Perfection Madhavan aka P.Madhavan

Perfection Madhavan aka P.Madhavan Does this name ring a bell, of course everyone knows Alaipayuthey Chocolate Boy “Madhavan” but I’m not talking about him. There was a director named P.Madhavan who did direct some of the brilliant films of Nadigar Thilagam . You will be surprised that few of NT’s best films of his Career were directed by Madhavan and not by Bhimsingh or Sridhar P.Madhavan was born in in walajapet, vellore district. Thanks to Mr Arun, son of Madhavan sir for confirming the birthplace. He did his graduation in presidency college chennai.. Madhavan started as assistant to very famous director T.R.Ragunath . Ragunath was a sought after director in 50’s. After his stint as assistant to Ragunath Madhavan joined Director C.V.Sridhar’s camp as his assistant. His first directorial venture came in the form of A.L.Srinivasan who offered the film Maniyosai. Many would want to debut with a usual happy love story but Madhavan was different. He directed a story of a man who is a hunchback. Though movie was a failure at the box office Madhavan was very impressive with his direction. Story, Performance of every actor especially Kalyan kumar(who was already famous in kannada was doing few roles in Tamil-thayilla pillai,paasam and ever famous Nenjil or alayam). Kalyan kumar, MRRadha & Vijayakumari gave brilliant performances, while Viswanathan Ramamurthy gave scintillating music. Especially the title song in the vocals of Seergazhi Govindarajan “Devan Kovil Maniyosai” is a soul stirring number with great lyrics by Kaviyarasar. Inspite of film’s failure Madhavan’s skill did not go unnoticed. He was noticed by none other Nadigar thilagam and offered him to direct his next film. How lucky was Madhavan to earn this opportunity. Nadigar thilagam who is a great observer might have observed Madhavan’s work when he was sridhar’s assistant and it was also heard that NT was very much impressed with Maniyosai especially Kalyankumar’s role and he even felt that is a brilliant characterization and rare one as well. So Madhavan started directing his second film with NT as lead titled “Annai illam” Story by DadaMirasi starring Sivaji, Devika, MVrajamma, Muthuraman,SVRangarao and many more. It was complex family drama with brilliant performances by actors and great music by KVM mama. (who can forget Madi meethu thalai veithu). Annai illam was successful and Madhavan's career started to bloom. Madhavan’s talent was always appreciated by everyone and thus he was awarded with a bumper offer to direct Makkal thilagam, puratchi thalaivar MGR. yes MGR’s Deivathai produced by Satya movies , dialogues by K.Balachander the MGR-Sarojadevi starrer was directed by P.Madhavan and this was his first major hit. But you will be surprised to hear this was the first and last movie directed by P.Madhavan with MGR. Deivathai was a super duper hit movie with brilliant performances of the cast, mind blowing music by MVS-TKR and great lyrics by vaali (Vanna kili sonna mozhi, our pennai paarthu, indha punnagai enna vilai all were major hit songs). Madhavan was invited by Nadigar thilagam again to direct his next film “Neelavanam(1965)”. Once again it was an interesting plot to direct and Madhavan excelled in the direction. Neelavanam proved Madhavan’s caliber to handle the heavy subject. The way he set the scenes and directed them is praiseworthy. Especially scenes with NT and devika, NT and SV.Sahasranamam,all were brilliantly done and brilliant music by MSV (Odum megangale by P.Susheela ,lyrics by Kaviyarasar is my all time fav) Post Neelavanam, MAdhavan directed films like Muhoortha naal,Penne nee vazhga(all Jaishankar starrers) and he continued to prove his excellence as a director. NAdigar thilagam was the only one who was constantly shaping Madhavan’s career by making him direct versatile films. He offered madhavan to direct Enga oor raja(1968) and Madhavan’s direction especially the scenes involving the elder Sivaji as the zamindar with self respect . Yaarai nambi naan porandhen song is famous even today for TMS’s rendition & NT’s on screen portrayal. Madhavan was continuing his directorial journey with movies that came his way. Tamil cinema had many child centric movies Like yaar paiyan, Kuzhandhaiyum deivamum, Ramu etc but those were not just about the child/children played in those movies. Those movies had other lead actors and had love between them etc. in 1968 eminent Producer , Suresh productions D.Ramanaidu produced a telugu movie “Papa Kosam” with baby rani in lead and he remade the same movie in tamil as “Kuzhanthaikkaga” with Madhavan as he director. Story revolved around a small kid abducted by group of gangsters while looting. Super star Krishna played a miniscule role as baby Rani’s father getting killed by the gangsters. Baby rani reprised her role in Tamil while Padmini, Major Sundararajan,ramdoss,Manohar,T.K.bagavathy played supporting roles. In Tamil the direction was brilliant compared to Telugu and thus film bagged various national awards (Kaviyarasar bagged for his beautiful lyrics in Devan vanthan song) and Baby rani bagged for her brilliant portrayal as baby Geetha. Music by MSV was not just addition to the story but part of the story from the beginning. Thai madha megam, Devan vanthan. This was the first time a south Indian film bagged a national award for lyrics and lyricist. Kuzhandhaikkaga still considered as a best movie for exceptional performance by baby rani and a perfect direction by Madhavan. After the Success of Kuzhandhaikkaga , Madhavan directed yet another child centric movie with the same baby rani in lead titled “Kanne paappa” . Every time I watch Madhavan’s movie his finesse as a director is impressive. I’ve not found a scene in any of his movies which was kept unwanted or directed loosely. Every scene every frame is directed so well and that’s madhavan. The reason I insist this point is how he picturized the absolutely beautiful composition by Mellisai mannar for this movie Kanne papa. “thendralil aadai pinna” is a top chart song by PS in her honey soaked vocals and how KRV is caught in the trap set by Muthuraman is visibly depicted by the picturization and that’s Madhavan.. starting from an innocent village belle taking shower in the falls of Courtallam and how a pair of eyes spots her, follows her, seduces her and finally betrays her.. This entire story is told visually in that song and credit to Madhavan for his creativity and Mellisai mannar’s tune and ofcourse who else but our Nightingale Susheelamma brings out the woman’s feeling in her vocals. It was his turn to direct Nadigar thilagam again. This time it was the story writer Vietnam veedu Sundaram’s play which was very popular running with house full shows and when Sivaji himself produced when he decided to make the drama to a movie and he invited MAdhavan to be the captain of the ship. Though Sundaram wrote the story & dialogues definitely it needed a perfectionist like Madhavan to craft the movie and guess what Madhavan’s direction is spoken about even today. Vietnam veedu is definitely one of Nadigar thilagam’s best movie for his portrayal as Prestige Padmanabhan. Padmini, T.V.Kumudhini, Nagesh, Srikanth, Ramaprabha all gave brilliant performances as well. Who can forget Mama’s music especially “Palakkattu pakkathile” sung by TMS & Susheelamma with wonderful lyrics by KAviyarasar. Vietnam veedu known for Sundaram’s story & dialogues, NT’s performance and Madhavan’s direction. Madhavan next directed Nadigar thilagam again. Yes “Raman ethanai Ramanadi” how NAdigar thilagam transforms from a Foodie raman to famous actor Vijayakumar. Yet again right from the beginning Madhavan’s perfection in the direction is visible in every frame. Especially scenes involving how Nadigar thilagam when he sees KRV again that is one heck of a scene brilliantly portrayed by both and well directed by Madhavan. All songs were runaway hits especially Chithirai madham by PS, Ammadi ponnukku thanga manasu by TMS with great lyrics by Kaviyarasar. Raman ethanai ramanadi is a hit movie if screened now as well. Such was the content, Acting & Direction. Next Madhavan directed which was another brilliant story (Nilave Nee saatchi)about a violinist who goes into a trance after his love breaks and how he is brought back to perform as before forms the rest of the story and this . Film had Jaishankar, Muthuraman, KRV, manimala & others and wonderful music by MSV. No one would have imagined a song in the elevator/lift(even before the famous marocharitra one)and who sang that seduction number along with L.R.eswari .. it was mannar himself.. and we have the title track crooned by PS with her magical vocals , lyrics by KAviyarasar. Content of the movie & the direction earned Madhavan the Best Director State award that year. In the same year he directed the hindi version of Kanne papa Aansoo aur muskan In 1971 he directed another brilliant plot SABATHAM, when I first watched this movie as a kid it was takenaback by the brilliant plot and absolutely subtle yet powerful villain act by T.K.Bhagavthy who kills his brother and takes his spot and blind Anjali devi recognizes him and how he tries to prey on local village girl KRV and how she overcomes his cunning plan by joining hands with Ravichandran the villain’s brothers son. Madhavan’s direction needs special mention especially the war of words between TKBhagavathy and KRV . Sabatham is another brilliant direction by Madhavan. In the same year he directed NT again in Thenum Paalum which dealt about extra marital affair and how the hero is caught between 2 women. Once again Madhavan’s direction is worth mentioning and performances by NT, Padmini & Sarojdevi were brilliant as ever. Manjalum thandhal, oruvanukku oruthi were popular songs from the film. Next 2 films which Madhavan directed NT in 1972 were NT’s one of career best especially First one was the evergreen “Gnana Oli” which had a brilliant performance of NT as Antony and Sharada as Mary. Even after these many years when you watch this film it’s just a brilliant craft of work , how Church Father tames the angry Antony, How he becomes friend of Lawrence, how he marries the bubbly Rani, how his daughter mary falls in love with a cheat and how Antony ends up killing him and flees away to return as a wealthy Arun and how Lawrence is still in search of Antony ( inspiration from Les miserables) Gnana Oli was a brilliant film , one of NT’s career best and perfect direction by Madhavan and brilliant musical score by MSV. Manamedai by PS, Devane ennai paarungal by TMS are popular till date. This move stands as a testimony for Nadigar thilagam’s performance. In the same year Madhavan directed NT again in a village story “Pattikada PAttanama” and he himself produced this movie as well. NT playing the respected village bigshot while Jayalalitha played the arrogant London return girl. Story revolves around how 2 entirely different characters come together and problems that arise between them and how it’s solved was told well and once again Madhavna proves his efficiency in Direction. Pattikkada pattanama was a runaway hit and MAdhavan tasted success as a producer as well. Movie bagged the National award for the best film in tamil that year and a silver jubilee movie , a record breaking one In the same year he did direct the hindi remake of Engal thanga raja – Dil ka raja Madhavan continued producing movies and in 1973 he produced the Devraj Mohan directed “Ponnukku thanga manasu” in a way Madhavan made Jayachitra a star overnight with this film. He also introduced Vidhubala to the tamil industry and in a way introduced Illayaraja who was working as assistant of GKVenkatesh who scored the music for the film. In the same year he directed yet another brilliant movie of Nadigar thilagam “Rajapart Rangadurai” which depicted the story of a stage drama troupe and the emotions around their life with NT playing the lead star of the drama troupe. Direction, Acting, Music all were brilliant. Can we forget MAdhana maaligayil , Ammamma thambi endru brilliant score by Mannar. Next year (1974) he again a directed an offbeat film “Murugan Kaatiya vazhi” starring AVMrajan and Vidhubala. MAdhavan introduced Sripriya as AVM Rajan’s sister in this movie. 1974 became a milestone year for Madhavan because he directed one of NT’s best film written by Mahendran “Thanga padhakkam” Where in NT played a brilliant role of S. P. Choudhry and Srikanth played the spoiled brat, son of NT. Madhavan’s direction is praiseworthy especially scenes involving NT and Srikanth, NT & KRV and also NT & Pramila. Efficient direction, brilliant portrayal of characters and beautiful music (Nallathoru kudumbam, sodhanai mel sodhanai). Thangapadhakkam also stands testimony for NT’s acting and guess what it’s also directed by Madhavan. As per Murali Srinivas anna this was the another Silver Jubilee film of Madhavan. 1975 he directed Muthuraman, KRV starrer Kasthuri Vijayam which deals about a disorganized house and how KRV comes into the house and tries to bring the house under control. Once again a very neat direction by Madhavan, brilliant musical score by V.Kumar (I think madhavan’s first one with kumar) and brilliant portrayal by KRV and others. In 1975 he directed 3 brilliant movies of NT manithanum deivamagalam, Mannavan vandhanadi,Paatum bharathamum. Though manithanum deivamagalam and pattum bharathamum were failures, paattum bharathamum was a very well made movie with a neat direction by Madhavan. Mannavan vandhanadi was an avg hit. But failure or success doesn’t matter, Madhavan’s brilliance was visible in all 3 movies. In 1976 he directed NT again in Chitra pournami and in the same year he directed Palooti valartha kili which also established Illayaraja as a MD after Annakili’s success. MAdhavan continued to direct movies like Deviyin Thirumanam.He directed Rajinikanth in En Kelvikkenna badhil & Shankar salim and simon. Shankar Salim and Simon was inspired from the very popular hindi movie “Amar akbar antony”. Shankar salim and simon was a hit and also added popularity to the upcoming super star Rajinikanth. In 1979 he directed 2 very good movies, first of it “Enippadigal” which was remake of K.Viswanath’s Seetamalakshmi Enippadigal was very successful at the box office with impressive performances by Shoba and Sivakumar and Music by Thirai Isai thilagam Mama who scored for the original too. Poonthenil kalandhu, yenunga mappillai, kannizhandha pillaikku all were super hit songs. Madhavan directed Veetukku veedu vasappadi another remake of the telugu film “Intinti ramayanam” which was a hit movie with nice performances by Vijayakumar, Suman, rathi and shoba. Manorma -Surulirajan comedy was very popular and wonderful Music by Rajan Nagendra . Veetukku veedu vasappadi by SPB,PS is a hit song He continued to direct movies like Kuruvikkoodu, Hitler Umanath. He introduced his son Arun Madhavan under his own banner Arun Prasad Movies Arun madhavan acted in movies like Karaiyai thodadha alaigal Madhavan directed the hindi version of Raman ethanai ramanadi in 1985 “Ram tere kitna nam” With Sanjeev kumar and Rekha in lead. MAdhavan’s last successful movie was Chinna kuyil paduthu with Sivakumar and Ambika in lead in 1987. After 5 years he directed the politician turned actor Thirunavukkarasar in Agniparvai. If you look Madhavan’s fimography, majority of the movies were Nadigar thilagam movies and among them few were NT’s best movies like Gnana Oli, ThangaPadhakkam, Vietnam veedu, Pattikada Pattanama. Madhavan served as the first chairman of MGR film city appointed by late CM Jayalalitha when it was first built. He also served as chairman of National Awards committee. Madhavan died on 16 December 2003 at the age of 75. When we speak of Tamil cinema directors we always speak of Sridhar, KB, bharathiraja etc But Directors like P.Neelakandan, Dada mirasi, P.Madhavan, K.Shankar were no less and among them Madhavan stands tall And the movies he directed stand testimony to his talent. With this article All I request is atleast Nadigar Thilagam fans should honor Sri P.Madhavan and his family for his great work as a director especially in NT movies. P.Madhavan indeed was a Perfection Madhavan Will come back with another artiste soon – Raj Lavanya