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From: bb on: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:57 pm
Song of the Day: MSV and Jolly Abraham- Part V.
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/956.html
- Saravanan writes:
MSV and Jolly Abraham- Part 5
The other composition of MSV that Jolly Abraham rendered in 1980 was delightful duet with S. Janaki, ‘Oduvathu azhagu ratham’ from ‘deiveega raagangaL’. Srikanth, Vadivukkarasi, Surulirajan, ISR, V. Gopalakrishnan, Sachu, Leela and Pushpa acted in the movie that was written and directed by A. Veerappan. Srikanth played a sitar player who seduces a series of women. The story revolves around 3 such jilted women who end their lives and then hover around him as ghosts seeking vengeance. The movie was treated at the marquee with the contempt it deserved. A. Veerappan ought to have stuck to what he knew best- writing dialogues for comedy sequences!
Listen to ‘Oduvathu azhagu ratham’ from deiveega raagangaL (1980/Aachi Cine Arts)
Sung by Jolly Abraham & S. Janaki
Lyrics by Kannadasan
Music by M.S. Viswanathan
You would have realized that it is this pleasing song that manages to salvage the movie from total oblivion. MSV’s mastery over his craft is evident all through… the allure of the accordion that arrests the listener from the opening, the different delineation that Janaki gives to her lines of the pallavi, the subtle percussion all through, the shift to the tabla in ‘kalyaaNa peN allavO’ in particular, the wonderfully designed charaNams that flow so seamlessly…
* * * *
Turning the pages of the 1981 chronicle, we come across the graceful Malayalam duet ‘Omal kalalaya vasangaLE’ composed by MSV that Jolly Abraham and Vani Jairam sang for the movie ‘kOLiLakkam’.
In Tamil, the MSV album in which Jolly Abraham found place was thiruppangaL. The movie had Jaiganesh, ‘Fadafat’ Jayalakshmi and Radhika in its cast and was directed by Joseph Anandan. ‘Oraayiram thiruvaasagam’ from the movie was earlier featured as SOTD here:
http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5227
Jolly Abraham got to sing 2 songs in the movie- ‘ennadi kalyaaNa peNNE’ with Sasirekha and ‘iravin veLichangaL’ with Ramola.
Listen to ‘ennadi kalyaaNa peNNE’ from thiruppangaL (1981/Maharani Productions)
Sung by Jolly Abraham & B.S. Sasirekha
Lyrics by Kannadasan
Music by M.S. Viswanathan
The following year, the lone MSV composition that Jolly Abraham sang, along with Malaysia Vasudevan and S.N. Surendar, was ‘delhikku raaja paLLikku pOnaa sandhOsham thaanE ellOrukkum’ (oru vaarisu uravaakiRathu/Trinity Creations). Jolly’s lines were filmed on veteran Jaishankar who played a good-natured Pathan. And in 1983, Jolly sang in MSV’s home production ‘silk silk silk’ (Sri Ganesh Kalamandir). The song was the operatic duet ‘ennai vittu pirindha kaadhalan’ with Vani Jairam.
And with that we come to the end of the retrospective of the songs that Jolly Abraham sang under the baton of the Mellisai Mannar. A short and sweet association that bequeathed a dozen delights. True, most of these songs were for nondescript movies and would have never come to our notice had it not been for Radio Ceylon; and even then found only ephemeral popularity and have been lost subsequently in the relentless march of time. Again, these songs would never find inclusion in any compilation of the best compositions of MSV. Nonetheless, they do have an endearing appeal that would secure for them a place, howsoever humble, in the annals of tfm.
* * * *
Jolly Abraham sang the popular duet ‘rEkha rEkha’ (kaatRukkena vEli) with P. Suseela in Sivaji Raja’s music in 1982. The song found place in the SOTD parade here:
http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2462
After a long hiatus, Ilaiyaraja sent for Jolly Abraham to sing the song ‘oru chinna maNikkuyilu sindhu padikkudhadi’ with Bhavatharini for the movie kattappanchayathu (1996).
Jolly acted in the Malayalam movie ‘aakramanam’ (1981/Bhavani Rajeswari Productions) in which he sang the song ‘Odum thira oNaam thira’. The same year he played a cameo in the Tamil movie ‘kiLinjalgaL’ (Sunitha Cine Arts). The movie was dubbed in Malayalam as ‘Ruby my darling’ in 1982.
Jolly Abraham is an A grade artiste of All India Radio and has featured in several Doordarshan programs as well.
* * * *
Jolly Abraham sang a set of devotional songs for Madras Pentecostal Assembly which became immensely popular. And this led to Jolly recording 14 volumes of gospel songs for MPA. Subsequently, Jolly trained his focus on devotional songs and is today the foremost among gospel singers of the South. He sang for many non-film devotional albums, the songs of which found frequent airtime. Songs such as yEsu en parikaari, aah engum inbam, sandhOsham poguthE, yEsu endhan nEsaraajan, kartharai nambiyE, visuvaasam visuvaasam, agni jwaalai, thirumbi vandhEn and oru pOthum maRavaatha have all acquired the halo of immortal classics. Inreco’s ‘adhisayamaana suvesEsham’ featuring Jolly Abraham and Sasirekha is an album of perennial popularity. Veterans of Christian devotional works, including Jikki, Sister Sarah Navroji, P.J. Lipson, Sathy Victor, M.S. Seelan, B.M.J. Dhairiyam, Chitty Prakash Dhaiyiram, Llewellyn Samuel and EVA. S.M. Jayakumar have all worked repeatedly with Jolly Abraham to bring out songs of stirring piety.
Jolly Abraham established a music troupe of talented artistes called ‘Hosanna’. Led by Jolly, Hosanna has performed devotional concerts all over the world. Setting up his own state-of- the- art recording studio and audio company, both in the name of his son, Rohith, in Chennai in 1991, Jolly has released numerous devotional albums such as Christmas vandhadhE, maNavaazhvu, several volumes of Gospel Hits, 14 volumes of Hosanna, ekkalam (video), Bethalayin oli, Millennium Carols and Christmas Star that have found commercial and critical acclaim. Besides Tamil, Rohith Recording Company has brought out several devotional albums in Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada as well. Another innovative release is ‘sarva samaya sangeetham’, an album featuring lessons in Carnatic music. An English album presenting Biblical stories in songs titled ‘The Singing Bible’ is a recent success.
With an intention to serve the underprivileged, Jolly established a trust called ‘Musi-Care Cultural & Charitable Trust’ in 2001. Music events, including a 12 hour non-stop concert every year, are organized and the proceeds are used to buy wheel chairs, sewing machines, calipers, medicines etc for the poor and needy. Veterans like PBS, Yesudas, SPB, Jikki, S. Janaki & L.R. Eswari have performed willingly in these concerts.
Though hailing from Kerala, Jolly has made Chennai his home. His wife Elizabeth, son Rohith and daughter Reshma support him wholeheartedly in his desire to serve the Lord through music. Reshma and Rohith are quietly blossoming into popular singers in their own right. In an interview, Elizabeth had this to say of her husband, ‘As he would appear regularly on television, his face and voice were familiar to me. I liked his voice but was not his admirer. In fact, I was an ardent fan of S. P. Balasubramaniam. But when my father showed me his photo in connection with a wedding proposal, I was surprised. Now, my life is centres round him. I try to support him in his work. The Bible says wives have to be submissive. Many men misuse this verse, justifying their inclination to rule over their wives. Jollee believes a marriage can succeed only in a democratic atmosphere, where the wife can voice her views freely. If I can convince him he is in the wrong, he will give in graciously. I was only too happy when he decided to use his talent to glorify God. Despite an unwillingness to give up food that would harm his voice, he sounds good even at this age. It is only right that he dedicates such a gift to the One who gave it.’
And Jolly has this to say of his wife, ‘Criticism helps you clamber up the wall of perfection. She points out what is wrong in a performance; I am thankful for it. She assists me in my singing. For instance, she tutors me in the pronunciation of difficult Tamil words. It is better to make a mistake at home than in front of 5,000 people!’
Jolly never fails to attend social and cultural events, and wins over the crowd with his disarming smile and endearing humility. A unique Bharatanatyam recital titled ‘yEsuvE saraNam’ conceptualized and staged by Maryland’s Kalairani Natya Saalai opened with Jolly rendering the invocation "I will worship you in song, music and dance steps" in Lathangi Raagam. When the Mogappair Malayali Samajam held a grand celebration for Onam 3 years back, Jolly was the star attraction. He was the chief guest at the launching of the Powervision Christian Channel in Bahrain, and performed at the music festival organized by the channel in Doha last year.
Soon after the ‘kattapanchayathu’ song, Jolly took a voluntary decision to move away from film music and sing only gospel songs and propagating glory of the Lord. The verse from the Bible that stood by him in remaining steadfast to his decision was Isaiah 43:1 which says “I have called you by your name and you are mine”. Now in his 50s, Brother Jolly Abraham is a contented man, and devotes himself to the service of the Lord with serenity and joy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNMC0EyduhQ
Leave to the nightingale her shady wood;
A privacy of glorious light is thine
Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood
Of harmony, with instinct more divine;
Type of the wise, who soar, but never roam-
True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home!
- William Wordsworth (To the Skylark)
~ Concluded ~
Tags: M.S.Viswanathan
http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7587
