Gangai Amaran, The Lyricist_Composer

[Oldposts]

Topic started by outsider (@ 203.91.150.145) on Thu Sep 12 07:13:56 EDT 2002.


Tamil film music industry is fortunate that in
it, dominance of one person did not mean the complet exclusion of others. The creativity and
quality of Illai Raaja made him the most important
and dominant MD from the late 70's to, at least
the mid 80's. Fortunately the stalwarts of the
earlier period M.S. Vishwanaathan and Shankar-Ganesh (sorry to the S-G detractors) continued churning out quality songs in
the period of Illai Raaja dominance. So in the
late 70's to early 80's TFM had the good fortune of having the services of three MD's of high
caliber -- IR, SG, and MSV. In the early 80's
another good MD, Gangai Amaran, emerged.
After this "prelude" I come to the topic at
hand, i.e., the musical talents of GA. I will not list the songs they composed, for there
are many who can do it better than me.

[Oldposts]

R. Sundar,
I am anxiously waiting for your interview of
Gangai Amaran.
When did you interview him?
Do you have the record of this interview or will you narrate it as a memoire?

[Oldposts]

Rgpm Sundar, when will you post the interview?

[Oldposts]

Dear outsider,

Thanx for the response. You have opened GA thread. In fact my meeting with GA was not exactly for an interview but a casual talk with the MD for a TV prog. sometime in 1995 in which I supplied the material for the interview. I will post the matter in bits as it will be too tedious to put it in one strike. IMO, GA is a very prolific composer and had a stamp of his own and on hearing some of his tunes I had even wondered that this man by no means second to his illustrious brother but matches him. And on speaking to him one would definitely admire his down-to-earth approach and modest. Very pragmatic approach,plain-speaking, outspoken and a simple person. His very first film Karai kadantha oruthi has some lilting numbers..I was very much fascinated by Odathula thanneeru pennoruthi kanneeru odam poyi ooru seruma (SJ), Naangu mathangal ulaginil vasantha kalangal(VJ), Sonnathu palikkuthu paaru (MV-VJ) to mention a few. You see none of these songs resembled any of his brother's tune and they were unique. Still lingering in me. The rest....

[Oldposts]

Friends,

GA's first film was 'karai kadantha oruthi' (KuRaththi renamed as oruthi after strong protests from the narikuRavar community). My friends and I were very naive college students and used to think that IR must have helped his younger brother with some tunes to bring him up! It took us several years to mature and appreciate that GA is a good composer in his own right and being a man with fierce self respect, he would not have approached his brother for help!(Nor would IR have encouraged this!)

'karai kadantha..' had another song
'pacha mala pakkaththula kuRaththee! Oun pakkathula maappiLLaya niRuththi, karugamaNi thaali koduththom! oun kai pidicha maappiLLakku onniya koduthom!'

'Vidukathai onRu! Thodarkathai onRu!' from 'oru vidukathai oru thodarkathai'
Almost all songs from Vazhvey mayam, especially, 'Neela vaana Odaiyil neendhuginRa veNNilaa'

Let me recall some more and write!

[Oldposts]

CV -
Bhagyaraj picks up on the common assumption (in a lighter vein) of GA stealing IRs scores and passing it off as his own, in the opening credits of Mouna Geethangal." Two cartoonish figures with GA and IR heads are seen in the recording studio - with GA running off with some score-sheets - and I think everyone in the audience knew what was being spoofed.

Gangai Amaran's score for Sattam was well received:
Ammamma Saranam Saranam and Oru Nanbanin Kadhai Idhu were hits from that film (which, incidentally was a K. Balaje remake of the hindi Dostana - starring Amitabh and Shatrugan.)

[Oldposts]

2 good songs of GA:

(1) vaa vaa en veeNaiye
(2) mazaiyin thuLiyil (chinnathambi periyathambi)

[Oldposts]

a few other good melodies from GA are "neela vaana odayil", "vandhanam en vandhanam" , "suttum vizhi chudar thaan kannamma" (sung by PS, a great song), "gnyabagam illayo" , "isaikavo nam kalyaana raagam"(very good tune).

[Oldposts]

Enna Sugamo Idhu Thodum Sugam (KJY = don't know film name - what a fantastic number, unheard of
Kasturi Maan Onru (Sankarlal)
But, Thedinen Ilamai Sugam Thedinen (Sankarlal - inspired from Neon Lights of Kraftwerk)

I think Gangai Amaran seemed more inspired by Sankar Ganesh type melody and rhythm's.

But, Kasturi Maan is an exotic number.

GA is an allrounder and definitely one of the best contributors to modern tamil cullture pop or classical.

[Oldposts]

hi

[Oldposts]

Another good album from GA is Ini oru sudandhiram.

[Oldposts]

GA was a vastly under-rated, under-utilised MD. Perhaps he himself was to blame- his varied interests- lyrics writing, singing and film direction, didn't allow him to concentrate on his music. Malargaley Malarungal, for instance is a brilliant album. I was surprised when I read that he has composed music for more than a 100 films- En Thagachi padichava was his 100th film.

These are his songs which I like a lot, apart from some which have already been mentioned:

1.Naalu vagai poovil- Ramayi vayasukku vandhutta- JC-SJ
2.Nayagan avan oru puram- Oru Vidukathai oru thodarkathai-KJY-SJ
3.Mookuthi poo meley-Mouna Geethangal-KJY-SJ
4.Madura pakkam-Theruvilakku-Kamal-SPS
5.Pon maana thedi-Enga oor rasaathi-MVD-SPS
6.Vaanamey mazhaimegamey-Madhumalar-KJY-UR
7.Vellam poley thullum-Kanavugal karpanaigal-SPB-Poorani
8.Thendral oru paadal sonnathu-Kanavugal karpanaigal-JC
9.Pillai pirayathiley-Kanavugal karpanaigal-Deepan Chakravarthi
10.Maadapuraavo-Imaigal-MVD-PS
11.Pasamalarey-Neethipathi-TMS-PS-SPS
12.Oru devathai vandhaal-Neethipathi-SPB-VJ
13.Manithan kathai idhu-Vamsavilakku-SPB-MVD
14.Kaalam kaalamaai-Karpoora deepam-SJ-PS
15.Vaa maalai neram-Karpoora deepam-SPB-SJ
16.Malligai pooviley-Karpoora deepam-SNS-SJ
17.Neelagiri poovey-Kudumbam-SNS-SJ
18.Allippookaley-Mannukketha Ponnu-SPS
19.Poove poojai seyya vaa-Pattuselai-KJY
20.Thendrale thendrale-Savi-SPB-SJ
21.Poovo ponno poovizhi maano-Pudhu Yugam-KJY-SJ
22.Azhage nee azhalaama-Pudhuyugam-SNS-Shobha
23.En radhaye-Premapasam-KJY-VJ
24.Vannam-Premapasam-SPB-SJ
25.Nee thaana nesanthaana-Naalellam pournami-KJY-KSC
26.Saathimalligai samanji nikkidhu-Naalellam pournami-KSC
27.Pootha malligai-Namma ooru nalla ooru-SJ
28.Odam engey-Namma ooru nalla ooru-MSV
29.Oru kaadhal enbathu-Chinna thambi periya thambi-SPB-SJ
30.Solla vallayo kiliye-Ini oru Sudhandhiram-SPS-KSC
31.Mohathai kondru vidu-Ini oru sudhandhiram-KJY-KSC
32.Hero vandhachudi-Jeeva-SPB-KSC
33.Sangeetham kelu-Jeeva-MVD-SNS-Sunandha
34.Mamanu solla oru aalu-En thangachi padichava-JC-PS-SPS
35.Kaadhal polladhu-Thambi thanga kambi-SPB-PS-KSC
36.Alli alli veesudhayya-Atha maga Rathiname-SJ

[Oldposts]

Instead of mere listing of songs a critical or general analysis is welcome moviewise/songwise as Saravanan does for VJ thread. Isn't it Saravanan?

[Oldposts]

Friends,

Those days, 'Odaththula thaNNeeru...' from' karai kadantha oruththi' had the record of using the maximum no. of instruments in one song (I think 150!). I don't if it was beaten later on!

[Oldposts]

Typo: I don't know if it was beaten later on!

[Oldposts]

R Sundar-

It is only due to lack of sufficient time that I merely listed the songs of GA which are my favourites.
I agree all of them deserve detailed appreciation and analysis. Please excuse me for not being able to involve myself here, (at least immediately), to the extent of my participation in the VJ thread.

[Oldposts]

an interesting info. i happened to watch an interview of GA by somebody. in that GA described a event.

i don't remember which of these three songs(vaa vaa en veeNaiye, mazaiyin thuLiyil and ammamma sharanam charanam un paadhangaL) he was mentioning. It seems one of these songs he was playing(in a tape recorder) when he was chatting with IR. IR listened to that song and "liked" it very much and asked GA "hey! nalla vandhurukkae. amar, indha paatta naa aendha padaththukku pottaen?" GA laughed and told him "appa idhu nee pottadhu illa naa pottadhu". then both laughed.

[Oldposts]

Archivist,

Shankarlal, I believe, is not by GA but by IR.

[Oldposts]

R Sundar, I think Shankarlal was a very rare joint effort by IR and GA. I remember Vividh Bharathi announcing: Isai-IR-GA. I suppose some songs were by IR and the rest by GA. I don't know the circumstances which resulted in this arrangement,though.

Similarly, Auto Raja had one song by IR and the rest by SG.

[Oldposts]

Saravanan,

Is that Sangathil paadaatha kavithai angathil yaar thandhathu you are referring to in Autoraja-IR,SJ? Good no. indeed.

[Oldposts]

Was GA the MD for Manasukkul Mathappu ?

[Oldposts]

R Sundar,

Yes, 'Sangathil paadaatha kavithai' was a superb song by IR-SJ. The songs by SG were excellent too- While SPB's 'Malarey ennenna kolam' is a haunting pathos filled solo, the SPB-VJ duet 'Kanni vannam oodhappoo' is delightfully melodious.

Archivist, the song 'Enna sughamo'-KJY you have mentioned is from the film 'Valampuri Sanghu' which doesn't seem to have been released. Another good song from the film is 'Idhu kaalaakaalam alaigal karayil eri vara' by Jayachandran-SJ.

Another superb score by GA for an unreleased film was 'Malargaliley aval malligai'. It had lovely songs like 'Poovey malligai poovey'-Jayachandran-SJ and 'Sindhu nadhiyoram'-Jayachandran-PS.

Cosmician- 'Manasukkul Mathappoo' was by SA Rajkumar.

[Oldposts]

R. Sundar, I think the time is more than ripe that at least the first bit of your meeting with Gangai Amran should come out. After all it would take many episodes to complete.

[Oldposts]

R. Sundar, I think the time is more than ripe that at least the first bit of your meeting with Gangai Amran should come on the fore-front. After all it would take many episodes to complete.

[Oldposts]

Thanks Saravanan

[Oldposts]

Friends,

A good song (already mentioned) from 'oru vidukathai oru thodarkathai' is ' naayagan, avan oru puRam, avan vizhiyil manaivi azhagu! naayagi, avaL maRu puRam, avaL maarbil iraNdu nilavu!'

Subsequently, the lyrics turn into kuppai! You can enjoy the lines: 'maNakkum varai pookkadai! maNam maaRinaal adhu saakkadai!' How do you like this??!!!

[Oldposts]

Cinema Virumbi- it is 'Nayagi, aval marupuram, aval vaanil irandu nilavu'! And not 'Maarbil'!! You have become a 'Kurumbi'!!!

[Oldposts]

I remember once in an interview in DD before the cable TV came, Amar told in an interview that the song*mannil indha kaadhal* was written by him but had put his brothers name instead, as he is does not want to take credit for that songs, as there is an impression that Amar writes songs like *vaadi en kappa kezhangu* and others, he had mentioned some more goods songs written by him under his broter Paavalar Varadharajan.

[Oldposts]

Typo:under the name of his brother Paavalar Varadharajan.

[Oldposts]

GA talks here.

http://www.webulagam.com/chat/2000_11/24_chat2.htm (http://www.webulagam.com/chat/2000_11/24_chat2.htm
)

[Oldposts]

Sangathil paadaatha kavithai angathil yaar thandhathu - Auto Raja. Where can I listen to this song?

Thanks

[Oldposts]

Saravanan,

>>>>>Cinema Virumbi- it is &#39;Nayagi, aval marupuram, aval vaanil irandu nilavu&#39;! And not &#39;Maarbil&#39;!! You have become a &#39;Kurumbi&#39;!!! <<<<<

No mischief intended! I sincerely thought this was the lyrics(though I had a nagging feeling that it was slightly vulgar/obscene)!!!!

[Oldposts]

how come u guys missed &#39;Vaazhvey maayam&#39; .. the masterpiece of GA... :-)

[Oldposts]

there is one song in a Pandiyarajan movie &#39;Oorai therinjukitten&#39; i believe... its sung by Jayachandran which goes &#39;Thaalattuven.. kanmani ponmani.."... a superb song by GA.

I thought "neelagiri poovey" and "Ponmaana thedi" are by IR...!!!

[Oldposts]

..and can any1 confirm which of the songs in &#39;Auto Raja&#39; were composed by IR and SG respectively? i dont think that SPB pathos number was by IR.. it sounds damningly similar to Hindi music arrangements which IR 99.99% never does.

[Oldposts]

This may interest you guys: http://thirai.ambalam.com/int-music/2001/june/int-music22_06.html

[Oldposts]

I dont know if this song was mentioned:
Aanenna pennenna from Dharmadurai
Did he get a state award for that song?

[Oldposts]

VJ - yes, Auto Raja was by IR, SG and may be someother MD too..... IR had his song "Changathill paadadhaaa kavidhaai"..... and SG ahd this one "Malaaraeee Ennanaa kollaaam".... a real good number....

[Oldposts]

not sure if this song had been mentioned.... "Endraiku enindhaaa aanandhamaey" - i think was by GA.....

[Oldposts]

The SPB song in Auto raja , is neither by IR or SG, it was the same tune as the original kannada song by the same titled movie acted by late "Shankar Nag", and the original kannada song was composed by Rajan Nagendra or GK ve, it goes like" Naguvaa Gulaabi hoove", a great song by SPB
Prabhudas

[Oldposts]

oh is it Prabhu ? tks for the info..... Ceylon radio used to play these 2 songs regularly..... and i remember they said the MD for the SPB song is SG.....

[Oldposts]

sabesan/prabhudas-
I have seen the record of &#39;Auto Raja&#39;. It clearly credited &#39;sandhathil paadatha kavithai&#39; to IR and the rest to SG. Perhaps SG copied the tunes from the Kannada original. If so, is &#39;Kanni vannam oodhappoo&#39; (SPB-VJ) also a lift?

[Oldposts]

ceyllon radio used to play the sg more often than sangathil, but both were very regular songs. i liked that sg song, very touchy song.

btw, did GA write the pazham joke of Karagatakaran? or, was it GM senthil original?

[Oldposts]

i believe the pazham joke was by the comedy writer of several Koundamani/Senthil starrers, Veerappan or some such name.

[Oldposts]

sangathil paadatha kavitahi is a wonderful song. I did not know that the MD of the film was SG. I had all along thought that GKV was the MD of the film (for this is what I have heard) and the song was sung (I did not say compose!) by IR for his guru upon request.

[Oldposts]

Jeera - that song alone is by IR - the rest i believe is by SG.....

[Oldposts]

>>>not sure if this song had been mentioned.... "Endraiku enindhaaa aanandhamaey" - i think was by GA.....

Shocking Sabesan!
This song is from Vaidehi Kaathirunthaal, music by IR.

[Oldposts]

Prabhudas, was that Kannada song "Gulaabi Hanoora danthe......." or this is another song.This was tragical song from the mid 80&#39;s. In this song
SPBS&#39; voice touches sublimity as is the case usually with most of the tragic ones.

[Oldposts]

Sorry outsider, the first part...basically the nature of the prog which occasioned my meeting GA was the raga-based songs composed by every MD alone and the idea was to know directly from the MD himself how the particular raga was chosen for that song or under which influence.

I first asked him about his Nayakan avan oru puram (your attn:CV) from Vidukathai ondru thodarkathai ondru which song is based on Valaji raga. Such a beautiful song the like of which was not even composed by his brother IR. He explained us the situation of the song in the film where a woman meets her ex-lover after get married to a goodie goodie person living happily with him forgetting her past..the usual filmi stuff...the lover forces her to come with him ...(I didnot see the film)...GA continued that he was immediately reminded of the famous paean (of Gopalakrishna Bharathi?) invoking the blessings of Chidambaram deity Neelakantan...Kaividamattaan kanakasabesan...suggesting that the woman loves her husband so much that she trusts her huband would not let her down at any cost and the
lover should no longer trouble her. Thus the Valaji raga was used for this song. I was thrilled. The interludes in the song are really captivating particulary the flute that follows the pallavi. (to be continued).

[Oldposts]

Rpm Sundar,
Interesting start indeed. However, sir, I would not mind if you increase the size of your episodes of the meeting.
The goody-two-shoes husband, ex-lover, and an indecisive woman! this reminds me the storyline of mid-80&#39;s Hindi film, Dehleez. The movie was not
a quality venture. Though a tragic song rendered by Mahindr Kapoor did attain some notice.

[Oldposts]

Rgpm Sundar,

I remember, &#39;oru vidukathai oru thodarkathai&#39; was released sometime in 1979-80 and had Vijayan (with his trade mark &#39;koon&#39;!) and Shobha in it! I remember in the VJ thread you had said that &#39;thaththi chellum muththukkaNNan sirippu&#39; from &#39;Thangap padhakkam&#39; is also in Valaji (though these two songs and a third Valaji number &#39;aeriyilE oru kashmir rOjaa&#39; appear quite different from one another!)

[Oldposts]

CV,

Good observation indeed. pl. keep it up. Though the raga is same prayogams differ.

[Oldposts]

C V, R Sundar-

Reg. &#39;Nayagan avan oru puram&#39;- the situation, as I remember is this: Vijayan and Aparna are husband and wife. Aparna falls for Vijayan&#39;s friend, who is a sportsman. Vijayan leaves to Delhi on official work. Aparna and her &#39;Kalla kaadhalan&#39; ( Dinathandhi&#39;s nomenclature for such a person!) go to Bangalore to have fun.
Unfortunately, Vijayan&#39;s flight develops a snag and the flight lands in Bangalore. He is forced to stay overnight in a hotel in Bangalore. In the very next room, Aparna and her kk are busy rewriting the great Vatsayana&#39;s treatise! The song comes as an asareeri in this situation.

As the song ends, there is a police raid in the hotel, and Aparna and her kk are dragged out-Aparna is suspected to be in the world&#39;s oldest profession. Hearing the furore next door, Vijayan comes out. He is shocked, but he saves his wife by informing the police that he knows the couple well and they (KK and Aparna) are husband and wife!!

MA Khaja, in his heyday, came out with many such unusual stories!

[Oldposts]

Saravanan,

Is it the same Aparna who acted in &#39;ThuNivE thuNai&#39; (Aagaayththil...and kallil neereduppOm)?

[Oldposts]

CV -
We could use some more of your "loud thinking" in many threads :-) Pump up the volume, will you?

(To answer by proxy: Yes, adhey Arpana. She was also in Jai&#39;s Jambu, I believe. You know what THAT movie was all about, yeah?)

[Oldposts]

That should be Aparna (though Arpana is the way she offered up her vital stats!) :-)

[Oldposts]

Where are R. Sundar&#39;s episodes?

[Oldposts]

Naaz,

Yes! I remmber KarNan&#39;s &#39;Jambu&#39;! Though I narrowly missed it in college, I saw it recently in a satellite channel (albeit a sanitised version!) But I think the name of the heroine was Jayamala. (I even recall the rather blunt usage in Rani/ Daily Thanthi: &#39;Kavarchi aattakkaari&#39; as against the more civilised &#39;kavarchi nadigai&#39;!!!)

[Oldposts]

Anyone to comment on the lyrics of Gangai?
Was it suitable for him to venture into the feild in the presence of Vaali, Kanna Daasan, Vairamuttu, Panju Arunaachalam, Muttulingam?

[Oldposts]

Dear Ragapravaham Sundar Sir,

If you don&#39;t contribute something regularly, I am afraid, this thread will die a peaceful death! I think it is already on its way! Pl. do something!

[Oldposts]

A natural death, I must say.

[Oldposts]

Hi. I&#39;d just like to add a few comments to this thread... before it does die...

First, I just want to say that GA, IMO, is a great composer that sadly did not get the recognition he meritted. Probably that&#39;s why we do not see any films MD&#39;ed by Gangai Amaran nowadays (his last film was Athamaga Rathiname (1994)? Pl. correct me if I&#39;m wrong.) Who knows? Maybe some time in the near future, he&#39;ll make a comeback as MD (wishful thinking)? Certainly his songs are leagues ahead of those so-called MDs of today, such as Deva, SAR, Sirpi, TS Muralidharan, etc.

Anyway, in regards to the songs, I just want to say that I really like &#39;Neelagiri Poove&#39; (Kudambam), &#39;Nalla Kudambam&#39; (same film), &#39;Nayagan Avan Oru Puram&#39; (OVOT), &#39;Aadidum Odamay&#39; (Suvar Illatha Sithirangal), &#39;Poongaathe Poongathe (Naalellaam Pournami), etc.

[Oldposts]

Oh, I may add that &#39;Suvar Illatha Sithirangal&#39; had a really interesting song. It goes like &#39;Welcome, you are welcome, you all are welcome...&#39; I really like the music in the song.

You can hear it at www.thaalam.com.

BTW, I heard a song from Prema Paasam (1985 Sivakumar-Revathy starrer), that goes like &#39;Paasam... Prema Paasam...&#39; The song is sung by SPB, and has him making frequent gagging and coughing sounds. I wonder where this song fits into the scheme of the movie. COuld someone who has seen the film inform us where this song fits in with the film.

Bye.
<a name="last"></a>

[R.Latha]

GANGAI AMARAN now doing music for THIRUVILAYADAL serial in sun tv

[thumburu]

Yes, Gangai Amaran's music in "ThiruviLaiyadal" is classical based and it is definitely leagues ahead of his brother's lack lustre songs in serials like "namma kudumbam", "therkathi poNNu" etc

[R.Latha]

Song link thanks to AANAA

http://raretfm.mayyam.com/stream//tvserial/Thiruvilaiyadal.rm

Who are singers

[Renault]

Yes, Gangai Amaran's music in "ThiruviLaiyadal" is classical based and it is definitely leagues ahead of his brother's lack lustre songs in serials like "namma kudumbam", "therkathi poNNu" etc


Look at the context sir, GA is doing a classical piece while IR is doing (title song alone) a non-classical piece.

both are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than acute noise pollution created today by a few.

[R.Latha]

[tscii:0379ed2d14]‘Pugaipadam’ (Photograph) was the film that was launched yesterday here in Chennai. The film has 5 debutants playing the lead role and produced by NC Manikandan under the banner of Mayabazaar Cinemas. Rajesh Lingam handles story, screenplay, dialogues and direction for the film and shooting would soon hit the floors here in Chennai. Speaking on the occasion of movie launch, Director Rajesh has said that it is a film set at the backdrops of college and lives of five youngsters over there. Probably, the theme seems to be quite clichéd, but Director again assures it would differ from the other flicks based on college themes.

After a very long time, Gangai Amaran would be scoring music for the film while B. Lenin takes care of editing and Vijay Armstrong cranks the camera.

[/tscii:0379ed2d14]

[Renault]

Enna Sugamo Idhu Thodum Sugam (KJY = don't know film name - what a fantastic number, unheard of
Kasturi Maan Onru (Sankarlal)
But, Thedinen Ilamai Sugam Thedinen (Sankarlal - inspired from Neon Lights of Kraftwerk)

I think Gangai Amaran seemed more inspired by Sankar Ganesh type melody and rhythm's.

But, Kasturi Maan is an exotic number.

GA is an allrounder and definitely one of the best contributors to modern tamil cullture pop or classical.






Shankarlal was scored by Ilayaraja, I beleive. Kasthoori maan is an awesome number.