Digital Movie Makers). Sujatha wrote the youthful dialogues for Jeeva’s college caper ‘uLLam kEtkumE’ which saw a belated release in 2005.
Earlier, Sujatha had got to work with Director Maniratnam on ‘rOja’ (1992/Kavithalaya) and this marked the commencement of a refreshing chapter in the history of Tamil cinema. Sujatha’s dialogues added sheen to Maniratnam’s works such as thirudaa thirudaa (1993), kannaththil muththamittaal (2002) and aayitha ezhuthu (2004). It was Sujatha who developed the story of ‘dil sE’ (1998) from a plot narrated by Maniratnam.
Director Shankar’s association with Sujatha dates back to 1996 when Sujatha worked with Shankar in ‘indian’ (1996/Soorya Movies). His collaborations with Maniratnam and Shankar gave Sujatha immense satisfaction. In an interview in 1998 he said, “My most satisfying efforts were Mani Ratnam's 'Roja' and Shankar's 'Indian,' though I wrote only the dialogue for these films. 'Roja' especially was a gratifying experience because I participated in all the discussions during its making. For 'Indian,' the director did the thinking, gave me the sequence order and after I wrote the dialogue, Shankar would choose what he wanted.” Sujatha even wrote a primer on the art of screenplay writing titled ‘thiraikkadhai ezhuthuvadhu eppadi’. Sujatha and Shankar continued their collaborations in mudhalvan (1999), Boys (2003), anniyan (2005) and Sivaji (2007). In recent times, Sujatha was working on the script of ‘Robot’, Shankar’s proposed magnum opus with Rajinikant, said to based on Sujatha’s works like ‘en iniya iyanthira’ and ‘meeNdum jeanO’. While handing over the completed script to Shankar, Sujatha is reported to have remarked in jest, "Shankar, I completed my work satisfactorily. Hereafter, there is no tension for me; even the film may well be my last one!"
See Shankar heaping encomiums on Sujatha, the writer and Sujatha, the human being:
Sujatha’s Tamil works have been taken up for celluloid adaptation in Kannada and Telugu as well. Director Gandhi Krishna is currently making the movie ‘aananda thaaNdavam’ which is based on Sujatha’s much acclaimed novel ‘pirivOm sandhippOm’. Sujatha had completed writing the dialogues for the movie.
Sujatha was a whiff of fresh air in the stifling avenues of Tamil cinema. Dhool salutes the unassuming genius.
* * * *
Today’s SOTD features a song from ‘poi mugangaL’ (1986/ Preethi Creations) a movie that was based on Sujatha’s novel ‘kaagitha changiligaL’. The story was a heart-rending account of a young woman’s futile search for a kidney donor to save the life of her husband who is suffering from renal failure. Sujatha brought into the narration the plethora of ramifications that surround a kidney transplant and the varied experiences of hospital life. The reactions, misconceptions and reluctance of even kith and kin to donate a kidney to save the life of a young man in their family showed with stark candour how fragile human relationships are.
‘poi mugangaL’ had the Kannada actor Ravichandran in the role of the ailing Raja. Ravichandran, the son of the late film producer N. Veeraswami of “Eswari Productions’, was then an upcoming actor. Soon after ‘poi mugangaL’, he shot to stardom with his ‘prEma lOka’ (‘paruva raagam’ in Tamil). Sulakshana played Indu who wages a lone struggle to save her husband’s life. Y. G. Mahendran, Sivachandran, Arundhati, V.S. Raghavan and V. Gopalakrishnan were part of the cast. The movie was directed by C.V. Rajendran. Interestingly, during the same time, there was another attempt as well to make a movie based on ‘kaagitha changiLigaL’, but it was C.V. Rajendran’s adaptation that finally hit the screens.
Shankar-Ganesh teamed up with Vairamuthu to come out with a set of memorable songs. ‘thottu koNdaal Or inbam, kattikkoNdaal pErimbam’ is a song of breezy romance by Yesudas, punctuated with delectable interludes. ‘puththam pudhu paattu nee paadu ippOdhu’ is a buoyant ditty rendered spiritedly by SPB and S.P. Shailaja. ‘ingu naam kaaNum paasam ellaamE vEsham’ by Yesudas is a poignant reminder of the insubstantiality of human relationships… Vairamuthu’s lines are intense and brooding…. sondhangaL kalaindhOdum pagal mEgangaL…vaazhvin paathirangaL …ellaam poi mugangaL…
What we have left is the dreamy, wistful ‘mEgam reNdum sErum pOthu minnal poo pookkum’. A caressing tune, a haunting violin that strikes a delightful rapport with both the lyrics and the singer, Vairamuthu’s simple, evocative lines…. kaadhal madhamaanadhu…yaarkkum podhuvaanadhu…aaha idhamaanadhu…aanal nijamaanadhu…. And SPB at hand to enact this drama of passionate wooing….
Listen to mEgam reNdu sErum pOthu from poi mugangaL
Sung by SPB
Lyrics by Vairamuthu
Music by Shankar-Ganesh
I fell in love with this song when I heard it one night in the mid 80s- thanks to the ‘viLambarathaar nigazhchi’ on Vividh Bharathi, and every time I listened to it subsequently, the song serenaded me anew with its mellifluous charm. I longed to see it on screen, but never got to watch the movie. It was only a few years back I saw the movie in one of the myriad cable channels….and found my illusions of over two decades shattered to smithereens… the song finds place within the first few reels… Raja (Ravichandran), YGM (Joseph) and Indu (Sulakshana) are college mates. Joseph is attracted to the demure Indu, and being tongue-tied, requests Raja to pen a love song… Raja hides behind a tree and sings it, Joseph stands in front of the tree and mouths the lines to Indu, who believes that Joseph is singing the poetic lines… An amateurish enactment of the age-old ‘adutha veettu peN’ concepts….
And as for the tune itself, I was in for another for disillusionment…this song seemed to a remarkable composition of Shankar-Ganesh, till I stumbled upon the Ghazal ‘deewarOn se milkar rOna achcha lagthaa hai’ … Shankar-Ganesh have been at it again… only this time they spared Ghulam Ali and ransacked from Pankaj Udhas…
Listen to deewarOn sE milkar rOna from the album Mukarrar (1981)
Sung by Pankaj Udhas
Lyrics by Qaiser-ul- Zaffari
Tags: S.P.B , Shankar-Ganesh