One Song at a time - 53.Thamasammenthe Varuvan

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(M.S.Baburaj)

A lot of South Indian Film Music directors were influence by Hindustani Music as well as by Hindi Film Music directors. You can find the Hindustani strains in lot of films songs of Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. 'Karnan' (Tamil) is an excellent example of North Indian influence. The hugely popular 'Sivashankari' ('Jagadekaveeruni Katha') is another example. One of the music directors from Malayalam film industry who was very much influenced by Hindustani music and Hindi film music was M.S.Baburaj. 

(I realized quite late that I have not written about this excellent music director. I had written about the other greats of Malayalam film music but somehow missed him. As they say, better late than never.)

I first came to know about M.S.Baburaj through a piece on Janaki written by Saravanan in dhool.com. In that article Saravanan compared Baburaj-Janaki combination to Madanmohan-Lata combination. When such a comparison is done, it is but natural that you check out the truth or otherwise of that statement. And I am glad to say Saravanan was correct.

From what I have heard of Baburaj's music, he seems to be influence by music directors like Naushad. I personally find his songs better than those of Naushad though. He gave great melodies, some of them becoming all time favorites for Malayalis.

Baburaj's music was very soothing. He ensured that the singers sang with the required modulation. He seems to have based many of his songs on Hindustani ragas like Bheemplas, Yaman etc. His was a very different style of tuning  compared to the other Malayalam music directors of those times. 

I have taken today's song from the film 'Bhargavi Nilayam'. This movie had some great songs. The song for today is 'tamasammene varuvan'. Based on Bhimplas, Baburaj weaves a soft melody. His orchestration reminds you so much of old Hindi songs. (The tune can be easily imagined in Rafi's voice.) Jesudas executes it perfectly. (I had read that this was once rated as one of the best Malayalam film songs of all time. Now I heard 'ayiram padasarangal' has that pride of place.)



I wrote about Baburaj and Janaki being a great team. Let's hear a song to understand why. You will not complain about the Madanmohan - Lata comparison after hearing this song (based on Yaman.) An excellent tuned, delivered with the required emotion by Janaki. "thaliritta kinaakal" ('Moodupadam')



Given that I have delayed putting up a Baburaj melody for so long, here is one more lovely song tuned by Baburaj. 'Thamara Kumbillallo' This mesmerising tune is once again sung by janaki. From the movie, 'Anweshichu Kandethiyilla'











Comments

Aakarsh said…
Beautiful songs. extremely melodious. I never knew about this composer. evidently Naushad's influence can be seen in the first song you posted. I havent heard his other songs - so cannot comment on the comparison with naushad's music as such. But one thing - this composer's songs, i mean, the ones you posted here are so breezy and "sraavyatha" filled - on the ears. Even that Janaki's song (this is the Janaki I prefer, usually - very easy on ears). Amazing!
Loved them all. Your posts introduced me to new music many a time. Keep writing!
November 22, 2011 at 6:01 AM
Suresh S said…
Kamal,

Thanks for the comment. Baburaj was a revelation to me too when I heard him first. As far as Naushad's comparison goes I am basing it on a small sample size, I must confess. Devarajan was more popular outside of Kerala (for films like 'Swamy Ayyappa') Later Dakshinamoorthy also became popular beyond Kerala for songs like 'nanda en nila' and for films like 'Gaanam' whereas Baburaj remained confined to Kerala.

And 'sraavyatha', that's a new word for me, yes, his songs are very easy on the ears. He seems to have been very particular about this aspect. Almost all songs of Janaki with him have this aspect. The Janaki you like :)
November 22, 2011 at 6:27 AM
Aakarsh said…
Sraavyatha - i couldnt find an english equivalent. Its like how we feel when we listen to say "Jalthe hai jiske liye" or "manasuna malleloogeno"(Malleeswari). That soft breezy feel. It depends on raaga selection as well (i think).

By the way, just noticed that your blog title is "One song at a time" and in many of your posts, there are atleast 2-3 :-D. I am not complaining!
November 22, 2011 at 7:59 PM
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