sivakavi
here is the visual of the ever green song ‘vasantha ruthu’by mkt in the film sivakavi (1942) .
into limelight: rajam as muruga in ‘sivakavi' and (right) as rama in ‘seetha kalyanam.' photos | photo credit: photos: hindu archives
naidu’s second film ‘sivakavi’ (1943) with mkt in the lead was also a grand success. raja sandow initially directed this film but since he fell out with naidu, the latter took over its direction .
g. ramanathan and alathur subramanya iyer, guru of mkt, have done the background music. the bhagavathar - sivan - g. ramanathan - elangovan team continued in bhagavathar' s subsequent pictures sivakavi and haridas .
chennai: yesteryear actor s. jayalakshmi, who had acted with thygaraja bhagavathar in ‘sivakavi’ (1943), died of old age at her residence in besant nagar on saturday at 6 a. m. she was 87 .
this film was directed by raja chandrasekhar. g. ramanathan and alathur subramanya iyer, guru of mkt, have done the background music. the bhagavathar - sivan - g. ramanathan - elangovan team continued in bhagavathar' s subsequent pictures, sivakavi and haridas .
in the early timeframe of his career, he worked with comedians like ts durairaj, pulimootai ramaswamy, cs pandian and kali m rathinam and later worked in most of the films of mk thiagaraja bhagavathar as hero. krishnan was also a gifted singer and his numbers in ‘sivakavi’, ‘raja rani’ and ‘manamagal’ became immensely popular .
before the dravidian movement took roots in tamil part of south india, tamil cinema produced music whose peaks have never since been scaled. papanasam sivan' s lyrics and mkt' s singing resulted in numerous superhit songs. mkt was the first superstar of south indian cinema. this song is from the movie sivakavi, 1943 - enjoy .
this is the familiar story of one of the sixty three tamil savants of lord shiva, thiruneelakanta nayanar. wonderfully directed by raja sandow, thiruneelakantar was a great success and contains immortal songs and brilliant acting by mkt and seragalathur sama. the acting skills of mkt revealing the' bhakthi bhaavam' (devotion to god) in the fullest measure continued to dazzle in the subsequent films, sivakavi and haridas .
tagged ellis r. dungan, g. ramanathan, ghantasala, lyrics, marcus bartley, mk thyagaraja bhagavathar, mkt, modern theatres studios, moon, music, nila, papanasam sivan, pathala bhairavi, pon mudi, rajalakshmi, randor guy, sindhubairavi, sivakavi, song on moon, t. r. sundaram, t. v rathnam, tamil film, tamil lyricist, tamil movies, tamil songs, vennila
the run away hit “sivakavi” (1943), produced by sreeramulu naidu, featured m. k. thygaraja bhagavathar & the ravishing t. r. rajakumari. the latter played the role of a court dancer who loved the poet hero. the song & dance sequence, “kavalaiyai theerpathu” earned its place in the galaxy of immortal movie melodies of south india. t. r. rajakumari was considered the dream girl of tamil films in the forties .
tagged acharya, avm, avm studios, bharatanatyam, choreographers, dance in cinema, devadasi, guru muthukumara pillai, hemamalini arni, kannika, kumari rukmini, lakshmi, m s sarojini, m. k. thyagaraja bhagavathar, mangamma sabatham, mkt, nukambakkam janaki, papanasam sivan, rajeswara rao, randor guy, s s mani, sivakavi, sri valli, sriramulu naidu, t r mahalingam, t s rajakumari, vasundhara devi, vazhavoor ramaiah pillai
in film music this raga has been used effectively, though in small measure. one of the earlier songs in vasantha is from the film
sivakavi
sung tunefully by m. k. thyagaraja bhagavatar –
vasantha ruthu mana mohaname
. in the lines
mana mohaname
the notes
m, d, m, d
establish the unique identity of vasantha. vasantha is a lively raga and the happiness it exudes is contagious in this bright piece .
tagged avm, d. k. patammal, ellis r. dungan, films, filmy ripples, fim screening, g n balasubramaniam, haridas, j. p. chandrababu, m l vasanthakumari, m s subbulakshmi, mk thyagaraja bhagavathar, mkt, mlv, mm dandapani desikar, mss, nandanar, old tamil films, old tamil songs, s. v. venkataraman, sakunthalai, sivakavi, subramanyam, tamil film, tamil movies, tamil songs, vv sadagopan
an interesting anecdote relating to the making of sivakavi. papanasam sivan was writing the songs for this movie. he wrote a song in the raga sindubhairavi, mugam adu chandra bimbamo. when the song was recorded, the song sounded as' muhamadu' chandra bimbamo. when this was pointed out by mkt and others, papanasam sivan immediately realised that mohamad has no role to play in the life history of poyyadamozhi pulavar and changed the words as vadaname chandra bimbamo which became a super hit afterwards !
famous directors who operated out of the studio were s. m. sriramulu naidu, ellis r. dungan, a. s. a. swamy, a. p. nagarajan and popular duo krishnan - panju who directed their first movie in central studios. india' s pioneering cinematographer adi merwan irani worked in this studio for sivakavi and haridas. sando chinnappa thevar, a local lad who would later become one of the successful tamil cinema producers started his career as an actor in this studio .
many films in those days had more than one title.' poyyamozhi pulavar' or' sivakavi' was another superhit. it further reveals, just as the earlier movies did, the exceptional ability of mkt to sing pure carnatic music in a way the common man could relish. this is the story of the poet named' poyyamozhi pulavar' who derives that name from a boon by the mother goddess, the presiding deity of vairapuram. he is initially opposed to singing in praise of lord muruga but later undergoes transformation through muruga' s grace .
with the unprecedented success of “chintamani” (released earlier in 1937) and “ambikapathi”, bhagavathar became a superstar, and elangovan, a sought - after dialogue writer. he wrote for the bhagavathar hits, “thiruneelakantar” (1939), “ashok kumar” (1941), “sivakavi” (1942) and the biggest hit of them all, “haridas” (1944 .) all these films had besides the two stars, the legendary music composer papanasam sivan. the three became a sure formula for success and at one stage bhagavathar insisted that producers engaged sivan and elangovan even before meeting him !
` 'radhey unakku kopam... ..'' (chintamani)... . '` natakame ulagam... ..'' (chintamani)... . '` gnana kann ondru... .'' (chintamani)... . '` sivaperuman kripai... ..'' (satyaseelan)... . '` maa ramanan uma ramanan... .'' (seva sadanam)... . '` manamey kanamum maravathey... .'' (savitri)... . '` manmathan leelayai... ..'' (haridas)... . '` krishna mukunda murarey... .'' (haridas)... . '` dheena karunakaraney nataraja... ..'' (thiruneelakantar)... . '` characharangal varum... .'' (thiruneelakantar)... . '` vun azhagai kaana... .'' (thiruneelakantar)... . '` unnai kandu mayangaatha...'' (ashok kumar)... . '` satrey sarinda kuzhaley... .'' (ambikapathi)... . '` vadanamey chandra bimbamo... .'' (sivakavi)... . '` kavalayai theerpathu naattiya kalayey''... . (sivakavi)... . '` soppana vaazhvil...'' (sivakavi)... '` nee illaamal anuvum asaiyumo... .'' (pankajavalli)... '` enthan idathu tholum kannum... .'' (sakunthalai)... and hundreds more! papanasam sivan created them all ...
starting from the film ‘sivakavi’ (pairing m. k. thyagaraja bhagavathar & s. rajalakshmi) it had very beautiful song sequence where the hero compares his heroine’s face to a moon’s crescent, though the frame does not show any moon, per se. the musical score was by g. ramanathan, the lyricist being papanasam sivan. by the by, the heroine of the sequence was s. rajalakshmi, the elder sister of late veena maestro s. balachandar. this song, “vadaname chandra bimbamo”, showing the romantic overture of hero & heroine, was a super hit song in the film .
between 1922 & 1943 raja sandow ruled the roost in silent (such as ‘veer bhemsen’ (1923) & ‘the telephone girl’ (1926) ) as well as talkie films in tamil & hindi. later he took to film direction and even had scripted for talkies. the ‘reformist’ sandow brought many reforms to tamil cinema & spearheaded making social themed movies with messages. he was also initially handling the directorial part of the celebrated mkt movie, “sivakavi” but was replaced by sriramulu naidu. a pioneer in the first generation of indian film making, he also used to act in tamil & hindi till his sudden demise at his 48 in1943 .
in film music, thodi has been used sparingly. its complexities have been handled only by the best musical minds and to keep the character of such a raga intact is indeed a daunting task. ‘ellam sivan seyal endre’ from the film ‘sivakavi’ was one of the earliest appearances of this raga on the silver screen. the opening phrase ‘srgm / d, , ns’ clearly establishes the raga and the gamaka in the mpd region is most typical. in the line ‘inbutriruppor periyor... ’ the pancama and sadja are eschewed and the resultant varja phrase ‘gmdnrndm’ is beautiful, yet again typical of thodi. this composition holds semblance to a few thyagaraja kritis here and there, and why not? after all, thyagaraja paved the way for thodi’s bright presence .
the popular' vadaname chandra bimbamo' in sindubairavi, the rare gem' manam kaninde' in ratipatipriya, the duet song' vasantha ruthu' in ragamaliga, the everlasting' amba manam kanindu' in panthuvarali, the' ninda stuti' (censuring prayer)' vallalai padum' in chenchuruti, the sweet' thamiyen painthamil' in sahana, the classic' ellam sivan seyal' in thodi, the short but superb' kulirntha mugamanum' in kharaharapriya, the dance song' nattiya kalaiye' in natakurinji, the well known' soppana vazhvil' in vijayanagiri bhuvanagandari and the finishing song' sri kalyanaguna' in ragamalika still echo in the hearts of ardent mkt fans. apart from the above songs, there are a few more short pieces in classical ragas such as the song in kurinji,' thiruvarul thara innum' and a few other songs which go on to make sivakavi a memorable musical treat .
tagged 1936, 1957, a. bhimsingh, a. karunanidhi, a. rama rao, amara kavi, ambikapathi, arya mala, baliah, c n annadurai, chandrababu, chandrakantha, chandralekha, charlie chaplin, comedian, cs pandian, dr. savithri, ellis dungan, haridas, harischandira, indu nesan, kakka radhakrishnan, kala megham, kalaivanar, kalaivanar kalai arangam, kali m rathinam, kali n rathinam, kaveri, krishnan - panju, kuladeivam, lakshmikanthan, m. k. tyagaraja bhagavathar, m. saroja, madurai veeran, managaiyarkkarasi, manamagal, mangamma sabatham, menaka, mk thiagaraja bhagavathar, mudhal thethi, muthulakshmi, n s krishnan, n. s. k nataka sabha, nagerkovil sudalamuthu krishnan, nallathambi, nsk, paithiyakaran, paithiyakkaran, panam, pavalakodi, pulimootai ramaswamy, purasawalkam, raja desingu, raja rani’, raja sandow, ramasami, rangin radha, rathnakumar, s s vasan, sakunthalai, sarangapani, sathi leelavathi, sathi leelavathy, sivakavi, t r ramachandran, t. a. mathuram, t. s. dorairaj, ta mathuram, thangavelu, tks brothers, ts durairaj, udumalai narayana kavi, uthama puthiran, v. l. ethiraj, vana sundari, vasantha sena, villu paattu, villu paatu, wedding
a raga that is suitable for singing in the evenings, a raga that ushers in the festive spirit and one that dispels fear and instills hope – it' s the raga vasantha .
vasantha
means springtime, and this raga has been suitably named since all that is associated with it is hope and positivity .
a vakra raga, the scale assumes colourful zig - zag patterns and has characteristic curves that make it very easy to identify. the notes in the ascent are sadja, antara gandhara, suddha madhyama, chatusruti dhaivata, and kakali nishada, not necessarily sung in that order. in the descent the suddha rishabha joins the string of notes completing the scale. vasantha is an ancient raga and has been prevalent for more than a 1000 years .
the classical pieces in this raga are numerous and usually medium - or fast - paced. thyagaraja' s
sitamma mayamma
and
etla dorikithivo
, dikshitar' s
maragathalingam
,
brihadambikayai
and
hariharaputram
, papanasam sivan' s
maal maruga
and
maa dayai
are all outstanding compositions in this refreshing raga. one cannot forgetthe dancers' favourite in this raga –
natanam adinar
by gopalakrishna bharati .
the songs of the maestro ilayaraja in this raga have a charming appeal. the exemplary piece by ilayaraja in this raga is
andhi mazhai
from
raja paarvai
. sung by s. p. balasubramaniam and s. janaki, this song stands out in the minds of music lovers for its classy presentation and the aalaap s that feature in it. the very opening
mmmm / gmdmg. .
hits the nail on the head and sets the tone for a vasantha - raga treat .
maan kanden
from
raja rishi
, sung by jesudas and vani jayaram, explores a sensual facet of vasantha raga. the song is presented in a grand manner with rich orchestration and brilliant background scores. in the lines
naan ennai kaanen
the suddha rishaba touch is pronounced and lends regality .
vandanam en vandanam
from
vaazhve maayam
is a lesser - known composition in vasantha. the composer gangai amaren brings forth a fresh flavour in the raga and this piece is sung by s. p. b .
the song
minsara kanna
from the film
padayappa
, with music by a r rahman, is a mind - blowing piece in vasantha. the robust voices of srinivas and nityasree coupled with tongue twisting jathi - s and massive orchestrations made this song popular. the starting note, the antara gandhara in the upper octave is striking and the numerous frills and forays are stunning .
in the film
pirivom sandhippom
, composer vidyasagar has come up with a piece in vasantha that merits mention. the song
kanden kanden
is a catchy one, and as with all raga - based songs it forms an instant rapport with the listener .
the hindustani raag girija closely resembles vasantha. our young readers would relate to vasantha raga through the varnam
ninnu kori
. such pieces are evergreen and well - loved .
s. rajam, veteran classical musician, musical savant, guru and much applauded painter with a style of his own recently turned 90. rajam, blessed with an agile mind and good health, rajam has been felicitated by many cultural associations in the city. at ‘ulagaayudha’ (cinema as weapon of the world), an event organised recently few days ago at the chennai trade centre, filmmaker jahanathan, rajam was felicitated as the oldest living tamil cinema hero and was presented a purse of rs. 10, 000. interestingly this amount was contributed exclusively by the crew of assistant directors of jahanathan’s latest offering now on sets .
during the 1930s, rajam enjoyed a brief but bright innings as a movie hero playing the lead role in three films out of which his first, ‘seetha kalyanam’ (1934), was the most successful. papanasam sivan had just relocated to madras in search of greener pastures .
in the metropolis, the capital of the sprawling madras presidency, he found a good samaritan in a mylapore lawyer, v. sundaram iyer. sivan taught music to the lawyer’s children, the eldest son, a strikingly handsome artistic teenager, and his sister jayalakshmi. this handsome lad, hardly fourteen and charismatic was rajam. he became the first disciple of papanasam sivan .
rajam, who went to p. s. high school, had a flair for drawing and painting and his father had him admitted into the madras school of fine arts. besides all this and those were not all. rajam was also an avid moviegoer. rajam saw many silent films in a tent cinema located in an open space behind the p. s. high school compound. to this day he remembers the name of a movie he saw — ‘nal damayanthi’ (hindi) .
v. shantaram, wrote to a madras - based movie magazine, ‘sound and shadow’ seeking help to make a tamil film using the sets, props and all of his hindi film, ‘sairandhri’ (1933, india’s first film in colour). the film had not done well and the company was trying to cut its losses by launching a tamil film using the same re - usable materials. the magazine was being run by the talented trio, muthuswami iyer (later filmmaker under the name, ‘murugadasa’), a. k. sekhar (art director, production designer, and master of all, and later a big name in south indian cinema), and k. ramnoth. a rich impresario and fine arts - lover, and talent scout and all, g. k. seshagiri, financially backed them .
soon the trio, seshagiri, the mylapore lawyer, his children, rajam, jayalakshmi and the youngest son, the seven year old prodigy, s. balachandar, and members of an amateur drama troupe boarded a train at madras to miraj en route to kolhapur. accompanying them was papanasam sivan, unaware that his journey to fame had just begun .
rajam faced a movie camera for the first time in ‘seetha kalyanam’ (1934). a prabhat production it was directed by the well known marati and hindi filmmaker of his day, baburao phendharkar. the success of ‘seetha kalyanam’ brought its handsome singing hero rajam into limelight. that was the period when most tamil movie heroes came from theatre and not many were as handsome and charismatic as rajam! his aristocratic bearing, sharp features and slim figure made him a favorite of women of all ages !
one of the interesting — and unexpected — reactions to ‘seetha kalyanam’ deserves mention. in the movie jayalakshmi who was the real life sister of rajam played sita. some prudish prurient sordid - minded folks objected to such pairing. according them it was incest! and a gross insult to the epitome of female decorum and chastity sita, and to the epic ramayanam! they took v. sundaram iyer, their father (he played janaka) for permitting such ‘immoral casting! ’
some of the songs that rajam sang in ‘sita kalyanam’ became popular. ‘nal vidai thaarum…’ (raga kalyani, based on ‘amma raavamaa…’) …. ‘kaaranam ethu swami…. ’ (raga kaanada based on the purandaradasa composition, ‘sevaka kana ruchirey ...) with that papanasam sivan had made his debut in cinema .
rajam’s next movie was ‘radha kalyanam’ (1935). it was produced by meenakshi movies and directed by c. k. sathasivan better known as ‘saachi. ’ rajam played lord krishna while radha was the noted star of yesteryear, m. r. santhanalakshmi. a married brahmin woman from the temple town, kumbakonam, she entered tamil theatre and made a mark with her good looks, buxom figure and singing talents and skills. saachi, a keen talent scout brought her into movies with this film. santhanalakshmi was much older to rajam and not surprisingly he felt embarrassed in doing the romantic sequences !
later in 1948 rajam worked as music composer (with no credit) and also sang a song off - screen, ‘kaathal puyalthaniley thurumbupol…’ in v. shantaram’s ‘nam nadu. ’ the celebrated indian filmmaker made a hindi film ‘apna desh. ’ he dubbed it in tamil and released a hindi version in andhra with songs in telugu! m. l. vasathakumari sang off - screen for the heroine, (pushpa hans) .
this writer found in his modest ‘archives’, a magazine interview with rajam by the icon of tamil literature, kalki (ra. krishnamurthy). it appeared in ‘ananda vikatan’ of 1930s when kalki was its associate editor. here follow extracts translated from the tamil original…
s. rajam: certainly! acting is important and equally important is the delivery of dialogue. but in tamil cinema nobody really bothers about it! much of it is written only a few days before the shooting and what does it prove ?
more or less you are right! dialogue writers should know something about cinema and acting. but here it is not so! they write long sentences in high - flown language and nobody talks like that! so you cannot act in a realistic manner… it’s all stagy and stilted…. artificial! they don’t take any care about minor roles… in a film all roles big and small are important…
let’s take my recent film, ‘rukmini kalyanam. ’ the director did not know tamil but in a way it helped us! he (balji phendharkar) was also the writer. his dialogue was translated and we spoke them. if we made any mistakes he would spot them at once! he was also a fine actor… and he was very brilliant... of course all are not so !
jayalakshmi acted as seetha in ‘seethakalyanam’ (1934), directed by v. shantharam. in fact, her whole family acted in the film. her father, sundaram iyer, played dasarathar while her brother s. rajam played ramar. another brother, veena exponent s. balachandar, who later became a popular director - actor, also did a role in the movie .
jayalakshmi’s granddaughter is actor jayashree, who played the female lead in movies ‘thendraley ennai thodu’ and ‘thirumathi oru vegumathy’ .
jayalakshmi is survived by her husband k. swaminathan and three children. her body was cremated at the besant nagar crematorium .
corporation to take up construction of multi - level car parking facility on d. b. road
nostalgia his dialogues had a literary flourish that could be enjoyed even by the common man. know more about tamil cinema' s first star writer elangovan
h e created waves as a dialogue writer for tamil films in the late 1930s. elangovan' s lines were invested with all the richness of the ancient language. besides, he was the first to introduce lilting rhythms, sonorous strains of poetry, metaphor, simile, hyperbole and more into his writing. that was the happy period when actors and actresses spoke in their own voices, and ‘post - synchronisation' or ‘dubbing' was unknown .
t. k. thanikachalam, who wrote under the name of elangovan, was born in kanchipuram in 1913. a tamil scholar, he wrote short stories which appeared in many magazines, especially in manikodi. then he joined the tamil daily dinamani as a sub - editor which enabled him to live in madras. he looked around to write for cinema and got a major break in ellis r. dungan' s “ambikapathi” (1937) .
while he heard the storyline, dungan at once noticed the striking similarities between the love tale of the immortal poet kamban' s son ambikapathi and the princess amaravathi, and the shakespearean tragedy ‘romeo and juliet'. the celebrated hollywood filmmaker george cukor' s “romeo and juliet” (1936) was then being screened at madras, and dungan took elangovan to see the film several times and suggested incorporating some of the scenes of the english classic into the tamil script. one of them was the balcony scene. that was not all. dungan gave the text of the shakespearean play to elangovan marking some of the lines he wished to have in the tamil film .
in the balcony scene, when the poet - lover (mkt bhagavathar) takes leave of the princess (m. r. santhanalakshmi) after secretly meeting her, he says, “thookkam unn kangalai thazhuvattum…! ” (let sleep embrace your eyes !). these words were taken from the english play, “sleep dwell upon thine eyes…!' (interestingly, years later celebrated lyricist kannadasan used these words as the opening lines of a hit song. )
after “kannagi” he was on top and continued to be in demand and wrote films such as “mahamaya” (1944), “arundathi” (1943), “inbavalli” (1949), “ezhai padum paadu” (1950) and “pavalakodi” (1949). regretfully, the phenomenal success made him intellectually arrogant which began to have an impact on his career .
not many are aware that he was at first engaged by the producers to write “manohara” (1954, the box - office hit had sivaji ganesan, kannamba and t. r. rajakumari in major roles). but due to his delaying ways, the producers had no option but to take him off the project and bring in mu. karunanidhi who had by then tasted success with his cult classic, “parasakthi” (1952). the rest is history !
gradually, elangovan lost his hold and his later years were a struggle. he passed away in 1971 when he was only 58 .
during the dawn of the 1930' s papanasam sivan, then virtually unknown, relocated to madras in search of greener pastures. here in the metropolis, capital of the sprawling madras presidency, he found a good samaritan in a mylapore lawyer, v. sundaram iyer. mylapore was then the stronghold of successful lawyers. sundaram iyer became his friend, guide and patron. sivan taught music to the lawyer' s children, the eldest son, the strikingly handsome artistic teenager, and his sister jayalakshmi .
this handsome lad, hardly sixteen and stunningly charismatic with a wide array of inborn talents and acquired skills was sundaram rajam. he became the first disciple of papanasam sivan in madras and the guru boarded with the affluent amiable lawyer during the early days. rajam learnt carnatic music from the soon to be famous teacher and quickly acquired high degree of proficiency and professional skills. being a lawyer' s son his education was not neglected. he studied at the famous p. s. high school then on north mada street in mylapore .
he had flair for drawing and painting. and those were not all. rajam was also an avid moviegoer. not many are aware that in the 1920s - early 1930' s mylapore had its share of ‘tent cinemas' where silent films were regularly screened. the tickets were cheap with the ‘floor' going for one' kalana' or 3' dambidis!' rajam saw many silent films in a tent cinema located in an open space behind the p. s. high school compound .
meanwhile far away in kolhapur, v. shantaram, one of the greatest filmmakers of india then feeling his way in cinema with the celebrated prabhat pictures wrote to a madras - based movie magazine, sound and shadow seeking help to make a tamil film using the sets, props and all of his hindi film, ‘sairandhri' (1933, india' s first film in colour). the film had not done well and the company was trying to cut its losses by launching a tamil film using the same material. the magazine was being run by the talented trio, muthuswami iyer (later filmmaker under the name,' murugadasa'), a. k. sekhar (art director, production designer, and master of all, and later a big name in south indian cinema), and k. ramnoth (brilliant technician and genius of south indian cinema, sadly neglected today). a rich impresario and fine arts - lover, and talent - scout and all, g. k. seshagiri, financially backed them .
soon the trio, seshagiri, the mylapore lawyer, his children, rajam, jayalakshmi and the youngest son, the seven year old prodigy, s. balachandar, and members of an amateur drama troupe boarded a train at madras to miraj en route to kolhapur. accompanying them was papanasam sivan as music composer blissfully unaware that he was on his way to fame and fortune…
rajam faced a movie camera for the first time in ‘seetha kalyanam' (1934). a prabhat production it was directed by the well known marati and hindi filmmaker of his day, baburao phendharkar .
the success of ‘seetha kalyanam' (1933) brought its handsome singing hero, s. rajam into limelight. that was the period when most tamil movie heroes came from theatre and were not as handsome and charismatic as rajam !
his aristocratic bearing, sharp features and slim figure made him a favourite among women of all ages! jayalakshmi, his sister played sita. (that some prudes raised an objection to this pairing is a different issue) .
some of the songs that rajam sang in ‘seetha kalyanam' became popular. ‘nal vidai thaarum…' (raga kalyani, based on tyagaraja' s ‘amma raavamaa…') …. ‘kaananam ethu swami…' (raga kaanada based on the purandaradasa composition, ‘sevaka kana ruchirey…') the music composer was papanasam sivan making his debut in movies .
rajam' s next movie was ‘radha kalyanam' (1935). it was produced by meenakshi movies and directed by c. k. sathasivan better known as ‘saachi.' (remembered as the mentor of now sadly forgotten musician, n. c. vasanthakokilam) .
c. k. saachi hailed from a family of noted and successful lawyers of coimbatore. he was drawn to the new medium of cinema and he sailed into it with glee and gusto. he gave up law and learnt the rudiments of filmmaking and also underwent limited training in london .
a man of wide contacts in madras in its social and cultural circles he worked as associate director with the noted american tamil filmmaker, ellis r. dungan in his historic maiden movie ‘sathi leelavathi' (1936) .
rajam played lord krishna while radha was the noted star of yesteryear, m. r. santhanalakshmi. hailing from the temple town of kumbakonam, she entered tamil theatre and made a mark with her good looks, buxom figure and singing talents and skills. saachi, a keen talent scout brought her into movies with this film. santhanalakshmi was much older to rajam and not surprisingly he felt embarrassed while doing the romantic sequences! the film did not do well and few remember this movie today…
by now rajam married and as his wife was not in favour of his acting in movies, it was goodbye to cinema, romantic scenes with elderly heroines and all that…! but later in 1948 rajam worked as music composer (with no credit) and also sang a song off - screen, ‘kaathal puyalthaniley thurumbupol…' in v. shantaram' s ‘nam nadu.'
( randor guy found in his modest ‘archives' a magazine interview with rajam by the icon of tamil literature, kalki (ra. krishnamurthy). it appeared in ananda vikatan of 1930s when kalki was its associate editor. extracts translated from the tamil original. )
s. rajam: beshaaa! acting is important and equally important is the delivery of dialogue. but in tamil cinema nobody really bothers about it! much of it is written only a few days before the shooting and what does it prove ?
sr: you are right! dialogue writers should know something about cinema but it is not so! they write long sentences in high - flown language and nobody talks like that! so you cannot act in a realistic manner… it' s all stilted…. artificial! they don' t pay attention to minor roles… in a film all roles are important…
sr: let' s take my recent film, ‘rukmini kalyanam.' the director did not know tamil but in a way it helped us! he (balji phendharkar) was also the writer. his dialogue was translated and we spoke them. if we made any mistakes he would spot them at once! he was also a fine actor… and he was very brilliant... . of course all are not so !
with the music season going on in full swing, ragas are filling our systems with positivity and good vibes. a regal raga that one very often hears in kutcheris is thodi. thodi is the pride of our system of music, the imposing gamakas, stunning brighas all dazzle with all their glory in thodi. when delivered well, a thodi piece can lift any concert to sublime heights. the notes present in this raga are sadja, suddha rishabha, sadharana gandhara, suddha madhyama, pancama, suddha dhaivata, and kaisiki nishada. thodi evokes karuna and bhakthi rasa - s. the melakarta name for this scale is hanumathodi. bhairavi thaat in hindustani is the carnatic thodi scale .
carnatic compositions abound in this fertile raga and thyagaraja’s contribution to this raga is invaluable. thyagaraja’s ‘kaddanuvariki’, ‘koluvamaragadha’, ‘raju vedala’, and ‘dasarathi’, among others are glorious compositions while dikshitar’s ‘sri krishnam bhaja’, ‘dakshayani’ and ‘kamalambike’ are pillars of strength. shyama sastri uses the pleading quality in this raga to his advantage in compositions like ‘raave himagiri’ and ‘ninne nammi’. tamil compositions in this raga include ‘karthikeya’ and ‘thamadam en swami’ of papanasam sivan, timeless in their passionate lyrical appeal. ragam - tanam - pallavi can be sung in thodi with great aplomb owing to the numerous possibilities its notes hold .
thodi when sung full of plain notes, devoid of gamakas may not be sufficiently strong thodi for a trained classical ear. the varnam ‘eranapai’ is a delicate balance between gamaka laden phrases and plain notes in thodi .
in avvaiyar k. b. sundarambal sings ‘katradhu kai mann alavu’, avvai’s teachings, in thodi. this little song sequence is attractive in its phrases. the starting note pancama serves as an anchor in thodi. in the phrase ‘... kalai marandhu odhuginraal’ the signature phrase of thodi comes to the fore — ‘dnr, rsnd’. the refreshing music for ‘avvaiyar’ was by m. d. parthasarathy .
a stunning piece in thodi from the film vanangamudi is ‘ennai pol penn allavo’. this song tuned by g. ramanathan and sung by p. susheela is exemplary in its classical fervour and raga bhava. this song begins at the pancama and the very first phrase ‘pdn, pdm p, gmd’, points indubitably at thodi. there are several intricately woven sangatis in this song. the phrase ‘irul neekkum kann allavo’ the phrase ‘gm / md, md, nr, nrg’ sails in the varja pattern, very attractive and noteworthy .
in the ragamalika song, ‘oru naal podhuma’ from the film thiruvilaiyadal, raga thodi is extolled in the phrase ‘isai ketka ezhunthodi varuvaar andro... ’. what a complete infusion of energy m. balamuralikrishna gives as he belts out breathtaking brigha passages in ‘thodi... ’! k. v. mahadevan at his musical best .
ilaiyaraaja in varusham 16 sets the tone for thodi in his inimitable style in the piece ‘gangai karai mannanadi’ sung by yesudas. this piece set in the 7 / 8 beat combination (what we in classical music call as misra chapu taal) is a high octane number, full of energy. the song itself starts off with a viruttam, a fervent appeal of love. in the viruttam line ‘aadai kattum paynkiliye... ’, the rishabha in the upper octave is highlighted and the phrase ‘nrgmggrr’ shines brilliantly in yesudas’s silken vocals .
the film thodi ragam starring t. n. seshagopalan with music by kunnakudi vaidhyanathan has several instances featuring this raga. the song ‘thodiyil paada vandhen’ merits mention and has numerous flowery sangatis and indulges the adventurous trait in the composer, singer, and listener .
the maverick' s oeuvre: (from left) t. r. rajakumari and t. e. varadan in pavalakodi; mgr and bhanumathi in malaikallan; naidu with ntr and savithri and dilip kumar .
profile dynamic and hard working, sriramulu naidu made significant breakthroughs in tamil cinema. randor guy
( this is the first of a two - part article on sriramulu naidu. the author had the pleasure of knowing sriramulu naidu well during his brief, ‘brief - less, beardless' innings as lawyer in the chambers of the noted madras high court lawyer v. c. gopalratnam during mid - 1950s. during those years, he had the opportunity of meeting naidu - vcg' s client - often when he narrated his experiences in filmmaking. )
h e is the only indian film world personality, perhaps even elsewhere in the world who promoted and managed three motion picture studios, producing and directing movies in more than one language. that was not all. he produced and directed a single film of his – ‘malaikallan' (1954) in six languages – tamil (original), telugu, kannada, malayalam, hindi, and even sinhala .
‘malaikallan' created movie history, and even after half a century and more, it still sustains interest. the hindi version, ‘azad' starred two icons – dilip kumar and meena kumari .
such a dynamic and creatively brilliant person was s. m. sriramulu naidu (1910 - 1976). one of the key figures in the astonishing development of cinema in south india, he can be described the ‘coimbatore movie mogul.'
subbarayulu naidu munuswami naidu sriramulu naidu was born (1910) in tiruchi, where his father munuswami naidu was a station master with the south indian railway limited (sir), headquartered in trichinopoly .
after retirement, munuswami naidu relocated to coimbatore where he established a bakery under the name and style of davey & company in 1932, along with hotel davey on a leased premises on bank road opposite the coimbatore railway station. sriramulu naidu joined him after completing the intermediate course in college .
a workaholic, naidu slogged at the bakery. he baked cakes, doubled as carpenter and did hard physical labour. he was strongly disciplined and punctual, and a truly no - nonsense guy .
naidu believed in socialising and as a young man in his early 20s, joined the coimbatore cosmopolitan club around 1932. he described himself as ‘baker.' movies had begun to talk tamil in 1931 with ‘kalidas' directed by the ‘grand old man of south indian cinema' h. m. reddy and produced by ardeshir m. irani at bombay. that was the period when the few tamil films that were made were mostly produced in bombay, or calcutta or sometimes in kolhapur for there were no facilities for making talking motion pictures in madras till about 1934 .
working from calcutta, samikannu vincent along with others produced ‘valli thirumanam' (1933). sriramulu naidu decided to throw his lot with the motion picture business. he underwent training in premier cinetone studio in coimbatore and developed many movie land friendships and life - long contacts with the some of them. one of them was r. k. ramakrishnan chettiar, (brother of the famed statesman and onetime finance minster of india, sir r. k. shanmugham chettiar), who later founded along with naidu and others the famed central studios in coimbatore .
another friend was the equally dynamic and creative k. s. narayana iyengar in madras, who had promoted narayanan and company, and later, pakshiraja films. at first, naidu worked as iyengar' s agent and looked after his interests in coimbatore. later he became a partner in pakshiraja films, only to opt out and promote his own company, and make films under pakshiraja studios banner. he built his own studio, pakshiraja studios, taking over kandhan studio and rebuilt it to his requirements and other creative needs. naidu' s new studio was a model of discipline, cleanliness and one never found a cigarette or a ‘bidi' butt thrown around the campus .
central studios launched production and their first effort, ‘tukaram' (1938), was made in two languages - tamil and telugu. in the tamil version, the celebrated carnatic musician musiri subramania iyer played the title role, while the famed telugu stage and screen star, c. s. r. anjaneyulu did the same role in the telugu version. at the dawn of 1940s, naidu and iyengar decided to enter movie production and the two launched their maiden tamil production ‘aryamala' (1941). produced under the banner of pakshiraja films at the central studios, naidu supervised production also involving himself in all the aspects of direction .
‘aryamala,' the kaathavarayan folk tale, had up - and - coming singing star of tamil cinema p. u. chinnappa as hero. he had made a splash with the modern theater' s hit ‘utthama puthran (1939), in which he played a double role. in ‘aryamala' naidu introduced a new heroine to tamil cinema, m. s. sarojini .
the younger sister of another actress m. s. mohanambal, sarojini played minor roles in films. naidu gave sarojini the break casting her as the female lead. it also had t. s. balaiah, m. r. santhanalakshmi, n. s. krishnan and t. a. mathuram .
rajan maharajan - - m. k. thyagaraja bhagavathar. - - படம்: ஷ்யாமளா
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it is generally said, however, a pathos scene is difficult to naturally enact, it is even more difficult to be successful as a comedian as timing & body language have to contribute to its success. pure, vulgar - free comedy that stands out is a real tough job and all were not cut to deliver that .
in the very early talkie films, there was nothing like a separate comedian. it was only later, as part of the evolutionary process of cinema, comedians came into being in indian films to provide a relief from the main story line, which, often, was heavy with emotions .
the early cinema (we are talking about pre - nagesh period) had a bunch of good comedians such as t. s. dorairaj, kali n rathinam, t. r. ramachandran ,
sarangapani, ‘friend’ ramasami, a. karunanidhi, kakka radhakrishnan, ‘kuladeivam’ rajagopal, a. rama rao, chandrababu, thangavelu, muthulakshmi, t. a. mathuram, & m. saroja .
but the monarch of the tamil film comedians, undoubtedly, was n. s. krishnan (nsk) .
tamil cine goers laughed their guts out at nsk’s thought provoking jokes. nsk has often been compared to the legendary comedian, charlie chaplin. but, while chaplin scored with his slapstick comedy and body language, nsk relied more on his verbal humour, one - liners and subtle messages to the audience. his comedy, which also had its share of puns, was always wholesome at its best with no double entendre or misogyny involved .
as we cannot justifiably cover all the stalwart comedians who tickled our funny bones in a single article, we hereby restrict our current write up to the monarch of them all – n. s. krishnan .
n. s. krishnan was born as nagerkovil sudalamuthu krishnan in 1908 in a poor family. his childhood years were spent selling snacks in a theatre in his hometown & working as a ball picker in a tennis club. his lack of formal education was amply made up by his native genius & curiosity .
later, in his formative years he joined the celebrated drama company run by tks brothers. he was also proficient in a rural art form known as ‘villu paattu’ .
later he formed his own touring theatre group and traversed the length and breadth of erstwhile madras presidency with his plays, which always drew packed houses .
nsk’s entry into the celluloid world was through s. s. vasan produced and ellis dungan directed film ‘sathi leelavathy’, where he was introduced as a comedian. though this was his debut film, his second movie ‘menaka’ got released before ‘sathi leelavathy’ could hit the screen. however ‘menaka’ was adjudged the best movie of the year in 1935 .
it was during the shooting of ‘vasantha sena’ (1936), directed by raja sandow, nsk ‘met’ co - star t. a. mathuram and both fell in love. their marriage was held in a simple manner, while the shooting schedule moved to pune, with raja sandow presiding over the ‘wedding’. the couple got the honor of being the first real - life couple acting as couple of reel life too, between 1936 and 1957, when they did a whopping 122 films, as a pair !
n s krishnan, who popularly goes by his popular title, ‘kalaivanar’, rose from humble beginnings as a ‘villu paatu’ artiste who became a master in the art of repartee. in tandem with his wife ta mathuram, he regaled audiences, often stealing the spotlight from the lead stars. nsk was known to pen his comedy tracks himself and always ensured that he was never repetitive. noted lyricist udumalai narayana kavi usually wrote the lyrics for krishnan .
he also produced the hit film ‘nallathambi’, directed by c. n annadurai. he directed films such as ‘panam’ and ‘manamagal’ penned by karunanidhi. ss vasan’s magnum opus ‘chandralekha’ too featured krishnan in comedy tracks. there was a time in tamil cinema when no film was complete without nsk !
he also shared screen space in many films of the leading heroes, mgr and sivaji ganesan, and despite the presence of these titans always stood out with his comedy .
nsk went on to work as unparalleled comedian in as many as 150 films, mgr starred ‘raja desingu’ being the last one, released after his death .
on 8 november 1944, lakshmikanthan the gossip columnist & editor of ‘indu nesan’ was knifed by some unknown persons in purasawalkam and was admitted to the general hospital, madras as an outpatient. but the next day, lakshmikanthan was murdered mysteriously while still in the hospital. the police arrested eight persons as accused for the murder including m. k. tyagaraja bhagavathar and nsk. this came as a rude shock to their fans and the cine world .
after thirty long months of jail term they were acquitted for want of proof by the london privy council, thanks to the eminent lawyer v. l. ethiraj who argued for them at privy council at london. (the same illustrious lawyer founded ethiraj college for women) .
though n. s. krishnan did manage to pick up the threads of his life again as an actor post his release from prison, things were not quite the same & he was financially drained and his fortunes plummeted rapidly .
when krishnan was first sentenced to jail, mathuram took a break from her acting career. later she came out her self - imposed exile to generate revenues for financing her husband’s appeal to the privy council .
when nsk was in prison, t. a. mathuram started a drama troupe called n. s. k nataka sabha, which staged plays written by and starring s. v. sahasranamam. ‘paithiyakaran’ (1947) was one of those plays. later mathuram converted the troupe into a film production company and made a film based on the play. while the film, being directed by krishnan - panju duo, was in production, krishnan was acquitted released from prison. a new role was written for him in the film. nsk made fun of his stint in prison through the song jailukku poi vantha in which he described in prison life, his fellow inmates and the types of prisoners he met. mgr played a supporting role in the film.
sivakavi was a 1943 indian tamil-language film directed , initially , by p. k. raja sandow and later , s. m. sriramulu naidu . it starred m. k. thyagaraja bhagavathar , s. jayalakshmi , serukulathur sama , thripuramba , t. r. rajakumari , n. s. krishnan and t. a. madhuram . the film 's screenplay was written by thiru muruga kirubanandha variyar . the film was shot at central studios and released by pakshiraja films in coimbatore . 
sivakavi was a 1943 indian tamil-language film directed, initially, by p. k. raja sandow and later, s. m. sriramulu naidu. it starred m. k. thyagaraja bhagavathar, s. jayalakshmi, serukulathur sama, thripuramba, t. r. rajakumari, n. s. krishnan and t. a. madhuram. the film's screenplay was written by thiru muruga kirubanandha variyar. the film was shot at central studios and released by pakshiraja films in coimbatore.
sivakavi was a 1943 indian tamil-language film directed, initially, by p. k. raja sandow and later, s. m. sriramulu naidu. it starred m. k. thyagaraja bhagavathar, s. jayalakshmi, serukulathur sama, thripuramba, t. r. rajakumari, n. s. krishnan and t. a. madhuram. the film's screenplay was written by thiru muruga kirubanandha variyar. the film was shot at central studios and released by pakshiraja films in coimbatore.