MSV : His Music and his times - Part 8: Birth of MSV

With Vishwanathan and Ramamurthy going their separate ways, an era ended and Vishwanathan took a new avatar as MSV. Unlike the melodious but subdued Vishwanathan Ramamurthy, the new MSV was flamboyant. His music brimmed with energy and he started venturing into newer territories. Even his melodies took a new sheen once he became MSV.

In this part we will see some of the songs wherein MSV builds his own signature style which was different from the Vishwanathan Ramamurthy style.

Let us start with a song by which the Rahman generation and Anirudh generation knows MSV by. This song also appeared in 'Pithamagan'. For many this is the trademark MSV. 'ponmagal vandhal' from the movie 'Sorgam'



The song has a superb rhythm arrangement. The standard sarvalagu mridangam which was used extensively by Vishwanathan Ramamurthy is used in a totally novel way in the charanam. The tune of the charanam is also very energetic and TMS's voice fits the song to a T. In these MSV's songs we started seeing a totally different TMS.

This is another song which many of the modern generation have heard. 'azhagiya tamizh magal ival' from 'Rikshakaran'



Unlike the earlier song, this takes a more standard route in the initial part of the charanam but towards the end it comes closer to the spirit of the pallavi. As I had mentioned in a previous post, having a tight grip on the interludes was not MSV's forte. You can hear it in both these songs where the interlude's purpose is questionable.

Here is MSV trying some Spanish stuff in this song. While the pallavi part does invoke Spain, it later becomes a MSV signature song. 'thulluvadho ilamai'



We have to note L R Eswari's contribution in this song. L R Eswari would get some of her best songs under the baton of MSV. Her unconventional voice suited these type of songs well and many such songs were major hits. It must be said that L R Eswari did a fantastic job in these songs, as if she was a natural when it came to these songs. (It is a different matter that she finally became a singer known for her Amman songs.)

Here is another superhit song in the same mold, 'pattathu rani' from 'Sivandha Mann'. L R Eswari's contribution starts right from the prelude and that cabaret soaked voice establishes the modernity that MSV wanted to establish. (I remember reading that this was a very big budget for those times and I am not sure if it fared well. Old timers will know.)



The next song is interesting not just because the song is good but because of the prelude to the song which TMS singing in typical drama style. From that MSV fashions a fashionable song. Again, a super hit song of those times.



This song is a great amalgamation of Western style married to a typical MSV tune. Observe the line endings. So very MSVish and yet a tinge of western style in maintained.

I am quite amazed not only by the distance traveled by MSV but also by TMS: from being a singer employed to sing Carnatic raga based compositions to these kind of westernized songs. TMS does a very good job in these songs and I personally rate him a step ahead of his famous peers like Ghantasala and Rafi. (Kishore is a different beast altogether)

This was probably one of the earliest songs of MSV after he parted with Ramamurthy. It clearly indicates the direction MSV was taking. 'adada enna azhagu' by L R Eshwari. A lot of rock and roll bass in this song.



This song from 'Ooty Varai Uravu' has all the MSV signature which we had come to expect. The western influence, the tune which is not completely western and those typical line endings, humming and the oho-oho sounds. (Watch the song only if you can tolerate K R Vijaya's dance and expression)



Here is another typical western song from MSV. An arrangement which is western in the pallavi and which becomes more Indian in the charanam.



The second charanam is interesting in the sense that the tune drastically changes but somehow it stands a bit apart from the main song and the way it returns back to the main melody is not very smooth.

Here is L R Eswari again with TMS with a touch of Spain. 'muthamo mogamo' from 'Parakkum Pavai'



This song also showcases the problems which existed in MSV's songs especially in the way the charanams meander. In his best songs, some of which we saw earlier, the charanams had a tautness to them though the interludes were more 'loose'. I personally find it difficult to get through this whole song.

Let me finish the 'western' MSV show with this song. 'love birds' from 'Anbe Vaa'



In this song the charanam is gripping and the change of rhythm to tabla at the charanam ending works fine.

If we take those times (1965-1970) we must admit that in the Indian film music MSV was one of the earliest music directors who moved to a more western sounding 'sound'. The other would be S D Burman who had some superb modern numbers during that period. The other music directors somehow did not have as much flair for the western idiom as these two music directors. Shankar Jaikishen, the popular duo of those times, their followers Kalyanji Anandji and Lakshmikanth Pyarelal were still seeped in the more classical Hindi film music idiom. Others melody masters like Roshan or Madanmohan did not venture too much into this side whereas Salilda, the versatile genius had his eyes and ears for the western classical music, which he tried to integrate into his songs. In Telugu, music directors like Rajeshwar Rao and Pendyala had not moved in this direction. K V Mahadevan did change his style a bit but his westernization was nowhere close to MSV's.

MSV carved out an unique 'western' sound for himself, which had its highlights and pitfalls. At its best, it gave us tunes so modern, which the music directors of today want to remix. When it didn't work, it was a bit tiresome. Overall we must say that MSV moved away from the Vishwanathan Ramamurthy style with panache. No one in the Tamil film industry could mount a challenge to MSV during those times. The challenge would come from North of India in the form of R D Burman. We will deal with that in a later episode.

In the next part, we will deal with the melodies of MSV.