 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(July 2020) |
K. D. Santhanam | |
|---|---|
| Born | India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, writer and lyricist |
K. D. Santhanam was an Indian actor, writer and lyricist who worked mainly in Tamil films. [1] [2]
He was a teacher at Madurai Sri Mangala Bala Gana Sabha training young boys in dramatics. He was known as a strict disciplinarian. He punished erring boys beating them with a cane, sometimes chasing the running boys. One of his students became a renowned actor later who acknowledged to his friends that it was due to the discipline of his tutor he was able to reach heights. The actor is Sivaji Ganesan. Later Santhanam has done minor character roles in which Sivaji Ganesan featured as the hero. This information has been recorded by writer Aroordas in his biography.
He is a character artiste and has featured in more than 100 films.
In Pasamalar , he featured as Rajaratnam, a village senior who arranges the marriage of Sivaji Ganesan with M. N. Rajam.
"Ahaa Enna Porutham" is a hit song from the film Ragasiya Police 115 . In between the verses one can hear a commanding voice asking "Ange ennamma saththam?" (What is the noise there?). The voice is of Santhanam, who featured as Dhanapal Muthaliar (a filmmaker), father of Neela (Jayalalithaa) in the film.
He featured as the father of M. G. Ramachandran in the film Aasai Mugam .
During the 1950s, Tamil Cinema had a number of classic lyricists who enriched the films with their variety of songs. Udumalai Narayana Kavi and Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram wrote leftist oriented songs. A. Maruthakasi specialised in agricultural songs. Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam wrote melodious songs. Kannadasan wrote on life and philosophy. Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass wrote songs that appealed to the common man. Santhanam made his mark by writing songs with rhythmic flow known in Tamil as Santham.
A classic example of his "santham" song is "Thamizh Maalai Thanai Chooduvaal" from the film Ambikapathy . The sequence is: a poet takes up a challenge thrown by the King to sing 100 songs without referring to earthly pleasures, in order to win his daughter, the princess. Practically, in a film, it is impossible to sing 100 songs at a stretch. Santhanam wrote five songs for this scene. It was shown on screen using the running notation method. The fifth song becomes the 99th song. The poet gets excited. He sings the last five lines of the last verse in one breath. The word flow was such that it made the audience spellbound. This song is said to be the stamp song of Santhanam.
Music director Ilaiyaraaja once said that he got the inspiration for his song "Vaa Vennilla" from the film Mella Thirandhathu Kadhavu (1986) was a song written by Santhanam – "Vaan Meedhile Inba Thaen Maari Peyudhe" from the film Chandirani (1953).
His dance song "Laalu Laalu", written for the film Vijayakumari (1950) was rendered by Vyjayanthimala and became popular. [3]
There are many noteworthy songs written by K. D. Santhanam.
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Actor and Lyricist
Nirdoshi or Niraparadhi (transl. Blameless) is a 1951 Telugu/Tamil film produced and directed by H. M. Reddy. Mukkamala Krishna Murthy played role of hero whereas Anjali Devi played double role. The Rai Brothers worked as Cinematographers behind the camera and Ghantasala as Music director. Edited by M.S. Parthasarathy
Kumari is a 1952 Indian Tamil-language film directed by R. Padmanaban, starring M. G. Ramachandran, Madhuri Devi and Sri Ranjani (Junior).
Visappinte Vili is a 1952 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Mohan Rao and produced by Kunchacko and K. V. Koshi under the banner of K&K Combines. It stars Prem Nazir, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Kumari Thankam, Pankajavalli, Nanukuttan, Mathappan, S. P. Pillai and Baby Girija.
Kaveri is a 1955 Indian Tamil-language film directed by D. Yoganand, produced by Lena Chettiar and written by A. S. A. Sami. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini and Lalitha. It was released in 1955.
Naalvar is a 1953 Tamil-language drama film directed by V. Krishnan. The film stars A. P. Nagarajan, Kumari Thankam, N. N. Kannappa, M. N. Krishnan and T. P. Muthulakshmi in major roles. Nagarajan, who played the main lead was also the writer of the film. The film revolves around a family consisting of four siblings.
Paradesi or Poongothai is a 1953 Indian Telugu-Tamil bilingual romance film, produced by P. Adinarayana Rao under the Anjali pictures banner and directed by L. V. Prasad. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Anjali Devi, Sivaji Ganesan and music also composed by P. Adinarayana Rao. The film is a remake of the Hindi movie Raj Rani (1950). No print of Poongothai is known to survive, making it a lost film.
Gomathiyin Kaadhalan is a 1955 Indian Tamil language film directed by P. Neelakantan and starring T. R. Ramachandran, K. Savithri and K. A. Thangavelu. The film is an adaptation of a novel of the same name written by Devan.
Nalla Veedu is a 1956 Indian Tamil language film, directed by Jyotish Sinha. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, M. N. Rajam, Pandaribai and Mynavathi.
Nichaya Thamboolam is a 1962 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film, directed and produced by B. S. Ranga. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Jamuna. It was released on 9 February 1962. The film was released in Telugu as Pelli Thambulam.
Achan is a 1952 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by M. R. S. Mani and produced by M. Kunchacko. The film stars Prem Nazir and B. S. Saroja in lead roles. The film had musical score by P. S. Divakar. This was the only film in which veteran actor Sesbastian Kunjukunju Bhagavatahar did a comic role. It is one of the major box office hits of early Malayalam cinema. It will be remembered as the debut of Boban Kunchacko, the maiden venture of XL Productions, and first film of Thiruvananthapuram V. Lakshmi. The film was remade in Tamil as Thanthai, again with Prem Nazir. Kambadasan wrote the dialogues and lyrics. The film was released in April 1953.
Manam Pola Mangalyam is a 1953 Indian Tamil language comedy film directed by P. Pullaiah. The film features Gemini Ganesan and Savithri in the lead roles. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.
Needhipathi (transl. Judge) is a 1955 Indian Tamil language film directed by A. S. A. Sami. The film featured K. R. Ramasamy, Gemini Ganesan, Rajasulochana and M. N. Rajam in the lead roles.
Kurichchi Marimuthu Balasubramaniam better known as Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam (1920-1994) was an Indian writer and poet who wrote mainly in the Tamil language.
Kambadasan (1916–1973) was an Indian writer, poet and film lyricist who worked mainly in Tamil-language films.
M. P. Sivam is an Indian stage and film artist. He has worked as a teacher who trained stage artistes. He was also a poet and a musician.
Alangudi Somu was an Indian Tamil film lyricist who wrote many popular songs in several films. He was active in the field from 1960 till late 1990s.
Vedha was an Indian composer who started working in Sinhala films during the early 1950s when they were being produced in Madras. Then he worked mainly in Tamil films. He was active in the field for about 25 years since 1952.
Sowbagyavathi is a 1939 Indian, Tamil-language film directed by Prem Chetna.
Pillavalu Gajapathi Krishnaveni, popularly known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer. She sang mainly in Telugu and Tamil films. She also sang in Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhala languages.
Andal was an Indian playback singer who sang mainly in Tamil-language.
