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From: bb on: Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:45 pm
Song of the Day: Oraayiram naadagam aadinaaL from sumathi en sundari.
Listen
- Saravanan writes:
kuyilukku kireedam
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait…
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
And the wait, long, arduous and frustrating that it was, has at long last ended. Tucked away in the list of the ‘Padma’ awardees that was released on the eve of this year’s Republic Day is the name of our own Pulapaka Suseela. The revered veteran has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan. The prayers of her innumerable fans have been answered…. After years of callous indifference to the South and marked partiality to the North, the powers that be at last woke to the atrocious injustice that was being perpetuated and deigned to bestow this belated honour on our dulcet diva. Well, let bygones be bygones, and better late than never. Let us all offer our warm wishes to the Living Legend and join in the joyous revelries!
‘I have no words to say….’ stammered a delighted Suseela (Sun News). Well, that may be, but we sure have plenty to say …. For who else is more deserving of this coveted civilian honour than this unassuming nightingale who has been a treasured companion for generations of fans, the ageless voice that has lulled us to sleep with the songs that throbbed with the warmth of motherhood, encouraged us to pursue our hopes and ambitions with words of affection and faith, wiped our tears of failure and disappointment with solicitous songs of consolation and care, coaxed us to soar on flights of delicious fantasy with verses soaked in romance and love, mirrored the angst that follows thereafter with empathetic lines of longing and loss, instilled the confidence to build our lives again with prophesies of a better morrow, escorted us across the threshold of marital bliss with auspicious lines of blessing, and watched amusedly as we discovered the miracle of parenthood with songs that reflect the related pride and joys… verily, laden with her mellifluous bounty, Suseela laces the rim of the circle of roles that life enjoins us to don….. Far from being an inaccessible celebrity, Suseela has lived each day, each moment of our lives alongside us, with her alluring songs as constant alter egos that laugh, cry, hope, rue, love, hate…in short, live… with us, inside us…
If that is the worshipful admiration that an ordinary fan has for Suseela, the stalwarts of the music world are no less in their heartfelt accolades… ‘No other mortal has been blessed with such a voice!’ declared an emphatic Janaki when she appeared on stage to congratulate Suseela on completing 50 years of singing. TMS and PBS have repeatedly showered encomiums on Suseela. “That was a golden era…when Kannadasan, TMS, Suseela and I worked together” reminisced a nostalgic MSV. The redoubtable Bhanumati has gone on record stating that Suseela had no parallel. Lata Mangeshkar flew down to Chennai to be part of the felicitations on Suseela receiving the first ever National Award for playback singing, such was her regard for her southern counterpart. SPB calls her affectionately as ‘namma veLLakkuyil’ and never fails to acknowledge Suseela’s singular contributions. Vani Jairam and Chithra speak of Suseela with becoming reverence. Ilaiyaraja goes misty eyed when he recalls the magical effect that Suseela’s ‘maalai pozhuthin mayakkathilE’ has always had on him. Vaali feels blessed that it was Suseela who sang his first song. Vairamuthu has enshrined Suseela in a halo of glory in his ‘indha kuLathil kal eRindhavargaL’. Even in a recent exposition he gushes, ‘kaN moodi Suseelavin kuralai swaasithaal netRikkuL uNdaana nerukkadi theerum! adhu kaadhukkuL yOgaasanam! thiththippu dhiyaanam!’. A.R. Rahman has expressed his admiration for Suseela on many a platform. Srikant Deva, who recorded a song with Suseela last year for the movie ‘sila nErangaLil’ is the latest in the long line of composers to come under the spell of the wonder voice… the ageless miracle that seems to bask forever in the lines ‘kaalathil vasanthamadi…naan kOlathil kumariyadi…’.
This, then, is the bewitching effect that this phenomenon called Suseela has on celebrity and commoner alike… such is the sheer magic of her song. Couched in the sweetest of tones, her lines flow with the felicity of every conceivable human expression. With exquisitely perfect enunciation, she flutters daintily over vowels, treats each consonant with impartial indulgence, respects every comma, every period. Her songs are immortal keepsakes, paradigms of perfection. Her achievements and accomplishments are many, many. And to think that even after she has accomplished so much, she is completely ignorant of her own greatness!
The Padma Bhushan is finally ours. The Dada Saheb Phalke Award will follow. It must.
* * * *
And in celebration of this honour, let us share one such slice of ecstasy, one such moment of pristine enchantment….
‘Oraayiram naadagam aadinaaL’ from sumathi en sundari
Sung by P. Suseela
Lyrics by Kannadasan
Music by M.S. Viswanathan
‘sumathi en sundari’ (1971/Ramkumar Films) was directed by C.V. Rajendran and starred Sivaji Ganesan, Jayalalitha, Thangavelu, Nagesh, Chachu, V. Goplalakrishnan, ‘Thengai’ Srinivasan, Maali and ‘Vennira aadai’ Moorthy. Based on a Bengali story by Prashanta Deb, the movie had Gopu drafting the screenplay and dialogues. Interspersed with hilarious moments, the movie was a breezy narration of a film star called Sumathi who is poised at the pinnacle of glory. Fame and fortune are hers, but so is an aching emptiness and loneliness. She longs to lead the simple life of a normal woman, but society does not permit her these simple pleasures. While traveling to an outdoor shoot, she gets down from the train in a small hillside station to get into another compartment, but the train speeds away before she could clamber in. She seeks refuge in the house of a surly young estate manager who is a misogynist to boot. Thankfully, he has never watched her movies, has never traveled far from his beloved tea gardens, and is unaware of the celebrity status of his sudden guest. Sumathi introduces herself as Sundari, and persuades him to put her up for the night. How she gradually enters his heart and keeps evading the reach of the film crew form rest of the reels. Sivaji as the ill-tempered estate overseer undergoing a change of heart and Jayalalitha as Sumathi pretending to be Sundari played their roles with characteristic panache. The movie had a successful run of over 100 days in most centers.
One of the chief reasons for the movie’s success was MSV’s wonderful album. There were 7 songs in all:
Or aalayamaagum mangai manadhu- P. Suseela
ellOrukkum kaalam varum- A.L. Raghavan, L.R. Eswari & chorus
Oraayiram naadagam aadinaaL- P. Suseela
pottu vaitha mugamO- SPB & B. Vasantha
oru tharam orE tharam- TMS & P. Suseela
yE puLLa sachchaayi- TMS & L.R. Eswari
kalyaaNa sandhaiyilE – P. Suseela
Kannadasan penned the lyrics for all the songs, save ‘oru tharam orE tharam’, which was written by Vaali. ‘pottu vaitha mugamO’ was the first song that SPB sang for Sivaji Ganesan, and the song was a runaway hit. The gently tantalizing ‘oru tharam orE tharam’, recorded but not used in an earlier movie, was included in this album. ‘Or aalayamaagum mangai manadhu’ is a rhapsody of marital rapture.
The SOTD finds place when Sumathi explores the sylvan tea gardens. The grouchiness of her unwilling escort does little to dampen her enthusiasm as she gambols amidst the tea bushes….the azure sky, the balmy breeze, the silvery cascades, the verdant greenery that covers the slopes, the industrious women cheerfully plucking tea leaves…… all beckon to her, and she responds with joyful abandon… she had donned several roles earlier, but this tea garden is miles away from that tinsel town,….. This is life… and she intends to live it to the fullest, as she fears that it is not bound to last long…
How much elation is encapsulated in MSV’s tune, and how does Suseela manage to coat each word with such buoyant happiness! The sheer joy of living tumbles down the lines. Listen to that breathtaking humming before each ‘Oraayiram’…. Isn’t it akin to a bird spreading its wings and soaring gracefully in the sky?
Tags: M.S.Viswanathan , P.Suseela
Pottu vaiththa mugamO: http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/20.html
http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7053
