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!
Showing posts with label Sivaji. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sivaji. Show all posts
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.
NSK's Partner, MGR's Mentor, Sivaji's Senior! Singer, Actor and Super Star of the 1940s and 50s - KRR
Like many of his contemporaries, K R Ramasamy started his life in theatre, joining the Madurai Original Boys Company when he was 11, which had also launched several other actors and Superstars such as P. U. Chinnappa, M. G. Ramachandran and Kali N. Rathinam. It was here that, KRR met Kalaivanar N. S. Krishnan and formed a bond that would last several years. He had travelled to Ceylon with the troupe and played several roles. One memorable one was the title role in the play Menaka — yes, he was the heroine!
He was playing Hemanatha Bhagavathar in Siva Leela in Kumbakonam when he heard that his father was dying. He would attend to his father the whole day and turn up for his role at night. So conscious was he of his professional responsibility that even on the day his father died, he completed the rituals and turned up for the night’s performance of Ramayana, where he was playing Hanuman.
KRR’s first film was Gumasthavin Penn (The Clerk’s Daughter) in 1941, in which he played the role of a troublesome film director called V. P. Var to great acclaim. It was during this time that he became a follower of Periyar and Anna. Anna wrote a review, praising KRR’s performance. The film’s assistant directors, Krishnan and Panju, promised KRR that they would cast him as hero when they directed a film. And in 1944, when they made Poompavai, they cast KRR as Thirugnanasambandar, a role he played to perfection, singing the songs himself.
Around this time, NSK handed over Yedhartham Ponnuswamy’s drama troupe to KRR to run. With the subsequent arrest of NSK, KRR fell out with T.A. Mathuram and S.V. Sahasranamam, left the troupe, and started his own Krishnan Nataka Sabha. He staged Anna’s play Velaikaari in 1946, which ran one full year at Ramanathan Chettiar Hall in Thanjavur. It was made into a film with KRR playing the lead in 1949. It had a court scene where the hero rids society of irrational beliefs and practices, repeated later by Karunanidhi in Parasakthi, Sivaji Ganesan’s launch pad.
KRR continued to act in plays even after he became a popular screen hero. A close follower and confidante of Anna, his plays were great fund-raisers for the fledgling DMK party.
He staged the play Or Iravu, written by Anna, and acted in the film version. He was with Anna and his party right from its inception in 1949. MGR has said that it was KRR who brought him to Periyar and Anna. Sivaji, too, considered KRR, the senior actor and role model when he too entered movies from theatre. In fact, Sivaji had played the female lead when KRR acted as Manohara in a play before entering movies! Read more about him from the original source here.
This song is from the movie Sathaaram starring KRR, Banumathi, Gemini and others. Music by G Ramanathan, Lyrics by Thanjai Ramaiah Dass and sung by KRR himself.
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!
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!
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.
Supremely Talented! Effortlessly Versatile! Career-Long Superstardom to an Eternal Place in the Minds of the People!
Jayalalitha was an undisputed Superstar during her entire career with back to back super hit movies with all leading actors spread over the mid and late sixties and the seventies. For someone who was a self declared reluctant actress her truly amazing success is due to her supreme talent and confidence combined with effortless versatility while facing the camera. Be it a mature performance as a young patient enamored by the kindness and compassion of her doctor in her debut Tamil Movie Vennira Aadai or a Casually Confident and Glamorous performance and making it count opposite MGR with his dominant screen presence in Ragasiya Police 115 or a performance that combines all the earlier mentioned characteristics with an innate sense and understanding of humour, in one of the best performances of her career as one of the four glamorous daughters of Thangavelu, paired for the first time with the great Sivaji Ganesan in Galaattaa Kalyanam, she excelled in all these different genres with effortless ease! She had several notable performances during the seventies such as Vandhaale Maharasi, Anbai Thedi, Needhi, Engiruntho Vandhaal to name a few. Se had several super hit movies pairing with Gemini Ganesan, Jaishankar, Muthuraman, Ravichandran and others. This song is from an all time super hit movie Aayirathil Oruvan opposite MGR. This is yet another movie in which both Vaali and Kannadasan had written the lyrics of different songs. This particular song was written by Vaali. Music was by Viswanathan Ramamoorthy. She will remain permanently etched in the hearts of her ardent fans and followers eternally!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)