The programme with title "Isai kuyilin
Isai payaNam" started
at 5.40pm in Podhigai TV. Interviewer was TMS Selvakumar (S/o. TM
Soundararajan).
As usual, her "pesum tamizh" was 'konjum tamizh" J She was at
difficulty to speak one full sentence in pakka tamizh; wondered how she was able
to sing 1000's of songs in Tamil films?
Started with the great number written by Bharathidhasan "Thamizhukkum amudhendru
per". PS mentioned that CM JJ gave away an award for this song. Not sure
how and when and what award??
Then many artists who were in regime was recollected; a great omission was KaNNadasan.
She sang the following songs with one or two lines; many places she filled with
humming, as she did not remember the lyrics. This showed the poor planning of
Podhigai TV; they should have prepared pakka script, list of songs and worked
on the shooting (no one is comparable to SUN TV on this planning and proper execution)
- Aedukku azhthaai aedhukku (her first song in Petra thaai)
- Unnai KaaNaadha kaNNum kaNNalla; there was bit of songs sequence shown; She
had high praise for "mamaa" KVM and Pugazhendhi; also she highlighted
that this song was sung in almost all katcheri's.
- Then "Pagazhaaram" for MSV and sung the song KaNNukku kulamedhu
- Ennuyir thozhi (PS mentioned that she took more takes for this song, but
MSV was never angry with her and he asked her to come back after lunch for
final recording; MSV used arrange for many rehearsals which helped her to refine
her loop-holes)
- Edho edho oru mayakkam
- Vazhvil sowbagyam vandhadhu (PS mentioned that she had sung many songs under
the music direction of V Kumar; VK had given almost all the opening songs to
her only i.e. the first song of the film)
- Oru naaL yaarO
- Sonnadhu nee thaana with a bit from the film; She was in praise for the artists
who had acted in films for her songs
- Athaan ennathaan (Savithri was recollected)
- Malarndhum malaraadha (Here too heavy praise for MSV+TKR; She said "naan
sandai kooda pottirukean (laugh)" + Of course pats for TMS) + Showed the
seq from film
- Agaaya pandhaliley
- Inbamey undhan per vaLLaloh
- Raajivin parvai
- Mayakkamenna
- Nalandhanaa + Bit of dance by Padmini from Thillana MohanaambaaL
- Oru naaL yaarO (Seq featuring JJ)
- Parakkum pandhu parakkum (Seq shown with Saroja Devi and MGR)
- Naan pesa ninaipaadhellam (Seq with Saroja Devi and Sivaji)
- Paal polave (Seq showing VaNishree); Here PS mentioned about her award for
Best female playback singer which was instituted by Indian Givt in 1968; PS
was the first female singer to receive the award; she mentioned about the award
function organized by AVM in Mumbai which was attended by Lata Mangeshkar)
- Chittu kuruvikenna kattuppaadu
- Thanimayile (AM Raja's soft nature with brilliant music knowledge was acknowledged
by PS)
- Nilavum malarum (with a bit seq also)
- Thesulaavudhe with that fast beat swaras (The MD Adi Narayana Rao and her
counterpart Ghantasala were remembered)
- Mention about S Janaki (Seq of "AnnakiLi unnai thedudhey" was shown)
- Mention about AVM Chettiar
- Ennai pol peNNallavO (She was a great admirer of G Ramanatha Iyer; the song
was pure classical with difficult sangathi's as she was in budding stage)
- Neeyilladha ulagathiley (G R's light music type normal song)
- Mention about Veda that she has many songs with him
- Un pazhakkathin melenna thudippu (Only Seq from the film)
- Silai seyya thangam undu (Only Seq from the film)
- V. Kumar again was recollected with showing a bit on "Naan unnai vazhthi
paadugiren"
- Mention about S.V Venkataramanan (PS said he was a music genius)
- Amudhai pozhiyum nilave, sad version (TG Lingappa was remembered)
- Thuyiladha peN ondru kaNden (Chalapathi Rao was recollected)
- AnbuLLa aththan vaNakkam (Govarthanam's association was mentioned)
- Andha sivakami maganidam
Then the current MD's with a mention about AR Rehman; TMSS said she had sung
many songs under ARR but she immediately said "No not many songs".
Ilayaraja's Family was praised. His sons Karthik raja for her song in Manickam),
Yuvan Shankar raja, Bhavatharini for her national award; Notable omission was
Gangai amaran.
She mentioned about her daughter-in-law as "vaLarum paadagi"; PS
sung Sandhya's song "Poonkodiyin punnagai"; here too some mention
about ARR; also she just recollected Sandhya's other songs from films like "Devathai",
etc.
Highlights about her association with Master VeNu, Dakshinamurthy, Dakshinamurthy
Swamy, JV Raghavulu, S Rajeswara rao, Malayalam MD Joy, Hindi MD Hemanth, Naushad
Ali, C Ramachandra, and Bappi Lahiri. She also mentioned about her songs with
Kishore Kumar in Simhasan (Hindi version).
Tribute to Sivaji with "Mannvan vandhanadi", highlighting Sivaji's
encouragement to her to bring out the best in the song as well as KVM's contribution.
Some tit-bits on echo effects in those days with songs
- Sivakami
- Iraivan varuvaan
Also PS explained how it was difficult in recording those days; also remembered
the days of Thiagaraja bhagavadhar.
She was proud of having sung with CS Jayaraman and TR Mahalingam who sin in
high scales, which was very difficult for her to match.
- ViNnodum mugilOdum (CSJ; high pitch; how she adjusted with CSJ)
- Chinna china (from Pudhyal)
She said that some fans looked at as Goddess but she was not so (very generous
indeed) followed by a seq from "Thirumaal perumai" on "Sri hari
hari gokula ramana" featuring KR Vijaya.
PS acknowledged the director KS Gopalakrishnan for having made her "the
only singer" in the film Karpagam; she said the title card on "pinnaNi" was
shown with only her name.
Mention about Mannavaney azhalaamaa and said the chorus was by Anglo Indian
ladies who generally come in the night shift only after their office work;
she said that this song was recorded at 1am midnight.
She mentioned a few unforgettable songs, which give her lots of satisfaction
- Solla solla inikkudhada (PS sang this too)
- Maalai pozhudhin mayakkathile naan (Mentioned that this is a very great song
which was liked by IR who asked her to sing this song in one programme (Susheels
50 ??); heavy praise here too for MSV+TKR)
Under Devotional songs category
- Jaya Jaya Devi (a bit of Seq in a temple was also shown; this album was
a big hit in 1981-82)
- PS said that she has scored for some album since last 3 years
- Mentioned that she is devotee of Sri Satya Sai Baba and scored Satya Sai
Bhajan (9 songs)
- PS sang 2 songs from the album [Saayee sadhanandha saayee satya saayee, which
was originally sung by Sandhya and "Anuraaga mandiraa"]
PS appeared with her grand daughter and asked her to "chittu kuruvi mutham
koduthu" but the kid did not do so !!
Then once again praise, gratitude for all actors, actresses, MD's, Lyricists
incl Vairamuthu and her fans (including me !!)
Finally she apologized if she had not mentioned or left out any one and it
was not intentional J
The programme ended with "Muthu maNi mala(i)" in the background.
Overall, it was good to see a one-hour programme on our beloved P. Susheela
with good collection of rare photographs. It could have been done much better,
with a proper plan and brilliant execution. Vasumathy, the producer needs to
learn more. |