T. M. Soundararajan

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Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (24 March 1922 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was a playback singer in Kollywood for over six decades. He gave his voice to actors and thespians in the South Indian film industry such as M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, N. T. Rama Rao, Gemini Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran, Jaishankar, Ravichandar,AVM Rajan,Muthuraman,Nagesh,Rajkumar and A. Nageswara Rao. He also gave his voice to many new generation actors like Kamalahasan, Rajanikanth, Vijayakanth, Satyaraj, Rajesh, Prabhu, Vijaya Kumar and many more. He has sung over 20,000 film songs from more than 5,000 films. ^[1][2] He has sung over 3,000 devotional, classical songs.^[3] He had also given classical concerts since 1945. In a career spanning over 6 decades he has recorded film songs in eleven languages including, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and other Indian languages. He also composed music for several of the ever green devotional songs that was recorded.He was the music director for the film "Bala Parikshai". His peak period as a male playback singer in the South Indian film industry was from 1955 to 1985. Soundarajan died on 25 May 2013 at his residence in Mandaveli, Chennai due to illness. He was 91 years old at the time of his death.^[4]

Early life

Soundararajan was born in Madurai second son of the Meenakshi Iyengar and Venkatammaa on 24 March 1922. He had been training his voice since he was 7 years old. He was born in a prominent priest family and his elder brother was a scholar. He first studied carnatic music from Chinnakonda Sarangapani Bhagavathar, a music teacher from Sourashtra High School, Madurai. Later, he learnt carnatic music from Arayakkudi Rajamani Iyengar and started giving stage concerts at the age of 23. His first carnatic musical concert was at SathGuru Samajam, Madurai in the year 1945 with violinist C. R. Mani and Mridangist S. S. Vijaya Ratnam accompanying him on the instruments. He started singing in stage concerts in the voice of the then-famous classical singer and actor M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar.

He married Sumithra in 1946 with whom he had 3 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in his home at Mandaveli, Chennai, Tamil Nadu until his death.^[5]

Early work

Soundararajan was initially rejected by music composers and recording technicians because his voice was cracking and showed variation in higher pitches (Oru Pann-Paattu Sarithiram:Vamanan). He started working in the house of Sundar Rao Nadkarni, a director in the Central Studios, hoping to get a chance to sing in movies and the director did recommend him to S. M. Subbaiah Naidu. In 1946, S. M. Subbaiah Naidu gave TMS an opportunity to sing five songs in the style of M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar for the film of P. V. Narasimha Bharathi, Krishna Vijayam. Though the songs were noted since 1946, the film was released only in 1950. One of his songs in that movie, "Raathey Ennai Vittu Odathedi" became a hit and he was paid Rs 625 for that. In the same year (1950), G. Ramanathan made him sing Annamitta Veettiley for an unknown actor in the film Manthiri Kumari. In 1951, TMS acted and sang Theeraatha Thuyaralley in the film Devagi again by G. Ramanathan.

In 1952, S. Dakshinamurthi gave TMS two duet songs in the movie Valaiyapathi namely Kulir Thaamarai Poigaiyai Kanden and Kulungidum Poovilellaam both with singer K. Jamuna Rani where TMS had an opportunity to sing songs written by the renowned Tamil poet Bharathidasan. G. Ramanathan made TMS and K. Rani sang for Kalyani. In 1953, when Albela was dubbed into Tamil, the music director C. Ramchandra had 2 duet songs by TMS and M. S. Rajeswari Joraga Paadi Anbaaga Aadi and Thozhi Un Kann Edhire Kodi. Even though these songs were well received, there were no further chances for TMS for a while. Then TMS came to HMV studio where K. V. Mahadevan recorded two devotional songs for which he was paid just Rs 80. K. V. Mahadevan told TMS to go seek a chance with the AVM Productions which was looking for new voices. TMS sang two songs for the film Chella Pillai. One was a solo Podanum Kulla Podanum and the other was a duet with M.S. Rajeswari, Naadu Nadakkira Nadayiley under R. Sudharsanam's composition. The film was released only in 1955. These music composers helped and trained the determined and ambitious TMS, who was able to overcome his voice problems to a good degree with time.

In 1954, A. Maruthakasi recommended TMS to sing in Aruna Pictures Thookku Thookki. Till then C. S. Jayaraman used to sing playback for Sivaji Ganesan and Sivaji doubted the suitability of his voice. But TMS offered to sing three songs free. TMS and Sivaji Ganesan were introduced to each other and in the short conversation that followed TMS studied the voice of Sivaji Ganesan. TMS sang Sundari Soundari and Eraatha Malaithanile, closely imitating the voice of Sivaji Ganesan. G. Ramanathan who was the music director for that film was so pleased that he gave TMS the chance to sing all the songs for Sivaji Ganesan in that production.

In the same year, T. R. Ramanna and T. R. Rajakumari started the RR Films. As the film Koondukkili was under production stage, TMS had originally been given a chance to sing only in a chorus. It should be noted that Koondukkili was the only film where MGR and Sivaji acted together. Tanjai Ramayah Dass was very impressed with the golden voice of TMS and asked the story and dialogue writer Vindhan to give a chance to TMS to sing a full solo. TMS sang "Konjum Kiliyana Pennai" under K. V. Mahadevan's composition for Sivaji Ganesan.

But when the song was recorded MGR heard it and was so impressed that he wanted TMS to become his permanent playback singer. TMS was used in MGR’s next movie Malaikkallan. Though he first recorded a song for the film Manthiri Kumari starring M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) in 1950, the song which announced the arrival of TMS on the big screen was Ethanai Kaalamthaan Ematruvaar Indha Naattile written by Tanjai Ramaiyah Dass and composed by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu".^[6] for M.G.R.. During this period, TMS also got an opportunity to sing in a few films like Kalvanin Kadhali, Vedan Kannappa, Rishi Sringer and Neela Malai Thirudan. TMS was the beneficiary of the first stereo recording in South India for a Tamil devotional song titled "Mannanalum Thiruchenthooril Mannaven".

From 1955 onward Sivaji insisted that TMS sing for him. Since then, TMS was mainly singing playback for the two superstars MGR and Sivaji till the end of 1978 and 1995 respectively. He adopted different styles while singing for each actor, that synchronized very well with their voices.^[6]

His first musical concert abroad was in Malaysia in the year 1957. He continued to perform all over the world for almost 50 years till 2007, after which he restricted singing live on stage due to health reasons. He has 2 sons both of whom have voices similar to their father and have sung songs of TMS all over the world in concerts since 1980 till 2012 often with their father. Both the sons continues to do TMS Concerts after death of their father.

Though he has worked with all music directors of South India, most of his hit songs had been composed by music directors M. S. Viswanathan, K. V. Mahadevan and the Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy duo.^[7]

TMS had also starred as an actor in a few Tamil films such as Pattinathar, Arunagirinathar, Kallum Kaniyagum and Kaviraja Kalamegam. He produced the movie Kallum Kaniyagum along with singer A. L. Raghavan and in that film Ragahavan acted as well. TMS had appeared in guest roles in movies such as Devaki, Navagraha Nayaki, Pennarasi, Server Sundaram, Thiru Neelakandar,Swami Ayyappan and Deivam (with Seerkazhi Govindarajan).

He was the most popular male playback singer in South India and the "uncrowned king" of the Tamil film industry for playback singing from the 1950s until 1991. However, after the release of films Thai Nadu and Ghana Paravai, he concentrated more on live concerts and sang in very few films. He was not happy with the lyrics and music style in the films and gave opportunities for newcomers. The last film song, Paatu Ondu Ketaal, performed by him for a Sri Lankan Tamil film named Sooriyan, was recorded in the year 2007 though it is yet to be released. He sang a song for an album in 2008 "Netrichutti" at the age of 86 and a song named Kutraalam Aruvi for the album Song for Daughter, under the music of M. Sakthinathan, which was very well recognised in the industry in 2008. In 2010, he also rendered his voice for the song Peruppukum Illa Uriyukkum in the Tamil Semmozhi Meet Anthem which was composed by A. R. Rahman.He had worked with fifty two music directors ranging from S. M. Subbaiah Naidu till A. R. Rahman.

Collaborations

Music composers

S. V. Venkatraman, S. M. Subbaiah Naidu, S. Rajeswara Rao, G. Govindarajulu Naidu, R. Sudharsanam, R. Govardhanam, S. Dakshinamurthi, G. Ramanathan, C. N. Pandurangan, Adepalli Rama Rao, Master Venu, T. A. Kalyanam, M. S. Gnanamani, K. V. Mahadevan, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, Pendyala Nageswara Rao, G. Aswathama, T. G. Lingappa, P. Adinarayana Rao, P. S. Diwakar, T. R. Pappa, T. V. Raju, C. S. Jayaraman, Ghantasala, Vedha,P.Parthasarathi,Soolamangalam Sisters, M. S. Viswanathan, T. K. Ramamoorthy, V. Kumar, Aba vanan, Rajan-Nagendra, M. Ranga Rao, Vijaya Bhaskar, Ilaiyaraja,Gangai Amaran, Sankar Ganesh, Deva, T. Rajendar,Ramesh Naidu,Shyam,Sudharshana,C.K.Venkedesh,Srinivasan, A. R. Rahman. Hindi film music composer, O. P. Nayyar,Naushad,and Manoj Gyan,and Malayalam film music composers Paravoor Devarajan, V.DakshinaMoorhti,(Both Malayalam and Tamil)

Playback singers

He had sung with other male singers, such as Seerkazhi Govindarajan, P. B. Sreenivas, Balamurali Krishna, S. C. Krishnan, C. S. Jayaraman, Tharapuram Sundarajan, P. Jayachandran, Thiruchi Loganathan, V. N. Sundaram, A. L. Raghavan, K. J. Yesudas S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Kovai Soundarrajan, Nagore E. M. Hanifa and Malaysia Vasudevan.

He also sung duets with many female singers such as P. Suseela, P. Leela, Jikki, L. R. Eswari, S. Janaki, Vani Jairam, M. S. Rajeswari, K. Jamuna Rani, M. L. Vasanthakumari, U. R. Jeevarathinam, N. L. Ganasaraswathi, T. V. Rathinam, Radha Jayalakshmi, Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, R. Balasaraswathi Devi, A. P. Komala, P. Madhuri, K. Rani, B. S. Sasirekha, S. P. Sailaja and T. K. Kala. Among them, he had the greatest collaboration with P. Susheela. He sang 727 duets with P. Susheela in Tamil.

He sung duets with singing actors such as J. P. Chandrababu, K. R. Ramaswamy, Chittor V. Nagaiah, P. Bhanumathi, S. Varalakshmi, Jayalalithaa and Bharathi.

Awards and honours

• Mathiyakathin Gana Thalivar,
• Kala Ratnam,
• Gana Ratnam,
• Arul Isai Sidhar,
• Navarasa Bhava Nalina Gana varshini,
• Ganamritha Varshini,
• Sathanai Chakravarhti,
• Bharathiya Isai Kanal,
• Bharathiya Isia Megham,
• Gana Kuralon,
• Then Isai Thendral,
• Padma Shri,(2003)^[8]
• Kalaimamani,
• Tamil Nadu State Awards,many many years continuously in 60's,70's and 80's(shared with Yesudas in 1975).
• Padakar Thilakam
• Singha Kuralon
• Bharat Kalachar award
• Isai Chakravarthi
• Pesum Padam,award over 22 times,including consecutive annual awards from 1954 to 1969
• Gnanakala Bharathi title
• Geethavaari title
• Karpagath Tharu Mannar
• Geetharanjana Vaarithi
• Arutpa Isaimani title
• Honorary Doctorate from Belgium.
• MGR Gold Medal award
• Former Chief Minister Tamil Nadu M.D.Bhakthavalsalam Recognition Award (1963)
• Former Chief Minister Tamil Nadu Kamaraj Nadar Recognition Award
• IsaiKadal Pattam from Kavi Arasar Kannadasan (1969)
• EzhilIsai Mannar award from Former Chief Minister K.Karunidhi(1970)
• Former Chief Minister Arinjor Anna Dhuarai Recognition Award (1964)
• Kural Arasar Pattam
• Chief Minister Jayalalitha recognition award
• M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Lifetime Achievement Award, Tamil Nadu
• Tamil Nadu Musical Artist Lifetime Achievements Award(2005)
• Tamil Film Fans Award,22 times in the early 1950s, 1960s and 1970s
• P.Susheela Award
• Mega TV Amutha Ghanam Recognition Award(2004)
• Lifetime achievement for "MGR Memorial Award"
• Lifetime achievement for "Shivaji Memorial Award".
• Sourashtra Community Recognition Award
• Tamil Nadu Chief minister M. Karunanidhi recognition award at Madurai, Alagiri, 2010
• Karuppai Muppanar recognition award,(1992)
• Periyar RamaSwami Naikkor recognition,(1959)
• Raj TV for Raja Geetham Recognition Award,(2006)
• Malaysian Tamil Fans Recognition Award
• Singapore Tamil Fans Recognition Award
• France,Germany,Switzerland,Italy, the Netherlands and Austria Tamil Fans recognition award
• United Kingdom Tamil fans recognition award
• 20th Century Top Playback Singer from South African city mayor through Tamil fans,1995
• USA Tamil fans from various states recognition award
• SriLankan awards from President,Prime Minister level through Tamil Group more than several times.
• Tamil Fans recognition award from Canada
• Australian Tamil Fans appreciations awards in Sydney,Brisbane, Melbourne,and Perth
• Kairali Swaralaya Yesudas Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012

Discography

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Filmography

• Pattinathar
• Arunagirinathar
• Kallum Kaniyagum

References

External links

• T. M. Soundararajan at the Internet Movie Database