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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: raj (@ 61.246.255.3) on: Thu Jul 29 04:15:14 EDT 2004
  
  Sara asusual W'ful writeup
  
  
• From: GK (@ 206.132.99.2) on: Thu Jul 29 10:50:45 EDT 2004
  
  
  I remember seeing this film as a kid, again probably during election times. There is a scene when Nagesh is absolutely stunned when Major explains he is blind and shows Nagesh
  how he manages to walk his home without tripping.
  Very nice movie indeed. As usual, I had ascribed these songs to MSV those days.
  
  
• From: sk (@ 216.52.229.254) on: Thu Jul 29 20:03:36 EDT 2004
  
  Major Chandrakanth...
  great movie, great music/songs and a deservedly great write-up by our great Saravanan!
  
  Major Sundararajan became so famous after this movie that he could be seen in almost every one of the movies relesed in those days!
  
  oru naaL yaarO is the best song.. a very melodious composition plus a very interesting choice of instruments to blend beautifully with the song situation.
  
  
• From: G.Ragavan (@ 203.126.245.198) on: Fri Jul 30 01:20:11 EDT 2004
  
  Wonderful movie! Oru naal yaaro and kalyana chapadu podavaa are evergreen, I feel. hats off to VKumar and everyone who contributed to that movie.
  
  
• From: muarbalu (@ 210.187.121.166) on: Fri Jul 30 06:57:43 EDT 2004
  
  Aalayam naayagan gopuram naayagi...anbinale poojai seythan vaazha vantha devathai...is the best of v.kumar.. this song from NANGOORAM acted by MUTHURAMAN, LATCHUMI.
  
  
• From: Bala (@ 199.67.140.77) on: Sat Jul 31 11:27:16 EDT 2004
  
  Saravanan
  
  Is it true that 'Thamarai Kannangal' was tuned by MSV even though VKumar is the MD for Ethir Neechal?
  
  I have read it somewhere. Or is it another discredit to Vkumar?
  
  Bala
  
  
• From: sk (@ 64.175.111.232) on: Sat Jul 31 16:57:11 EDT 2004
  
  Bala:
  
  Saravanan vandhu ungaLai nallaa udhaikkap pORaan! :))
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 213.42.2.25) on: Sun Aug 1 00:01:45 EDT 2004
  
  sk :))
  
  Bala, while its true that MSV did compose one song for Ethir Neechal, 'thamarai kannangal' was definitely by Kumar. Can we have a detailed look at these songs when we come to Ethir Neechal?
  
  
• From: Sathya Kabali (@ 67.85.218.179) on: Wed Aug 4 18:11:32 EDT 2004
  
  Saravanan and bb
  Sorry for my delayed response in this thread.
  Thanks to you both. This must be the wonderful tribute to V.Kumar. I am really happy to see many many fans of VK contributing here and appreciating a TFM MD who really did not belong to film world in his real life.
  Earlier in this thread my brother sk has already introduced me as a BIG FAN of V.Kumar. Thanks to Saravanan for reposting my experiences when Kumar visited our school when I was a high school student.
  
  Kumarin paadalkaLai enakku arimukam seythathu KByin padangaLthaan. Neerkkumizhi padam vanthapOthu paLLIp paruvam. Ithu nalla padam. Aahaa ithu arumaiyaana paadal enbathellAm theriyaatha vayathu. OrE pozhuthu pOkku cinema paarppathuthaan. Appa padangaLukku vara maattaar. Aboorvamaaka APN puraaNap padam, Devarin yaanai padam, avvaiyaar maathiri padam ippadiththaan varuvaar.
  
  Amma pakkaththu veettu music teacherudan nalla padangaLukku pOvaanga. Kooda vaandukaLum pOvOm. Tharai ticket 22 paisa eduththuttu angum ingum oduvOm; padam paarppOm; naduvil muRukku vaangith tharuvaanga; raaththiri show mudinjathum, thoongi vazhiya amma virattik koNdu vanthu sEruvOm.maRu naaL ammavum teacherum padaththai paththi vimarsippaanga. Nalla padam, nalla paadalkaL, nalla direction enRu rasiththu paarththathu pinnaatkaLilthaan.
  
  Neerkkumizhi padam paarkkapOnapOthu puthusa oru director nallaa eduththurukkaarnu ammavum music teacherum pEsik koNdathu inRum njaabagam irukkiRathu. Paathi padam Nagesh sirippaa irunthathu, kadaisiyil Nageshai saagatichchuttaanga ithuthaan anRu manathil iruntha eNNangaL. Padam paarththa maRunaaL ammavum teacherum pEsik koNdathu ithuthaan” Sridharukkup piRaku Balachandar nalla direction seythirukkaar. Nichchayam periya aaLaa varuvaar paarunga. Antha puthu MD Kumar kooda nallaa paattu pOttirukkar” enRu paadinaanga.
  anRu Neerkkumizhi muthal inRu Sahana varai amma KB fan. Ammavai thodarnthu naanum KByin visiriyaanEn.
  Aduththaduththu vantha KByin padangaL, mukthavin padangal moolam Kumarin paadalkaL nenjil niRainthana.
  Pinnar V.Kumar avargaL engaL paLLIkku vanthu, avarai nEril paarththapOthuthaan evvaLavu nalla manithar enbathai purinthu koLLa mudinthathu. avar mEl mikuntha mathippum, mariyaathaiyum vanthathu. CinemaaththanankaL illaatha antha nalla manithar intha cinemaa ulakil irunthu, ivvaLavu padangaLukku isaiyamaiththu, nenjil niRaintha iththanai paadalkaLai thanthu senRathE maaberum saathanaithaan.
  Appa adikkadi solvaar:truth, simplicity, humility always exist together. ELimai, adakkam, paNivu ivai ellaamE saththiyaththin uruvangaLthaan. V.Kumar intha guNangaL ellaam ottu moththamaaka uruvaanavar. Intha guNangaLukkellaam konjam kooda sambanthamilaatha intha thirai ulagil avar aththanai varudangaL survive paNNiyathE saathanai enRuthaan solla vENdum. Athanaalthaan avarathu thirai ulaga vaazhkkai perum pOraattamaakavE amainthathu.(meenai thookki tharaiyil pOtta maathirithaan avar thirai ulakil vaazhnthirukkaNum)
  
  
• From: Sathya kabali (@ 67.85.218.179) on: Wed Aug 4 18:14:13 EDT 2004
  
  Aaramba kaalap padangaLaip paarungaL. Neerkkumizhi, Naanal, Major chandrakanth,
  Oovvoru padaththilum maNi maNiyaaka paadalkaL thanthirukkiRaar.AVM thayaarippil Major Chandrakanth maaberum veRRip padam; athaith thodarnthu Kumar niRaiyap padangaL paNNiyirukkaNum.aanaal athu nadakkavillai. MSV,KVM intha 2 jaambavankaL muzhuth thiRamaiyil pOyittirunthaanga. Loyal producers avarkaLai vittu varalai. KB kooda Bama vijayam, Anubavi raja anubavi padangaLukku MSVyidam pOyittu Iru kodukal, Ethir neechchal , Velli vizha ipaadi thirumba sila padangaLukku Kumaridam vanthaar.. Muktha Srinivasan Kumarin thiRamaiyai maththithu Ninaivil ninRavaL, Bommalaattam, Niraikudam, Aayiram poy Ponra padangaLukku Kumarai MD aakkinaar. Naduvil BuththisaalikaL maathiri padangaL. Padam dappavaakumpOthu paadalkaLum kaaNaamal pOy vidukinRana. Swarna paadakiyaaka aRimukamaana padam athu. Muththam muththam senthEnallavaa TMS-Swarna duet inRUm rasikkak koodiya onRu. padam pOchchu! Paattum kEtka arithaaki vittathu.
  
  60kaLilirunthu kadaisi varai avarin thiRaip payaNam ethirneechchalaakavE aakip pOnathu. Namma ooril oru pEchchu vazhakku uNdu. “anA vilAsam irukkaNum” anaA vilAsam enbathu athirshtam. Antha anA vilAsam Kumarukku illAmal pOnathu pOlirukku.
  40 varudangaL thaaNdiyum avarin paadaLkaL nam nenjangaLil neengaathu niRpathaalthaan inRum avarin paadaLkaLai alasik koNdirukkiROm. Intha rasigarkaLthaan avarin thirai ulakil sambaathiththathu. RasikarkaL uLLavarai nooRu aaNdukaL kazhinthum Kumarain paadalkaL pEsap padum!
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 195.229.241.187) on: Thu Aug 5 00:16:49 EDT 2004
  
  Sathya, your post has added so much value to this effort. I request you to continue contributing to this thread. Many, many thanks!
  
  
• From: Kupps (@ 24.0.236.246) on: Thu Aug 5 00:20:45 EDT 2004
  
  wonderful writeup Sathya Kabali.
  
  does any one have 'bones' to challenge the above two posts? :D
  
  
  
• From: Kupps (@ 24.0.236.246) on: Thu Aug 5 00:21:51 EDT 2004
  
  cha sara naduvula pugundhutaar :)
  
  
• From: bb (@ 24.6.251.57) on: Thu Aug 5 10:23:28 EDT 2004
  
  I will post the next part this evening; Couldn't do it last night.
  
  
• From: haris (@ 148.87.1.171) on: Thu Aug 5 14:07:27 EDT 2004
  
  Reproduced in tamil fonts - for easier reading - Sathya kabali's above 2 updates in my blog http://harilama.blogspot.com/2004/08/blog-post_05.html (tamil part only.)
  
  
• From: haris (@ 148.87.1.171) on: Thu Aug 5 14:19:35 EDT 2004
  
  Sorry. New link http://harilama.blogspot.com/2004/08/by.html
  
  
• From: bb for Saravanan(@ 24.6.251.57) on: Fri Aug 6 01:21:21 EDT 2004
  
  

  Part IV - Despair---- and Hope!

  
  I am, in any case,
  A most inappropriate man-
  in a most inappropriate place.
  
  ----Wallace Stevens, "Sailing After Lunch”
  
  Thus in 1966, a year which saw the release of 41 Tamil films, only Major Chandrakanth came Kumar’s way. Yet he still entertained hopes, for KB had displayed his loyalty to his old friend, even going to the extent of arguing Kumar’s case with the redoubtable Meiyappa Chettiar. And with KB being a bright upcoming director, Kumar was optimistic of happier days ahead.
  
  But his hopes came crashing down pretty soon. KB took on two films next, and Kumar was distraught to learn that he was excluded from both the projects. Both bama vijayam (Manohar Pictures) and anubavi raja anubavi (Ayya Films) that came out in 1967 had music by MSV. It was the first time KB was working with Kannadasan and MSV, and ‘varavu ettaNaa selavu paththaNaa’ and ‘muthu kuLikka vaarigaLaa’ topped the popularity charts. However, it was not yet curtains for the KB- Kumar association; KB would alternate between Kumar and MSV in the coming years.
  
  The tfm scenario in 1967 was no different from 1965. MSV and KVM were was still the most sought after MDs. (Incidentally, it was in this year that KVM was honored with the coveted National Award for his magnificent work in kandan karuNai). T.K.Ramamoorthi gave a splendid account of himself in naan, and continued the good work in engaLukkum kaalam varum, aalayam and pattathu raNi. Veda (re)worked on ethirigaL jaakirathai, kaadhalithaal pOdhuma and adhE kaNgaL. R.Govardhanam had a runaway hit in pattaNathil boodham. D.B.Ramachandran composed some good songs in manam oru kurangu and kaRpooram. Chalapathi Rao came back one last time to tfm with maadi veettu maapiLLai. Rajeswara Rao was another Telugu composer who peeped in with the bilungual bhaktha prahalada. S.M.S, T.R. Papa and R.Sudarsanam were the other veterans who managed to stay afloat.
  
  Shankar-Ganesh made their debut that very year with maharasi (Dhandayudhapani Films) and quickly followed it up with naan yaar theriyuma (Navasakthi Films). While Shankar was of a retiring disposition, the enterprising Ganesh is said to have had no reservations about visiting production companies and persuading prospective filmmakers to give them opportunities. This, combined with the initial patronage of Devar and Kannadasan, saw the duo establishing themselves as prolific composers in tfm.
  
  Kumar was a study in contrast. His only friend KB had sought greener pastures and Kumar couldn’t dream of approaching any production company to ask for work. Around this time KB stopped staging plays in order to concentrate on his burgeoning film career, and Kumar saw his world crumbling apart. Gullible, shy and unassuming, he started feeling that he was a misfit in the film industry, a feeling that would continue to haunt him throughout his chequered innings in tfm.
  
  * * * *
  
  But God, in His infinite wisdom, never fails to let open a window when he closes a door, and for Kumar, good times beckoned in the form of Muktha Srinivasan and his ninaivil nindRavaL.
  
  Srinivasan, after directing mudhaalaLi (1957/ MAV Pictures), joined hands with his brother Ramaswami who had formed a production company called Muktha Films. panithirai (1961) was the first film to roll out from the Muktha banner, and the brothers soon made a mark with films like idhayathil nee (1963) and poojaikku vandha malar (1965). It was around this time that ‘Cho’ S. Ramaswami had taken the theatre world by storm with his performances in the plays staged by United Amateur Artistes. Simultaneously the plays staged by Cho’s own troupe Viveka Fine Arts were also well received. Cho had entered cinema when UAA’s play petRaalthaan piLLaiya found celluloid adaptation as paar magaLE paar. And in 1966, Cho wrote the screenplay and dialogues, besides acting in one of the lead roles in Muktha’s thEnmazhai. The success of the film, which had an interesting blend of comedy and crime, led to some more profitable Muktha- Cho collaborations in the following years.
  
  ninaivil nindRavaL (1967), the next in this series, starred Ravichandran and K.R.Vijaya in the lead roles. However, it was Cho, in the role of an absent-minded lawyer, and Manorama as his wife, who brought the house down with their hilarious capers. Kumar had earlier composed music for many of Cho’s stage plays, and wanting to do the talented Kumar a good turn, Cho recommended Kumar to Muktha Srinivasan. And so it came about that the Muktha brothers, who had earlier worked with KVM (panithirai), MSV-TKR (idhayathil nee / poojaikku vandha malar) and TKR alone (thEnmazhai), summoned Kumar to compose the music for the film.
  
  Kumar sat with his pal Vaali and came up with a memorable album. ‘enna theriyum indha chinna peNNukku’ (PS & chorus) is a racy song, with enticing interludes. ‘thambi vaada adichadhu yOgam’ (TMS/ Dharapuram Sundararajan/PS) with its catchy Hindustani base showcases the ingenuity of Kumar. ‘nandhan vandhaan kOvililE nandhi marachidhu vaasalilE’ , though a comic song, has its melodious moments, and for S.Sarala, it remains among the few good songs that ever came her way. The surprise number of the album is the bewitching ‘paRavaigaL siRaginaal aNaikka kaNdenayya’, an uncharacteristic soft dreamy song for LRE, indicative of the surprises that Kumar would come up with LRE in later years.
  
  The pick of the album, however, is ‘thottadhaa thodaadhadhaa, thendRalE padaadhadhaa’ a great TMS/PS duet. An extended guitar-driven prelude, and the pallavi set in a stylish beat, and the charanams following a mellifluous path, the song is justifiably popular to this day. Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/thottadha.rm
  
  The Muktha brothers were delighted with Kumar’s work, and thus Kumar found himself comfortably ensconced as their regular MD in their subsequent ventures.
  
  * * * *
  
  1968 saw 3 films coming Kumar’s way. We’ll begin the year’s chronicle with the next Muktha-Kumar collaboration, bommalaattam. Cho once again took on the responsibility of writing the screenplay and dialogues. The film starred Jaishankar and Jayalalitha; and again Cho and Manorama, speaking in chaste Madras Thamizh, stole the show. The film was a big success and fetched accolades for all those involved, including Kumar. Lyrics were by Vaali again.
  
  ‘mayakkathai thandhavan yaaradi’ is a dreamy PS solo, and a popular hit as well. PS, adopting a teasing, mischievous tone, brings to life Kumar’s imaginative composition. Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/mayakkaththai.rm
  
  ‘nalla naaL paarkavO’ is again an enchanting TMS/PS duet. Embellished with elegant arrangements and progressions, the song has a trendy appeal even now. Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/nallnpaar.rm
  
  So we come at last, to the biggest hit from the album- the ever popular, rollicking ‘vaa vaadhyaarE vootaaNdE’ by Manorama.
  
  Even when she was an obscure Gopisantha in the remote paLLathoor, Manorama made a mark as a talented young girl who could sing with panache the popular film songs of the 40s and 50s. Her first stage performance came about when the popular ‘andhamaan kaithi’ was staged by an all- male amateur group; Manorama sang songs for the actor playing the heroine! Much later when she became a popular comedienne, GKV gave Manorama her first song in tfm- ‘thaatha thaatha kodu kodu’ (magaLE un samathu/ 1964). She continued to sing a few songs in the following years, but it was Kumar, with his ‘vaa vaadhyaarE vootaaNdE’ who gave her the song that brought her recognition as an actress who could sing well. And though over the years Manorama sang for generations of MDs- KVM, MSV, Kunnakkudi Vaithyanathan, Shankar-Ganesh, Ilayaraja, Chandrabose, Deva and ARR, Kumar’s simple ‘vaa vaadhyaarE vootaaNdE’ remains her biggest hit. Manorama remembers Kumar with gratitude to this day, and never fails to mention him in her interviews.
  
  Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/vaavaadh.rm
  
  --We’ll look at Kumar’s other 2 albums in 1968 next week--
  
  
• From: bb (@ 24.6.251.57) on: Fri Aug 6 01:36:26 EDT 2004
  
  Sathya Kabali, excellent write-up. Thanks to Haris for making it more readable in thamizh.
  
  

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