God is in the Smile of a Child! God is in One's Intellect Developed by Reading! God is in the Philanthropic Efforts of Individuals!

God is in the Smile of a Child! God is in the Intellect Developed by Reading Good Books! God is in the Philanthropic Efforts of Individuals and in the True Joy One Gets by Playing a Role in the Development and Upliftment of the Underprivileged! This is a rough translation of a few words from this wonderful song!  Contrary to the popular belief that this song was written by Kannadasan this is a hit song written by Vaali. Vaali has written more than 15000 songs in a career spanning over 5 decades. He was able to adapt himself to the changing trends in the movie industry. He has written some of the most popular hits of MGR. This is a rare hit song written by Vaali for Sivaji. Music by MSV and sung by TMS. This song is from the movie Babu released in the year 1972 and had not done too well at the box office. This song features a young Sridevi with the legendary Sivaji Ganesan. The likes of Sridevi and Kamal Hassan had literally grown up amongst the greats and the legends of the Tamil Movie Industry. No wonder they are such good actors!

One Composer, Four Languages, 40 Years, 600 Movies! Endless Flow of Everlasting and Sublimely Divine Music!

K V Mahadevan was born in a small town in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu in the year 1918. He made his entry into the world of Films at the age of 24 with the movie Manonmani. A simple background and a humble beginning was not a constraint for this gifted composer for he went on to achieve a truly Legendary status as a Music Composer with a cult following during his life time. He was known for his Classical Music based compositions ingeniously crafted to reach the common man. He teamed up with the great director A P Nagarajan and created some of the best songs Tamil Cinema has ever seen. Apart from having composed music for several mythological blockbusters such as Thiruvilayadal, Kandan Karunai, Thiruvarutchelvar and Saraswathi Sabatham he was equally successful in creating music for social dramas that were blockbusters such as Thillaanaa Mohanambal, Vietnam Veedu, Vasantha Maaligai, well the list is endless as mentioned in the title of this post. He won two National Awards, one for Kandan Karunai and the other for the Super Hit Telugu Film Sankarabharanm. He made SPB sing for MGR for the first time in Adimai Penn. A single post is not enough to pay tribute to the Legendary Music Composer K V Mahadevan. This song from Kandan Karunai is a classic example of his ability to work with varied singers with original voices and his gift in bringing out the best in them. Singer and actor S Varalakshmi. Lyrics by the Legend of Tamil Stage and Drama Sankaradas Swamigal.

First Part of the Song is 400 Years Old! The Final Part is 300 Years Old! Masterfully Blended with Contemporary Lyrics! Divine Music! Magical Song!

This is a divinely magical song from the movie Aadhi Paraasakthi written masterfully by Kannadasan, composed by the legendary music director K V Mahadevan and sung by the inimitable TMS. PBS the famous singer paying his tributes to Kannadasan had referred to him as having been the most well read person he had ever met. He said Kannadasan is not someone who has merely read several books but he is someone who has acquired and assimilated the knowledge from several libraries. This song is a best example of this fact and showcases Kannadasan's genius. This song begins with a bit from Abhirami Anthathi (Maniye Maniyin..) from 400 years ago written by the ardent devotee of Goddess Shakthi Abhirami Pattar. The last bit of the song is from 300 years ago taken from Kutraala Kuravanji (Sengaiyil Vandu..) written by Thirikooda Rasappa Kavirayar an ardent devotee of Kutraala Naathar in Kuttraalam. The rest of the lyrics have been written to fit this particular scene in this movie and ingeniously blended with these two bits from classical literature by the legendary genius Kannadasan! K V Mahadevan for his part has injected energy into these divinely crafted lyrics and brought them to life in a scintillating fashion through his magical music.  M V Subbaiah has played the role of Abhirami Pattar originally known as Subramaniya Iyer. In this particular context, using the clichéd expression, M V Subbaiah has literraly lived in the character and not just acted out the role, is surely not an exaggeration and befits the occasion!  This song is a scene depicting a real life incident in the life of Subramaniya Iyer also known as Abhirami Pattar. M V Subbaiah's portrayal of this historical character is ample proof of his supreme talent for bringing to life some of the most powerful legends that history has ever witnessed! What an amazing amalgamation of wonderful talent! End result is a magical song that is a timeless classic!

Five National Awards! Three Nandi Awards! One Film Fare Award! From a Humble Corporate Job to The Greatest Character Actor of South India!

S V Ranga Rao, one of the greatest actors of Tamil and Telugu Cinema has acted in 100s of movies during an acting career spread over three decades. He brought to life some of the greatest characters in our epics and puraanaas through his majestic on screen performance and presence. He was a contemporary of some of the greatest actors of Tamil Cinema but he carved a special place for himself in the Tamil Movie industry through his numerous brilliant performances. He started his career with the TATA group as a budget assistant and came into the movie industry through his appearance in a Telugu movie in the year 1950. And then he went on to do extremely well in his acting career through his exemplary performances in several Tamil and Telugu movies. He became a director during the later stages of his career and got two Nandi Awards as the best director. This song is from the cult classic hit movie Maya Bazaar, a 1957 Indian bilingual epic fantasy film directed by Kadiri Venkata Reddy. It was produced by B. Nagi Reddy and Aluri Chakrapani under their banner, Vijaya Vauhini Studios. The film was shot in both Telugu and Tamil with the same title, but with a few differences in the cast. S V Ranga Rao played and brought to life the lead role of Katothkajan, son of Bheemaa. This song is again a cult classic hit and was written by Thanjai Ramaiah Dass and was sung by Tiruchi Loganathan. Music was composed by the singer music director Ghantasala. Enjoy the song!

The Unknown Side of Mohan Sharma! An Actor Producer Who is Much More Than Actress Lakshmi's Ex-Husband!

Mohan Sharma (Actress Lakshmi's Ex-Husband) was born in Tattamangalam, a sleepy village near Coimbatore. Mohan Sharma had his formative education in Tattamangalam and Chittur. Mohan Sharma served in the panel of examiners in Anna University for about 10 years. He is a polyglot who can read, write and speak in 4 languages namely Tamil, Malayalam, English and Hindi. Being an ardent fan of vegetarian food, cooking Palghat cuisine remains his passion. He is the first South Indian Actor to have graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and to have made a mark in the South Indian Film and Television Industry as a leading Actor. During a career spanning almost 40 years, he has acted in over 150 films in leading and supporting roles in all South Indian Languages. He has produced 15 films in Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam and Kannada and is probably the only successful actor/producer to have produced films in all major South Indian Languages.This rare song is from the movie "Nadagame Ulagam". V Kumar has composed the music for this movie directed by Krishnan Panju. This song sung by SPB and Vani Jayaram features K R Vijaya and Mohan Sharma. This song was very popular on Vivid Bharati in the late 70's and early 80's. Despite the existence of a huge number of 24 hours music channels these days, many songs such as this one are rarely ever seen on television! Enjoy the song!

Tamil Movie Industry's True Gentleman, People's Artist and Popular Super Star! James Bond of South India!

Jaishankar was known as the James Bond of South India primarily because of his portrayal of the character CID Shankar in the movie of the same name and in the movie Vallavan Oruvan. In the 60s, an era that was dominated by MGR and Sivaji along with Gemini, Jaishankar managed to create a niche for himself and had his own group of ardent fans and the fan following continues to this day going by the number of positive comments on YouTube. He was loved by everyone in the Tamil Movie Industry as a person known for his kindness and compassion - A true gentleman! He was also know as People's Artist (Makkal Kalaingar). Action movies as a genre was rare in those days. Jaishankar was a pioneer in the sense that he was the first true action hero of the Tamil Movie Industry. He had a flair for comedy too as showcased by such movies as Bommalaattam, Aayiram Poi, etc. This song is from the movie Vallavan Oruvan that features Jaishankar and L Vijayalakshmi. The Plot of the movie is as follows: On an investigation regarding arson crimes, a C.I.D officer is shot dead. C.I.D Shankar(Jaishankar) is brought into the investigation of the death of his colleague. He quickly unravels the mystery behind his colleague's death and the mastermind behind the incendiary crimes. C.I.D Shankar's efforts to wipe out these miscreants and arrest them is the rest of the story. This film is loosely based on the 1964 classic French movie Banco à Bangkok pour OSS 117 and some scenes were based on 1962 James Bond Movie and Sean Connery starrer, 'From Russia with Love' and Dr. No with a few songs and romantic interludes. This film was a box office hit and earned Jaishankar a nickname Thenagathu (South Indian) James Bond. Due to the success of this movie, a sequel was made by the name CID Shankar in 1970. An interesting tidbit is that the heroine of this movie L Vijayalakshmi went on to become the Finance Director of a leading University in the USA, Virginia Polytechnic Institute in her later life! This song was written by Kannadasan and music was composed by Vedha.

He is One! He is Everything! Divine Explanation and Symbolic Representation of the Concept of Marriage!

This is an all-time great hit song from the movie Thiruvilayadal starring Sivaji Ganesan, Savithri, Nagesh, Muthuraman, Devika, Manorama and others. This song has been monumentalized by K B Sundarambal through her profound rendition of the lyrics in her unique and dazzling voice! If there ever is a voice that could be called dazzling it is surely hers without any doubt! If the rendition is brilliant, the lyrics by Kannadasan is nothing short of an illustration of  outstanding intellectual and creative accomplishment! The song begins with Avvaiyaar singing in praise of Lord Shiva. At the behest of Goddess Parashakthi, Avvaiyaar sings the praise of Lord Shiva in numbers, describing Him as the One and Everything in this Universe. He is the One, The Duality of Matter and Energy as Ardhanaareeshwara, Three Forms of Tamil (Iyal, Isai and Naatakam), The Four Vedas, The Five Elements, The Six Different Types of Tastes, Seven Svaras (Musical Notes), Eight Siddhis (Ashtamaa Siddhi), Nine Emotions (Navarasa Vithaanavan), He is Timeless (Mutraadhavan), He is the Core, He is Limitless, Boundless and the Beginning (Moola Mudhalaanavan), He the Mahaa Kaalaa is Timeless and Neutral to the Past, Present and the Future, (Munnaikkum Pinnaikum Naduvaanavan).

Now comes the part of the divine explanation of marriage. He stands tall as man and woman in unison (Aanaahi Pennaahi Nindraanavan) symbolically implying that both man and woman become one when married (Avai Ondru Thaan Endru Sonnaanavan) He stood as the Ardhanareeshwara, the symbolic representation of marriage. This it to indicate that marriage is an institution that is built on the foundation of the intricate and inseparably interwoven fabric,  in equal measure of Binding Feminine Energy and Substantial Manhood Materiality! (Saripaathi Penmaikku Thanthaanavan). Matter and energy are one and are meant to stay that way. So is the single entity of the Married Couple wherein man and woman are one and are meant to stay that way in the lifelong journey! Kudos to Kannadasan to have brought out this profound concept in such simple words! One can notice the glow of warmth and comfort as an aura in couples who have been united blissfully for long in a marriage based on this kind of oneness and an intricately interwoven relationship based on affection, faith and trust! (Anbin Oliyaaghi Nindraanavan). Divine composition as usual by KVM. The acting part deserves a separate post! Truly!

Simple Lyrics! Profound Lessons for the Journey of Life! Truly Blessed Lyricist! One Outstanding Composer! Great Song!

Kannadasan through the simple lyrics of this song has delivered to the world some great advice and profound lessons for accepting and facing the Journey of Life with calmness and courage. The journey of life begins with your birth which is definitely not in your control. (Aarambathil Pirappum Un Kaiyil Illai). The sequence of events that follow in your life too are absolutely not in your control, though one likes to believe it is otherwise! (Pin Aduthadutha Nadappum Un Kaiyil Illai). The entire course of your life has been designed, pre-destined and laid out before you at the time of your birth. This being the case there is no point in being scared of the future. (Paadhai Vahutha Pinbu Bhayanthenna Laabham). Just look life in its face and live it out with out any fears, guilt or regret, hence this was what you were destined to do during this life time! (Payanam Nadathividu Marainthidum Paavam). These four lines are a perfect and simple extract of the great Bhagavadh Gita! Kannadasan is truly a blessed lyricist! The last part of the song is about hope and faith and belief in the fact that today was a good day and tomorrow will be better day! Apparently when Kannadasan came up with the lyrics of the other song Kelviyin Nayahane, K Balachander had literally fallen at his feet and thanked him for having visualized the climax of the movie in such a lucid manner through the words of the song thereby simplifying the process of shooting the last part of the movie for him! (As told by actor Mohan Ram in a recent TV Interview).

This outstanding composition by the Great MSV is from the movie Apoorva Raagangal (1975) directed by K. Balachander. The film features Kamal Haasan & Srividya in lead roles with Rajinikanth, Jayasudha, Nagesh, Major Sundar Rajan and others in supporting roles. The Kannadasan - MSV pairing is truly an act of God done in order to give the world innumerable timeless classics. There are so many stories behind this song and this movie. This is Rajnikanth's first movie. Srividhya plays the role of a Character inspired by her mother the Great Carnatic Vocalist M L Vasanthakumari. This story is inspired by the 25th story of the legend of Baital Pachisi from 2500 years back.Two creative geniuses have come together to create this timeless classic. Incidentally this song has been sung by Vani Jayaram who came to the Tamil Movie Industry after an initial stint in Bollywood.

Man's Meaningless Lifelong External Quest! - Super Hit Song Featuring The Two Great Ganesans of Tamil Cinema

Man's eternal and endless quest for happiness, love, affection, success (without ever being able to comprehend what success really is) and everything else has always been external. An existence  fraught with extreme mental stress, mainly due to self-imposed standards based on unrealistic societal pressures and expectations, limited by a myriad assortment of complex imaginary fears, is often characterized by the futile quest for 'illusory' success, meaning and purpose in life. This song mocks at this foolish and lifelong quest of human beings who are completely at a loss as to where they need to look for, not knowing what is it they are looking for in the first place! It makes absolute sense to look inside and within oneself for happiness and to live life successfully with a firmly established internal locus of control. This song features the two great Ganesans of Tamil Cinema Sivaji and Gemini - Movie Thiruvarutchelvar. Direction A P Nagarajan. Music K V Mahadevan. Truly Profound Words that are Lyrical in the classical sense with such Depth and Meaning can be from the one and only Kannadasan!

A Super Hit Tamil Movie Inspired by Alladdin's Lamp and the Magical Genie! Adapted from the Hit Hollywood Movie 'The Brass Bottle'

This is a rarely played song from the hit movie Pattinathil Bhootham starring Jaishankar, K R Vijaya, Nagesh, Balaji and others. The music for this song had been scored by R Govardhanam and sung by P Susheela and T M Soundararajan. The song has been written by Kannadasan. This movie had been a remake of the hit Hollywood film 'The Brass Bottle' (which had also done well in India), by ‘Javer’ Seetharaman, a lawyer-turned-film person, who had been an expert in adapting foreign novels and movies. He had also played the role of the ‘Bhootham’ (based on the Alladin's Lamp and his Magical Genie) himself! The movie had been extremely popular with children those days, mainly because of the Genie and the magic tricks played by him. The magical phrase "Zee Boom Bhaa" uttered by the Genie everytime he performs a magic trick had been extremely popular with kids those days and is used by children even today. Nagesh had been his brilliant self, as usual in the supporting role as Jaishankar's friend.

The Greatest Playback Singing Pair of All Time! Complete Dominance Over a Period of Two Decades!

The Greatest Playback Singing Pair of All Time, TMS and P Susheela dominated the Tamil Movie Industry for more than two decades, having sung hundreds of super hit songs together. This is a hit song from the 1970s movie Vasantha Maaligai starring Sivaji Ganesan, Vanishree, Balaji, Nagesh and others. This song features Sivaji and Vanishree. Sivaji and Vanishree had paired up for several movies during that period. This is one of K V Mahadevan's hit songs featuring the most successful playback singing pair of TMS and P Susheela, supremely dominant, starting from the late 1950s to the 1960s and well into the 1970s, as is the case with this song.. While everyone in India is a fan of Latha Mangeshkar she herself is a fan of P Susheela. P Susheela and TMS are two of the greatest ever original voices (never will they resort to a falsetto) to have graced this planet no doubt!

Charismatic Super Star! Positive Energy Personified! - True Favourite of the People! The Evergreen MGR!

One of the special qualities of MGR and the reason for his immense popularity is probably the Positive Energy that seems to radiate from him even if it is on just the small screen. There can be no doubt that the success of his movies and songs were a result of the immense hard work from the great team of legendary Directors, Composers, Lyricists, Singers, Co-Artists and other extremely talented Technicians. But beyond all these, no one can deny the natural charisma and positive energy that MGR had! Movie :Paasam, Directed by T. R. Ramanna, Produced by T. R. Ramanna & T. R. Rajakumari, Starring M. G. Ramachandran, B. Saroja Devi, Kalyan Kumar, Sheela, T. R. Rajakumari Music by M. S. Viswanathan & T. K. Ramamoorthy, Lyrics: Kannadasan Distributed by RR Pictures, Release date(s) 1962.

Galaxy of Stars! Super Hit Pair! Super Hit Movie! Super Hit Song!

This is a super hit song from one of the all time great hit movies of Tamil Cinema, Thillaanaa Mohanaambaal. The cast is a literal compilation of the Who's Who of Tamil Cinema. Sivaji and Padmini in the leading role are supported by the doyens of the Tamil movie industry, Balaiah, Thangavelu, T R Ramachandran, Sahaswaranamam, Nagaiah, Nambiar, C K Saraswathi, Karunanidhi, the list goes on. There are the juniors as well if you can call them that, Nagesh, Balaji, AVM Rajan, Manorama, well as mentioned earlier it is an endless list. It takes a lot to dominate with your acting skills amongst such a galaxy of stars. But one actor stands out in the movie effortlessly not just with his flair for comedy but with his extraordinary acting too! It is Nagesh of course as the inimitable and imperturbable Vaithi! Truly a legend! This particular clip is unique in the sense it starts with the prelude to the song. The song features Padmini performing on stage and Sivaji and his troupe trying to watch it discretely since they have had a small tiff with Padmini and her troupe earlier. Manorama impresses with her expression of appreciation although her appearance in this song is a brief fleeting moment. Enjoy the song!

Singer with a Bronze Voice! The Most Distinctive and Resonant Voice of Tamil Cinema

The difference between 'Vengala Kuralon' Sirgazhi Govindarajan and the other great singers of Tamil Cinema is his formal education and training in music. He was a graduate of the Tamil Isai College and had graduated in the year 1949 with the degree 'Isaimani'. He also got the degree of Sangeetha Vidwan at gaduation. After completing his formal education in music he started his rigorous Gurukul training under the tutelage of his Guru Swaminatha Pillai. Before entering movies he had won several awards and medals as an extremely talented and trained exponent of Carnatic Music. Apart from having sung some of the most memorable and ever lasting songs of Tamil Cinema he had also acted in several films. He brought to life the image of Sage Agasthya in such a convincing manner in the movie Agathiyar that one tends to think of Sirgazhi Govindrajan at the mere mention of the Great Sage's name. Be it the soul-wrenching and haunting melody Ullathil Nalla Ullam from the movie Karnan or the divinely mythological Arupadai Veedu Konda from Kandan Karunai to the humorous and light hearted title song of the movie Kaadhalikka Neramillai, he rendered songs of varied genres with consummate ease. This song of his is from the movie Agathiyar played by Sirgazhi. Music by Kunnakudi Vaidhyanathan and Lyrics by Ulundurpettai Shanmugam.

Street Singer to Singing Sensation and Super Star! The Golden Voice of Tamil Cinema

As a young girl K B Sundarambal was singing in the streets and on trains to earn what little she could to help her family and make ends meet, until she was discovered by a drama troupe owner and taken to the world of Singing and Stage acting. The rest as the clichéd saying goes, is history! She became a singing sensation and a super star on the stage. Her only voice training had been in the streets and on the train which helped her to become one of the greatest voices of the Tamil Stage and the Tamil Movie Industry. Her performance with S G Kittappa (her spouse) in Valli Thirumanam established her as the 'Queen of Indian Stage'. She entered the movie industry in 1935 and starred in several memorable films. Reportedly she was the first Cinema Artist to have commanded a price of Hundred Thousand Rupees for a single movie. Though she had played several characters which remain etched permanently in the minds of the audience it was her portrayal of Auvaiyaar in several movies that remains fresh and evergreen and cuts across audiences of several decades. Enjoy her distinctly divine voice in this song of hers from the movie Karaikal Ammaiyar.

Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi

This is a hit song from the movie Naam Iruvar (1947), starring T R Mahalingam, T R  Ramachandran, V K Ramasami, T A Jayalakshmi, Baby Kamala and others. This song features Baby Kamala who later went on to become a dancing super star of the Tamil Movie industry in her own right. The plot is as follows. T R Mahalingam plays the part of Sukumar, the son of a black-marketer  who falls in the company of evil friends and invests his money in making a film in accordance with their advice. However, the film never sees the light of the day and leaves Sukumar heavy in debt. He is eventually questioned by financiers and when he fails to pay them, is dragged to court. How he is rescued from his perilous situation forms the climax of the story. At the end of the movie, Sukumar becomes a nationalist and a Gandhian. Nam Iruvar also marked the debut of V. K. Ramasamy who plays the role of an evil old man who desires to marry Sukumar's lady-love Kannamma. The film had a prominent comedy track provided by T. R. Ramachandran of Sabapathy fame. (Courtesy Wikipedia) Music was composed by R Sudarsanam and the song was written by Kothamangalam Subbu. The song was sung by M S Rajeswari. The movie was produced and directed by AVM.

Classic Hit Song from 1958

This is a hit song from the movie Vanjikottai Vaaliban, Starring Gemini Ganesan, Padmini, Vaijayanthimala and others. The other popular song from this movie is the famous dance off between Padmini and Vaijayanthimala. This particular song features Gemini and Vaijayanthimala.

 

Kannukulle Singam 2 - Surya Hits

This is a hit song from the movie Singam 2 starring Surya, Anushka and others. The kind of effort that goes into making a song and the number of times a single dance sequence has to be shot is truly amazing. If this is the case with experienced actors like Surya and Anushka the mind boggles to think what it would be with inexperienced actors. See the making of the song on youtube here. The end result is below.

A Comical Song from a Comedy Movie - 1971

This is a comical song from a comedy movie Thenkinnam starring Nagesh, Vijayalalitha, VK Ramasami, MRR Vasu and others. This song features all the actors mentioned earlier and has been sung by TMS and LR Anjali. The movie was produced and directed by Krishnamurthy and the music was composed by V Kumar.

Indian Robin Hood - 1957

This is a super hit song from the hit movie Neelamalai Thirudan starring Ranjan, Anjali Devi, M K Radha, T S Balaiah and others. This script was originally written for MGR and Rnajan was brought in due to difference of opinion between MGR and Sando Chinnappa Thevar. This song featuring Ranjan was written by Maruthakasi, sung by TMS and composed by K V Mahadevan. For more about this movie and the song please go here. Enjoy the song!