Tag Archives: Tamil Film

Filmy Ripples: Moonlit Movies (Part 2)

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By P.V.Gopalakrishnan

4) Moon in ‘Happy hour’: “Aaha inba nilavinile” from ‘Maya Bazaar’ (1957)

Maya Bazaar

Song book of Maya Bazaar PC: From the archives of TCRC

“Aaha inba nilavinile” was a lilting number from the Magnum Opus, ‘Maya Bazaar’ in the music of Ghantasala, filmed on Savitri as Vatsala & Gemini Ganesan as Abhimanyu, as they row their decorated boat in the serene waters of Ennore lake. This scene is highlighted by blissful music of Ghantasala (duet rendered by P.Leela & Ghantasala) & the raving cinematography of Marcus Bartley.

This evergreen song was actually shot by him at noon on Ennore lake and you can see, with the limited technology of those times, how they could create the illusion of pleasing moonlight!

The first mythological film produced by their studio, Maya bazaar marked a milestone for Nagi Reddy and Chakrapani. In addition to the technical crew, 400 studio workers – including light men, carpenters, and painters – participated in the development of the film. The film is considered a landmark cinema, with praise for its cast and technical aspects, despite the limitations of technology at the time.

5) Moon as an Arbitrator: ‘Varayo vennilave” from ‘Missiyamma’ (1955)

Another unique situation where both the hero & heroine address their complaints to the supreme Moon, thereby letting their thoughts known to each other without direct interaction has been picturised on the voices of A.M.Raja & P.Leela in Vijaya Productions’ “Missiyamma’.

The lead pair of this blockbuster constituted Savithri & Gemini Ganesh. Originally the female lead was to be done by Bhanumathi with whom some shoot was done. But owing to some misunderstanding the producers replaced her with Savithri. A trivia associated with this movie, as per Mr.Narasimham in his Article in The Hindu of October 2014, goes like this: “While watching the Missiyamma at Roxy theatre in Madras in 1955, a woman gave birth to a baby girl in the theatre. The mother and child were rushed to the hospital, where the baby was named Missiyamma by her parents.”

6) Moon as a spinster sees it:  ‘Amudhai pozhiyum nilave’ in ‘Thangamalai Ragasiyam’ (1957)

This beautiful solo, in the fresh & pristine voice of P.Suseela, was composed by T.G.Lingappa for the film ‘Thangamalai Ragasiyam’ & picturised on the pretty Jamuna as she wonders as to why the Moon could not descend & come proximate to her, as she sings by the studio pond.

This film had Sivaji Ganesan playing a Tarzan like role, growing up as a ferocious caveman till he meets the petite Jamuna, who turns him into civility.

7) Moon in separation times : “Idhaya vaanin udaya nilave” from “Vanjikottai Valiban’ (1958)

This is a pathos number, nevertheless very melodious, whereby both the separated heroine & hero sing to the Moon declaring their separation vows. Amazing music composition by Vedha who has deployed Vibrafone, Piano, Violins & Flute to touching effect on the listeners’ soul.

The lyrics of the subject song were of Vindhan.

8) Moon in times of ecstasy: “Aghaya veethiyil azhagana vennila” from ‘Manjal Magimai’ (1959)

This is a joyous situation where both the Hero & Heroine are together & are enjoying the beauty of a full moon . The voices were P.Suseela & Ghantasala & the music score was by Master Venu. The song features Pipofone & Univox organ which is the forefather of the modern synthesizers.

9) Moon in lighter moments: “Nilavum malarum paduthu” from “Then Nilavu’ (1960)

A boat ride by Gemini Ganesan & Vyjayanthimala in the serene waters of Dal lake in Kashmir, lip-syncing to a duet voiced by A.M Raja & P.Suseela, features in this visual. The song refers to the Moon & the Flower in concert to describe the pair’s romantic overture, as the serene tune by the Music Director A.M.Raja is soothing with Hawaiian-Guitar notes & serenading violins.

10) Moon’s dilemma: “Athi kaay kaay..kaay” from ‘Bale Pandiya’ (1962)

This Moon scene features two pairs of lovers appealing individually to the Moon whereby each pair urges that the Moon shines on the other person. This is another unique situation with a tinge of Lucknowi tradition of “pehle aap”!  Again, a studio moon but this time meeting the pairs involved, as they plead her to shine on the other. Quite a quandary for the Moon as to whereupon to shine, indeed!

The lyrics of this song is a great master piece by the legend Kannadasan, as the names of fruits & vegetables have cleverly been used in the lyrics to convey different interpretations through the song.

11) Moon as witness to pathos:  “Nilave ennidam nerungathe” from ‘Ramu’ (1966)

A beautiful composition in the Raga Bagheshri, this song has become an iconic one. Filmed in a sequence where the hero warns the Moon not to near him as he was in a dilapidated state of mind. This situation is in complete contrary to what the heroine of ‘Thangamalai Rahasiyam’ desired, where she invited the Moon to come proximate to her! This shows that the Moon was omnipresent in every unique situation like love, courtship, separation, dispute resolution, frustration and what not, in various movies.

This song, from the film ‘Ramu’ music scored by MSV, is a cult song, liked by all owing to its classical base as well as impeccable rendering by P.B.Srinivas in his sonorous voice timbre.  Incidentally, this was also the song that SPB sang before MSV when he was first auditioned him! By the by, this writer came across an Article, ”The song and its sweep”,  by Rangnath Nandyal in The Hindu dated 20.6.13 that this song was composed by Telugu Composer Pendyala for the Telugu version of the film.

12) Moon listening to a decree: “Paal polave vaan meedhile” from ‘Uyarntha manithan’ (1968)

In this song song “Paal Polave”, the picturisation is about a Nayika who is suffering solitude due to her Nayaka being away & thereby ordaining the Moon to vacate seat & return the next day, when she would be united with her love.  This sequence has been borrowed from early Tamil literature. Another unique occasion for a Moon song, indeed!

The filming of this song sequence, originally scheduled to be shot at Kodaikanal, had to be called off due to weather conditions. However, Art Director, A. K. Sekhar, constructed a special set at AVM studios, that mimicked the misty ambience of Kodaikanal, and the song was picturised in this set.

This was an award winning song as it won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for P. Susheela, making it the first Tamil film to win a National Award under that category.

‘Uyarndha manithan’ was produced by A. V. Meiyappan under AVM Productions and had the legend Sivaji Ganesan (his 125th movie) and Sowcar Janaki in the lead roles. The film was written by Javar Seetharaman, based on Bengali fim ‘Uttar Purush’ and directed by the noted duo Krishnan–Panju, who had directed over fifty films in South Indian languages and Hindi.

We have seen, as detailed above, as to how the Tamil screen was obsessed with Moon in various emotive scenes. And they had their magic effect with alluring songs that accompanied them on screen. But times have changed & the Moon has disappeared from the silver screens, only to occasionally show itself up in movies, in rarity!

Filmy Ripples: Moonlit Movies (Part 1)

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By P.V.Gopalakrishnan

The poets, from as early as Sangam literature times, have been obsessed with Moon. Due to the attributes such as soft glow, grace, cool & calmness that Moon affords, poets always compared a moon to a women and the gender of the Moon itself was considered Female. So the natural association of a woman & moon came to be in place in literature. As a corollary the ‘nayika’ always considered the moon as her beloved friend to whom she could confide her emotions from the deep fathom of her mind! In fact, she considered Moon as her friend & emissary.

The song writers in cinema, known as lyricists, inherited such literary legacy and endowed the Moon in many a film song, There have been so many memorable songs in films with Moon as a subject of reference, either in the lyrics or visual form. Of course, the trend prevailed till such time in cinema till a generation changed along with the changed world they lived in. Now, you hardly have any reference to a moon in film songs, as the song writers too are from a different generation and any such references would perhaps become incongruent today, as subtleties & niceties of life & their associated charm are often not taken cognizance of in the current fast world! Technology, lifestyle & mindset of people too have so much changed that such moon sequences are thing of the past, as they were relevant only to the period of largely the Baby Boomers & to an extent Generation X.

A LP with a compilation of romantic songs with moon as a theme
PC: from the archives of TCRC

The old talkie movies from the Black & White era, often had sets depicting a glowing moon in a scene that portrayed peace, tranquility & romance. Often, there were water bodies in the scene, reflecting the studio moon, to add to the magic of the frame. Sometimes, a row-boat is added too to the water-body, trusting the physical prowess of the rowing actor. The studio hands did their best to imitate a real moon by propping up dome lights in the backdrops, as the artificial creepers slowly swayed on the sets denoting mild nightly breeze, thanks to the giant fans! And whenever the heroine was in her solitary space or with her hero, it was time for a melodious song, with the Moon invariable featuring in the frame.

The soul stirring “Chanda oh Chanda” by KishoreDa from ‘Lakhon mein ek’ in the music of R.D.Burman and  the immortal “Chaudvin ka chand ho” by Rafi in the composition of Ravi too are remembered to this date.

Such numbers demanded situations, which the present day films do not simply have or can relevantly have, as sentimentalism in romance has become a thing of the past. So to say, the moon has retired, sort of, in our films!

This writer made his own little research of some fifty popular Tamil film songs, referencing the Moon, from 1950 to 1973. Surprisingly, fifty percent of such songs were in the decade of fifties, summing up to twenty five. The sixties’ films had just seventeen songs on Moon. The early seventies had just about four only. This showed a diminishing trend of cinema, as far as moon was considered, based on the viewership expectation of the relevant times. Of course, even among later films there were romantic ‘moon’ melodies, by exception, such as in eighties, when infatuation about the ‘moon’ in cinemas had already become almost extinct. Who can forget “En iniya pon nilave” from ‘Moodupani’ (Lyrics:Gangai Amaran) & ‘Ilaiya nila pozhigirathu” (Lyrics:Vairamuthu) from “Payanangal Mudivathillai” (both Ilayaraja composed)? Then, there were “Nilave vaa” from Mouna Ragam (1986) “Vennilave Vennilave” from Minsara Kanavu (1997).

But, don’t you clearly think that Moon as the friend of heroine has slowly shied away from cinema?

The Moon appeared on earlier Movie screens in different contexts. When the single woman was in the clutches of Cupid, when she was with her new found love, when they disagreed on things, when they parted temporarily, when the parting was permanent, in times of sorrow and so on. There had to be some situation when the directors were too eager to film the Moon with a melody!

Some of the Music Directors, in the Pre- Ilaya Raja era, who had composed amazing songs on or about the Moon include, alphabetically:  A.M.Raja, A.Rama.Rao. Aswathama, C.Ramchandra, G.Ramanathan, Ghantasala, K.V.Mahadevan, MSV, MSV-TKR, S.M.Subbiah Naidu, S. Rajeswara Rao, T.G.Lingappa, T.R.Paapa, T.V.Raju & Vedha.

Here, we are going to talk about some twelve popular song sequences from Tamil movies of yester years, as representational of the various ‘Moon’ songs from 1943 to 1968, used in varied emotions & sequences. You will find, each of them was in different contextual situation, as we observed earlier!

1) Moon as compared to the facial features of Nayika: “Vadaname Chandra Bimbamo” from Sivakavi (1943)

SIvakavi

Song book of Sivakavi PC: From the archives of TCRC

Starting from the film ‘Sivakavi’  (pairing M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar & S.Rajalakshmi) it had very beautiful song sequence where the hero compares his heroine’s face to a moon’s crescent, though the frame does not show any moon, per se. The musical score was by G.Ramanathan, the lyricist being Papanasam Sivan. By the by, the heroine of the sequence was S.Rajalakshmi, the elder sister of late Veena Maestro S. Balachandar. This song, “Vadaname Chandra Bimbamo”,  showing the romantic overture of hero & heroine, was a super hit song in the film.

There is an interesting anecdote on this duet by MKT & Jayalakshmi, set in Sindhubairavi Raga. Papanasam Sivan first wrote the opening line as “mugham athu Chandra bimbamo”. However, sequel to the recording when the Positive was projected every one was taken aback as it sounded like “Mohammed Chandra bimbamo”. Immediately Papanasam Sivan rewrote that line as “Vadaname Chandra bimbamo” still retaining the intended meaning. Those days, in the absence of tape recording, songs were first recorded on Sound Negative and later developed, to be projected. This was a tedious process to locate mistakes, if any.

 2) Moon & sky as a simile to inseparableness: ‘Neela vaanum nilavum ploey’ from “Pon Mudi” (1950)

The lovers (P.V.Narasimha Bharathi & Madhuri Devi) in Pon Mudi swear to live as inseparables in the simile of the Moon & the Blue sky, in this rather poetic song.

The story of ‘Pon Mudi’ was by Bharathidasan & was made into a movie by Movie Mogul T. R. Sundaram at Modern Theatres, Salem. For Direction, TRS engaged Ellis R. Dungan who delivered Pon Mudi full of glamour, though far ahead of its times. He gave Ponmudi excellent technical inputs, good cinematography and slick editing. As per Randor Guy, for the love scenes on the beach, Dungan brought the sand from Madras to the studio in Salem and shot the sequence, along with long shots of Madras’ Elliot’s Beach. G. Ramanathan was Ponmudi’s Music Director who himself has sung this song along with T. V. Rathnam.

3) Moon in times of loss of peace: “Amaithi illathen maname” from ‘Pathala Bhairavi’ (1951)

Filmed on N.T.Rama Rao & Malathi, the popular hit of those times, ‘Amaithi illathen maname’ rendered by P.Leela & Ghantasala was in a sequence where the love-lorn pair share their status of mental restlessness with the glossy Moon, up above the world, so high, as if an alibi to their romance.

In scenes featuring the moon in the background in this film, no hidden lights were used behind the painted moon, as a source for lighting. Instead, a drawn circle on a screen was lit to make it look like the moon. Cinematographer Marcus Bartley ensured that the actors in such scenes had their shadows away from the screen, which showed an illusion of a moon. Besides, he also used dissolve techniques.

Marcus Bartley, an Anglo Indian, served as a photographer with ‘Times of India’ in Bombay, in early years. While being there, he learnt cinematography and keenly studied the various methods and its applications & later became a ‘News Reel Camera Man’ for ‘British Movie Tone’ in India. He keenly observed the various lighting systems in photography in the films. He also experimented with these new techniques in photography.

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Marcus Bartley at a shoot. PC: unknown

Bartley debuted as the cinematographer for the Tamil movie “Tiruvalluvar” (1941) and worked for many notable films, including the Malayalam film “Chemmeen” for which he earned a Gold medal at Cannes Film Festival.

If you observe the set properties of this song sequence it would explain the attention to details that was involved by the Art Director. An entire ambience has been created by the Art Directors M.Gokhale and Kaladhar, as enhanced by the cinematography of Marcus Bartley and the lilting music of Ghantasala.

Pathala Bhairavi was the first big budget film produced by Vijaya Vauhini Studios. Major portions of the film were shot in lavish sets and many trick shots were deployed. On the centenary of Indian cinema in April 2013, CNN News 18 included Pathala Bhairavi in its list of “100 greatest Indian films of all time”.

                                                                                                                                                (to be continued)

Filmy Ripples: Ghost voices of bygone era (Part 2)

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By P.V.Gopalakrishnan

The voices of M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar & Dhandapani Desikar need special mention here. The former was a Super Star of his time, with innumerable renderings to his credit, since his debut in ‘Pavalakodi’ in 1934. Half of his fourteen films were run away hits. His 1944 movie ‘Haridas’ ran for three years at Broadway Theatre, Madras. His well known songs include  “Amba Manam Kanindhu”, “Soppana Vazhvil Makizhndu”, “Sathva Guna Bodhan”, “Krishna Mukunda Murari”, “Radhe Unaku Kobam Aagadadi”,  “Vasantha Ruthu” and more. Convicted in Lakshmikanthan murder case, he later died after his release when he was just forty nine.

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A photo of a young M K Thyagaraja Bagavathar in the 1937 edition of Cine Art Review Magazine. PC: From the archives of TCRC

Here is the visual of the ever green song ‘Vasantha Ruthu’by MKT in the film Sivakavi (1942).

M.M.Dandapani Desikar was a great musicologist & composer. Songs such as ‘Jagat Janani’, ‘Inba kanavonru kanden, ”Thamarai pootha’ composed by him are hugely popular. His singing prowess was evident in ‘Nandanar’ (1942) produced by Gemini was a musical treatise, as he sang the compositions of Gopalakrishna Bharathi & Papanasam Sivan. Desikar also served as the HOD of Music Department of Annamalai University.

dandapani-desigar

A photo of Dandapani Desikar from 1942 Kalki Deepavali Malar. PC: From the archives of TCRC

The below video features Sivan’s Composition Pirava Varam (from the film Nandanar) set in the unusual Lathangi raga, which is now a concert regular. The singer was MM.Dandapani Desikar

There was another singing star in the forties by name V.V.Sadagopan. He was a man of many parts, by being a university rank-holder, ICS aspirant, film actor, music teacher, performer and composer.  He was a disciple of Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar & Professor of Music in Delhi University till 1975. However, he went missing since he got off a train at Gudur in 1980, on his way from Delhi to Chennai. Since that none has information about him.

“Premaiyil yaavum matandhene” was a haunting romantic duet, based on Raga Desh, composed by Music Director S.V.Venkatraman, in the voice mellifluous voices of M.S.Subbulakshmi & G.N.Balasubramaniam. The movie was Sakunthalai (1941) , directed by Ellis Dungan.

D.K. Pattammal was inducted into playback singing in Tamil screen by the lawyer-turned-filmmaker cum director, K. Subramaniam, for ‘Thyaga Bhoomi’ (1939), at the instance of Papanasam Sivan. She only accepted songs of devotional or patriotic flavour and declined offers to sing romantic songs. She sang in many super hit films of the yesteryears. But there was a song ‘Sri Saraswathi’ which she recorded for Gemini’s ‘Miss Malini’ (1947), which was not featured in the film, though she was paid a handsome remuneration for the same.

M.L.Vasanthakumari was in the top amongst playback artistes of those times. In ‘Krishna Bhakti’ she even appeared on screen, rendering ‘Enta Veduko’ in a concert scene. N.S. Krishnan produced ‘Manamagal’ gave her the all-time hits ‘Ellam Inba Mayam’ and ‘Chinnanchiru kiliye’, which are being sung even by the kids in Super Singer reality show. There were many other memorable numbers of MLV such as ‘Konjum Purave’.

J.P.Chandrababu was a versatile actor-singer of his own unique style.  He had an unique voice. In AVM’s ‘PeNN’ (1954) he even sang ‘Kalyanam..haha..kalyanam’ for S.Balachander, the actor-director-veena maestro. There are many memorable songs of Chandrababu to name a few: ‘Pambara kannale’, ‘Naan oru muttalunga’, ‘sollurathe sollipurren’, ‘Jolly life’, ‘Budhiyulla manithar ellam’. In fact his entry into the filmdom was very dramatic. While fishing for a film role, his life took through struggles leading to utter frustration that he attempted suicide in the premises of Gemini Studio in 1952, having failed to meet S.S.Vasan. Later, when Vasan came to know of this episode he gave him  a small role in the film Moonru Pillaigal. Chandrababu rose to become a sought after artiste that in the film, ‘Sabhash Meena’ he commanded a remuneration that brushed past that of his co star Sivaji Ganesan. But in his later days he was broke and died penniless! This writer has seen him walking the Dr.Rangachari Road in his lesser fortunate days.

There were many other formidable ghost voices of those times which deserve detailing here. But for want of space in this write up we are constrained in not dealing with them. This does not in any way undermine their mighty contribution to Indian Tamil film music.

The magic of pre sixties’ Tamil film music, till recently, were available only on those old vinyl records. Now that the technology has brought them to us through other music formats, there no stopping to patronise these classic gems.

 

 

 

Filmy Ripples: Movie Studios (Part 1)

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By P.V.Gopalakrishnan

Once in my high school vacation, a guy in our friend circle motivated us for a trip to the far away AVM studio to witness a film shoot, on the pretext one of his relatives worked there. Our long bus trip to Puliyur and beyond made a bunch of us cross a lot of fields and Aubergine cultivated lands (you know, Kodambakkam Kathirikkai was very popular in those days), till we reached our dream destination. But our starry eyed expectations were soon blown off by the studio sentry who, forthwith, denied entry to our small group of school kids.

Today, the word ‘Kollywood’, coined after Bollywood, would refer the whole hub encompassing Vadapalani to Kodambakkam to Saligramam, the nerve center of Tamil film industry & TV. It is in this topography, the mighty film studios such as AVM & Vijaya Vahini once clustered & grew with vast facilities for film production. They had innumerable shooting floors, with Vijaya Vahini having as many as thirteen. Of course we had also, by exception, film studios spilled over to other areas of Madras too, such as the mighty Gemini in Mount Road, Venus in Alwarpet, Meenakshi Cinetone turned Neptune turned Satya in Adyar and Newtone, Citadel in Purasawakkam.

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An Ad for Newtone Studios in Kalki Deepavali Malar 1942 PC: From the archives of TCRC

Those days, before the advent of Kodambakkam over bridge in 1965, there was a rickety railway level crossing at busy Kodambakkam, choking with heavy traffic. The gate closed with every suburban service passing. The ever hungry star gazers hanged about this level crossing to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars, lurking inside their car, waiting for the gate to open.

Besides Madras, there were also few well-known studios in other cities; Mr. T.R.Sundaram’s Modern Theatres Studio at Salem, Sreeramulu Naidu’s Pakshiraja Studios, Neptune Studios & Central Studios, all in Coimbatore.

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An Ad for brought out by Modern Theatres for the film Manonmani in Kalki Deepavali Malar 1942 PC: From the archives of TCRC

Prior to production of films in Madras State, some films were produced in Calcutta & Pune. M.S. Subbulakshmi starred Savithri (1941), which had as many as eighteen songs penned by Papanasam Sivan, was produced in New Theatres Studio of Calcutta.

savitri

An Ad for the film Savitri in Ananda Vikatan Deepavali Malar 1941 PC: From the archives of TCRC

As per the Film Historian Randor Guy, the Madras Electric Supply Corporation (MESC) had built a powerhouse in Kodambakkam area during the World War II times, but without many takers for the energy. The film studios were enthused to set up shops here. Kodambakkam soon saw several studios coming up such as AVM, Vijaya, Rohini, Bharani, Vikram, Paramount (later called Majestic), Golden, Vasu, and Karpagam.

Much before AVM Productions was launched, Sri Valli (1945), directed by A.V.Meyyappan himself along with A.T.Krishnaswamy, was made by AVM under the banner of Pragathi Studios. This movie catapulted A.V.Meiyappan to fame.

AVM Studios was first located at Karaikudi, before shifting to Kodambakkam. The Karaikudi studio was made of thatched roof structures and stood at Devakottai Rastha. ’Nam Iruvar’, released before Indian Independence & which became a thundering success, was made in Karaikudi based AVM studios. This super hit film extensively portrayed the hopes and aspirations of a nation on the brink of independence.  Only after this did AVM move his studio from Karaikudi to Kodambakkam.

 

AVM Studios, in its grand annals, have had many a landmark event associated with Tamil Film Industry.

National Pictures and AVM Productions jointly produced the debut film of Sivaji Ganesan ‘Parasakthi’, though it did not begin well for Sivaji Ganesan, who was on a princely monthly remuneration of Two Hundred Fifty Rupees for the film. In fact, at one stage, Meiyappan, dissatisfied with Ganesan’s “thin” body frame wanted him replaced. But, ironically, time wanted to prove this very Ganesan as an Institution by himself. So, AVM’s partner in the project, Perumal, insisted that Ganesan be retained. But the initial scenes involved many retakes with Ganesan. Rest was history, with the world acknowledging him as Nadigar Thilakam.

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A plaque commemorating the 50th year of Parasakthi at AVM studios at the very spot Sivaji Ganesan said his first dialogue ‘Success’ . PC: http://www.rediff.com

AVM’s “Vazhkai” (1949) was the first film to be shot at the new AVM Studio at Chennai. The film starred T.R. Ramachandran and Vyjayanthimala, which was the latter’s debut movie in Tamil when she was a teenager. When M. V. Raman, who wrote ‘Vazhkai’, spotted Vyjayanthimala performing a Bharata Natyam concert at Gokhale Hall in Madras, he was impressed by her talent & beauty and recommended her to the boss Meiyappan.

V. Venkatraman (SVV) was ‘found’ by A.V.Meyyappa Chettiar as a man in distress at Cubbon Park, Bangalore & gave him the break in “Nanda Kumar” as Music Director. SVV became a major name in music scene & scored soul-stirring music for over two hundred films in various languages. Even MSV & TKR worked for him at some point in time.

C.N.Annadurai is said to have written the three hundred pages of screen play for the film “Oar Iravu” in a single night camping at AVM studios, for a whopping sum (at those times) of Rupees Ten Thousand!

It was only at AVM Studios the living legend S.Janaki gave her audition in 1957 before Music Directors Sudarashanam & Govardhanam.

Vijaya Studios made “Maya Bazaar” (1957) which was critically acclaimed and considered as one of the enduring classics of Indian Cinema. It was touted as a landmark achievement in Indian film’s cinematography, art direction and visual effects with the technology available at the time.

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The entrance to Vijaya Vauhini studios. PC : http://www.frontline.in

 

Gemini Studios, owned by Movie Moghul S.S.Vasan, had a history. The Veteran Film Director K. Subrahmanyam (Father of Denseuse Padma Subramanyam) who made some iconic movies including ‘Thyaga Bhoomi’ (1938) was having a Studio at the same premises since 1937. But owing to a major inferno the property was totally burnt down. In 1941, S.S.Vasan bought out the premises in a distress sale & built his own studio & named it Gemini Studios. It is said that Vasan, who was a fan of horse racing, named the studio after one of his favourite horses. Gemini Studios produced some of the iconic movies such as Nandanar, Mangamma Sabatham, Miss Malini, Chandralekha, Avvaiyar, Vanjikottai Valiban to name a few.

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An ad for Gemini Pictures Circuit with its distinct logo  (the company that bought over the studio from Subramanyam and renamed it Gemini Studios). Published in Anada Vikatan Deepavali Malar 1939. PC: From the archives of TCRC

                                                                                                                                                             (to be continued)

Pattinapravesam : From Stage to Celluloid

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By Karthik Bhatt

In this article of From Stage to Celluloid we look at the drama Patinapravesam which was later made into a film by K. Balachander.

The 1960s ushered in a new dawn on both Tamil stage and celluloid, with social themes gaining prominence. The 1970s and the 1980s were truly the heydays of this genre. MR Viswanathan, or Visu as he was popularly known was one of the most successful writer-directors of this era. His themes predominantly revolved around problems faced by the middle class families and most of them were commercial successes. Some of them are frequently re-aired on television channels to this day. His foray into cinema was through Tamil theatre and many of his creations on stage were made into films.

Visu’s first play in the official stage circuit was “Deviyar Iruvar”, written for Vani Kala Mandir in 1972. It was directed by AR Srinivasan (ARS) and had actress Sachu playing a key role. Visu was also associated as an actor with YG Parthasarathy’s UAA. Much later, he started his own troupe, Viswasanthi.

Kathadi Ramamurthy, who began his career on stage at the beginning of the social era remains one of Tamil stage’s most recognisable faces. Making his debut as one of the founding members of the legendary Viveka Fine Arts, he launched his own troupe, Stage Creations in 1965 with Shivaji Chaturvedi, TD Sundararajan and Bobby Raghunathan. Visu wrote four plays for Stage Creations and remarkably, all of them were remade as movies. This piece is about the most popular amongst them.

Visu’s first play for Stage Creations was Dowry Kalyana Vaibhogame (Dowry Kalyanam on celluloid), which as the name suggests dwelt upon the social evil of dowry. “The play was first written for V Gopalakrishnan, who did not take it up for some reason. Visu then narrated the script to me. I agreed to stage it, provided he directed the same”, says Kathadi Ramamurthy. It marked Visu’s debut as a director.

Dowry Kalyana Vaibhogame was followed by Pattinapravesam.  The play revolved around a family comprising five siblings (four brothers and a sister) and their aged mother who migrate to Madras from their village in search of a better living and their travails in the city. With their fortunes wildly fluctuating and problems hounding them, they finally decide to return to the village. It is interesting to note that the plot of the play bore a resemblance to Conquerors of the Golden City, an Italian movie.

The play was a remarkable success. “I remember K Balachander watched the play three or four times, each time bringing along a celluloid star. The biggest compliment I cherish was that he said that it was remarkable that the same level of performance was sustained every time he saw the play, which would have been possible only it was a movie”, says Kathadi Ramamurthy. The movie was directedby K.Balachander , produced by R Venkataraman for Premalaya Films and was released in 1976. Notable actors who played roles in the movie were Sarath Babu, Jai Ganesh and Sivachandran. “Three of us from the play took up roles in the movie”, continues Kathadi Ramamurthy.

Today the movie is best remembered for being the celluloid debut of one amongst the three, Delhi Ganesh, who reprised the role of the eldest brother from the play and the melodious “Vaa nilaa nilaa alla un vaalibam nilaa” set to tune by MS Viswanathan. The popular magazine Ananda Vikatan gave a rating of 52/100 for the movie, a more than average score given its reputation for being tough reviewers and a score of 60/100 to Delhi Ganesh (the highest amongst all actors).

After a hiatus of more than three decades, Visu made a comeback to Tamil stage with Konjam Yosinga Boss in 2014.

Below is the cover image of the song book of the film Pattinapravesam from our archives.

Pattina Pravesam

RARE: Original LP of Sivaji Ganesan’s “Gauravam” (1973), in which he plays a character called Rajnikanth!

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This week, we bring from you yet another gem from the TCRC archives. Given that the Prakash Raj-produced, Radha Mohan-directed “Gouravam” has just released, we thought it would be fun to revisit the original “Gauravam” starring Sivaji Ganesan, Nagesh and ‘Major’ Sundarrajan, which was released in 1973. Interestingly, in the old “Gauravam,” Sivaji plays the role of Rajnikanth, a senior lawyer. When seen against that fact that superstar Rajnikanth’s original name is Shivaji (Shivaji Rao Gaikwad), the nomenclature system seems to come fulls circle! Given below is the photograph of the original LP set of Sivaji Ganesan’s “Gauravam”:

"Gauravam" | LP Record | Tamil | 1973

“Gauravam” | LP Record | Tamil | 1973

“Gauravam” was directed by ‘Vietnam Veedu’ Sundaram and the music was scored by MS Vishwanathan. “Vietnam Veedu” was Sundaram’s first  stage play for Sivaji Ganesan’s theatre company Sivaji Nataka Mandram. The play was staged for the first time in 1965 and was a massive hit. It was later turned into a movie as well.

RARE: Original LP record of Sivaji Ganesan’s “Thiruvarutselvar” (Tamil, 1967)

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"Thiruvarutselvar" | LP Record - Front | Tamil | 1967

“Thiruvarutselvar” | LP Record – Front | Tamil | 1967

"Thiruvarutselvar" | LP Record - Back | Tamil | 1967

“Thiruvarutselvar” | LP Record – Back | Tamil | 1967

In our archives here at TCRC, we have the original LP records of numerous Indian films, right from the 50s to the 80s. Today, we share with you the photos of the LP record of “Thiruvarutselvar”, a Tamil film starring Sivaji Ganesan, Savitri, Muthuraman, KR Vijaya and others. It was released in 1967 and was directed by AP Nagarajan, the veteran filmmaker whose other hits include “Thiruvilayadal,” “Saraswathi Sabatham,” and “Thillana Mohanambal.” The music for “Thiruvarutselvar” was scored by KV Mahadevan and the lyrics were written by Kannadasan. Even today, one remembers P Susheela’s mellifluous rendition of “Mannavan Vanthanadi,” one of the most popular songs of the album.

In an interview with Mohan V Raman for The Hindu in April 2012, CN Paramasivan, the son of director AP Nagarajan had said that the overwhelming response to the re-release of “Karnan” was encouraging him to look into the restoration of some of his father’s films (click here to read that story). We at TCRC hope to see that happen.

Also, it must be mentioned here that the same team, i.e., actor Sivaji Ganesan, director AP Nagarajan and music director KV Mahadevan, came together for “Kandan Karunai,” which won KV Mahadevan the National Award for Best Music Direction in 1967, the same year in which “Thiruvarutselvar” was released. This was the first time that a National Award was constituted for the category of Music Direction. Since then, the most number of National Awards for Best Music Direction have been won by Ilaiyaraja and AR Rahman, i.e., 4 each.

T K Ramamoorthy of the Vishwanathan-Ramamoorthy duo passes away!

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We at TCRC deeply mourn the demise of veteran violinist-composer TK Ramamoorthy. Along with MS Vishwanathan, he was responsible for some of the greatest songs produced by Tamil cinema, scoring music for evergreen classics such as “Kadhalikka Neramillai,” “Padagotti,” “Bale Pandiya,” “Karnan” and many others. The picture below is from an interview that he gave to The Hindu in November last year (click on the image to read that interview).

Violinist-composer TK Ramamoorthy. Photo Courtesy: The Hindu

May his soul rest in peace.