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Creativity of K.V. Mahadevan

Topic started by Udhaya (@ 207.218.76.4) on Fri Dec 18 22:02:30 EST 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

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Responses:

• From: Udhaya (@ 207.218.76.4) on: Fri Dec 18 22:45:39 EST 1998
  
  Besides bringing a sense of history and balance to the forum, my curiosity about the uniqueness of KVM as compared to the other MDs is very real. I've heard KVM proclaim humbly that he only knew the 16 ragams. But what a magnificent career he's had. I would like this thread to focus on what makes KVM's music his own. With my limited musical knowledge, I've noticed that he uses bongos and a sort of clipping beat pattern as interludes in many of his songs. Anything else that distinguishes his music?
  
  
• From: Sriram Lakshman (@ ifmxlenx.na.informix.com) on: Mon Dec 21 15:50:12 EST 1998
  
  KVM seems to be too self-effacing. Just 16 Raagas ? No way. He started scoring for Telugu movies too in 1959 and some Telugu music die-hard fans are KVM fanatics and opine that Ghantasala sang best under KVM's baton.
  
  One unique feature was KVM preferred to compose tunes for pre-written lyrics and is never known to have requested the lyricist for alterations to the lyrics. This is as told by KD, "Avarkitte oru Ilakkiyathai koduthaal kooda athai maatraamal isai amaippaar". Many of his immortal creations have been listed in some other thread, but still..
  Naan anuppuvathu Kaditham Alla,
  Kadavul manithanaaka pirakka vendum etc.
  One of my all time favourites is "Ondru Serntha Anbu Maaruma" from "Makkalai petra magaraasi" sung by PBS and I think, Jamuna Rani.
  No hard feelings, for all his greatness, he was not a trail blazer in the sense he was not a pioneer. Certainly not in terms of having a fresh perception of composing. He did not copy but took the beaten path. His interludes (at times depriving the song of its richness) often had spurts of violin pieces in quick succession that would provide the build-up for the charanam. Eg:- "Kathaanaayakan Kathai Sonnan" from "Vettaikkaaran", "Thottu Vida Thottu Vida thodarum".. He did experiment with lightning fast tabla beats like in "Etho Manithan piranthu vittaan" from "Panithirai" and "Maariyathu Nenjam Maatriyavar Yaaro "(esp in the charanam). These two features I thought made his music identifiable.
  I happened to meet MSV last year and he paid glowing tributes to KVM , the height of it being...when he sat down to compose "Maadhavi ponmayilaal thogai virithaal" the first raaga that came to his mind was Kalyani. But he felt that KVM had stretched Kalyani to unimaginable limits in "Mannavan Vanthaanadi Thozhi" in "Thiruvarutchelvar" to the extent that nothing was left of Kalyani to explore. Therefore he said he had to take a decision to set the song to "Karaharapriya".
  
  
  
  
• From: Sriram Lakshman (@ ifmxlenx.na.informix.com) on: Mon Dec 21 15:58:45 EST 1998
  
  KVM seems to be too self-effacing. Just 16 Raagas ? No way. He started scoring for Telugu movies too in 1959 and some Telugu music die-hard fans are KVM fanatics and opine that Ghantasala sang best under KVM's baton.
  
  One unique feature was KVM preferred to compose tunes for pre-written lyrics and is never known to have requested the lyricist for alterations to the lyrics. This is as told by KD, "Avarkitte oru Ilakkiyathai koduthaal kooda athai maatraamal isai amaippaar". Many of his immortal creations have been listed in some other thread, but still..
  Naan anuppuvathu Kaditham Alla,
  Kadavul manithanaaka pirakka vendum etc.
  One of my all time favourites is "Ondru Serntha Anbu Maaruma" from "Makkalai petra magaraasi" sung by PBS and I think, Jamuna Rani.
  No hard feelings, for all his greatness, he was not a trail blazer in the sense he was not a pioneer. Certainly not in terms of having a fresh perception of composing. He did not copy but took the beaten path. His interludes (at times depriving the song of its richness) often had spurts of violin pieces in quick succession that would provide the build-up for the charanam. Eg:- "Kathaanaayakan Kathai Sonnan" from "Vettaikkaaran", "Thottu Vida Thottu Vida thodarum".. He did experiment with lightning fast tabla beats like in "Etho Manithan piranthu vittaan" from "Panithirai" and "Maariyathu Nenjam Maatriyavar Yaaro "(esp in the charanam). These two features I thought made his music identifiable.
  I happened to meet MSV last year and he paid glowing tributes to KVM , the height of it being...when he sat down to compose "Maadhavi ponmayilaal thogai virithaal" the first raaga that came to his mind was Kalyani. But he felt that KVM had stretched Kalyani to unimaginable limits in "Mannavan Vanthaanadi Thozhi" in "Thiruvarutchelvar" to the extent that nothing was left of Kalyani to explore. Therefore he said he had to take a decision to set the song to "Karaharapriya".
  
  
  
  
• From: Murali Sankar (@ l-1d29-10.engr.sc.edu) on: Mon Dec 21 16:17:15 EST 1998
  
  Here I wish to say something abt the rhythm. I think many are familiar with the rhythm of "chinna paappa enga chella paappa". This is supposed to have been formulated by KVM and is known in the cine circles as "KVM" rhythm. IR did good justice to this by using it in the song "Uchchi vagideduthu"and a lot of other numbers.
  
  Another dubious info:
  
  Kedara gowlai is supposed to be a dry raga and no non - KVM MD has composed in that. It seems KVM was challenged to do this and he scored :"Kelamma Kedara gowlaththiley .... Nadakkumbothu neLiya vEndAm" - a teaser
  
  
  Regards
  
  Murali Sankar
  
  
• From: Udhaya (@ 205.218.142.217) on: Mon Dec 21 21:08:45 EST 1998
  
  Sriram and Murali,
  This is the kind of info I was yearning for. Thanks a bunch for contributing and keeping things fresh and varied here.
  
  From the United Against DFMonotony Headquarters
  
  
• From: e.hari (@ 168-218-25.ipt.aol.com) on: Mon Dec 21 23:00:42 EST 1998
  
  Talking about fast beats, how could one forget the lovely tabla beats in the song padagu padagu.
  He interludes was full of unfulfilled promises. Take the song - 'iravekkum pagalukkum enni enna velai'. It is a sweet song to hum, but alas, the interludes completely spoiled the song. Same is true for 'kadhal enbathu oru kavithai pondradhu', and 'mullipu pallakku'.
  But his songs in 70s were much simpler to hum and more sweeter than 60s.
  Check out the percussion in the song
  'Ponna valakai mannagi ponnal'. Unbelivable stuff for a 50s song.
  
  
• From: balaji (@ schubert.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Tue Dec 22 01:46:48 EST 1998
  
  i think that the main contribution of KVM was his simple beats and patterns which he repeated in quite a few songs. the usage of instruments were less and the "kvm rhythm" that murali talked about is exactly what catapulted to the top position. some of the most beautiful songs of his in this category were
  allith thandu kaal eduththu
  miyaw miyaw poonaikkutty
  kaattukkulle thiruvizha (we can literally feel the jinkchak jinkchak..:))
  
  
• From: Sriram Lakshman (@ ifmxlenx.na.informix.com) on: Tue Dec 22 12:05:20 EST 1998
  
  A song that springs to mind is "Paarthen Sirithen" from "Veera Abhimanyu" . I personally have not come accross a better usage of "Sahana" Raagam than this, atleast in TFM. Traditionally, you had songs like "Yennamellam un idathaye naaduthe", "Engo Piranthavaraam Engo Valarnthavaraam" with similar melody flow differing only in santhams. Talking about Raagas, his usage of Kunthaala varali in "Solla Solla inikkuthada Muruga" is superb. The melodic content itself potrays a Bhakthi that is subtly different from the conventional Bhakthi .
  
  What I liked about KVM's tunes was his ability to infuse life into the words. Listen to "Azhagu Deivam Mella Mella ". The Charanam starts with"ILa neerai chumanthu varum thennai maram alla" and the hero goes on and on till he runs out of words and the tune goes on an ascent as if to emphasize the words "Itharku melum ilakkiyathil vaarthai illai solla".
  
  Another KVM favourite of mine, "Madi meethu thalai vaithu vidiyum varai thoongumvom" from "Annai Illam".
  
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.23.226) on: Tue Dec 22 23:38:07 EST 1998
  
  One of my all time favourites of KVM is 'unnai kaanatha kannum' from idhayakamalam. a lilting melody by PS, it haunts u tye first time u listen to it. KVM , as guys have earlier mentioned, generally uses a strong carnatic base in his songs. his shankarabharanam took south india by storm. i was told, though iam not sure about it, that K.Viswanaath used KVM in most of his films that did not feature kamal.
  
  
  
• From: Murali Sankar (@ 129.252.26.37) on: Thu Dec 24 00:46:12 EST 1998
  
  Abt KVM's shankarabaranam by Naushad:
  
  "I have digested every note of shankarabaranam' songs and eagerly await the moment I may personally tender my respects to KVM for creating such wonderful songs"
  
  
  
• From: Manisekaran (@ bat-49-236.tm.net.my) on: Fri Dec 25 00:34:52 EST 1998
  
  Just to give an early history of KVM
  KVM is the son of Vengatachala Iyer, who used to sing Pinpaattu in the Katha kalachebams of tha old time tstage dramas. From childhood days KVM had developed keen interest in music, especially under the influence of his father. So he was sent to get training in music from the famous Arunachala Kavirayar. At the age of 16 KVM joined the Madras Paala Gantharva Sabha- a drama company and acted in the role of Thirumangai Aalvar. He then started to compose music for stage dramas and katha kaalachebams. He got training from Aangarai Visvanatha Bagavathar to sing playback in the katha kaalachebams.
  For some years KVM was working as the music director in the His Master's Voice(HMV) company.Then he got training from the famous SV Vengkatraman and later T A Kalyanam. He first composed cine music with TA Klayanam for the film Ananthan. Therfore Ananthan is said to be his first movie. The next was Manonmani. Of course he became famous after the song " Azhiyatha kaathal Vaazhvil anaiyaatha Jothiyaai oli veesuavaL ennaaLum uLLavAnile"(by AM Raja in the film Kumari. This is a Hindi film song tune)According to KVM the film that took him to heights of popularity was Town Bus that had among others, the following powerful songs:
  
  1. Chittukkuruvi chittukkuruvi seithi theriyuma
  2.Ponnana Vaazvey Mannagi Poma
  3. Lady lady leda leda
  
  KVM had generally composed for sevral film companies. He had no preferences for any particluar company. However the only Gemini movie where KVM was the MD is Anathai Aananthan. AVM used to used Sudharsanam for all theor mmovies. The only film where KVM worked for AVM was Kaakkum Karangal. He had worked for 2 Modern Theatre films- Kaithi Kannayiram and Vannakkili. SandO Chinnappa Devar used KVM in all his movies produced under "Devar Films" banner. (Things changed under Thandayuthapani Films)
  
  As far as possible APN used KVM for all his purana films, as it was found that only KVM could deliver the goods to the requirement and satisfaction of APN.APN had been using KVM in movies with social themes like Town Bus, Vadivukku Valaikkappu and Navarathiri. The purana films like Thiruvilayaaal,Saraswathy Sabatham, Thirumal Perumai, Thiruvarut Chelvar are the works of KVM for APN. AL Sreenivasan also used KVM for his purana film Kanthan Karunai. Lets not forget Thillaana Mohanambal of PN which dsepicted the isai and naatiyam of the Tamil culture. When APN used kunnakkudi Vaithiyanathan in Navarathinam, he passed away of heart attack caused by the utter failure of the movie. There is no song to remember in that movie.
  
  KVM is the first Music Director in the south to receive National award. The national award went for Kanthan Karunai. The song is "Arupadai veedu konda thirumuruga". This is where Seergazhi Govindarajan first appeared in any movie.
  KVM introduced AL Ragavan in the Tamil films. His first song was "Mullai poo maNakkuthu muthaip pOlE sirkkuthu-aLLi-aLLI vaAsathEnai Ilanthendral theLikutu". This song was originally intended for Sivagi Ganesan in the film Naan Vanangum Deivam, but the voice matching was done first and found not to suit Sivagi. So it was switched for TR Ramachandran. Thus the best song in the film went to TRR.
  
  The two thilahams- MGR and Sivagi alos had used KVM. MGR used him for Adimai Penn while SIvaji used him for Kungumam.
  
  KVM is also a very good singer. He sang the following songs:
  1. Kaathal Enrale with AP Komala
  2. Malar vizhigalai
  3.Kannodu kanninai
  
  Not only that. The greatest G Ramanathan, affectionately called Isai Methai too had sung for the tune composed by KVM. The song is "Ejamaan petra Selvamey" picturised on a horse in the film Alli Petra Pillai. In my humble opinion it is about the best of GR.
  
  KVM and Athmanathan composed music for the film Naalu Veli Nilam. KVM Asvathama and Kunnakudi Vengatrama Iyer composed for Moondru Penkal. Among the five MDs for Kannil Theriyum Kathaikal was KVM.
  
  A good new for Kannadasan's fans. Kannadasan wrote a song about himself, and appeared in his own film- Iratha Thilakam. The MD is again KVM and the song is "oru kOppayile en kudiyruppu oru kOlamayil en thuNayiruppu". This is the song always remembered by the dearest friend of Kannadasan- MSV.
  
  There is another song always admired by MSV- it is "Mannavan vanthaanadi thozhi" from Thiruvarut Chelvar. According to KVM, the song was composed by Kannadasan at hoem and passed on to KVM for tuning. KVM saw all the ingredients needed and strainght away compsed the song. When the song became a hit KVM said the credit ought to go to Kannadasan, as the surams, specially were new to tamil music. It seems surams seldom start with ma.(Sorry I know nothing about music. Do not expect me to appreciate the fragrance of camphor)
  
  The rest is history that most of us know.(More to follow if there is a need)
  
  Merry Christamas.
  Vanakkam
  Manisekaran
  
  
• From: cram (@ 206.103.12.102) on: Fri Dec 25 05:01:00 EST 1998
  
  merry Xmas to everyone.
  i am amazed that in a discussion on KVM's outsatnding creativity, there has been no mention of Karnan, which in my very humble opinion was his best ever, and "kaNNgaL engE" and "ennuyirththOzi" rank among the finest ever to grace tamil cinema. the lyrics, the music, nadigar thilakam's acting all combined like never before, or again, to give a timeless classic.
  
  

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