A Forgotten Nightingale: Part 3

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

A Forgotten Nightingale: Part 3

Sorrow, of course, seems to have been Bala’s strong point. Listen to her plaintive cry ‘Dhayavillaiyo annaiye’ (Naan Vanangum Deivam/KVM). No heart-rending sobbing here, only hushed, dignified suffering. ‘Anbe paavama, adhiledhum bedhama’ (Devadas/CRS-MSV), ‘Vidhi seitha sathiyo aththaan’ (Sumangali/ M.Ranga Rao), ‘Eliyorai thaazhthi valiyorai vaazhthum’ (Thai Piranthaal Vazhi Pirakkum/ KVM), ‘Maname un vaazhvil ee’ (Nalla Kaalam/ KVM), ‘Sudar thaarai sabhaiyil unai kaanen naane’ (Vaanaratham/ Naushad), ‘Sugam peruveno’ (Aasai Anna Arumai Thambi/KVM), ‘Penngalil en pol’ (Sampoorna Ramayanam/KVM), ‘Oraam maadham udaladhu thalarndhu’ & ‘Maaligai vaazhvum enge’ (Harichandra/ KVM), ‘Sollu nee raja’ (Anbu Enge/Veda)…the list goes on….

Anbe paavama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9l6C_2T3Sk

Watch an aged Bala rendering the Telugu version of the song live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4t7SiiDnU8

Eliyorai thazhthi (with TMS):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dgA6h5MhoA

Vidhiyo seitha sathiyo (with Seergazhi Govindarajan):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EdUgDZ3rWg

And so we come to what is touted as Bala’s métier: Lullabies- from ‘Innisaiye ganarasa innamudhe

ennuriye’ (Bilhana/ 1948) to ‘Seeraarum paingkiliye’ (Thaayilla pillai/1961), Bala was flooded with a surfeit of cradle songs/songs sung to children. A sample: ‘Vaada malarthene’ (Thozhan/GR), ‘Singara punnagai kannara kandaale’(Mahadevi/MSV-TKR), ‘Ellorum unnai nallavan endrE’ (Bhakiavathi/ S.Dakshinamoorthi), ‘Kanne vaada kaniye vaada’ (Iru Manam Kalandhaal Thirumanam/ S.Dakshinamoorthi), ‘Aala pirandha en kanmaniyE’(Uthamaputhiran/GR), ‘Kannamoochi aattam’ (Yaar paiyan/ S.Dakshinamoorthi), ‘Pillai kaniyamudhe pedhai endhan pudhu vaazhve’(Pen kulathin pon vilakku/ Master Venu), ‘Amma Amma’ (Aandi Petra Selvam/ T.K. Govindan) and the mother of them all: the immortal ‘Neela vanna kanna vaada’ (Mangaiyar Thilakam/S.Dakshinamoorthi).

Balasaraswathi’s caressing voice did have the magic ingredients of motherhood… the selfless love that only a mother is capable of, the warmth of her bosom, the protection of her proximity, the pride of her possessiveness….and all these lent pulsating life and rare authenticity to these songs.

Ellorum unnai:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5r9SqwwkAU

Amma amma:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvHNwbymHr0

Kannamoochi aattam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC7PzF_qYVo

Singaara punnagai (with M.S. Rajeswari):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faocj4sZf2g

Aala pirantha kanmaniye (with A.P.Komala)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRHVR0yKWM8

Bala even sang for the legendary Naushad in Vaanaratham, the Tamil version of the 1955 Hindi movie Udan Khatola. Her 2 songs ‘Sudar thaarai’ and ‘Aa nenjin nilaimai’ found repeated airtime and are remembered even today. But her experience was far from happy. Bala said in an old interview, “In Bombay they made a movie called Udan Khatola under Naushad's music direction. It was a double version picture- Hindi and Tamil. At that time Naushad got all my records from Madras and he liked my voice and called me to Bombay. I went there and sang two songs for the Tamil version. And Lata sang for Hindi. First day Lata sang for the Hindi version and the second day, I sang the Tamil version. When she did her recording I listened and sang differently on the second day. That time Ghulam Mohd, Kalyanji - Anandji were assisting Naushad. Then Ghulam came to me after recording and praised my voice a lot, and requested me to stay in Bombay. Lata saw this. And next day the remaining songs that I was to sing were cancelled because Lata refused to sing unless I was sent back to Madras. At that time no one was there for them to sing in Hindi except Lata. So they were forced to oblige her!” The remaining Tamil songs were sung by Lata.

All through the 50s, Bala sang many songs in Telugu and Kannada. Many of them were chartbusters in their time. Except for few stray instances, she did not sing much in the 60s in Tamil, and was soon forgotten as the years passed by. She was blessed with 2 sons- Venkata Raja Gopalakrishna Surya Rao and Venkata Mahipathi Surya Rao. Her husband passed away in 1974. Actress Vijayanirmala who is related to her, brought Bala from her exile and made her sing ‘Poyi raave amma’ for the movie Sangam Chekkina Shilpalu (1979) under the baton of Ramesh Naidu. That was Bala’s last film song, she did not receive any offers thereafter.

Bala lived for a few years in Bangalore, and then moved to Hyderabad. After her husband’s demise, she fell upon bad times. Deprivation tortured the family whose riches were legendary in the distant past. Her 2 sons were not educated to pursue any gainful employment. She said sadly in an interview that though her elder son secured admission in a Medical College, her husband did not allow him to take it up, declaring that he would not see his son ‘bandage the hands of all and sundry!’ Misplaced trust in unscrupulous people and woeful ignorance of financial matters led all her to losing her properties one by one. She sold some land to a temple trust in Annavaram for a pittance, but later a detailed survey of the land revealed that the extent of acreage was much more. She filed a case when she came to know that a Police Academy was proposed to be built in her land.

She sought an appointment with NTR when he was Chief Minster. When she related her sorry state of affairs, NTR had tears in his eyes and assured her of all help. To her bad luck, NTR was soon toppled by his own son-in-law and though she met Chandrababu Naidu twice, no help came from the Andhra Pradesh Government.

She was presented with a purse of Rs. 2 Lakhs by Mr. C.C. Reddy, an industrialist in August 2003. But apparently, she was in dire straits again, and this time, she petitioned the Tamilnadu CM for assistance. Moved by Balasaraswati’s plea for succour, Jayalalitha allotted a house for the legendary chanteuse in 2005 and also ensured that an amount of INR. 6,000 was made over to her every month.
Bala is held in high regard by her contemporaries. During my interaction with the late PBS, he professed himself to be a great admirer of Bala. Janaki has expressed her reverence for Bala on more than one occasion. Susheela revealed the great respect she has for Bala when she named Bala as one among the members of the P. Susheela Trust set up in 2008.

‘Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away'. So said Marcus Aurelius in his 'Meditations'.

I leave you with that one song that will enshrine forever the name of Ravu Balasaraswati in the chronicles of Tamil Film Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPdzO1jxXkM

Part 1 here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1629037280461325/
Part 2 here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1630255277006192/

A Forgotten Nightingale: Part 2

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

A Forgotten Nightingale: Part 2

Bala then made a fetching mark playing Tukaram’s little daughter in the bilingual of the same name. Tukaram (1938/ Central Studios) had the famed Musiri Subramaniya Iyer in the title role, and in the Telugu version, CSR Anjaneyulu played the lead role. Her father arranged for a Tamil tutor to teach Bala at home. She also had an Anglo-Indian lady teach her English and another teacher to drill into her the rudiments of conversational Hindi!

In 1940, Balasaraswathi acted with Rajeswara Rao in Illalu (Indira Devi Films), directed by Gudavalli Ramabrahmam. Incidentally, it was with Illallu that Rajeswara Rao made a mark as music director. Impressed with Bala’s voice and singing, Rajeswara Rao paired with her to record those signature non-film Telugu songs that are revered to this day as trendsetters of light music- Lalita Geetalu. ‘Aatotalonokati Aardhanalayamu’ written by Rajeswara Rao’s father Sanyasi Raju and sung by Balasaraswati has an appeal that transcends barriers of time and language.

And in Bhagyalakshmi (1943/ Sri Renuka Films), Bala made history when she sang for Kamala Kotnis on screen- I believe this was the first instance of playback singing in Telugu cinema. The song was ‘Thinne meedha sinnoda’, composed by Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao.

All of 15, Bala looked ensconced snugly as a much sought after actress and singer in both Telugu and Tamil Cinema. Her songs in Chenchulakshmi (1943), again for Kamala Kotnis – the 2 solos ‘Kanipinchithiva Narasimha’ and ‘Yeri Yeri Naa Sarisamunulikane’ and her duet with T.A. Moti ‘Madhuramuga Yentho Madhuramuga’ found immense widespread appeal. She went to Bombay and learned the basics of Hindustani Music from none other than Vasant Desai. She studied Western Classical Music in Madras. The future looked only brighter. But destiny had other plans in store….

More out curiosity, Bala accompanied her cousins to the Guindy Races one summer day in 1944. At the Madras Race Club, they met other family friends who took them to the Venkatagiri Stand, owned by the Maharajah of Venkatagiri. And it was there that she was introduced to His Highness Sri Sri Sri Rajah Rao Pradyumna Krishna Mahipathi Surya Rao Bahadur, the 4th son of the Maharajah. He was given the title Maharajah Saheb Meharban-I-Dostan and was adopted by the childless Maharani of Kolanka and was now the Maharajah of Kolanka. He was a front-ranking Polo player- it was he who commissioned the famous Kolanka Cup – India’s foremost Polo trophy. It is said to be the tallest sports trophy in the world and made wholly of pure silver. Besides being an avid sportsman, he was a hunting enthusiast and owned prize-winning race horses.

The Maharajah was instantly attracted to the demure and beautiful girl who conversed in impeccable
English. Enquiring about her later, he was intrigued to know of her talents and popularity. He lost no time in going to her house and sought her hand in marriage. Her family members were initially apprehensive, and not without reason. There was a huge age difference- Bala was but 15, while the Maharajah was 34. He was already married, with children. However, the magnificence of his personality eventually won the day, and Bala was soon married to the Maharajah of Kolanka. Did she like him? ‘Oh, he was so handsome, with large eyes!’ she said in an interview with her trademark guileless smile.

Bala was now far removed from Madras…she lived most of the year in a stately palace in the vast Kolanka Estate in East Godavari District. She gradually reduced her screen appearances- Radhika (1947/Sri Chatrapathi Pictures/Telugu) that was produced by her father and Bilhana (1948/Mubarak/Tamil) were perhaps the last such instances. Her husband did not take kindly to her forays in the tinsel town.

However, she did take up whatever singing offers that came her way during her biannual visits to Madras. Bhanumati was a great fan of Bala’s singing. Bala was related to Bhanumati’s husband Ramakrishna Rao and had even sung at their wedding. When Bhanumati and Ramakrishna embarked upon embarked upon their ambitious ‘Laila Majnu’ (1949/Bharani), Bhanumati cajoled Bala to sing and the song ‘Ela Pagaye’ in Telugu and its Tamil version ‘Veen pazhi thaano’ managed to defy the onslaught of the remaining songs sung by Bhanumati herself. Genius Composer C.R. Subburaman was said to be a great fan of Bala's voice. "It is truly unfortunate that he died so young!'' reflected Bala sadly in an interview.

Bala's enviable repertoire in Tamil includes songs of every genre, every mood. Perhaps her earlier stunt as an actress helped, for her songs are rich in expression. Some years back when I was in Chennai, a journalist friend wanted to write on Balasaraswati and I lent him my collection of her songs. And as we sat listening to some of them, we were amazed anew at the sheer variety of her numbers. “So why was she branded a mere lullaby singer?’ we were bewildered.

Want to lose yourself in religious fervour? Listen to Balasarswathi sing ‘Sri Jaya Saraswathi Devi thaaye’ (Bilhana) or the non-film devotional songs that she sang such as ‘Kaana Oraayiram kan vendum’ and ‘Aaduthu paar mayil aaduthu paar’.. (the latter is a particular favourite of mine as Bala utters my name ever so often in this song!)

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

For a glimpse of her soft romantic flourishes, listen to ‘O malaya maaruthame’, a fabulous duet with the renowned vocalist S. Rajam in the bilingual Manavathi (Music by Balantrapu Rajinikantha Rao). The song, like its Telugu equivalent (O malaya pavanama where Bala teams up with M.S. Ramarao) is a mesmerizing Malayamarutham. Or catch her stealing a treasured moment with Ghantasala in ‘Malarodu madhuramevum manam kaanum mohana ragam’ in Jayasimhan (T.V.Raju). How dreamy she sounds in ‘Kalaiyaadha aasai kanave’ (Rajarajan/KVM), and what a stark contrast she paints in the pathos version of the same song! The wistful ache that the night heralds finds exquisite delineation in ‘Paar muzhudhum irul parappum’ (Rajabhakthi/ Govindarajulu Naidu). The buoyant joys and hopes that a new found love brings in its wake tumble so tremulously in ‘Vaazhvu malarndhu manam veesiduthe’ (Nalla Kaalam/KVM). Also remember the mellow T.A. Moti- Bala duets ‘Maalai nila vara vendum’ (Thaai Ullam/V.Nagiah- A.Rama Rao), and ‘Kandukonden naane’(Kannin Manigal/S.V.Venkataraman).

Maalai nila vara vendum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlSO2VJvlJA
Malarodu madhuramevum: (NTR with a young Waheeda Rehman)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3M399Ar6f0
Kandukkonden naane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwMGMGhIKW4
Kalaiyaadha aasai kanave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhNw_4OS1fY

Bala has excelled in dance songs as well. Take two such songs in Devadas (CRS/MSV), for instance. ‘Sandhosham vendumendraal inge konjam ennai paaru kannaal ’ and ‘Paaramugam yenayya en swami’ – such diverse delights! My favourite ‘Thangam pongum meni undhan sondham ini’ (Tenaliraman /MSV-TKR) is a ceaseless wonder – hark at her hit a highpoint afresh in every repetition of ‘Thangam’! (I bought the DVD just to see this song, but to my disappointment, the song did not find place in the DVD version) ‘Kannai thaan parikkuthu kaipaadatha mullaipoo’ (Aasai Anna Arumai Thambi/KVM) is another bewitching dance number, with the mullaipoo changing to rojappoo and then to sevvandhi in each repetition of the pallavi. ‘Thudikkum vaalibame nodikkul poividume’ (Marma Veeran) , with its baila-ish interludes is a feet-tapping Veda composition.
Thudikkum Vaalibame (watch from 0.30 onwards)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSm32IYa_mc
Sandhosham venumendral:
https://youtu.be/jUnOmZTwYBk
Kannai thaan parikkuthu:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqoBvx_jg_0

- To be continued...

Discusion at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1630255277006192/

Part 1 here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1629037280461325/

A forgotten Nightingale- Part 1

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

A forgotten Nightingale- Part 1

He thinks of his morn of life,
his hale, strong years;
And braves as he may the night
of darkness and tears

- Robert Bridges (Winter Nightfall)

Happened to watch an interview of singer Ravu Balasaraswati, and the above lines from Winter Nightfall came to mind, as they did even a decade back when I wrote about her in dhool.com. The 88 year old singer who had held an entire generation of listeners in her sway has been struggling valiantly with abject penury for a while. Despite some assistance received over the years, the venerable singer is finding it difficult to lead a dignified life.

I am sure many music lovers would be distressed to know the pitiable plight of Ravu Balasaraswati , the silken voice that serenaded serenity in the portals of Telugu and Tamil film music in the 50s.
* * * * *

For those who are wondering who Balasaraswati is, this could come as a glorious revelation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7UH0rJu-fQ

Charlie Chaplin’s silent movie City Lights was released in 1931, 4 years after the advent of talking movies. The film was a poignant portrayal of the love that a good-hearted tramp (Charlie) cherishes for a blind flower seller (Virginia Cherill), the travails he undergoes to prevent her from being evicted from her tenement and then the efforts he takes to restore her eyesight. The film is considered a classic to this day, for its sheer brilliance in a heartwarming study of the lives of the lowly in a big, brutal city.

Gemini Vasan perceived the intrinsic worth of the tale, and bade his crew to work on an adaptation set in an Indian milieu. Raji En Kanmani (1954) had an imaginatively reworked screenplay and dialogues by the Gemini Story Division, headed by Sangu Subramaniam. Directed by K.J. Mahadevan, the film starred T.R. Ramachandran, Sriranjini Jr, Sriram, S.V. Ranga Rao, Chandrababu, T.P. Muthulakshmi & others.

T.R. Ramachadran played the vagabond Ramu, while Sriranjini was the blind flower seller Raji. Ramu’s sympathy for Raji soon blossoms into love. He arranges for her eyes to be operated by a kind doctor (Sriram), and makes frantic efforts to get the required funds. But in the process, he gets into some trouble with a wealthy alcoholic and is unjustly imprisoned. The good-natured doctor then performs the surgery for free and Raji is now able to see. When she realizes that her wait for Ramu is futile, she accepts the doctor’s proposal and marries him. Years roll by, and they now have a son.

Ramu is finally released, and by chance rescues Raji’s child from being hit by a car. Seeing him injured, Raji takes him to her house. When she touches his face, old memories come cascading- for she had touched Ramu’s face long ago. Ramu does not wish to disturb the tranquility of her marriage, and though the doctor recognizes him, moves out, merging into the shadows of the city.

I heard from an old-timer who I once met in a recording store that the movie was well crafted, and the performances, especially that of T.R. Ramachandran, uplifting. But sadly, the movie was a commercial failure. What makes the film immortal though is the classic ‘Malligaipoo jaathi roja’. In City Lights, Chaplin had featured Jose Sancho Padilla's haunting 'La Violetera', which itself, I believe, seeks inspiration from ‘La Paloma’ (some of us would have learned this at school), as the BGM in some of the sequences. And taking the cue, the talented Master Dhanraj and R. Parthasarathi, who were working as part of the Gemini Music Troupe at that time under Hanumantha Rao (brother of Saluri Rajeswara Rao) created a classic with rich western interludes. The song (and its Telugu version, also sung by Bala ‘Malle poolu molla poolu’ /Raaji Naa Praanam) was a raging hit in its time. Even as the gentleman in the recording store was talking about it, his face lit up, and his eyes crinkled in nostalgic delight with memories of another day. And for a magic moment, I too caught a glimpse of the bygone 50s through his reverie!

‘Amma vaareero, anbodu paareero vanguveero, malarndha poovellaam kalandha maalaiye’ is another version of ‘Malligai poo jaathi roja’- another equally enticing call of the florist. The mood is sadder here though, fretting at the gathering clouds that threaten her serene sky, wondering if she would ever set her eyes on her benefactor, the song closes with a plaintive call ‘O Ramu..aah Ramu!’ ‘Sundara malare solliduvaaye' is another stunner song in the album, sung by the same velvet voice that wrought magic with the other songs.

‘Thoongaayo duraiye’ is another forgotten diamond from the same casket, polished with painstaking care by the same singer, singing now what Tamil Film Music celebrated as Bala’s forte, a lilting lullaby. And as though to make up for straying westwards in the other songs, the composer(s) return home in this one, and what a homecoming it is! Hark at the lines…she lulls her son to sleep…'Sleep my Lord, so that you may dream… At the edge of the rainbow, a beautiful brook flows…on the banks of the brook, a cricket sings….. hearing this song, a lovely flower blossoms …and at that moment you can hear the beat of a majestic drum…. So sleep on my lord, so that these vistas will enfold in your dreams’ she croons …. Aaha, beguiled with such an enticing prospect, which child would not sleep! Listen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvIgHdEc7Dc
* * * * *

The little girl who sang for HMV when she was barely six years old…the child star who acted and sang her own songs…the singer who created records with her non-film, light song albums…the first playback singer of Telugu Cinema…the Music Director of a Sinhalese film (Laila Majnu)…the wife of the Raja of Kolanka… the righteous woman who commanded the right to change the lyrics if she found them unsuitable…the singer who glittered amongst the galaxy of gifted artistes who were her contemporaries in the 50s…Indeed, Bala reflects a rich and vibrant legacy…

Nestling in the bosom of the ancient Bhavanarayanswamy Temple, Bapatla is a picturesque coastal town in the Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh. Dramatist Sthanam Narasimha Rao, Engineer Padmabhushan Nori Gopalakrishnamoorthy, Biologist Modadagu Vijay Gupta, Singer Kalyanam (Eelapatta) Raghuramiah, Mathematician Komaravulu Chandrasekharan, Cardiologist I. Satyamurthy, Statesman Kona Prabhakar Rao are some of the eminent personalities who hail from this little known town. In this blessed soil was born Balasaraswati on 28th August 1928 to Parthasarathi Rao and Visalakshi Amma. Her father was a lover of fine arts, music in particular and apparently owned a theater hall in Guntur for a while. Stage plays were enacted and silent movies screened in this hall. Dramatists and singers used to frequent their house all the time, and the child Bala developed a natural flair for music. Acclaimed artistes such as Kapilavai Ramnatha Sastri and Stanam Narasimha Rao were much impressed with the bubbly little girl who exhibited a natural grasp of music, innate sweetness of tone and extraordinary memory.

On one occasion when Kapilavai Ramnatha Sastri wanted someone to render the song ‘Namaste naa praana naatha’ on stage, the entire hall was transfixed when this charming 4 year old girl volunteered to do so. And she went up with calm self-assurance and had the crowd give her a standing ovation at her flawless singing. That was her Bala’s first ever public performance. The little girl honed her skills listening to the gramophone records from her father’s collections and could repeat even the most intricate compositions without much ado. She also learned music from Allathuru Subbaya for a while. When she was 6 years old, she was discovered by lyricist-composer Koparappu Subbarao, who got the child an opportunity to get to sing for a gramophone company, the very first song of Bala that was recorded was ‘Dorike dorike naaku’. Her father was filled with pride at the achievements of his darling daughter.

Bala’s maternal grandfather was an advocate in Madras. When the child was staying at his house for a while, she received an irresistible offer to act in a movie. Despite misgivings of her orthodox family members, she had the active support of her father and soon ‘Baby’ Balasaraswati made her debut playing the celestial Ganga in the Telugu film Sati Anusuya & Bhaktha Druva (1936/ East India Film Co.) Director Chitajalu Pulliah made this ‘two mythologicals in one’ with a wholly child cast. Bala’s soulful song ‘Ethethethaari Naakachata’ in her very first film outing became hugely popular. She caught the attention of pioneer Tamil filmmaker K. Subramaniam and the Tamil films that she acted in the following years were Bhaktha Kuchela (1936), Balayogini (1937) and Thiruneelakantar (1939).

- To be continued....

Discussion at :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1629037280461325/

Part 2 here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1630255277006192/