மலர்ந்தும் மலராதவை # 28

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

மலர்ந்தும் மலராதவை # 28

மேகம் தண்ணி மேகம்....

In this edition of மலர்ந்தும் மலராதவை, let us listen to a song from an unreleased film, composed by Ilaiyaraja and sung by a veteran singer- perhaps the only full song that he sang for the Maestro, apart from insignificant portions in two other songs….

A talented singer who could never make it to the top bracket, even in his heyday….

Despite proving his mettle in some enticing melodies, the fact that he was branded as a ‘comic’ singer is one of the many imponderables of Tamil film music…

He was back in the limelight for a brief moment when composer Sean Roldan invited him to render the ditty ‘நல்லா கேட்டுக்க பாடம்’ for the 2014 black-comedy on cricket-related betting- 'ஆடாம ஜெயிச்சோமடா'.

Spry and energetic at 85, he graces many a film related function even now and enthralls the audience with his signature song ‘எங்கிருந்தாலும் வாழ்க’, his tenor capsuled in a time warp….

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The way I chanced to meet and talk with the gentleman singer Ayyampettai Lakshmanan Raghavan was deeply mortifying, to say the least :) During a weekend in my first year of college, my friend Srikanth was helping me learn to ride his KB 100. (I had the experience of driving only a TVS 50 until then). It was a tranquil Sunday afternoon and we had gone from RK Salai into the quiet by-lanes of Balaji Nagar where I was going up and down the streets with him seated behind me. As I turned into one of the streets, there was a heap of sand and stones outside a construction site which we came across with an unanticipated suddenness. I am sorry to say I rode right into it and we both fell headlong, thankfully, on the sand.

We looked up to see A.L. Raghavan giving us a pitying glance from the gate of the house opposite and enquiring gently if we were hurt. We assured him that we unhurt (Our physical beings, anyway. Srikanth would not vouch for the state of his pride :) Recognizing him, I greeted him and said that I was a fan of his songs. We chatted for a while at his gate and perceiving that we were genuine fans, he invited us in. He was alone at home; Mrs. M.N. Rajam had gone out on some errand.

He was surprised that his songs from the 50s and 60s were remembered, and in the course of our conversation that lasted nearly an hour, ALR was happy to go down memory lane, sharing details of his life, times and works…I remember being moved that he did not appear to harbor any resentment at being dismissed as a ‘comic’ singer, showed no rancor at being sidelined, instead he seemed grateful for the opportunities that came his way and content with his lot.

He came up to the gate to see us off, and cautioned us again to drive safely.

* * * * * *

ALR hailed from a Sowrashtra family settled in Ayyampettai, near Thanjavur. A.R. Lakshmana Bhagavathar, father of ALR, was an acclaimed stage actor/ singer in the 30s. His sudden demise when ALR was not even 10 years old left the family in dire straits. Being the eldest son, the little ALR dropped out of school and joined a drama troupe called ‘Bala Gana Vinodha Sabha’ to support his family. Under the tutelage of the seasoned artistes in the ‘company’, ALR blossomed into a fine child artiste, winning accolades for his acting and singing skills.

His performance in the play ‘திருமழிசை ஆழ்வார்’ was so impressive that ‘Jupiter’ Somasundaram, who was engaged in the production of ‘கிருஷ்ண விஜயம்’ decided to cast ALR in the role of the child Krishna in the movie. The movie was some years in the making and was released finally in 1950. Interestingly, it was in the same movie that a young aspiring singer called T.M. Soundararajan made his debut singing 'ராதே நீ என்னை விட்டுப்போகாதேடி’ for the adult Krishna played by Narasimha Bharathi.

When the nation was grief-stricken at the assassination of the Mahatma, lyricist Bhoomipaladasa at Jupiter Pictures wrote a moving ode ‘உலக மஹான் காந்தி’ which ALR sang at many a condolence meeting all over the state. ALR thereafter donned the role of child Krishna again in P.U. Chinnappa’s ‘சுதர்ஷன்’ which was again some years in the making and released in 1951. Meanwhile, as his voice had still not broken, he sang as part of female chorus voices in a few movies in the late 40s and also sang for Kumari Kamala in the movie ‘விஜயகுமாரி’.

However, it was the song ‘பள்ளிக்கூடம் பம் பம்’ for Susarla Dakshinamoorthi in Modern Theaters’ 1952 movie ‘வளையாபதி’ that catapulted the teenaged ALR to popularity. We could catch a glimpse of the bubbly innocence when ALR sang the opening lines to us, his eyes lit up with memories of a distant past.

Thereafter, ALR sang a comic song ‘கோயில் காளை நீ பாப்பா’ along with TMS & P. Susheela for Sudarasanam Master in AVM’s ‘செல்லப்பிள்ளை’ (1955). He continued to sing for the stage productions of drama troupes of S.V. Sahasranaman and Sivaji Ganesan. His old friends M.S. Viswanathan and G.K. Venkatesh happened to hear him sing in one of the plays that was being staged in the Teynampet Congress Grounds, and he was soon summoned by MSV to sing the hilarious ‘Hello, my dear Ramee’ along with J.P. Chandrababu in ‘புதையல்’ (1957). This marked the beginning of his career as a playback singer.

Tamil Film Music of the 50s was immensely enriched by the presence of a galaxy of talented composers and singers. A.M. Raja, Tiruchi Loganathan, C.S. Jayaraman and Seergazhi Govindarajan were the most prolific male singers, while TMS was gradually climbing up his way to the top. Ghantasala was the preferred voice for the Tamil-Telugu bilinguals. The honey-toned PBS was still in the sidelines and S.C. Krishnan was the automatic choice for folk/comic numbers. This was the arena and these were the formidable players when the young ALR made his entry.

MSV-TKR and KVM gave some early opportunities that helped secure ALR a firm foothold. ‘சோடா பீடா’ & ‘ஆவாரங்காட்டுக்குள்ளே’ with Jamunarani (both from குடும்ப கௌரவம்/1958), ‘கதை கதையாம்’ with Jikki and ‘வாடா வெத்தலை’ with Jamunarani (both from தலை கொடுத்தான் தம்பி/ 1959), ‘ஆட்டம் ஆட்டம்’ with Jamunarani (பாகப்பிரிவினை/1959), ‘சாயா சாயா கரம் சாயா’ (ஒன்று பட்டால் உண்டு வாழ்வு/1960) were the songs that ALR sang for MSV-TKR in those early years. Most of these were comic songs, yet ALR brought in a distinct touch of melody in his rendition- His humourous, yet tender duet with K. Rani- ‘பெண்ணில்லே நீ பெண்ணில்லே’ (ஆளுக்கொரு வீடு/1960) is an excellent case in point.

KVM gave ALR some beautiful compositions- sample these- the stirring ‘நம்பினார் கெடுவதில்லை’ from நாலு வேலி நிலம் (1959) that ALR rendered with Aandaal, the two beautiful songs from ‘பாஞ்சாலி’ (1959)- ‘அழகு விளையாட’ with Jamunarani and the solo ‘ஒரு முறை பார்த்தாலே போதும்’ must rank among the top 10 in any compilation of ALR songs. In fact, ALR said that in all his shows in Malaysia and Singapore, he was always requested to render ‘ஒரு முறை பார்த்தாலே போதும்’. ‘மலரும் மணம் போல் இருப்போம்’, ALR’s duet with Jikki in ‘தந்தைக்குப் பின் தனையன்’ (1960) is a ballad of love and faith. ‘காலம் மாறுது’ with L.R. Easwari, enriched with rich orchestration, chorus voices and shifting tempo in ‘தாயில்லா பிள்ளை’ (1961) never got its rightful due, even while the ebullient solo ‘கடவுளும் நானும் ஒரு ஜாதி’ in the same movie became hugely popular. And how astute of KVM to pick on ALR to sing for M.R. Radha in that unforgettable duet ‘புத்தி சிகாமணி பெத்த பிள்ளை’ (இருவர் உள்ளம்/1963)! The same year saw the belated release of ‘நான் வணங்கும் தெய்வம்’ with the superbly crafted ALR- Jikki duet ‘முல்லைப்பூ மணக்குது’. ALR reminisced with a smile that the song was so popular in Malaysia that whenever he landed in Kuala Lumpur for a show, the local radio would play this song to announce his arrival! And to think that this song is seldom remembered in Tamil Nadu!

Other composers were not far behind in harnessing the vocals of the young singer in songs of all genre. Takes these samples from the year 1960 alone- ‘மலர்ந்திடும் இன்பம்’, a delightful ALR- Jamunarani duet of rustic romance was composed by Susarla Dakshinamoorthi for ‘இரு மனம் கலந்தால் திருமணம்’. ALR- Jamunarani also rendered an operatic ‘இது நியாயமா’ for the same movie. Can we forget that rollicking epitaph to our humble Idli- ‘ராசா மக போலிருந்தே’ that ALR sang for MBS in the pioneering ‘பாதை தெரியுது பார்?’. Aadhi Narayana Rao brought to the fore ALR's versatile talents, including yodeling, in the jaunty ‘கற்றார் நிறைந்த சங்கமிது’ (அடுத்த வீட்டுப் பெண்). KVM made ALR and S.V. Ponnuswami render a riotous Kathakalatchepam ‘திமிக்கிட திமிக்கிட’ in ‘ஆட வந்த தெய்வம்’.

Ghantasala invited ALR to sing two memorable duets ‘இன்பமான இரவிதுவே’ and ‘காதல் யாத்திரைக்கு’ with P. Susheela for the 1962 movie ‘மனிதன் மாறவில்லை’. Veda made ALR sing a Dean Martin-inspired 'பாப்பா பாப்பா கதை கேளு' (அம்மா எங்கே /1964). ‘உன்னை அறிந்தால்’ might have been just another TMS solo for MGR, had it not been for ALR’s brilliant embellishments. G.K. Venkatesh composed a gentle, unhurried ALR- Janaki duet 'நேற்று நடந்தது நினைவாகும்' for the 1965 movie தாயின் கருணை.

ALR also got to sing some film songs in Malayalam ( ‘Elele Ezhaam kadalinu’ in Lily/ ‘Ammayi Appanu’ in Kalithozhan) , Kannada (‘Cheluvina Siriye’ in Annapurna/ ‘Modern Lady’ in Malathi Maladhava) and Telugu (‘Gaaradi Chechestha’ in Nene Monaganni).

In those early years, in search for an ideal alternative to A.M. Rajah to sing for Gemini Ganesh, MSV-TKR experimented with ALR in 2 movies- பாக்கியலட்சுமி (1961) had two duets of varied allure- ‘காதல் என்றால் ஆணும் பெண்ணும்’ (ALR/ P. Susheela) and ‘கல்லூரி ராணிகாள்’ (ALR/Jamunarani) that was amended later to ‘சிங்காரச்சோலையே’. A year later ‘அன்று ஊமைப்பெண்ணல்லோ’ (பார்த்தால் பசி தீரும்) became popular. However, it could not match the huge popularity of ‘காலங்களில் அவள் வசந்தம்’ and PBS became the accepted voice for Gemini Ganesh.

However, at the same time, MSV-TKR tried ALR for other actors as well- ‘பட்டுச் சிறகு கொண்ட’ (Balaji/ கறுப்புப்பணம்) and ‘கால்கள் நின்றது நின்றதுதான்’ (Muthuraman/ பூஜைக்கு வந்த மலர்). The song originally recorded for the sequence ‘திங்களுக்கு என்ன இன்று திருமணமோ’, a lovely ALR-Janaki duet was replaced as its tune was found to be similar to ‘அழகுக்கும் மலருக்கும் ஜாதியில்லை’. The crowning glory was of course the iconic ‘எங்கிருந்தாலும் வாழ்க’ for Kalyankumar (நெஞ்சில் ஓர் ஆலயம்), the song that fetched ALR a fame that is eternal.

ALR had the erudite President Radhakrishnan in tears with his moving rendition of ‘பகைவனுக்கருள்வாய்’ when a contingent of Tamil film artistes were invited for an evening at Rashtrapathi Bhavan on their way back from entertaining our troops at the war-front in the mid-60s.

However, by the time, the trend to have TMS sing for MGR and Sivaji Ganesan, and PBS sing for the other leading actors had been firmly established. It was thus that ALR was relegated to singing ‘comic’ songs, mostly for Nagesh. It to his ALR’s credit that he rendered these with panache, bringing to them a casual joie de vivre that many of them linger in our memories. Many singers including S.V. Ponnuswamy, Seergazhi Govindarajan, Tharapuram Sundararajan, TMS and even PBS sang for Nagesh, yet when we think of that brilliant actor and his songs, the first singer who comes to mind in undoubtedly ALR. Many of the songs allowed ALR to improvise and bring in his innate ingenuity. Sample these- ‘அழகிய ரதியே’, ' என்ன இல்லை எனக்கு', ‘உலகத்தில் சிறந்தது எது’, ‘என்ன வேகம் நில்லு பாமா’, ‘சீட்டுக் கட்டு ராஜா’, ‘ குபுகுபு குபுகுபு நான் இன்ஜின்’, 'சாமி இல்லாமல் ஊர்கோலமா’, ‘வாழைத்தண்டு போல உடம்பு அலேக்’, ‘எல்லாமே வயித்துக்குத்தாண்டா'…..

My favorites of ALR from this period are the fun-filled Qawwali ‘இங்கே தெய்வம் பாதி’ where ALR sings alongside the legendary T.A. Mothi, ‘பார்த்ததும் காதலை தருவது’ where he adds a touch of insane zest with his ‘Pipa ha loona’, the feet-tapping baila ‘ அங்கமுத்து தங்கமுத்து’ and the two boisterous Veda numbers- ‘பொம்பள ஒருத்தி இருந்தாளாம்’ where ALR brings in a Sowrashtrian twist, and the simply amazing ‘மணமகன் அழகனே’.

ALR teamed up with TMS to act and produce a movie- ‘கல்லும் கனியாகும்’ (Soundararaghavan Movies/ 1968), while not doing well commercially, remains a lovely MSV musical. Here too, ALR’s caressing duet with P. Susheela ‘அத்தான் என்றேன் முத்து முத்தாக’ was overshadowed by the more popular TMS solos.

In the 70s, with Nagesh’s fortunes on the decline and the arrival of a new music wave with Ilaiyaraja, old-timers like ALR found themselves gradually forgotten and sidelined. ALR kept himself occupied by conducting light music shows, many of them in Malaysia and Singapore where he commanded a significant fan following.

After many years, KVM sought him out to render a melodious duet with S. Janaki ‘ஒரு கோடி சுகம் வந்தது’ (மழை மேகம்/1977). The rising star Ilaiyaraja made ALR hum to Janaki’s club dance number ‘உன்னைத்தான் அழைக்கிறேன்’ (காயத்ரி/1977) and render a small comic portion for V.K. Ramaswamy in ‘நாடறியும் நல்ல கட்சி’ (ஓடி விளையாடு தாத்தா/1977). Shyam called him to sing a folksy ‘சுறாமீனைப் பாரு’ (நான் நன்றி சொல்வேன்/1979). None of these songs could engage the public attention and ALR was left without any further singing opportunities.

It was then, and in the face of this threatening oblivion, that ALR embarked upon producing a movie. He picked up on the then successful director-duo Devaraj-Mohan to helm the venture. A story by the Kannada writer Srikrishna Alanahalli was chosen. ரோசாப்பு ரவிக்கைக்காரி, directed earlier by Devaraj- Mohan was also based on one of Srikrishna’s stories. The story chosen this time involved a love triangle, with the tyranny of a village landlord forming the backdrop.

ALR managed to pull off a spectacular coup when he got five composers on board to work on the five songs of the movie- KVM, T.R. Papa, G.K.Venkatesh, Shankar-Ganesh and Ilaiyaraja. (Yes, I remember asking him about the conspicuous absence of MSV; ALR only smiled in response). The background score was by Ilaiyaraja. The movie ‘கண்ணில் தெரியும் கதைகள்' (Rajameenakshi Films) was released in 1980. Shankar-Ganesh’s ‘நான் உன்ன நெனச்சேன்’ and Ilaiyaraja’s ‘நானொரு பொன்னோவியம் கண்டேன் எதிரே’ fetched instant popularity. ALR sang a haunting solo under the baton of GKV- ‘நான் பார்த்த ரதி தேவி எங்கே’. Yet, for all its musical worth, the movie was a commercial disaster. ALR ended up with heavy losses.

He was away from Cinema since then. He made a surprising comeback acting in the TV serial ‘அலைகள்’ in 2002-2003.

ALR and M.N. Rajam were married at Tirupati in 1960. The couple have a son Brahmalakshmanan and a daughter Nalina Meenakshi, who are well-educated. Their grandchildren have completed their studies and are gainfully employed. ALR and Rajam lead a tranquil, happy life filled with mutual love and beautiful memories of personal and professional contentment. Let us wish them many more years of togetherness, filled with good health and cheer. வாழ்க! வாழ்க!

* * * * * *

As mentioned at the beginning, presenting today a forgotten song by ALR composed by Ilaiyaraja from an unreleased movie ‘புதிய அடிமைகள்’.

This EP record was one among a bunch of dusty, old records that I discovered in that small shop in North Madras. This particular record had no jacket advertising its contents; it had to be content with reposing within a polythene sheath. But for all those long years of wanton negligence, it was remarkably free of any damaging blemishes. The year of manufacture was 1980, and the banner that funded this movie was Yugasakthi Films (P) Ltd.

The enthralling Yesudas-Susheela duet ‘மகிழம்பூவே உன்னைப் பார்த்தேன்’ was the song that Radio Ceylon singled out from the album to cherish and celebrate.

However, for me, the best surprise that the album stored, was the blithe ditty ‘மேகம் தண்ணி மேகம்’. The perspicacious Ilayaraja summons A.L.Raghavan to do justice to the jaunty joyride, and ALR, with chorus voices joining the merry making, seems to have greatly enjoyed this happy outing.

Song: Megam Thanni Megam
Film: Puthiya Adimaigal (unreleased)
Vocals: A.L. Raghavan & Chorus
Lyrics: Gangaiamaran
Music: Ilaiyaraja

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlVv2R_tMLs&feature=youtu.be

Discussion at:
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