Lyricist who brought chaste Tamil into breezy film songs

By R Rangaraj

Seventy years ago the breezy, lilting number "Ayyaa Saamy Aaaoji Saamy" in ‘Or Iravu’ (1951) became everyone’s favourite. It was an unusual harmony -- the voice was of the most unlikely musician for a song of this type, Carnatic vocalist M L Vasanthakumari, its words were a mix of Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and English and although the song book credited it to K P Kamatchi Sundaram, the songwriter was Ku Ma Balasubramaniam, who had written a few short stories and poems, was active in the political scene and was trying to find a profession that would also quench his creative urge.

Starting his career as a lyricist who struggled to get due credit for his work, Ku Ma Ba, as Balasubramaniam was later known, earned a reputation for being proficient in writing chaste classical Tamil, who went on to write lyrics for leading music directors like G Ramanathan, K V Mahadevan, T G Lingappa, Sudarsanam and Salil Chowdhury.

But for someone who had a literary bent of mind, Balasubramaniam could not finish school. Born on May 13, 1920, at Velukkudi village in undivided Thanjavur district in an agricultural family, his father died when he was five and Balasubramaniam could not continue his studies beyond Class VI. Upto the age of 18 he attended to farm work and worked at a few stores. But his love for Tamil was undiminished. His mother taught him the songs of ‘Devaram’, ‘Thiruvaasagam’, ‘Thiruvarutpa’ and ‘Thayumanavar’. A voracious reader, he devoured anything that he could get his hands on. But without much resources, the daily Tamil newspapers were where he picked up words.

His short story, ‘Inbathuli’, was published in ‘Navayugan’ newspaper, and thereafter more appeared in other publications. He began his tenure in public life by joining the Periyar group of poets as deputy general secretary. Later, Balasubramaniam worked for newspapers and magazines in Madurai and Coimbatore.

With the excitement around independent India, he joined the party Tamizh Arasu Kazhagam (TAK), floated by Tamil scholar-activist Ma Po Si and went on to become its central executive committee member and general secretary. He also shouldered the responsibilities of the party publications ‘Tamizh Murasu’ and ‘Senkoal’, as deputy editor. Balasubramaniam took part as one of the prominent activists in the TAK border agitations, demanding renaming of Madras state to Tamil Nadu and asking for state autonomy, during which he courted arrest.

At the time he came into contact with several poets Kannadasan, Ku Sa Krishnamurthi, Kuyilan, film director P Neelakantan and writer-fledgling politician M Karunanidhi. On the recommendation of Neelakantan, Balasubramaniam was drafted to make copies of Annadurai’s dialogue for ‘Oar Iravu’ of AVM Films. He got tto work as assistant director and also wrote a few songs for the film — "Pennnaaga Pirandhaalae Vaazhvil Ennaalum Thuyar Dhaanae", "Ayyaa Saamy" and "Enna Ulagamadaa". Following their success, he got a job at AVM.

In 1952, director M V Raman took him to Mumbai and got him the work of writing dialogues and songs for Tamil remakes of films ‘Naasthigan’ and ‘Saamraat’. In two years, Balasubramaniam returned to Chennai and from then on it was no looking back. He wrote lyrics for scores of films like ‘Gomathiyin Kaadhalan’, ‘Kanavane Kankanda Deivam’ and ‘Sabhash Meena’ (Chithiram Pesudhadi, Kaana Inbam). He wrote more than 600 songs, including films remade from other languages, for leading music directors and captivated the hearts of music lovers.

Some of the hits with his evergreen lyrics which continue to haunt music lovers were "Inbam Pongum Vennila" (Veerapandiya Kattabomman), "Maasila Nilave Num" (Ambikapathy), and "Aadaadha Manamum Aadudhae" (Kalathur Kannamma). He could conjure the breeziness of "Yaradi Nee Mohini" and "Ninaikkum Poadhae Aahaa" with the same ease that he could write the more heavy classical songs "Singaaravelane Deva" (Konjum Salangai) and the ‘bhakti’ element for devotional numbers like "Vaeloadu Vilaiyaadum Murugaiyya".

Amid his hectic writing for films, Balasubramaniam would always find time to engage in politics. He addressed meetings of the DMK-led alliance in the run-up to the 1967 assembly elections. On the recommendation of Ma Po Si, the DMK government nominated him to the state legislative council in 1974 from the field of arts, a post in which he continued till 1980. In 1976, following ideological differences with Ma Po Si during the Emergency, Balasubramaniam along with some others, quit the TAK and joined the DMK. In 1989, the DMK government appointed him secretary of TN Iyal Isai Naadaka Manram, but he quit the post when the DMK failed to retain power after the 1991 elections. Despite being a noted writer, activist and former MLC, neither the film industry nor the DMK have attempted a remembrance to mark the centenary of the man in a befitting manner.

A lifetime dedicated to writing, whether it was for harmonies on screen, fiery political speeches or philosophies for his short stories, Balasubramaniam was a rare combination who donned many hats without wanting to grab the spotlight, finding his creative impetus, stimulus and satisfaction in the written word.

(The writer is president of Chennai 2000 Plus Trust)


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