The First Illusion of Moonlight in Indian Cinema! - Super Hit Movie from 1957

This song is from the super hit movie Maya Bazaar released in the year 1957 simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu. The movie ran for 100 days in 24 theatres and eventually became a Silver Jubilee hit hitting the 25 weeks mark. The movie had stellar performances by its entire cast notable among them being S V Raga Rao as Kadothgajan, Gemini as Abhimanyu, NTR as Krishna, M N Nambiar as Sakuni, Savithri as Vathsala and Thangavelu as Lakana Kumaran. The story is an adaptation of the Telugu folk tale 'Sasirekha Parinayam' based on Mahabaratha. The story's one-liner is as follows - Krishna and Kadothgaja plot and work together to unite Abhimanyu, Arjuna and Subadhra's son with Vathsala (Sasirekha) who is the daughter of Balarama, against the wishes of the Kauravas and Balarama. It seems NTR had been reluctant initially to play the role of Krishna! But we know what happened after that and how NTR etched himself eternally into the minds of the South Indian Cine Audience as the living image of Krishna!  This particular song is apparently the first film sequence to have shown the Illusion of Moonlight in Indian Cinema and was shot by the famous Anglo-Indian Cinematographer Marcus Bartley who has several hit movies to his credit. The songs of this movie were written by Thanjai Ramaiah Dass and music was composed by Ghantasala. Enjoy this song and the illusion of moonlight filmed so beautifully with the limited facilities available those days.

Don't Be Scared of Poverty! Don't Forget that You Have the Talent to Overcome any Adversity!

Don't Be Scared of Poverty! Don't Forget that You Have the Talent to Overcome any Adversity! This is the rough translation and meaning of the first couple of lines of this super hit song from the 1961 movie Thirudathe starring MGR, Saroja Devi, M N Nambiar, K A Thangavelu, M N Rajam and others. The movie was directed by P Neelakantan. After the phenomenal success of Nadodi Mannan this is the movie that established MGR's status as a super star who can do equally well in period films as well as social dramas. He needed a talented writer to come up with the story and screenplay for a successful social drama and Kannadasan did exactly that for this movie. The movie was a super hit and ran for more than 150 days in most places. Kannadasan also wrote the lyrics of all the songs in this movie except for this one. The lyrics for this famous song was written by the legendary poet with prodigious talent, Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram. He wrote some of the most inspirational and motivational songs for MGR such as Thoongathe Thambi Thoongathe in Nadodi Mannan, Chinna Payale Chinna Payale in Arasilangumari apart from this one. The essence of this song is to motivate one to fearlessly face life and overcome life's adversities with the help of the innate character and talent which god has blessed each one of us with. We sometimes tend to forget our talent and get bogged down by adversities and self doubt. This song serves as a tonic to wake one up to use one's talent and realize one's true potential without looking for shortcuts to success. Be inspired! Realize your potential! Music by S M Subbaiah Naidu.

Hundreds of Popular Songs! Thousands of Successful Stage Shows! A Career Spanning More than Six Decades! The Unsung Singer with a Unique Voice!

A L Raghavan began his playback singing career in the year 1950 with the movie 'Vijayakumari' under the music direction of C R Subburaman. But he became popular much later with the song "Hello My Dear Raami" which he sang along with the actor/singer J P Chndrababu for the movie "Pudhayal" in the year 1957 under the music direction of Viswanathan Ramamoorthy. He has sung a song in a movie recently in the year 2014 at the ripe old age of 79! He has sung hundreds of songs as a solo singer as well as duets with all the leading Playback Singers of the 50s, 60s and 70s and for all the leading music directors. He was also very successful in conducting musical stage shows along with his popular orchestra, across the globe for over 50 years. He was the playback voice of the famous comedy actor Nagesh and has sung many songs for him in several movies. He is married to the famous actress M N Rajam. This super hit song in which he has sung playback for the superstar Gemini Ganesan is from the movie Paarthaal Pasi Theerum. The movie was a super hit and was released on Pongal Day in the year 1962. The movie had a stellar cast with Sivaji and Saroja Devi as one lead pair and Gemini and Savithri as the other lead pair. The leading pairs were supported by Sowcar Janaki, K A Thangavelu, C K Saraswathi and Kamal Hassan the child artiste in a dual role. With great performances from the entire cast and super hit songs composed by Viswananthan Ramamoorthy,  written by Kannadasan, the movie was bound to succeed at the box office, which it did in great style! The song has been sung so well by P Susheela and A L Raghavan but the fact is no one ever credits A L Raghavan with this song! The general assumption is it was sung by PBS who normally sings for Gemini! A L Raghavan is truy an underrated and unsung singer with a very unique voice!

Legendary Actress and Queen of Comedy! 5000 Stage Appearances and 1500 Movies! Reigned Over Tamil Cinema Like No Other!

Gopishantha Manorama reigned over Tamil Cinema like no other in a career that spanned over six decades which saw her featuring in over 5000 stage appearances and acting in more than 1500 movies. She was featured in the Guinness Book of World records in the mid 80's when she crossed the 1000 movie mark. She has paired/acted with comic actors across three generations which is no mean achievement considering the fact that in a male dominated movie industry very few actresses tend to last and be active for just a few years during their entire career! Having acted with the likes of Anna, Karunanidhi and SSR during her stint as a very successful stage artist known for her playback singing and emphatic dialogue delivery she went on to pair with comedy actors across generations starting from MR Radha, KA Thangavelu, VK Ramasami to Chandrababu, Nagesh, Cho to Suruli Rajan, Thengai Srinivasan to the likes of Kishmu Gowndamani and Kumari Muthu during the 80's and 90's. Known fondly as 'Achi' amongst her fans she is rated very high by her contemporaries and co-stars. Nagesh wit whom she has paired in more than 50 films had mentioned in an awards ceremony that he considered Manorama as a female version of Sivaji. The same feeling has been echoed by Jayalalitha, Cho, Sivakumar and several other Co-stars of hers. She also sang playback for herself in several movies under various music directors. This is one such song from the movie Thillaanaa Mohanaambaal in which she has acted and sung playback for herself under the music direction of K V Mahadevan. The movie is a classic super hit and you can read more about this movie in an earlier post here.

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!

Comedian with a Conscience! Most Respected Comic Actor of Tamil Cinema

There is one comic track that is more popular than the phenomenal mega hit movie of which it is part of - Thangavelu's Comedy Track in the super hit movie Kalyana Parisu. The comedy sequence in this movie featuring K A Thangavelu, Gemini and M Saroja (Thangavelu's wife) is an integral part of the legend and history of Tamil Cinema. Thangavelu was a seasoned Stage artist with his own very successful drama troupe and in a way was one of the pioneers of Comedy Drama in Tamil Nadu. Apart from having created a name for himself as a Comedian with supreme comic timing he also earned a name for himself as a Comedian with a conscience since his comic performances were always for the whole family. His comic sequence with Kamal Hassan (as a child artiste) in Paarthaal Pasi Theerum is hilarious and a timeless classic. He had excelled in negative roles during the early stages of his acting career. He was comfortable and partnered with all the leading actors of the 50s, 60s and 70s with equal aplomb and had the ability to cut across age groups, liked by all sections of the audience. Tamil Cinema has seen some of the greatest comic geniuses of the world. Thangavelu was surely one of the greatest and most respected. Enjoy this song from the movie Alibabavum 40 Thirudarkalum sung by Ghantasala. Lyrics - A Maruthasi and Music - S Dhakshinamoorthi.

Comical Song Featuring Two Comic Geniuses!

This is a comical song from the movie Galaatta Kalyaanam featuring Sivaji and Nagesh. Sivaji and Nagesh have paired up to create some of the most unforgettable and memorable moments in the history of the Tamil Movie Industry. This is one such song that showcases the comical timing of the two actors and establishes what great comical geniuses these two great actors are. For further details about the movie see a few earlier posts from the same movie.

Comical Song from a Comedy Movie - 1960

This is a hit song from the comedy movie Adutha Veettu Penn starring TR Ramachandran, KA Thangavelu, Anjali Devi and others. This movie was originally made in Bengali based on the original Bengali story "Pasher Bari" by Arun Chowdhury, which was first adapted in Bengali in 1952 as Pasher Bari directed by Sudhir Mukherjee and starring Bhanu Bannerjee. It was remade in Telugu as Pakkinti Ammayi (1953) starring Anjali Devi, Relangi, and singer A. M. Rajah. This song has been sung by Sirkazhi Govindarajan and Tiruchi Loganathan both exponents of Carnatic music. The movie was a super hit and the same was remade in Hindi as Padosan in 1968. Padosan too was a super hit!