"Good
music exalts and purges the mind and intellect. Children should
be trained to listen to chaste classical music, which would
enlighten them. Music is now being reduced to mere cacophony
and one has to be really selective,''
says the noted music director, Ravindran.
Malayalam film music has witnessed a few
geniuses when it comes to music. If the colossus of the old
era was G.Devarajan, the medieval era through the 90s was
dominated by Raveendran. His contribution to MFM is immeasurable.
Raveendran(1943-2005
alias -Kulathupuzha Ravi) had composed many soulful melodies.
He started his career as a playback singer in the 70's and
evolved as one of the foremost music directors in the South,
composing about 1,500 songs in 450 films in addition to a
number of light music and devotional albums.
The
Journey:
Raveendran
had his degree in Music at the Swathy Thirunnal Sangeetha
College, Thiruvananthapuram . Poverty in the family did not
present him any ‘colourful’ days in his childhood. But he
took that ‘dismal days’ positively and as a stepping stone
for the 'hard' days ahead in his career as a singer/musician.He
learned music along with noted singer Yesudas.
Kulathupuzha
Ravi, as he was known then, had earned a name all over Kerala as a singer through the ganamela troupe. With a burning ambition
in his heart to make it big in cinema, Raveendran moved to
Chennai. After a prolonged hunt, he met music director Baburaj,
who gave him a chance to sing in `Velliyazhcha'.
Later
he became a dubbing artiste. His sonorous voice soon made
him popular and he dubbed for all the films of Ravikumar,
who was the hero in the 70's.
Finally
it was K.J Yesudas who helped him later for becoming a music
director as Raveendran himself had strongly wished to be known
as a playback singer! . The big break in career came through
the film Choola Directed by I. V. Sasi.This single movie itself
had fetched him more chances.
" Thaarake mizhiyithalil...'', was the
first song in the film Choola in 1979 that catapulted Raveendran
to become the noted music director in Malayalam.
The
Rapport :
Jesudas
altered the course of his life by persuading him to compose
songs. After that, there was no looking back and the singer-turned-music
director went on to script a success story which was repeated
in the successive films. A majority of Raveendran's songs
were sung by Jesudas and they shared a great rapport.
The
tenure:
From
1979 on Raveendran ruled the roost of Malayalam film music.
He had belted out many hits in 1980s and 90s.
The
Films :
A
few among Raveendran’s best songs were in films like ‘Thenum
Vayambum’, ‘Amaram’, ‘His Highness Abdullah’, ‘Ayal Katha
zhuthuthukayanu’, ‘Nandanam’ ‘Mizhi Randilum’. His last work
was for the film ‘Vadakkumnadhan’ a musical odyssey, released
in May 2006.
The
hallmark:
Melody incorporated with the fine points of Carnatic
music was the hallmark of his songs! By the release of Thenum
Vayambum (1981), Raveendran made his mark in film field. The
whole songs in the movie became a super hit! The songs, thenum
Vayambum…, ottakambi naatham… are still sought- after numbers
for Malayalees.
Raveendran
had ‘created’ songs rather gave tunes to them. May be that
is why his melodies are still standing the test of times.
Malayalees
will never forget the songs that have been credited with Raveendran.
Ragangale… (Tharattu), Vanambaadi Poru… (Desadanakili Karayaarilla),
Ezhuswarangalum thazhukivarum… (Chirio chiri), Hridayam oru
veenayai… (Thammil Thammil)… List is endless.
The
work:
Ravindran is perhaps the one of the few music directors who
insists on hearing the story of the film. He visualizes the
situations and the background scores are made to suit the
situations. He even narrates an embellished version of the
original story to the playback singers too so that they could
also make significant contributions.
He
does not use any instrument to compose a song. "I use
the harmonium just for the `shruthi' and a tabla for the rhythm.
I sing the tunes and polish them to perfection. Harmonium
can produce only flat notes. By singing a tune it would be
easy to convey the nuances to the singers. They will easily
get a true feeling of the mood and `gamakas' of the song,''
says Ravindran.
Ravindran
has his own concept about a male voice. It should be deep
and melodious. A singer should be able to render the bass
and treble tones with effortless ease. K.J. Jesudas is the
only singer who could do it to his satisfaction, he says.
Ravindran
could effectively exploit the range of Jesudas. Right from
the song `Tharake...' in his first film, `Choola,' to `Harimuraleeravam...'
in `Aaram Thampuran,' the songs sung by Jesudas were proof
of Ravindran's skill in putting to good use the talent of
the singer.
Ravindran
waxes eloquent on mentioning the name of Jesudas. "Dasettan
can easily understand the moods and even the minute details
of my scores. He insists that I should sing the track. We
sync perfectly and that is the success of our teamwork,''
he explains.
They
speak:
Jesudas:
He was like my brother. He gave me a lot of scope to improvise
and was able to bring out the best in me. We shared a great
rapport for many years and I should say that he was instrumental
in my success.
Jayachandran: No other music director was able to incorporate classical,
Hindustani and folk music into film songs and throughout he
was able to give quality music. I will miss the `Raveendran
style` of music for ever. We all lost a great music director”.
Chitra-
Raveendran ‘mash’ was my guru. He was instrumental in my coming
to Chennai. He was my mentor and role model. He used to keep
the melodious song in his albums for me to sing. Among all
the good songs that I have sung it were the ‘Nandanam’ songs
that are my personal favourite.
His
family:
He
is survived by wife Shobha and three sons.
 His
end of lifes journey:
On 04 March , 2005, Noted music director Raveendran
passed away in Chennai following a cardiac arrest. He also
suffered from Cancer .
Click
here
Visit M Raveendran's Profile in SocialPulse.com
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/l/cl/136/
Courtesy:
Wikipedia, Web Media |
