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A WEBSITE FOR M K T

Topic started by Suresh Balakrishnan (@ 213.78.92.231) on Fri Mar 8 02:37:20 EST 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hi friends,

I have a created a website exclusively for the astounding singer and actor of yesteryears, M K Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. A humble tribute to the sadly forgotten legend. The URL is given below:

http://raja1630.tripod.com/mktb/index.html

I hope you find it interesting and informative. I have to add many more photos, but please, in the meantime, go through the contents send me your valuable comments.

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Responses:

• From: Sriram Lakshman (@ 64.105.136.146) on: Fri Mar 8 03:12:14 EST 2002
  
  Awesome work, Suresh!!!! Keep it up. I thoroughly enjoyed read through the material and the rare photographs.
  
  
• From: Saran (@ 164.164.46.20) on: Fri Mar 8 04:28:14 EST 2002
  
  WOW!!! Nice work, Suresh! What an URL it is!!!!! I was just carried out by the facts and figures. We really miss a great man of yesteryear!! Thank u so much for bringing out this website! Kudos to u!!!!!
  
  
• From: Kupps (@ 156.153.255.134) on: Fri Mar 8 05:07:00 EST 2002
  
  Wonderful pages suresh...thanks
  
  If possible could you upload songs of MKTs also though there is a link to swara.com and indiaonline, but still....
  
  I request the admin to give link to this page from the forum.
  
  
• From: haris (@ 148.87.1.171) on: Fri Mar 8 18:58:36 EST 2002
  
  Great work.
  
  
• From: Venkat (@ 216.196.155.26) on: Fri Mar 8 19:07:35 EST 2002
  
  Whoa!!! This is one cool site!!! Amazing work man!
  
  
• From: Vicky (@ 12.78.147.38) on: Fri Mar 8 21:59:31 EST 2002
  
  Outstanding work to date on the legendary singer MKT. We should commend the author for this thorough reasearch and for the logical sequence. Its truly a delight to see some extraordinary rare photos of MKT. Great work and deserves all our respects to this great singer.
  
  
• From: Vicky (@ 12.78.147.38) on: Fri Mar 8 22:03:06 EST 2002
  
  Suresh: I would appreciate if you could add a separate immortal songs page for MKT in the future. Music India Online and Dhool do not have all the songs except the popular ones.
  
  
• From: kik (@ 207.0.105.233) on: Fri Mar 8 23:05:00 EST 2002
  
  Suresh: I'm not sure if this is on your website. A couple of sad and interesting facts from 'MKT kathai' a biography I got in Chennai a couple years back:
  - when NSK died in 1956/57 MKT went to his house to pay his last respects. The crowds did not even recognize him (he was blind by then) as they were trying to get a glimpse of the new stars Sivaji & MGR. Someone who recognized him had to help him get into the house.
  
  - In an interview to Trichy AIR (probably his last before his death), he is quoted as saying "vaazhkaiyla enna maathiRi vaazhnthavanum illai, ennai maathiRi thaazhnthavanum illa."
  
  
• From: kik (@ 207.0.105.233) on: Fri Mar 8 23:08:53 EST 2002
  
  BTW, any leads on the movies we discussed some time back - naveena saarangathaaraa, sathyaseelan, pavalakkodi, raajamukthi.
  
  All: Excepting these 4, all of MKT's movies are available on video/vcd.
  
  
• From: O_IS_G (@ 193.188.97.152) on: Sun Mar 10 03:38:34 EST 2002
  
  Suresh
  
  It is very good.For men like me who never got a chance to learn carnatic music MKT's songs are the leading lights.
  
  It was the voice of men like MKT/SGK which took carnatic music to the common man.
  
  Good work! Keep it up!
  
  
• From: sk (@ 202.156.2.6) on: Sun Mar 10 08:14:52 EST 2002
  
  Suresh Balakrishnan:
  
  Thanks for creating an excellent web page for MKTB.
  We all hope to see it grow with many more details.
  
  Here is the newtfmpage link where we discussed
  about MKTB a few years ago:
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/forum/11889.07.38.42.html
  
  I have a xerox copy of Rador Guy's articles on
  the MKTB case. I can scan the pages and send them
  to you as jpeg files. You can post them in your page.
  
  
• From: a.a. (@ 64.229.212.192) on: Sun Mar 10 18:15:55 EST 2002
  
  Suresh,
  Superb job. I haven't seen any of his movies, but I yearn to see all his movies now, thanks to your excellent page. Continue the good work.
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 68.51.203.216) on: Sun Mar 10 20:59:15 EST 2002
  
  Suresh, an interesting and informative write-up. Great work. I guess we need more sites like yours on the yesteryear doyens of TFM to appreciate their contribution more. The photos were also very good.
  
  
• From: Raam (@ 12.234.134.74) on: Mon Mar 11 02:47:36 EST 2002
  
  Simply a great one! Very informative and thoughful. Kudos, Suresh!
  
  
• From: Suresh Balakrishnan (@ 213.78.78.168) on: Mon Mar 11 04:03:53 EST 2002
  
  Dear friends,
  
  Your responses are very very encouraging. I retransfer all your words of praise to my father, who has been an ardent MKT fan from his childhood. He deserves credit for the contents and the collection of rare photos.
  
  Yesterday, I added more information and photos. The Biography pages are three now. I have removed the proposed pictures section as I have decided to accomodate all the pictures in the other pages itself.
  
  Dear SK, please forward the write up by Randor Guy to me. I would only be too happy to incorporate the contents in the website.
  
  If any of you have rare photos of MKT, please forward it to me. Your co-operation will make the website richer. I have a very bad copy of a photo which I think is one of the best poses of MKT. I have been searching for it for a long time. That photo was published in Ananda Vikatan in the 1930's and MKT is seen smiling broadly with his hand on his chin. I have not put that photo on the site.
  
  Dear Kishore Krishna, I have not yet got any lead for the four movies.
  
  Please keep visiting the website. I have more photos to add.
  
  I myself have the idea to put an audio gallery with only the rare songs of MKT. But since I have been doing this all alone, I am little hard pressed for time.
  
  Thanks once again to everyone.
  
  
  
• From: Suresh Balakrishnan (@ 213.78.78.168) on: Mon Mar 11 04:12:40 EST 2002
  
  
  I thank the TFM administration for giving a link to the website from the daily updates.
  
  
• From: ss (@ ) on: Thu Mar 21 15:56:43 EST 2002
  
  It's awesome.Lots of information.
  
  
• From: kik (@ 207.0.105.223) on: Fri Mar 22 23:38:43 EST 2002
  
  http://www.sangeetham.com/mkthyagaraja_bhagavatar.htm
  
  Has some hilarious detail on the pavalakkodi shooting - otherwise same as on Suresh's website. Also, other articles on classical musicians' participation in tfm.
  
  
• From: Suresh Balakrishnan (@ 213.78.65.170) on: Sat Mar 23 16:18:18 EST 2002
  
  KiK,
  
  Thanks for the link. I have that link in my Related links page.
  
  I have completed adding all the photos in the website and the total number of photos has crossed 100 !!!
  
  
• From: isaiosai (@ 166.44.185.249) on: Sat Mar 23 20:36:00 EST 2002
  
  Mr. Suresh,
  Great work. It is the probably the best website on MKT. Simply outstanding!
  
  
• From: kk (@ 172.175.91.51) on: Sun Mar 24 13:23:51 EST 2002
  
  Suresh, just curious. Are you MKT family member?
  
  I use to hear lot about MKT and others (Both good and bad stuff ) from my family elders. Nice you are keeping up the legacy.
  
  
• From: MS (@ 129.252.25.241) on: Sun Mar 24 23:55:17 EST 2002
  
  What a neat work ! This is the first time I got to know many things about this singer whose voice is something I have admired always. thx.
  
  
• From: Suresh Balakrishnan (@ 213.78.79.38) on: Mon Mar 25 15:02:32 EST 2002
  
  Dear Kik,
  
  I am not a relative of MKT, Just one of his very ardent fans.
  
  
• From: kik (@ 207.0.105.230) on: Wed Mar 27 00:35:13 EST 2002
  
  Suresh: intha confusiona avoid pannathaan nadula 'i' pottu 'kik'nu maathinen - I guess it still was not successful.
  
  
• From: Suresh Balakrishnan (@ 213.78.72.249) on: Wed Mar 27 07:26:47 EST 2002
  
  ooops, athu ennoda mistake thaan, sorry kik.
  
  
• From: Anand Narayanan (@ 61.11.78.53) on: Sun Mar 31 11:10:43 EST 2002
  
  NEWS ABOUT MKT'S FAMOUS FILM AMBIKAPATHY WITH REFERENCE TO TAMIL DAILY 'DINAKARAN'
  Poet Kambar's son Ambikapathy is himself a popular poet. Ambikapathy's life history is in turn an immortal love story. This love story was made into a cinema film in Tamil, titled "Ambikapathy", in the year 1941-42. In this "Yezhilisai Mannar" M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar acted as the hero, Ambikapathy. Ellis R.Duncan directed this film. Elangovan, who was a very popular dialogue writer in those days, wrote dialogue for this film. As this was out-and-out a love story, director Duncan wanted to create scenes and dialogue for this film on the basis of the scenes and dialogue created by Shakespeare for his "Romeo And Juliet", a love drama. Accordingly Elangovan had written excellently for this film.
  Ambikapathy's pair in this film was Santhana Lakshmi doing the heroine part of Amaravathy. In those days people believed that whoever heroine teamed with Bhagavathar would in real life fall in love with him. Santhana Lakshmi too fell in love with him. There is an ongoing trend in Hindi filmfield nowadays! Rumours are used to be circulated that the hero-heroine of a particular film, love each other and so on. It's nothing but advertisement srategy so as to make that film commercially a successful one. But Bhagavathar- Santhana Lakshmi love relationsahip was said to be a real one. The film shooting of "Ambikapathy" was being conducted in Calcutta. A palacial house had been fixed on rent basis for the actors and actresses to stay in. Bhagavathar had been allotted a room there and the another one was occupied by the heroine Santhana Lakshmi. In between those two rooms there was a big hall. During night time actors used to sleep in that hall. One day night Santhana Lakshmi is said to have walked through the hall in which actors were sleeping. Only to meet her lover Bhagavathar during midnight in his room she is said to have done so. But accidentally she happened to tread on one actor by name Serukalaththur Saamaa who was lying there asleep and she slightly stumbled. By the time Saamaa woke-up he saw Santhana Lakshmi creeping into Bhagavathar's room. He understood what was happening. But as he was not in good terms with Bhagavather during that period he didn't want to create a scene at that odd hour by waking up others, it is said so! So to say, as the lovers in the film happened to be so in real life also, there was arising a natural advantage in the sense that the love scenes in the film came to abound with realism and true-to-life naturality! So automatically such scenes attracted very much the youngsters among audience in those days. There was the following song in the film: "Santhra Suriyar Ponthisai Maarinum" - the song starts like so...In that song scene, at one particular point Bhagavathar would clearly lift Santhana Lakshmi on both his hands and would walk towards the bed and lay her on it. For the youngsters of those days that scene gave so much intoxication that some of the newly married ones tried in their real life to enact that particular gesture by way of lifting up their newly-wed wives so as to lay them on bed. But by accident, it was said so, some of such youngsters let their better ones to slip away from their hands to fall on the ground and get severely hurt too!
  To that extent this film got extraordinary reception among people. Upto a very long time after it's release the general public used to refer to Bhagavathar only by the film name 'Ambikapathy'.
  In the year 1955-56 another Tamil film bearing the same title "Ambikapathy" was released. It also had the same subject matter -Ambikapathy's love story. In this Sivaji Ganesan acted as Ambikapathy. This second film "Ambikapathy" was produced by Kaviyarasu Kannadhasan's brother A.L.Seenivasan. At that time Kannadhasan is said to have told his brother that it would be more fitting if 'Paaventhar' Bharathidhasan wrote dialogue for the film. Accordingly Bharathidhasan was approached and he too accepted the offer. He started writing dialogue. But for some reason or other he abruptly stopped writing dialogue and quit. So, as there was no other go, the director of the film Pa. Neelakandan himself wrote the dialogue. Before starting this film A.L.Seenivasan was entertaining some desire in his heart. As the "Ambikapathy" acted by Bhagavathar was a very great super-hit, Seenivasan wanted to fix Bhagavathar himself for the role of Kambar (Sivaji's Father) in this second film. So he approached Bhagavathar and requested him to act as Kambar. But Bhagavathar rejected that offer. During that period Bhagavathar had no other films in hand. In spite of that fact he firmly refused to accept it. But Seenivasan could not understand why! He sent 'Kalaivaanar' N.S.Krishnan to Bhagavathar to convince him. Seenivasan had also requested Kalaivanar to inform Bhagavathar that if only he (Bhagavathar) could agree to act as Kambar, he would be given more salary than even what Sivaji, acting in the role of Ambikapathy, would get it. But Bhagavathar explained to Kalaivanar that it was not at all a matter that is related to mere money. Rather, said Bhagavathar, it was concerned with his self-respect! 'As per my age I feel proud to act as Sivaji Ganesan's father. There is no objection for that. But I am not prepared to act in the role of Ambikapathy's father, because I myself have once acted in the role of Ambikapathy, and later people even used to call me by the very name Ambikapathy! I don't like to act in some other role in a film that earned me so much great respect! Please forgive me' said Bhagavathar. Though Bhagavathar had monetory problems he wasn't prepared to sacrifice his good priciples! The above episode is an obvious example of this fact!
  
  
  
• From: anand (@ 61.11.78.53) on: Sun Mar 31 11:26:29 EST 2002
  
  http://www.geocities.com/anar51/mkt.html
  click on the link to see my page on MKT and rare S.G. Kittappa's songs
  
  

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