part0018

Baskara Das (originally Vellaisamy Thevar) from Madurai was one of the earliest song writers. He wrote for the first ever Tamil talkie, Kalidas and later for many films. By the time sound appeared, he was already famous as a writer of nationalist songs, of which many were sung by famous vocalists like K B Sundarambal and M S Subbulakshmi and released as discs. He worked closely with Madurai Manoranjani Sangeetha Sabha and produced many successful dramas. He began writing patriotic songs, some in ballad style, during the Khilafat agitation of 1919. One song for which he is still remembered was about the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. This made him the best known among writers of patriotic songs. Some plays which featured his songs were banned by the British government.

Baskara Das also wrote a number of musical plays like Usha Parinayam and wrote for recording companies like Broadcast Gramophone Company. It was common practice in those days to release a complete musical play as a set of 78 rpm discs; Baskara Das authored quite a few “musical” record sets. With the arrival of sound in films, successful dramas were taken up for filming and Baskara Das was the natural choice as song writer for the films. In Kalidas, which was a mythological, he introduced nationalistic songs on the glories of hand-spinning. He wrote for films like Prahalada and Valli, both released in 1933. It was a period when songs were more important as an element of cinema than the spoken word. Even K L Saigal sang some Tamil songs written by Baskara Das in Devadas (1937) as did K C Dey, from Bengal, in Miss. Sundari. Many of his songs had reformist themes like temperance and anti-child marriage. His songs from films such as Raja Desingu and Rajasekaran were highly popular, though only a few of these have survived. In 1952, he died in Nagalapuram, where he was buried.

Kambadasan (original name C S Rajappa) was from Villayanur near Puducheri. Through his association with P Sambanda Mudaliar, he developed an interest in drama—he acted on stage, worked as a musician and then started writing songs for plays. He blossomed into a leading song writer for films during the Forties and Fifties. Kambadasan made his debut through the film Vamana Avatharam (1940) and wrote the songs and dialogue for the film, Salivahanan. But it was his work in Mangaiyarkarasi (1949), particularly the song Parthal pasi theerum (My hunger will vanish if I look at you), sung by P U Chinnappa, and in Gnanasoundari (1948), including the song Arul tharum deva mathave (Mother Mary, have mercy), that established his position as a song writer. His work contributed to the emergence of the film song as an independent entertainment form. They were direct and simple, and displayed an awareness of social issues. He also wrote many songs for successful films that were dubbed from Hindi into Tamil: like The Celestial Chariot / Vaanaratham (1956), from the Hindi Udan Khatola, released in the same year. He made a cameo appearance as poet Vidyapathi in Mangaiyarkarasi. Kambadasan also published a few anthologies of his poems and was active in the Socialist party led by Jayaprakash Narayan.

Kannadasan (original name Muthaiya), born in Sirukatalapatti in Ramanathapuram district in a merchant family, dominated Tamil cinema as a songwriter in the Sixties and Seventies. A school dropout, at the age of seventeen he became the editor of a Tamil monthly from Pudukottai, in which he published his first poem.

Filmmaker K Ramnoth introduced him to cinema and Kannadasan wrote his first song for Kanniyin Kathali, which featured six of his songs. Ramnoth engaged him for his next film, Marmayogi, also. Later, he came to be associated with Modern Theatres in Salem and consolidated his position as a songwriter. When the DMK leaders entered films, Kannadasan also wrote a number of propagandist songs for their films like Money/Panam (1952) and Look Back/ Thirumbipaar (1953). Later, he wrote a large number of songs for films starring M G Ramachandran. Kannadasan also wrote the dialogues for one of MGR’s more famous films, Madurai Veeran. He founded his own concern, Kannadasan Films, in 1957 and made Sivagangai Seemai and other films with many propagandist songs.

He began his political career as a staunch supporter of the Dravidian movement. Then he came under the influence of Jalakantapuram Pa Kannan and took the name Kannadasan (“Follower of Kannan”). When the DMK was formed, Kannadasan joined the party and stayed on till 1964, when he moved to the Congress. After he left the DMK, he grew increasingly religious and wrote many essays and booklets on Hinduism. The range of his film songs was wide—from the devotional to the erotic. His ability to compose a song, within a few minutes, for any given tune, made him the most sought after lyricist. He was instrumental in conferring a literary status to film songs. Some of his songs, set to music by the Viswanathan-Ramamurthy duo,proved enduring: for instance Ponal pogattum poda (Let it be so), from the film Milk and Fruit/Palum Pazhamum (1961). He wrote prodigiously; his works totalling 109 volumes include 5,000 film songs, 4,000 poems, dialogues for a few films, twenty-one novels and ten volumes of religious essays, in addition to numerous columns in journals. His novel, Cheramaan Kathali (Cheramaan’s Lover) won the Sahitya Akademi award. The last film to feature one of his songs was Moonrampirai. He died in 1981 while on a visit to the US.2

Born in a farming family at Melakudikadu near Tiruchi, Marudakasi was interested in theatre even as a student and came under the influence of musician Rajagopala Aiyar, brother of Papanasam Sivan. Dropping out of college, Marudakasi worked for a while as a village official and later joined theatre companies and acted in the troupes of TKS Brothers and Nawab Rajamanikkam. He wrote his first song for a play staged by Devi Nataka Sabha and made his debut in films with a song in Mayavathi. His songs in the film, Mandhirikumari, particularly the number Vaarai...nee… vaarai (Won’t you come) ensured his place in Tamil cinema. In writing songs for films, he was deeply influenced by Udumalai Narayana Kavi, who dominated Tamil cinema as a lyricist in the 1950s. Marudakasi had a steady career during which he wrote nearly 3,000 songs featured in more than 320 films. Some of the most popular songs of the Fifties were authored by him.

Sivan (original name P R Ramayier) was initiated into music by his mother. He joined Maharaja’s Sanskrit College in Thiruvananthapuram and earned the title “Upadhyaya”. Noting his talent for music, the court musicians—Noomi Mahadeva Bhagavathar and Samba Bhagavathar—gave him lessons. After his mother died, Sivan roamed around Tamil Nadu on foot, eking out a living by conducting bhajans (devotional group-singing) and came to be called “Sivan”. Later, when he stayed in Papanasam for a few years with his brother, he acquired the prefix ‘Papanasam’. In Papanasam, he taught music in drama companies and occasionally also acted. He moved to Madras in 1930 where his music was soon noticed, and his first book of devotional lyrics was released in 1934. The world of films, which was then on the lookout for music composers, attracted Sivan who began his career with Sita Kalyanam (Tamil, 1933), for which he wrote and composed the songs. Success was instantaneous and he worked in a series of films and soon became a major influence in the formative decades of the Tamil talkie; in some films, he himself sang a few songs. Through his compositions, he brought classical music to the masses as musical giants G N Balasubramaniam and M S Subbulakshmi sang his compositions in films like Sevasadan and Sakunthala. He himself coached the artistes to sing his songs and some of the biggest stars of the Forties,
M K Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, P U Chinnappa,
T R Mahalingam and N C Vasanthakokilam, were trained by him. Two films in particular—Thyagabhoomi and Haridas— can be considered to be the high watermark of his career. He also acted, and played lead roles in four films—Baktha Kuchela, Thyagabhoomi, Baktha Chetha and Kubera Kuchela (1943). He wrote and set to music more than a 1,000 songs in about seventy films; many of his songs are still popular. The last film to feature one of his songs was Sri Krishna Leela (Tamil, 1971). For him, composing music and writing the lyrics were the expression of a single creative impulse—Sivan did not write words to fit into a tune.—and so his songs truly reflected the mood of the context. They were simple and yet rich in imagination. His contribution to Tamil cinema was only one dimension of his career. His devotional lyrics earned him a place among musical greats like Thyagayya, Shyama Sastri and Muthusamy Dikshithar. In 1962, the Sangeet Natak Akademi made him a Fellow and in 1972, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.4 He died in 1973. A road in Santhome, Madras, has been named after him.

Kalyanasundaram was born in a farming family in Chengapatuthan village near Pattukottai, and had no formal education. His father, Arunachalam Pillai, was known for his folk songs. Kalyanasundaram tried his hand at many jobs: as a farmer, a dealer in coconuts and a labourer in the salt pans. For a while he was with Madurai Sakthi Nataka Sabha, a commercial drama company, as an actor. His passion for poetry found expression when he joined the farmers’ movement and organized the peasants in the Cauvery delta in Thanjavur. One of his songs was used in the play The Darlings/Kannin Manigal, staged at the Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Conference in Dindigul in 1954 and his potential as a lyricist was noticed; he was brought into films by A L Narayanan. He made his debut as a lyricist in films with The Educated Girl/Paditha Penn (1954). Immediately thereafter, his songs for Maheswari (1955) consolidated his position as a song writer for films. But it was his work in The Web of Affection/Paasavalai (1956) which made him truly a top-ranking lyricist. He was active till 1959, the year of his untimely demise, of cerebral haemorrhage, at the age of twenty-nine. Kalaiyarasi (1963) was the last film to feature his songs. In a little over nine years, he had written 196 songs for fifty-six films and the romantic songs he wrote for Kalyanaparisu (1959) are all-time favourites.

Kalyanasundaram carried on the powerful tradition of folk music: the appeal of his songs was simple and direct. By this measure, his songs were better integrated with the films and did not intrude. His work often bore the influence of the philosophical thoughts of ancient siddhars (ascetics), who have left behind a body of poetic writing. This is evident in the songs he wrote for Paasavalai. 5 He left a lasting impression in the field of popular culture in Tamil Nadu. The Government of Tamil Nadu nationalized his songs in 1995 and freed them of copyright restrictions.

Ramaiyadas started as a Tamil teacher in a school in Thanjavur (Thanjai for short). During his early years, he identified himself with the cause of nationalism and the Congress party. These created problems for him in the school: he resigned his job as a teacher to enter the world of theatre and was engaged by Sudharsana Gana Sabha as a vathiyar . Later he launched his own drama company, Jayalakshmi Gana Sabha and wrote his first play titled, The Mark of a Fish/ Macharekai. He was introduced to cinema by actor T R Mahalingam with the film, Chinthamani Who Beheaded A Thousand/Ayiram Thalaivangi Aboorva Chinthamani (1947). But the film that stabilized his position in the industry was Pathala Bairavi (1951) for which he also wrote the dialogues; it was made under the big banner of Vijaya Studios. All the songs in the film were very popular; Ramaiyadas was patronized by leading film concerns. He became the “official song writer” for all Vijaya-Vauhini productions. He dominated the scene in the Fifties, and wrote for very successful films like Missiamma (1955), for which he also wrote the dialogues. Many films from the Fifties featuring his songs are still remembered and include Aruna Films’ Thookuthooki (1954) and Amaradeepam. He believed that film songs were meant to entertain and should have no literary pretensions. Therefore, he pitched his songs at a very populist level, even though he was well versed in traditional poetry. He therefore had the illiterate masses in mind when he wrote his songs. For this he was severely criticized by latter day song-writers.6 Songs like Varayo vennilave (Won’t you come…oh...moon) from Missiamma and Kalyana samaiyal sadham (Wedding feast) from Maya Bazaar (1957) were very popular. He later turned a producer and lost all his wealth. In 1962 he wrote the book Thirukural Isaiyamum , setting the couplets to music.

Born in a merchant family, Narayanan learnt music from Udumalai Sarabam Muthusamy Kavirayar, who worked in drama companies. Narayanan adopted the prefix “Udumalai” from his mentor’s name who was from Udumalaipettai. At the beginning of his career, Narayanan worked for gramophone companies—Taso Phone, Odeon and His Master’s Voice—writing funny or comic songs (he wrote comic songs for
N S Krishnan in Sakunthala) and later as a song writer in Arya Gana Sabha and other drama companies; and at times, he also acted. He entered films and wrote the dialogues and songs for Krishna Leela (1933). He joined Angel Films of Salem and worked in their productions Draupathi Vasthirabaranam (1934) and Royal Talkies’ Thookuthooki (1935). In 1937 he campaigned for the Congress party and wrote nationalist songs in Mayajothi.

His guru Muthusamy Kavirayar introduced him to the atheistic, Self-respect movement (later known as Dravida Kazhagam); Narayana Kavi became a convert. N S Krishnan invited him to work in his film Lost Love/Izhanda Kathal (1941) and more such films followed. Narayana Kavi’s atheistic and rationalistic ideas came to be expressed through songs. Through N S Krishnan, he got to know C N Annadurai and other leaders of the Dravidian movement; for over three decades, he was the voice of this movement in Tamil cinema. He believed that film songs could be used to propagate reformist ideas and put them to good use. He also published his songs in magazines of the movement, like Kudiyarasu and Dravidanadu.

Born in Thamaraikulam near Madurai, Vairamuthu graduated from Pachaiyappa’s College in Madras and started his career as a translator in a government department. When he started writing poetry, many of his poems were read and broadcast over the radio. He published his first collection of poems in 1972. Though initially he was opposed to modern poetry and favoured only the traditional format, he soon changed his position. He entered films through filmmaker Bharathiraaja: his first song was featured in The Shadows/Nizhalgal (1980). Through his association with music director Ilayaraja, he came to write songs for a number of films. His rise as a songwriter was, to a large extent, due to the success of Ilayaraja as music director and Bharathiraaja as a filmmaker. His songs were featured in a number of films in which these two worked together. K Balachandar also engaged Vairamuthu as a songwriter in his successful films like Thanneer...Thanneer. Kannadasan’s absence from the scene—he died in 1981—was another factor that contributed to his rise. Later, his association with music director A R Rehman also helped in his ascendancy. Vairamuthu does not distinguish between film songs and poetry; so his songs remain very literary and are not helpful as an aid to cinema. Replete with similes, metaphors and imagery, his songs are mostly devoid of ideological content. He won the National award for his songs six times. His book, Kallikattu ithihasam won him the Sahitya Akademy Award in 2003.

Hailing from Srirangam, T S Rangarajan alias Vali started as an artist under the sculptor Roy Choudhury at the College of Arts and Crafts in Madras. Vali gave up art and went back to Srirangam where he ran a manuscript-magazine under the pen name Netaji. In this role, his skill as an artist came in handy. Later, due to writer Kalki’s recommendation, he got a job in All India Radio, Tiruchi, as a daily wage employee. He made a name for himself in the world of drama companies as a dialogue-writer. From then on he tried to make an entry into films with the help of actor V Gopalakrishnan and finally got a break in The Thief of Azhagar Hill/Azhagarmalai Kallan in 1958. Music director M S Viswanathan and filmmaker K S Gopalakrishnan engaged him in their films and helped his career rise. But it was the songs he wrote for M G Ramachandran, like Nan anaiyittal (If I command) in the film Son of Our Family/Enga Veetu Pillai, which contributed to his popularity as much as they did for MGR’s. His songs in films like Nallavan Vazhvan consolidated his position as a song-writer and from then on his progress was steady.