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 surtaal 
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 A tribute to Mama - K.V. Mahadevan
K. V. Mahadevan, or "Mama" as he was popularly known among his colleagues, has a special place in South Indian film music,  He started his career as a happy composer with 'Anandhan' in 1942, contributed immensely for nearly half a century, before surrendering in 1990 with 'muruganE thuNai'. During this period he scored music for about 250 films both Telugu and Tamil. The special features of his compositions were: giving primary importance to lyrics and composing music that is perfectly suited to lyrics; always keeping a base in the Carnatic music systems; and giving independence to singers and other assistants to freely contribute ideas for improving his compositions. Some of the famous tamil movies for which he composed include 'Adimai Penn', 'Thiruvilayaadal', 'Vaanampadi', 'Thillaana Moganambal', 'Kandhan Karunai', 'Muthalali'. His most famous and recent composition in Telugu was in the movie directed by K.Vishwanath, Swathi Kiranam (1991). National Film Award for Best Music Direction(1967)-Kandan Karunai National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1980)-SankarabharanamNo words to describe one of his best compositions according to me is scores of Shankarabharanam.... ____________ " Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy"
"There is no delight in owning anything unshared." Seneca [Roman philosopher]
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#1 19 Jun 2007 16:26
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surtaal
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Re: A tribute to Mama - K.V. Mahadevan
List of some of the movies for which Mahadevan scored music: - Mooga Manasulu
- Manchi Manasulu
- Antastulu
- Adrushtavantulu
- Astiparulu
- Dasara Bullodu
- Premnagar
- Bangaru Babu
- Dagudu Mootalu
- Seetamalakshmi
- Shankarabharanam
- Sirivennela
- Subhalekha
- Pelli Pustakam
- Trisoolam
- Nari Nari Naduma Murari
- Budhimantudu
- SeethaRamaKalyanam
- SrinivasaKalyanam
- JanakiRamudu
- MuvvaGopaludu
- MuddulaMavayya
- Muthyala Muggu
- Swati Kiranam
- Srutilayalu
- Pelli Pustakam
- Saptapadhi
____________ " Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy"
"There is no delight in owning anything unshared." Seneca [Roman philosopher]
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#2 19 Jun 2007 16:34
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surtaal
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Re: A tribute to Mama - K.V. Mahadevan
A tribute worth the while 
IT WAS a small gathering sans ostentation of any sort at the Srinivasa Sastri Hall that evening. But everyone present seemed genuinely interested in the subject - K.V. Mahadevan, film music composer who infused wondrous classical tones to cine melodies. Sundar's Ragapravaham paid homage to Mahadevan, who passed away recently, through a lec-dem that was more of an informal interaction between the listeners and the performers. Assisted by Revathy Krishna on the veena and with accompaniments comprising only the tabla (Periyanayagam) and keyboard (N.V.Babu) Sundar rendered the evening's show with zest. Sundar had planned the programme with care. He categorised K.V. Mahadevan's songs under various headings - ragas, emotions and singers. He was able to list quite a number of songs under each category. And because he wished to pack as many examples as possible things went slightly overboard. Before he could finish a couple of lines from one number, he shifted to another with the speed of a magician that there was hardly any time for the audience to grasp the beauty of the lines sung. Things could have been slower and a less obvious race against time. From Carnatic ragas, Darbari Kanada, Sahana and Hindolam to Hindustani ragas Palasi Kafi, Pahadi, Peelu and Jonpuri, K.V. Mahadevan had utilised classicism in cinema music with their beauty in tact, explained Sundar, as he reeled out examples. Mahadevan took classical music to the villages, Sundar said. True. When the ``Paarthaen Sirithaen'' song, from ``Veera Abhimanyu'', scintillatingly rendered by P.B. Sreenivas and P. Susheela, first became a hit (it still is!) little would the young villager humming it, have realised that he was actually practising Sahana raga! When Sundar himself posed a query about whether K.V. Mahadevan could have been the composer of the M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar number in ``Sivagami', there were a couple of enthusiastic responses from the audience. Soon, the experienced and authentic cinema source, ``Film News'' Anandan was at the mike, giving details about how the song sung even earlier by MKT, actually found its way into the film. Such lively exchanges added lustre to the show. Young, up and coming Easwari, sang the popular yesteryear hit ``Mayangadha Manam Yavum'' with the tone and expression of Banumathi herself. Sundar made an interesting observation - he said K.V. Mahadevan's songs, especially the romantic ones, invariably had the male voice singing in a bolder and higher pitch while the female's seemed to rely on the male's and seek sustenance from it. He gave ``Oruthi Oruvanai Ninaithuvittal...'' from the film ``Sarada'' as example. Incidentally, the song was rendered entirely on the veena by Revathy Krishna. After she played the everlasting ``Gangai Karai Thottam'' from the film ``Vaanambadi`` in the rare Palasi Kafi raga, Sundar took off from there to list some of the other KVM numbers in the same raga. ``Kakkai Siraginilae...'' to name one. All the examples that were put together to form an appealing medley were well-rendered. Except at one or two points when the sruti seemed not completely in alignment. The blaring horns of vehicles zooming past in the busy Luz area, the not-so-cooperative acoustics and the bare minimal orchestra notwithstanding, the evening was an enjoyable trip down memory lane for ardent admirers of the veteran film music composer. MALATHI RANGARAJAN Source : http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/08/03/stories/0903070b.htm
____________ " Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy"
"There is no delight in owning anything unshared." Seneca [Roman philosopher]
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#3 19 Jun 2007 16:36
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surtaal
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Re: A tribute to Mama - K.V. Mahadevan
Shankara-The Shankarabharanam Classic!  Some Films and Music never die. They etch an everlasting image in your mind which lingers on for the whole life. Such was the film Shankarabharanam directed by K.Vishwanath which came out in 1979. I still remember the day when I saw the film, The hall was totally packed. In fact the film was such a blockbuster that it ran for more than 4 or five months in a row with a packed audience! The film saw the return of classical music to films in South India. The film was a trend setter in every aspect of film making and music. The songs in the film set to tune by the musical doyen K.V. Mahadevan were a treat for the ears and the mind alike. It was said that the first choice of the singer for the film was K.J. Yesudas. But due to some reasons it did not work out and the onus went on to S.P.B to learn carnatic music for almost a month, learn and rehearse the songs and then deliver. It changed the career of S.P.B for ever and the rest is history! The amount of devotion and hard work put up by S.P.B fetched him his first National Award. All the songs in the film were gems! There may be differences in opinion on whether the songs in Sankarabharanam were purely in the classical mould or not, but the fact remains that this film brought an awakening amongst the younger generation towards classical music.  The song Shankara from the film has so much of energy about it. It gives me goose bumps whil elistening to this song any day anytime. If you want to watch the song here is the link to it and if you only want to listen to the song Here is the link to that song ____________ " Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy"
"There is no delight in owning anything unshared." Seneca [Roman philosopher]
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#4 19 Jun 2007 16:42
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surtaal
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Re: A tribute to Mama - K.V. Mahadevan
Sankarabharanam (Telugu: శంకరాభరణం,English: Shankara's ornament) is a 1979 musical film in the Telugu language, directed by Dr. K. Vishwanath and produced by Poornodaya Art Creations. It led to the revival of Indian classical music in Andhra Pradesh.The movie deals with 2 relevant topics-Decline in popularity of Carnatic music and the teacher-student relationship.The movie is considered to be one of the best to have ever emerged from Telugu film industry. When the movie was dubbed into other south Indian languages, the lyrics of the songs were not translated into those languages. The movie starts with an introduction by Viswanath, "'Sisurvetti pasurvetti, vetti gana rasam phanihi' (Music is enjoyed equally by babies, animals and even snakes) We hope you appreciate our effort in bringing you the Jeeva Dhara of the Indian classical music." "Shankarabharanam" Sankara Shastri is a very popular Carnatic singer. He is immersed in the Sangeetha Rasaamrutham (Nectar of Music) with his nirantara saadhana (uninterrupted practice - riyaaz). People come in huge numbers to listen his voice and considered him to be a great man. He has mastered the raga Sankaraabharanam. Tulsi(Manju) is a prostitute's daughter who has great interest in music and dance. She is also an admirer of Shastri and also learns music from him when he used to teach his daughter along the riverside. But her mother wants her to become a prostitute to earn money. One day a rich client of her mother's behaves in a dishonourable manner towards Tulsi and in order to save her honour, she kills him. But due to that incident she becomes pregnant. She is sent to jail and no one tries to help her. But Shastri tries to save her by consulting a lawyer who wins the case in Tulsi's favour. Now Shastri brings her to his home where other people insult him as Tulsi is a murderer and of a low caste while Shastri is a devout Brahmin. Tulsi moves out of his house as she does not want him to face insults because of her but hopes to show her gratitude towards him. Ten years pass by. Western music now dominates in India and Shastri has lost his audience. He now lives in a small house with his grown up daughter. When Tulsi comes to know of Shastri's plight she tries to help him monetarily but gives the money through someone else. Now that Tulsi inherits all of her mother's property and utilises all of it to help him. She also asks her son to go to Shastri's home and learn classical music from him. After managing to get an entry to Shastri's home, he starts learning the Indian classical music from the maestro. Then Chandramohan a musician falls in love with Shastri's daughter. Although Shastri rejects the marriage proposal at first, he later agrees after knowing the man's interest in classical music. Now, Shastri comes across Tulsi after a long time and comes to know that the boy in his house is her son. She arranges a concert where Shastri once again finds his lost audience come back to see hear his voice. Shastri sings at the concert and after finishing his performance, he dies along with Tulsi (who has a heart attack from the shock of his passing). The mantle has now been passed to Tulsi's son and thus his legacy of classical Indian music is preserved. Reception
Box office performance- The film released in only one theatre and opened to empty hall. But it later turned out to be one of the biggest hits of 1979 owing to the positive feedback from the audience.
- The film had a 216 day run at Royal theatre, Hyderabad.
- The success of this film triggered a sequence of other art movies in Telugu, including Thyagayya (by Bapu), Meghasandesam (by Dasari N. Rao), and Viswanath's own follow-ups to Sankaraabharanam: Saagara Sangamam, Sruthi Layalu, Swarna Kamalam, Sirivennela, and Swathi Kiranam.
- It was remade in Hindi as Sur Sangam .
Critical Reception- Film critic Gudipoodi Srihari called it as the best film he has seen after Mayabazar
Awards- National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment (1980)
- National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1980) - K. V. Mahadevan
- National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer (1980) - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
- National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer (1980) - Vani Jayaram.
The character of Sankarabharanam Shastry was reportedly based on Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Panthulu;who was the guru of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna.
____________ " Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy"
"There is no delight in owning anything unshared." Seneca [Roman philosopher]
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#5 19 Jun 2007 17:21
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surtaal
Site Admin
Joined: November 2006
Posts: 484
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Re: A tribute to Mama - K.V. Mahadevan
Musicals specialist is dead
K V Mahadevan, music director of such Telugu hits as Shankarabharanam and Siri Siri Muvva, dies at 83
| K V Mahadevan, who made the scores for huge musical hits like Shankarabharam and Siri Siri Muvva, died in Madras on Thursday, June 21.
Krishnangoyal Venkatachalam Bhagavathar Mahadevan was born in Nagarcoil in 1917. He composed music from 1962 to 1993 for over 150 films. He was a favourite of Telugu directors like K Vishwanath, and made music for some Tamil and Kannada films as well. Mahadevan worked for a while with HMV, and later turned to music composing. He was considered the best in the business for musicals, which is why directors making films with a big component of Karnatak classical music hired him. In the course of a four-decade long career, he also made some forgettable music for NTR films like Adavi Ramudu. But the credit cards invariably showed his name in many music-centred films like Muthyala Muggu, Saptapadi, Shrutilayalu and Sirivennala.
Mahadevan's father was a harikatha vidwan attached to the Travancore court. The great nadaswaram maestro Rajarathnam Pillai also influenced the young Mahadevan.
Vasantha Maligai, a Sivaji Ganesan-starrer, had Mahadevan's music and turned out to be one of his biggest Tamil hits. This was a big hit in Telugu too, where it starred A Nageswar Rao and was called Prem Nagar. In Kannada, Guru Shishyaru , a film made by the comedian Dwarakish, featured his music. Shankarabharanam, starring the IAS officer Somayajulu, gave Mahadevan perhaps the biggest hit of his career. He got S P Balasubramanyam to sing its many raga-based numbers, a decision that upset the classical singer Balamuralikrishna. The film was maudlin, and ritualistically made fun of Western music in its enthusiasm to extol the greatness of Karnatak music, but its album sales broke records not only in Andhra Pradesh but also in neighbouring Karnataka. Mahadevan got Balasubramanyam to sing difficult ragas like Devagandhari and Charukeshi in the number Ragam tanam pallavi. He also recorded traditional compositions like Samajavaragamana (Thyagaraja) and Brochevarevarura (Mysore Vasudevacharya).
Siri Siri Muvva, another of Mahadevan's hits, was remade in Hindi, and became a big grosser there too. A love story woven around a dafli player (played by Rishi Kapoor in Hindi) and a dancer (Jayaprada in both versions), it was less "classical" than Shankarabharam, but its songs became equally popular.
Mahadevan was in the same league as bigtime Tamil composers M S Viswanathan and T K Ramamurthy, and their entire generation was eclipsed in the '80s by Ilaiyaraja, who brought in a more sophisticated approach to the orchestra accompanying songs. Later composers like A R Rahman acknowledge Mahadevan as one of their idols.
Around the time he made the music for Swati Kiranam, Mahadevan's health deteriorated, and he had stopped composing.
Bhuvaneswari M
Source : http://www.themusicmagazine.com/kvmahaobit.html |
____________ " Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy"
"There is no delight in owning anything unshared." Seneca [Roman philosopher]
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#6 24 Jun 2007 20:28
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