IDHU MALAI NERATHU MAYAKKAM - DHARISANAM

Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi - Concluding Part.

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

அந்த தெய்வம் நம் உறவானது...

The powerhouse of talent that she was, Rajalakshmi could not be content with only singing. Her thirst for exploring new avenues led her to volunteer to assist S.M. Subbiah Naidu for the music of the classic Konjum Salangai. In the late 60s, Jayalakshmi’s husband V.T. Arasu produced movies such as மனம் ஒரு குரங்கு (1967), கற்பூரம் (1967) and மகிழம்பூ (1969) under the banner Sashti Films. The music for these movies was composed by veteran D.B. Ramachandran. Rajalakshmi was keenly involved in the composing, orchestration and recording of the songs.

V.T. Arasu did not look much further for a composer when he embarked upon his next venture- தரிசனம் (1970/ Sendhoor Films)- Rajalakshmi was the unanimous choice. And with the encouragement of her husband Balasubramanian and sister Jayalakshmi, Rajalakshmi set about composing the songs for தரிசனம், the first of the four movies that she would compose music for.
Produced & directed by V.T. Arasu, தரிசனம் starred AVM Rajan in a double role, with Pushpalatha, Kumari Padmini, Sailasri, Cho & Manorama in the cast. Lyrics were by Kannadasan. Rajalakshmi was assisted in the music composition by R.K. Shekhar, better known today as the father of A.R. Rehman.

As the titles roll, we have a glimpse of the shore-side Tiruchendhur temple and listen to a divine rendition of TMS amidst the clangour of bells- முருகனே செந்தில் முதல்வனே. TMS has another philosophical solo அவனவன் தலையெழுத்து. The TMS- P. Susheela duet கல்யாணமாம் கல்யாணம் was an Oliyum Oliyum favourite. Among the two songs that stand out- one is Manorama (who appears as பாட்டு வாத்தியார் பட்டம்மா) rendering, along with S. Rangarajan, the hilarious போகாதே ஐயா போகாதே, set in Ananda Bhairavi.

And the other is, of course, the tour de resistance of the album- மாலை நேரத்து மயக்கம். For a unique situation in the story, Sailasri woos AVM Rajan whom she mistakes for her fiancé. But the person who is now in her house is the other AVM. Rajan who had run away from his family unable to bear his various burdens. Here Kannadasan came with some lovely lines of longing for the lady, and bitter lines of philosophy for the male.

Listen how these contradictory viewpoints merge seamlessly in this song of timeless appeal, composed by Rajalakshmi & sung by TMS & LR Eswari:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi1ptz7xvkY


The next film that Rajalakshmi composed music for was Sendhoor Films’ டைகர் தாத்தாச்சாரி again produced & directed by VT Arasu. Released in 1974, the film starred Major Sundararajan, Sivakumar, Shashikumar, M. Bhanumathi & others. Though the titles credit both the sisters with the music, it was Rajalakshmi who was at the helm, with Jayalakshmi assisting her younger sister. Another talented musician who assisted Rajalakshmi in this album was M. Muthu.

Rajalakshmi was perhaps cajoled to lift a popular Hindi tune, and so we have L.R. Eswari belting out a sultry கண்ணாலே பார் கனி in the strain of mein shaayar to nahi! However, the other two songs, thankfully, are original compositions, and Rajalakshmi must have felt vindicated that it was these two numbers that became popular.

ஏழு மலை வாசா sung by the sisters along with K. Veeramani is a stirring hymn that finds regular air time and கல்யாணம் ஒரு விழா is a quaint duet sung by TMS and Rajalakshmi,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htOVB8EhGTY

The third film that Rajalakshmi composed music for was some years in the making. Initially titled இருமனம், it underwent some change of names and was finally released in 1979 under the banner Shashti Films as அப்போதே சொன்னேனே கேட்டியா. Produced and directed by VT Arasu, the film had Jaiganesh & Satyapriya as the lead pair.

Kannadasan and Rajalakshmi worked together and came out with a stellar album. SPB must have enjoyed singing நான் அப்போதே சொன்னேனே கேட்டியா and embellishes the song with his famed histrionics. Vani Jairam shows her class in the solo ஆசையென்ற தேரில் ஏறி. SPB and T.K. Kala sing the engaging duet ஏதேதோ எண்ணங்கள்.
The album reserves the best number as its last…

Yesudas and Vani Jairam singing the ethereal எல்லாம் அவன் செய்தது.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
- Cecil F. Alexander (Hymns for Little Children -1848)

Kannadasan echoes the same sentiments in this captivating song. He enumerates the wonderful creations of the Almighty, and the song takes on the hue of a fetching sermon by a mother and father to their tiny children, detailing the infinite grace of the Supreme Lord, and praying for their wellbeing and bright future.

எல்லாம் அவன் செய்தது...
பசுஞ்சோலை...
இளமலர்கள்...
இங்கு அவனாலே உருவானது...
அந்த தெய்வம் நம் உறவானது...
பாப்பா... கண்ணே பாப்பா....

A song whose appeal lies in its simple tranquility, and the reassuring message of the Omnipresence caring for us and keeping us in His protection. Kannadasan’s lines beautifully bring out the magic of God’s wondrous creations- and I keep drawing parallels with Cecil Alexander’s hymn that I had referred to. பூ வந்த கதையும் நீ வந்த கதையும் அவன் தந்த செல்வம் பாப்பா always moves me at each listen. As Cecil Alexander says ‘He gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell, How great is God Almighty, who has made all things well!’

I can visualize Kannadasan sitting down with Rajalakshmi and penning the lyrics, Rajalakshmi handing over the notations to Yesudas & Vani, crafting the orchestration and supervising the recording, and the two gifted singers bring to life this wonderful song….what an exquisite collaboration by such great artistes - indeed அந்த தெய்வம் அவர்களின் உறவானது...
I have loved this song ever since I first heard it as a child. It is so fervently appealing in the lyrics, so soothingly serene in its music, and so enticing in the singers’ rendition, that the charm is as spellbinding as ever even now.

Experience the magic here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Eo4BKGFUA&feature=youtu.be

It was in the mid-70s that a wonderful opportunity came Rajalakshmi’s way. MGR, who was always impressed by the musical talents of the sisters, came forward to act in a movie with music composed by Rajalakshmi. The project was titled உங்களுக்காக நான் and Rajalakshmi composed and recorded 3 songs for the movie. Unfortunately, with the announcement of the elections, the project was shelved.

The last movie that Rajalakshmi composed music for was Sashti Films’ பிள்ளையார், again produced & directed by V.T. Arasu. Released in 1984, the film had Arunkumar, Satyakala, YG Mahendran, Vanitha and others in the cast. In her home ground of a mythological subject, Rajalakshmi had composed some scintillating devotional numbers such as யாரை வணங்கிட வேண்டும் sung by herself, கல் தானா நீ கடவுள் இல்லையா sung by T.K.Kala and ஓங்காரமாய் விளங்கும் நாயகனே sung by her son, Soolamangalam Murali.

The glittering jewel in the crown is the gorgeous duet மரகத தோரணம் வாசலில் அசைந்திட. Rajalakshmi got Pulamaipithan to pen the lines, and Yesudas & P.Susheela to render the song. The lines were sheer poetry, the voices were ethereal, the orchestration was magnificent, the effect- sheer enchantment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ_n2SMaCYs

பிள்ளையார் was the last film that had music composed by Rajalakshmi. None of the 4 movies she composed music for were great successes. All of them were unpretentious small-budget home productions, now forgotten and buried deep in the sands of time. However, the songs composed by the immensely talented Rajalakshmi ensure a place of honour for her in the pantheon of great film composers.

Besides, the countless Tamil devotional albums composed by Rajalakshmi and sung by the sisters remain the finest legacy that she has left behind. Songs such as எங்கும் முருகனை பார்க்கின்றேன், மலரில் பிறந்து மலரில் மலர்ந்த, முருகனுக்கு ஒரு நாள் திருநாள், சேவல் கூவும் நேரம், etc reverberate from every temple down South to this day. Kunnakkudi Vaithyanathan was an accompanist to the sisters for many years.

Rajalakshmi succumbed to a severe attack of jaundice on June 12 1992 when she was barely 52 years old. Her son, Soolamnagalam Murali who is married to Vasanthi, daughter of the late dialogue writer A. L. Narayanan, is also a trained musician (accompanied his mother and aunt in their concerts) and talented vocalist. He sang the lilting காதலெனும் கோயில் for Ilaiyaraja in the movie கழுகு.

Jayalakshmi ceased singing in public after the demise of her beloved ‘Baby’ (as she used to address Rajalakshmi). The sisters were much attached to each other, and Jayalakshmi could not bring herself to sing without Rajalakshmi. I recall her appearing as a guest in the Saptha Swarangal show. She was choked with emotion when she spoke of Rajalakshmi and her immense talents. She recalled their concerts with nostalgia. ‘We sang in perfect synchronization; and while singing together, we even used to swallow our saliva at precisely the same moment!’ she exclaimed, the pride shining through her tears…

The richest keepsake that Rajalakshmi has bequeathed to posterity, and thus earned the eternal gratitude of the Tamils, is the கந்த சஷ்டி கவசம் album. Rajalakshmi strung the ancient verses to a stunning Ragamalika, and the result is history. Generations of Tamils have grown up listening to it; the song rendered by the sisters is heard in Murugan temples all over the world. The album has become a fixture in all our households and listening to it over the years with the tune so deeply embedded in our psyche, I feel that even if Devaraya Swamigal were to sing it in a different scale, it would be nothing short of blasphemy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nxx7y-vazw

- Concluded.

First Part here:
http://newdhool.blogspot.in/2016/09/vellai-kamalathile-gowri-kalyanam.html

Discussion at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1330486340316422/

VELLAI KAMALATHILE - GOWRI KALYANAM

Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi - Part one.

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

வெள்ளைக்  கமலத்திலே..அவள் வீற்றிருப்பாள்..

A full voice; a timber that breathes life into every note. A tone as distilled as the still of dawn. A song that sends you into the day with a calm that conquers all… Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi rendering Vallalar’s hymn of infinite piety…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1e7MhlhwYs

When I visited the Kadhir Velayudha Swami temple in Pettah in Sri Lanka, strains of கந்தர் சஷ்டி கவசம் were audible throughout the hallowed precincts of the ancient temple. A Sri Lankan friend told me ‘உங்களுக்கு தெரியுமா, எங்க வீட்லயெல்லாம் அவங்க சஷ்டி கவசத்தோடதான் பொழுதே விடியும்!'

And I wondered anew at the widespread popularity of that immortal devotional album, and at the genius of Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, both as a singer of singular merit and as a composer of some wonderful albums- both film and devotional.
L.R.Eswari, in an interview pointed out at Rajalakshmi as among the very few singers she knew who could jot down notations spontaneously as the composer sang the tune, and then sing the lines based on the notations.

முருக கானாம்ருத, குயிலிசைத்திலகம், இசையரசி, நாதக்கனல், கலைமாமணி Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi was the younger of the famed Soolamangalam Sisters, and was born to Karnam Ramaswami Iyer and Janaki Ammal on 6 November, 1940. Jayalakshmi was elder to her. Saraswathi and Sethuraman were her younger siblings. The sisters learned the rudiments of music from K.G. Murthy. The sudden death of their father forced the family to move from Soolamangalam to Madras to eke out a livelihood. The sisters commenced rigorous training under Pathamadai S. Krishnan, and soon captured attention with their classical and devotional concerts.

Rajalakshmi’s first film opportunity came when she was merely 8 years old- the song was ‘கனவில் கண்டேனே', a dance number filmed on Kusalakumari in the 1948 movie கிருஷ்ண பக்தி. And the film songs that she sang over the years are all pristine paradigms of perfection, standing testimonials to Rajalakshmi’s intuitive mastery.

The youthful sweetness in songs such as இனிதான தென்றல், அழகே ஆனந்தம் and சம்மதித்தால் என்றும் சந்தோஷமே; the soft mellifluousness that comes across so bewitchingly in மையைத் தொட்டு எழுதியவன், சித்திரம் பேசுதடி, உனக்கும் எனக்கும் இசைந்த பொருத்தம் and அரும்பு மலர்ந்து அசைந்தாடும்; the evocative feelings that find moving portrayal in songs like ஜாலம் செய்வது நியாயமா, நீ சிரித்தால் நான் சிரிப்பேன், சின்ன சின்ன ஊருணியாம், இல்லாத பிள்ளைக்கு நான், கண்ணன் எனக்கொரு பிள்ளை and காவேரி மாந்தோப்பு கனியோ; the exacting lessons in diction in classics such as பிரம்மன் தாளம் போட and தலையே நீ வணங்காய்; the breathtaking precision of time and tone in classicals like காணக்கண் கோடி வேண்டும், வருகிறாள் உம்மைத்தேடி and வெட்கமாய் இருக்குதடி wherein Rajalakshmi matched giants like MLV and P. Leela line to line, note to note; and of course, the impressive line-up of devotional songs such as திருப்பரங்குன்றத்தில் நீ சிரித்தால், வருவான்டி தருவான்டி, தோடுடய செவியன், திருத்தணி முருகா, வணங்கிடும் கைகளின் and எழுதி எழுதி பழகி வந்தேன் showcase Rajalakshmi’s prolific contribution to Tamil Film Music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff2Xtqty4p4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOhKG-HkG1k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKyhVPAO0CY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbOAzSqBqwg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh3980VY49Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCcteUlweQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8IM5x4til4

Listen to the blessed chanteuse rendering Alangudi Somu’s lines.. குயில் கூவித் துயில் எழுப்ப… The song seeks to paint the serene beauty of dawn in a backdrop of a typical household. The mistress of the house bustles about her chores, gently singing this song. In a landmark departure from the prevailing trend, the imaginative V. Kumar completely eschewed instrumental accompaniment. With just the taanpura giving her muted support, Rajalakshmi gives an unforgettable rendition. Alangudi Somu takes the cue from a paasuram, and continues it to suit the situation. Sowcar Janaki heralds the sunrise by a soulful prayer, and then goes to the people in the house, waking them up gently with a cup of coffee, all the while continuing to sing. The old man who has lain awake most of the night and has dozed off towards the dawn, Vijaya who had burnt the midnight oil studying for her exams and has now exhaustedly fallen asleep over her open book, and finally the lazy Srikanth who rarely gets up at daybreak- all of them are thus lovingly attended to. Kumar begins the song with the clangor of the distant temple bells, and ends it with the chiming of the clock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkzIU3awksw

It is matter of regret that as the 60s progressed, Rajalakshmi was heard more often only in songs that needed more than one female voice such as குங்குமம் மங்கல மங்கையர் குங்குமம், துள்ளித்துள்ளி விளையாட, மணமகளே மருமகளே வா வா, ஆணிமுத்து வாங்கி வந்தேன், etc. I have often been wonderstruck at her sustained brilliance - even in an unknown film having an impossible name like ரகசிய பெண் 117 released in 1972 with music by C.N.Pandurangan, Rajalakshmi dazzles in an uncharacteristic seductive song ஆசை ரோஜா பாரு.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a-c6Mad77A

And finally, to mark the remembrance of the Mahakavi today, presenting here the classic வெள்ளை கமலத்திலே from கௌரி கல்யாணம்(1966). Sung by Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi. Bharathiyar’s verses set to music by M.S. Viswanathan.

These verses form part of the சரஸ்வதி வணக்கம் in the first part of பாஞ்சாலி சபதம். Bharathiyar invokes Saraswathi’s blessings before commencing the work.

Who knows what made MSV give Rajalakshmi this song?! Was it at producer Velumani’s insistence, for Rajalakshmi had given a spellbinding essay (குயில் கூவித் துயில் எழுப்ப) in his நாணல் just the previous year? Or did Rajalakshmi’s beguiling rendition of Bharathiyar’s காணி நிலம் வேண்டும் (நாலு வேலி நிலம்) fetch her this Bharathiyar song? (Two years later, KVM too would summon SR to sing Bharathiyar’s காக்கைச் சிறகினிலே for திருமால் பெருமை). Or was it just that since Rajalakshmi had come to sing திருப்புகழைப் பாடப்பாட for the same film, it struck MSV to make her sing this short song? Whatever may be the factors involved, serendipity did happen, and the Mahakavi’s stirring lines married with MSV’s haunting Hamir Kalyani, find themselves immortalized in the voice of the inimitable Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi. நிலம் பெயரனவும் பெயர் பெயராதாள்..

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


Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi's works as a composer in the next part..

Discussion at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1018417744856618/permalink/1324168710948185/