The very mention of this name would evoke lot of memories for music lovers and their song index in the brain will immediately fetch “Naan unnai vaazhthi paadugiren”, “Oru naal yaaro enna padal”, “Unnidam mayangugiren” etc. Thus was this man’s melodious tunes lingering in everyone’s mind even after so many decades. If Mellisai mannar is the Melody Creator/king, Kumar was his immediate follower & the only real follower I would say.
Kumar started to compose music for stage plays and hence found a friend in K.Balachander who was prominent among stage show lovers. Balachander who staged some wonderful play(s) finally became a film director with his debut movie “Neer kumizhi” for which he summoned his friend Kumar to compose the music. Neerkumizhi also announced the arrival of another melody maker Kumar. NeerKumizhi had wonderful songs composed by kumar. Who can forget “aadi adangum vaazhkai ada by Seergazhi(lyrics penned by Suradha). The same Isai maniyar who sang “Samarasam ulavum” in 50’s got a wonderful opportunity in Kumar’s debut movie to sing the meaningful “Aadi adangum vaazhkaiyada” which was tuned to the great lyrics by uvamai kavingar Suradha. NeerKumizhi also Kanni nandhiyoram by TMS & Susheelamma(lyrics by Alangudi Somu). Kumar’s association with P.Susheelamma with this film and she was his favorite singer till his last breath. He always composed the opening song of the film with PS in mind and she delivered it even better than he always imagined.. Neeril Neendhidum meeniname a lovely solo by PS was the first ever solo by her for Kumar.
KB’s next venture was the famous Naanal, a tamil adaptation of Desperate hours a kind of different storyline for tamil movies yes story about four escaped convicts seeking shelter in K.Vijayan’s house and the consequences following that makes the plot. Kumar gave a brilliant score for this movie and songs are popular even now. Kuyil koovi thuyil by Soolamangalam, Enna than paaduvadhu by Susheelamma brought out the situation of a girl caught between 4 ruthless convicts but mouth sealed and had to dance in front of her to be groom’s family, a brilliant attempt by kumar and meaningful lyrics by Alangudi somu. Another song with word play by Suradha was “Vinnukku meladai” by TMS & PS was quite popular, aired frequently on radio those days.
It was only for KB films Kumar was giving music. KB’s next venture was the famous Major Chandrakanth and this was the first time Vaali joined hands with Kumar to sign a long term friendship contract. Sundararajan played the Major’s role with perfection while Nagesh showed his multi talent from humor to revenge seeker 2 shades In the same film. Kumar came up with memorable tunes for this film. As mentioned above always opening song with PS yes “Oru naal yaaro enna padal solli thandharo” is an evergreen melody by Susheelamma and ofcourse beautiful lyrics by vaali. KB did picturize the scene so brilliantly with nagesh creating Music with all utensils like a JAladarangam. Cute Jayalalitha with AVM rajan singing Netru nee chinna papa by TMS,PS was equally popular and nagesh singing how he is planning his sister’s wedding “Kalyana sappadu podava” is another fantastic number as well.
Next KB ventures had Mellisai mannar MSV composing music .. That was the beginning of an era yes MSV-KB-Kannadasan combination.
KB offered Kumar the classic middle class drama “Edhir Neechal” with Nagesh playing the madippadi madhu . Vetri venduma pottu parada the title song by Isai maniyar Seergazhiyar , lyrics by vaali is considered as one of the meaningful song till now. The famous Aduthathu ambujatha paarthela very funny lyrics by vaali sung beautifully by TMS & Susheelamma. No one can even attempt to sing like this except for the stalwarts themselves. This album had all my favorites. P.B.Sreenivas singing first for Kumar in this movie with susheelamma yes “Thamarai kannangal” is a fantastic duet with romantic lyrics by vaali, especialy “aalilai meloru kannanai pol ingu vandhavano” . Sedhi ketto was another superb song where in Veternal S.C.Krishnan Joined Susheelamma and Kumar’s wife swarna.
During this time Veteran movie maker Mukta Srinivasan invited kumar for their movie “Ninaivil nindraval” thottadha thodathatha by PS,TMS lyrics vaali is a popular number . This is the first movie Kumar did outside KB’s camp.
KB’s next with Kumar was “Iru kodugal” . Kumar Vaali combination continued and this is my favourite of KB-VKumar-Vaali ofcourse. KB even created a Navarathiri scene suggested by Vaali wherein 2 women singing about the same lover-husband Gemini sung beautifully by Susheelamma and the long forgotten K.Jamunarani “Punnagai mannan poovizhi kannan” is a great song and still popular and often played during navarathiri days. Pappa paadiya bharathi paatu and Nanoru Gumastha both featured Nagesh lip syncing TMS’s vocals & Vaali’s lyrics.
Mukata films offered him more films and the Chennai slang song written by Vaali sung by Manorma “Vaa vaathyare ootanda” is the pinnacle for the Chennai slang songs in Tamil Film music. Yes Bommalattam movie had so many songs(mayakkathai thandhavan, nalla naal paarkavo) tuned by Kumar but Vaa vathyare stood out.
Mukta offered him another movie “Ayiram poi” comedy entertainer . Pulavar sonnadhum poiye poiye is an absolute melody by Kumar , lyrics by kannadasan sung by TMS,PS. Thillaiyile Sabapathi is another funny song for the situation where in Vanisree teasing Jai sung by PS.
70’s saw more varieties from Kumar. The Rise & Fall of Kumar all happened in 70’s.
Another KB’s movie which had Kumar’s music was “NAvagraham” one of my fav which had interesting storyline featuring nine different characters in a house and how nagesh and Lakshmi draw them near. Film had the mellifluous “Unnai thotta kaatru vandhu ennai thottadhu” Lyrics by Vaali ,sung by Susheelamma & Humming by S.P.B(not credited in the title). This song showcases Kumar followed MSV’s steps to create this melody.
Another KB movie Patham pasali (produced by lyricist Alangudi somu). Movie bombed at the box office but songs are popular even now especially the song “Vellai manam konda “ by TMS & Swarna.
Kumar also composed for another KB movie “Nootrukku nooru” which has the evergreen “Naan unnai vaazhthi paadugiren” by Susheelamma and great lyrics by Vaali. This new year eve song is a regular in radio/TV for every new year and sounds fresh as it was composed decades ago.
Mukta again offered Kumar for a NAdigar thilagam starrer “Nirai kudam” a great movie and Kumar gave wonderful songs. Vilakke nee konda oli , kannoru pakkam are quite popular numbers.
Kumar brought A.M.Raja to croon a duet with L.R.Eswar for Ranga rattinam. Mutharame un oodal ennavo is another beautifu song
KB while working with MSV and 1 movie with KVM (edhiroli) offered Kumar another 2 movies
Gemini Ganesan’s brilliant performance “Velli vizha” had amazing songs by Kumar and this is was the first time another composer sang for a different music director. Kumar who always considers MSV as his guru wanted him to sing a song which depicts the cruelty of ageing and MSV the magnanimous man immediately agreed to sing and thus we got the wonderful song “Unakkena kuraichal” with Vaali doing a brilliant job with his pen.
Same movie also saw some other experiments by Kumar. He made the ever peppy L.R.Eswari to sing a slow lullaby “Kadhoduthan naan paaduven” while the ever melodious Susheelamma to sing “Naan satham pottuthan paaduven”
Icing on the cake was the Susheelamma,Eswari duet “Kai niraya sozhi” which was full of word play by Vaali (each lady trying to question each other ).
And the next KB film was “Arangetram”. This was the only Kumar-kannadasan movie for KB.
Susheelamma doing wonders with her voice in “AAndavanin thottathile”, “Moothaval nee koduthai”
Aramaba kalathil adhu irukkum by SPB,PS
And the funny “MApillai rahasiyam sollava” by LRE.
Unfortunately this was the last movie for Kumar with his friend K.Balachander. KB never worked with Kumar after this.
During this time Kumar started to work for many other companies
Following are list of Kumar’s song in 70’s
Unnidam mayangugiren by Yesudas is a soft romantic song tuned well by Kumar(Lyrics by Vaali)
Kalam nammaku thozhan by TMS,PS from petha manam pithu
Or ayiram karpanai , mogam ennum ragam paadum (KJY,PS) from Ezhaikkum kalam varum (lyrics vaali)
Devika’s own production “Veguli pen” had some awesome melodies by Kumar.
Mullukku roja sontham, kannana kannuragu both by PS, Engellam valaiyosai by TMS all are popular ones.
Another hit song of 70’s was Inangalile enna inam pen inam by KJY & Swarna from the movie Nalla penman(lyrics:Pulamaipithan)
Kumar was sure a melody maker and songs of mid & late 70’s and every song was a proof for that. He was sure Master MSV’s eklavya.
70’s also saw SPB-Susheela romantic duets composed by MSV, KVM,Shankar ganesh & ofcourse kumar.
Ninaithathai mudipathu by SPB,PS another romantic duet from Ayirathil oruthi
Varthaigal en nenjil ninradhu is another beautiful duet by SPB & PS from Avalum pen thane
Padaithane brahama devan by SPB, Sevappu kallu mookuthi by TMS,PS from Ellorum nallavare were quite popular songs as well.
Paal manam poo manam paavai manam from onne onnu kanne kannu by SPB,PS
Puttanna’s Kannada movie Nagarahaavu was remade as “Raaja nagam” and Kumar proved that he is no less than the original composer Vijayabhaskar. Kumar gave wonderful melodies and the outstanding “devan vedamum kannan geethaiyum” by SPB & Susheelamma lyrics by vaali. This is a great number popular even now.
Thoondil meen had great numbers tuned by Kumar.
Vaazhvil sowbhagyam vandhadhu (lyrics by vaali) by SPB,PS is a great romantic melody aired often in Radio.
Unnidam mayangugiren by KJY was popular one and equally popular was “Ezhudhatha padal ondru “ by TMS & Swarna . lyrics by Vaali.
Kumar did few telugu movies (mostly remade from Tamil) especially Sambarala rambabu (edhir neechal in tamil) and Mama chandamama song tuned by Kumar is a brilliant melody (one version by SPB, another by PS). He did music for sattekalapu sattaya(patham pasali), Collector janaki(iru kodugal)
He was tuning for tamil movies which came his way though very minimal.
Sapthaswaram punnagaiyl kanden from NAdagame ulagam by SPB,VJ
Ullathil nooru ninaithen from an obscure movie MAppillai azhaippu is a great melody
Indian-lankan production NAngooram had music by Kumar and had brilliant songs like oru paarvai parkumpodhu, Aalayam nayagan
Pennai nambungal had a great number by SPB,PS. Nee ninaitha neramellam (lyrics:vaali)
Pallava naatu rajakumarikku is another great number by SPB from Ival oru seethai(lyrics Kannadasan)
Ponnai naan paarthathillai from Kannamoochi(lyrics:kannadasan) by SPB is a popular number even now.
Pallandu pallandu by PS, MAzhai kalam by Vanijayaram are great numbers of Kumar from KAsthoori vijayam
MAdhorchavam radhiyodu than from Sathurangam by SPB,VJ is another great melody by Kumar(lyrics vaali)
Pennalla nee oru bommai by Jayachandran & susheelamma is absolute melody (lyrics:vaali)
Oh Krishna prabhu by PS, Kodi inbangal thedum by PJ,PS from Aval oru kaaviyam
Vaa valliyammai kanava by PS from Chakravarthy is another beauty from Kumar.
Late 70’s saw the number of movies going down in count for Kumar.
Enna thavam seithen unnai manam kolla, oru kudumbam inge both from Adhirstham azhaikkiradhu (lyrics:vaali)
Aananda illam by AMRaja & PS from idhu ivargalin kadhai
Kangalal naan varaidhen (KJY,PS from mangala nayaki0, Thiru koyil thedi (TMS,PS from mittai mami)
These were fantastic songs of Kumar in 70’s
Ironically Kumar was fading away while his manaseega Guru Melody king MSV was still going strong.
1984 Kumar once again re-surfaced with Shankari (Saritha, Thyagarajan starrer) PS’s Aduthathu rukkumani edhuthathu sengamalam was quite popular one.
Kumar was definitely a melody maker and though his stint was short he did weave a magic with his fingers and oldies still remember Kumar for his songs in KB movies and thus will remain forever in our heart as long as melody lives.
Will be back with another Article soon.
Rajesh Lavanya
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Victorious Kumar – V.Kumar
Victorious Kumar – V.Kumar
The very mention of this name would evoke lot of memories for music lovers and their song index in the brain will immediately fetch “Naan unnai vaazhthi paadugiren”, “Oru naal yaaro enna padal”, “Unnidam mayangugiren” etc. Thus was this man’s melodious tunes lingering in everyone’s mind even after so many decades. If Mellisai mannar is the Melody Creator/king, Kumar was his immediate follower & the only real follower I would say.
Kumar started to compose music for stage plays and hence found a friend in K.Balachander who was prominent among stage show lovers. Balachander who staged some wonderful play(s) finally became a film director with his debut movie “Neer kumizhi” for which he summoned his friend Kumar to compose the music. Neerkumizhi also announced the arrival of another melody maker Kumar. NeerKumizhi had wonderful songs composed by kumar. Who can forget “aadi adangum vaazhkai ada by Seergazhi(lyrics penned by Suradha). The same Isai maniyar who sang “Samarasam ulavum” in 50’s got a wonderful opportunity in Kumar’s debut movie to sing the meaningful “Aadi adangum vaazhkaiyada” which was tuned to the great lyrics by uvamai kavingar Suradha. NeerKumizhi also Kanni nandhiyoram by TMS & Susheelamma(lyrics by Alangudi Somu). Kumar’s association with P.Susheelamma with this film and she was his favorite singer till his last breath. He always composed the opening song of the film with PS in mind and she delivered it even better than he always imagined.. Neeril Neendhidum meeniname a lovely solo by PS was the first ever solo by her for Kumar.
KB’s next venture was the famous Naanal, a tamil adaptation of Desperate hours a kind of different storyline for tamil movies yes story about four escaped convicts seeking shelter in K.Vijayan’s house and the consequences following that makes the plot. Kumar gave a brilliant score for this movie and songs are popular even now. Kuyil koovi thuyil by Soolamangalam, Enna than paaduvadhu by Susheelamma brought out the situation of a girl caught between 4 ruthless convicts but mouth sealed and had to dance in front of her to be groom’s family, a brilliant attempt by kumar and meaningful lyrics by Alangudi somu. Another song with word play by Suradha was “Vinnukku meladai” by TMS & PS was quite popular, aired frequently on radio those days.
It was only for KB films Kumar was giving music. KB’s next venture was the famous Major Chandrakanth and this was the first time Vaali joined hands with Kumar to sign a long term friendship contract. Sundararajan played the Major’s role with perfection while Nagesh showed his multi talent from humor to revenge seeker 2 shades In the same film. Kumar came up with memorable tunes for this film. As mentioned above always opening song with PS yes “Oru naal yaaro enna padal solli thandharo” is an evergreen melody by Susheelamma and ofcourse beautiful lyrics by vaali. KB did picturize the scene so brilliantly with nagesh creating Music with all utensils like a JAladarangam. Cute Jayalalitha with AVM rajan singing Netru nee chinna papa by TMS,PS was equally popular and nagesh singing how he is planning his sister’s wedding “Kalyana sappadu podava” is another fantastic number as well.
Next KB ventures had Mellisai mannar MSV composing music .. That was the beginning of an era yes MSV-KB-Kannadasan combination.
KB offered Kumar the classic middle class drama “Edhir Neechal” with Nagesh playing the madippadi madhu . Vetri venduma pottu parada the title song by Isai maniyar Seergazhiyar , lyrics by vaali is considered as one of the meaningful song till now. The famous Aduthathu ambujatha paarthela very funny lyrics by vaali sung beautifully by TMS & Susheelamma. No one can even attempt to sing like this except for the stalwarts themselves. This album had all my favorites. P.B.Sreenivas singing first for Kumar in this movie with susheelamma yes “Thamarai kannangal” is a fantastic duet with romantic lyrics by vaali, especialy “aalilai meloru kannanai pol ingu vandhavano” . Sedhi ketto was another superb song where in Veternal S.C.Krishnan Joined Susheelamma and Kumar’s wife swarna.
During this time Veteran movie maker Mukta Srinivasan invited kumar for their movie “Ninaivil nindraval” thottadha thodathatha by PS,TMS lyrics vaali is a popular number . This is the first movie Kumar did outside KB’s camp.
KB’s next with Kumar was “Iru kodugal” . Kumar Vaali combination continued and this is my favourite of KB-VKumar-Vaali ofcourse. KB even created a Navarathiri scene suggested by Vaali wherein 2 women singing about the same lover-husband Gemini sung beautifully by Susheelamma and the long forgotten K.Jamunarani “Punnagai mannan poovizhi kannan” is a great song and still popular and often played during navarathiri days. Pappa paadiya bharathi paatu and Nanoru Gumastha both featured Nagesh lip syncing TMS’s vocals & Vaali’s lyrics.
Mukata films offered him more films and the Chennai slang song written by Vaali sung by Manorma “Vaa vaathyare ootanda” is the pinnacle for the Chennai slang songs in Tamil Film music. Yes Bommalattam movie had so many songs(mayakkathai thandhavan, nalla naal paarkavo) tuned by Kumar but Vaa vathyare stood out.
Mukta offered him another movie “Ayiram poi” comedy entertainer . Pulavar sonnadhum poiye poiye is an absolute melody by Kumar , lyrics by kannadasan sung by TMS,PS. Thillaiyile Sabapathi is another funny song for the situation where in Vanisree teasing Jai sung by PS.
70’s saw more varieties from Kumar. The Rise & Fall of Kumar all happened in 70’s.
Another KB’s movie which had Kumar’s music was “NAvagraham” one of my fav which had interesting storyline featuring nine different characters in a house and how nagesh and Lakshmi draw them near. Film had the mellifluous “Unnai thotta kaatru vandhu ennai thottadhu” Lyrics by Vaali ,sung by Susheelamma & Humming by S.P.B(not credited in the title). This song showcases Kumar followed MSV’s steps to create this melody.
Another KB movie Patham pasali (produced by lyricist Alangudi somu). Movie bombed at the box office but songs are popular even now especially the song “Vellai manam konda “ by TMS & Swarna.
Kumar also composed for another KB movie “Nootrukku nooru” which has the evergreen “Naan unnai vaazhthi paadugiren” by Susheelamma and great lyrics by Vaali. This new year eve song is a regular in radio/TV for every new year and sounds fresh as it was composed decades ago.
Mukta again offered Kumar for a NAdigar thilagam starrer “Nirai kudam” a great movie and Kumar gave wonderful songs. Vilakke nee konda oli , kannoru pakkam are quite popular numbers.
Kumar brought A.M.Raja to croon a duet with L.R.Eswar for Ranga rattinam. Mutharame un oodal ennavo is another beautifu song
KB while working with MSV and 1 movie with KVM (edhiroli) offered Kumar another 2 movies
Gemini Ganesan’s brilliant performance “Velli vizha” had amazing songs by Kumar and this is was the first time another composer sang for a different music director. Kumar who always considers MSV as his guru wanted him to sing a song which depicts the cruelty of ageing and MSV the magnanimous man immediately agreed to sing and thus we got the wonderful song “Unakkena kuraichal” with Vaali doing a brilliant job with his pen.
Same movie also saw some other experiments by Kumar. He made the ever peppy L.R.Eswari to sing a slow lullaby “Kadhoduthan naan paaduven” while the ever melodious Susheelamma to sing “Naan satham pottuthan paaduven”
Icing on the cake was the Susheelamma,Eswari duet “Kai niraya sozhi” which was full of word play by Vaali (each lady trying to question each other ).
And the next KB film was “Arangetram”. This was the only Kumar-kannadasan movie for KB.
Susheelamma doing wonders with her voice in “AAndavanin thottathile”, “Moothaval nee koduthai”
Aramaba kalathil adhu irukkum by SPB,PS
And the funny “MApillai rahasiyam sollava” by LRE.
Unfortunately this was the last movie for Kumar with his friend K.Balachander. KB never worked with Kumar after this.
During this time Kumar started to work for many other companies
Following are list of Kumar’s song in 70’s
Unnidam mayangugiren by Yesudas is a soft romantic song tuned well by Kumar(Lyrics by Vaali)
Kalam nammaku thozhan by TMS,PS from petha manam pithu
Or ayiram karpanai , mogam ennum ragam paadum (KJY,PS) from Ezhaikkum kalam varum (lyrics vaali)
Devika’s own production “Veguli pen” had some awesome melodies by Kumar.
Mullukku roja sontham, kannana kannuragu both by PS, Engellam valaiyosai by TMS all are popular ones.
Another hit song of 70’s was Inangalile enna inam pen inam by KJY & Swarna from the movie Nalla penman(lyrics:Pulamaipithan)
Kumar was sure a melody maker and songs of mid & late 70’s and every song was a proof for that. He was sure Master MSV’s eklavya.
70’s also saw SPB-Susheela romantic duets composed by MSV, KVM,Shankar ganesh & ofcourse kumar.
Ninaithathai mudipathu by SPB,PS another romantic duet from Ayirathil oruthi
Varthaigal en nenjil ninradhu is another beautiful duet by SPB & PS from Avalum pen thane
Padaithane brahama devan by SPB, Sevappu kallu mookuthi by TMS,PS from Ellorum nallavare were quite popular songs as well.
Paal manam poo manam paavai manam from onne onnu kanne kannu by SPB,PS
Puttanna’s Kannada movie Nagarahaavu was remade as “Raaja nagam” and Kumar proved that he is no less than the original composer Vijayabhaskar. Kumar gave wonderful melodies and the outstanding “devan vedamum kannan geethaiyum” by SPB & Susheelamma lyrics by vaali. This is a great number popular even now.
Thoondil meen had great numbers tuned by Kumar.
Vaazhvil sowbhagyam vandhadhu (lyrics by vaali) by SPB,PS is a great romantic melody aired often in Radio.
Unnidam mayangugiren by KJY was popular one and equally popular was “Ezhudhatha padal ondru “ by TMS & Swarna . lyrics by Vaali.
Kumar did few telugu movies (mostly remade from Tamil) especially Sambarala rambabu (edhir neechal in tamil) and Mama chandamama song tuned by Kumar is a brilliant melody (one version by SPB, another by PS). He did music for sattekalapu sattaya(patham pasali), Collector janaki(iru kodugal)
He was tuning for tamil movies which came his way though very minimal.
Sapthaswaram punnagaiyl kanden from NAdagame ulagam by SPB,VJ
Ullathil nooru ninaithen from an obscure movie MAppillai azhaippu is a great melody
Indian-lankan production NAngooram had music by Kumar and had brilliant songs like oru paarvai parkumpodhu, Aalayam nayagan
Pennai nambungal had a great number by SPB,PS. Nee ninaitha neramellam (lyrics:vaali)
Pallava naatu rajakumarikku is another great number by SPB from Ival oru seethai(lyrics Kannadasan)
Ponnai naan paarthathillai from Kannamoochi(lyrics:kannadasan) by SPB is a popular number even now.
Pallandu pallandu by PS, MAzhai kalam by Vanijayaram are great numbers of Kumar from KAsthoori vijayam
MAdhorchavam radhiyodu than from Sathurangam by SPB,VJ is another great melody by Kumar(lyrics vaali)
Pennalla nee oru bommai by Jayachandran & susheelamma is absolute melody (lyrics:vaali)
Oh Krishna prabhu by PS, Kodi inbangal thedum by PJ,PS from Aval oru kaaviyam
Vaa valliyammai kanava by PS from Chakravarthy is another beauty from Kumar.
Late 70’s saw the number of movies going down in count for Kumar.
Enna thavam seithen unnai manam kolla, oru kudumbam inge both from Adhirstham azhaikkiradhu (lyrics:vaali)
Aananda illam by AMRaja & PS from idhu ivargalin kadhai
Kangalal naan varaidhen (KJY,PS from mangala nayaki0, Thiru koyil thedi (TMS,PS from mittai mami)
These were fantastic songs of Kumar in 70’s
Ironically Kumar was fading away while his manaseega Guru Melody king MSV was still going strong.
1984 Kumar once again re-surfaced with Shankari (Saritha, Thyagarajan starrer) PS’s Aduthathu rukkumani edhuthathu sengamalam was quite popular one.
Kumar was definitely a melody maker and though his stint was short he did weave a magic with his fingers and oldies still remember Kumar for his songs in KB movies and thus will remain forever in our heart as long as melody lives.
Will be back with another Article soon.
Rajesh Lavanya
The very mention of this name would evoke lot of memories for music lovers and their song index in the brain will immediately fetch “Naan unnai vaazhthi paadugiren”, “Oru naal yaaro enna padal”, “Unnidam mayangugiren” etc. Thus was this man’s melodious tunes lingering in everyone’s mind even after so many decades. If Mellisai mannar is the Melody Creator/king, Kumar was his immediate follower & the only real follower I would say.
Kumar started to compose music for stage plays and hence found a friend in K.Balachander who was prominent among stage show lovers. Balachander who staged some wonderful play(s) finally became a film director with his debut movie “Neer kumizhi” for which he summoned his friend Kumar to compose the music. Neerkumizhi also announced the arrival of another melody maker Kumar. NeerKumizhi had wonderful songs composed by kumar. Who can forget “aadi adangum vaazhkai ada by Seergazhi(lyrics penned by Suradha). The same Isai maniyar who sang “Samarasam ulavum” in 50’s got a wonderful opportunity in Kumar’s debut movie to sing the meaningful “Aadi adangum vaazhkaiyada” which was tuned to the great lyrics by uvamai kavingar Suradha. NeerKumizhi also Kanni nandhiyoram by TMS & Susheelamma(lyrics by Alangudi Somu). Kumar’s association with P.Susheelamma with this film and she was his favorite singer till his last breath. He always composed the opening song of the film with PS in mind and she delivered it even better than he always imagined.. Neeril Neendhidum meeniname a lovely solo by PS was the first ever solo by her for Kumar.
KB’s next venture was the famous Naanal, a tamil adaptation of Desperate hours a kind of different storyline for tamil movies yes story about four escaped convicts seeking shelter in K.Vijayan’s house and the consequences following that makes the plot. Kumar gave a brilliant score for this movie and songs are popular even now. Kuyil koovi thuyil by Soolamangalam, Enna than paaduvadhu by Susheelamma brought out the situation of a girl caught between 4 ruthless convicts but mouth sealed and had to dance in front of her to be groom’s family, a brilliant attempt by kumar and meaningful lyrics by Alangudi somu. Another song with word play by Suradha was “Vinnukku meladai” by TMS & PS was quite popular, aired frequently on radio those days.
It was only for KB films Kumar was giving music. KB’s next venture was the famous Major Chandrakanth and this was the first time Vaali joined hands with Kumar to sign a long term friendship contract. Sundararajan played the Major’s role with perfection while Nagesh showed his multi talent from humor to revenge seeker 2 shades In the same film. Kumar came up with memorable tunes for this film. As mentioned above always opening song with PS yes “Oru naal yaaro enna padal solli thandharo” is an evergreen melody by Susheelamma and ofcourse beautiful lyrics by vaali. KB did picturize the scene so brilliantly with nagesh creating Music with all utensils like a JAladarangam. Cute Jayalalitha with AVM rajan singing Netru nee chinna papa by TMS,PS was equally popular and nagesh singing how he is planning his sister’s wedding “Kalyana sappadu podava” is another fantastic number as well.
Next KB ventures had Mellisai mannar MSV composing music .. That was the beginning of an era yes MSV-KB-Kannadasan combination.
KB offered Kumar the classic middle class drama “Edhir Neechal” with Nagesh playing the madippadi madhu . Vetri venduma pottu parada the title song by Isai maniyar Seergazhiyar , lyrics by vaali is considered as one of the meaningful song till now. The famous Aduthathu ambujatha paarthela very funny lyrics by vaali sung beautifully by TMS & Susheelamma. No one can even attempt to sing like this except for the stalwarts themselves. This album had all my favorites. P.B.Sreenivas singing first for Kumar in this movie with susheelamma yes “Thamarai kannangal” is a fantastic duet with romantic lyrics by vaali, especialy “aalilai meloru kannanai pol ingu vandhavano” . Sedhi ketto was another superb song where in Veternal S.C.Krishnan Joined Susheelamma and Kumar’s wife swarna.
During this time Veteran movie maker Mukta Srinivasan invited kumar for their movie “Ninaivil nindraval” thottadha thodathatha by PS,TMS lyrics vaali is a popular number . This is the first movie Kumar did outside KB’s camp.
KB’s next with Kumar was “Iru kodugal” . Kumar Vaali combination continued and this is my favourite of KB-VKumar-Vaali ofcourse. KB even created a Navarathiri scene suggested by Vaali wherein 2 women singing about the same lover-husband Gemini sung beautifully by Susheelamma and the long forgotten K.Jamunarani “Punnagai mannan poovizhi kannan” is a great song and still popular and often played during navarathiri days. Pappa paadiya bharathi paatu and Nanoru Gumastha both featured Nagesh lip syncing TMS’s vocals & Vaali’s lyrics.
Mukata films offered him more films and the Chennai slang song written by Vaali sung by Manorma “Vaa vaathyare ootanda” is the pinnacle for the Chennai slang songs in Tamil Film music. Yes Bommalattam movie had so many songs(mayakkathai thandhavan, nalla naal paarkavo) tuned by Kumar but Vaa vathyare stood out.
Mukta offered him another movie “Ayiram poi” comedy entertainer . Pulavar sonnadhum poiye poiye is an absolute melody by Kumar , lyrics by kannadasan sung by TMS,PS. Thillaiyile Sabapathi is another funny song for the situation where in Vanisree teasing Jai sung by PS.
70’s saw more varieties from Kumar. The Rise & Fall of Kumar all happened in 70’s.
Another KB’s movie which had Kumar’s music was “NAvagraham” one of my fav which had interesting storyline featuring nine different characters in a house and how nagesh and Lakshmi draw them near. Film had the mellifluous “Unnai thotta kaatru vandhu ennai thottadhu” Lyrics by Vaali ,sung by Susheelamma & Humming by S.P.B(not credited in the title). This song showcases Kumar followed MSV’s steps to create this melody.
Another KB movie Patham pasali (produced by lyricist Alangudi somu). Movie bombed at the box office but songs are popular even now especially the song “Vellai manam konda “ by TMS & Swarna.
Kumar also composed for another KB movie “Nootrukku nooru” which has the evergreen “Naan unnai vaazhthi paadugiren” by Susheelamma and great lyrics by Vaali. This new year eve song is a regular in radio/TV for every new year and sounds fresh as it was composed decades ago.
Mukta again offered Kumar for a NAdigar thilagam starrer “Nirai kudam” a great movie and Kumar gave wonderful songs. Vilakke nee konda oli , kannoru pakkam are quite popular numbers.
Kumar brought A.M.Raja to croon a duet with L.R.Eswar for Ranga rattinam. Mutharame un oodal ennavo is another beautifu song
KB while working with MSV and 1 movie with KVM (edhiroli) offered Kumar another 2 movies
Gemini Ganesan’s brilliant performance “Velli vizha” had amazing songs by Kumar and this is was the first time another composer sang for a different music director. Kumar who always considers MSV as his guru wanted him to sing a song which depicts the cruelty of ageing and MSV the magnanimous man immediately agreed to sing and thus we got the wonderful song “Unakkena kuraichal” with Vaali doing a brilliant job with his pen.
Same movie also saw some other experiments by Kumar. He made the ever peppy L.R.Eswari to sing a slow lullaby “Kadhoduthan naan paaduven” while the ever melodious Susheelamma to sing “Naan satham pottuthan paaduven”
Icing on the cake was the Susheelamma,Eswari duet “Kai niraya sozhi” which was full of word play by Vaali (each lady trying to question each other ).
And the next KB film was “Arangetram”. This was the only Kumar-kannadasan movie for KB.
Susheelamma doing wonders with her voice in “AAndavanin thottathile”, “Moothaval nee koduthai”
Aramaba kalathil adhu irukkum by SPB,PS
And the funny “MApillai rahasiyam sollava” by LRE.
Unfortunately this was the last movie for Kumar with his friend K.Balachander. KB never worked with Kumar after this.
During this time Kumar started to work for many other companies
Following are list of Kumar’s song in 70’s
Unnidam mayangugiren by Yesudas is a soft romantic song tuned well by Kumar(Lyrics by Vaali)
Kalam nammaku thozhan by TMS,PS from petha manam pithu
Or ayiram karpanai , mogam ennum ragam paadum (KJY,PS) from Ezhaikkum kalam varum (lyrics vaali)
Devika’s own production “Veguli pen” had some awesome melodies by Kumar.
Mullukku roja sontham, kannana kannuragu both by PS, Engellam valaiyosai by TMS all are popular ones.
Another hit song of 70’s was Inangalile enna inam pen inam by KJY & Swarna from the movie Nalla penman(lyrics:Pulamaipithan)
Kumar was sure a melody maker and songs of mid & late 70’s and every song was a proof for that. He was sure Master MSV’s eklavya.
70’s also saw SPB-Susheela romantic duets composed by MSV, KVM,Shankar ganesh & ofcourse kumar.
Ninaithathai mudipathu by SPB,PS another romantic duet from Ayirathil oruthi
Varthaigal en nenjil ninradhu is another beautiful duet by SPB & PS from Avalum pen thane
Padaithane brahama devan by SPB, Sevappu kallu mookuthi by TMS,PS from Ellorum nallavare were quite popular songs as well.
Paal manam poo manam paavai manam from onne onnu kanne kannu by SPB,PS
Puttanna’s Kannada movie Nagarahaavu was remade as “Raaja nagam” and Kumar proved that he is no less than the original composer Vijayabhaskar. Kumar gave wonderful melodies and the outstanding “devan vedamum kannan geethaiyum” by SPB & Susheelamma lyrics by vaali. This is a great number popular even now.
Thoondil meen had great numbers tuned by Kumar.
Vaazhvil sowbhagyam vandhadhu (lyrics by vaali) by SPB,PS is a great romantic melody aired often in Radio.
Unnidam mayangugiren by KJY was popular one and equally popular was “Ezhudhatha padal ondru “ by TMS & Swarna . lyrics by Vaali.
Kumar did few telugu movies (mostly remade from Tamil) especially Sambarala rambabu (edhir neechal in tamil) and Mama chandamama song tuned by Kumar is a brilliant melody (one version by SPB, another by PS). He did music for sattekalapu sattaya(patham pasali), Collector janaki(iru kodugal)
He was tuning for tamil movies which came his way though very minimal.
Sapthaswaram punnagaiyl kanden from NAdagame ulagam by SPB,VJ
Ullathil nooru ninaithen from an obscure movie MAppillai azhaippu is a great melody
Indian-lankan production NAngooram had music by Kumar and had brilliant songs like oru paarvai parkumpodhu, Aalayam nayagan
Pennai nambungal had a great number by SPB,PS. Nee ninaitha neramellam (lyrics:vaali)
Pallava naatu rajakumarikku is another great number by SPB from Ival oru seethai(lyrics Kannadasan)
Ponnai naan paarthathillai from Kannamoochi(lyrics:kannadasan) by SPB is a popular number even now.
Pallandu pallandu by PS, MAzhai kalam by Vanijayaram are great numbers of Kumar from KAsthoori vijayam
MAdhorchavam radhiyodu than from Sathurangam by SPB,VJ is another great melody by Kumar(lyrics vaali)
Pennalla nee oru bommai by Jayachandran & susheelamma is absolute melody (lyrics:vaali)
Oh Krishna prabhu by PS, Kodi inbangal thedum by PJ,PS from Aval oru kaaviyam
Vaa valliyammai kanava by PS from Chakravarthy is another beauty from Kumar.
Late 70’s saw the number of movies going down in count for Kumar.
Enna thavam seithen unnai manam kolla, oru kudumbam inge both from Adhirstham azhaikkiradhu (lyrics:vaali)
Aananda illam by AMRaja & PS from idhu ivargalin kadhai
Kangalal naan varaidhen (KJY,PS from mangala nayaki0, Thiru koyil thedi (TMS,PS from mittai mami)
These were fantastic songs of Kumar in 70’s
Ironically Kumar was fading away while his manaseega Guru Melody king MSV was still going strong.
1984 Kumar once again re-surfaced with Shankari (Saritha, Thyagarajan starrer) PS’s Aduthathu rukkumani edhuthathu sengamalam was quite popular one.
Kumar was definitely a melody maker and though his stint was short he did weave a magic with his fingers and oldies still remember Kumar for his songs in KB movies and thus will remain forever in our heart as long as melody lives.
Will be back with another Article soon.
Rajesh Lavanya
Theatre King Bhagavathy(T.K.Bhagavathy)
Theatre King Bhagavathy(T.K.Bhagavathy)
This name might ring a bell for Old movie lovers but majority folks would have forgotten this name.
Family of 4 brothers ventured into acting out of which both T.K.S Shanmugam & Bhagavathy faired well in the stage. The irony of today is people know only “avvai shanmugi” as Kamal but T.K.Shanmugam was the one who donned the role of “Avvaiyar” in 1942 and hence called as “Avvai” shanmugam. Famous tamil poet “Kavimani Desiga vinayagam pillai” praised Shanmugam for his role as Avvai . Though shanmugam played few roles in movies it was his younger brother T.K.Bhagavathy who fared well on screen.
When we (including the media) discuss about Character artists usually we speak high of S.V.Rangarao,S.V.Subbiah, T.S.Baliah or atleast S.V.Sahasranamam but this man T.K.Bhagavathy silently did so many movies in his long film career which spanned across 45 years.
T.K.Bhagavathy who had a great voice & personality started his career in Menaka(1935).
In the stage drama bhagavathy donned historical roles (Rajapart, raja raja chozhan & many more) with ease and thus paved a way for his entry into films.
Bhagavathy did lot of movies in the 50’s but his career best came in the form of RAvana(mythological roles were not new to him) in Sampoorna Ramayanam. Veenai kodiyudaiya vendhane is quite popular even today (vocals by Trichy Loganathan). Can anyone forget the Marudhu brothers played by Bhagavathy & Mustafa , especially Bhagavathy played the role of Periya MArudhu to perfection.
Don’t just write him off with Historical/Mythological roles. He played affectionate brother, caring Dad, devoted husband, devoted servant in many movies .. To name a few the majestic & affectionate role of a dad he played in “Panama pasama” fetched him many accolades. They way he handles his arrogant wife played by S.Varalakshmi and lovable daughter B.Sarojadevi.. Bhagavathy gave a brilliant performance. Another notable film was “Savale Samali” where in he played JAyalalitha’s father and the conversations between him, nambiar & nagesh were to the dot. Another noticeable character was that of the doctor who separates the Conjoined twins in neerum neruppum.
In 70’s we saw him in many movies as MGR’s brother, dad etc (Nam naadu is one such move). He appeared as Lakshmi’s dad in Sange muzhangu.
Sondham – he played Muthuraman’s dad oh my he played that mirazdar role brilliantly.
Don’t just write him off for his character roles, his best came in the form of “Sabatham” where he played the cunning younger brother who kills his look alike elder brother and takes his place . He played that role with so much ease and every time I watch this movie I’m impressed with him again & again. He played womanizer too thus proved that he could play just any role at ease.His main asset was his voice .
While acting in the movies, both the brothers continued their Drama as well. 1972 was the last year they had their last drama. 1973 Bhagavathy lost his brother but still continued to do character roles in movies. One can see him Rajini’s aarilirundhu arubuthu varai & kamal’s alavudeenum arputha vilakkum.
But, did we utilize his potential to the fullest? The answer is “NO”. Except for few movies he was casted in same kind of roles but nevertheless he did justice to any role he played and proved his talent. One such movie was “Vanthale magarasi” where in he played Jayalalitha’s dad but will be acting as a lawyer to mend deal between Jayalalitha & (MNrajam,cksaraswathi).
It gives immense pleasure to write about such a wonderful artist and it’s sad that the industry has forgotten this legendary actor.
Bhagavathy led a very simple life. He died in 1983.
Will come back soon with another artist – Rajesh Lavanya
This name might ring a bell for Old movie lovers but majority folks would have forgotten this name.
Family of 4 brothers ventured into acting out of which both T.K.S Shanmugam & Bhagavathy faired well in the stage. The irony of today is people know only “avvai shanmugi” as Kamal but T.K.Shanmugam was the one who donned the role of “Avvaiyar” in 1942 and hence called as “Avvai” shanmugam. Famous tamil poet “Kavimani Desiga vinayagam pillai” praised Shanmugam for his role as Avvai . Though shanmugam played few roles in movies it was his younger brother T.K.Bhagavathy who fared well on screen.
When we (including the media) discuss about Character artists usually we speak high of S.V.Rangarao,S.V.Subbiah, T.S.Baliah or atleast S.V.Sahasranamam but this man T.K.Bhagavathy silently did so many movies in his long film career which spanned across 45 years.
T.K.Bhagavathy who had a great voice & personality started his career in Menaka(1935).
In the stage drama bhagavathy donned historical roles (Rajapart, raja raja chozhan & many more) with ease and thus paved a way for his entry into films.
Bhagavathy did lot of movies in the 50’s but his career best came in the form of RAvana(mythological roles were not new to him) in Sampoorna Ramayanam. Veenai kodiyudaiya vendhane is quite popular even today (vocals by Trichy Loganathan). Can anyone forget the Marudhu brothers played by Bhagavathy & Mustafa , especially Bhagavathy played the role of Periya MArudhu to perfection.
Don’t just write him off with Historical/Mythological roles. He played affectionate brother, caring Dad, devoted husband, devoted servant in many movies .. To name a few the majestic & affectionate role of a dad he played in “Panama pasama” fetched him many accolades. They way he handles his arrogant wife played by S.Varalakshmi and lovable daughter B.Sarojadevi.. Bhagavathy gave a brilliant performance. Another notable film was “Savale Samali” where in he played JAyalalitha’s father and the conversations between him, nambiar & nagesh were to the dot. Another noticeable character was that of the doctor who separates the Conjoined twins in neerum neruppum.
In 70’s we saw him in many movies as MGR’s brother, dad etc (Nam naadu is one such move). He appeared as Lakshmi’s dad in Sange muzhangu.
Sondham – he played Muthuraman’s dad oh my he played that mirazdar role brilliantly.
Don’t just write him off for his character roles, his best came in the form of “Sabatham” where he played the cunning younger brother who kills his look alike elder brother and takes his place . He played that role with so much ease and every time I watch this movie I’m impressed with him again & again. He played womanizer too thus proved that he could play just any role at ease.His main asset was his voice .
While acting in the movies, both the brothers continued their Drama as well. 1972 was the last year they had their last drama. 1973 Bhagavathy lost his brother but still continued to do character roles in movies. One can see him Rajini’s aarilirundhu arubuthu varai & kamal’s alavudeenum arputha vilakkum.
But, did we utilize his potential to the fullest? The answer is “NO”. Except for few movies he was casted in same kind of roles but nevertheless he did justice to any role he played and proved his talent. One such movie was “Vanthale magarasi” where in he played Jayalalitha’s dad but will be acting as a lawyer to mend deal between Jayalalitha & (MNrajam,cksaraswathi).
It gives immense pleasure to write about such a wonderful artist and it’s sad that the industry has forgotten this legendary actor.
Bhagavathy led a very simple life. He died in 1983.
Will come back soon with another artist – Rajesh Lavanya
Talented Ramachandran (T.R.Ramachandran)
Talented Ramachandran (T.R.Ramachandran)
Can we forget this big eyed witty Ramachandran? The ever famous Sabapathy and his comic exchanges with Kali.N.Rathinam. Starting in 40’s he was the first comic hero in Tamil Film Industry.
Ramachandran born in Karur in 1917. As usual studies did not interest TRR. He learned music & harmonium from Karur Raghavendra rao. TR was impressed by the acting skills of Raghavendra rao and wanted to pursue acting. With his Dad’s permission he toured along with Raghavendra rao to various cities to perform stage dramas & plays. During this tour he landed into Madurai JAgannath Iyer’s “Balamohana Ranjitha sangeetha sabha” doing women role. S.v.Venkataraman was also part of that troupe and he was impressed with TRR’s performance started own drama company but it did not last long. Seeking film opportunities SVVenkataraman went to Bangalore to meet AVMeiyappa chettiar.
Chettiar already have seen SVV’s plays and especially TRR’s peformances made TRR play TRMahalingam’s friend in the film in the making “Nandhanar(1938)” and that marked the entry of TRR into films. He did minor roles in few films but it was Sabapathy which got TRR into fame. He also sang all the songs in the film.
Post word war 2 AVM chettiar wanted to make a movie based on PAmmal sammandha mudhaliar’s play “Sabapathy” in the same name and he casted TRR as the hero. The hilarious TRR & KALI N Rathinam’s pair rocked the scene & provided relief to the people who were in grief after world war.
TRR was a natural actor and at the same time Director’s actor. Having acted as hero in Sabapathy he acted In comic role in AVM’s first production Venture NAam iruvar(TRmahalingam was the hero). Thus he was adaptable to any situation/role.
He also did comic role in Sri Valli and his hallarious comedy was widely talked about,
AVM casted Vaijyanthi mala & TRR in Vaazhkai and the entire scenes with TRR were humorous.. Finding a child in his car and taking it with him and V.mala suspecting him etc were well made screenplay and of course R.Sudarsanam’s songs added to the popularity (Un kan unnai yematrinaal by MS.Rajeswari & TRR himself). Vaijayanthi mala debuted with this film ad TRR was her first hero.
TRR re-wrote the Hero appearance as one would expect, Tall well built, trained in fighting etc but he simply made that all a myth with his natural witty acting and his big eyed expression. One can proudly say he opened doors for actors without looks but with good talent can also flourish. He was the first to do so. My fav film of his is ofcourse Vaazhkai and another one which I’ll be mentioning in the paragraphs to follow.
His acting career picked up with Pon vayal with Anjali devi, Raji en kanmani with Sri ranjani jr. Raji en kanmani showcased his acting talent and he proved that he could do serious roles as well.
Gomathiyin kadhalam with Savithri in lead was a thriller movie and TRR in his usual rocked the scene. B.R.panthulu’s Kalyanam panniyum brahmachari had TRR as the hero and Nadigar thilagam as Second hero. Comic scenes involving TRR, PAdmini, KD Santhanam(who played TRR’s dad) and NT are ever hilarious. If you get chance watch the accident scene where TRR interrogates PAdmini and she gives a wrong address. Ever hilarious scene.
Anjali pictures tasted success with Pakkinti Ammayi(1953) with Relangi & Anjalidevi in lead. When they planned to remake in tamil Adutha veetu pen instant choice for the lead was TRR. Who better than him can do that role and of course joining hands with him was comedy king K.A.Thangavelu.. as the playback for TRR.. Each and every shot in the movie is hilarious. TRR just stole the show with his expressions and body language especially the scene where in Thangavelu teaching him music and TRR’s expressions .. over all a laugh riot. One of my fav movie of TRR is Adutha veetu pen for his expressions and body language.
But Adutha veetu pen did not land him any lead offers he still continued his second hero/comedian roles in Kalyaniyin kanavan, Vivielli, Iruvar ullam (villain) and slowly moved to character roles as well.
He did the famous raja kadhu kazhudhai kadha raja in one of the film.
During this transformation he got 2 noticeable roles. One was the pious man role he played in Sadhu mirandal. Veteran BalamuraliKrishna gave voice for TRR Arulvaye neeye a hit song in the movie,Music by T.K.Ramamoorthy. He played a devoted father for Master Prabhakar & Kutty padmini. TRR played the role to perfection caught between the murderer(OAK thevar) & the kids. One of the finest performance of TRR.
The other one in the same year 1966 he played Abinaya Saraswathi B.Sarojadevi’s father in Anbe vaa. Scenes between TRR, BS,Thalaivar rocked the scene. To add more humor hilarious scenes between TRR & Nagesh relating to food is evergreen one. TRR rocked in Anbe vaa too.
Other notable roles were MRRadha’s son in Aalyamani, Vibranarayana’s Assistant in Thirumal Perumai.
Othu- Mama in Thillana mohanambal.
I’ll blame the Directors of 70’s who ignored this fantastic artist and he did very few films in 70s and 80s and slowly faded away from the film scene. Senseless Tamil film directors casted him in miniscule roles in Muyalukku moone kalu etc..
He then settled in America with his daughters and passed away in 1990.
Did TRR get the needed recognition? No as usual we never appreciate good talent. He was not awarded or recognized for his talent. He acted with all popular stars and was even paid 10 times more than the film hero MGR in the movie Vidhyapathi.
Did we give the due recognition for this man who entertained the audience for more than 3 decade? Not at all rather many would have forgotten this iconic comic hero who was pioneer for many actors and a proud introduction by AVM.
Better late than never as film fans let’s all celebrate this evergreen comedian hero legendary T.R.Ramachandran.
Will come soon with another forgotten talented artist.
Rajesh Lavanya
Can we forget this big eyed witty Ramachandran? The ever famous Sabapathy and his comic exchanges with Kali.N.Rathinam. Starting in 40’s he was the first comic hero in Tamil Film Industry.
Ramachandran born in Karur in 1917. As usual studies did not interest TRR. He learned music & harmonium from Karur Raghavendra rao. TR was impressed by the acting skills of Raghavendra rao and wanted to pursue acting. With his Dad’s permission he toured along with Raghavendra rao to various cities to perform stage dramas & plays. During this tour he landed into Madurai JAgannath Iyer’s “Balamohana Ranjitha sangeetha sabha” doing women role. S.v.Venkataraman was also part of that troupe and he was impressed with TRR’s performance started own drama company but it did not last long. Seeking film opportunities SVVenkataraman went to Bangalore to meet AVMeiyappa chettiar.
Chettiar already have seen SVV’s plays and especially TRR’s peformances made TRR play TRMahalingam’s friend in the film in the making “Nandhanar(1938)” and that marked the entry of TRR into films. He did minor roles in few films but it was Sabapathy which got TRR into fame. He also sang all the songs in the film.
Post word war 2 AVM chettiar wanted to make a movie based on PAmmal sammandha mudhaliar’s play “Sabapathy” in the same name and he casted TRR as the hero. The hilarious TRR & KALI N Rathinam’s pair rocked the scene & provided relief to the people who were in grief after world war.
TRR was a natural actor and at the same time Director’s actor. Having acted as hero in Sabapathy he acted In comic role in AVM’s first production Venture NAam iruvar(TRmahalingam was the hero). Thus he was adaptable to any situation/role.
He also did comic role in Sri Valli and his hallarious comedy was widely talked about,
AVM casted Vaijyanthi mala & TRR in Vaazhkai and the entire scenes with TRR were humorous.. Finding a child in his car and taking it with him and V.mala suspecting him etc were well made screenplay and of course R.Sudarsanam’s songs added to the popularity (Un kan unnai yematrinaal by MS.Rajeswari & TRR himself). Vaijayanthi mala debuted with this film ad TRR was her first hero.
TRR re-wrote the Hero appearance as one would expect, Tall well built, trained in fighting etc but he simply made that all a myth with his natural witty acting and his big eyed expression. One can proudly say he opened doors for actors without looks but with good talent can also flourish. He was the first to do so. My fav film of his is ofcourse Vaazhkai and another one which I’ll be mentioning in the paragraphs to follow.
His acting career picked up with Pon vayal with Anjali devi, Raji en kanmani with Sri ranjani jr. Raji en kanmani showcased his acting talent and he proved that he could do serious roles as well.
Gomathiyin kadhalam with Savithri in lead was a thriller movie and TRR in his usual rocked the scene. B.R.panthulu’s Kalyanam panniyum brahmachari had TRR as the hero and Nadigar thilagam as Second hero. Comic scenes involving TRR, PAdmini, KD Santhanam(who played TRR’s dad) and NT are ever hilarious. If you get chance watch the accident scene where TRR interrogates PAdmini and she gives a wrong address. Ever hilarious scene.
Anjali pictures tasted success with Pakkinti Ammayi(1953) with Relangi & Anjalidevi in lead. When they planned to remake in tamil Adutha veetu pen instant choice for the lead was TRR. Who better than him can do that role and of course joining hands with him was comedy king K.A.Thangavelu.. as the playback for TRR.. Each and every shot in the movie is hilarious. TRR just stole the show with his expressions and body language especially the scene where in Thangavelu teaching him music and TRR’s expressions .. over all a laugh riot. One of my fav movie of TRR is Adutha veetu pen for his expressions and body language.
But Adutha veetu pen did not land him any lead offers he still continued his second hero/comedian roles in Kalyaniyin kanavan, Vivielli, Iruvar ullam (villain) and slowly moved to character roles as well.
He did the famous raja kadhu kazhudhai kadha raja in one of the film.
During this transformation he got 2 noticeable roles. One was the pious man role he played in Sadhu mirandal. Veteran BalamuraliKrishna gave voice for TRR Arulvaye neeye a hit song in the movie,Music by T.K.Ramamoorthy. He played a devoted father for Master Prabhakar & Kutty padmini. TRR played the role to perfection caught between the murderer(OAK thevar) & the kids. One of the finest performance of TRR.
The other one in the same year 1966 he played Abinaya Saraswathi B.Sarojadevi’s father in Anbe vaa. Scenes between TRR, BS,Thalaivar rocked the scene. To add more humor hilarious scenes between TRR & Nagesh relating to food is evergreen one. TRR rocked in Anbe vaa too.
Other notable roles were MRRadha’s son in Aalyamani, Vibranarayana’s Assistant in Thirumal Perumai.
Othu- Mama in Thillana mohanambal.
I’ll blame the Directors of 70’s who ignored this fantastic artist and he did very few films in 70s and 80s and slowly faded away from the film scene. Senseless Tamil film directors casted him in miniscule roles in Muyalukku moone kalu etc..
He then settled in America with his daughters and passed away in 1990.
Did TRR get the needed recognition? No as usual we never appreciate good talent. He was not awarded or recognized for his talent. He acted with all popular stars and was even paid 10 times more than the film hero MGR in the movie Vidhyapathi.
Did we give the due recognition for this man who entertained the audience for more than 3 decade? Not at all rather many would have forgotten this iconic comic hero who was pioneer for many actors and a proud introduction by AVM.
Better late than never as film fans let’s all celebrate this evergreen comedian hero legendary T.R.Ramachandran.
Will come soon with another forgotten talented artist.
Rajesh Lavanya
Powerful Seethalakshmi aka P.S.Seethalakshmi.
Powerful Seethalakshmi aka P.S.Seethalakshmi.
Many will not even remember this name but if you see the photo instantly one could recognize the villainous “Akka” for evil NAmbiyar in “Enga Veetu Pillai”. Yes the same character artist P.S.Seethalakshmi.
We typically hail or praise popular names like Manorma, C.K.saraswathi, Sundari bai, S.N.Lakshmi & other mom roles by the famous Pandari bai, MVrajamma, KAnnamba, Shanthakumari etc but Seethalakshmi is no way less to the above. She did act in several movies portraying variety of characters be it serious roles like “Aandavan kattalai” where in she played Nadigar thilagam’s Mother or quite funny role in “Annamitta kai” doing comedy with NAgesh & MAnorama or evil athai akka roles like Enga veetu pillai, Shanti nilayam etc.
I’ve always wondered about this lady how easily she could shift genre in her acting. Amazed by her talent closely observed her acting in many movies and every time I was impressed even more. Thus was her acting capability. The movies where she paired with VKR were hilarious. During 1960’s every movie had Seethalakshmi doing a role be it a mother, comedian’s mother, aunt, sister and what not. Thus she was a must cast in the films of 60s.
Seethalakshmi started acting at the age of 8. At young age she met Netaji Subash Chandra bose and expressed her love for independence and how she admires him. She acted in the drama organized by muthuswami nadir troupe staged at the INA camp. Having started acting then she continued it due to family circumstances (family of 11 members)
That’s when she acted in all drama troupes of that time KRR’s, MGR, Sivaji, SSR and many others. Her acting was well received in several dramas staged by MGR Drama troupe. Raveendhar(you can spot this name in many MGR movies as the dialogue writer) wrote 2 wonderful plays “Inba Kanavu” & “Advocate Amaran”. She was punctual for her rehersals and her dialogue delivery impressed everyone including MGR.
Climax scene of “Advocate amaran” is still remembered by Drama lovers where in Seethlakshmi stole the show by her emotional acting discovering MGR as her son.
While acting in drama she did do small roles in films as well. You can spot the young lean seethalakshmi as the devoted servant for K.Malathi in A.S.A Samy’s 1955 film “Needhipathi”
She continued in Stage plays. Her dramas like Vengayin maindhan, Veerapandia kattabomman,Neethiyin nizhal, kalam kanda kavingan in Sivaji’s drama troupe were quite famous. She played the Vellaiyamma role in the Veerapandia kattabomman drama.
Seethalakshmi was famous for the controversial lullaby scene in the drama “Udhaya sooriyan” where in KAlaingar Karunanithi played the hero and Manorama played the heroine. The lullaby scene was banned every time it was staged.
Her comic scenes with NSK, Kuladeivam rajagopal were well received by the audience in many dramas.
She toured with Nadippisai pulavar K.r.Ramasami to Malaysia for 3 months. They staged various dramas as much as 650 shows .
Nadigar thilagam always used to praise Seethalakshmi’s natural acting.
Seethlakshmi bought nadigavel M.R.Radha’s famous drama “izhandha kadhal ”
”இழந்த காதல்” and staged it again as all women drama (all characters played by women) and well appreciated by M.R.Radha & K.A.Thangavelu.
She was offered variety of roles by MGR, Sivaji, SSR. To list a few
Enga veetu pillai – Nambiar’s sister and MGR’s step mom.
AAndavan KAttalai – Sivaji’s mother
Thenum palum – as Nagesh’s mother who takes care of Sarojadevi
Thirumalai thenkumari - K.D.Santhanam’s wife
Annamitta kai – VKR’s wife
Shanti nilayam – Kanchana’s Aunt
Thayilla pillai – Nagesh’s mother
She was awarded “Kalaimamani” by Jayalalitha.
Seethalakshmi was married to editor perumal who died in 1978. Currenty her sister’s daughter is taking care of her.
Seethalakshmi continued acting in 80’s and 90’s too. Last notable role was in “Naan petha Magane” and her last film was sedan.
She did few serials but not interested and last when media contacted her at her house in saligramam she did seek Government’s help. Not sure if she received any help.
The reason I chose to write about her is to bring to light how talented she was and her tenure in the filmdom was not miniscule. She acted along greats like KRR, MGR,Sivaji,SSR,Gemini Jayalalitha & Many more in so many powerful roles yet film fraternity did forget her.
Heard the new nadigar sangam team is sending her some pension which is a good news to hear.
I pray to god that she stays healthy & gets all the help she needs and anyone reading this article if you know her residence or location please let me know. We can all help this talented artist who entertained us for a long time in all her movies.
Will be back soon with another artist.
Rajesh Lavanya
Many will not even remember this name but if you see the photo instantly one could recognize the villainous “Akka” for evil NAmbiyar in “Enga Veetu Pillai”. Yes the same character artist P.S.Seethalakshmi.
We typically hail or praise popular names like Manorma, C.K.saraswathi, Sundari bai, S.N.Lakshmi & other mom roles by the famous Pandari bai, MVrajamma, KAnnamba, Shanthakumari etc but Seethalakshmi is no way less to the above. She did act in several movies portraying variety of characters be it serious roles like “Aandavan kattalai” where in she played Nadigar thilagam’s Mother or quite funny role in “Annamitta kai” doing comedy with NAgesh & MAnorama or evil athai akka roles like Enga veetu pillai, Shanti nilayam etc.
I’ve always wondered about this lady how easily she could shift genre in her acting. Amazed by her talent closely observed her acting in many movies and every time I was impressed even more. Thus was her acting capability. The movies where she paired with VKR were hilarious. During 1960’s every movie had Seethalakshmi doing a role be it a mother, comedian’s mother, aunt, sister and what not. Thus she was a must cast in the films of 60s.
Seethalakshmi started acting at the age of 8. At young age she met Netaji Subash Chandra bose and expressed her love for independence and how she admires him. She acted in the drama organized by muthuswami nadir troupe staged at the INA camp. Having started acting then she continued it due to family circumstances (family of 11 members)
That’s when she acted in all drama troupes of that time KRR’s, MGR, Sivaji, SSR and many others. Her acting was well received in several dramas staged by MGR Drama troupe. Raveendhar(you can spot this name in many MGR movies as the dialogue writer) wrote 2 wonderful plays “Inba Kanavu” & “Advocate Amaran”. She was punctual for her rehersals and her dialogue delivery impressed everyone including MGR.
Climax scene of “Advocate amaran” is still remembered by Drama lovers where in Seethlakshmi stole the show by her emotional acting discovering MGR as her son.
While acting in drama she did do small roles in films as well. You can spot the young lean seethalakshmi as the devoted servant for K.Malathi in A.S.A Samy’s 1955 film “Needhipathi”
She continued in Stage plays. Her dramas like Vengayin maindhan, Veerapandia kattabomman,Neethiyin nizhal, kalam kanda kavingan in Sivaji’s drama troupe were quite famous. She played the Vellaiyamma role in the Veerapandia kattabomman drama.
Seethalakshmi was famous for the controversial lullaby scene in the drama “Udhaya sooriyan” where in KAlaingar Karunanithi played the hero and Manorama played the heroine. The lullaby scene was banned every time it was staged.
Her comic scenes with NSK, Kuladeivam rajagopal were well received by the audience in many dramas.
She toured with Nadippisai pulavar K.r.Ramasami to Malaysia for 3 months. They staged various dramas as much as 650 shows .
Nadigar thilagam always used to praise Seethalakshmi’s natural acting.
Seethlakshmi bought nadigavel M.R.Radha’s famous drama “izhandha kadhal ”
”இழந்த காதல்” and staged it again as all women drama (all characters played by women) and well appreciated by M.R.Radha & K.A.Thangavelu.
She was offered variety of roles by MGR, Sivaji, SSR. To list a few
Enga veetu pillai – Nambiar’s sister and MGR’s step mom.
AAndavan KAttalai – Sivaji’s mother
Thenum palum – as Nagesh’s mother who takes care of Sarojadevi
Thirumalai thenkumari - K.D.Santhanam’s wife
Annamitta kai – VKR’s wife
Shanti nilayam – Kanchana’s Aunt
Thayilla pillai – Nagesh’s mother
She was awarded “Kalaimamani” by Jayalalitha.
Seethalakshmi was married to editor perumal who died in 1978. Currenty her sister’s daughter is taking care of her.
Seethalakshmi continued acting in 80’s and 90’s too. Last notable role was in “Naan petha Magane” and her last film was sedan.
She did few serials but not interested and last when media contacted her at her house in saligramam she did seek Government’s help. Not sure if she received any help.
The reason I chose to write about her is to bring to light how talented she was and her tenure in the filmdom was not miniscule. She acted along greats like KRR, MGR,Sivaji,SSR,Gemini Jayalalitha & Many more in so many powerful roles yet film fraternity did forget her.
Heard the new nadigar sangam team is sending her some pension which is a good news to hear.
I pray to god that she stays healthy & gets all the help she needs and anyone reading this article if you know her residence or location please let me know. We can all help this talented artist who entertained us for a long time in all her movies.
Will be back soon with another artist.
Rajesh Lavanya
Kulunga Kulunga Sirikkum Sarangapani-K.SarangaPani
Kulunga Kulunga Sirikkum Sarangapani aka K.Sarangapani
While talking about Tamil comedians usually people talk about NSK, Thangavelu, Nagesh, thengai sirnivasan, surulirajan,cho and then goundamani senthil etc and that’s common state of mind.People often forget some of the wonderful comedians we had and sometime back I did write about T.R.Ramachandran who excelled in comedy. But even before the names mentioned in the above list there was a man who was a multi-faceted comedian K.Sarangapani and none could even come closer to his body language and comical expression. The burst out laughter he gives was his trademark . I would rate him higher than NSK and many more comedians of that time. He could sing, dance and act as hero and a comedian as well.
Sarangapani was born in 1904 in kumbakonam. At the age of 7 interested at a Drama poster in a bullock cart he joined the Jagannatha Drama company where in he learned to act,sing & dance. He played female roles and then turned to comedy roles. KSR made his debut in 1935 movie Baktha Ramadas. He was the hero in the first edition of sakkubai in tamil where in Aswathamma played as sakkubai. With his expressions and dialogues he did capture the audience. Remember the Heavenly danseuse coming to earth and loving a normal man.. Ring a bell.. Yes Rambayin kadhal (not the popular thangavelu-banumathy starrer) way before that in 1939 in the first edition of Rambayin kadhal Sarangapani was the hero . K.L.Vasanthadevi played the role of rambha while Sarangapani played the role of the rural man who marries the stone rambha. Sarangapani & vasantha gave impressive performance
1941 was a great year for AVM chettiyar, T.R.Ramachandran & Sarangapani. Yes AVM made a movie Sababathy in which very talented T.R.ramachandran played the title role and stole the show while Sarangapani played the role of his tamil teacher. The scenes involving TRR & KSR are outrageous.. especially when T.R.R sends Kali.N.Rathnam to fetch another hand for their cards game he brings in the tamil teacher sarangapani and the scenes following it is a laugh riot. TRR’s father scolds the teacher for a written essay by TRR especially about the railway track with the sounds included (gup gup, gada gada) and the way Sarangapani addresses Sababathy as “appan” is a treat to watch. Sarangapani throughout the film gave impressive performance and look at the ability to transform from a main lead to a character/comic role with ease. That was sarangapani’s skill.
Having watched Sarangapani’s witty dialogue delivery, facial expressions AVM decided to make a movie with sarangapani as lead. At this point let’s congratulate AVM the master mind for giving us such wonderful films on various genres. This time he decides to turn a Marathi play into a comedy movie “En manaivi”. Sarangapani plays the character of a suspicious husband and K.R.Chellam played his wife. Those who haven’t watched this movie please watch. This movie is a laugh riot from the beginning till end. As they say in English it’s comedy of errors. Sarangapani played the role to perfection. He played the role of a doctor. The scene where in he attends his patients is fun to watch. Also this film depicted at that time multilingual people lived in MADRAS and spoke various languages. A lover boy marries a girl and leaves her and sarangapani attends her at the same sarangapani suspects chellam to be the lover boy’s girl. With various twists and turns all ends well .. Sarangapani was perfect right from the first scene till end. His cook played by a stage actor has a song which was quite popular “sangadamana samaiyala vittu sangeetham paada poren”. Sarangapani performed kadha kalakshebam in this movie and this is the preview for many more kalakshebams he performed in later years in many other movies. En manaivi was a successful movie and Sarangapani –chellam were popular comedy couple.
Sarangapani continued to appear in many movies and he did a quite interesting villain role in the 1946 movie Lavangi Another super hit movie came in the name of “Vedhala ulagam” in 1948 wherein sarangapani played hero T.R.Mahalingam’s friend. AVM’s fantasy fare Vedhala ulagam was a brilliantly made movie with impressive trick shots and Sarangapani stole the show even more than the film’s hero TRM. Yes the scenes where he enters the world of Demons and how at first he is frightened and slowly he makes the demons obey him are hilarious to watch. Sarangapani danced and also sang a song “aiyeyye parka kannu koosuthe” which became quite popular. In 1949 he was elevated to play heroine’s father and those days character roles had importance and every character artist exhibited their talent in those roles and Sarangapani with his witty humor and singing & talking style with this humorous expression didn’t fail in this department. He played the father for the new entrant Vaijayanthi mala. Until then AVM was operating from KAraikudi and this was their first venture after AVM studios was setup in Madras. Sarangapani as the funny dad gave a superb performance. The scene where Vaijayanthi introduces TRR he starts narrating his story and bursts into laughter is one of the various hilarious scenes to follow. While continuing various roles including a servant role in Mohana sundaram, he impressed everyone by his portrayal as villain in Andhaman Khaidi.. yes he played the evil uncle of M.G.R who swindles all the wealth and drives them away. It’s a revenge story and KSR’s villainous portrayal caught everyone’s attention for sure. Having seen him in comic roles this was a completely stunning performance by Sarangapani. Sarangapani played T.R.Mahalingam’s friend in 1950’s fim “Idhya geetham” and he played the “lala” character to dot. Sarangapani was seen playing Gemini ganesan’s father in AVM’s pen which again had Vaijayanthi mala in lead. Anjali devi and S.Balachander also played their part to perfection but as adamant father Sarangapani was noticeable once again. He continued his stint with Pon vayal, Mangayar thilagam etc but again a major role was bestowed upon him by Vijaya Vauhini film makers for the movie “Missiyamma”. No one else but Sarangapani could do that role. The initial scene where Sarangapani meets Gemini in the park is absolute treat to watch. The way he says “vellaiyappanai thallunga” outstanding. His seetharam seethram bhajan is hilarious as well. He sang those songs in his own voice. The way he helps Gemini in all circumstances including the ones where Gemini tries to woo Savithiri are absolute treat to watch. Missiamma is a milestone in Sarangapani’s career. In telugu Relangi did the role but Sarangapani was miles ahead in his performance in tamil. The jackpot role of Sarangapani came in the name of Modern Theatres T.R.Sundaram who produced the first techni color movie in tamil cinema in 1956 with upcoming MASS hero M.G.R yes the evergreen “Alibabavum 40 thirudargalum” and Sarangapani’s name appears next to MG. Such was his stature. He played the role of dowlath and a friend of MGR. His comedy with MNRajam was noteworthy. The scene where both MGR and Sarangapani watches the 40 thieves exit the cave and how sarangapani reacts to all the jewelry he sees is funny to watch. Sarangapani continued to appear in movies like Madhar kula manickam, Naan petra selvam (Sivaji’s father) Another noticeable role was that of a chief of mental hospital in the Daisy Irani starrer “Yaar Paiyan” . He played the maternal uncle of Gemini ganesan. The scene where Gemini goes to meet Sarangapani to request 500 rupees is hilarious and the conversations between his secretary T.R.Ramachandran and his daughter Surabhi Balasaraswathi especially the saree selection scene is a laugh riot. Sarangapani continued to play elderly roles in films like Nalla idathu sammandham(soft spoken father of Sowcar & prem nazir). The crooked minded uncle of T.R.Ramachandran in Adutha veetu pen. It’s hilarious to watch him dress up as young man trying to marry a young girl. Fantastic performance by Sarangapani. Another noticeable role was the wedding crasher role he played in Manidhan MAravillai. He plays the cousin brother to Sundaribai and tries to drive away all the matrimonial requests for jamuna to make his son the groom. Another good role in the form of C.V.Sridhar in Sumaithangi where in Sarangapani plays the father to Muthuraman,Gemini Ganesh & L.Vijayalakshmi. Sarangapani’s role in Arivali was also noteworthy. Playing dad to the arrogant banumathi and well behaved M.saroja. Scenes involving Sivaji Ganesan, T.R.Ramachandran & Saragapani definitely provides comic relief. Kadhakalakshebam scene from the movie Seetha where in Sarangapani & Nagesh provide a lengthy kadhalakshebam is worth watching. Sarangapani played the dad to Gemini ganesh and provided humor thru his witty dialogues and body language. Sarangapani turned villain again in Kulamagal radhai . He is the main reason for Sarojadevi-Sivaji split and finally repents his mistakes and tells the truth. Late 60’s he appeared in quite number of movies , 2 movies which stand out are Thillana mohanambal where in he played the tavil vidwan along with T.S.Baliah. When they both play observe the subtle difference between TSBaliah and KSR. KSR’s whole body will tremble and his face expressions hilarious. Another one being “Konjum salangai” where he plays tavil vidwan again and provided the needed humor as the friend of Gemini ganesh. Sarangapani was involved in Freedom movement hence named his children Gandhi Padmanabhan, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Bhaskara Patel, and Subhash Chandra Bose. A Very religious man moved away from Films in 1970’s and died at the age of 80 in 1984. Sarangapani is definitely a tall figure in the history of tamil cinema who was master of many arts singing,dancing and ofcourse acting and pioneer to many comedians followed him. Thru this article I take immense pleasure to have written about him and as old film buffs we should show our respect towards this man. Will comeback with another artist soon – Rajesh Lavanya
While talking about Tamil comedians usually people talk about NSK, Thangavelu, Nagesh, thengai sirnivasan, surulirajan,cho and then goundamani senthil etc and that’s common state of mind.People often forget some of the wonderful comedians we had and sometime back I did write about T.R.Ramachandran who excelled in comedy. But even before the names mentioned in the above list there was a man who was a multi-faceted comedian K.Sarangapani and none could even come closer to his body language and comical expression. The burst out laughter he gives was his trademark . I would rate him higher than NSK and many more comedians of that time. He could sing, dance and act as hero and a comedian as well.
Sarangapani was born in 1904 in kumbakonam. At the age of 7 interested at a Drama poster in a bullock cart he joined the Jagannatha Drama company where in he learned to act,sing & dance. He played female roles and then turned to comedy roles. KSR made his debut in 1935 movie Baktha Ramadas. He was the hero in the first edition of sakkubai in tamil where in Aswathamma played as sakkubai. With his expressions and dialogues he did capture the audience. Remember the Heavenly danseuse coming to earth and loving a normal man.. Ring a bell.. Yes Rambayin kadhal (not the popular thangavelu-banumathy starrer) way before that in 1939 in the first edition of Rambayin kadhal Sarangapani was the hero . K.L.Vasanthadevi played the role of rambha while Sarangapani played the role of the rural man who marries the stone rambha. Sarangapani & vasantha gave impressive performance
1941 was a great year for AVM chettiyar, T.R.Ramachandran & Sarangapani. Yes AVM made a movie Sababathy in which very talented T.R.ramachandran played the title role and stole the show while Sarangapani played the role of his tamil teacher. The scenes involving TRR & KSR are outrageous.. especially when T.R.R sends Kali.N.Rathnam to fetch another hand for their cards game he brings in the tamil teacher sarangapani and the scenes following it is a laugh riot. TRR’s father scolds the teacher for a written essay by TRR especially about the railway track with the sounds included (gup gup, gada gada) and the way Sarangapani addresses Sababathy as “appan” is a treat to watch. Sarangapani throughout the film gave impressive performance and look at the ability to transform from a main lead to a character/comic role with ease. That was sarangapani’s skill.
Having watched Sarangapani’s witty dialogue delivery, facial expressions AVM decided to make a movie with sarangapani as lead. At this point let’s congratulate AVM the master mind for giving us such wonderful films on various genres. This time he decides to turn a Marathi play into a comedy movie “En manaivi”. Sarangapani plays the character of a suspicious husband and K.R.Chellam played his wife. Those who haven’t watched this movie please watch. This movie is a laugh riot from the beginning till end. As they say in English it’s comedy of errors. Sarangapani played the role to perfection. He played the role of a doctor. The scene where in he attends his patients is fun to watch. Also this film depicted at that time multilingual people lived in MADRAS and spoke various languages. A lover boy marries a girl and leaves her and sarangapani attends her at the same sarangapani suspects chellam to be the lover boy’s girl. With various twists and turns all ends well .. Sarangapani was perfect right from the first scene till end. His cook played by a stage actor has a song which was quite popular “sangadamana samaiyala vittu sangeetham paada poren”. Sarangapani performed kadha kalakshebam in this movie and this is the preview for many more kalakshebams he performed in later years in many other movies. En manaivi was a successful movie and Sarangapani –chellam were popular comedy couple.
Sarangapani continued to appear in many movies and he did a quite interesting villain role in the 1946 movie Lavangi Another super hit movie came in the name of “Vedhala ulagam” in 1948 wherein sarangapani played hero T.R.Mahalingam’s friend. AVM’s fantasy fare Vedhala ulagam was a brilliantly made movie with impressive trick shots and Sarangapani stole the show even more than the film’s hero TRM. Yes the scenes where he enters the world of Demons and how at first he is frightened and slowly he makes the demons obey him are hilarious to watch. Sarangapani danced and also sang a song “aiyeyye parka kannu koosuthe” which became quite popular. In 1949 he was elevated to play heroine’s father and those days character roles had importance and every character artist exhibited their talent in those roles and Sarangapani with his witty humor and singing & talking style with this humorous expression didn’t fail in this department. He played the father for the new entrant Vaijayanthi mala. Until then AVM was operating from KAraikudi and this was their first venture after AVM studios was setup in Madras. Sarangapani as the funny dad gave a superb performance. The scene where Vaijayanthi introduces TRR he starts narrating his story and bursts into laughter is one of the various hilarious scenes to follow. While continuing various roles including a servant role in Mohana sundaram, he impressed everyone by his portrayal as villain in Andhaman Khaidi.. yes he played the evil uncle of M.G.R who swindles all the wealth and drives them away. It’s a revenge story and KSR’s villainous portrayal caught everyone’s attention for sure. Having seen him in comic roles this was a completely stunning performance by Sarangapani. Sarangapani played T.R.Mahalingam’s friend in 1950’s fim “Idhya geetham” and he played the “lala” character to dot. Sarangapani was seen playing Gemini ganesan’s father in AVM’s pen which again had Vaijayanthi mala in lead. Anjali devi and S.Balachander also played their part to perfection but as adamant father Sarangapani was noticeable once again. He continued his stint with Pon vayal, Mangayar thilagam etc but again a major role was bestowed upon him by Vijaya Vauhini film makers for the movie “Missiyamma”. No one else but Sarangapani could do that role. The initial scene where Sarangapani meets Gemini in the park is absolute treat to watch. The way he says “vellaiyappanai thallunga” outstanding. His seetharam seethram bhajan is hilarious as well. He sang those songs in his own voice. The way he helps Gemini in all circumstances including the ones where Gemini tries to woo Savithiri are absolute treat to watch. Missiamma is a milestone in Sarangapani’s career. In telugu Relangi did the role but Sarangapani was miles ahead in his performance in tamil. The jackpot role of Sarangapani came in the name of Modern Theatres T.R.Sundaram who produced the first techni color movie in tamil cinema in 1956 with upcoming MASS hero M.G.R yes the evergreen “Alibabavum 40 thirudargalum” and Sarangapani’s name appears next to MG. Such was his stature. He played the role of dowlath and a friend of MGR. His comedy with MNRajam was noteworthy. The scene where both MGR and Sarangapani watches the 40 thieves exit the cave and how sarangapani reacts to all the jewelry he sees is funny to watch. Sarangapani continued to appear in movies like Madhar kula manickam, Naan petra selvam (Sivaji’s father) Another noticeable role was that of a chief of mental hospital in the Daisy Irani starrer “Yaar Paiyan” . He played the maternal uncle of Gemini ganesan. The scene where Gemini goes to meet Sarangapani to request 500 rupees is hilarious and the conversations between his secretary T.R.Ramachandran and his daughter Surabhi Balasaraswathi especially the saree selection scene is a laugh riot. Sarangapani continued to play elderly roles in films like Nalla idathu sammandham(soft spoken father of Sowcar & prem nazir). The crooked minded uncle of T.R.Ramachandran in Adutha veetu pen. It’s hilarious to watch him dress up as young man trying to marry a young girl. Fantastic performance by Sarangapani. Another noticeable role was the wedding crasher role he played in Manidhan MAravillai. He plays the cousin brother to Sundaribai and tries to drive away all the matrimonial requests for jamuna to make his son the groom. Another good role in the form of C.V.Sridhar in Sumaithangi where in Sarangapani plays the father to Muthuraman,Gemini Ganesh & L.Vijayalakshmi. Sarangapani’s role in Arivali was also noteworthy. Playing dad to the arrogant banumathi and well behaved M.saroja. Scenes involving Sivaji Ganesan, T.R.Ramachandran & Saragapani definitely provides comic relief. Kadhakalakshebam scene from the movie Seetha where in Sarangapani & Nagesh provide a lengthy kadhalakshebam is worth watching. Sarangapani played the dad to Gemini ganesh and provided humor thru his witty dialogues and body language. Sarangapani turned villain again in Kulamagal radhai . He is the main reason for Sarojadevi-Sivaji split and finally repents his mistakes and tells the truth. Late 60’s he appeared in quite number of movies , 2 movies which stand out are Thillana mohanambal where in he played the tavil vidwan along with T.S.Baliah. When they both play observe the subtle difference between TSBaliah and KSR. KSR’s whole body will tremble and his face expressions hilarious. Another one being “Konjum salangai” where he plays tavil vidwan again and provided the needed humor as the friend of Gemini ganesh. Sarangapani was involved in Freedom movement hence named his children Gandhi Padmanabhan, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Bhaskara Patel, and Subhash Chandra Bose. A Very religious man moved away from Films in 1970’s and died at the age of 80 in 1984. Sarangapani is definitely a tall figure in the history of tamil cinema who was master of many arts singing,dancing and ofcourse acting and pioneer to many comedians followed him. Thru this article I take immense pleasure to have written about him and as old film buffs we should show our respect towards this man. Will comeback with another artist soon – Rajesh Lavanya
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