http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/715.html
- Saravanan writes:
Chennai. Sunday. September 25, 2005. The occasion was the Annual Felicitation Day of the Cine Musicians Union and Trust. And among the awardees this year was S.P.Shailaja. Her eyes brimmed with happiness when she was called to receive the award from the chief guest B.Rajam Iyer, as a beaming MSV and (Shankar) Ganesh looked on. What would have Shailaja’s thoughts been at that moment, I wondered. Would she have recalled those heady years from the late 70s and early 80s when she was among the busiest singers of tfm? Or did her smile hide the wry reflection that her numerous songs notwithstanding, this was the first award that has come her way in recognition of her tfm career?
I suppose I am in for censure for my picks today, as Shailaja isn’t exactly popular in these parts. Her voice has been subject to a plethora of derisive adjectives, ranging from 'shrill' to ‘nasal'. I am not a great fan of her voice either, but I must confess that I have liked her rendition in some unforgettable songs. The bit of pallavi that she sings in ‘geetham sangeetham’ ending with that short chortle, the grief filled ‘appa’ which is a study in contrast with the mischievous mien that she adopts till then in the anbuLLa appa title track, the perfect match that her voice is to the child in songs like ‘selvamE, orE mugam paarkkiREn’ and ‘dharmam saraNam gachaami’, and amazingly how equally matching is her voice to the bashful, innocent kOkila that Sridevi is in ‘chinnanjiRu vayathil’, the haunting heights that she scales in the fantastic IR composition ‘hrudhaya rangOli’ (pallavi anupallavi/kannada), and coming to think of it, the majestic tfm entry that she made in the lilting ‘sOlaikkuyilE’…. Shailaja, to me, lives in lingering moments such as these….
When she sang her first song ‘iddaram memmidaram’ under Chakarvarthi’s baton for the Telugu movie maarppu (1977/ International Cinema), Shailaja was studying in class 9. For the thirteen year old Shailaja, the Rs. 300 that she was paid for the song seemed a small fortune! Her father had been a good singer, and all her siblings were avid music enthusiasts. As a child, she used to listen to her sisters being taught classical music. Shailaja took part in many school music competitions and won prizes. Two such events remain very special in her memory in which Shailaja was adjudged the best singer by the legendary Ghantasala and Pendiyala. And she had always been in awe of her brother SPB, who was 17 years elder to her, and already a well-established playback singer. With all this, Shailaja’s entry in the same field was perhaps inevitable. She recalls ‘Chakravarthigaaru’ and ‘Ramesh Naidugaaru’ with gratitude for encouraging her with some wonderful early breaks, and of course ‘Raja saar’ for giving her so many prized opportunities. Even at that tender age, Shailaja took on challenging songs, her training first under Shyamala Venkatesh and later under M.Balamuralikrishna helping her in no small measure.
It was Shyam who brought Shailaja to tfm, making her hum to her brother’s magical ‘mazhai tharumO en mEgam’ (manithariliththanai niRangaLa/ 1978). And in her very next year, IR arranged an enviable debut for her, making her sing the scintillating ‘sOlaikkuyilE’ and a whispery duet with himself, ‘saamakkOzhi, hey, koovudhamma’. The songs became hugely popular (they still are!) and this new girl in town won instant recognition. And in that glorious year alone, she got to sing so many songs for IR. Sample a few: ‘malargaLil aadum iLamai’ (kalyaNaraman), ‘aayiram malargaLE’ (niRam maaRatha pookkaL), ‘yEthO ninaivugaL kanavugaL’ (agalviLakku), ‘manathil enna ninaivugaLO’ (poonthaLir), ‘malaiyaruvi maNikkuruvi’ (annai Or aalayam), ‘maaman oru naaL’ (rOsappoo ravikkaikkaari), ‘ada pOya pOya ulgam perisu’ (dharmayuddham), ‘appavOda kalyaNam paaru’ (uthirippookkaL), ‘aaNpiLLai endRaalum’ (aaRilirundhu aRupathuvarai), ‘peththaalum peththEnada’ & ‘chinnappuRa ondRu’ (anbE sangeetha), ‘thanga duraiyE’ (kadavuL amaitha mEdai)…
It was also in 1979 that GA called Shailaja to sing in his music, and the song ‘aadidum Odamaai aanathE’ (suvar illatha chithirangaL) is such a haunting, desolate number. And in the same year, Shailaja was fortunate to bag duets with two great singers who were then well past their prime: ‘muthamizh saramE’ with TMS (vetRikku oruvan/IR) and ‘maalai mayanginaal’ with PBS (inikkum iLamai/S-G).
With such a grand entry, Shailaja easily grew to rank among the busiest singers of her time. She was a sought-after singer in Kannada and Telugu as well. In Tamil, Old-timers like KVM and MSV, and even Kunnakkudi Vaithayanathan (in the unreleased film padhinettaam padi) gave her some worthy numbers. S-G patronized Shailaja in a big way. GA and Chandrabose gave her many cherished chances.
Let us, however, restrict our focus today to the songs that she sang for IR. Shailaja was an integral part of the IR wave, and sang numerous songs for the maestro in the early 80s. Solos in this collaboration that readily come to mind are ‘vaada en raja kaNNa’ (rishimoolam), ‘maaman machaan’ (murattu kaaLai), ‘pala janma janmaandhara bandhangaL’ (azhagiya kaNNE), ‘aasaiyai kaathula thoodhu vittu’ (johny), ‘uNmaiyai kaakkum’ (balanagamma) and of course, the song that Shailaja herself considers her best effort ‘raasavE unna naan eNNi thaan’. And as for her duets for IR, ‘panivizhum poo nilavil’ (thaippongal), ‘thavikkuthu thayanguthu oru manathu’ (nadhiyai thEdi vandha kadal), ‘madhanamOha roopa sundari’, (indRuPPOi naaLai vaa), ‘pEsu en anbE’ (a ‘tri’et actually, from vidiyum varai kaathiru), ‘pani mazhai vizhum’ (enakkaaga kaathiru), ‘en purushan thaan’ (gOpurangaL saaivathillai), ‘maalai sooda kaNNE radha’ (kaNNE radha), ‘ponvaana poongaavil’ (vaalibamE vaa vaa), ‘naadha vinOdhangaL’, ‘vEdham aNuvilum’ and ‘vaan pOle vaNNam koNdu’ (salangai oli), ‘arisi kuththum akka magaLE’ (maNvaasanai), ‘oru kiLi uruguthu’ (anandakummi), ‘kaalai nEra kaatRE’ (bagavathipuram railwaygate)….the list of noteworthy numbers goes on.
Shailaja appeared on screen as well, playing Jayaprada’s daughter in salangai oli. In an interview, she recalled how though how she was reluctant to do so, she allowed herself to be persuaded by K.Vishwanath to don the grease paint. Since she had formally learned classical dance, had her arangeTRam and performed in dance programmes, the role of a dancer wasn’t too difficult to essay, she said.
This dream run, however, was too good to last, and from the mid 80s, Shailaja’s songs for IR petered down to a mere trickle. The late 80s saw only stray instances of Shailaja singing for IR like ‘pudhu maapiLLaikku’ (apoorva sagOtharargaL), ‘vaa vaa manjaL malarE’ (raajaadhi raja) and ‘ellOrum ellaamum’ (pudhu pudhu arthangaL). After many years, Shailaja sang again for IR in veera thalaattu (1998).
In recent years, Shailaja is being heard in Telugu again; ARR (‘naadhir dhina’ from paravasam, the Telugu version of paathaalE paravasam), and Vidyasagar (‘okka kashanam okka kshanam’ from swarabhishEkam) have given her some good songs.
She is happily married to ‘Subhalekha’ Sudhakar, the well-known Telugu movie and TV actor. He is a familiar face in Tamil serials as well. They have a son, Srikar. Shailaja keeps herself busy anchoring TV shows and has also ventured into dubbing. Singing, of course, remains her first love; she accompanies her famous aNNayya in his concerts and sings for non-film albums as well.
Shailaja has no grand illusions about herself; she has never failed to proclaim her own insignificance when compared to the leading singers of her time. And when compelled to sum up her career, this was all she had to say: ‘When I entered the industry, P.Susheela, S.Janaki and Vani Jairam were at their peak. But I was also busy!’
* * * *
So what I have picked as today’s choices as two singular solos by S.P.Shailaja. Two songs crafted by IR that have all but disappeared from the airwaves for long years.
‘poonthOttam’ from nadhiyai thEdi vandha kadal
Sung by S.P.Shailaja
Lyrics by Kannadasan
Music by Ilaiyaraja
nadhiyai thEdi vandha kadal (1980/ Radha Arts) was touted to be Jayalalitha’s comeback vehicle. Based on Maharishi’s story, the movie was produced by V.Radha & V. Natarajan, and directed by B.Lenin. Besides Jayalalitha, the film had Saratbabu, Srikanth and 'Fadafat' Jayalakshmi in its cast.
Though the film was a massive flop, IR’s work therein came in for appreciation. The album had 4 songs: ‘thavikkuthu thayanguthu’ (JC & SPS/ Gangaiamaran), ‘engEyO yEtho’ (SPB & PS/ Panju Arunachalam), ‘vaaratha kaalangaL’ (PS & SPS/PA) and ‘poonthOttam’ (SPS/ Kannadasan). Interestingly, IR had assigned PS for 'Fadafat' Jayalakshmi and Shailaja for Jayalalitha.
and
‘oRE mugam nila mugam’ from oppandham
Sung by S.P.Shailaja
Lyrics by Na. Kamarasan
Music by Ilaiyaraja.
The details on the EP record sleeve (of oppandham) show that the record was available for sale as early as in 1979. The movie oppandham (Garuda Films) was however released much later, in 1983. The film was produced by N.R.Amudha and scripted & directed by Vijayaganesh. Srikanth and Sripriya played the lead roles. The film had only 2 songs, the other being the folksy ‘kalyaNa mELamadi’ (MV & VJ/ GA).
Both songs encapsulate the sheer bliss of early IR. Both boast of riveting preludes and three magnificent interludes each.
Have a listen.
- S.P.Shailaja songs in SOTD: http://www.dhool.com/search/sotdsearch. ... P.Shailaja