Saravanan Natarajan writes:
மாலை இளமனதில் ஆசைதனை தூவியது....
The end of the 70s was perhaps the best time for a young boy to fall in love with Tamil Film Music. MSV was still very much in the center stage coming up with captivating compositions while Ilaiyaraja at the other end conjured up one stunner after another. In between these two, there was space yet for composers such as V. Kumar, Vijayabhaskar, Shankar-Ganesh, Shyam and even Gangai Amaran to carve out mellifluous courses of their own that found their way to the listener’s heart. And as for the singers, after the 50s, Tamil film music had never known such a variety of crooners as in the late 70s… TMS, Yesudas, SPB, Jayachandran, Malaysia Vasudevan, Susheela, Janaki, Vani Jairam, Sashirekha and Ilaiyaraja’s proteges such as Sujata, Jency and Shailaja…they could all secure for themselves vantage spots in the lime light…Even T.L. Maharajan and Jolly Abraham found themselves rendering songs that became hugely popular.... And while Kannadasan and Vaali pretty much shared the lyrics amongst themselves, immensely talented lyricists such as Pulamaipithan, Na. Kamarasan and Muthulingam could also find avenues to cast a spell with their poetic imageries. The young boy would be but spoiled for choice… Vividh Bharathi and Radio Ceylon were constant companions even while he bent laboriously over his lessons, much to the consternation of his parents who were never film song aficionados.
Yet, the boy persevered with his passion, and to his delight found few kindred souls among his friends at primary school. Every new song was eagerly discussed and wondered at….. each of the two chief composers had their set of fierce loyalists and so had the singers. However, there came a day when the boy and his friends met excitedly…they had heard a song in the previous night’s ‘விளம்பரதாரர் அளிக்கும் நிகழ்ச்சிகள்’, and while the song itself was mesmerizing in its strain, the singers were two complete strangers….the boys and girls wondered at the new singers who had so easily got an opportunity to sing for Ilaiyaraja… Would the young boy have ever imagined that one day many years later, he would have the singer come to his house and oblige him by singing this very song? That is life, a cornucopia of delightful surprises at every turn!* * * * *
The song was மாலை இளமனதில் from the movie அவள் ஒரு பச்சைக்குழந்தை. The singers were S.N. Surendar and Shobha Chandrashekhar.
A song that is seldom heard these days, another forgotten trinket from the vintage treasuries.
Annai Velankanni Creations’ அவள் ஒரு பச்சைக்குழந்தை (1978) had Vijayakumar and Bhavani as the lead actors. I believe this film marked the directorial debut of S.A. Chandrasekhar.
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Sathurangapattinam Somasundaram Neelakantan (S.S. Neelakantan) was a production executive at Vauhini Studios. He had undergone training in Hindustani music. His wife Lalitha was also a good singer and lent her voice to many chorus songs in the 60s and early 70s. They encouraged their four children Sundar, Surendar, Shobha and Sheela in their music pursuits. Surendar made his debut in Tamil film music as a child- he was first heard (along with his brother S.N. Sundar), lisping ‘A for apple, B for biscuit, C for chocolate--’ (சாது மிரண்டால்/ 1966) and followed it up with songs like ‘வரவு எட்டணா செலவு பத்தணா’ (பாமா விஜயம்/ 1967) and ‘ஆலயம் என்பது வீடாகும்’ (தாமரை நெஞ்சம்/ 1968). And as for his sister Shobha, she was first heard demanding ‘ஓடிப்பிடித்து விளையாட ஒரு தம்பிப்பாப்பா வேண்டும் என் கூட’ (‘மகராஜா ஒரு மகராணி' / இரு மலர்கள்/ 1967) followed by ‘நல்லப்பேரை வாங்க வேண்டும் பிள்ளைகளே’ (நம் நாடு/ 1969). The four siblings sang their first concert at Vadapalani temple in 1966. Soon they formed a light music troupe (named Lalithanjali after their mother) and performed all over the state.
‘மாலை இள மனதில்’ perhaps marked Surendar and Shobha’s re-entry in Tamil cinema as adult singers. Over the years, Surendar got to sing many songs for MSV, Ilaiyaraja, Shankar-Ganesh and Gangai Amaran, and many of his songs became quite popular. In the meantime, he also became a successful dubbing artiste, especially for Mohan. His career as a singer enjoyed a grand resurgence with ‘ஊமை விழிகள்’, and along with Sasirekha, he emerged as the favorite singer of Manoj-Gyan.
As for Shobha, she did get to render a few songs in the films directed by her husband S.A. Chandrasekhar, and some of them did enjoy ephemeral popularity like ‘பகலில் ஒரு தாகம்’ (சட்டம் ஒரு இருட்டறை), ‘மீனோடு மீன் வந்து’ (அலை பாயும் நெஞ்சங்கள்), ‘தெய்வம் வந்தது’ (புது யுகம்), ‘ஒரு குள்ளநரி’ (சட்டம் ஒரு விளையாட்டு). She went on write the stories for many of her husband’s films, and then took over the director’s mantle for films like நண்பர்கள் (1991) and இன்னிசை மழை (1992). இன்னிசை மழை (MD: Ilaiyaraja) also had her singing a great duet with SPB ‘தூரி தூரி’. She is definitely made for better things than belting out 'தொட்டபெட்டா ரோட்டு மேலே’ (விஷ்ணு) and ‘ஊர்மிளா ஊர்மிளா’ (Once More), that too with her son! But to give her due, she can hold the record of being the only singer to have sung duets with her brother and also with her son.
Btw, their sister Sheela has sung a lilting duet with Unnikrishnan ‘தென்றல் வந்து தென்றல் வந்து’ (MD: Deva) in the (probably) unreleased film மனசு that was also produced by her.
In later years, Surendar and Shobha did get to sing a few more duets together like ‘எத்தனை நாளாச்சுது’ (குடும்பம்/1984/Gangai Amaran) and ‘அழகே நீ அழலாமா’ (புது யுகம்/1985/Gangai Amaran)
Shobha and Surendar are among the very rare brother-sister duo to have sung duets together. SPB & S.P. Shailaja were the other pair. In Hindi we had Nazia Hasan and Zoheb Hasan, and in recent times Shaan (Shantanu Mukherjee) and Sagarika have sung together.
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It must have been at the director’s insistence that Surendar and Shobha bagged this opportunity to sing for Ilaiyaraja and they acquit themselves fairly well for (adult) debutants. The maestro’s imaginative arrangements in the beguiling prelude and interludes usher in so magnificently the mood of the seductive evening in its spellbinding splendor…. Gangai Amaran’s lines engrave an evening that sows the seeds of forbidden desires followed by a morning that sings a thousand odes to the aching memories… The languid guitar and sultry accordion add to the hazy allure and twirl in tandem to this tantalizing tango….
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‘வெள்ளை தாமரைப்பூவில் இருப்பாள், வீணை செய்யும் ஒலியில் இருப்பாள்...’ Shobha Aunty seemed in a world of her own as she traversed into the intricacies of Bhimplas… Yes, to me she is now Shobha Aunty, for being very closely related to my sister-in-law, they have become family friends ever since my brother’s marriage. They had come home in July this year for a family function, and as is common on such occasions, Shobha Aunty was adding to the festive mood with her lovely singing.
I managed to corner her for a quiet tête-à-tête this time and mentioned this song. Her eyes lit up in pleased memory. Even as she hummed the opening bars, she recalled that day in the distant past when she entered the studios to sing for Ilaiyaraja. ‘Were you nervous?’ I asked. “Of course, I was!” she averred, with a twinkle. However, the young Raja was affable and encouraging, and with the added comfort of her brother being the co-singer, she managed to pull it off without much ado.
“Do you have the song? It is ages since I listened to it last!” It was Shobha Aunty that evening on the phone with this wistful request. It took only a swift search in YouTube for me to locate it and I WhatsApped her the link. “Thank you. You made my day!” came the prompt reply :)
Be part of the enchantment here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo1t7oFir9I
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1407718265926562/
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