- Saravanan writes:
Continuing our reminiscences on Chandrabose.
Thus CB made a noteworthy debut with madhura geetham and waited with
enthusiasm for further opportunities to pour in. He waited in vain,
though, for it was the time when Ilaiyaraja had burst upon the TFM scene
and Ilaiyaraja came, saw and conquered. Our Mellisai Mannar was also
churning out hit after hit on the other end, and Shankar-Ganesh secured
opportunities aplenty as well. V. Kumar, Vijayabhaskar and Shyam pretty
much divided the remaining work among themselves. In such a scenario, it
was of little surprise that a newcomer like CB was all but forgotten in
the aftermath of madhura geetham.
It was V.C. Guhanathan who came to CB's rescue once again, appointing CB
as the music director for all the projects that he was involved in
during the late 70s. Thus CB scored the music for Guhanathan's 'mangudi
minor' (1978), 'machchaanai paartheengaLa' (1978) and 'muyalukku 3 kaal'
(1980). 'mangudi minor' starring an upcoming Rajnikant along with
Vijayakumar and Sripriya was a remake of Manmohan Desai's 1972 movie
'Rampur Ka Lakshman' and CB lifted R.D.Burman's 'albEla rE albEla rE'
from the original for his 'kaNNan angE radhai ingE' sung by Vani Jairam.
The other 3 songs 'aNNaa neenga nenachappadi', 'yERu pudicha kaigaL'
(both by TMS) and 'en kaiyil iruppadhu' by P. Suseela were CB originals,
though. 'maampoovE siRu mainavE' the caressing Yesudas-Suseela duet that
CB composed for 'machchanai paartheengaLa' has reserved a place of pride
for CB in the annals of Tamil film music. The other songs in 'machchanai
paartheengaLa' (Sivakumar, Sridevi & Sumitra) were Janaki's breezy 'adi
maaman muniyaaNdi', 'ada kooRukketta pasangaLa' (Ceylon Manoharan, L.R.
Anjali & CB), 'dEsingu rajan' (TMS), and topping them all, the rousing
'engamma maharasi' (TMS, CB & chorus). For the full length comedy movie
boasting of a galaxy of comedy actors 'muyalukku moonu kaal', CB lifted
the 'bachna yE hasinO' track from RDB's 'Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin' and
tuned it as 'kaadhal kavignan naan' (TMS, SPB, CB & Jency). The title
song by Janaki & Malaysia Vasudevan enjoyed brief popularity. CB's next
movie was Nathigam P. Ramaswami's 'madhavai vandhaaL' (1980) and 'maalai
muthu maalai' (P. Suseela & CB) and the title song by Seergazhi S.
Govindarajan are said to have won the approbation of the fastidious
Kannadasan who wrote the lyrics. 'avaLukkuL oru ragasiyam' was another
album that CB worked on 1980; the movie proved to be a non-starter,
though. And in the midst of these movies, CB also sang for Shyam in
'pancha kalyaaNi' (1979).
Another movie that CB composed songs for in 1980 was Dasarathan's
'saraNam aiyappa' (Amudeswari Films). Most of you would be familiar with
'Master' Dasarathan, the child artiste who acted in few movies in the
late 60s and early 70s. He grew up to be a staunch devotee of Lord
Aiyappa, and made 3 movies to propagate the greatness of the Lord of
Sabarimalai- 'saraNam aiyappa' (1980), 'aruL tharum aiyappan' (1987) and
'engaL saami aiyappan' (1990). Besides scripting and directing these
movies, Dasarathan tried his hand at composing the music as well for
'aruL tharum aiyappan' and 'engaL saami aiyappan'.
Released in the winter of 1980 to coincide with the annual pilgrimage
period, 'saraNam aiyappa' had in its cast Bhupathi, Jayabharathi,
Sumathi, Surulirajan and Manorama, with an added attraction of popular
artistes such as Kamalhasan, Jaishankar and Bhagyaraj appearing in guest
roles. Dasarathan got Yesudas to appear on screen as well.
CB came out with a stirring album for this devotional movie. 'sonnaal
inikkuthu sugamaai irukkuthu' is a lilting composition sung by SPB &
Raji. K. Veeramani has composed and sung many a hymn on the Lord, but
'malai meedhu maNiyOsai aiyappa' composed by CB and rendered by
Veeramani for this movie stakes claim to a place among the great
devotee's best songs ever. 'swami thinthakaththOm' by Seergazhi
Govindarajan & chorus became a mandatory inclusion in Aiyappan Poojas
all over the state. CB got Kamalhasan to sing a song as well and the
folksy 'aNNaa avada thambi vaada' found frequent airtime. The jewel that
glitters the brightest in this crown, however, is the SOTD, 'poyyindRi
meyyOdu' by Yesudas.
'poyyindRi meyyOdu' from saraNam aiyappa (1980/ Amudeswari Films)
Sung by K.J. Yesudas
Lyrics by Dasarathan
Music by Chandrabose
"At Sabari hills I do not consider religion. I offer my soul to the
Supreme Power. There is a greater search of self than of religions over
there!" says Yesudas (Conversation with Hari Kochat). It is Yesudas'
rendition of Harivarasanam that lulls the Lord atop the 18 steps night
after night. An ardent devotee of the Lord, Yesudas has brought out 26
albums on the Lord under his Tharangini label. And in the album
'kaaniponnu', the veteran singer has even written 2 songs in praise of
the Lord. "I always wished with all my heart to write a couple of lines
on the Lord. That too about a place known for unity, with no differences
in the name of caste or religion." Yesudas said.
Take the SOTD as a glittering instance of the singer's devotion. On the
subapanthuvarali canvas spread by CB, Yesudas paints a pensive paean of
polished brilliance. With the simple, evocative lines by Dasarathan
soaked in moving piety, the song captures a place of pride among the
finest devotional songs that have found place in Tamil cinema over the
decades.
Continuing our reminiscences on Chandrabose.
Thus CB made a noteworthy debut with madhura geetham and waited with
enthusiasm for further opportunities to pour in. He waited in vain,
though, for it was the time when Ilaiyaraja had burst upon the TFM scene
and Ilaiyaraja came, saw and conquered. Our Mellisai Mannar was also
churning out hit after hit on the other end, and Shankar-Ganesh secured
opportunities aplenty as well. V. Kumar, Vijayabhaskar and Shyam pretty
much divided the remaining work among themselves. In such a scenario, it
was of little surprise that a newcomer like CB was all but forgotten in
the aftermath of madhura geetham.
It was V.C. Guhanathan who came to CB's rescue once again, appointing CB
as the music director for all the projects that he was involved in
during the late 70s. Thus CB scored the music for Guhanathan's 'mangudi
minor' (1978), 'machchaanai paartheengaLa' (1978) and 'muyalukku 3 kaal'
(1980). 'mangudi minor' starring an upcoming Rajnikant along with
Vijayakumar and Sripriya was a remake of Manmohan Desai's 1972 movie
'Rampur Ka Lakshman' and CB lifted R.D.Burman's 'albEla rE albEla rE'
from the original for his 'kaNNan angE radhai ingE' sung by Vani Jairam.
The other 3 songs 'aNNaa neenga nenachappadi', 'yERu pudicha kaigaL'
(both by TMS) and 'en kaiyil iruppadhu' by P. Suseela were CB originals,
though. 'maampoovE siRu mainavE' the caressing Yesudas-Suseela duet that
CB composed for 'machchanai paartheengaLa' has reserved a place of pride
for CB in the annals of Tamil film music. The other songs in 'machchanai
paartheengaLa' (Sivakumar, Sridevi & Sumitra) were Janaki's breezy 'adi
maaman muniyaaNdi', 'ada kooRukketta pasangaLa' (Ceylon Manoharan, L.R.
Anjali & CB), 'dEsingu rajan' (TMS), and topping them all, the rousing
'engamma maharasi' (TMS, CB & chorus). For the full length comedy movie
boasting of a galaxy of comedy actors 'muyalukku moonu kaal', CB lifted
the 'bachna yE hasinO' track from RDB's 'Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin' and
tuned it as 'kaadhal kavignan naan' (TMS, SPB, CB & Jency). The title
song by Janaki & Malaysia Vasudevan enjoyed brief popularity. CB's next
movie was Nathigam P. Ramaswami's 'madhavai vandhaaL' (1980) and 'maalai
muthu maalai' (P. Suseela & CB) and the title song by Seergazhi S.
Govindarajan are said to have won the approbation of the fastidious
Kannadasan who wrote the lyrics. 'avaLukkuL oru ragasiyam' was another
album that CB worked on 1980; the movie proved to be a non-starter,
though. And in the midst of these movies, CB also sang for Shyam in
'pancha kalyaaNi' (1979).
Another movie that CB composed songs for in 1980 was Dasarathan's
'saraNam aiyappa' (Amudeswari Films). Most of you would be familiar with
'Master' Dasarathan, the child artiste who acted in few movies in the
late 60s and early 70s. He grew up to be a staunch devotee of Lord
Aiyappa, and made 3 movies to propagate the greatness of the Lord of
Sabarimalai- 'saraNam aiyappa' (1980), 'aruL tharum aiyappan' (1987) and
'engaL saami aiyappan' (1990). Besides scripting and directing these
movies, Dasarathan tried his hand at composing the music as well for
'aruL tharum aiyappan' and 'engaL saami aiyappan'.
Released in the winter of 1980 to coincide with the annual pilgrimage
period, 'saraNam aiyappa' had in its cast Bhupathi, Jayabharathi,
Sumathi, Surulirajan and Manorama, with an added attraction of popular
artistes such as Kamalhasan, Jaishankar and Bhagyaraj appearing in guest
roles. Dasarathan got Yesudas to appear on screen as well.
CB came out with a stirring album for this devotional movie. 'sonnaal
inikkuthu sugamaai irukkuthu' is a lilting composition sung by SPB &
Raji. K. Veeramani has composed and sung many a hymn on the Lord, but
'malai meedhu maNiyOsai aiyappa' composed by CB and rendered by
Veeramani for this movie stakes claim to a place among the great
devotee's best songs ever. 'swami thinthakaththOm' by Seergazhi
Govindarajan & chorus became a mandatory inclusion in Aiyappan Poojas
all over the state. CB got Kamalhasan to sing a song as well and the
folksy 'aNNaa avada thambi vaada' found frequent airtime. The jewel that
glitters the brightest in this crown, however, is the SOTD, 'poyyindRi
meyyOdu' by Yesudas.
'poyyindRi meyyOdu' from saraNam aiyappa (1980/ Amudeswari Films)
Sung by K.J. Yesudas
Lyrics by Dasarathan
Music by Chandrabose
"At Sabari hills I do not consider religion. I offer my soul to the
Supreme Power. There is a greater search of self than of religions over
there!" says Yesudas (Conversation with Hari Kochat). It is Yesudas'
rendition of Harivarasanam that lulls the Lord atop the 18 steps night
after night. An ardent devotee of the Lord, Yesudas has brought out 26
albums on the Lord under his Tharangini label. And in the album
'kaaniponnu', the veteran singer has even written 2 songs in praise of
the Lord. "I always wished with all my heart to write a couple of lines
on the Lord. That too about a place known for unity, with no differences
in the name of caste or religion." Yesudas said.
Take the SOTD as a glittering instance of the singer's devotion. On the
subapanthuvarali canvas spread by CB, Yesudas paints a pensive paean of
polished brilliance. With the simple, evocative lines by Dasarathan
soaked in moving piety, the song captures a place of pride among the
finest devotional songs that have found place in Tamil cinema over the
decades.
