Picks 536 - 770

[Neel D]

Usha & rekhs, thanks.
Usha, I will try to listen to that Raanuva Veeran song. I can't recall it.

[Neel D]

Pick #760

Song: sinthai aRinthu vAdi
Film: Sri Valli
Music: T.M.Rajagopala Sharma, R.Sudarsanam, Papanasam Sivan, Rajagopal Iyer
Singer: P.A.Periyanayaki
Lyrics: Papanasam Sivan & Rajagopal Iyer
Year: 1945

Happy Thai Poosam!

This week will be Thai Poosam specials.

Sri Valli directed by A.V.Meiyappan and A.T.Krishnasamy starred T.R.Mahalingam, Kumari Rukmini, Baby Kamala, T.R.Ramachandran, N.S.Krishnan, T.A.Madhuram and others. T.R.Mahalingam played Murugan, Rukmini played teenage Valli and Baby Kamala played little girl Valli.

T.R.Mahalingam who was only in his early twenties had already acted in a few films but Sri Valli turned him into one of the top stars. An awesome singer with a big voice TRM fit well into the trend of the time and was a popular star for a few years that followed. I already wrote about TRM some time ago and am providing a link to that post at the bottom.

Rukmini who had already acted as Baby Rukmini in some films was introduced in Sri Valli as Kumari Rukmini. Very slim and lively Rukmini must have been in her mid to late teens when she acted in this film. Just like most other female actors of the time she played her part very casually and it is a joy to watch her. The film has several songs. This is one of the early films in which playback was used. P.A.Periyanaki, a famous carnatic singer and actor, sang playback for Rukmini. Today's pick is when Valli is forbidden to see Murugan by her father and is kept under house arrest. The song is occasionally performed in Carnatic music concerts and Bharatanatyam recitals. However, today's version is the original composition, the original execution and the original rendition of sinthai aRinthu vAdi.

About the female stars of the 1940s and 1930s being casual... it is my observation that it was a time when the female actors simply expressed what the character required, sang and acted. There was no effort made to appear cute, sexy, showy or overly theatrical. But, stars like T.R.Rajakumari and Madhuri Devi were exceptions to this casualness. These ladies had an agenda... it was to seduce the men in the audience... with their suggestive facial expressions, body movements and attire.

Rukmini's mother Nungampakkam Janaki was a danseuse and a small time film actor. She realized a big dream of success through her daughter. However, Rukmini for some reason did not act in very many films especially in the lead. By the time Maniyosai(1963) came Rukmini, not even 40, had graduated into the mother of Muthuraman and Kalyankumar.

Few years after Sri Valli Rukmini married Y.V.Rao(whom we read about two weeks ago) and their daughter is actress Lakshmi. Starting with the first generation Janaki who had little success in films to second generation Rukmini who became very popular among Tamil film audience of the 1940s and then to the bright and extremely talented third generation Lakshmi who is still a successful actor in all southern languages and who has also left her mark in Hindi, it was a graph that was growing only in the upward direction. Lakshmi's daughter Aishwarya started off with great success in Tamil films but had some trouble later. Regardless she is holding on to a place in the industry. This four generation of ladies is truly a success story in the history of Tamil talkie.

The film credits T.M.Rajagopala Sharma and R.Sudarsanam for music and it credits Papanasam Sivan and Rajagopal Iyer for the songs. We know that Papanasam Sivan is a composer and not just a lyricist. Hence I have credited all four of them for music.

Papanasam Sivan and Rajagopal Iyer are brothers. Rajagopal Iyer's daughter is V.N.Janaki who was the wife of M.G.R. and was a film actress in the late 1940s and early 50s.

Sri Valli also popularized Baby Kamala as one of the dancing stars of Tamil cinema.

http://raretfm.mayyam.com/stream/pow...hai_arinthu.rm

More on T.R.Mahalingam - http://forumhub.mayyam.com/hub/viewt...232729#1232729

More on P.A.Periyanayaki - http://forumhub.mayyam.com/hub/viewt...227834#1227834

Part of the information in this post was obtained from various reliable sources on the internet. Thanks to The Hindu, Randor Guy and the like.

[rajraj]

Thanks Neel ! I was in elementary school when this film was released. I used to sing a few lines of 'sindhai arindhu vaadi' without any clue about what it meant !

Hope Dhandapani hosts more old songs about Dhandapani !

[Neel D]

rajraj,

You are welcome.

What were the sources of music those days? How commom were radios and record players? I know that radios had to be registered and an annual fee had to be paid to the government. It certainly was a fancy item if it wasn't a luxury item. Records were quite expensive for the middle class to afford even in the 70s. Not all fifty(so to speak) songs from a film will be released on records. That would require several records. So, even if you buy those expensive records unless you go to the movies you will completely miss out on many songs, correct?

[rajraj]

Neel,
Radio was a luxury those days. We had to pay Rs15 a year for the license( if my memory serves right). A 'cheap' radio was selling for Rs300. If you wanted more selective bands you spent about Rs 600. Cheap or not it was expensive for most families. There was only AIR( All India Radio) with two stations in Madras and one in Trichy. They did not play cinema music a lot. We listened to Radio Ceylon on short wave.
Same was true about record players. There was no record player in the 30 and 40s. We had what was known as a 'Gramaphone' with a horn that you see in His Master's Voice. The energy to drive the turntable was stored in a 'spring' that had to be cranked periodically. Also you had to change the needle every few plates, as those were called. The sound box or pick up was very heavy. Remember 'plate-ai thiruppi podu' ! There were only 78 RPM plates which were easily breakable unlike later vinyl records. The gramaphone and plates were expensive and affordable only by the well to do. My uncle had one in our native village. We used to beg him to play the plates ( plate podunga ! ) His prized possession was a stack of 78 rpm plates in brown or blue sleeves. He dutifully cleaned the plates with kerosene. I wanted to bring the gramaphone my uncle had and the record player from my home. Both seem to have disappeared. If ever I find a gramaphone I will buy it for any price as an antique. Fond memories!

I don't think they released all songs in a movie in plates, just selected popular pieces. Radio and gramaphone were the only sources of music unless you went to the same movie often. There were touring talkies (theatre in a tent) where you could stand outside the talkies and listen to the songs without paying for the ticket. I used to do that for one movie-'avan', a remake of the Hindi movie 'aah'.

( If you want an appreciation for a 300 rupee radio, a district level government officer was paid a little more than Rs 300 a month those days! )

[Neel D]

rajraj, thanks for all the interesting information. I will have more questions later.

[Neel D]

Pick #761

Song: vAnavargaL pORRida
Film: Sri Valli
Music: T.M.Rajagopala Sharma, R.Sudarsanam, Papanasam Sivan, Rajagopal Iyer
Singer: T.R.Mahalingam
Lyrics: Papanasam Sivan & Rajagopal Iyer
Year: 1945

Happy Thai Poosam!

Today's pick is a beautiful thillana from Sri Valli. After trying to win the heart of Valli by singing the amazing kAyAtha kAnagaththE and many other methods that fail, Murugan takes the form of an old man and befriends Valli. The old man comes to Valli's house and entertains her and her family and friends by singing this thillana. Rukmini dances while T.R.Mahalingam sings. Look at the picture. Isn't TRM the cutest thing!

Thai Poosam is a special day for Murugan. We already sang a praise of him yesterday. Today's pick is in praise of Lord Shiva. Legend has it that on the Poosam Natchathiram of the month of Thai, Shiva(Nataraja) came to his golden stage, the city of Chidambaram, and performed his Ananda Tandavam. It doesn't get any better than this. Lord Muruga singing about Shiva's Ananda Tandavam. This song encapsulates Thai Poosam.

http://raretfm.mayyam.com/stream/pow07/vanavargal.rm

[rekhs]

[quote="Neel D"]rekhs,
nandri nanba
owe u 1

[sss]

Thanks Neel for Enga Oor Kannagi.
Visited net after a week time because of my system's sickness...

Also enjoyed reading about Srivalli... yet to hear the songs...


Thanks..

SSS

[rajraj]

Neel: I thought you would feature 'kaayaadha kaanagathe'.