From: Manisekatan (@ 202.188.91.159)
on: Fri Apr 24 08:04:56 EDT 1998
MARUTHAKAZI:
Maruthakazi hails from the village called Melaikkudikkadu in Trichy district.His father Aiyam PErumaal Udayar is a village head. Mother is Milagayi Ammaal. This is a farming family. Maruthakazi was born on 13 February 1920.Paabanasam Sivan's elder brother Rajagopala Aiyer gave him sufficient knowledge in stage drama as Maruthakazi had natural inclination towards this performing art. In 1940 he did intermediate in Kudanthai Government college. He staged drama there at a time when his colleague (later writer) Thi Janakiraman used to act in the female role.
Unfortunately he could not complete his studies. He concentrated in farming and song writing. The first song he ever wrote was "kalaimakal uRainthidum kalasaalai" sung by Madurai Shanmugavadivu Subbulachumy(-MS Subbulachumy). Thereafter he adored the golden voice of MSS.
At this time Devi Nadaka Sabai(run by KN Ratnam and Sri Ramulu Naidu) invited Maruthakazi to write songs for a drama called "SooravaLi" by pulavar AK Velan. There is where he wrote his first drama song and got to meet KM Sheriff for the first time. He wrote for several other dramas and acted too in small roles. The first song he wrote for cinema was in the film called Mayavathi. He and KM Sheriff were very close friends, and many films used Maruthakazi and KM Sheriff. Maruthakazi had written mostly for KV Mahadevan. Th rest is history that we are familiar with.
SOME TITBITS
His first song for MGR was "Manushanai Manushan Saappidaranda" in Deva's Thaikku Pin Thaaram. I have given somne interesting info on this song elsewhere. After that film Devar used Ranjan and took Neelamalai Thirudan, to which MGR gave Devar some trouble. The angry Devar requested Maruthakazi to hit MGR in a song. So Maruthakazi wrote Sathiyamey Lachiyamai Kollada. Later MGR, Devar and Maruthakazi patched up.
In Mannathi Mannan MGR used Mar8uthakazi for a song called "aadatha manamum uNdo" the only song that TMS and MLV sang together, in which Maruthakazi penned lines in praise of Makkal Thilakam as follows:
eedEthum illatha kalaichEvayil-thani
idam koNda umaik KaNdu ippoomiyil..
pasunthangam unathu ezhil angam..
Of course later he wrote many many more for MGR films. When Maruthakazi was almost retired MGR requested him to write for ninaippathgai mudip[pavan to hit at a political figure, and that song is "kaNNai nambathey uNNai Emaatrum"
There are two songs that I could remember that were jointly composed. One is veNNila kudai Pidikka from Abalai Anjugam, by TRM and PS. The other is Kanvazhi pugunthu karuthinil kalantha minnoli yEn mounam by TMS and MS Rajeswari from "Thookku Thooki". The latter was started off by Maruthakazi but the tail end was jointly completd by Maruthakazi and Udumalai Narayana Kavi. That tail end is:
kanvazhi pugunthu karuthinil kalanthu
kaNivuRum kaathal jothy
kaaNbOmEy paathy paathy
kaaNbOmEy paathi paathi
The song "maruthamalaiyaanEy" from the film Thunaivan earned him Tamilnaadu government award.
Likweise Sirippu athan siRappai seerthooki paarppathu namathu poRuppu was started off by Udumalai Naarayana Kavi, but as he could not complete it on time, Maruthakazi rewrote almost the entire song.
There are too many spicy stories about Maruthakazi's songs, but our area is his samooga paadalkal.
(Sooner or later we can include these titbits in a separate thread, maybe to be named "SPICE AND JUICE" if onle BONES could join in.)
Let me just quote my favourite samooga paadalkal of Maruthakazi.
1. from Paasavalai by CSJ
ithuthaan ulakamada-manitha
ithuthaan ulakamada
poruL irunthaal vanthu koodum-athai
izhanthaal vilaki Odum