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“Change is always natural. It would be unusual if there was no change. There is a change in almost every thing from story, narration to technical standards. Technical Standards are moving up. And the real change is in the taste of the audience. So Cinema has to change accordingly.”

When Singeetham unveiled Kamal’s Rajaparvai there were no takers. The movie was a boxoffice disaster and was deemed by critics as an experiment - “the content was too modern, too path-breaking for the audience” of that time. Singeetham however has given shape to a new genre - aesthetic sensibility or commercial art house - in mainstream Tamil cinema.

After the debacle of Rajaparvai, both Kamal and Singeetham removed their “thinking” hats and went back to do what their fans originally expected them to do - delivering commercial hits, that is.

Kamal delivered a hit “Vaazhve Maayam” - the remake of the Telugu hit “Premabhishekam”, and Singeetham gave “jEgaNTalu” (temple bells) another musical hit -in the lines of Panthulamma- introducing Ramji and Muccherla Aruna to Telugu screen. The tunes given by K.V Mahadevan for Veturi’s lyrics - vandanalu vandanalu valapula harichandanalu; telusu le… neeku teluso ledo kaani naaku telusu le; idi amani poochina poola radham - are evergreen hits and are hummed by Telugu music lovers even now.

Singeetham then started focusing on Kannada movies (his mother tongue) for a short while (1982-1983) and delivered super hits like Haalu-Jeynu (milk and honey), Chalisuva Modagalu (fleeting clouds), Eradu Nakshtralgalu (two stars), etc. with none other than the super star of Kannada Cinema, Dr.Raj Kumar, fondly known as “annavru” (the big brother).

Parallely, he directed one movie “Raju, Rani, Jackie” (1983) for Navata Krishnam Raju, his favourite producer!

Two other significant movies during this period were “Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma” - an intelligent satire sugarcoated with shtick dealing with unemployment, which also introduced the audience to Singeetham’s prowess as a music director, and “Mayuri” - the tale of a dancer.

Mayuri, a Ramoji Rao production, is a masterly told story - semi biographical - of Sudha Chandran, a classical dancer who lost her leg due to an accident. With her family’s support and help from Dr.Sethi (of Jaipur) she overcame her disability and continued to live her dreams as a dancer. Ramoji Rao was inspired this real-life heroism and he requested Singeetham to make this movie happen.

What happened next? Let’s hear what Sudha has to say -

“When I got back to dancing (after the accident and amputation), a lot of journalists wrote my fight-back story in the papers. This caught the attention of filmmaker Ramoji Rao. He contacted the USIS in Chennai. They sent a fax to my father who was working for the same company in Mumbai. We flew down to Hyderabad. Initially, he just wanted to make a film on my life-story, with some other girl as the heroine. Later, he and even the director Srinivas (Singeetham) thought that I should do the role.”

[And you grabbed the offer?] “No. In fact, I asked for some time. They obliged. For three months, I kept quiet. My friends kept telling me that I was letting a golden opportunity slip away. A few days later, I gave in. Without Srinivas Rao… I would not have been an actress. That man is a genius. The moment he started directing me, I turned into wet clay. I learnt acting from him. He was my maker. The film did not do well in the first week but started picking up rapidly in the second. Initially, it was made in Telugu. Later it was dubbed in Malayalam and Tamil. Finally, it was remade in Hindi under the title Nache Mayuri.”

The movie was the super hit of that year in Telugu, raking in all the awards (including the prestigious President’s award) and highest rewards (net gross) for the makers. S.P.Balasubrahmayam (yes, the singer!) gave his melodious best as the music director. And thanks to the popularity of the movie, Dr.Sethi’s humanitarian efforts were noticed by the powers that be, fetching him the Raman-Magsaysay Award for that year.

Singeetham, however silently moved on from this success to make - some sane, some inane - movies like Sangeetha Samrat (ANR), Shravana Banthu (Raj Kumar), Anand (Shiva Raj Kumar), America Abbayi (Rajasekhar, Ashwini), etc.

No one knew that he had another master piece in making though…

Pushpak - Silence is Golden!
The premise is pretty simple - Kamal is an unemployed young man who dreams big. He one day bumps into a beautiful girl (Amala) accidentally giving her the impression that he is rich. That night, he stumbles upon a drunk (Sameer Kakkad), lying in stupor next to a luxury hotel, and is carrying a key to one of the suites (was it 1247?) in the hotel. Kamal carries the drunk to his poor bachelor’s pad, ties him up and locks him in. Then, he moves to the hotel, pretending to be the rich guy and starts wooing Amala -hoodwinking her parents- who are staying in the same hotel.

The love blossoms and the young couple enjoys every moment of their togetherness, yearning for more. Eventually, Kamal realizes the bitter reality behind his distasteful charade and moves back into his previous life, and returns Sameer back to the roadside gutter where he was first found. Kamal also writes a confession letter to Amala.

At the end, Amala sees Kamal again and writes him a note - from the car she is riding in - wraps the note around a flower (symbolism) and throws it to Kamal. Kamal picks up the flower first, and the note gets blown away by the wind.

This closure is indeed a homage - a subliminal salute - to Chaplin, the master of the tragic comedies during the silent era.

A screwball subplot involves an extramarital affair between the Sameer’s wife and his friend. The friend (Prathap Pothan) brings in a hired killer (Tinu Anand) to kill Sameer who is supposedly occupant of the suite 1247. The killer makes multiple attempts at Kamal with his Ice Daggers (water is frozen in a dagger shaped tin container a la kulfi to produce sharp ice weapons! outrageously hilarious), and Sameer gets to escape his death - thanks to Kamal who has locked him up at his bachelor’s pad - and later - thanks to Kamal’s discovery of facts - Sameer wins his wife again.

Highlights: The black humor in the scene where Kamal and Amala walk through the funeral queues, handholding, pretending to pay respects to a dead person - the amazing BGMs during the scene where Kamal follows Tinu Anand back to Pratap Pothan’s house - the stark human sense of belongingness in the scene where Kamal goes back to his flat for the aural ambienece of the loud movie theater next door - the enema aftermath - the voluptuous maid and the dirty old man - the crow and the stones story in the background of Kamal’s morning tea - Kamal’s the innovative way of washing his shirt using minimum soap… it is a simple story with well etched characterization and emotive innovation beautifully embroidered and festooned with a sensible background score.

Singeetham with his own story, screenplay, and direction - Kamal, with his impeccable chaplinesque acting - L.Vaidyanathan the real voice of the movie - where does one ends and the other begins? This is one movie is one standing example for the word TEAMWORK.

This experiment hit the screens unannounced and enthralled audience with its sheer intelligence. This movie will always stand out to be one of its kinds in its genre, in its class and maturity.

Apoorva Sahodarargal
Comedy of errors - the usual twins theme - with a revenge twist.

One of the two brothers is a midget, Appu, working as a clown in a circus, who decides to give it back to the four baddies who killed his dad (Kamal’s excellent portrayal of Sethupathy), and poisoned his mom (late Srividya). Appu with his ingenious planning and his circus accoutrement devises devious ways to dispose off the villians. Suspected by the law however is Raja, the other brother, an innocent mechanic. Janagaraj (the cop) and Shivaji (as his sychopant assistant) are the people assigned to investigate these killings. A few cinematic licenses - Raja falling in love with one of the bag guys’ daughter, and Raja being in the wrong places at the the wrong times - are sought by the writer director duo.

Kamal’s portrayal as Appu - his mastery in facial expressions while showing his ecstatic joy and the subsequent emotional play in the Marriage Registration scene - the sheer physical pain of playing a pint-sized person without using any graphics (which were unheard of in the Tamil movie land at that time). Tamil viewers were astonished by Kamal’s metamorphosis into a midget, and Singeetham, till date, has insisted on keeping the method employed a close secret.

Ilaiyaraja’s sensational music - every number a chart buster - eclectic Raaja Kaiya Vecha, haunting Unnai Nenache, and the most extraordinary composition Puthu Mappillaikku which intentionally runs along the lines of “Naan Paarthathiley, Aval Oruthiyaithaaan” - one of the evergreen songs from the MGR hit, Anbey Vaa.

Crazy Mohan - The name says it all. The most funniest writer of oneliners that Tamil cinema has ever seen. His dialogues for this film ensured repeat audience. Lines between the lines, double entendres, in your face punch lines - he packed them all in one script for this movie - every line is a cracker and every other line is a repartee. The Tamil audience, desperately searching for the long-forgotten “clean” comedy, were in love with his words heads over heels! And Kamal and Singeetham found their compatriot in their journey to comic cosmos.

For Mohan, this was just the beginning of a really long relationship with these creators - Michael Madana Kama Rajan, Magalir Mattum, Chinna Vathiyar, Madam, Kadhala Kadhala, Indrudu Chandrudu, Sathi Leelavathi, Avvai Shanmughi, Pammal K Sambandam, Thenali, Panchathantiram, Vasool Raja MBBS, Dasavatharam - he wrote them all.

Michael Madhana Kama Rajan
Bheem bhai Bheem bhai, antha LOCKER lendhu aaru latchathai eduthu indha Avinashi naayin moonjiyil vitteri - Just wait a nimit for five nimits - I mean what I mean, but they can’t be so mean - these lines are unforgettable - ask any Tamil movie fan!

The movie starts off with a bioscope man, inviting kids to listen to a story - that’s Singeetham singing in Ilaiyaraja’s voice - and the whole story is seen through the eyes of a kid who pays Singeetham to take a peek through the bioscope.

Michael (a counterfeiter), Madan (a rich heir), Kameshwaran (a palakkad brahmin cook), and Raju (fireman, a drama enthusiast) are four brothers, quadruplets, separated at birth. Madan recruits Raju to impersonate him - Michael decides to kidnap Madan and step into his shoes for the money - Kameshwaran gets hired to replace Madan during Madan’s absence by a crooked accountant at Madan’s office for, again, the money.

With 4 characters pretending to be the same character (played by the same actor) and a script that gets as screwball as they come (Crazy Mohan at his best), this must’ve been a logistic nightmare to the director and the team. Singeetham again managed to to deliver the impossible and the movie, though a moderate success, is still a cult favorite.

Consider this for a moment to be able to appreciate the smarts of this movie. Every frame in the movie involves at least four characters, sometimes more than one Kamal Haasan, positioned strategically. In this case, where the climax of the movie has all the characters present in the frame - patched inserts of close ups, head shots, and medium shots - for most of the times, the way the master shot is matched up with these individual inserts, without the usual jarring that always gives away the reality (fakeness) of the scenes, showcases the careful detail that the director has paid attention to, when handling the camera and scissors.

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