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V.Kumar: Malarum NinaivugaL

Topic started by bb (@ 24.6.231.170) on Wed Jul 7 00:37:21 EDT 2004.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Saravanan is starting a new series on V.Kumar, titled 'V.Kumar: Malarum NinaivugaL'. He has been in touch with V.Kumar's wife and son and is planning a comprehensive series of articles on V.Kumar. I am sure this will be a treat for VK fans. This will also feature unique introductions to the songs by V.Kumar himself, in his own voice. Thanks to Govind and VK's family for their help on this.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Da Vinci (@ 24.194.148.121) on: Sun Sep 19 15:38:41 EDT 2004
  
  All beautiful songs, Saravanan. I tried to play 'unnai VaLthi...' in the keyboard and it had the subtle variations in the scale that is matched only by another masterpiece of V.Kumar, 'unnidam mayangugirEn'. As a few others have made a note of, it is only through this thread I have also known that so many beautiful songs that we would have easily attributed to MSV are V.Kumar's compositions !
  
  
• From: OISG (@ 195.229.241.188) on: Mon Sep 20 00:13:21 EDT 2004
  
  thumburu holder,job well done.Even my fickle idhya simmhasanam gets a focus! I am honoured.))
  
  I don t want to start a PS/SJ war in VK thread.Pax!Pax!
  
  
• From: vengayam (@ 203.197.203.98) on: Mon Sep 20 05:28:09 EDT 2004
  
  OISG,
  yes " nee enge " especially was what I had in mind.
  neenga Dubaillum patthu,pathinonru parpathundaa?!!
  
  
• From: Kupps (@ 192.76.80.74) on: Mon Sep 20 10:39:23 EDT 2004
  
  vengayam
  
  endha paththu? padhitRupathth-aa? innaanaaRpathth-aa? illa iniyavainaaRpathth-aa? :)
  
  OISG let thumburu know in which thread you want to start a PS/SJ war ;-)
  
  
  
• From: Bala (@ 68.38.80.142) on: Mon Sep 20 20:34:59 EDT 2004
  
  Saravanan
  
  Wonderful!
  Cannot forget 100 kku 100. A simple but brilliant movie. "Unnai Vazhthi...' is an excellent number, I can never foget
  
  ALso thanks for the Ranga Rattinam Songs. This was one film many I know (including myslef) were of the opinion that it's MD is SG. Even Dhool says so.
  
  bb,
  Can dhool be updated to show VK as the MD for Ranga Rattinam?
  
  
  Thanks once again Saravanan (more thanks in the offering ...)
  
  Bala
  
  
  
  
  Can Dhool be upoda
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 213.42.2.23) on: Tue Sep 21 00:13:20 EDT 2004
  
  Da Vinci/ OISG/ Bala, Thanks for the feedback!
  
  Ashwin, you need to have real player to listen to the songs posted here.
  
  
• From: bb for Saravanan (@ 24.6.251.57) on: Wed Sep 22 22:29:33 EDT 2004
  
  

  Part XI - Obscure Movies, Esoteric Songs

  
  We now progress to 1972, and we perceive the number of films that came VK’s way gradually increasing as the decade progressed.
  
  The total number of Tamil films that were released in 1972 was 56; and 19 of them went to MSV. His success story continued unabated this year too- albums like raja, kaasEdhaan kadavuLada, gnana oLi, thikku theriyaadha kaattil, piLLaiyO piLLai and raman thEdiya seethai ensured that the mellisai mannar remained firmly entrenched as the lead player in the field. KVM had a runaway hit in vasantha maaLigai. S.M.S marked his attendance with badhilukku badhil. Veteran C.N.Pandurangan came back one last time and his works in thiruneelakaNtar and ragasiya peN 117 left us longing for more. T.R.Papa was another old-timer who showed that he could fit into the scheme of 70s with avasara kalyaaNam and yaar jambulingam. T.K.Ramamoorthi waited for better times, and had to be content with sakthi leelai. T.V.Raju peeped in from Telugu to work on the score of raaNi yaar kuzhandhai and kanimuthu papa. Shyam opened his account in tfm this year with Modern Theatres’ karunthEL kaNNaayiram. It was a busy year for Kunnakkudi Vaidhyanathan; deivam alone was sufficient to thrust him into the hall of fame. As for Shankar-Ganesh, 1972 was a glorious year in their career, for they had the singular honour of working for MGR’s idhaya veeNai and naan yEn piRandhEn; even as their work in smaller films like avaL and pugundha veedu too fetched rave reviews.
  
  In this exciting year, VK saw 6 films falling into his lot, twice the number of his albums in the previous year. Sadly, all but one seem to have been forgotten today. Little known films; lesser-known songs…
  
  * * * *
  
  The first album we’ll be taking from the 1972 VK collection is unakkum enakkum (Geetha Chitra).
  
  By now ‘makkaL kalaignar’ Jaishankar was a best-selling name in Tamil Cinema, and many a small-time producer found it rewarding to make a small-budget venture with Jai as the hero. Jai might have felt that he too ought to have a share in the takings, and hence produced ‘unakkum enakkum’ under the banner Geetha Chitra.
  
  The film had Jai, Bharathi, Cho, veNNiRa aadai Nirmala and M.R.R.Vasu in the cast. The story was about a wager that a photographer has with a rich girl that he would marry her, while she vows that she would see to it that he weds another girl whom he hates. How he succeeds despite several hurdles forms the rest of the proceedings. The film was scripted and directed by N.S.Maniam.
  
  The album has 4 songs. Lyrics were by Kannadasan & Alangudi Somu.
  
  The first is the intoxicating rum..idhu rum…madhuram by TMS. TMS indulges himself with zestful élan; while VK’s imaginative tune and arrangements bring fetchingly to life the philosophical ramblings that a drunken stupor brings in its wake.
  
  Cheers!
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/rum.rm
  
  The next song we’ll be taking up from unakkum enakkum is the inviting dhaagam…adhu paruvathin oru vagai raagam crooned by a whispery Swarna. VK’s music is soft and seductive; the ‘enna sugam’ refrain inserted into the lyrics ad libitum adds to the sultry ambience.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/dhagam.rm
  
  When I mentioned this song to Swarna, she was filled with nostalgic memories. She recalled how Jaishankar was present during the recording, and said that he had warm words of praise for VK’s work. Jai’s cheerful presence encouraged the singers to give their best, she added.
  
  Among the other two songs in the film, ‘naan ennum agandhai koNda aaNkulathin munnE peNgaL’ starts off with PS & Chorus spewing forth revolutionary feminist thoughts, but TMS silences them, admonishing them for deviating from good old traditional ways!
  
  The last song in the album is the jaunty ‘thavamaai thavamirundhu’ (patteduthu virikkava, paneerai theLikkava). Sung teasingly by TMS, this is a folksy VK composition with interesting interludes.
  
  * * * *
  
  The next discovery from the ’72 excavation is the intriguingly titled Delhi To Madras (Sri Raji Movies). Jaishankar, ‘magic’ Radhika, Srividya and Manohar were in the cast. The film was scripted and directed by I.N.Murthi.
  
  The title suggests a thriller; perhaps a crime committed in a speeding train? Dashing Jai would, of course, bring the culprits to book in style!
  
  I have only 2 songs from Delhi To Madras. There are bound to be some more.
  
  The first is the punnagaiyO poomazhaiyO, pongivarum thaamaraiyO a TMS/PS duet. VK has, uncharacteristically enough, allowed the second interlude to be a replica of the first. It is cloaked in a hue of thrill and suspense, suggesting some mysterious on-screen action in the course of the song.
  
  Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/punnagaiyo.rm
  
  The next song is the rollicking paalu vikkiRa padma sung by Malaysia Vasudevan & Swarna. I mentioned this song to Swarna and then saw one of my long-held beliefs shattered to smithereens! I have always thought that Malaysia Vasudevan’s first film song was ‘maalayittu poo muditha maNamagaLaaga’ from thalaipprasavam (1973). I was also amenable to the idea that he might have earlier sung a few lines in ‘indhiya naadu en veedu’ (Bharatha Vilas, also 1973). But Swarna changed all that when she revealed that MV’s first ever song in tfm was this ‘paalu vikkiRa padma’, a duet with her, and thus it was VK who gave MV his first ever break!
  
  Swarna’s thoughts went back to that day in the erstwhile Golden Studio where the recording of the song took place. MV is said to have fallen at VK’s feet and sought his blessings after VK okayed the final take.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/paalu.rm
  
  * * * *
  
  The third album that we’ll be taking up is appa tata (Venkateswara Productions). The film starred Gemini Ganesh, Padmini, Major Sundararajan & Sowcar Janaki. It was scripted and directed by Malliyam Rajagopal.
  
  The story was fairly pedestrian; it revolved around the two women Radha (Padmini) and Devaki (Sowcar Janaki). Radha incurs the wrath of her husband when he finds that they have lost one of their sons due to her negligence, and unable to forgive her for this irreparable loss, drives her out. Devaki is the childless wife of a good-hearted doctor who offers Radha refuge, and then strives to bring happiness back into Radha’s life.
  
  There were four songs in the film.
  
  We’ll listen first to the lilting kinnathil thEneduthu eNNathaal moodi vaithEn where Radha laments the misfortunes that have befallen here. PS paints a poignant picture, and Kannadasan’s imaginative lyrics bring to life the anguish of a mother who sees one child die, while the other child too is not in her access. VK crafts a song of lingering beauty.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/kinnathil.rm
  
  The next song is the equally moving illadha piLLaikku naan enna solli thalaatta, sung by the remarkable Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi. Filmed on Sowcar Janaki, the agony of childlessness finds heart-rending delineation in Rajalakshmi's rendition.
  
  As I had listed elsewhere, many celebrated singers have brought out this angst of a barren state over the years; and each one had signed her song with individual class. Bhanumathi showed the way with her ‘poovaagi kayaagi kanindha maram ondRu’ (annai). T.S.Bagavathi, while singing the line ‘petRorE selvangaL petRaar, oru piLLai illaar enna petRaar’ moves the listener to tears (‘kaNNodu viN pEsum jaadai’- kavalai illaadha manithan). ‘nee puNNiyam seithavaL thOzhi’ (VJ in puNNiyam seithavaL), ‘enakku neeyum unakku naanum’ (PS in thaali dhaanam), ‘kaNNa unakku enna kuRai’ (SJ in poo pootha nandavanam), ‘ezhuthugiREn oru kaditham’ ( KSC & Anuradha Sriram in Kalki) are other evocative moments in this genre.
  
  Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi brings her own distinct touches, and these dainty nuances lift this song to lofty heights. Malliyam Rajagopal has written the moving lyrics himself; and VK weaves them into his haunting composition. A wonderful song!
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/illadha.rm
  
  The other two songs in the film were the semi-classical treat ‘thanga ratham yEri (Seergazhi Govindarajan) and the strident ‘naan ondRu ninaithEn’ (TMS).
  
  -’72 to be continued-
  
  
• From: e.hari (@ 199.67.140.77) on: Thu Sep 23 14:47:29 EDT 2004
  
  Saravanan,
  
  Wow. Thanks for the links. These songs are really obscure. I have neither heard these songs before, nor knew the existance of these songs.
  
  One quick note on the song 'Rum Idu Rum'. TMS voice sounded very different here. Also the pallavi had kind of R.D.Burman's'Dum Mera Dum' hang over with the words 'Rum Idu Rum' highlighting the inspiration more.
  
  I have a question for you. Where the hell did you get hold of these songs anyway?.
  Keep the good work going.
  
  Thanks
  Hari
  
  

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