Paadhai Theiyudhu Paar - JK & Tamil Cinema

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

JK & Tamil Cinema- Part 1

Paadhai Theiyudhu Paar (Contd)

Along with bringing about refreshing changes in drama and reviving traditional arts like ‘Burrakatha’ of Andhra and ‘Pawada’ of Maharashtra, IPTA also ushered in a renaissance in music in general and choral music in particular. In fact, the modern choir music in India owes its origins to IPTA. Iqbal’s ‘Saare jahaan se accha’ became hugely popular when composed by Pandit Ravishankar for the Central Cultural Troupe in 1944. Salil Chowdhury, Binoy Roy, Jyotirmai Moitra, Prem Dhawan, Shailendra, Hemang Vishwas, Vallathol, Narendra Sharma, Anil Biswas, Jyoti Prasad Agarwal, Bhupen Hazarika and many others composed stirring songs in many languages, and were also instrumental in spearheading the people’s choir movement. Ruma Guha Thakurta set up the Calcutta Youth Choir; and IPTA nurtured for the South, the great M.B. Srinivasan.

M.B. Srinivasan had gone to Lakshadweep islands to train a youth choir there, when he suffered a massive heart attack and passed away on 9th March, 1988. I was studying for my annual exams when I read of his demise. In the midst of frantic last minute revisions, I still mourned his passing away, for many of his songs had brought me so much joy and many, many hours of listening pleasure.

Manamadurai Balakrishnan Srinivasan was born in 1925 in Chithoor, where his father was working as a Lecturer in an Agricultural College. Music was an integral part of his childhood, as both his parents had great love for it. MBS grew up in times when the freedom struggle was at its zenith.

MBS, though hailing from an affluent family, was attracted to Communist thoughts, inspired perhaps by his uncle M.R.Venkataraman who gave up a flourishing career in law and joined the Communist Party. As a student of Madras Presidency College, MBS joined the Madras Students Organization (M.S.O.) Along with like-minded enthusiasts like S. Damodaran and Baladhandayudham, MBS was actively involved in garnering student support for imprisoned freedom fighters and conducting patriotic meetings, where Bharathiyar’s fiery songs were sung with fervour.

For a while, MBS worked in the office of the Communist Party’s Parliamentary Committee in Delhi. It was then that he got involved with IPTA and helped in bringing about plays and road shows highlighting problems faced by people in everyday life. Whilst going about this, he also got an exposure to musical influences from all corners of the country. He also underwent formal training in classical music.

It was during this period that MBS met and fell in love with Zahida Kitchlew, who shared with ardor, the same passion for both music and people’s causes. Zahida was the daughter of the great nationalist Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew. In Zahida, MBS found a perfect soul mate and married her- he a Tamil Aiyangaar and she a Kashmiri Muslim- but what does religion matter, when hearts unite! They named their son Kabir, after that wonderful poet, who was celebrated alike by both Hindus and Muslims.


True, he had composed music for only 8 Tamil films- but he had created some songs of timeless enchantment in those few films- from the bewitching ‘Thennankeetru oonjalile’ to the moving ‘Amma undhan kai valaiyaai’- songs that will live on to tell the tale of a genius…A great musician, and a great human being, a noble soul who strove throughout his life to better the lot of his fellow beings, all the while creating songs of eternal allure.

But the same destiny which closed the door of Tamil cinema for MBS, threw wide open for him the portals of Malayalam cinema, and there MBS found enchanting avenues to create his kind of music. Internationally acclaimed filmmakers like KG George, MT Vasudevan Nair, Adoor Goplakrishnan and Aravindan came to MBS repeatedly to set music for their films. MBS bagged the Kerala Government Award for the best Music Director for four years. It was MBS who, in 1961, gave KJ Yesudas his first ever film song, (a short verse by Narayana Guru) in the film Kalpadukal. Jayachandran got the State Award for the song ‘Ragam sriragam’, composed by MBS for the film Bandhanam.

Be it any language, MBS gave his best to all his films. The first film in Baduga language, Kala Thapitha Pailu, had memorable music by MBS. MBS was the pioneer in Radio jingles- Many of the jingles heard in the early 70s were composed by him.

MBS was not content to rest with his laurels in film music. Through music, he wanted to inspire in children the qualities of patriotism and National Integration. The beginning was made when he trained 25 students to sing 6 songs of Bharathiar for the Ilaya Bharatham programme of AIR in August 1970. Under his guidance, the Bharathi Ilaignar Isaikkuzhu was constituted in 1971, which blossomed into the Madras Youth Choir in 1973. MBS was instrumental in setting up such choirs in many parts of India. Songs of Bharathiar, Bharathidasan, Tagore and Iqbal, when sung by hundreds of children in one voice, evoked rare emotional fervour in the listeners.

MBS loved children- most of his Serndisai programmes were by children from the Corporation schools and children from the slums. MBS headed the Madras Youth Choir right from its inception up to his death in 1988. After his demise, Zahida took over the responsibility with enthusiasm. Zahida passed way on 23rd October, 2002.

MBS was honoured with the Award for Creative Music by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1986. He galvanized the Cine Music technicians to form a Union and demand prompt payments and fixed wages. He was instrumental in the formation of the Indian Performing Right Society Ltd (IPRS) to give Copyright protection to Music Directors and lyricists.

MBS has left behind a rich, vibrant inheritance. Today performing artistes in every nook and corner of the world remember him with gratitude- Rajkumar Bharathi who sang in his choir, Subha Harinath who teaches music and performs in Australia, Sundar who works with top composers in North America, Karthika Ganesan who is a ‘Naatiya Kalanidhi’ in Sri Lanka, Kaveri Sridhar who formed the Bangalore Youth Choir….these are just a few from the thousands of artistes whose lives MBS has touched in one way or the other.

Even on the fateful day, when MBS left for his heavenly abode, he was engaged in training a Youth Choir in a remote island of Lakshadweep- urugidum vELaiyilum nalla oLi thandha mezhugu thiri….
* * * *

In the late 50s, a group of Communist Comrades used to meet regularly and over innumerable cups of tea and cigarettes, debate on topics close to their heart, including cinema. They were filled with chagrin that Tamil filmmakers could come up only with irksome melodramatic themes, tired rehashes of mythological lore and furtive copies of borrowed ideas. Like Bertolt Brecht, they too lamented, “How much longer are our souls, leaving our ‘mere’ bodies under cover of the darkness, to plunge into those dreamlike figures up on the stage, there to take part in the crescendos and climaxes which ‘normal’ life denies us?” .

Comrade S.Damodaran was the leading light of this enterprising group that decided to venture into filmmaking, and along with like-minded friends like Uthamapalayam Jamal, K.V.Ramasami, MBS, V.M. Pazhanisamy and Somu, formed a company called Kumari Films. A total 45 comrades joined together to form this company, each one subscribing to shares ranging from Rs. 500- Rs. 5000. They refused to accept more than Rs. 5000 from any single individual. Profit was not their only driving motive, they were filled with idealistic fervour and wanted to try their hand at something different.

- Paadhai Theriyudhu Paar to continue....

Discussion at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1555316444500076/

First part here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1551500981548289/