Singer composers in the South : Re: MD sang for 3
Srinivas Ganti
news:c2m4gd$1upceq$2...@ID-159547.news.uni-berlin.de...
> > Well Tamil had big three Sivaji Ganesan , MGR and Gemini Ganesan
> > while Telugu had big two NTR and ANR. And in Kannada we have
> > Rajkumar.
> >
>
> OK. So, are there singing MDs over there?
Yes. Aong male playback singers, the golden era in Telugu Films was
dominated by
Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao. He was also one of the top MD's.
(The other day I posted lyrics + translation of a Telugu song "bhale manchi
roju"
sung and composed by him.
Ghantasala sang exclusively in Telugu apart from a few niche performances in
Tamil.
Then there was A.M Rajah who was active in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. Apart
from
playback he also composed for a lot of movies.
Then we have Saluri Rajeswara Rao my favorite MD in the South. (He scored
for
the Hindi movie Chandralekha (1948)). Saluri sang a lot in the 30's and 40's
(many
non-filmi songs)along with composing. But from the 50's he mostly stuck to
composing.
Sreenivas Paruchuri will surely have more to add / correct this.
Among ladies we have Bhanumati, who was multifaceted. She was a singing star
+ composer and producer. You must have heard her songs from Chandirani.
In Tamil playback T.M Sounderrajan was the no.1 singer and in Kannada
P.B Srinivas had the distinction. I am not sure if TMS and PBS composed.
sg.
Tadatmya Vaishnav
"Srinivas Ganti" <g#a#n#t#i#s#r#i#@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c2m8if$1tprgv$1...@ID-75004.news.uni-berlin.de...
> >"Surjit Singh" <surjit...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:c2m4gd$1upceq$2...@ID-159547.news.uni-berlin.de...
>
> > > Well Tamil had big three Sivaji Ganesan , MGR and Gemini Ganesan
> > > while Telugu had big two NTR and ANR. And in Kannada we have
> > > Rajkumar.
> > >
> >
> > OK. So, are there singing MDs over there?
>
> Yes. Aong male playback singers, the golden era in Telugu Films was
> dominated by
> Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao. He was also one of the top MD's.
A few days ago, I visited the musicindiaonline site to hear 'haayi
haayiga', the Telugu original of 'Kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya'. Since I liked it
a lot, I searched for more Ghantasala-Jikki songs. I heard about 7-8 songs,
some of which had Ghantasala as the MD, and found some outright copies from
Hindi songs, and some with a very familiar tune (in Hindi songs), but which
I wasn't able to place. I noted down the details of these songs:
1. Kalise yuvaraju Anarkalini - Ghantasala & Jikki, md:Adi Narayana Rao, ly:
Samudrala Sr., film: Anarkali (1955) - somewhere down the song (i.e. not in
the mukhadaa), the tune seemed very similar to 'aaii saawan ritu aaii, sajan
mora dole hai man, laagi teri lagan, ghar aaja', sung by Shamshad Begum
2. Oho basti dorasani - Ghantasala & Jikki, md:Ghantasala, ly:Samudrala Jr.,
film:Abhimaanam (1960) - direct lift, a copy of 'leke pehla pehla pyar'
3. Come come come kangaru - Ghantasala & Jikki, md:Ghantasala, ly:Samudrala
Jr., film:Saanthi Nivasam (1960) - direct lift, a copy of 'tim tim tim
taaron ke deep jale'
4. Virisindhi vintha haayi - Ghantasala & Jikki, md:T.V.Raju, ly:Samudrala
Jr., film:Baala Nagamma (1959) - very familiar tune, but can't place it
5. Andaala ranivi aaduma - Ghantasala & P.Susheela, md:Ghantasala,
ly:Samudrala Jr., film:Sabhash Raja (1961) - very similar to 'madhuban men
radhika naache re', I don't know if it's because this song may be in the
same raag (Hameer).
6. Anuragamila konasaagavale - Ghantasala & P.Susheela, md:Ghantasala,
ly:Samudrala Jr., film: Valmiki (1963) - again, very familiar tune, but
can't place it
> sg.
Regards,
Tadatmya.
Sathya Sekar
> from
> playback he also composed for a lot of movies.
And he really excelled as a composer - at least from my little knowledge
in Tamil films. Though his output as a composer is much smaller than
that as a singer, his compositions are something of milestones in Tamil
film music. "Kalyaana parisu" is perhaps his most sung and popular
soundtrack, every - and I mean EVERY - song a gem. And he had a few more
such sterling soundtracks to boast of. "Aadiperukku" and "Then nilavu"
are amongst my desert-island soundtrack.
> In Tamil playback T.M Sounderrajan was the no.1 singer and in Kannada
> P.B Srinivas had the distinction. I am not sure if TMS and PBS composed.
I dont think PBS composed in films - he has though in some non-film
albums. IIRC, TMS starred and composed a film.
M.S.Vishwanathan also sang albeit rarely (which is a good thing ;)).
Illayaraja was a more regular singer.
Balaji Murthy
news:c2m8if$1tprgv$1...@ID-75004.news.uni-berlin.de...
> news:c2m4gd$1upceq$2...@ID-159547.news.uni-berlin.de...
>
> > > Well Tamil had big three Sivaji Ganesan , MGR and Gemini Ganesan
> > > while Telugu had big two NTR and ANR. And in Kannada we have
> > > Rajkumar.
> > >
> >
> > OK. So, are there singing MDs over there?
>
> Yes. Aong male playback singers, the golden era in Telugu Films was
> dominated by
> Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao. He was also one of the top MD's.
> (The other day I posted lyrics + translation of a Telugu song "bhale
manchi
> roju"
> sung and composed by him.
>
> Ghantasala sang exclusively in Telugu apart from a few niche performances
in
> Tamil.
That is actually not right. Ghantasala did sing quite a bit in Kannada and
Tamil.
I understand that most of Tamil output could be versions of his many Telugu
songs.
In Kannada too, there were a lot of his songs that may have been versions.
There
was a discussion a while back between Ashok and Dinesh about his dubbed vs
original output in Kannada wrt to Telugu. Check the archives.
Of course, Mr. Paruchuri should be able to shed more light on this.
> Then there was A.M Rajah who was active in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada.
Apart
> from
> playback he also composed for a lot of movies.
>
> Then we have Saluri Rajeswara Rao my favorite MD in the South. (He scored
> for
> the Hindi movie Chandralekha (1948)). Saluri sang a lot in the 30's and
40's
> (many
> non-filmi songs)along with composing. But from the 50's he mostly stuck to
> composing.
> Sreenivas Paruchuri will surely have more to add / correct this.
>
> Among ladies we have Bhanumati, who was multifaceted. She was a singing
star
> + composer and producer. You must have heard her songs from Chandirani.
Did Bhanumathi provide playback? I am quite ignorant about that. And you
must
have heard 'vaan meedhilE' by her and Ghantasala :).
> In Tamil playback T.M Sounderrajan was the no.1 singer and in Kannada
> P.B Srinivas had the distinction. I am not sure if TMS and PBS composed.
I have heard of one Kannada movie that had music by PBS, but don't have
specifics
at the moment. I haven't heard the songs from it, Ashok may know more about
it.
Regarding singing MDs in Kannada, I know T.G.Lingappa has sung, but that
might
be equivalent of Ghulam Haider having sung in Hindi output wise. I have a
feeling that
G.K.Venkatesh may have sung a few. I don't know of any recent MDs, except
that
Ilaiyaraja has sung in Kannada.
- Balaji
Afzal A. Khan
Srinivas Ganti wrote:
> In Tamil playback T.M Sounderrajan was the no.1 singer
> sg.
Excuse the intrusion of a non-Tamil-knowing person
in this discussion.
TMS was no doubt the most popular Tamil (male) singer
at one time. But I always found his voice rather
raucous and grating.
Afzal
Srinivas Ganti
"Afzal A. Khan" <me_a...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:404F3D86...@privacy.net...
I also have the same opinion as you have.I prefer listening to
A.M Raja or P.B Srinivas in Tamil as opposed to TMS.
One Tamil speaking friend of mine also has the same opinion
and tells me that there was a perception that TMS could
pronounce the words perfectly.
sg.
Srinivas Ganti
>"Tadatmya Vaishnav" <tavai...@yahoo.com> wrote
> A few days ago, I visited the musicindiaonline site to hear 'haayi
> haayiga', the Telugu original of 'Kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya'.
Glad that you liked this song. This is a favourite among quite a few
non-Telugu speaking RMIMers.
I have posted the translation of its lyrcis sometime back.
>Since I liked it
> a lot, I searched for more Ghantasala-Jikki songs. I heard about 7-8
songs,
> some of which had Ghantasala as the MD, and found some outright copies
from
> Hindi songs, and some with a very familiar tune (in Hindi songs), but
which
> I wasn't able to place.
This has been a fascinating topic of research for me over the years and an
off shoot
of this was the Uttar-Dakshin quiz that I did at 3 RMIM meets. You can
search
the archives for a list of songs that I played in the quiz.
While some Hindi hits have been transplanted in Telugu I find the percentage
of such
songs quite low.Also the currents have flown in both directions. There are
also some
Hindi songs which have Telugu originals.
And this is not just true for Telugu / Hindi or just for film music.
If you checkout http://www.amrakojon.org/webcast.html
which did a program on the 1000 years of Bangla music you can see
the influence on Carnatic music on Bangla music.Infact M.L Vasanthakumari's
singing was used in one of the dances there and her name was announced as
famous South Indian singer, Vasantha or something like that.
Rabindra Sangeet also has Carnatic influence and I read that told
its strucutre is similar to Tyagaraya Kirtis.
Moving in the opposite direction, two of most famous Telugu MD's
Saluri Rajeswara Rao and Ramesh Naidu have spent some time in Calcutta.
Finally the Bangla hit from Uttam Kumar starrer Sagarika, "amar shapno
dekha rajkonna thaake" was transplanted into Telugu as "na hridayamlo
nidurinche chali" and Geeta Dutt's non-filmi Bangla song "kaajal kaajal guum
guum"
has been transplanted as " challani vennela konalo".
We know the numerous instances of Rabindra Sangeet adaptations into Hindi
as well as Bangla MD's recycling their tunes into Hindi. Travelling in the
other direction
"majbuur merii aaNkhen barbaad meraa dil hai" has been transplanted into
Bangla.
Looks like we have travelled a full circle :)
sg.
Arun Iyengar
news:Z8idnb-Ewpg...@giganews.com...
> Regarding singing MDs in Kannada, I know T.G.Lingappa has sung, but that
> might
> be equivalent of Ghulam Haider having sung in Hindi output wise. I have a
> feeling that
> G.K.Venkatesh may have sung a few. I don't know of any recent MDs, except
> that
> Ilaiyaraja has sung in Kannada.
G.K. Venkatesh composed, sang and enacted kannadada makkalella ondaagi banni
from the movie kannu teradu nodu.
There is ARR of course.
Then there is Maragathamani alias Keeravani aka M. M. Kreem who has sung few
assorted songs here and there.
SPB has given music to few tamil films.
Banumathi has sung in Tamil too.
Deva has sung a couple of forgettable tamil songs.
Balamuralikrishna has sung in many films and has composed some kritis as
well though I don't know if he ever composed for a movie.
Any idea if Hariharan composed beyond ghazals?
T Rajendar of Oru Thalai Raagam fame has sung a few songs in tamil too?
A
--
(Remove 999 to reply)
Arun Iyengar
I heard about 7-8 songs,
> some of which had Ghantasala as the MD, and found some outright copies
from
> Hindi songs, and some with a very familiar tune (in Hindi songs), but
which
> I wasn't able to place.
Good work but don't expect brickbats on Ghantasala or for that matter on SDB
coming from this forum. They are reserved to be heaped on Anu Malik or
Anand-Milind for *similar egregious chori*.
Arun Iyengar
news:c2mbae$1v508p$1...@ID-209613.news.uni-berlin.de...
> M.S.Vishwanathan also sang albeit rarely (which is a good thing ;)).
> Illayaraja was a more regular singer.
......which is a bad thing :-)
Balaji Murthy
> "Balaji Murthy" <bmu...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:Z8idnb-Ewpg...@giganews.com...
>
>
>
>>Regarding singing MDs in Kannada, I know T.G.Lingappa has sung, but that
>>might
>>be equivalent of Ghulam Haider having sung in Hindi output wise. I have a
>>feeling that
>>G.K.Venkatesh may have sung a few. I don't know of any recent MDs, except
>>that
>>Ilaiyaraja has sung in Kannada.
>
>
>
> G.K. Venkatesh composed, sang and enacted kannadada makkalella ondaagi banni
> from the movie kannu teradu nodu.
Thanks for the confirmation.
> Banumathi has sung in Tamil too.
Were these her own compositions?
> Balamuralikrishna has sung in many films and has composed some kritis as
> well though I don't know if he ever composed for a movie.
I remembered Balamurali a few minutes after I posted. IIRC he has
composed in Sandhya Raaga.
- Balaji
Narayanan
"Srinivas Ganti" <gant...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c2nqkd$208l2j$1...@ID-75004.news.uni-berlin.de...
>
> "Afzal A. Khan" <me_a...@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:404F3D86...@privacy.net...
> >
> >
> > Srinivas Ganti wrote:
> >
> > > In Tamil playback T.M Sounderrajan was the no.1 singer
> >
> > > sg.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Excuse the intrusion of a non-Tamil-knowing person
> > in this discussion.
> >
> > TMS was no doubt the most popular Tamil (male) singer
> > at one time. But I always found his voice rather
> > raucous and grating.
>
>
>
> I also have the same opinion as you have.I prefer listening to
> A.M Raja or P.B Srinivas in Tamil as opposed to TMS.
TMS started pretty well in the 40s and was pretty good in the
50s. TMS had established himself for MGR/Sivaji songs as opposed
to AMR and PBS for Gemini and others. Rajah has a screwed up
head and gave Director Sridhar tons of trouble during Then-nilavu
film. After Thennilavu, Rajah decided to quit. Besides, TMS was more
classically trained than Rajah IMO. There is a song "Kalaiyum Neeye"
in Then Nilavu. A very melodious song. One can hear couple of foreign
notes slipping in between. Even though it doesn't appear to screw up
the melody of the song, these little things did matter in those days when
when filmy music was more classically oriented. TMS as a result
had no competitors. MGR dumped TMS as soon as he had other
alternatives like KJY and SPB. Sivaji otoh continued his hamming in the
70s and TMS religiously followed him and indulged in all kind of shouts.
Not that they worked as Sivaji movies were flopping left right and center
in the 70s. With that TMS' 10+ year free ride came to an end.
>
> One Tamil speaking friend of mine also has the same opinion
> and tells me that there was a perception that TMS could
> pronounce the words perfectly.
I don't think one can complain about Raja's or PBS' pronunciation.
They were pretty good actually. TMS actually started ahead of
the two and was good early on.
N-
Narayanan
"Arun Iyengar" <arun_iy...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c2o22e$7...@netnews.proxy.lucent.com...
Narayanan
"Arun Iyengar" <arun_iy...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c2o22e$7...@netnews.proxy.lucent.com...
> SPB has given music to few tamil films.
He was the MD for Thudikkum Karangal and Sikaram. May
be did a few more. I think, KJY has composed for some films in
Malayalam. Jayachandran too. Composed for Satyameva Jayate
> Balamuralikrishna has sung in many films and has composed some kritis as
> well though I don't know if he ever composed for a movie.
Yeah some kritis while he was a teenager :-).
> T Rajendar of Oru Thalai Raagam fame has sung a few songs in tamil too?
He has done everything and sucked. Though he wasn't bad MD early
on.
N-
Tadatmya Vaishnav
>
> >"Tadatmya Vaishnav" <tavai...@yahoo.com> wrote
>
> > A few days ago, I visited the musicindiaonline site to hear 'haayi
> > haayiga', the Telugu original of 'Kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya'.
>
> Glad that you liked this song. This is a favourite among quite a few
> non-Telugu speaking RMIMers.
>
> I have posted the translation of its lyrcis sometime back.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2367w
Thanks for the link. The lyrics seem a bit haphazard to me. The lyrics
of the Hindi version sound better to me, but maybe in the original language
they may sound more coherent.
> This has been a fascinating topic of research for me over the years and an
> off shoot
> of this was the Uttar-Dakshin quiz that I did at 3 RMIM meets. You can
> search
> the archives for a list of songs that I played in the quiz.
Yes, I saw posts on this quiz in the archives and have noted down the
songs that you had included there.
>
> While some Hindi hits have been transplanted in Telugu I find the
percentage
> of such
> songs quite low.Also the currents have flown in both directions. There are
> also some
> Hindi songs which have Telugu originals.
By 'Telugu original', do you mean something like the 'kuhu kuhu' case,
or lifting of tunes? If you have time, I would like to know which Hindi
songs have Telugu originals.
<rest of the post snipped>
Thanks for the other link and info.
Regards,
Tadatmya.
UVR
> Arun Iyengar wrote:
>
>> Balamuralikrishna has sung in many films and has composed some kritis as
>> well though I don't know if he ever composed for a movie.
>
> I remembered Balamurali a few minutes after I posted. IIRC he has
> composed in Sandhya Raaga.
Yes, and didn't he also compose for Hamsageete (Kannada), and,
IIRC, GV Iyer's "Adi Shankaracharya"?
Interestingly for me, I can't remember a single Telugu film for
which Balamurali was the MD (though I'm sure there is at least
one).
BTW, a friend once told me that Hamsageete was remade (dubbed,
actually) into Hindi. Is this true and, if so, who scored the
music for it?
-UVR.
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
Maybe, but Ghantasala and SDB arguably have some other things going for them
that might suppress that reflex in at least a few listeners.
Sanjeev
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
And then, there's the king of all singers, A.R. Rahman...:-)
Sanjeev
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
>
> >
> > TMS was no doubt the most popular Tamil (male) singer
> > at one time. But I always found his voice rather
> > raucous and grating.
>
>
>
> I also have the same opinion as you have.I prefer listening to
> A.M Raja or P.B Srinivas in Tamil as opposed to TMS.
I like PBS, but have not been able to enjoy AM Raja at all - I have been
told that before the coming of Yesudas, AM Raja was the market share leader
in the Malayalam industry as well.
I don't disagree with your observations on TMS (in terms of the voice not
being all the soothing), but I still enjoy the robustness of some of his
renditions (particularly the more classical ones, e.g. "paaTTum naane",
"maadavi pon mayilaaL") - he seems to have given quite a bit of attention to
the nadaswaram-like trills, as he does those very well, and they appear to
come up repeatedly in his renditions
I have a few assorted thoughts on TMS. To me, TMS represents something of a
transition period between the "MKT era" and the "SPB era" (MKT = M.K.
Tyagaraja Bhagavatar). In TMS, there are obvious traces of the
"full-throated, no-holds-barred" singing typical of MKT or PU Chinnappa.
However, he doesn't have to sing in the absurdly high pitches of the past
era, and also gets a few points for subtlety. I think SPB came in and to
some extent redefined the whole approach, by rounding his voice, and taking
the "crooning" option more often. This is not to say SPB does not ever sing
full-throatedly, but TMS's default option seemed to be "from the gut",
"shoot first ask questions later". To a large extent, I like SPB's earlier
songs better because I feel there was a better balance of these two - more
recently, I think he had fallen into a pattern of relying on the "bass" and
"roundness" to get him through and not mixing in the bolder sound in his
"middle" register. For the very highs, after a point it's difficult to sing
it properly without belting it out, so I'm not really referring to that as
much.
On another note, I have a hypothesis that SPB's Andhra connection might have
something to do with that. I wonder whether the Andhra vs. Tamil Nadu
difference translates into anything obvious on a voice production level. TMS
and Ghantasala are but one example of the contrast, with the latter usually
opting for a "softer" approach. AFAIK, PBS is also not originally from Tamil
Nadu, and accordingly his basic voice has a more blended (and thus soothing)
quality.
Sanjeev
Srinivas Ganti
>"Sanjeev Ramabhadran" <sanjeev.r...@duke.edu> wrote in message
news:y5%3c.89940>$6K....@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...
> I like PBS, but have not been able to enjoy AM Raja at all - I have been
> told that before the coming of Yesudas, AM Raja was the market share
leader
> in the Malayalam industry as well.
So did Yesudas use a Skimming strategy to increase his share ? :)
I like AM Raja because of the softness in his voice and that's one reason
why
I also like Talat.
Incidentally I had to travel even far South i.e Sri Lanka to find a singer
who's
voice was closest to Talat. Ofocurse Haron Lanthra is a clone at best, but
the
amusing offshoot of this finding was that one RMIMer was greeted at the
Denver
meet something like this "Are you from Srilanka" ? :)
> On another note, I have a hypothesis that SPB's Andhra connection might
have
> something to do with that. I wonder whether the Andhra vs. Tamil Nadu
> difference translates into anything obvious on a voice production level.
TMS
> and Ghantasala are but one example of the contrast, with the latter
usually
> opting for a "softer" approach. AFAIK, PBS is also not originally from
Tamil
> Nadu, and accordingly his basic voice has a more blended (and thus
soothing)
> quality.
Well maybe. PBS is also from Andhra.
sg.
Afzal A. Khan
Sanjeev Ramabhadran wrote:
>
> "Srinivas Ganti" <gant...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:c2nqkd$208l2j$1...@ID-75004.news.uni-berlin.de...
> >
> > >
> > > TMS was no doubt the most popular Tamil (male) singer
> > > at one time. But I always found his voice rather
> > > raucous and grating.
> >
> >
> >
> > I also have the same opinion as you have.I prefer listening to
> > A.M Raja or P.B Srinivas in Tamil as opposed to TMS.
> I don't disagree with your observations on TMS (in terms of the voice not
> being all the soothing),
> I wonder whether the Andhra vs. Tamil Nadu
> difference translates into anything obvious on a voice production level. TMS
> and Ghantasala are but one example of the contrast, with the latter usually
> opting for a "softer" approach.
>
> Sanjeev
Just one question : Could (and did) Ghantasala
also sing in a more "robust" or TMS-ish voice ?
Afzal
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
AFAIK, no, but I admit I have not heard even close to *all* his songs.
Sanjeev
Afzal A. Khan
Thanks. My question was based on your choice of
words ---> "with (Ghantasala) usually opting for...".
Afzal
Srinivas Ganti
> "Tadatmya Vaishnav" <tavai...@yahoo.com> wrote
> By 'Telugu original', do you mean something like the 'kuhu kuhu'
case,
> or lifting of tunes? If you have time, I would like to know which Hindi
> songs have Telugu originals.
Mostly the former in the Golden era. The tunes taken from
Telugu and transplated in Hindi were usually remakes of the Telugu
movies. (In some instances MD's are different though).
One instance of a "partial lift" is the case of Bambai Ka Babu song
"dekhne men bholaa hai"(Bambai ka Babu) inspired by "eruvaka
sagaloi"(Rojulu Marayi). I say partial lift because SDB didn't use the
original tune as such.
I hope that makes Arun Iyengar partially Happy :)
Another instance is "dekha ek khwaab ko"(Silsila) from
"chaaraDesi kanulato cheruknoTi ninnu"..atleast the mukhada
is strikingly similar.
The Telugu song can be heard at
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/XY00000H0T
Coming to exclusive Telugu remakes
there's Patal Bhairavi made as Patala Bhairavi where
most of the tunes were reused.
Then there's "man viina madhur bole" (Jai Singh)
based on "madiloni madhura bhavam".(Jai Simha).
Also in those days many movies were jointly produced
in Telugu / Tamil and then remade in Hindi.
Movies like Sansaaram / Sansaar, Chandirani / Chandirani.
There are many more instances starting from the recent past.
I will give some examples.
abbani tiyyani debba (Jagadeka Virudu Atiloka Sundari )- Dhak Dhak karne
lagaa (Beta)
mallii mallii idi rani roju (Rakshasudu)- hole hole dil Dole (Angarakshak)
O priya priya (Geetanjali)- O priya priya (Dil)
There are more but I am not sure if the original was in Telugu or Tamil.
sg.
yeskay
On 03/10/04 11:49 PM, UVR wrote:
> Balaji Murthy wrote:
>
>>Arun Iyengar wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Balamuralikrishna has sung in many films and has composed some kritis as
>>>well though I don't know if he ever composed for a movie.
>>
>>I remembered Balamurali a few minutes after I posted. IIRC he has
>>composed in Sandhya Raaga.
>
>
> Yes, and didn't he also compose for Hamsageete (Kannada), and,
> IIRC, GV Iyer's "Adi Shankaracharya"?
>
BV Karanth also MDed for Adi Shankaracharya. Same goes for Hamsa Geethe.
I didn't know BVK was so much talented in music also. He has directed
and written a lot of plays.
> BTW, a friend once told me that Hamsageete was remade (dubbed,
> actually) into Hindi. Is this true and, if so, who scored the
> music for it?
I don't know about about the remake of Hamsa Geethe, but Basant Bahar's
story line is very much similar to Hamsa Geethe. But BB was made in 50s while
HG in 70s. The original novel that HG is based on was written by (Tarasu?)
possible earlier than BB.
yeskay
On 03/11/04 11:26 AM, Arun Iyengar wrote:
> MD for Sandhya Raaga is indeed G.K. Venkatesh. The well known triple tandem
> nambide ninna is sung by BMK, Bhimsen Joshi and S. Janaki. Bhimsen's and
> Janaki's versions stand out while BMK's rendition not surprisingly leaves
> much to be desired.
>
That's because the former versions are more formal renditions, while BMK's
was more like a hum/mumble. It was not like an elaborate song of the movie.
>
>
>>SPB has scored and sung the songs in many Kannada films.
>
>
>
> This comes as news to me. Do you know which Kannada films he scored music
> for?
I know one.
Saubhagyalakshmi (1987/88 *ing Vishnuvardhan)
But, I know he has done for more. I will post when I find out.
Arun Iyengar
> Another instance is "dekha ek khwaab ko"(Silsila) from
> "chaaraDesi kanulato cheruknoTi ninnu"..atleast the mukhada
> is strikingly similar.
>
> The Telugu song can be heard at
>
> http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/XY00000H0T
Isn't dekha ek khwaab based on a old pahadi tune? Doesn't it follow then
that the Telugu song is also actually a lift?
> abbani tiyyani debba (Jagadeka Virudu Atiloka Sundari )- Dhak Dhak karne
> lagaa (Beta)
> mallii mallii idi rani roju (Rakshasudu)- hole hole dil Dole (Angarakshak)
> O priya priya (Geetanjali)- O priya priya (Dil)
There are tons of recent songs from the south that have been copied into
hindi with Anand-Milind being the biggest culprits. The songs not listed on
Karthik's site are below.
1. koyal si terii boli (Anand-Milind, Beta) is a copy of a tamil song kondai
cheval neram (??, ??).
2. tu tu tu tu tu taaraa (Anand-Milind (AM for short), Bol Radha Bol) from
rakkamma kaiya thattu (Dalapathi, IR)
3. niile niile ambar pe (KA, ??) from ilaya nilaa (IR, Payanangal
mudivudillai)
4. Songs of telugu movie Prema into songs of hindi remake Love (AM again). I
know that at least one song SPB-Chitra duet my love merii priyatamaa is
copied. There might be others.
5. Songs of Mani Ratnam's Agni Nakshatram into hindi remake Vansh. Not all
of them but most of them are copied/inspired. And you guessed it right. It's
AM again! The Lata solo yeh kangana is inspired from IR's Janaki song
ponmeni from moonram pirai.
6. Some songs from Virasat (Anu Malik) copied/inspired from its Tamil
original Thevar Magan. Also, one of the songs in this movie is copied from
tamil movie Yejaman (IR).
7. chaahaa hai tumko (Sanjeev-Darshan, Mann) from a tamil song which I can't
recall at the moment. Some of the other songs are copied as well
8. A couple of songs from Baaghi (AM yet again) are also copies of IR songs
though I can't recall right away.
There are a few more examples of Anand-Milind that escape me at the moment.
There might be many others from the likes of Anu Malik, Nadeem-Shravan,
Sanjeev-Darshan etc.
yeskay
> "Srinivas Ganti" <g#a#n#t#i#s#r#i#@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> cheval neram (??, ??).
> 2. tu tu tu tu tu taaraa (Anand-Milind (AM for short), Bol Radha Bol) from
> rakkamma kaiya thattu (Dalapathi, IR)
> 3. niile niile ambar pe (KA, ??) from ilaya nilaa (IR, Payanangal
> mudivudillai)
> 4. Songs of telugu movie Prema into songs of hindi remake Love (AM again). I
> know that at least one song SPB-Chitra duet my love merii priyatamaa is
> copied. There might be others.
> 5. Songs of Mani Ratnam's Agni Nakshatram into hindi remake Vansh. Not all
> of them but most of them are copied/inspired. And you guessed it right. It's
> AM again! The Lata solo yeh kangana is inspired from IR's Janaki song
> ponmeni from moonram pirai.
> 6. Some songs from Virasat (Anu Malik) copied/inspired from its Tamil
> original Thevar Magan. Also, one of the songs in this movie is copied from
> tamil movie Yejaman (IR).
> 7. chaahaa hai tumko (Sanjeev-Darshan, Mann) from a tamil song which I can't
> recall at the moment. Some of the other songs are copied as well
> 8. A couple of songs from Baaghi (AM yet again) are also copies of IR songs
> though I can't recall right away.
I have one from J-L too:
Yes Boss: 'Suniye tho' is from a Tamil song (had Kartik in it).
Balaji Murthy
Arun.
"yeskay" <yes...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:40509DDB...@nowhere.com...
> On 03/11/04 11:26 AM, Arun Iyengar wrote:
> > MD for Sandhya Raaga is indeed G.K. Venkatesh. The well known triple
tandem
> > nambide ninna is sung by BMK, Bhimsen Joshi and S. Janaki. Bhimsen's and
> > Janaki's versions stand out while BMK's rendition not surprisingly
leaves
> > much to be desired.
While the Music for Sandhyaa Raaga was credited to G.K.Venkatesh, I have
been told
BMK composed two songs, the triple version 'nambidhe ninna' and BMK, Bhimsen
Joshi
duet. Sandhya Raaga CD mentions both GKV and BMK as MDs. Does anyone have
more
information?
- Balaji
Narayanan
"yeskay" <yes...@nowhere.com> wrote in message news:4050B894...@nowhere.com...
> > 1. koyal si terii boli (Anand-Milind, Beta) is a copy of a tamil song kondai
> > cheval neram (??, ??).
Kondai cheval koovum neram is from Engal chinna raasa MD Shankar Ganesh.
>
> I have one from J-L too:
>
> Yes Boss: 'Suniye tho' is from a Tamil song (had Kartik in it).
Ullathai Alli tha's azhagiya laila in turn was copied from Hisham Abbas'
song. Ullathai Alli tha's MD was Sirpy.
N-
Narayanan
"Sanjeev Ramabhadran" <sanjeev.r...@duke.edu> wrote in message
news:y5%3c.89940$6K....@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...
>
> news:c2nqkd$208l2j$1...@ID-75004.news.uni-berlin.de...
> >
> > >
> > > TMS was no doubt the most popular Tamil (male) singer
> > > at one time. But I always found his voice rather
> > > raucous and grating.
> >
> >
> >
> > I also have the same opinion as you have.I prefer listening to
> > A.M Raja or P.B Srinivas in Tamil as opposed to TMS.
>
> I like PBS, but have not been able to enjoy AM Raja at all - I have been
> told that before the coming of Yesudas, AM Raja was the market share leader
> in the Malayalam industry as well.
Going by PBS' output in Tamil films, I always thought PBS was a tad suspect
with regards to singing classical tunes. Besides, when singing duets the female
singers typically had sing at a lower shruti than normal.
Case in point Policekaran Magal songs
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/WW000F2R
However, I have not heard his songs in Kannada where he was very successful
to draw serious conclusions. Besides in tam he got somewhat sterotyped for
certain actors like K.Balaji(It is hard to imagine someone else sing for Balaji).
>
> On another note, I have a hypothesis that SPB's Andhra connection might have
> something to do with that. I wonder whether the Andhra vs. Tamil Nadu
> difference translates into anything obvious on a voice production level. TMS
> and Ghantasala are but one example of the contrast, with the latter usually
> opting for a "softer" approach. AFAIK, PBS is also not originally from Tamil
> Nadu, and accordingly his basic voice has a more blended (and thus soothing)
> quality.
SPB is from TN :-). Don't let anyone convince you otherwise :-). SPB was born
in Madras Provice in a place which is currently in Thiruvallur district. His residence
was in a border district. Then these Andhrites partitioned the state and took SPB
away. SPB then came to his Chennai. Then Telugu film directors tried to take him
away. But SPB stayed on in Chennai. Seriously, SPB wasn't even trained when he
made it to films to sing one way or other. He was natually very gifted.
N-
Narayanan
<snip>
> There are more but I am not sure if the original was in Telugu or Tamil.
While we are at this business of copying, could someone list
the songs KVM had lifted? Though he wasn't a big gime lifter,
he still had some serious lifts like
1) Konji Konji pesi
2) Eena meena deeka
3) Rasik Balma in tam.
Any more?
N-
UVR
>
> SPB is from TN :-). Don't let anyone convince you otherwise :-). SPB was born
> in Madras Provice in a place which is currently in Thiruvallur district. His residence
> was in a border district. Then these Andhrites partitioned the state and took SPB
> away.
Surely you're joking, Mr. Narayanan. The separation of Andhra and
Rayalaseema from Tamil Nadu by "these Andhraites" (sic) had absolutely
nothing to do with SPB. Infact, SPB wasn't even 10 years old (IIRC,
he was born in 1949,) when Andhra Pradesh was formed (Nov. 1, 1956).
> SPB then came to his Chennai. Then Telugu film directors tried to take him
> away. But SPB stayed on in Chennai. Seriously, SPB wasn't even trained when he
> made it to films to sing one way or other. He was natually very gifted.
Since most Telugu films were also made in Madras (at least during
the early part of SPB's career), your statement about Telugu film
directors trying to "take him away" is also a joke. The last two
sentences of your post are perhaps the only two I can agree with.
-UVR.
rkusenet
> Infact, SPB wasn't even 10 years old (IIRC,
> he was born in 1949,) when Andhra Pradesh was formed (Nov. 1, 1956).
this website mentions the reverse. That is, he was born in Konetammapeta
district, when was then in AP and now in TN !!!!
http://www.tamilstar.com/profile/actor/spb/index.shtml
This one also mentions the same.
http://www.spbala.com/Aboutspb.asp
However I don't know how true are all these information.
rk-
Narayanan
"UVR" <u...@usa.net> wrote in message news:1052jl0...@corp.supernews.com...
> Narayanan wrote:
> >
> > SPB is from TN :-). Don't let anyone convince you otherwise :-). SPB was born
> > in Madras Provice in a place which is currently in Thiruvallur district. His residence
> > was in a border district. Then these Andhrites partitioned the state and took SPB
> > away.
>
> Surely you're joking, Mr. Narayanan.
I was *only* kidding. That is why I added smilies.Considering good MDs
and singers are common in Tam and Telugu movies, it really doesn't
didn't matter. More so in the case of border district people.
N-
Shree
> Well maybe. PBS is also from Andhra.
>
> sg.
I remember having read his (PBS) interview in a Kannada magazine,
where he mentions that his mother tongue is Oriya.
-Shree
UVR
Thanks for the URLs. Both these sites mention that SPB was born in
1946 and not 1949 as I had written. So, evidently, he *was* 10 years
old when AP was formed.
But when "Andhra Pradesh" itself was not formed until 1956, how could
he have been born at any place that was "then in AP, now in TN"?
The latter site also contains one of Dr. Surjit Singh's favorite kind
of stats: SPB "has sung over 36,000 songs in a span of 37 years." :)
-UVR.
PS: The regions of Andhra and Rayalaseema were first separated from
Madras State in 1953 to create the Andhra State. Subsequently, the
state was merged with Telangana (part of Hyderabad [Nizam] State),
to form Andhra Pradesh, in 1956. There are probably some RMIMers
who remember the political turmoil in the area during that period.
Jan
> in Madras Provice in a place which is currently in Thiruvallur district. His residence
> was in a border district. Then these Andhrites partitioned the state and took SPB
> away. SPB then came to his Chennai. Then Telugu film directors tried to take him
> away. But SPB stayed on in Chennai. Seriously, SPB wasn't even trained when he
> made it to films to sing one way or other. He was natually very gifted.
On that logic, Saint Tyagaraja must be a Tamil since he was born in
Tamilnadu.
If SPB was a tamil, he would have had his name as "Balasubramaniyan
Sambamurthy" (father's name as last name) instead of "SP
Balasubramanyam" where SP is his family name used for all his family
members.
Regards
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
"Jan" <janj...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:4ed90a6c.04031...@posting.google.com...
Doesn't the S of SPB stand for "Sripathi"?
For that matter, the second nomenclature you describe (e.g. SP Bala, SP
Sailaja, etc.) seems to be prevalent among Palghat folks too (my father's
family, for example).
Sanjeev
yeskay
On 03/11/04 08:56 PM, Narayanan wrote:
> Going by PBS' output in Tamil films, I always thought PBS was a tad suspect
> with regards to singing classical tunes. Besides, when singing duets the female
> singers typically had sing at a lower shruti than normal.
> Case in point Policekaran Magal songs
> http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/WW000F2R
>
> However, I have not heard his songs in Kannada where he was very successful
> to draw serious conclusions. Besides in tam he got somewhat sterotyped for
> certain actors like K.Balaji(It is hard to imagine someone else sing for Balaji).
>
You may be right. PBS doesn't have many classical songs even in Kannada.
One I remember in which he is very good - 'Narayana vanamaali varada
narada sangeetha lola'. He doesn't show any limitions in that song. I don't know
why there aren't more such songs sung by him. He can be called the 'Mukesh' of
south India.
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
Don't know about his volume of conspicuously classical output (there is a
Telugu duet from "sangeeta samraaT" with SPB), but a quick listen to two
very popular (Tamil) songs, "kaalangaLil avaL vasantam" and "poojaikku vanda
malare vaa" show, IMO, that PBS was a more technically skilled singer than
Mukesh ever was. His voice texture was pleasing as well (this comment is
isolated from any comparison to Mukesh).
Sanjeev
Jan
>
Narayanan
> > in Madras Provice in a place which is currently in Thiruvallur district. His residence
> > was in a border district. Then these Andhrites partitioned the state and took SPB
> > away. SPB then came to his Chennai. Then Telugu film directors tried to take him
> > away. But SPB stayed on in Chennai. Seriously, SPB wasn't even trained when he
> > made it to films to sing one way or other. He was natually very gifted.
>
> On that logic, Saint Tyagaraja must be a Tamil since he was born in
> Tamilnadu.
Did I say that all those born in Tamil Nadu are tamilians? I am only
questioning the basis for classifying "SPB is from AP". SPB was born
in TN and has spent 75% of life in TN and some part of rest 25% in Madras
province(depending on his year of birth). It is really hard to say he is from AP.
That his mother tongue is Telugu is not what I am questioning. I will grant you,
people from border district it is hard to classify one way or other at times. People
of my parent generation spoke both Tam and Telugu as they were from
North Arcot district closer to AP border.
>
> If SPB was a tamil, he would have had his name as "Balasubramaniyan
> Sambamurthy" (father's name as last name) instead of "SP
> Balasubramanyam" where SP is his family name used for all his family
> members.
What load of bullshit? Ever heard of a guy by name GN Balasubramaniam?
His father's name was Narayanaswamy Iyer.
http://www.musicalnirvana.com/carnatic/gn_balasubramanium.html
Ever heard of CP Ramanujam? His father's name was Padmanabhan.
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Ramanujam.html
I have two close relatives one Ramanujan and other Ramanujam.
Paraur SundaraM (Iyer)'s sons are Madras Gopalakrishnan and Anantharaman.
Parur is near Trivandrum though! Balasubramaniam(and all its varients) are
common in TN. That is not to suggest all of them are from TN. But, I really find your
claim that his first name would be Balasubramaniyan, if he were a Tam to be
amusing. Besides that, you will find tons of people with two initials
in TN. 3-4 initials are more common in AP though. Two initials is
a common South Indian phenomenon.
N-
Narayanan
Not getting into Mukesh vs PBS. But, yes PBS did have a very pleasing
voice. Poojaikku Vantha malare from Paadakannikai is a favorite song
of mine. I also like his Kaatruvelidai kannamma too from Kappalottiya
Tamizhan.
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/WW000A1C
N-
Sydney Assbasket
>P.B Srinivas had the distinction. I am not sure if TMS and PBS composed.
>
TMS composed/sang quite a few devotional songs, often on Lord Murugan. He also
acted in a few films.
Remove "moc" to reply.
When toy shopping, look for the Joe Mantegna Seal Of Safety. It's your only
guarantee that the toy has been deemed safe by Joe Mantegna.
Balaji Murthy
> "Srinivas Ganti" <g#a#n#t#i#s#r#i#@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:c2m8if$1tprgv$1...@ID-75004.news.uni-berlin.de...
>
>>>"Surjit Singh" <surjit...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>
>>>OK. So, are there singing MDs over there?
>>
>>Yes. Aong male playback singers, the golden era in Telugu Films was
>>dominated by
>>Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao. He was also one of the top MD's.
>
>>Then there was A.M Rajah who was active in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada.
>
>>Apart from playback he also composed for a lot of movies.
>>
>>Then we have Saluri Rajeswara Rao my favorite MD in the South. (He scored
>>for
>>the Hindi movie Chandralekha (1948)). Saluri sang a lot in the 30's and
>
> 40's
>
>>(many
>>non-filmi songs)along with composing. But from the 50's he mostly stuck to
>>composing.
>>Sreenivas Paruchuri will surely have more to add / correct this.
>>
>>Among ladies we have Bhanumati, who was multifaceted. She was a singing
>
>>star + composer and producer. You must have heard her songs from Chandirani.
>
> Did Bhanumathi provide playback? I am quite ignorant about that.
>
>>In Tamil playback T.M Sounderrajan was the no.1 singer and in Kannada
>>P.B Srinivas had the distinction. I am not sure if TMS and PBS composed.
>
> Regarding singing MDs in Kannada, I know T.G.Lingappa has sung, but that
> might
> be equivalent of Ghulam Haider having sung in Hindi output wise. I have a
> feeling that
> G.K.Venkatesh may have sung a few. I don't know of any recent MDs, except
> that
> Ilaiyaraja has sung in Kannada.
I have snipped a lot above, to leave relevance to what is below.
Below is some information (partially edited) from Sreenivas Paruchuri on
this topic. I think the list basically is for Telugu except where
specified otherwise. I understand Sreenivas will himself make post on
this topic in the near future.
The google references below give a wealth of information posted on RMIM
earlier by Sreenivas when a similar discussion had come up.
- Balaji
There was a query if P. Bhanumati did sing play-back. Technically yes,
at least for one song.
Basically the list (of singing MDs) includes: Naagayya, Aakula
Narasimharao, Ogirala Ramachandrarao, (all from 1930s and 40s)
Ghantasala, A.M. Raja, P.B. Srinivas, SPB, G.K. Venkatesh, Ilaya raja,
Bhanumati, Susarla Dakshina Murthy, Saluri Rajeswararao, TV Raju, C.R.
Subburaman, V. Dakshinamurthy (Malayalam), Ramesh Naidu, Chakravarti
(with his real name: K. Apparao), Pamarthy Venkateswararao, B. Gopalam,
P. Leela (yes, she composed music for one film, produced by actress
Savithri et al. The complete production team consisted of women.) and so
on. In case of Ghantasala he composed music for 102 films and sang not
less than 5000 songs. I foubt if any one comes nearer to that. Naagayya
and Susarla D. Murthy made careers both as MD and singer. Saluri's
singing skills are legendary. Subburama could sing well, as evident in
"peLLi kooturu" (1951).
Composers who also sang - A Southern Perspective - 19. Okt. 1995 von
Vish Krishnan
Composers who also sang - A Southern Perspective - Part II - 21. Okt.
1995 von Sreenivas Paruchuri
[Correction] Re: Composers who also sang - A Southern Perspective ... -
24. Okt. 1995 von Sreenivas Paruchuri
Jan
Could be. What I meant to say was a typical (read "typical" here;
there could be exceptions) tamilian adds his father's name in his name
(could be at the end or at the beginning) unlike people from Andhra
who do not. Also, typical tamilian singers (including prominent
classical singers) cannot (or will not?) distinguish the letters (like
ka/kh/ga/gha etc) correctly while singing. I have yet to see/listen a
tamil singer singing (for eg.) "endarO mahaanubhaavulu" instead of
"endarO magaanubaavulu" [Of course, I have heard Balamuralikrishna and
Jesudas singing both versions, one for tamil audience and one for
telugu audience).
Narayanan
>
> Could be. What I meant to say was a typical (read "typical" here;
> there could be exceptions) tamilian adds his father's name in his name
> (could be at the end or at the beginning) unlike people from Andhra
> who do not.
That is your theory which is off the mark. But, it is not an exception
but a *very* common practice to have father's name as a part of initials
in TN.
> Also, typical tamilian singers (including prominent
> classical singers) cannot (or will not?) distinguish the letters (like
> ka/kh/ga/gha etc) correctly while singing. I have yet to see/listen a
> tamil singer singing (for eg.) "endarO mahaanubhaavulu" instead of
> "endarO magaanubaavulu" [Of course, I have heard Balamuralikrishna and
> Jesudas singing both versions, one for tamil audience and one for
> telugu audience).
I have come across enough musicians in my life who pronounce
Tyagaraja as "Chagaraja". In fact, SPB didn't do so well in Hindi
because of his accent. I find this complaint about accents rather
silly. People would rather put up with some Kumar Sanu or some
other braying because he has an acceptable accent, than
someone who sings well but with certain accent. It is easier to teach
the right pronunciation than to teach abc of music to someone without
music sense. If someone is so concerned about accent then the right
thing would be to educate about the right accent to the guy with music
sense, than to put up with crap being sold as music just because accent is
'right'.
Since you cooked up an apocryphal anecdote about Balamurali singing
the Pancharatna kriti to run down tamil audience, I must tell you what he
said regarding his move to Chennai. "People in AP didn't bother much
when I said I won't sing in AP. Whereas if some top singer were to say
that in Chennai, they would feel outraged. Here no one cares as much
for musicians." That should explain why people like U.Srinivas,
A. Kanyakumari too moved to Madras. In fact, the same is true with
SPB permanently moving to Chennai too IMO. For the record,
Balamurali did translate Tyagaraja kritis in Tamil and sang them
in Tamil rather than butchering telugu to please "ingnoramus" tamil
audience.
N-
V S Rawat
so much confusion about naming practices, end this thread with this
real life anecdot I recently received in some other list.
-Rawat
-----------------
This is regarding a person who comes from Madras to US and he is asked
his name at SSN office.
"Your name?"
"Dinesh."
"How do you spell it?"
"D-I-N...."
"Slow, slow, T?"
"No, D."
"Is that T as in Tom, or D as in Dennis?"
"No, not Dennis, my name is Dinesh."
"I know that. I am asking you, is that a T as in Tom, or D
as in ...as in Detroit?"
"I don't know who Tom is, and I haven't been to Detroit. I
just came from Madras."
"OK, OK, I know that. Is that T-I- or D-I- ?"
"D. D-I-. D-I-N-E-S-H."
"Is that your last name or first name?"
"Uh? Dinesh is my name."
"OK. What is your LAst name?"
"That is my first and last name. Dinesh."
"Then, is your name Dinesh Dinesh?"
"No. My name is Dinesh."
"But what is your LAST NAME? I am ASKING YOU ABOUT YOUR
LAST NAME."
"I told you, Dinesh. I always had the same name, from
birth till now. DINESH. That's my name."
"OK, what is your family name?"
"Family? Family name? My family doesn't have a name."
"What do the neighbors call you?"
"Dinesh."
"Not you. Your whole family. What do they call your
family?"
"Beedida bhat'rr."
"So, that is your family name. Do you understand?
How do you spell that?"
"Spell what?"
"B.D. whatever you said, what your neighbors call your
family."
"Oh, that ... Beedida bhat'rr. What do you need that for?
It only means the brahmin who makes beedis.'"
"What are B-Ds?"
"Not B-D. Beedi, is like a cigarette, you see, they roll
the tobacco in a leaf and tie a thread around it. 25 in a kattu."
"25 in a what?"
"Kattu, or katta, whatever. Like a bunch, you see. If
there is even one less or one more, my father could
always tell without counting. He then taught me how to
do it."
"I am not worried about your 'cutter' or whatever.
What-is-your-last-name?"
"I told you, Dinesh."
"OK, OK, I don't want to go over this again. What is
common to the names of all the members of your family?"
"They are all in Sanskrit. My first sister is Suneetha,
the second sister is Sumathi ... "
"Not about the language. When you write your name, and
your sister writes her name, what do you two have in common?"
"We have the same handwriting. Even my father can't tell
our handwritings apart."
"Blast it! What is your father's name?"
"G.K.Nettar."
"What does G.K. stand for?"
"His name, Gopala Krishna."
"Then what is Nettar?"
"That is our house name."
"House name? Aha, does every one at your house have this
name?"
"It is not our name. It is the name of our house.
Strictly speaking, its hould be Honnadka. But my father
was too lazy to change it.My father was born in Honnadka,
but, see, my grandfather was born in Nettar."
"What was his name?"
"I told you, G.K.Nettar."
"Your grandfather was also called G.K. whatever?"
"No. That is my father."
"Then what is your grandfather's name?"
"Govinda Bhat. See, my relatives still call me Mangalore
Govinda. Because it is a tradition to name the first son after
his grandfather. All the brothers of my father have done this.
So, we have Honnadka Govinda, Jogibettu Govinda, Kanchodu
Govinda, and I am Mangalore Govinda."
"So, then, your name is Mangalore Govinda, not Dinesh."
"No. My name is Dinesh. Mangalore Govinda is how my
relatives call me. That is not my NAme."
"What do they call your sister?"
"Ammanni."
"What? You said her name is Sooneetha."
"Yes, that is her name, Suneetha, but we call her Ammanni."
"Is that her nick-name?"
"No. she doesn't have a nick name. Only our neighbor's
daughter has a nick name. She is called 'soote'. She is
very active. That's why."
"What about your brother?"
"I have no brothers. But then, you can count all those
Govindas as my brothers too. See, they are really kind
of my brothers."
"OK, what are their names?"
"The oldest one, he is my big brother. He is called
GovindaNNa."
"Govind Anna? Then Anna is his last name."
"No, ANNA, not anna. ANNA means big brother."
"What is his NAME?"
"His name is Govinda Bhat."
"Then your last name is But."
"Not but, Bhat, B-H-A-T. But that's not his name, you see."
"If that's not his name, what is it? Why does he have it
in his name?"
"Bhat simply means he is a brahmin. He might as well write
Rao, like his father does, or Sharma, like my father's
second brother does."
"How does he write his name in official papers?"
"Nettar Govinda Bhat. That's how he writes it."
"How does his father write it?"
"Nettar Venkata Subba Rao."
"Aha, I can see now. Your father is G.K.Nettar, his
brother is Nettar something Rao... your last name is then
Nettar. Aha, I got it."
"But Nettar is not the last name. It is the house name."
"I don't care. Tell me one last time, what is YOUR last
name?"
"But I told you, my last name is the same as my first name,
my only name, Dinesh."
"Then, I am going to write Nettar here. I don't care if it
is your house
name, your grandfather's name, your dog's name, whatever. It
is your last name. How do you spell it? N-E-..."
"N-E-T-T-A-R."
"N-E-T-T-? Is that T as in Tom or D as in Dennis?"
"My name is Dinesh, not Dennis."
"AARRGGHHHHH. Do we have to go through this again? Here,
write it down."
"That's it. From now on, you are Dinesh Nettar, Dinesh is
your first name, and Nettar is your last name. OK?"
-------------------
V S Rawat
>> SPB is from TN :-). Don't let anyone convince you otherwise :-).
>> SPB was born in Madras Provice in a place which is currently in
>> Thiruvallur district. His residence was in a border district.
>> Then these Andhrites partitioned the state and took SPB away. SPB
>> then came to his Chennai. Then Telugu film directors tried to
>> take him away. But SPB stayed on in Chennai. Seriously, SPB
>> wasn't even trained when he made it to films to sing one way or
>> other. He was natually very gifted.
>
>
> On that logic, Saint Tyagaraja must be a Tamil since he was born in
> Tamilnadu.
Exactly. :)
On that logic, Subhash Chandra Bose must be an Oriya because he was
born in Cuttack, Orissa.
These bengoliis have convinced everyone otherwise. What a propoganda.
-Rawat