"Nilavum-Malarum" - A Musical Concert by SPB & S.Janaki

“NILAVUM MALARUM”
A Musical Concert by the Legends of Playback Singing “S.Janaki” and “SPB”

Venue : Nehru Indoor Stadium (Near Chennai Central Station)
Date : 29/07/2007
Time : 6:05pm
Organised by : T.V.K.Cultural Academy
Music by M.K.T. Raja’s “Theem Thiranaa” Orchestra

Dear SPB Fans,

Finally the much awaited day confronted us on 29/07/2007 and an excited team of SPB Fans found itself among the 10,000+ audience which had turned up to experience the memorable moments in store from the Gigantic Legends of Play-Back Singing “Paadum Nila” Balu and “Pani Malar”/”Paadum Kuyil” S.Janaki. In fact, during the program, our SPB gestured at Janakiamma when he sang the song “koo koo enru kuyil koovaadhO…” and she in turn when she sang the phrase “indha kuyil endha oor kuyil…” IT WAS A PLEASANT EXCHANGE.

The excitement started when I entered the parking area. I found it difficult to find space to park my vehicle. The space seemed to represent an ocean of cars and two wheelers. And many more vehicles were streaming in and struggling to find parking space. This was a clear indication that the auditorium would be filled up to its capacity.

The show was scheduled to start at 6:05pm as printed on the tickets. But as usual it started late at around 6:30pm. Having accommodated ourselves with an half-hour delay which is nothing as compared to the treat we were due for, our expectations was that the program would start with an introduction song by the Orchestra and then lend itself fully into the hands of the two Legends. Alas! it was not destined to be so. The Orchestra singers had the luxury of rendering four consecutive numbers ending up making the clock show 6:50pm. This literally meant a probable loss of a few songs from the Legends from their planned list.

Finally, nearing 7:00pm, the two Legends were welcomed to the stage amidst roaring applause. Our SPB greeted the crowd in his typical style of bowing and clasping his hands together and he also took the blessings of Janakiamma by touching upon her feet. He was dressed up in a dark brown coloured pant and a light coffee coloured full sleeved shirt. Janakiamma on her part was in her usual attire of white saree with small flowers printed all over it.

Song by song discussion would have no meaning here as there was not much of narration by our SPB in this show. Normally he conveys lot of information about a song during a program. Maybe since Janakiamma was also there with him and in order to fit in more number of songs with her, he might have restricted his otherwise enjoyable narrations. Also, he did not seem his normal effervescent self for most part of the program. He seemed to be tensed up at times, maybe, due to some technical problems in tuning of instruments by the orchestra especially the Tabla & the Sound System as well and later with the organisors & sponsors for not giving due recognition to Janakiamma during the presentation ceremony which took place in the second half of the program.

They started off with a duet “Paruvame Pudhiya Paadal Paadu…”. SPB did a mimicry of sorts (not able to figure why? Was it a prelude to the song in the film? May be someone can throw light on this) before launching himself into the song. He also improvised the song by first asking Janakiamma “How are you” and she replying “I am fine” and then both of them immersed themselves in the song. Thereafter it was a continuous belting of one song after another with a mixture of solos and duets and when the program did come to an end they had sung 28 songs between them.

SPB mentioned that “nilave mugam kaattu..” was their special choice for the program.

Before the song “vetri meedhu vetri vandhu…” he paid due tributes to MGR and his Guru M.S.Viswanathan for having brought him recognition in the Tamil Film Industry. This song was rendered with great energy by the Legend. He said that eventhough “Iyarkai Enum ..” was his first one, it was the MGR song which brought instant fame and recognition.

“perai sollavaa…” had both of them coming into their groove with a very romantic rendition. The orchestra was also good in this number.

The Greats seemed to enjoy each other’s company once again after a long gap. SPB was always there to help Janakiamma out with respect to timing during the song & also readjusting the orchestra to suit her and she had frequent, cute & affectionate smiles for him throughout. SPB mentioned that she must have sung nearly 1000 songs for ILayaRaja alone

Before he sang “kannaal pesum penne”, he had a few words of praise for Music Director Vidyasagar for churning out meaningful and melodious numbers. Our SPB missed out on continuity during the second charanam but made it up with a jugglery of words to bring it in line and appropriately completed it with “I am sorry, I am sorry..” which was a part of the song itself. I am not sure whether this was an improvisation done by him in order to add more meaning to the “sorry” phrase. His rendition was very energetic and it belied his age totally.

“nethu raathiri yemma..” had the experienced duo turn youthful belting it out energetically and making the audience dance to it. What great effect when two gigantic singing energies combine.

He was all praise for Janakiamma’s versatility for singing different types of songs in her career be it “singara vElanE….” in the classical mould or a romantic number or different voices to suit certain characters. He said that it was a boon for the Music Industry to have such a versatile singer in its midst.

In spite of her age, she did manage to present the songs in her characteristic style and voice even though at times the lower octaves did not come out clearly due to problems with the sound system. Same was the case for our SPB too.

The selection of songs needs to be lauded. Instead of sticking to the normally repetitive numbers, they had brought in great melodies which are not so frequently rendered. It was also spread to include a wide repertoire ranging from melody to fast paced numbers therefore catering to all sections of the crowd. The focus was mainly on the songs recorded during 1975 to 1990 with only a few songs on either side.

SPB said that the song “nanda nee en nila…” was his own selection for the day and he hoped everyone would enjoy it. This might not be a very familiar song for many who had tuned into listening to his songs after the early 80s but it was one of the best songs of SPB from the 1970s with a classical base, a beautiful composition by Music Director V.Dakshinamurthy and rendered exquisitely by our SPB.

During the program, our SPB expressed his thanks to Janakiamma for being one of the first few persons who had encouraged him into film singing. He told that she was around 10 years elder to him and she was still singing having completed 50 years in the Industry. Janakiamma pointed out that it was only “8 years” with child-like enthusiasm and in a sweet voice.

His mention about ILayaRaja had to do with the “then sindhudhE vaanam…” song during the recording of which, ILayaRaja was a part of Music Director G.K.Venkatesh’s Team. This evergreen number was soulfully rendered by the Greats.

His rendition of “koottaththilE koyil puraa…” received the best round of applause as it had lot of sangadhis and swaras towards the end.

Janakiamma’s rendition of “pon mEni urugudhe..” defied all logic. At the age of 69 she was able to still sing it with same emotion and deft silky touches as the original of 25 years ago.

There were a few irritants in the form of projected advertisements on the two big screens on either side of the stage between the songs. This seemed to upset the Legends and the audience too initially but finally logic prevailed as sponsors form a major part of a mega event in terms of resources and advertising during such an event would serve their cause too. This also could have been one of the reasons which would have prevented our SPB from passing on the tidbits about a song.

The presentation ceremony honouring the various sponsors and organisors as also the Legends was in the second half of the Show and it consumed 15 minutes. During this period, our SPB seemed to be perturbed with the treatment meted out to Janakiamma as it seemed she was not being duly recognized during the ceremony. He went all out to ensure that she was given due importance.

I was there till 9:30pm, up to the completion of the song “thedum kanpaarvai thavikka..” and after that I had to leave. I understood that the program came to an end at around 10.15pm. So, I happened to miss out on 6 songs.

Also, I understood later that towards the fag end of the Show, some of the SPB Fans namely Ashok, Covai Ravee, Seshadri & Priya had the honour of presenting silk shawls to SPB & Janakiamma on the stage and also that our SPB did take some time to brief to the gathering about our E-Fan Group and its charitable activities. I regret very much for having missed out on this opportunity to share the stage with the Legends due to my early exit from the Show.

Well, it was a great day for many of us listening to our Jumbo and Janakiamma. Hope you all enjoyed the narration of the event. I am looking forward to share many more such moments in the future too. Please check out for the telecast of this program on Vijay TV.

LIST OF SONGS (in the order as they were sung upto the song "thedum kanpaarvai...)

1) Jaya Krishna mukunta murare ….. (Orchestra Singer - Mukesh)
2) July Kaatre ………(Orchestra Singer - Balaji)
3) Azhage Brahmanidam ….. (Guest Singer - Ganga & Orchestra Male singer)
4) Nilavum Malarum Paadudhu…(Orchestra Singers-Mukesh+Female Singer) from “Then Nilavu”
5) “Paruvame Pudhiya Paadal..” (SPB + SJ) from “Nenjaththai KiLLadhE”
6) “Nilave Mugam kaattu …” (SPB + SJ) from “Ejamaan”
7) “Maadhaa un kOyilil…” (SJ) from “Achchaani”
8) “Vetri meedhu vetri vandhu..” (SPB) from “Thaedi Vandha MaapiLLai”
9) “Perai sollava..” (SPB + SJ) from “Guru”
10) “Paadu nilave then kavidhai …” (SPB + SJ) from “Udhaya Geetham”
11) “Rojaavai thaalaattum thendral …” (SPB + SJ) from “Ninaivellaam Nithya”
12) “Kannaal pesum penne ….” (SPB) from “Mozhi”
13) “Thaalatum Poongaatru …” (SJ) from “Gopura VaasalilE”
14) “Koo Koo enru kuyil koovadho…” (SPB + SJ) from “Kaadhal Parisu”
15) “Malare mounama …” (SPB + SJ) from “Karna”
16) “Naethu raathiri yemma..” (SPB + SJ) from “Sagalakalaa Vallavan”
17) “Nanda nee en nila…” (SPB) from “Nanda en Nila”
18) “Roja poo naadi vandhadhu…” (SJ) from “Agni Natchathiram”
19) “Then sindhudhe vaanam..” (SPB + SJ) from “Ponnukku Thanga Manasu”
20) “Vaanile thenila aadudhe paadudhe..” (SPB + SJ) from “Kaakhi Sattai”
21) “Sandhana kaatre senthamizh ootre…” (SPB + SJ) from “Thanikkaattu Raja”
22) "Sahanaa thooral..." (Orchestra Singer – Mukesh + Female singer) from “Sivaji”
23) “Koottathile koyil pura…” (SPB) from “Idhayakovil"
24) “Pon meni urugudhe….” (SJ) from “Moondraam Pirai”
25) “Yaaro yaarukkul ingu yaaro…” (SPB + Orchestra Singer) from “Chennai 600028”
26) “Mouna maana nerum …” (SPB + SJ) from “Salangai Oli”
27) “Thedum kanpaarvai thavikka …” (SPB + SJ) from “Mella Thiranthathu Kadhavu”
28) “Vettiveru vaasam …” (SJ+orchestra male singer) from “Mudhal Mariyaadhai”
29) “ChandiranO sooriyanO.. Ballelakka…” (SPB + Orchestra Singers) from “Sivaji”
30) “Sundari kannaal oru seidhi …” (SPB + SJ) from “Thalapathi”
31) “Innum ennai enna seiya pogirai …” (SPB + SJ) from “Singaara Velan”
32) “Adiye manam nilluna nikkaadhadi..” (SPB + SJ) from “Neengal KEttavai"
33) “Megam kottattum …” (SPB) from “Enakkul Oruvan”

( SPB solo : 7 SJ solo : 5 SPB-SJ duets : 16 Orchesta Singers only : 5 )

Special Thanks to "S.Muralidharan" for capturing the memorable moments & to "Ashok" for emailing them to me for including in the blog