Hf Radio Program, My selection of Tamil film songs Options

[sangeetbhakt]

28 Raajavin paarvai, P Susheela_ T M Sounderarajan, Anbe vaa 1966, M S Viswanathan_Vaali

AVM production - starring MGR and Saroja Devi

Lyricist is Vaali - who almost became a standard replacement for Kannadasan in MGR films

M S Viswanathan ..separated from Ramamoorthy around this time.....and became a very successful music director , on his own !!

Synopsis :

This song - courtesy Nimii

other songs in Anbe vaa : Naan parthathiley - TMS, Love birds - PS, Anbe vaa - TMS, Puthiya vaanam - TMS

One of the best horse-hoofbeat songs in Tamil films IMO. MSV took OPN's classic
rhythm and incorporated it into this fantastic number.
I am not a big TMS fan, but some of his duets with Susheela are extraordinary.
3 of my favorites (I think all were played by Sri in his program) are this one,
"KoDi asaindhadhum" and "Malarnthu malaraatha" (all the vikki vikki crying in
the middle notwithstanding).
Recently, when I was in India, the classical singer Aruna Sairam did a rendition
of the last duet mentioned above, and interleaved it with a French song with a
very similar duet. Apparently, when she was doing a fusion concert in France,
she was humming this song and the French instrumentalist with her told her about
the French one. So they did them as a fusion piece. Aruna Sairam (which I am a
big fan of) does not have the song for the filmi song, but her rendition of the
French part just sent tingles. I would so love to hear that complete rendition
by her.

[sangeetbhakt]

30 Unnai ondru kaetpen, P Susheela, Puthiya paravai 1964, Viswanathan Ramamoorthy_Kannadasan
Sivaji films production - starring Sivaji Ganesan, Saroja Devi, Sowkar Janaki


Partial translation - courtesy Nimii :
If I ask you something will you tell me the truth
If I am asked to sing what would I think of singing?

It is not yet time to sing a love song
..and, I am not yet a mother to sing a lullaby

I sing when in solitude but in public I go mute
Relationship is a tune, Life is a passion
A heart filled with love but no experience
If I am asked to sing what would I think of singing?

Other good songs in Puthiya paravai - Chittu kuruvi mutham koduthu - PS, Enge nimmathi - TMS, Paartha nyabagam illayo - PS, Aha mella nada mella nada - TMS

There is a much more beautiful slower version of this song. I have only heard it
once when I saw the film. I even taped it off the VCR (taped all songs of this film
in fact). But that was almost 15 years back and I have never been able to find that
cassette. Does anybody have it?

[sangeetbhakt]

SPB is coming to our town...shud I or shud I not attend his prg?

Idhuvum oru keLviya???? ABSOLUTELY.
I have seen SPB live twice. The first was in 1995 when he came with Lata.
I happened to be part of the people who were organizing the concert. So I
actually got to meet him. On-stage, he was great, but what I will never
forget was an extempore rendition of "Kuchh na kaho" that he did in the
green room when some of us were chatting with him. And he came across
as the nicest guy, absolutely the nicest guy.

BUT, the second concert was a Tamil concert here in the Bay area. I went
with my wife. I was floating on Cloud 9 when I came out. I am normally
not a big fan of S P Sailaja (his sister), but on-stage, her pitch was perfect
and she was superb (guess Music Directors make them sing at strange
pitches when they sing for films and it does not work for everybody). SPB
was funny, personable and sounded superb (and I am not making any
concessions for age here). The Tamil show probably ranks as my all-time
favorite live-concert ever, possibly second only to the Asha-RD concert I
saw in the 70s in Mumbai.

So long story short, Lata, attend it. You will be introduced (if you don't know
already know them) to some of SPB/Ilayaraja's fantastic repertoire from the 80s.
If his voice co-operates as it did when I saw him, I think you will be in for a
real treat.

[Nimii]

32 Paattu paada vaa, A M Rajah, Then nilavu 1961, A M Rajah_Kannadhasan

We end with one of my perennial favourite songs....from Then nilavu (Homeymoon)
Composed and sung by A M Raja in such a nice way......!!!
So, we started ....and now end with the same combination of film, singer, MD, lyricist !

Partial translation - courtesy Nimii

Shall I sing a song, do I look and talk to you ?
Do I teach a lesson, or should I fly and come ?
You are a maiden who has arrived like a moon
And I am the guy who has come looking for a path towards you.

Like the river that meanders on the earth like a golden body, moving.
Are you searching for your loved one, oh love are you not interested in our honey moon ?
Will love ever happen between us or will take a long time ?
Would my waiting go in vain… ?

[Nimii]

There is a much more beautiful slower version of this song. I have only heard it
once when I saw the film. I even taped it off the VCR (taped all songs of this film
in fact). But that was almost 15 years back and I have never been able to find that
cassette. Does anybody have it?

That is right SB. I dont know if it has been released on any disc/cass. Let us wait for Sriji to come up with his response. Sorry I do not have the slow version and would love to possess the same, if and when it is available.

[Nimii]

With the song no.32 uploaded, all the songs of the radio programme have been successfully uploaded. We now await for Sriji to come up with another nice programme.

Sriji over to you.

[Lata]

SPB is coming to our town...shud I or shud I not attend his prg?

Idhuvum oru keLviya???? ABSOLUTELY.
I have seen SPB live twice. The first was in 1995 when he came with Lata.
I happened to be part of the people who were organizing the concert. So I
actually got to meet him. On-stage, he was great, but what I will never
forget was an extempore rendition of "Kuchh na kaho" that he did in the
green room when some of us were chatting with him. And he came across
as the nicest guy, absolutely the nicest guy.

BUT, the second concert was a Tamil concert here in the Bay area. I went
with my wife. I was floating on Cloud 9 when I came out. I am normally
not a big fan of S P Sailaja (his sister), but on-stage, her pitch was perfect
and she was superb (guess Music Directors make them sing at strange
pitches when they sing for films and it does not work for everybody). SPB
was funny, personable and sounded superb (and I am not making any
concessions for age here). The Tamil show probably ranks as my all-time
favorite live-concert ever, possibly second only to the Asha-RD concert I
saw in the 70s in Mumbai.

So long story short, Lata, attend it. You will be introduced (if you don't know
already know them) to some of SPB/Ilayaraja's fantastic repertoire from the 80s.
If his voice co-operates as it did when I saw him, I think you will be in for a
real treat.

Thank you SB....I am surely gonna attend it ...I missed Usha Uthup show......she had come here in June.

[sri]

With the song no.32 uploaded, all the songs of the radio programme have been successfully uploaded. We now await for Sriji to come up with another nice programme.

Sriji over to you.

Many thanks to Nimii for supporting me in the making of this program ...and in uploading most of the songs of the radio program on my behalf !!


Sri

[sri]

An interesting article about AM Raja


A.M. Raja - The Melody Maker Who Would Not Compromise
By N. Krishnaswamy from The Hindu

The train chugged on, smoke from the steam engine hurtling past the traversed path as destination Salem approached.

These are 50s, and this train often carried persons whom the public would die to have glimpse of. The Modern Theaters of Salem was then very much in the business of film-making , and directors and stars and story-writers and singers signed by the indomitable architect of the studios, T.R.Sundaram, traveled from Madras to his den of activity. Among these were "Kalaingnar" Karunanithi who went on to become the chief minister of the state twice and Kavingnar Kannadasan, deceased now but sure of a place in the history of the films he wrote lyrics for. But these ditinguished men aren't the subject of this day's writings. We have to do with two other men, especially with one of them, because he is dead too. He died some days back, and if ever a man deserved a requiem it is he.

These two men on the way to Salem were just a few years over twenty and their youth and ambition brought them together. The one was a story writer, he had hopes of becoming a director some day. His friend was a singer, he wanted to create music for films rather than deliver what other music directors taught him to sing. The aspiring director made a promise to the ambitious singer. This was it. If you don't get to achieve your ambition by the time I direct my first film, you will be my music man, he said. The other took it as a generous and friendly remark but because those were not only the days of steam engine and trams (in Madras) and no pollution but also of descency, the day came when words became action. This is then about how A.M.Raja, the singer, came to score music for the first time in Tamil films. The man who kept his words was the one and only Sridhar, the film was "Kalyanap Parisu" that spun a sentimentel web around a love triangle delighting film-goers no end by its romantic spirit as well as honeyed music, Raja's music.

"Diaries" and "directories' that circulate in the film industry give details about artistes and technical men in various spheres of film making. A current diary has A.M.Raja's name under the playback singers head, and gives his address and phone number. It's decades since AMR was 'busy' but somebody like Raja could not be shrugged off even if eclipsed from the film world. A single line entry, in the manner of a crisply worded classified ad would however suffice.

Times used to be different, and a 1956 publication in my possession titled "South Indian Directory" has one whole page on this singer. This is what it says and let me quote it despite the quaint turns of phrase:

The leading playback singer A.M.Raja was born to Manmadharaju and Lakshmamma on July 1 1929 at Ramachandrapuram in Chitoor district. When he was three months old his father passed away. The family shifted to Renukapuram where his studies began. He passed his B.A. at the Pachayppa's College in Madras in 1951. During his studies he was very much interested in music and learnt it in three years time. He won first prizes in Pachayappa's College music competitions. In 1951 he was booked to sing as a playback artiste in the picture "Kumari" Then he sang in the picture "Samsaaram". He has sung in almost all the films released in those days. He was very sociable with all the personnel in the film field. He had a soft and appealing voice that attracted thousands of admirers to his side each day and he acted in the role of a playback singer in the Telugu picture "Pakkinti Ammayi"

A.M.Raja had a meteoric rise, but circumstances weren't in his favour for long and changing trends and the rise of other singers and music directors cut short his career even as his own generally unbending attitudes did not earn him friends in the film world. Even his marriage with front ranking playback Jikki could not help him after the graph sloped down. In fact, he might have dragged her down with him.

In an interview to Indian Express in 1987 Raja seemed to have come to terms with his destiny: A brief but fascinating spell as singer and musician. He said then - I am really happy that my songs are still remembered and loved. That is why I have no regrets about the setbacks I have had to face in my life and in my career as a musician. He had become philosopical and said - It was all destiny. I achieved what I sought to although the ambition to do still better does not leave me. Yes, I believe I can do still better. I can tune better melodies than I did for films like "Kalyanap Parisu" and "Then Nilavu". But I am deeply satisfied too. I wanted to sing for films. I did. I yearned to make a name as a music director. I did that too. It was God's grace.

What was remarkable with Raja's singing was the quality of absolute ease that his voice suggested. Rajs's voice had the sweetness of honey, but he did not have to reckon with angry bees or press the honeycomb to extract it! But despite his natural ease in singing Raja could not be said to be an easygoing character. This was one of the reasons for his not being able to last in films. As director Sridhar recalls, Raja would not allow even a single note of his in a song for "Then Nilavu" to be altered. Kannadasan had had a swell pallavi but Raja would not budge and then the great lyricist himself made way, one of the reasons for his longevity in the film world being adaptability. But reliable sources, musicians and sound recordists who worked with Raja, confess he would come close to being paranoid when it came to his work. If a musician could not reproduce some notes he might be looked upon as a saboteur by Raja!

But idiosyncracies apart, Raja's claim to fame rests solidly on more than a score of immortal songs: the sad dirge-like love song "Sirpi SedukkAtha poRchilaiyE", the frivolous call to hedonism "Minor life romba jaali", the soul of sweetness and love "AadAtha manamum AduthE", the essence of raga Hamsanandhi "Kalaiyum neeyE mAlaiyum neeyE", just a bit of the dandyish and elegent touch in "paatu pAda vaa pArthu pEsa vaa" and "Oho! enthan baby", the tragic and lovelorn "KathalilE tholvi yutrAn kAlai oruvan" and so on. The list is long, and you can rarely find a Raja's song which is off colour.

Raja had strong ideas about the film music that we have today, but his days were over though he was directing music for a film or two and had even recorded a song with P.Sushila and his wife Jikki. Raja was for melody in songs, but his words would have no effect in times when noise is the closest cousin of music.

Filmdom with its quirky ways which make it flirt with the undeserving while geniuses languish in the shadows, might have all but turned its back on Raja, but he would be the man on the move. Destiny, however had struck its last tryst with him at a strange place. He was taking music to a temple at Koodalamoodu, a remote hamlet in Kanyakumari district when just one false step while boarding a moving train proved fatal.

The day news about Raja's tragic accident came this was what a musician said at a Vadapalani recording studio - What a sweet voice god had given him, and how cruel a death. Some times one finds it difficult to figure it out - which was more cruel, his life or death ? Despite his achievements in films there he was, marginalised, without work for decades, the film world having as it does a funny way of ignoring its past heroes.

But Raja was the sort of straight guy who would drive to the taxmen with his cheque and ask how much he would have to pay (he did just that) and perhaps he knew all the while that the crooked cinema world was not surely his haven. That he was but a wayfarer who when his destination comes must pack up and depart.

[Nimii]

Thanks Sriji. All his earlier melodies are a total memorable classics!

Thanks again.

N

[Nimii]

Here is a writeup about his wife Jikki who was another great singer of yesteryears.

Jikki


Your heart will really 'thullum' when you hear the old song 'Thulladha Manamum Thullum…' (film - Kalyana Parisu). The singer who gave life to this song with her beautiful voice is no more. 'Jikki' - as she was popularly known - died of liver cancer recently in Chennai.

By the way, Jikki's real name was P G Krishnaveni.

Jikki has sung nearly 10,000 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and Sinhala language during her career spanning over five decades.

Born to Gajapathi Naidu and Rajakanthamma at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, she started her film career as a child artiste at the age of seven in the Telugu movie 'Pandallama'. Her role was that of a little learning a song from the heroine. She switched over to actual singing at the age of 16.

Music ran in Jikki's blood. Her uncle Devaraja Naidu was an assistant with famous Kannada music director Gubbi Veeranna.


In 1946, she once again hit the silver screen with the movie 'Mangalasutram', the remake of an English movie called 'Excuse Me'. She slowly started penetrating the Tamil film industry. In 1948, she got a chance to sing for the Tamil movie 'Gnanasoundari'. This was the turning point in her life. Jikki sang for the heroine, when she was young, and was played by Baby Rajamani, the song 'Arultharum Devamatha', which was a big hit: This changed actress Jikki into playback singer Jikki.

There was no stopping her after this. She got several chances to sing playback in all southern languages. She has sung many songs with P Leela, another famous playback singer of yesteryear. The song which they sang together and nobody can forget is 'Kannum Kannum Kalandu Sondham Kondaduthey' in the Gemini-starrer 'Vanji Kottai Valiban'.

Another turning point in Jikki's life was her marriage to playback singer and music director A M Raja. A M Raja-Jikki duets have been super-duper hits. The Tamil movie 'Then Nilavu' was a big hit also because of these two all-time great singers.

Jikki has also sung many songs in her husband's music direction - songs that still play in radio stations.

A mother of six children, Jikki lost her husband in a train mishap. He slipped and fell between the tracks while boarding a train even as Jikki sat inside and watched helplessly. This was one incident that she could never forget.

After her husband's death Jikki stopped singing for sometime. Then she came out of her retirement and sang for Ilayaraja. She also started a music troupe with her two daughters and performed in many countries.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had granted Jikki of Rs 1 lakh from the Dr MGR Trust after hearing about her illness and her difficulty to meet the treatment expenses.

The singer with whom she had "sariyana potti" - P Leela - turned very emotional on learning about Jikki's death. She said though they were contemporaries there was no carping. They were like "sisters". Leela stayed in touch with Jikki till her death.

It is only the physical frame of Jikki that has left the world. We have captured her very breath, her sweet music, in so many records, cassettes and discs. Jikki's songs will "inba thenium vellum".

source: http://www.chennaionline.com/chennaicitizen/2004/08jikki.asp

[sri]

Very appropriate - just when she herself is singing on HF Radio now !!

Thanks, Nimii - nice one !


Sri