M.K. Thyagaraja Bagavadhar

[Oldposts]

G.Ramasamy:

Some old newsclippings that I have with me mention that "Vathaname Chandrabimbamo" is by Papanasan Sivam, from the film Sivakavi, and that the song is in sinthu bairavi ragam and aathi thaalam, with G.Ramanathan as the MD. I am basing on this info that I have.

Regarding PU Sinnappa it is not a problem for me. But from the poor response for the MKTB thread, I believe other than a bunch of fans like us no one may know who this PU Sinnappa is.

MKTB Part V-CONCLUSION

MKTB was living a princely form of life. In Trichy he had one Maaligai for himself, with so many servants. He had his own horse cart- with white horses. After the release of every movie he used to return to this malikai for complete rest. Whenever he was free he used to ride horses himself. It was a game reserved for very special people in society. He had his own cars as well. Shoes were not allowed in this mansion of MKTB. No cine actor had this environment.


It is believed that it was the film Chandralekha from which parents started to name their children after the famous films. But the fact is that it was the MKTB films (as well as the PU Sinnappa films) that started off this trend. New borns were named after the following films:
Haridass
Chintamani
Syamala
Sathiaseelan
Asok Kumar
Ambikapathy
Sivakami
This does not mean that such names were non-existent before the release of these movies. The elite could have been aware of such names. But the peasant population picked up the names from such films.

In Tamil literature we would have learnt of "Pathu viral mOthiram" But MKTB was one of those few who had gold and diamond rings in all his ten fingers. Amongst the actors or even the singers in the Tamil Film world, it was MKTB who was the first to have enjoyed this status.

MKTB is the first to have received the highest payment for acting in the movies. As early as 1944 MKTB was offered as much as RS 2 lakhs as advance alone. Had he completed the films we need not mention the amount that he would have receivd in full. Next to MKTB it was KBS who received Rs one lakh for Gemini's Avaiyaar in 1948. Then MR Radha demanded for one lakh and one rupee
for Ratha Kanneer. Two lakhs for MKTB in the 1940s is equalent to so many chrores by today's standard.

MKTB is about the only kachery singer who received several rings while yet singing on the stage. Anyway many could not slip rings into his fingers for lack of space. Angavasthiram, Pattu veshti, flowers, panneer thelithal etc were not uncommon.

Cinema posters usually do mention names of
the actors, MDs, director, actresses, producers etc to attract the movie goers. MKTB is the first to have set a trend. All the posters for MKTB's movies had to do was to carry his name alone. Example "MKTB nadikkum Haridass" This was sufficient to attract huge crowd.

The MDs used to have some fixed imagination while composing musical notes for the songs. But many of the MDs are not able to milk out sufficient talents from these "studio singers".(Ask the studio singers to sing without the assistance of the PA sytem, you may know what I am saying) But in the case of MKTB, he was again one of the very few who was able to satisfy the musical needs of MDs like G Ramanathan, CR subbaraman, CN Pandurangan and KVM. GR used to liten to the records of MKTB and often times got carried away. As mentioned earlier, even the great Sithoor Subramaniam Pillai, the guru of yet another great Madurai Somu used to get mesmerised by the golden voice of MKTB. No other cine singer had this impact upon the heart, mind and soul of the sangeetha vidvans.

PASSING AWAY
MKTB was already killed in spirit when he saw the poor support he had for his films after his release from jail. It was this sadness that sapped away his physical health, energy and spirit. He was born on 1-3 1910 and died on 1-11-1955, at the mere age of 45. Unbelievably too early by the life expectency rate of those days! While in jail he sold off his properties to setttle the advance that he had taken from the producers. He then became a pauper himmself. Actor S.S Rajendran, the wanted to perform "Kanaka Abishegam" to offer him financial assistance at the Trichy Mariamman Temple. But as pride outruled every other trials and tribulations that MKTB faced he refused the offer with feelings of gratitute. When he lost confidence in his friends, he took his own films, and many of those who involved with him sank with him. Ultimatley MV Venu came to rehabilitate him by taking the film Sivakami. That too was a dissappointment, as he became blind while acting. He tried to pull through but the strong fate had its way.

He was admitted to Madras Govenment Hospital. There nobody knew him, or never wanted to know him I suppose. Not many visited him there. When he died no one knew. The famliy was too poor to afford a proper vehicle to transport his remains in a befitting manner to Trichy. They managed with an average means of hearse. As the hearse was leaving Madras no one knew. As it crossed Thambaram area, some cine people whoe heard the news phoned each other and attempted to bring back the hearse to initaite a proper journey. But it was too late. Just think back of the glorious and unprecedented position he enjoyed in his life. Reflect upon the current resonse from the same crowd now.

LAST INTERIEW.

When MKTB was in the evening of his life, about to meet death, he was a blind man. He was livinig in Trichy. All India Radio interviewed him. That was the last interview. One last question in the interview was" UngaL vaazhkayil maRakka Mudiyaatha sambavam enRu ethai solveeerkaL?"
After a moment of slight hesitation, MKTB said along the following lines " When I was in the height of glory the rich people used to book me to conduct kachery for their weddings. Some even booked me way before fixing their wedding dates. Some have even refused to go ahead with marriage when I declined to perform the kachery. In this same Trichy area, there was a hardcore fan of mine who invited me to perform kachery for his wedding in a nearby village. I refused, and he too refused to get married. As he was a hardcore fan of mine I finally agreed. I was the only shining star in the cine field at that time. So he wanted to protect me from the crowd's pressure. Therefore he booked an entire coach for me from Madras. As I arrived in Trichy junction there was a crowd of at least 40,000 people flocking to catch a glimpse of me. I just could not alight from the coach. The crowd was overwhelmingly emotional, running amok, beyond the control of the security personnel specially arranged for the event. It took extra security features to get me out from the coach and push me into the car. There were so many garlands that completely blocked off my head. A mountain of garlands was created over my head. The organisers knew this would happen and had arranged for a special lorry to take away the garlands fo dumping away. It took one hour for the crowd to disperse. The train was therefore delayed by one hour. Starting with the Trichy Railway master, the reason for the delay of the train was relayed to all the other stations existing in the onward journey. So the train arrived late in all these stations by one hour. Many followed me to the village where the marriage was held, to listen to the kachery.

After losing my health and wealth I arrived again at the same TRichy railway station, this time as a blind man, with my wife guiding me. My wife told me that this time not even a single person acknowledged us. Since you asked this is the event I wish to mention here, as something I shall always remember"

MKTB could have ended the interview here. But he went one step ahead and said "vaazh naaLil ennai pOl vaazhnthavar evarumillai, ennai pOl veezhnthavarum evarum irukka pOvathillai"

I can understand the sentiments of MKTB, from the type of resonse accoreded in this thread, at a time when "Digitalil sethukkiya kuralkaL" have taken dominance these days. Old timers, let us pray for soulof MKTB, please. I had been listening to his songs while typing this, just to get inspiration.

Honestly my heart is so heavy, with the irreplaceable loss of the dearest MKTB whom many of us may still adore and admire so much.

END of a story which has no end.
Manisekaran

[Oldposts]

Rajaram
Thanks for the request. Are you aware that the great MD SV Venkataraman passed away on 6 April 1998 at the age of 88? Seeing the kind of resonse for this MKTB thread I am afraid to even think of starting a thread to pay tribute to him. Moreover, I am quite busy now.

Vanakkam

[Oldposts]

Manisekaran :

I am one of those who really enjoy this thread and I have not posted anything in this thread. That's only because I have nothing to say when you are here. When knowledgeable people like you are here there is nothing for people like us to say. In this threads like this the only thing I can do is list MKT songs I have heard. Do not be disheartened by responses. I am sure every person visiting this site reads this thread.

I am eagerly waiting for your articles on P.U.Sinnappa.

TFM Managers : All these articles by Manisekaran need to be archived as permanent articles.

[Oldposts]

Manisekaran: I echo pg's sentiments. enakku eppadi intha thread-la contribute pannarathunnu theriyala. All I have done is listened to three collections of MKTB songs. athellaam list seythagivittathu. athukku appuram enakku padikkum vElai thaan. My wife and I enjoyed reading your articles. As you know I am lifetime member of ManisEkaran Fan Club. (MFC) . I can offer one statistic though.. This thread has had 209 access in the last 24 hrs. Almost as many as the IR songs thread. That should tell you how popular this thread is.

[Oldposts]

Manisekaran: I am also a passive reader. Don't get disheartened. Please post a similar biography of P.U.Chinnappa. What about MKT's children? Is any of them in cine field? If you don't mind and if you know, could you please post MKT's liaisons with leading ladies of those years.

[Oldposts]

I have enjoyed reading about MKTB. I do not think I have seen any of MKTB's movies. After reading your postings I have been checking out the local video stores. I would love to hear about the other stars.

[Oldposts]

Manisekaran

Thanks for the great article on MKTB. Please continue your contribution. I am sure there are so many of us who read this thread though not contributing to this thread. Please continue on PUC also, when time permits. Thanks again.

[Oldposts]

Manisekaran,

great job. I had a vague idea about the life and times of MKTB, but from your articles I have learnt quite a lot. Thanks.

Reg. 'vadhaname chandrabimbamo' - the incident you had mentioned was published in Kumudam once. And I am sure they had not mentioned Sivan as the song writer- it was some other name. I wouldnt forget a name like Sivan that easily. But again, Kumudam could have been wrong

Again the songs you mentioned (and also the contributions of other readers of this thread) brought back many pleasant memories for me. It has been almost 10 years since I heard the songs. If only I had them with me on cassette, I would have uploaded them on to my homepage immediately

As I said earlier, I am looking forward to similar threads on P.U.Chinnappa, T.R.Mahalingam etc.

Thanks and Regards

G.Ramaswamy

[Oldposts]

Manisekaran,

By now, you know how many ppl are interested in this and similar threads. I don't have to write more. Pl continue your wondeful postings.

About SVV: If you visit

http://coldfusion.tfmpage.com/news

you'll see we posted a short news item after his demise.

[Oldposts]

Dear brothers and sisters who have commented on this thread,

Thanks for the nice words. It was a shocking pleasure to learn of so many silent visitors to this thread. Perhaps I should have qualified that my lamentation was not so much for myself. I lamented more for the ill fate that MKTB had to face in the evening of his life. Happy to learn that there are still people with soft spots for the great MKTB. May be his fans are the permanent wealth that MKTB has earned.

Not much information is available about MKTB in Tamilnadu and elsewhere. Even his family members do not know much of him. Small articles on him had appeared here and there occassionally. A book did come out about him long ago, but not too satisfactory.

I produced this article from my own memory, as well as clippngs and excerpts I had gathered over the years. I had given a summary and forced to leave out some info for obvious resaons.

Thank You.

Manisekaran