SAMPOORNA SPIRITUAL MOVIES THAT CARRY EVER GREEN SOUL-STIRRING-SONGS

Music has always been part of our Indian culture for centuries. Many of the latest movie songs seem to be having commercial tag, and one cannot expect a sort of divinely presence in such songs. However, many spiritual movies of yester years - produced either at Bollywood or other regional arena, , had a motive of connecting with the story, the characters" communication with the viewers and to showcase the creamy rich heritage our music enabling ultimate-audience-satisfaction with the tech back-drop available in those days.

Songs therefore play a vital role in taking the solid message of spiritual types of stories to the viewers. Contemplating, conceptualising and creation of such song sequences require enormous efforts on the part of producers, directors, musicians, etc. Telugu and Tamil world like Hindi filmdom have contributed immense service on this score.

The film SAMPOORNA RAAMAYAN in Tamil is one such movie which was produced and released in 1958. The film had nine super songs to its credit for which singers like TM Soundarrajan, Seerkazhi Govindarajan, CS Jayaraman, Trichy Loganathan and the like had added charm to the tunes with their rich experience.

Then came the release of Lav Kush by the Kolly and Tollywoods produced during 1963, which made the Telugu and Tamil viewers happy. As expected during those periods, NT Rama Rao played the role of Rama and Anjali Devi in the role of Sita( Music by KV Mahadevan). Around 37 songs in the Telugu version were composed and sung and left everyone with full of ecstasy.

Famous lyricist A. Marudhakasi wrote the songs for Tamil version. The song beginning with "Jagam pugazhum Punya Kathai Ramanin Kathaiye," sung by P Leela and P Sushela, has in it full of chiranjeevithwam and is being played and enjoyed in many of the Tamil homes and temples - even after its release of six decades. The film, it is said, garnered collection of around rupees one crore. It had its release in around 26 theaters and ran for 175 days in 16 theaters, and 100 days in other theaters creating a record of sorts in the history of southern cinema. Considering the average price of a ticket at that time being twenty-five paisa(not even 25 rupees), one can imagine and be amazed at how much the total amount collected by the film and how many people enjoyed watching the film.

Another Tamil song which requires special mention is "Raman Ethanai Ramanadi" @film Lakshmi Kalyanam. The creation of this song has its rich history and legacy to the liking of Poet Kannadasan well tuned by M S Viswanathan ably supported by P Susheela through her Godly-blessed voice which is reverberating at many homes even after release of five decades. All the ingredients of good qualities which Lord Rama possesses are reflected during the course of penning of this song, e.g., Kalyana Raman, SitaRaman, Raja Raman, SundaraRaman, Kosala Raman, Dasaratha Raman, Kothanda Raman, Sri Jaya Raman, Raghu Raman, Sivaraman, Sriraman, Anantharaman, etc.

Jai Sriram.