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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: SK (@ 199.90.34.67) on: Wed Aug 25 13:44:15 EDT 2004
  
  In the "Kindhanaar KaalakshEpam" NSK sings a few lyrics in B'cal accent. Like, the teacher [who was a B teacher, to go with the original story!] finally sings "Kindhaa, neeyallavO piLLai". Is that what you have in your mind Mr. 'Vengaayam'?
  
  
• From: OISG (@ 195.229.241.187) on: Wed Aug 25 16:33:31 EDT 2004
  
  Or was it En Manaivi? Sarangapani suspecting a KR Chellam,D Balasubramaniam affair sings one in the park.Vaguely remember that to be in B dialect!
  
  (That movie had the more popular "Sngadamana Samayalai vittu sangeetham padaporen)
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 195.229.241.187) on: Thu Aug 26 00:19:41 EDT 2004
  
  Vengayam, the only Sarangapani song I recall is 'ayyaiyyo paarka kaNNu koosudhE, avalatchaNamaai thoNuthE' from Vedhala Ulagam. Is that the song you're referring to?
  
  
• From: F e r r a r i (@ 203.123.182.26) on: Thu Aug 26 00:59:28 EDT 2004
  
  Is Sarangapani the one who acted in the movie Missiamma as logidasan? Or was it chakrapani. What was the name of MGR's brother. He was also some pani. I forgot his name.
  I remembered this song "umakku neere emakku yaame. edharkkudhaan indha kasa musa gisa musa :-)))" . missiamma was wonderful.
  
  er..sorry for the disgression
  
  
• From: GCT_Kuil (@ 67.112.200.246) on: Thu Aug 26 01:14:40 EDT 2004
  
  Saragapaani mostly acts in comedy roles. He has "thiru thiru" muzhi. And he also have a unique voice.
  
  Sakkarapaani is MGR's brother. He acted in Alibabavum 40 thirudargalum as Kasim (alibaba's bro).
  
  I didnt see missiamma movie, hence no idea if it is sakkarapaani or saarangapaani! From what you say, I guess it should be saarangapaani
  
  
• From: thops (@ 152.3.196.69) on: Thu Aug 26 01:45:34 EDT 2004
  
  it IS sarangapaani in missiamma...
  
  
• From: vengayam (@ 203.197.203.98) on: Thu Aug 26 03:40:48 EDT 2004
  
  I have not seen vedhala ulagam.Isn't it the movie where my"patti" sings " theeratha vilayattu pillai? or is it "aduvome Pallu paaduvome". I think the later was in naam iruvar. However I am still very curious to know how a barathiyar song gor woven into a mythological film " VU"
  The nama nama is getting stronger. No not Kindhanar that is too well known. i have a sneaking suspicion that it is sarangapaani but OISG, en manaivi does not ring a bell. It was a riot and had me in splits but that is about all I can remember now. Not sababathi by any chance?
  One thought leading to another I cannot forget Sami Pillai (VKR)'s rendition of "Sangadamana samyalla vittu" in Kalyanaraman
  
  
• From: bb for Saravanan (@ 24.6.251.57) on: Thu Aug 26 05:22:47 EDT 2004
  
  

  Part VII - kaadhal ondRuthaan meiyE meiyE!

  
  So we progress to 1969: a year that began unobtrusively enough, but turned out to become, for more reason than one, an unforgettable year for VK.
  
  To begin with, it was in this year that he got to work with Kaviyarasar Kannadasan for the first time, and the opportunity came through aayiram poi (Muktha Films). aayiram poi starred Jaishankar, Vanisri, Cho, Manorama and others. It was scripted by Cho and directed by Muktha Srinivasan. The film was a hilarious jaunt based on the clichéd Tamil saying that generously grants license for a thousand untruths to be employed to make a wedding happen.
  
  The first song is the popular TMS/PS duet- pulavar sonnadhum poiyE poiyE. Kannadasan brings the word ‘poi’ into imaginative use, to suit both the romantic mood of the song, and the backdrop of the story. An enticing prelude, and a catchy pallavi, short and sweet interludes ,and elegant charanams interspersed with unexpected bits if humming in between- the song is appealing even today:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/pulavar.rm
  
  The next song is the fun-filled thillaiyilE sabapathi, chidambarathil kanagasabai, sung delightfully by PS. Kannadasan seeks the help of mythological analogies to draw parallels with the current drama. And again, VK starts scoring points right from the pallavi, and follows it up with lilting interludes (the second one, in particular). Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/thillaiyile.rm
  
  Another song in the film is the comic ditty ‘ thamizh vidu thoodhu munnaaLil, kiLi vidu thoodhu pinnaaLil’, sung by Dharapuram Sundararajan & Manorama.
  
  * * * *
  
  The year remains very special for VK and Swarna on the personal front as well, for it was in 1969 that they got married. Swarna had become a permanent fixture in VK’s music shows and was also singing in his films. She had made it a practice to be present for all of VK’s film recording sessions, even if she was not singing the songs. She would go to observe the other singers, so that she may learn from them. VK and Swarna felt themselves gradually drawn towards each other. He was 35 years old, and she was but 20…yet differences in age do not matter much where the hearts unite. And one day, the upright VK gently cautioned Swarna that her being regularly present during his recordings might lead to unnecessary speculation and it was time they ought to take a decision as to their future together. Swarna’s voice acquired a mellow tone as she shyly shared with me the memories of those wonderful moments, and the words came falteringly as a rush of emotions overcame her…
  
  Continued her narration, she said that in response to VK’s proposal, she could only nod in joyful assent. Though he had secured Swarna’s assent, VK was feeling apprehensive about his mother’s reaction. As a first measure, he apprised his elder brother V. Arumugam of his wish, and brought him to meet Swarna during a stage programme in the Children’s Theatre, where Swarna was singing for her sister’s dance. With Arumugam’s intervention, both Swarna’s mother and VK’s mother readily agreed to the match. VK and Swarna were married in a simple ceremony on 14th July 1969 at the Thiruporur Murugan Temple. KB was among the very few film personalities who graced the occasion, and he watched with happiness his friend securing at last a worthy life partner. I was amazed when Swarna recalled that not minding the fact that the wedding was just over, VK rushed to Chennai so that he would not miss the recording schedule of the songs of Devar’s peN deivam!
  
  * * * *
  
  To make VK’s cup of happiness full, it was in 1969, that he secured the honor of composing music for a Sivaji starrer, and this prized opportunity came to him thanks to Muktha Srinivasan. Today Muktha Films is known for its long association with Sivaji Ganesan, and it was the film niRai kudam that marked the beginning of the Muktha/ Sivaji ventures.
  
  niRai kudam starred Sivaji Ganesan, Vanisri, Muthuraman, Cho and Manorama. The story was by none other than Mahendran, who would years later emerge as the pioneer of avant-garde efforts in Tamil Cinema.
  
  To go back a few years into Mahendran’s career, he landed in Madras to study law, but had to discontinue the course midway due to lack of financial resources. MGR, who had been impressed by Mahendran’s speech in Azhagappa College, took him under his fold. Mahendran worked as assistant director in kanchi thalaivan (1963), the titles referred to him as “C. Mahendran. B.A”. Though he detested the pedestrian films with clichéd story-lines that were being made in the Kodambakkam Studios, he was forced to swim with the tide for survival and wrote the scripts for films like naam moovar, paNakkara piLLai and sabash thambi. He had decided to return to Karaikudi, when Venu Chettiar took him to Muktha Srinivasan and Cho who were looking out for an appropriate story for their next venture.
  
  Cho and Srinivasan liked the story related by Mahendran, and Cho worked on the screenplay and dialogues. Later Mahendran got to watch the preview show of the completed film, and was disenchanted with the way his story had taken shape. And he didn’t mince words when Cho asked him for his opinion. Far from being offended, Cho liked Mahendran’s forthright reply, and the very next day offered him the post of the assistant editor of Tukhlaq!
  
  Coming back to the story of niRai kudam, Prabhakar (Sivaji) and Sampath (Muthuraman) are friends in college. Chitra (Vanisri) is Sampath’s sister. The film’s early reels are filled with the usual fun-filled college scenes. Things take a turn for the serious when Prabhakar’s innocent mischief inadvertently leads to an accident that claims Sampath’s life, and also snatches away Chitra’s eyesight. Chitra develops a fanatical hatred for Prabhakar, as she believes him to be the cause of these calamities. The remorse-stricken Prabhakar has meanwhile become a doctor, and assuming the new identity of Dr.Babu, he wins Chitra’s heart and marries her. Chitra finds happiness in her marital life with Prabhakar, without realizing his identity. Meanwhile Prabhakar arranges for a major surgery that may bring back Chitra’s vision. At the same time, he knows that once Chitra sees him, she would be shattered to realize that her husband is the same Prabhakar whom she hates. After some predictable twists, the film ends on a happy note. In recent times, Vijay’s thuLLaadha manamum thuLLum followed a similar story line.
  
  In 1969 alone, Sivaji had 9 films released and a wide variety of MDs working on their music. sivandha maN, deivamagan, anbaLippu and thirudan had music by MSV. The surprise composers were R.Govardhanam (anjal petti 520), T.K.Ramamoorthi (thanga churangam), G.Devarajan (kaaval deivam) and T.K.Pugazhendhi (gurudhatchinai).
  
  And niRai kudam (8.8.1969) came to VK. Interestingly, the same year, Seergazhi Govindarajan in his famous ‘aaNdukku aaNdu thEdhikku thEdhi’, (suba dhinam) sang ‘niRai kudam pOloru thiraippadam vandhaal rasiganukku adhuthaan suba dhinam’, and I have always wondered if it was a reference to this film, or was it just a figure of speech!!
  
  VK was overjoyed at the thought of composing music for a Sivaji film and the songs that he came up with justified fully the trust placed on him by the Muktha brothers.
  
  Listen to this song azhaikindREn dEvaa- a dance drama staged for a college function. The song goes through so many moods and scenarios, and VK escorts us through them all. TMS and PS are the main singers, though I can perceive the unmistakable voices of Jamunarani and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi too in the course of the proceedings. The song ends with depicting the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Thanks to sk for making this rare song available to us.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/azhaikindren.rm
  
  The next song is the memorable kaNNoru pakkam nenjoru pakkam sung by TMS & PS. The simple, catchy duet was quite popular in its time, and finds occasional airtime even today.
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/kannorupakkam.rm
  
  The third song is the moving viLakkE nee koNda oLi naanE. Kannadasan masterfully sums up the predicament of Prabhakar, as he tends to his blind Chitra. He blames himself for Chitra becoming sightless, and in an indirect reference to both the harm that he is guilty of, and the care he is showering on her now, he declares ‘muLLum naanE, malar naanE’. The closing lines are particularly pregnant with inner meaning: ‘ kaNavan mugaththai kaNgaL kaaNum kaalam vara vENdum, kaaNum pOdhu kungumam enakku kaaval thara vENdum- evocatively expressing both his fervent hopes and secret apprehensions. VK and TMS bring to pulsating life the poignancy of the circumstances.
  
  Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/vilakke.rm
  
  In spite of Kumar acquitting himself rather well, and the songs becoming popular, a chance to work for a Sivaji film did not came his way ever again. Thus niRai kudam would have a special place in his heart.
  
  -the 1969 Chapter to be continued next week-
  
  
• From: Cinema Virumbi (@ 220.227.146.2) on: Thu Aug 26 09:48:30 EDT 2004
  
  
  Saravanan,
  
  'aayiram poy' was based on a novel named ' saathal illaiyEl kaathal' written by Cho in Kalki around two years prior to the release of the film. And I think this was Cho's first foray into writing novels! I even remember Cho thanking Ki. Rajendran profusely for this.
  
  
• From: Saravanan (@ 195.229.241.186) on: Thu Aug 26 13:53:10 EDT 2004
  
  CV, thanks for that interesting detail!
  
  

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