DhooL.com Song Of The Day

Song of the Day # 980

From: bb on: Sun Dec 14, 2008 11:39 pm  

Song of the Day: A Tribute to Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan- Part V

http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/980.html

- Saravanan writes:

isaiyaai thamizhaai iruppavanE

A Tribute to Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan- Part V





In this chapter of the KV story, we come across 2 movies, both made by the revered veteran A. P. Nagarajan. The first one, released in 1975, did average business; the second, released belatedly in 1977, was an absolute disaster.

The first movie was mEl naattu marumagaL (CNV Movies). Released on 10 May 1975, mEl naattu marumagaL was written and directed by APN. The movie starred Sivakumar, Kamalhasan, Jayasudha, Vani Ganapathy, V. Gopalakrishnan, Kanthimathi and others. The added attraction was the appearance of a French girl whom the credits identified simply as Ms. Lawrence. APN told a story of a western girl marrying a Tamil man, and how she transforms herself to a traditional Tamil girl, seeped in hoary Tamil culture and values. Yet she is unable to gain the acceptance of her husband’s family. The younger brother of her husband is a man with modern views and he falls for an Indian girl who is scornful of her native culture, smitten by western thoughts and fashion. The foreign girl steps in to prevent her husband’s family from disintegrating when the second son and his wife fall into the clutches of a villainous gang, and thereby wins the acceptance of the family. Ms. Lawrence had come to Chennai to learn Bharatnatyam, and APN picked her for playing the title role in his movie.

The highlight of the movie was KV’s music. The album had 5 songs, each one boasting a singular appeal. ‘kalaimagaL kai veeNai muzhanguthamma nalla kalaivaLam naadengum perugudhamma’ written by Trichy Bharathan has Vani Jairam singing for both the daughters-in-law. If the pallavi is for the western girl singing an ode to Indian culture, ‘kalaiyil pudhumai vENdumadi, indha kaalathaukku thagundha maatram thEvaiyadi’ declares the Indian woman asserting her modern views. KV alternates deftly between Carnatic and Western, while Vani’s shifts are swift and staggering.

‘pallaaNdu pallaaNdu vaazhiyavE, palakkOdi nooRaayiram nanmayellaam adaindhu’ was written by the venerable lyricist of many a stirring devotional song Geethapriyan. Sung by Vani Jairam and T.K. Kala, the song showcases the classical brilliance of KV. ‘How wonderful how beautiful’ written by Nellai Arulmani and rendered by SPB & Vani Jairam is a scintillating study in contrast with its feet-tapping western flourishes. KV got the catchy ‘sugam tharum sorgalOgamE, thEn suvai parugavE thEni nee Odi vaa’ written by the eminent journalist and writer Kuyili Rajeswari, and sung by Rajesh and Manohari. Rajesh and Manohari were popular stage singers in the 70s (Other movie songs sung by Rajesh include ‘un kaathai kodu’ for MSV and ‘aiyaraththu poNNu sonnaa’ for Vijayabhasker.) Beginning with an inviting whistle and a seductive ‘anubavikka kaathiruppathu iLamai, adhai aRindhE vaazhvil inbam peRuvathu inimai’, the song skips, hops and gallops with chorus voices lending joyful support.

We now come to the 2 most popular songs from this album. The first is the unforgettable ‘Life is a flower, love is a treasure’ written by Nellai Arulmani. KV invited Usha Utup to render this number and the remarkable crooner obliged KV and APN by singing the ditty with her characteristic effervescence, and appearing on the screen as well for this sequence. Usha commences with the dreamy ‘Love is beautiful for all mankind…’ and continues the song, lending the lines an air of carefree celebration. The line ‘come along hand in hand sing along with me’ bears the same tune as Jose Feliciano’s ‘listen to the pouring rain, listen to it pour’. The song was one of Usha’s favourites and it a regular feature in her performances. She had also sung the beginning lines as part of a medley in the 1972 Hindi movie ‘Bombay to Goa’. For critics who had imposed on KV a limitation of a Carnatic musician, this song would come as a startling revelation, for KV’s guitars and drums here show that a true musician knows no barriers… The song marked the debut of Usha in Tamil cinema, and KV ensured that it was a truly memorable debut….

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The remaining song is the soulful ‘muththamizhil paada vandhEn’ written by Poovai Senguttuvan and sung by Vani Jairam. The song features the Indianized foreign bride singing paeans to Lord Murugan on the stage. Ms. Lawrence acquits herself creditably even in the close-up shots, her lip movements matching the lines. Sivakumar is seen watching her admiringly from the audience, while Kamalhasan, Vani Ganapathi and V. Goplalakrishnan stand on the stage alongside Ms. Lawrence.

KV structured the song on Desh Raga. KV has this to say apropos Desh: “The suppression of the senses releases a negative force. The process of sublimation needs a spiritual path. Rag Desh can provide that. Its positive energy gives one serenity, peace, inner joy, right valour, universal love and patriotism. The mellifluous `Vande Matharam' has been aptly composed in Desh. `Vaishnava Janatho,' Mahatma Gandhi's favourite, is set in Desh, which is a favourite in both Carnatic and Hindustani streams of music. `Shanthi nilava vendum,' `Indha ulagil irukkum mandaril ezhil udayon engal tamizhan' (M.M. Mariyappa for the film "Kanjan"), `Leelaigal purivane' in the film "Meera," `Thunbam nergayil' in "Or Iravu," `Maadu meykum kanna' sung by Madurai Somu, `Muthamizhil Pada Vanden' — that I composed for "Mel Nattu Marumagal" are well known examples in Desh.”

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Vani Jairam was the dazzling new star in the Tamil film music firmament in the 70s. Harnessing her talents with glee, MSV, Shankar-Ganesh and Vijayabhasker had made her rise meteoric. KV was among those impressed by this gifted singer, and starting from ‘mEl nattu marumagaL’, KV summoned Vani repeatedly to sing his compositions. I chanced to speak to Vaniji soon after KV’s demise. Vani mourned the loss of KV. “Truly he was a genius like none other!” she exclaimed. She reminisced on the challenging songs that KV had offered her. She said that when she went to offer her condolences to KV’s family, KV’s wife caught her hands and told her that KV was singing her praises just 2 days before he passed away. Vani recalled that when she was called upon to receive the ‘Vibrant Indian Award’ some years back, KV was one of the guests on the occasion, and he had showered heartfelt encomiums on the singer.

Thus mEl naattu marumagaL was another winner from KV. With a varied variety of songs ranging from Classical to Pop, his usual team of obscure lyricists and a new generation of singers, KV had come up trumps once again. Legend has it that when KV was introduced to her as the music director of the movie, Ms. Lawrence was not too impressed, but when she finally got to listen to the songs, she bowed in obeisance at KV’s infinite talents.

* * * *

1976 passed by without any movie with KV’s music being released. And the sole album of KV in 1977 was ‘navarathinam’ (CNV Movies). As we have seen, APN set to work on a series of low-budget movies in the 70s. The initial movies in this series did well, but the latter ones did not fetch in adequate returns. Further APN had certain other financial commitments as well, and as a result, he found the going difficult in the mid 70s. He approached MGR to help him out, and MGR readily agreed to act in a movie for APN. APN worked on a story, which was indirectly based on his own earlier movie ‘navaraathiri’. This time, it was the hero who comes across 9 women in varied circumstances. Latha was the lead heroine, while Jayachitra, Sripriya, Jaya, Zarina Wahab, Subha, Y.Vijaya, P.R. Varalakshmi, Kumari Padmini, Nambiar, Pushpalatha, Isarivelan and others played the supporting roles.



However, the film, started in 1975, was over a year in the making. And the reason was not far to seek- the rapidly evolving political developments in both the national and state level. During the period when the country was under a State of Emergency, the DMK Government was dismissed in the beginning of 1976, and the Sarkaria Commission appointed to probe into allegations of corruption. MGR was preoccupied in strengthening his party and meeting various functionaries and engaging in political parleys. The shooting schedules went haywire as political bigwigs were dropping by all day, and MGR was forced to give them his time. APN could only watch all this in helpless silence. This inordinate delay had APN sinking deeper in debts, and he was not able to concentrate on the movie. According to Minnal (M. Udhuman Mohydeen), a film journalist who was the P.R.O. for many of APN’s movies, it was at this time that the harried APN became addicted to Pethidine. The movie was finally completed and released on March 5, 1977... Needless to say, the shoddily made movie was a commercial catastrophe. So much so that within 2 weeks of its release, some changes were made hastily and the modified version was released, which met with the same dismal fate of the original. The movie was an embarrassment to MGR at the time when his party had swept the parliamentary polls in March and was looking forward to win the state elections in June. MGR could however quickly brush aside this failure as his 2 other releases of 1977- ‘indRu pOl endRum vaazhga’ in May and ‘meenava naNban’ in August proved commercial successes. As for APN, the days and nights of anxiety coupled with the debacle of the movie finally took their toll- he passed away within a month of the movie’s release…



Thus ended the life of the great ‘Arutchelvar’ Akkamapettai Paramasivan Nagarajan, unsung and unwept. ‘Sri Krishna Leela’, another film that he had completed earlier was released belatedly in November 1977, and was also removed from the theaters within 3 weeks of its release. APN’s demise was a big blow to KV, as it was APN who brought KV into TFM, and going further, by his continuous patronage, who facilitated KV consolidating his position among the talented bevy of composers who enriched the portals of TFM in the 70s. When he launched ‘navarathinam’, APN confided to KV that he may not be able to entrust the music of the movie to KV as MGR might have other ideas. However his fears were in vain for MGR welcomed APN’s choice of KV. And thus KV got to compose music for a MGR movie.

In this context, it is pertinent to note that years ago, KV was slated to compose music for MGR’s ulagam sutRum vaaliban. Though what transpired behind the scenes is not known fully, MSV gives a glimpse of the events in his biography. He says that one day he got a call from MGR informing him that a grand film was being planned to be shot in the Far-East, and since MSV had hitherto not composed for any of MGR’s earlier productions, MGR wanted MSV to compose the songs for this ambitious venture. Some days went by and MSV was waiting for a date to be set for the song discussions and composition. It was then that he saw a startling announcement in ‘Dhinathandhi’ that KV was the music director for ulagam sutRum vaaliban and 4 songs had been recorded by KV for the movie. Some days later, MSV was further puzzled by a call from MGR, asking him sternly why he had not started working on the ulagam sutRum vaaliban album. MSV was firm in his answer- he said that since it was announced that KV was the music director of the movie, he would not be stepping in at any cost. MGR than asked to meet MSV in person, even then MSV was adamant in his stance- he said that he was already a composer of some reckoning, so it did not matter much to him even if he was left out of ulagam sutRum vaaliban. His entry in this stage would affect materially the film career of a ‘sangeetha mEdhai’ like KV and he asserted that he would not pave the way for this. MSV goes on say that some days later he received a call from KV himself, assuring MSV that he had no regrets and requested him to go ahead and compose music for ulagam sutRum vaaliban. It was only then that MSV agreed to work on the album. This incident goes to show the great qualities of head and heart that both MSV and KV possessed… Whatever may have been the background machinations, ulagam sutRum vaaliban was blessed with a magnificent set of songs composed by MSV…

Though KV missed the bus earlier, he finally got to compose music for a MGR starrer now. The lyricists, as usual, were many- Vaali, Pulamaipiththan, Na. Kamarasan, Nellai Arulmani and P.L. Santhoshi. Now we come to the choice of singers. As we know the enigmatic MGR shared a love-hate relationship with TMS. SPB after ‘adimaippeN’ and Yesudas after ‘ulagam sutRum vaaliban’ found acceptance as playback singers for MGR, and became regular fixtures in most MGR movies. However, there were only 2 MGR movies in the 70s in which TMS was completely excluded, one was ‘oorukku uzhaippavan’, and the other- ‘navarathinam’. And while KJY and SPB were also there in ‘navarathinam’, KV added a new dimension by making Balamuralikrishna sing for MGR. Balamuralikrishna was last heard in TFM in 1970- singing ‘Odhuvaar un peyar Odhuvaar’ and ‘ambalathu nataraja’ for KVM in ‘kaN malar’. After 7 years, he made an arresting comeback in TFM- in 1977 alone, he sang for Ilaiyaraja (kavikkuyil), Shankar- Ganesh (uyarndhavargaL) and KV (navarathinam).

The first song is ‘ungaLil nam aNNaavai paarkiREN, andha uththamraam gandhiyayum paarkiREn’ by SPB & Vani Jairam. A typical MGR anthem with unmistakable political overtones (yEzhai kadhai mEdaiyilE solluvaar, avar ettadukku maadi katti koLLuvaar, yaar enna kutRam seithaalum kELadaa, adhil endRum achcham illai endRu kooRadaa), the song is patterned in a classroom lesson mode where Vani repeats each line that SPB sings. Then we have the Hindi song featuring MGR and Zarina Wahab ‘ladkE se mili ladki, ladki se mila ladka, dOnO ka dil phir eh kahke dhadka’ which opens with Vani’s gazalish ‘aa gayE hain who tha jinka intazaar’. A grand prelude is then followed by Yesudas singing the pallavi. Vani had struck gold in Hindi in her very first song ‘bole rE’-Guddi. Yesudas had won the National award in 1977 for Chithchor, and thus KV had made the right choice of singers to sing this Hindi song. KV structures the 2 charaNams on 2 different tunes, with the interludes distinct in their Punjabi appeal.

KV then does the unthinkable- he gets Balamuralikrishna to render (with Vani Jairam) the gypsy duet ‘kuruvikkaara machchaanE, namma kadavuL sErthu vechchaanE’. While Vani springs a surprise by sizzling in this raunchy outing, Balamuralikrishna sounds distinctly out of place. I remember listening to this song often in the late 70s. KV calls P. Suseela to render the song ‘puriyaadhadhai puriyavaikkum pudhu idam, adhu purindhavittaal pozhudhellaam nee ennidam’ prefaced and interspersed with bits of conversation between Sripriya and MGR. The guileless MGR does not comprehend what Sripriya is up to, and she tries to explain what she has to offer in the course of the song!

KV gives Yesudas a quaint delectable solo ‘maanum Odi varalaam, maanadhiyum Odi varalaam, mangai thaniyE varalaamaa’. Yesudas sounds delightfully inebriated even while reprimanding the woman for running away from home.

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KV saves the best for the last- a magnificent song that is titled ‘English & Carnatic’ in the EP record of the movie. This song had a special place in KV’s heart. In an interview many years later, he spoke of this composition. Apparently MGR played to KV an English song and wanted KV to pick a Thyagaraja composition in the same strain and make a jugalbandhi of sorts. KV perceived that the Raga closest to the English song was Kalyani and hence selected the Thyagaraja krithi ‘yEtha unara nilakadaneeku’, and went one step further and added the popular Meera Bhajan ‘jO tum tOdO piya, main naahi tOdu rE’ to usher in a Hindustani ambience as well.

Thus the song commences with Vani singing with nonchalant ease the lines from the song ‘The Lonely Goatherd’ from the immortal English Musical, ‘The Sound of Music’, written and composed by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II.

High on a hill was a lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo
Folks in a town that was quite remote heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Lusty and clear from the goatherd's throat heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo
O ho lay dee odl lee o, o ho lay dee odl ay
O ho lay dee odl lee o, lay dee odl lee o la

Balamuralikrishna makes a grand entry singing a swara on the same lines as ‘High on a hill’ and after singing ‘High on a hill’, switches seamlessly to ‘palukku kanda sa kerugu geru nE’. Vani reappears with an attractive humming and sings the lines ‘Golden youth always rules, dwells in thought, dwells in love…’ Balamuralikrishna repeats these English lines, albeit with a distinct Indian lilt, and switches over to Carnatic classical once again, singing ‘yEtha unara nilakadaneeku’…. and therafter sings 'Golden youth' and 'yEtha unara' alternatively in what is an amazing swift jugalbandhi! Then comes another surprise and a third dazzling dimension appears- Balamuralikrishna breaks into a soulful Hindustani alaap and goes on to sing the famous ‘jO tum todo piya’. The crowning glory is the alternate rendition of ‘Golden Youth’ and ‘jO tum.’

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An extraordinary composition, a charming coalescence of three vibrant hues mixed and matched on an iridescent canvas…

* * * *

~To be continued ~


- Part 1: http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7679
Part 2: http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7696
Part 3: http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7711
Part 4: http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7805

Discussion Page in DhooL on this Song

http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7921