Potpourri of titbits about Tamil cinema - K. V. Mahadevan
Q:Pugazhendhi to you is like Ramamurthy to M. S. Viswanathan. Am I correct?
A: Of course …Pugazhendhi joined me for the film ‘Madhanamohini’ in the year 1953. He has been with me for more than 600 films! The bond between us is very strong that we would spend only four hours with our families, the remaining twenty hours, we would be working together in the recording theatre. The technical staff used to wonder how we both share the work and bring out the best. Our work appeared a ‘Chidambara rahasyam’ to all! I am a person, who never becomes tensed up whereas Pugazhendhi is always tensed up. Also, he is very strict with everyone. If I tell him to remain calm, he would say that we’ve to get our work done and he has got to be that strict only. He is a boon to me.
Q:In the film ‘Adimaipenn’, the song ‘Amma endraal anbhu …’, sung by Jayalalithaa has been retained, but, initially the song was sung by T. M. Soundarrajan and had been recorded also. Why did you change the singer? (When I put this question, Mahadevan was surprised how I got the information. I told him that MGR’s adopted daughter’s husband Vijayan played the original song to me.)
A: Initially, we recorded the song with Soundarrajan’s voice. MGR told me that according to the scene, MGR would be in a situation where he couldn’t talk. So, it would look very odd if he was shown singing. And, MGR suggested that Jayalalithaa could sing and the scene conceived accordingly. And, in the same film, TMS was given the song ‘Thaayillaamal naanillai …’ which became a super hit. Vijayan had handed over the audiotape of the TMS version to director Guhanathan and had told him that he could use the song for one of his films.
Q: How do you assess the future of this field??
A: This is computer age, invariably, there’ll be changes. But, these changes will go away. People will always enjoy film songs with base in Carnatic music system. Western music is only short-lived.
Q:Tell us about your family …
A: My family consists of my wife Lakshmi, my son Venkatachalam (alias Kannan), daughter Savithri, daughter-in-law Girija, two granddaughters and one grandson. Our family is a happy family.
After the demise of Mahadevan, his son Kannan is acting in films, doing character roles. When I asked him why he didn’t follow his father’s line, he said that his father was very strict that none of his children should enter cinema, especially film music as he was very keen that they should study well. But, he had entered cinema and was doing well in his profession with the blessings of his father, Kannan told.
After retiring from his profession, Mahadevan died suddenly on 21-6-2001. But his music would stand the test of time and would be cherished and enjoyed by generations for all time to come. A ‘Special day cover’ was released in the honor of this legendary musician on behalf of ‘Sivaji-Prabhu Charity Trust’ with the help of the postal department on 1st October 2009.
