Kumaraswamy Sundar writes:
M.S. - Musician(s) Supreme!
What’s in a name or rather what’s in’ initials’ – will one’s initials always guarantee success! Might be a hypothetical question but empirical analyses suggest it could be true.
I always have a fascination for double initials for a variety of reasons.
Let us take for example the initials, ‘M.S’ for this discussion.
Outside music field, we had M S Udhayamurthy, a social activist who had inspired the youth with his motivational essays .
We have the eminent agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan.
In the carnatic music field, the one and only ‘maharani of music’ M S Subbulakshmi, the famous violin brothers, sons of Parur Sundaram Iyer,viz., M S Anantharaman and M S Gopalakrishnan, exponents of their unique ‘Parur style’ of playing and the highly-talented vocalist M S Sheela.
In film music, the redoubtable M S Viswanathan, knowledgeable composer M S Gnanamani, singing actress M S Sarojini, the dulcet diva M S Rajeswari, , veteran lyricist M S Subramaniam and M S Raju, a mandolin player and singer (remember ‘Maaplae’-M R Radha’s voice in Bale Pandiya, ‘Neeye unakku endrum’ song) in MSV’s orchestra and a much sought-after ‘whistle-blower’ during his time.
There was also this screenplay writer M S Solaimalai. Other celebrities include veteran actor M S Sundaribai, cricketer M S Dhoni and actor M S Bhaskar.
Have I left out any one …., it suddenly struck me …what about M S Anuradha, the singer who sang an unforgettable melody in ‘Nam Kuzhandhai’. Though not much is known about M S Anuradha, her only song ‘ஓவியக்கலை தெரிந்தால் போதுமா ’ is celebrated and cherished as a treasure to this day by tamil film music aficionados.
Pl listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77De3HTMVAA
Absolutely poignant! Her voice reminds me more of S Varalakshmi’s. Alas! It is Bhimpalas again. Old-time composers were obsessed with this raaga, one, for its beauty and the other for its adaptability to suit the situations. MSA lends the right ‘bhavam’ by her soulful rendition. To me, the song looks much ahead of its times both for its tune and its lyrics, so much so that whenever I listen to the opening line in the charanam, ‘கானல் நீரை மான் கண்ட கதை தானா ‘ the pathos therein takes me to ‘தந்தியில்லா வீணை சுரம் தருமோ’ of ‘மேகமே மேகமே’.
M S Anuradha was indeed lucky that she got to sing under a doyen composer M D Parthasarathy (double initials again!). This is an off-beat tune of MDP for its semi-classical lilt as MDP was not used to this type of composing during his earlier stint. With Hawaiian guitar and clarionet, flute, violins and veenais, MDP entices the listeners.
This is what MDP’s daughter Dr.Vijaya Parthasarathy has to say about the singer M S A:
“I don't know much about her. She was a regular contract artiste of AIR, Madras. My father used to compose a number of light music songs for AIR and also some musical operas. He used to choose people who have melodious voices. As he was struck by her voice he wanted to use her for ‘Nam kuzhandai’ and she agreed to sing out of regard for my father. Apart from that I hardly know much about her fate (sic)”. (Thank you madam)
M D Parthasarathy was a prominent composer in the Gemini’s Board of music directors that comprised mainly Salur Rajeswara Rao and ‘Rema’ Vaidyanathan (actor Ranjan’s brother). MDP composed songs for all of Gemini’s blockbusters right from Madhanakamarajan(1941) till Avvaiyar (1953) which include ‘Nandanar’ and ‘Chandralekha’.
MDP had to leave Gemini after a sterling innings of over a decade when boss S S Vasan reportedly began disbanding his permanent staff. As an independent composer MDP worked for ‘Nam Kuzhandhai (1955)’ produced by Windsor Productions. With Manohar and S Varalakshmi as the lead pair the film was directed by K S Gopalakrishnan of Gemini’s ‘Chakradari’ fame (not to be confused with ‘Iyakkunar thilagam’). ‘Nam kuzhandhai’, besides this song, had a battery of pre-eminent singers of its time viz., S Varalakshmi, U R Jeevarathnam, V Nagaiah and V N Sundaram.
Puratchidasan wrote the lyrics. Enamoured by the ideals of ‘Periyar’ EVR, Rajaganapathy changed his name to Puratchidasan. His lyrics for this song are quite attractive and the similes he employed viz., ‘இலவு காத்த கிளி நானா ‘ and ‘கானல் நீரை மான் கண்ட கதை தானா ‘ are reminiscent of Puratchi kavignar’s dhasan, Suradha’s lines, aren’t they:
ஓவியக்கலை தெரிந்தால் போதுமா -நான்
உள்ளதை சொன்னால் என்ன கோபமா
ஓவியக்கலை தெரிந்தால் போதுமா -நான்
உள்ளதை சொன்னால் என்ன கோபமா
ஓவியக்கலை தெரிந்தால் போதுமா
காவியத்திலே சிறந்த கலைஞரே
காவியத்திலே சிறந்த கலைஞரே
காவியத்திலே சிறந்த கலைஞரே -எனக்கொரு
கடிதம் வரைந்தால் என்ன கற்பனை குறைந்திடுமோ
கடிதம் வரைந்தால் என்ன கற்பனை குறைந்திடுமோ
ஓவியக்கலை தெரிந்தால் போதுமா -
கானல் நீரை மான் கண்ட கதை தானா
கானல் நீரை மான் கண்ட கதை தானா
இலவு காத்த கிளி நானா
கானல் நீரை மான் கண்ட கதை தானா
இலவு காத்த கிளி நானா
வானில் மேவும் எழில் பூர்ணசந்திரிகா
வானில் மேவும் எழில் பூர்ணசந்திரிகா
கானில் காயும் நிலையானதால் ராஜா
ஓவியக்கலை தெரிந்தால் போதுமா -நான்
உள்ளதை சொன்னால் என்ன கோபமா
ஓவியக்கலை தெரிந்தால் போதுமா ராஜா ....
I am particularly impressed with the word ‘பூர்ணசந்திரிகா’ used by him probably to maintain the ‘நெடில்’ throughout in ending the lines...very imaginative of Puratchidasan! Puratchidasan wrote lyrics for a number of films during the 1950s. He later produced and directed ‘Naan potta savaal’ (Kanakasaranga Films/1980) and ‘Tharaasu’ (Rajaganapathy Films/1984).
*****
Next time, when you happen to meet any musicians, don’t forget to ask their initials....right?
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