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From: bb on: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:45 pm
Song of the Day: MSV in the 80s: Part X
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/866.html
- Saravanan writes:
MSV in the 80s: Part X ~ paartha gnyabagam illaiyO~
Recognize the man in the picture? He is none other than Anandbabu, albeit an aged, frail shadow of his former self. The man was in the news last year, when he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at CMC, Vellore, reportedly for de-addiction and rehabilitation and also for treatment of acute depression. He was earlier under treatment in an asylum at Bagayam, near Vellore. However, as his condition took a turn for the worse, Anandbabu was rushed to CMC on June 12, 2006. Returning to Chennai a month later, Anandbabu met a few reporters at his Defence Colony residence and denied all allegations of drug abuse, alcoholism or depression. He said that he was admitted in CMC for treatment of epilepsy triggered by blood pressure. Father of four children, the eldest among them now in college, Anandbabu is sadly consigned to the list of unsuccessful scions of illustrious fathers, a list that seems to grow longer at each visit…
But Anandbabu did make an impressive debut. Playing a wayward college student in ‘thangaikkOr geetham’ (1983), Anandbabu made the youth dance to his ‘dhinam dhinam un mugam’. Movies like ‘puyal kadantha bhoomi’, ‘kadamai’, ‘niyayam kEtkiREn’, (all 1984), ‘viswanathan vElai vENdum’, ‘bandham’, ‘and ‘iLamai’ (all 1985) followed. But it was the hugely successful remake of Mithun’s ‘Disco Dancer’ that catapulted Anandbabu to fame. Titled ‘paadum vaanambaadi’ (1985), the movie had Shankar-Ganesh adhering faithfully to Bappi Lahiri’s feet-tapping numbers and Anandbabu’s dexterous steps more than made up for his inadequate histrionics. I remember watching the movie with my schoolmates and the next few weeks saw us assiduously attempting to emulate Anandbabu’s lithe movements. This success could not sustain Anandbabu’s fledgling career, though. Only some nondescript movies came his way in the following years. It was some years later that Mukta Srinivasan called upon Anandbabu to essay one of the three lead players, the others being Karthik and Kanaka, in his offbeat ‘ethirkaatRu’ (1990). Though the movie sank without a trace, Anandbabu commenced an invigorating fresh innings that year with significant roles in successful movies like ‘pudhu vasantham’ and ‘puriyaadha puthir’. The following year, his performance showed marked improvement in movies such as ‘sigaram’, ‘idhaya oonjal’, ‘eswari’, ‘MGR nagaril’, ‘puththam pudhu payaNam’ and ‘thaayamma’. K. Balachandar extracted from Anandbabu a noteworthy portrayal of a disenchanted youth for his ‘vaanamE ellai’ (1992), the same year that saw some more releases like ‘kaathalukku kaNNilai’ and ‘reNdu peNdaatti kaavalkaaran’. ‘en idhaya raaNi’, ‘naan pEsa ninaipathellaam’, ‘sooriyan chandiran’ and ‘chEran paaNdian’ followed in 1993. And with ‘watchman vadivElu’, ‘pattukkOttai periappa’ and ‘maNi rathnam’ (all 1994), Anandbabu found himself banished to oblivion once again, this time perhaps forever, not counting few forgettable cameos in few forgettable movies in the ensuing years.
Nagesh has gone on record recalling with a shudder his own close brush with death when he battled with liver cirrhosis caused by years of alcoholism and his subsequent miraculous recovery. Anandbabu did not seem to have learned from his father’s experience, and even as his career graph showed ominous trends of decline, he was inclined to hit the bottle with vengeance. He seemed determined to make a new beginning around two years ago when he announced that he was going to work with Director Charan as his assistant. But then came the news of his multiple problems and hospitalization…
Week after week I watch SPB’s program on Jaya TV, and every time I hear the title track ‘ennOdu paattu paadungaL, ellOrum sErndhu aadungaL’, I cannot help recalling a sprightly youth with an infectious smile dancing nimbly for the original song…
* * * *
‘You are fit to be a director!’ exclaimed an admiring L.V. Prasad when the unassuming actor suggested a different approach to a shot than the one envisaged by Prasad. And the actor who received this encomium from the venerable director was none other than Nagesh! But then Nagesh was always a thinking actor, an intelligent and innovative artiste who incorporated his distinct individual touches to the characters that he was called upon to play. Some of his successful on screen portrayals were even spontaneous inspirations from quirky mannerisms of real life people that he had come across. The aspiring director Chellappa describing a horror sequence in ‘kaathalikka nEramillai’ was inspired by Dada Mirasi’s style of narrating a story, Dharumi’s petulant soliloquy in ‘thiruviLaiyaadal’ was a take off on a personage called Mylapore Krishnanswami Iyer whom Nagesh had observed talking to himself at the Mylapore temple tank , and so on…. Chinnappa Devar even offered to produce a movie with Nagesh as director. Formidable stalwarts like Sridhar and K. Balachandar used to accept Nagesh’s brilliant suggestions with alacrity..
But when Nagesh finally turned director to promote the fortunes of his son, the movie was a commercial catastrophe and suffered a brusque exit from the theaters within weeks of its release. The title ‘paartha gyabagam illaiyo’ was perhaps prophetic, for no one recalls the movie today..
‘paartha gyabagam illaiyo’ (1985/ A.R. Enterprises) was produced by Valliammai and directed by Nagesh. Dialogues were written by Began. The movie starred Anandbabu, Ramya Krishnan, Rajiv and Radha Ravi.
* * * *
Nagesh had entrusted the music of the movie to his old friend MSV. In the good old days, Nagesh had watched with wonder MSV and Kannadasan sitting together and creating magic. And now summoned by Nagesh, the mellisai mannar came happily to work on the movie’s album. True, there can be absolutely no comparison whatsoever with the prodigious works that the master churned out in his prime. Nonetheless, for an artiste in his waning years, MSV’s work in ‘paartha gyabagam illaiyo’ is indeed praiseworthy. Some of the songs in the album enjoyed ephemeral airtime and were then quietly forgotten.
There were 6 songs in all, with lyrics by Vaali:
ettu thikkum etti vida- SPB
kaNNai simittum kattazhagan- SPB & P. Suseela
oNNum thONaliyE- S. Janaki
ananda veeNai meetiyadhaarO- SPB & Vani Jairam
thEdugiRaaL oru dEvadhai- SPB
enakku therinjavaraiyilE- MSV
* * * *
I have picked two of my favourite numbers from the album for today-
Listen first to the rousing ‘ettu thikkum etti vida, rettai thavil saththam vara’ by SPB, with scintillating accompaniment on the Nadaswaram by T.E. Pazhaniswami. MSV sets the sandham to a superb sudhdhadhanyasi, and weaves together a tantalizing trellis of innovative orchestration onto the lines. With the inventive juxtaposition of the guitar and the drums onto the nadaswaram and thavil, the master juggles a jugalbandhi that shows that there were years of creativity still left in him. SPB makes merry as always, embellishing the song with his joyous ebullience. I remember watching this song on the TV- Anandbabu’s agile steps did ample justice to this elegant composition..
Listen to ettu thikkum etti vida
The next song is the dreamy ‘ananda veeNai meetiyadhaarO isai koottiyathevarO’ by SPB & Vani Jairam. The tastefully conceived pallavi offers delightful avenues for the singers to explore, and they do so in spellbinding style. The interludes may lack the vibrant opulence of MSV of yore, but are nevertheless exquisitely arranged with the intricate charaNams bearing the signature of the craftsman all over…
Listen to ananda veeNai meetiyadhaarO
Like I said, these songs cannot hold a candle to the mellisai maanar’s immortal works in the 60s and the 70s. Nonetheless, there is an appeal in them that is hard to describe, and harder to resist…
puththaaNdu vaazhthukkaL to all!
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