The Chandrabose Chronicles- Part 2

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

The Chandrabose Chronicles- Part 2

சுகமான ராகம்....சுவையான தமிழ்ப்பாட்டு....

When dwelling upon ‘Madhura Geetham’, the debut album of Chandrabose, we must necessarily spare a few minutes for the man who made it possible, and whose long career was irrevocably linked with that of Chandrabose- V.C. Guhanathan.

VCG was born in Pungudu- a tiny Srilankan island near Jaffna. His father was a revered teacher. After his schooling, he came to India for his higher studies. While pursuing B.Com in Pachaiyappa’s college, he started acting in stage plays. He soon writing his own plays and formed his own drama toupe called Gugaji Arts. Famed film writer G. Balasubramaniam took VCG under his fold. VCG’s first script to make it to cinema was Devar’s Muharasi. The movies that he scripted in the following years included Puthiya Bhoomi, Kumarikkottam, Thangaikkaga and Naalum Thenrinthavan. He elicited the notice of AV Meyyappa Chettiar and was the writer of Annaiyum Pithavum. At AVM’s encouragement, he turned a producer and co-produced Sudarum Sooravaliyum.

After producing a series of successes such as Kanimuthu Papa, Petha Manam Pithu and Kasi Yathirai for his friend S.P. Muthuraman, VCG found the going rough when his ambitious Rajapart Rangadurai did not do as well as expected. A string of flops such as Anbu Thangai and Deiva Kuzhanthaigal followed. It was then that producer D. Rama Naidu invited him to work for some Telugu movies.
Impressed by VCG’s writing skills, Rama Naidu offered to make a Tamil movie for VCG, and told him to direct it as well. VCG was delighted at this opportunity, and came up with an intriguing triangle involving a terminally ill female doctor, an aspiring singer who is helped by the doctor and a girl with an unsavoury past. He engaged Srividya, Vijayakumar and Sripriya to play the roles of Dr. Radha, Kamalakkannan and Vasanthi respectively.

As the film revolved around a singer, the songs would essentially be the mainstay of the project. As Rama Naidu had given VCG carte blanche, VCG could have engaged MSV whom he was well acquainted with. However, he was determined to give the assignment to his young friend CB. CB had impressed VCG when he composed music for VCG’s stage plays such as Kalyanaraman and Vadagai Veedu. Kalyanaraman, with Vijayakaumar, Pramila and Surulirajan enacting the lead roles, was staged more than 100 times in just four months. VCG sensed a rare spark in the talented youngster and, with Rama Naidu’s blessings, invited CB to compose the music for Madhura Geetham.

CB was overwhelmened with joy, as this was the elusive break he was waiting for. However, he was not without apprehensions, as composing the sound-track and back ground music for a movie was a giant step from composing for stage plays. VCG assuaged his fears and secured for the project the services of veteran Govardhanam to assist CB. And sitting at VCG’s offices in Mahalingapuram, CB excitedly set to work on the album of Madhura Geetham. The songs were:

1. Vaarungal aasaigale- TMS
2. Sugamaana ragam- TMS & Seergazhi Govindarajan
3. Kaaindha sinaiyum- TMS & Chorus
4. Aadum kattil medai katti- TMS & P. Susheela
5. Kannan enge- SPB & P. Susheela

Kannadasan wrote all the songs, except Kannan enge, which was written by Poovai Senguttuvan.
My pick from the album is the scintillating ‘Sugamaana ragam, suvaiyaana thamizh paattu’. The situation of the song is this: Dr. Radha wants Kannan to succeed in his chosen path as a singer and takes him to MSV. The Mellisai Mannar asks him to sing. Kannan breaks into ‘Indha pachaikkilikku sevvandhi poovinil’. While appreciating his enthusiasm, MSV advises him to undergo formal training in classical music. Radha then enrols Kannan under a music teacher (V. Gopalakrishnan). Kannan grasps the rudiments quickly, and soon he sings along with his Guru for a dance performance. At the end of the song, MSV comes on stage and heaps praise on the young singer.

For this sequence, CB picks strains of a lilting Latangi and Kannadasn’s poetic lines twirl around the trellis in magnificent allure. CB requests the two giants TMS & Seergazhi Govindarajan to honour him by singing the song….the veteran singers vie with with one another to bring to life Kannadasan's vibrant lines and CB's rich classical nuances. The rest, as they say, is history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFQYnp_Uflw

No less a person than S.M. Subbiah Naidu is said to have spoken highly of this song before featuring it in his 'Sirappu Thenkinnam'. MSV is said to have showered encomious on the young composer…. perhaps he remembered his own tryst with Latangi in ‘Aadatha manamum undo?’. Class…Classic…. Classical….

The young CB is seen conducting the orchestra at the very beginning of the song ‘Kaaindha sinaiyum’:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EvtUYZdH8s

At the insistence of Guhanathan, CB had to structure ‘Kannan engey’ along the lines of R.D. Burman's 'Sapna Mera toot gayaa' (Khel Khel Mein). But to his credit, CB moves away from the operatic flourishes of the original and his inventive touches add singular sheen to his version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hfb8TgyLb4

The suspense-filled music adds to the intrigue, and CB picks just the singers to make a winner of this one. Susheela sounds fetchingly forlorn in the opening lines and has a sudden makeover for the rest of the song where she is joyous and romantic…. and SPB, well he asserts his class all over the song. Hark at his humming in the second interlude. Decades have gone by, yet even now I can see myself as a child waiting impatiently for this bit of humming whenever Thamizh Sevai Irandu played this song.

This tune may not be a CB original, but it did manage to wrest the airwaves for a brief while from Ilaiayaraja, who was at the time coming up with one masterpiece after another in quick succession.
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A word on MSV. I am filled with awe at the magnanimity of the man… Here was a movie with which he was not connected in anyway, he was not composing the music; the composer was a obscure newcomer…yet MSV agreed to be part of the project, appearing as himself in a few key scenes….Hail the Mellisai Mannar! You can watch the scenes in which MSV appears, starting from 7.15 in the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7TyN4LsFzY
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Madhura Geetham (1977) was a successful movie, and won not less than 5 State Government Awards. With the movie turning out a commercial and critical success and his songs winning instant appeal, the 27 year-old Chandrabose made a noteworthy debut in Tamil Film Music.

- To be continued….

Discussion at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1659046027460450/

Part 1 here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1654218981276488/