Saravanan Natarajan
JK & Tamil Cinema: Part 1
Reminisces JK in his ‘ஒர் இலக்கியவாதியின் கலையுலக அனுபவங்கள்', - " பல முற்போக்குத் தோழர்கள் முயற்சியினால் குமரி பிலிம்ஸ் என்னும் ஒரு படத் தயாரிப்பு நிறுவனம் துவக்கப்பட்டிருந்த்தது. அதில் சம்பந்தப்பட்ட அனைவரும் கம்யூனிஸ்ட்களாகவும், கம்யூனிஸ்ட் அனுதாபிகளாகவும், தொழிலாளர்களாகவும் இருந்ததால் அவர்களோடு எனக்கு தொடர்பு நெருக்கமாய் இருந்ததது. தோழர் எம்.பி. ஸ்ரீனிவாசன் இந்த நிறுவனத்தின் தோற்றதிற்கு முக்கிய காரணமானார்.
திரைக்கதை எழுதுகிற பொறுப்பை நாங்கள் அனைவரும் ஆர். கே. கண்ணனிடம் ஒப்படைத்தோம். நான் இரண்டு பாடல்கள் எழுதினேன். "
Thus the comrades sat together, and the story titled Paathai Theriyuthu Paar took shape over many animated discussions. Comrade R.K.Kannan drafted the screenplay and penned the dialogues. K. Vijayan, who was working as a railway employee in Ponmalai Station and acting in the plays produced by Comrade Simon’s Valluvar Kalai Mandram was roped in to play the fiery, principled hero. S.V.Sahasranamam, T.K.Balachandran, S.V.Subbiah, Muthuraman, V.Gopalakrishnan, L.Vijayalakshmi and Sundaribai and were the other actors.
The storyline goes thus. Sundaram Pillai works as an accountant in a large company. He is known for his integrity and discipline. Shankar and Meena are his children. He also brings up his late friend’s son, Murugesan. Murugesan had imbibed all the noble principles from Sundaram Pillai and works as a labourer in a cotton mill. Murugesan and Meena fall in love. Stung by the oppressive policies of the management, Murugesan becomes an aggressive member of the Labour Union. He manages to form a co-operative store to help the poor get essential commodities at fair prices. The labourers raise their voice against black-marketeering and hoarding, and notch significant victories after a bitter struggle.
* * * * *
Nimai Ghosh took on the twin responsibility of cinematography and direction.
Music was by M.B.Srinivasan. The comrades were very particular that the songs should not be incongruously inserted into the story; all the song sequences appeared in perfectly natural situations.
Thus we have the the hilarious ‘Rasa maga polirundhe’ by A.L. Raghavan & Chorus, the poignant ‘Azhudha kanneerum paalugumaa’ sung by the dulcet P. Susheela and the clarion ‘Unmai oru naal veliyaagum’ by Tiruchi Loganathan.
Giving here the links of the remaining songs available in YouTube.
The uplifting Thevaram 'மாசில் வீணையும்' sung by Janaki & A.S. Mahadevan.
There are three pieces (maasil veeNaiyum, namachivayavE gnanamum kalviyum, viragil thEyinan) from Thirunavukkarasar's Thevaram that feature in this song.
Those were S Janaki's early years. It is a matter of ceaseless wonder that SJ, who underwent very little formal training in music, was entrusted with so many classical and semi-classical songs in films in all languages, and she did ample justice to all of them. Hark at the light brigas with which she adorns the lines in this song.. It adds so much luster to the fervent traditional lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFUgMTIddt4
Next is the haunting 'சின்ன சின்ன மூக்குத்தியாம்' sung by TMS.
'Communism has nothing to do with love' declared Mao Tse-tung with smug disdain. I wish he could have read the romantic verses of Turkish poet Comrade Nazim Hikmet or 'Chinna chinna mookuthiyaam' of Comrade KCS. Arunachalam! Perhaps the great leader would be mollified when he hears KCS, even in this moment of throbbing passion, showing his true colours, in lines like 'sigappu kallu mookuthiyaam' and 'vetthila pOtta un vaai sivakkum, kannam vetkathinaalE sivandhirukkum!' The romantic heart hidden in the crusty comrade reveals itself in 'kazhuthai chutthi Or attiyalaam, un kattazhagE oru pattiyalaam!'
I can never get enough of this vintage TMS! How dreamy and lovelorn he sounds as he croons the lines, and how joyful and exuberant is that 'Hey' in the middle of each charaNam! Old-fashioned, leisurely romance, where sunny afternoons merge into balmy evenings. and balmy evenings make way for dream-laden nights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM1W5HuZNLg
And then we have this song of timeless enchantment 'தென்னங்கீற்று ஊஞ்சலிலே' penned by Jayakanthan. Sung by the salubrious P.B. Srinivas and the soprano Janaki.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wplkczKa3Zg
With his flute, piano and violins, MBS composes a song that summons the sublime; a tune that lingers over decades with unhurried allure, and ந் add caressing flourishes like the gentle breeze in the still of the night. PBS sings only the pallavi, Janaki sings only the charaNams, and two unite in that immortal humming, like the lines, ‘vaanai bhoomi azhaikkuthu, thoduvaanil iraNdum kalakkuthu…’
The song remains one of the favorites if PBS himself. Of his only film song for MBS, he is said to have wondered with awe, ‘ ஒரே ஒரு பாட்டுத்தான், அதனாலென்ன எப்பேர்ப்பட்ட பாட்டு!' Today happens to be the anniversary of his demise. We salute the memory of the gentleman singer and celebrate the rich legacy he has left behind.
As late as in 2000, during a concert in Chennai, PBS felicitated Janaki on the stage and they joined to sing this bewitching duet. Age told, but the magic was still intact. So many of us jumped from our seats and gave the living legends a standing ovation!
A moment…An eternity…
* * * * *
M.R. Venkataraman presided over the unpretentious event, and Jeevanandam cranked the camera for the first shot of Paathai Theriyuthu Paar. The shooting proceeded at a brisk pace, for each shot had been planned in meticulous detail and much in advance. Nimai Ghosh worked to create a movie that brought into the portals of Tamil Cinema shades of European Neo-Realism, Russian Avant-Garde and Bengali Leftist Theater.
Despite all this and the haunting album by MBS, Paathai Theriyuthu Paar, released on 18th November 1960, was a colossal commercial failure. And in hindsight the crestfallen comrades realized that they should not been content with merely making the movie, they should have also taken upon themselves its marketing and distribution. For it was alleged that the big studio owners/ producers were determined to nip in the bud the entry of the communists into Tamil cinema, and after buying the rights of the movie, chose to release it in some obscure suburban theaters, or worse still, not release it all! AV Meyyappa Chetttiar, it is said, secured the distribution rights for Madras, and released the movie for a brief while in a little known Murugan Talkies somewhere in the outskirts. It is not known if the prints of this movie are available anywhere today. In my time, I have never known Paathai Theriyuthu Paar to be screened in any theater or shown on television.
But on second thought, all that the bourgeois barons gained was a pyrrhic victory. The comrades had carried their point home by making a movie all by themselves, and a good one at that, sans any charismatic star or even seasoned technicians. Paathai Theriyuthu Paar was a daring experiment that gave abundant creative satisfaction to the comrades involved in its making.
Perhaps the big filmmakers wished that Paathai Theriyuthu Paar would be forgotten quickly, but here they had not contended with the doughty Radio Ceylon. For by going to town with the wondrous album, thamizh sEvai iraNdu kept the memory of Paathai Theriyuthu Paar alive for decades. True, I have never heard ‘Azhutha kanneerum paalugama’ or ‘Unmai oru naal’ aired, and have only very vague memories of listening to ‘Maasil veenaiyum’ and ‘Raasa maga polirundhe’, but can recollect with avid clarity the unabated pleasure each frequent broadcast of ‘Thennankeetru oonjalile’ evoked and the unanswered questions that it fuelled regarding the song’s picturization, the movie itself, and, of course, MBS. ‘Chinna china mookuthiyaam’ was a Thenkinnam regular, and I listened to it with mixed feelings, for this long song meant one song less in the programme! Be it as may, Paathai Theriyuthu Paar is ensconced snugly in a rightful place of pride in the annals of Tamil Film Music.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I…
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference!
- Robert Lee Frost (The Road Not Taken)
Discussion at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1557305534301167/
First part here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1551500981548289/
Second part here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1555316444500076/
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