MUSICALLY YOURS
Hang on. What’s this? Why pit the superstar of Malayalam filmdom with the Telugu film’s superstar? Mollywood versus Tollywood? What happened?
Nothing. Blame the 18th-century Telugu composer-singer Saint Tyagaraja, one of the Carnatic music trinities. He’s responsible for this fracas, in an indirect way, of course.
Nagumo ganaleni naajaaleni telisi is one of his most famous compositions praising Ram of the Indian epic Ramayan.
Mohanlal sang this song in the ace director Priyadarshan’s Malayalam film Chithram in 1988. Subsequently, Mohanbabu bought the rights to this Malayalam movie and remade it in Telugu as Alludu Garu. Naturally, the Telugu film star also sang this Tyagaraja kriti.
Neither Mohanlal nor Mohanbabu sang this devotional song in their voice. They lip-synced to playback singers: M G Sreekumar for Mohanlal and K J Yesudas for Mohanbabu.
The floodgates
It opened up the floodgates of a comparative study about who lip-synced better and whose acting was excellent while exercising their vocal cords for this song picturisation.
Actor Mohanlal received all accolades, while playback singer M G Sreekumar’s superb singing got little or no attention. On the other hand, Yesudas, from God’s Own Country, walked away with all honours, and the hero Mohanbabu got lesser praise.
Yesudas is an accomplished Carnatic Music singer who learned under the tutelage of doyen Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar. M G Sreekumar has no such rich Carnatic Music credentials. Yet he too did well.
Nothing much to compare
Honestly, there is nothing much to compare. The original Tyagaraj kriti is always sung in Abheri raga set to adi talam by MS Subbalakshmi or Ranjani Gayatri or K J Yesudas or Unnikrishnan or his daughter Uthara. In these two movies, the song is sung in the same raga. So why this unnecessary comparison?
There’s one more Kerala connection in the Telugu movie. Shobana acted as Mohanbabu’s love interest. Who’s she? Her pedigree is a long list. She is the niece of the famous Travancore sisters: Lalita, Padmini, and Ragini. Malayalam actress Sukumari is her paternal aunt.
There was a division among moviegoers or song-watchers on YouTube that Mohanlal’s lip-sync was a notch above Mohanbabu. No end to such debates when fans of both thespians cross swords. Freedom of expression.
Veteran south Indian music director K V Mahadevan, renowned for his Carnatic music-based film songs, did the honours for Alludu Garu. Three music directors are credited with composing songs for Chithram: Johnson, Ilayaraaja, and Kannur Rajan. The credit for Nagumo goes to Kannur Rajan.
Commenting on these two actors’ gestures, some said their actions did not suit the spirit of the song. Of course, it is true. Tyagaraja’s mood was spiritual and devotional. Mohanlal and Mohanbabu sing this bhakti geet to woo their better half. Certainly, some nautanki, and certainly not in bhakti mode.
However, Mohanlal is a singer-actor. He has sung some songs in Malayalam movies, considered big hits.
Also, by the same author: https://thenewsporter.com/songs-that-lift-me-from-deep-mental-agony-grip-and-sporadic-mood-dips/
The writer, a hardcore business and economic journalist-cum-author, dives into the entertainment world to bust his emotional stresses regularly. He lives in Greater Noida, India, with his wife and a parrot. He is reachable at ramesh@konsultramesh.com. Views are personal.
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