The Chandrabose Chronicles- Part 3
மாம்பூவே....சிறுமைனாவே...
As we have seen, CB made a noteworthy debut with Madhura Geetham in 1977, and as 1978 unfolded, he waited with enthusiasm for further opportunities to pour in. He waited in vain...
It was the time when Ilaiyaraja had made his debut as well, and Ilaiyaraja came, saw and conquered. He was bestowing refreshingly different and enchanting scores on film after film. The sheer numbers of his films speak volumes of his increasing popularity. 4 in 1976, 12 in 1977 and 21 in 1978. In the coming years, these numbers would only increase multifold.
We have already seen that in his very second year, Ilaiyaraja bagged the prestigious TN State Government Award for his awesome score in "16 Vayathiniley". It was again in 1977, that producer K. Balaji had turned to IR for his lighting his Deepam. While Panju Arunachalam, Devaraj-Mohan and S.P. Muthuraman were already IR regulars, when Bharathiraja, an old friend of IR, got an opportunity to direct, IR was his musical backbone. In 1978, this partnership created magic in 2 completely diverse themes, Kizhakke Pogum Rayil and Sigappu Rojakkal.
Again it was in 1978 that not being content with merely making music, IR brought about a revolution in Tamil film music by introducing stereophonic sound in "Priya". Of course, this became possible only with the help of Yesudas who had bought the equipment, and willingly allowed IR to experiment and record the songs in 8-track stereo. Tamil film music would never be the same again!
This was a period when Tamil cinema was itself passing through an invigorating phase of renaissance. Melodramatic themes with ageing actors in studio settings were slowly but surely being shown the door. While Bharathiraja was among the pioneers of this movement, two others who set new standards in filmmaking this year were Rudraiyya (Aval Appadithaan) and Mahendran (Mullum Malarum). And of course, it was IR who added spellbinding sheen to their path-breaking ventures.
It was not the new wave directors alone who were seeking IR's musical support. Veteran Sridhar, who was an ardent admirer of MSV and who never worked with any other MD since "Nenjil Or Aalayam"(1962), crossed over to IR to create the songs for his "Ilamai Oonjalaadukirathu" in 1978.
And how did MSV fare this year? In terms of numbers, he had more films than IR: 28. And in many of them (Nizhal Nijamaagirathu, Andaman Kathali, Taxi Driver, Varuvaan Vadivelan, Shankar Salim Simon, Maduraiyai Meetta Sundarapandian, Aayiram Jenmangal), the master crafted wonderful songs. But the fact remains that many of his works at the time were overshadowed by the contemporary works of IR. He would still remain a force to reckon with, but the irreversible descent had begun.
Let us take a quick glance at the other composers and their works this year.
KVM's plebeian score in "Radhaikketra Kannan" was a big let down. V. Kumar, as usual breathed melody into the songs of “Kannamoochi”, “Ival Oru Seethai”, “Annapoorani” and “Chathurangam”. And Vijayabhaskar got to compose the music for a K. Balachander film, and in spite of its name, the songs had Thapaadha Thaalangal! Another film that came his way was "Per Solla Oru Pillai".
Shankar-Ganesh continued to be a godsend for low-budget producers. Devar, after the stupendous success of "Aatukkara Alamelu" the previous year, continued with S-G for Thaai Meedhu Sathiyam. S-G also gave a couple of great songs in A. Bhimsingh's last film "Kai Pidithaval". Among S-G's other films this year were Unakkum Vaazhvu Varum, Panchamirtham, Meenakshi Kungumam and Ullathil Kuzhandaiyadi.
Shyam, who had earlier worked with R.C. Shakthi and Kamalhasan in Unarchigal(1976), came together with the same team in 1978 to create some lovely songs in "Manitharil Iththanai Nirangala”. Sathyam and Ramesh Naidu peeped into Tamil film music and composed some lovely songs in “Mudisooda Mannan” and “Melathalangal" respectively. R. Ramanujam gave an excellent account of himself in “Ananda Bhairavi”. When the super hit Malayalam film “Madanolsavam” was dubbed into Tamil as “Paruva Mazhai”, Tamil Cinema was honored to welcome to its fold, the genius called Salil Chowdhry. (Salil's first Tamil venture "Karumbu" was never released). Though the great M.B. Srinivasan composed two wonderful songs for Jayakanthan's "Pudhu Seruppu Kadikkum" in 1978, the film found no takers and never saw the light of the day. HMV Raghu gave an appealing score for Kanchi Kamakshi.
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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 the projects that he was involved in at the time.
‘Mangudi Minor’ (Vijayakumar, Rajnikant, Sripriya) was the one of the two Guhanathan ventures that CB worked on in 1978. VCG rehashed Manmohan Desai’s 1972 Hindi movie of brothers separated in a train accident- ‘Rampur Ka Laxman’, threw in MGR sycophancy for good measure, got a stylish Rajinikant to essay the role of the bad brother- and the film ran to packed houses. Though there was an initial hurdle with the censors objecting to the brazen MGR adulation, the movie managed to get certified without any major cuts. VCG introduced in this movie his compatriot Ceylon A. E. Manohar, both as an actor and singer.
Chandrabose worked with Vaali for the first time in Mangudi Minor. The songs were:
1. Kannan Angey- Vani Jairam
2. Anna neenga nenachapaadi- TMS
3. Yeru pidicha kaigal- TMS
4. En kaiyil irupaadhu- P. Susheela
5. Unnidam solven- TMS, Ceylon Manohar & S. Janaki
Of these, on Guhanathan’s insistence, ‘Kannan angey Radhai ingey’ and ‘Unnidam solven’ were straight lifts from the equivalent songs in Hindi (Albela re and Payr ka samay respectively).
Of particular interest is the TMS song ‘Anna neenga nenechappadi’. MGR had become the Chief Minister the year before, and VCG went all out to express his happiness. CB knew only too well that there were none to beat TMS to render this strident tune with the majesty and panache that the lines demanded:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3RtLBdNeog
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The other VCG movie that came out with music by Chandrabose in 1978 was ‘Machanai Paartheengala’. This time VCG came up with an engrossing story of a rustic youth Muthaiyan (Sivakumar) mourning the death of his beloved Tara (Sridevi) in a road accident when she was traveling to Madras. By a quirky twist of fate, Radha (Sumitra), the girl who was responsible for the accident comes to Muthaiyan’s village Pazhayachvaram. When she realizes the the trauma she has caused, she gets married to Muthaiyan to set his life back on track. The unfolding events, though melodramatic, were well enacted, especially by veterans S.V. Subbiah and M.N. Rajam.
The album had 5 songs composed by Chandrabose, working with lyricists Vaali, Poovai Senguttuvan and an obscure Jayaravi. The songs were:
1. Engamma Maharasi- TMS, Chandrabose & Chorus
2. Adi maaman muniyandi- S. Janaki
3. Ada kooruketta pasangala- Ceylon Manohar, Chandrabose, L.R. Anjali
4. Desingu raja tenali raman- TMS
5. Maampoove siru mainaave- K.J. Yesudas & P. Susheela.
Let us listen to the two most popular songs from the album.
First is the rousing ‘Engamma Maharasi’. Tara is determined to catch Muthaiyan’s attention, and when she learns that he would be at the forefront of the temple festivities one night, she is there, matching him step for step.
CB enlists TMS to render this song of racy, rambunctious revelery, and lends his own vocals as well in sideline support. The song, by Poovai Senguttuvan, became hugely popular. Even today as you pass through a village down south, you may get to listen to Engamma Maharasi blaring from some temple loud-speakers…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iWrV5Dd5uo
The other, is of course, the caressing duet ‘Maampoove siru mainaave’. Tara is forced, by circumstances beyond her control, to perform in a stage play. Her father, who was a famed folk artiste in his time, dreams now of Tara following in his footsteps. Tara is heartbroken at this turn of events, as she was looking forward to a tranquil life of domestic bliss with Muthaiyan. Muthaiyan is equally disheartened. However, sensing Tara’s anxieties, he comforts her with tender words of solace… This is the song they sing to renew their vows…
CB composes a lilting tune and Vaali’s lines ensconce themselves snugly into the canvas. Yesudas & Susheela were just the voices to bring to fetching life this rural rhapsody. This song remains a delightful keepsake of the talented Chandrabose… a dainty duet with a lilt and a languor that brings back childhood memories of unhurried weekend afternoons listening to Radio Ceylon and Vividh Bharati and of a long forgotten neighborhood Akka who loved this song and used to sing along, snapping her fingers with perfect timing…
When we spoke of this song to CB, he raised his hands and said it was a composition of MSV that inspired this tune, and closed his eyes in reverential tribute to the Master… when I asked if it was ‘Kalyana valaiyosai kondu’, he patted my back in pleased acknowledgement!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfS4fdcXxxE
-Thodarum….
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Part 1 here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1654218981276488/
Part 2 here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1659046027460450/
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Chandrabose Discography ( Covered so far):
1977
1. Madhura Geetham
1978
2. Mangudi Minor
3. Machanai Paartheengala
Discusion :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1666861290012257/
But then, such frustrations were not new to Kumar. So many of his painstaking endeavors were wasted on such stillborn ventures. Numerous were such flowers that were born to blush unseen. Only fervent listeners of Radio Ceylon were fortunate to have listened to such wonderful creations of Kumar like ‘Naano un adimai’ (P.Susheela/Jayachandran), ‘Niilaavai netru paarthathu’ (Vani) both from an unreleased Unnai Naan Sandhithen, ‘Ulagam siridhu naan unnai ennumpothu’ (TMS/P. Susheela) from Perappillai, TMS and Vani weaving magic in ‘Oru paarvai nooru kavidhai’ from Manoranjitham, Janaki’s haunting title track from the same film; SPB and Janaki crooning ‘Rasigan thaan enakku nee’ from an unreleased late 70s venture called Rasigan- have not been able to get much information on these unreleased films. Aval oru Kaaviyam was fortunate, for after years of hibernation in the cans, it was released in a few B & C centers in 1983. Thanks to the myriad TV channels that occasionally telecast this film in their weekday noon slots, Kumar’s enchanting songs like ‘Krishnaprabhu unnidam kudi konden’ (P.Susheela) and ‘Kodi inbangal thedum ullangal’ (Jayachandran/ P.Susheela) enjoy an extended lease of life.
