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MB Srinivasan

Topic started by era.murugan (@ 131.241.26.63) on Fri Feb 4 21:39:33 EST 2000.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

“MBS used to compose a lot of songs (mostly chorus) for AIR in the mid 70's. Most of them were based on Indira Gandhi's 20-point programme”

I was going thru the archived postings in the thread on M.B.Srinivasan and was surprised to note this observation. To put the matters straight –

1) MBS, like the MakkaL Kavignar Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram came into TFM with a Communist background.
2) He formed the Madras Youth Choir in the 70s to encourage choral singing of literacy works by great poets like Bharathi and Bharathidasan. Bharathi’s songs like ‘Bharatha Desamenru peyar solluvar’, and Bharathidasan’s ‘Amma unthan kai valayaL aka mAttenA’ tuned by MBS for the Youth Choir are memorable. The group is still functioning and give public performances occasionally – especially on Bharathi’s birthday.
3) MBS had the unique achievement of making around 1000 school children from the corporation schools in Chennai (mostly from the deprived sections of the society) to sing in one voice Bharathi’s ‘Nalla kalam pirakkudhu’. Sujatha has written about this in one of his ‘KanayAzhi last page’ articles.
4) MBS did not set to music any propaganda songs during emergency. It was a coincidence his choir had chance to broadcast – mostly patriotic songs in all languages – one of them ‘Sivandha roja malarai aNindhu’ by KCS Arunachalam (who penned Chinna Chinna MukkuthiyAm for ‘Padhai Theriyudhu PAr’ and set to music by MBS) is a sheer melody. Another song by Thamizhanban sung by the group in AIR had words like ‘Iruttil puravin Iragu chilirpukaL, kaikaLin Oram kazhugin nagamkaL’ (alluding to the then political scenario) and hopefully proclaiming ‘Vidiya pokiradhu’. It is still a surprise how the song escaped the ever vigilant censors!
5) MBS scored music for Dhagam (an art film of the 70s directed by Babu Nanthan Kodu) – his Sahana piece ‘Urugidum veLaiyilum’ and Amirdhavarshini song ‘VAnam enadhu veedu’ (both by S Janaki) are lilting melodies. Jesudoss sings a short Bharathi song ‘vAnamengum Parithiyin sodhi’ before ‘Urugidum veLaiyilum’ begins, in his inimitable style.
6) Under MBS’s baton, Usha Uthup sang the first Tamil pop song ‘Malligai Poo’ for Madhana Maligai.
7) MBS had also scored music for a number of Malayalam art movies including the National Award winner Nirmalyam (story by the prominent Malayalam author MT Vasudevan Nair and starring P.J.Antony in the role of the protagonist VelichchappAdu).
8) MBS was the hero of the art movie in Tamil, ‘Agraharathil Kazhuthai’ directed by the Malayalam director Johny Abraham (of art movies ‘Amma Ariyan’, ‘Rarichan enna pouran’ fame) and scripted by NA.Muthusami of Koothupattari. He is the Brahmin professor with a donkey for a pet who goes to his native village and there begins the story.
9) MBS, as a true trade unionist had done yeomen service for organizing TFM musicians to demand better wages and living conditions. He never worried he had less movies on hand. and used to say, “I can earn my bread through my jingles”. (The famous Aspro jingle - I believe – broadcast in Vividh Bharathi in the 60s and 70s was tuned by MBS).

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Responses:

• From: Jay Narayanasamy (@ 1cust187.tnt4.har1.da.uu.net) on: Tue Feb 8 20:54:44 EST 2000
  
  One who wants to know about IG and 20 point programme should talk to Cho
  Ramaswamy, probably he would be able to write 20 books then :-)
  
  Thx Murugan. I came to know 2 songs from another thread."Thennageetur Oonjalile" "Chinna paravai annaiyai thedi". Now I could remember "chinna chinna mookuthiyam" too. Credit goes to ceylone radio :-).
  
  MBS’ music lesson was famous in AIR. He used to teach children Bharathi's "odi viLaiyadu pAppa" and one more Bengali song (bakim chanra chetterjee?) It was really amazing.
  
  I didn't read JK's "Oru ilakkiyavathiyin Kalai ulaga Anupavangal". But I hope that he could have mentioned more about MBS.
  
  Any one could understand his firm stand and self-confidence through his ‘life survival’ comment. Bharathi says:
  
  ALakkaRu thuyar utRalum
  AchamE uLathuk koLLar
  ThuLakkaRa Ongi nirapr
  Thurar uNdO thunivuLLArKE?
  
  
• From: sk (@ harvest.ucar.edu) on: Wed Mar 8 21:48:58 EST 2000
  
  http://www.aaraamthinai.com/sirappupparvai/sirappupparvai.asp
  
  
• From: Ronnie (@ ) on: Thu Jan 1 12:06:50 EST 2004
  
  20 points programme by Indra gandhi and its implimentaton
  
  

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