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!

Entered the Film Industry After Marriage! Actress with the Longest Career Span in the South Indian Movie Industry!

Sowcar Janaki entered the movie industry in the year 1949 at the age of 18 after she was married, in order to overcome the financial constraints faced by her family. She went on to act in nearly 400 movies in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. She was a favorite co-star of Sivaji and in her own words Sivaji had praised her acting several times during her performance on the sets. Known for her performances in melancholic roles she has also done well in negative and comic roles. It was K Balachander who had used her in comic roles in a few of his movies. Along with a few North Indian actors she has been one of the most longstanding actors of all time with a career span of almost seven decades! she was also a renowned stage artist with hundreds of stage performances to her credit. This is a song from the super hit movie Puthiya Paravai starring Sivaji, Saroja Devi, M R Radha, V K Ramasami, Nagesh, Manorama, and others along with Sowcar Janaki. The movie was directed by Dada Mirasi who had not been convinced that Sowcar Janaki was ideally suited for the character of Chithra. But after having seen Sowcar Janaki's performance in this song he was truly convinced that Sowcar Janaki was the ideal choice for this particular role. The songs for the movie were written by Kannadasan and music was composed by Viswanathan Ramamoorthi. This movie was based on a super hit British movie 'Chase a Crooked Shadow'. This song sung by P Susheela with outstanding performances by Sivaji and Sowcar Janaki, is rated as one of the most popular Tamil songs of all time. 

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!

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.

A Comical Song from A Hilarious Comedy Movie Inspired by a Classic Novel from the Greatest English Comic Writer of All Time!

This is a hit song from the super hit Comedy Movie Kaasethaan Kadavulladaa starring Muthuraman, Manorama, Srikanth, Lakshmi, Vennira Aadai Murthy, Sasi Kumar, MRR Vasu and others. The movie had been directed by Gopu who had once said in an interview it was Jayalalitha who had introduced him to the works of the great comic genius P G Wodehouse. This particular movie which is his directorial debut is loosely based on the famous novel 'Leave it to PSmith' by P G Wodehouse. The music for the movie had been composed by MSV. The lyrics had been penned by the ever youthful Vaali. The plot of the movie is as follows: Parvathi (Manorama) is an extremely domineering second wife of Sivaswamy (Vennira Aadai Moorthy) and controls all his money treating him with scorn and disdain. When Sivaswamy's son Ramu (Muthuraman) (son of his first wife) requires a sum of Rs. 3000 for his Sister's husband, she refuses instantly. With all round need for money for various different needs, Ramu and his cousin Shekar (Srikanth) hatch a plot with their childhood friend Appaswamy (Thengai Sreenivasan) who pretends to be a fake swamiji in order to get to Manorama's Secret safety locker and steal a sum of Rs. 50,000. Meanwhile Rama (Lakshmi) is an orphan whose Guardian is the doctor of a mental institution. When Rama wants a conduct certificate, the doctor bungles and hands over the certificate of Rama Prabha who is still recovering from a mental condition. Rama arrives at Parvathi's house to work as a secretary and Parvathi sees the certificate and decides to keep Rama at her house to humour her fearing her insanity (Courtesy Wikepedia). With great performances by all the actors the movie is very watchable and truly a family entertainer. This song is sort of the title song of the movie and is hilarious like most of the other songs in this movie.

Humorous Song from a Hit Movie. Suspense Thriller Comedy Series from the 1960s!

This is a humorous song from the hit movie Naan starring Jayalalitha, Ravichandran, Muthuraman, Nagesh, Mannorama Manohar and others. Naan is a story about a young rich boy, Raja the only son of Raja Raghunath Devar. Raja celebrates his birthday with his poor friends, which is not acceptable to his father since it affects his status. This arrogant behavior of his father makes Raja to runaway from his house. Few years later when Raja Raghunath wants his son back, three different individuals, R S Manohar, Ravichandran and Nagesh turn up claiming to be the heir! This song has been sung by L R Easwari and Sirgazhi Govindarajan and the music has been composed by T K Ramamurthy. The movie was directed by T R Ramanna. This song was written by Kannadasan showcasing his flair for comedy while two other songs in this movie were written by Vaali. Jayalalitha matches Nagesh and Manorama by exhibiting her comic sense and histrionic ability! She excels in the way she has portrayed herself humorously in this comical song sequence.