Emperors re-crowned
MALATHI RANGARAJAN
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Recently the Mellisai Mannars were honoured for their immense contribution to light music.
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MUTURAL ADMIRATION: MSV and Ilaiyaraja.
So what if the Centre is still to recognise the immense talent of the all time Composing Greats of the South? The evening at Kamarajar Arangam amply made up for the lapse. It was a bonanza for aficionados of light music, when M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamurthy, the unassailable legends of cinema, were felicitated in the most memorable manner. And doing the honours were Crazy Beat Entertainment's J. Prabhakar and Ganesh Kripa's music troupe.
From the heart
Poet and lyricist Vaali was voluble in his tribute to MSV as always. He was the one who had given the then struggling Vaali his much needed break. "I've said it several times and I say it again, before MSV came into my life I had no food to eat and after that I've had no time to eat," said Vaali. His address was a treat. T. M. Soundararajan refused to sit and speak. "At 82, I'm the youngest here. I can stand," he quipped. His plaudits touched a thanksgiving plane when he gratefully acknowledged the opportunities the pair had awarded him.
The generally sober and sedate Ilaiyaraja sounded highly-strung as he recalled the days in his village, when he grew up with the music of MSV and Ramamurthy. " We can be as proud of these masters of music as we are of Thiruvalluvar, Kambar and Bharati. Be it A. R. Rahman or me, the glory we have earned is all because of the benevolence of MSV and TKR. My words are from the heart and I have no hesitation in voicing them," he said. A. R. Rahman agreed with the maestro in toto. "MSV and Ramamurthy laid the road for us. So did Ilaiyaraja. And we traverse on it. I was very nervous when I tuned the lyrics of MSV's number, `Thottal Poo Malarum ... ' again. It was a wonderful surprise when he hugged me and complimented me ," he said.
The imposing array of celebrities that included PBS and S. P. Muthuraman, and the packed hall, bore testimony to the aural bliss the duo had offered for a decade and more, and also the goodwill that they had earned from within the fraternity and without.
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