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.

Direct Face-Off Between Two All-Time Great Lyricists! Great Song from A Record Breaking Box Office Hit from 1973!

This is a great song from the movie Ulagam Suttrum Vaaliban, starring MGR in a double role, Manjula, Latha, Nambiar, Nagesh, Asokan and others. This was the first movie for which an acronym was used popularly by the audience 'USUVAA', a concept which is widely prevalent today and is almost a norm for almost all movies. This movie was produced and directed by MGR himself. The movie was one of the biggest blockbuster hits of Tamil Cinema and ran for more than 200 days in some centres and crossed 150 days in almost all main cities in Tamil Nadu. It ran for 203 days in Colombo and is one of those rare movies where in both Kannadasan and Vaali have written the lyrics for various songs. Kannadasan has written the lyrics for the three songs Aval Oru Navarasa, Lily Malarukku and Ulagam Ulagam. Pulamai Pithaan has written the song Sirithu Vaazha Vendum and the rest of the songs have been written by Vaali. It is difficult to pick out a clear winner since all the songs in this movie were super hits. This is one movie in which TMS, SPB and Yesudas (for the first time) have all sung playback for MGR! The music for this movie was composed by MSV and this song featuring MGR and Manjula, written by Vaali, was sung by TMS. This song is no doubt one of Vaali's outstanding creations. Having been in a direct face-off with Kannadasan, Vaali has truly excelled himself and seems to have come out on top with this particular song! Even the single song by Pulamaipithan, 'Sirithu Vaazha Vendum' is an exceptional song! Credit goes to MGR the director, to have brought together such a galaxy of talented people and to have brought out the best in each of them!

Quit Films after her Debut Movie and Became an Air Hostess! Re-Entred Films after 7 Years and Ruled the South Indian Film Industry for more than Two Decades!

This is a hit song from the movie "Sivantha Mann", starring Sivaji, Kanchana, Nagesh, Nambiar, Ranga Rao and others. Contrary to the popular belief that Kanchana was introduced by Sridhar in the earlier block buster of his "Kaadhalikka Naeramillai" in the year 1964, Kanchana's debut movie was the 1957 super hit movie Mannaalane Mangaiyin Bhaghiyam, in which she had played a small but important role of 'Naaga Kanni'. Originally from a well to do family in Chennai, due to some financial difficulties faced by her family during that period, she took up a job of an Air-Hostess to support her family. She was reintroduced to the film industry by C V Sridhar in the year 1963 and then went on to do extremely well, having starred successfully in several movies in all four South Indian Languages. Being an ardent devotee of Lord Balaji she donated her property valued at more than Rupees 15 Crores to the Tirumala Thirupathi Devasasthanam in the year 2010.

This movie was directed by Sridhar and had not done very well at the box office. The songs were a hit, in particular this one. The songs are bound to be hits when you have a combination of the likes of MSV, TMS, P Susheela, Kannadasan and Sivaji. This particular song was sung by L R Eashwari whose performance in this song had been praised by MSV in several interviews during his life time, for her having performed the song live with out the help of any special effects! According to C. V. Sridhar's autobiography, Sivantha Mann had evolved from Andru Sinthiya Rattam, a script originally written for MGR. It was the first Tamil film to have been shot extensively in foreign locations – a "great novelty in those days". Filming took place largely in Europe in countries like Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany and in the Alps region. The rest of the film was shot back in India. A set that included an entire river had been created at Vauhini Studios for shooting some of the main sequences in the movie. Before filming had begun it gave way, leading to the entire studio being flooded. An unfazed Sridhar decided to have the entire riverbed set rebuilt with concrete. After the film's release, thee directors of many subsequent Tamil and Telugu films were inspired to choose locations in France and other parts of Europe. The story was an off-beat one and had not been not received very well by the audience. This particular song showcases the acting skills of Sivaji and Nambiyar who impress with their expressions and reactions and the dancing and acting skills of Kanchana who had been at the receiving end of the whip in Sivaji's hands which had occasionally stung Kanchana, since Sivaji's only concern had always been to make any scene look as real as possible as said by Sacchu her co-artist in a recent TV interview! Enjoy the song!

Three Great Legends of Tamil Cinema with a Flair for Comedy! Blessed with Great Comic Timing! End Result One Hilarious Song!

MGR, Nagesh and Manorama have acted in several movies together and have been part of several comic sequences during their individually illustrious and outstanding movie careers. These great legends of Tamil cinema have an amazing flair for comedy and are truly blessed with an intuitive sense of comic timing which is an absolute necessity for any successful actor. There has been enough and more said and written about Nagesh and Manorama's comical talent and their ability to do comic roles. MGR's flair for comedy and his innate ability to do comic roles with effortless ease is something that hasn't been written about much. MGR has written extensively about his journey filled with struggles and milestones and guided by the positive influence and inspiration of great many legends and doyens in the Tamil movie industry. That MGR had been influenced greatly by N S Krishnan both in his personal life and professional life is a known fact. MGR has also mentioned that actors such as Kali N Ratnam of 'Sabapathy' fame, were great influence in his stage and movie careers. If N S Krishnan had influenced MGR to do comic sequences with a social message such as this song, it was actors such as Kali N Ratnam who had influenced him to do comic sequences that were simple yet compelling and acceptable to and enjoyed by all sections of the audience. This hilarious hit song is from the move Chandrodhayam released in the year 1966 starring MGR, Jayalalitha, Bharathi, S A Asokan, R S Manohar, M.R.Radha, Nagesh, Manorama, M.N.Nambiar and others. Though the title of this post says Three Legends - One Hilarious song, there are four other Legends in the background who have contributed to the success of this song! TMS and Seerrghazhi who have sung this song in their own inimitable styles, Vaali who has written this song with such an important social message which is all the more relevant in these modern times, to couples in married life, and MSV who has composed the music for this song!

Two Ramachandrans TR and MG - Two Legends of Tamil Cinema Together in a Comical Song (1960)

T R Ramachandran and M G Ramachandran were both born in the same year 1917 and in the same month January (9th and 17th respectively). Both are true legends of Tamil Cinema in their own right. MGR made his debut in the year 1936 with the movie Sathi Leelavathy. T R Ramachandran's debut movie was Nanda Kumar in the year 1938. T R Ramachandran saw early success in the year 1941 with the Cult Classic Movie of Tamil Cinema, 'Sabapathy', produced and directed by AVM. MGR's first big hit was in the year 1947 with Rajakumari under the Jupiter Pictures banner. After that the meteoric rise and success of MGR is well known and well documented. T R Ramachandran had his own share of success as an individual hero and as a co-star. He acted in several hit movies with Sivaji Ganesan. He then went on to do comical and supporting roles in many films. This hit song features both these legends in a rare appearance together with two other legends, M N Nambiar and Vyjayanthi Mala. The Movie is Bagdad Thirudan, Lyrics, A Maruthakasi and Music is by G Govindarajulu Naidu who was the Musical Guru of the Legendary K B Sundarambal!