Potpourri of titbits about Tamil cinema - K. V. Mahadevan
Late veteran music director K. V. Mahadevan was born to Venkatachalam – Lakshmi Ammal on 14th March 1918 in Krishnankoil of Nagercoil district. Honored with the title ‘Isai thilakam’, Mahadevan was endearingly addressed as ‘Mama’ by the people in the industry. He was known as a very docile person, never raising his voice. His father was musically inclined and was an expert in playing ‘Gottu vadhyam’. Mahadevan, as a young lad, received his first lessons in music from his father and later from ‘Bhoothapandi’ Arunachala Kavirayar. While in Trichi, Viswanatha bhagwadhar was his ‘guru’, who trained him for stage performance.
It was one Mr. T. V. Chari who recommended the thirteen-year old Mahadevan to Balagandarvagana Sabha. Mahadevan donned the role of a woman in the play Chandravalli, produced by the sabha. And, thereafter, Mahadevan started doing different roles in the different plays of various drama troupes. Then, with the recommendation of Santhanakrishna Naidu, Mahadevan landed a job in Vel Pictures Studio. The company was producing the movie ‘Thirumangai Azhwar’ for which T. A. Kalyanam was the music director. Kalyanam was impressed with the talent of Mahadevan in music and took him as his assistant. Mahadevan, together with Kalyanam scored music for the film ‘Aanandan allathu agnipurana mahimai’. In the year 1942, the duo took charge of music for the productions of Modern Theatres. And, Mahadevan gained recognition by working as the assistant to Kalyanam for the films produced by the company that included ‘Sivalinga satchi’, ‘Manonmani’, Diwan bahdur’, ‘Raja Rajeswari’, Arunthathi’, ‘Burma Rani’, ‘Subadhra’ and ‘Chitra’. And, he got the opportunity to work independently as music director for the MGR starrer ‘Kumari’ in the year 1952. Then followed ‘Maangalyam’ in 1954. After this film, A. P. Nagarajan, the hero of the film and Mahadevan became closer and thereafter, Mahadevan was the music director for all the productions of Nagarajan. And, he made waves with his titillating music that ensured success for the movie at the box office. The Telugu filmdom accorded a red carpet welcome to Mahadevan and he became the Number One in both the languages in music. He got the President’s award for his music for the films ‘Kandhan karunai’ and ‘Sankaraparanam’.
When I interviewed Mahadevan for a special issue of the Tamil magazine ‘Kumudam’, he shared with me many interesting things without any fuss or hesitation. Excerpts from the interview:
