Live Life with Conviction and Purpose. Means and Everlasting Fame Will Follow! - MGR Hits 1965

This is a hit song from the movie Panam Padaithavan starring MGR, Sowckar Janaki, K.R. Vijaya, Nagesh, T.S. Balayya, S.A. Asokan, R.S. Manohar and others released in the year 1965. The movie was produced and directed by T R Ramanna. The song features a dance sequence based on the Western Style of Ball Room dancing. The lyrics written by Vaali echoed the thoughts and ideas of MGR who always practiced in real life what he preached through his movies. If you live with purpose, respecting the words of your forefathers without forgetting the path shown by them, then that is what can be considered as being human and civilized. Live life with such strong conviction and purpose so that people will remember you and keep you in their heart and thoughts long after you are gone. This is the essence of the lyrics of this wonderful song written by Vaali. And MGR lived his life exactly based on these guiding principles and no wonder that he remains in the hearts and thoughts of millions of people even today. Tribute to MGR on the occasion of his 99th Birth Anniversary.  Nagesh's antics as a side track to the main dance actually enhances the enjoyability of the song!  Music has been composed by the great Composers (duo) Viswanathan - Ramamoorthy.

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. 

MGR's Prophetic Advice to His Followers in the Year 1963! Fits the Prevailing Situation Perfectly Like a Bespoke Savile Row Suit Even Today After a Gap of 54 Years!

MGR made it a habit to get completely involved in the process of creation of all the songs in his movies and always sat in during the discussion between the lyricist and the music director during a song's composition. Vaali had mentioned this as a positive influence and had given examples of MGR's positive contribution to the development of lyrics of several songs in several movies in his interviews. Though Kannadasan had not always taken these incidents on a positive note, during the early 60s when the personal relations between MGR and Kannadasan had been on friendlier terms, several super hit songs had been created and composed by this extremely talented team and remain popular till today! This particular song is one such creation by this popular team along with the famous Music Director Duo Viswanathan Ramamoorthy in the movie Panathottam released in the year 1963. Several songs of MGR had proven to be prophetic and had literally predicted the future events and happenings with uncanny accuracy. This song seems to fit the prevailing situation today after the passing away of Jayalalitha, MGR's protégé and the sequence of events that have followed resulting in the current situation fraught with uncertainty. Just listen to the lyrics which seem to reflect the mindset of MGR's followers 30 years after he passed away and offer them some hope and consolation during these uncertain times. The movie was directed by K Sankar and the song was sung by TMS. 

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!

Can See a Bright Future Ahead! Two Great Geniuses at Work Again!

This is a hit song from the movie Pachai Villakku, starring Sivaji, SSR, Vijayakumari, Nagesh, SV Ranga Rao and others. It is yet again the classic combination of Sivaji, TMS, Kannadasan and Viswanathan - Ramamoorthy. Though Nagesh is not singing the song, watching his reactions to Sivaji's singing and actions one can truly understand his clalibre! The same is true for another song from the same movie Kelvi Piranthathu Andru. If you listen carefully you can hear the sound of the train whenever you see the train in the visual! That is the kind of involvement of the entire team in the making of a film that was the norm and what you got in that Golden Era of Tamil Cinema and hence you were never disappointed with the quality of any film after watching it. The movie was directed by A Bhim Singh and was released in the year 1964. The famous Editor B. Lenin is Bhim Singh's son.

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.