Home   Forum   Wiki   Notes   Register   FAQ   Sitemap   About Us   Contact Us  

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.

---

Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Music4ever (@ 64.222.254.199) on: Fri Jul 9 13:29:12 EDT 2004
  
  Good work, Saravanan.
  
  
• From: From Mars (@ 207.236.82.2) on: Fri Jul 9 14:13:49 EDT 2004
  
  was it true that vk scored music for a film in the late eighties under a different name and it sank without a trace?
  yes it's called enakOr needhi. I don't know any other detail. there is one KJY song:
  kaNNeeralE vidhiyin kaikaL ezhuthum kOlam ithu
  kaanalil Odidum kaagitham engE pOvathu
  
  
• From: Sriram (@ 68.189.59.57) on: Fri Jul 9 17:09:51 EDT 2004
  
  Guys out there,
  
  This is very heartening to see a thread on V.Kumar. This forum used to be so lively and we used to learn so much about TFM but off late so many new comers have been playing around, misusing it big time.
  
  Amidst this chaos, this comes as a pond in oasis.
  Great going! Keep it up!!
  
  
• From: bb for Saravanan (@ 24.6.251.57) on: Thu Jul 15 02:27:56 EDT 2004
  
  

  Part I - Neerkumizhi

  
  
  The 60s are often regarded by many as the golden era of Tamil film music. And perhaps rightly so. This was the decade that marked the conscious departure from classical compositions to light music, which suited the social themes that began to gain prominence. This decade also set high standards of excellence in lyrics (Kannadasan/ Vaali) and playback singing (TMS/PBS/PS).
  
  The 60s also saw the emergence of the inevitable monopoly of MSV-TKR (and later only MSV) as the undisputed monarchs of tfm, with KVM playing alongside as a viable alternative. The numerous MDs who were in the reckoning in the 50s found themselves swept away by the gargantuan V-R wave that engulfed tfm towards the late 50s. Even the great GR, in spite of proving that he could come up with equally enchanting light numbers, found himself sadly sidelined. R.Sudarsanam’s uninterrupted reign at AVM was rudely terminated when V-R bagged Paarthaal Pasi Theerum. S.M.Subbiah Naidu was left with very little work, the pride at his protégé MSV’s ascendancy could be his only consolation. S.V.Venkataraman was another veteran who didn’t figure in the new scheme of things. T.G.Lingappa was yet another victim of this wave, even his friend of yore Panthulu’s loyalties gradually shifted to V-R. The other giants who found themselves dwarfed by the emergence of V-R were the talented Telugu composers who were an integral part of tfm in the 50s- Pendyala Nageswara Rao, Susarla Dakshinamoorthi, Saluru Rajeswara Rao, Aadhi Narayana Rao, Thathineni Chalapathi Rao, Master Venu and Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao were suddenly out of work, at least as far as tfm was concerned. Of course, another reason for this could be that the trend of making bilinguals with these composers at the helm had not continued into the 60s. M.B.Srinivasan, who opened his account so grandly in 1960 with Paathai Theriyuthu Paar, didn’t get a single Tamil film again throughout the 60s. KVM was the only composer who could withstand the V-R wave, and continued to chart a course of his own.
  
  Thus V-R and KVM together accounted for most of the films that came out, especially in the early 60s. By the mid-60s, the number of films that were released each year had increased marginally. Consequently other composers could get some opportunities. Let us have a closer scrutiny of the year 1965. ’65 remains an important year in the annals of tfm, for it marked the dissolution of the powerful V-R partnership and the emergence of MSV as an independent MD. The total number of films released that year was 43. Out of this, V-R’s tally was 11, MSV’s individual tally after the split was 5, and KVM’s score was 8. So 19 films remained for other MDs.
  
  Joseph Thaliyath Jr of Citadel Film Corporation continued to patronize T.R.Papa, and Papa composed music for the two Citadel films that came out in ’65- Vilakketriyaval and Iravum Pagalum. MGR, perhaps out of compassion for his old friend, ensured that Subbiah Naidu got at least one film- Aasaimugam. It was a luckier year for R.Sudarsanam – he was the MD for 4 films that were released in ’65: Poomaalai, Anbukkarangal, Karthigai Deepam & Ennadhaan Mudivu. Veda composed music for Sarasa B.A. and Vallavanukku Vallavan. G.V.Iyer decided to remake his Thaayi Karulu in Tamil, and so retained G.K.Venkatesh as the MD for Thaayin Karunai. Obscure MDs like Chelladurai (Panam Tharum Parisu) and Ibrahim (Vazhikaatti) ventured to make timid forays. R.Parthasarathi gave some lilting melodies in Kalyana Mandapam. And while continuing with KVM for his bigger films, Devar let P.S.Diwakar compose music for his two smaller ventures this year- Kaattu Rani and Thaayum Magalum. Jayakanthan’s Unnai Pol Oruvan had no songs, and I don’t know who was the MD for Oru Viral.
  
  That leaves us with two films of 1965 yet to be accounted for, and these two films were the ones with which V.Kumar made his entry into tfm. And this was the scenario when V.Kumar sought to begin his innings in tfm. As Kumar himself had candidly admitted, his years in tfm were a marked by a constant struggle for survival, and he had to repeatedly prove himself, before he was grudgingly acknowledged as a composer of merit.
  
  * * * *
  
  As Suresh Kumar said, V.Kumar was working in the Telephones Department, when his love for music egged him on to form a small troupe and conduct programmes. He also started composing music for the stage. ‘Kann Thirukkuma?’ was the first play for which Kumar composed music. Drama troupes were flourishing in Madras in the 60s, and Kumar and his band were sought after by various troupes, including Cho’s Viveka Fine Arts. In due course, through a mutual acquaintance, Kumar was introduced to K.Balachandar.
  
  A science graduate from Annamalai University, Kailasam Balachandar (born 1930), was working as an upper division clerk in the Accountant General's office in Madras. He had staged plays even as a student, and was keenly interested in the stage. He was inspired by Ragini Gopalakrishnan, who while working in the Post Master General’s office, was also successfully running a drama troupe. Thus when KB set up his own troupe in 1957, he called it ‘Ragini Creations’. Pushpa Latha, The Last Judgement and Chathurangam were some of the early successes of Ragini Creations, and KB himself acted in some of those plays. KB’s troupe was further fortified with the inclusion of talented amateurs like Sundararajan (not yet Major!), who was working in the Telephones Department and Nagesh, who was struggling with an ill-paid job in the Railways.
  
  Vinodha Oppandham was the first play that Kumar worked for KB. They developed an instant rapport, and this association was to continue fruitfully for many years.
  
  AV Meyappa Chettiar was so impressed with KB’s play Server Sundaram, that he commissioned KB to develop it into a screenplay fit for celluloid adaptation. The film retained Nagesh and Sundararajan, and directed by Krishnan-Panju, was a thumping success. In the same year, 1964, MGR also approached KB to write the script for his Deivathaai, which was directed by P.Madhavan. Next KB scripted Neelavaanam (1965/ Pattu Films) which was also directed by P.Madhavan.
  
  Arunachalam Studios’ A.K.Velan made KB an irresistible offer to direct a film Neerkumizhi, based on one of KB’s plays (Mezhuguvarthi?). And one day, in the course of further discussions, Velan casually suggested that Kumar compose music for the film. Kumar, who was perfectly content scoring music for the stage, was initially filled with apprehensions about the feasibility of this idea. But Velan and KB gave him confidence, and encouraged him to make an attempt. Kumar was ably supported in the music composition of Neerkkumizhi by an experienced musician Rajagopal Kulasekar ( better known as R.K.Sekar and best known as A.R.Rahman’s father). And so Kumar set about composing music for the 3 songs that KB had envisaged for the film.
  
  * * * *
  
  Neerkumizhi was a story of the happenings in a hospital, and the bright moments that a terminally ill patient, Sethu, ushers into its gloomy confines. The film has striking similarities with Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand that came a few years later, in 1971.
  
  Sethu (KB seems to have liked this name, he repeated it for the hero of Punnagai Mannan in 1986!) was played with panache by Nagesh. Sowcar Janaki played the young doctor with plans of going abroad for further studies. Sundararajan, as the senior doctor having a soft corner for the mischievous Sethu, V.Goplakrishnan in the role of a recuperating sportsman, and Jayanthi as a pretty nurse offered firm support to the proceedings. The film notched up an uninterrupted run of 82 days in Gaiety Theatre in Madras, which was considered a grand success for a low-budget venture.
  
  The most popular song from the film is, of course, the profoundly reflective ‘aadi adangum vaazhkkaiyada’ sung by Seergazhi Govindarajan.
  
  Lyrics were by Suradha. More on Suradha here: http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/431.html
  
  ‘How much land does a man need?’ wondered Leo Tolstoy, and our Tamil lyricists too repeatedly came up with the same wry question. Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram wrote ‘thattukketta manithar kaNNil pattadhellam sondham, sattappadi paarkka pOnaa ettadi thaan sondham’. Kannadasan wrote ‘ettadukku maadi vaithu, kattidathai katti vittu, ettadikkuL vandhu paduthaan’. In recent times we have heard the lines ‘nadanthaal irandadi, irundhaal naangadi, paduthaal aaradi pOdhum’ (Piraisoodan?).
  
  Slow and melancholic, the song movingly portrays the despair of a youth whose days are inexorably numbered. The lyrics are filled with thoughts on the transience of life and the foibles of man who believes that he’s here to stay.
  
  Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/aadiadang.rm
  
  The other two songs were written by Alangudi Somu. More on Somu here: http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/369.html
  
  ‘kanni nadhiyOram’ is a breezy TMS/PS duet, filmed on Nagesh & Jayanthi. There is a programme arranged in the hospital, and Sethu is among the audience. As the song starts, Sethu lands up on the stage suddenly, replacing the male dancer. Nagesh’s adroit dance steps were a joy to behold in this song. Kumar created a youthful exuberant duet, with stylish interludes appropriate for the dance movements. TMS and PS go all out to celebrate the entry of a talented composer into their fold. The extended postlude is an added delight; in the movie two hospital attendants forcibly remove a recalcitrant Sethu from the stage.
  
  Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/kanni.rm
  
  ‘neeril neendhidum meeninamE’ is a lilting PS solo, not often heard on radio. Enchantingly rendered by PS, the song is a dreamy romantic number, the second interlude, in particular, is noteworthy.
  
  Listen here:
  
  http://www.newtfmpage.com/cgi-bin/stream.pl?url=http://www.dhool.com/sotd/vkumar/neeril.rm
  
  - to be continued-----
  
  
• From: Sriram Lakshman (@ 4.63.146.134) on: Thu Jul 15 03:57:26 EDT 2004
  
  happa !!!! Saro, as usual amazing recollections. BTW you missed out on whether rahu was in the 12th house in VK's chart, or was it in the 11th house ? Though, looking at his career, sani was doing pretty well, unfortunately so.
  
  
• From: raj (@ 203.197.142.162) on: Thu Jul 15 06:04:10 EDT 2004
  
  Excellent Songs!! Sara.. Keep up the good work!!
  
  Neer kumizhi (As sara said Mezhuguvarthi is the play) the career light for both KB and VKumar started off well ..
  
  Apart from SG's Aadi adangum
  
  Kanni nadhi oram is a Wonderful duet as said by Sara
  and thanks for reminding Neeril Neendhidum!!
  
  
  

---

List all pages of this thread

Post comments