Interview: Madurai G S Mani

Comedian Chandrababu would dance in the studios as they recorded his songs. T S Balayya loved singing kalpana swaras. Dale Carnagie abhorred imitation. Kambodhi’s ‘ri’ differs from Sankarabharanam’s in the swings…….

King Gilpin’s horse could take off in five different directions at the same time. Talk to Madurai G S Mani, you find the conversation much the same. Information pours like a waterfall, in multiple cascades.

The man is a genius! His music is one of pure manodharma. On-stage innovation is his hallmark. The music comes straight from the heart, pours straight into the soul.

But singing is only one of his several musical talents. He has composed hundreds of songs, scored music for thousands of Tamil films, acted in a few, created plays, taught music all over the world.

Madurai G S Mani spoke to me about his past a couple of years ago. The interview was submitted to The Hindu, but – I can only blame it on my fate – only a mutated version of it appeared in print.

Here is the ‘full’ version:


What are your recollections of your days with M S Viswanathan ?

Very pleasant memories. Apart from the pleasure of working with a great music director and being a part of some immortal hit songs, the several years I worked with him (from 1957) put me in touch with many great personalities of the Tamil film world. Although I was personally acquainted with people like MGR, Sivaji and Kalaignar, I would name two film personalities as my very good friends—Chandra Babu and Kannadasan. Of course, P B Srinivas is a very dear friend of mine, he still comes to many of my concerts.

How did you happen to stray into film world ?

Well, I met MSV by accident. We both happened to be waiting in B S Ranga’s office. A conversation started and MSV asked me who I was. I said I had come to Madras for a All India Radio recording, which
had been aired that morning. Apparently, MSV had heard the concert on the radio, for he said, “they announced (the singer’s name) as Madurai G S Mani ?” I said I was the singer and MSV asked me if I
would like to join his troop. That was it.

How was it working with M S Viswanathan ?

It was great. I must say that I’ve never seen a bigger workaholic than MSV. He would work day and night without a word of complaint. He was a great composer.

I remember, when we were setting music for ‘nilave ennidam nerungagadae’ (film: Ramu)—in just under half an hour MSV produced at least ten different tunes. The tunes simply kept coming off his harmonium. Each tune was so wonderful and it was difficult to select one. Finally, when we were trying out the Bhagyasri tune, P B Srinivas said, “edi chaala bagundi” (this is very good).

MSV and Kannadasan were prolific. Just as MSV would compose music in a jiffy, Kannadasan would produce songs in no time.
You must have seen Kannadasan in action. How was it to work with him?
Of course. Once, they were doing the music for Ambigapathy. Music director G Ramanathan had set the tune. Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram was asked to compose the lyrics. When he heard the situation and the music and declared that nobody but Kavignar (Kannadasan) would be able to compose lines for the music.

All were in a fix, because the producer of the film was Kannadasan’s brother, A L Srinivasan and the brothers were not on good terms with each other. Yet there seemed to be no choice. Somebody went to Kannadasan and impressed upon him that as a poet he should not refuse to compose lyrics. He agreed and came to the studio. Ten minutes—that was all he took to compose the song. Without a word, ALS
handed him a blank cheque. Without a word Kannadasan accepted it and departed.

There was so much respect for art those days.
Yes. No matter how personal relations were, professionals appreciated excellence in others. For instance, once I complimented K V Mahadevan over the hit song, Mannavan Vandanadi in Tiruvarutchelvar. “Mama, you’ve produced such a wonderful Kalyani,” I said. Mahadevan replied, “Maybe, I did. But look at G Ramanathan. He has produced such a great Kalyani using lower notes,” he said, referring to ‘Sindanai sey
maname’ (Ambigapathy).

They were so dedicated to art. For instance, T S Balayya took up tavil lessons for two months from Tanjavur Venkatesan in preparation for his role in Tillana Mohanambal.

Tell us about Balayya.

Oh, he was a wonderful man. He could sing carnatic music well. In shootings, between shots, he would make me sit with him and listen to his kalpana swaras in various ragas.

How was the atmosphere in the studios ?

Very friendly. Chandra Babu, for instance, was such a playful person with an affecting cheer. In the studio, he was like the bull in the china shop. During recordings, he would sing the chorus and as the background music would be going on, he would prance all over the studio, pat somebody on the cheek, slap someone's back but get back to the mike in time to sing his lines. A fine man, I still miss him.

How was it composing music for legends like T M Soundarajan and P B Srinivas ?

TMS used to takes our lives out, because he was a perfectionist and would not stop until he was satisfied even if we okayed a take. As for PBS, I have not known a person who could touch up a song like he could.

Example ?

Well, take the song 'Kalangalil Aval Vasantham'. Listen to the swirls at the ends of each line: paravaigalil aval mani puRA, kanigalile aval MangaNI. Those were his innovations. He could embellish the composition of the music director so well. And he would pick up the music in a snap.

Did you not aspire to become a playback singer or a music director yourself ?

I did, but it did not happen mainly because the star actors always had a say in the choice of the music director or the playback singer for the film and they always preferred established directors and singers.
Coming to carnatic music, who did you learn from?
I learnt progressively from my mother, and then from Jalatarangam Babu Iyengar who was a grandson of Poochi Iyengar, the nadaswaram vidwan Iyyempattai Venu and finally Mazhava Raya Nendal Subbarama Iyer, the 1943 Sangita Kalanidi awardee. It was Subbarama Iyer who taught me many nuances of carnatic music.

Such as ?

Well, for example, he would demonstrate how to bring the essence of a raga in one single note. One day, he
asked me to sing Sankarabharanam and Kambhodi without going beyond panchamam. When he saw me
perplexed, he asked me to sing Ennduku Peddala. No sooner than I had started to sing ‘enn..nnn….’ he waved me to stop. Just the one note, ‘ri’, note sufficient to bring the swaroopa of Sankarabharanam. Subbarama Iyer used to say that not just each raga, but each note has an ascent and descent. For example, each note in Sankarabharanam swings upwards, whereas the same notes in Kambhodi glide down.
In that nuance lies the personality of the raga.

Then, you seem to have picked up music from very diverse sources—a jalatarangam artiste and a nadaswaran vidwan—apart from a vocalist ?
Not only that, I have imbibed music from several other sources such as Harikatha exponents too. For
example, there used to be a Harikatha expert called Tiruvayyar Annasami Bhagavatar. The ragas he would
handle used to be so beautiful that senior artistes such as Ariyakudi and Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer
would sit in the front rows and listen. The Bhagavatar would frequently ask them if his singing was okay.

I have also drawn substantially from North Indian music. I lived in Delhi for three years from 1954, when I
listened to dozens of Qawali concerts. Begam Akthar once took me to the red light area in Delhi, near
Qutub Minar. In the house that had the biggest number of courtesans, there would be music and dance
programmes between 7 pm and 9 pm on Saturdays I would sit there and listen to the music. At round 9 pm, when it would be time for 'other' things, they would tell me, “Panditji, you may go home now.”

In your concerts you display a penchant for singing rare ragas.

Well, Dale Carnagie once said, “imitation is suicide”. Isn’t carnatic music a huge ocean ? There is so much to explore, so many ragas that could be presented. Why ignore them ?

Sometimes I tell our upcoming musicians, “why do you borrow phrases from GNB or Ariyakudi ?” After all, they did not imitate each other.

You have also composed songs?
Yes, I've composed over 400 songs under the mudrika 'Raja poojitar' and some 30 varnams. Nearly a third of them are in Sanskrit.