SOUTH INDIAN CINE MUSIC DIRECTORS [OLD] –XXII

 MD 17 - SHANKAR- GANESH

Shankar and Ganesh were assistants to MDs Viswanathan –Ramamoorthy in their early career. Mr. Shankar [ his name was Sankara Raman]  was the younger brother of CR Subbaraman for whom V -R were assistants ; Right from the days of ‘PAASA MALAR’ Ganesh had been with MSV . Both S and G were brisk assistants to MSV- TKR and this friendship blossomed into a sort of ‘pact’ between them to co-ordinate with each other for a fruitful partnership as MDs in their own right. To be precise, S and G were assisting MSV until 1967 where after they chose to work as freelancers in song composing. The background of Mr. Ganesh has been that he is the son-in-law of the well known producer GN VELUMANI of Saravana films. GN V had such a bondage with MSV that he was not too inclined to use his son-in-law Ganesh as a composer. It was at the insistence of Mr. MGR that GNV accommodated SG as MDs for a few of his films.

Shankar was quite adept in use of ‘Ragas’, while Ganesh was a multifaceted talent; G could sing, play instruments like Key board, Bongo, and some percussion devices. Also, he was quite naughty having entered the domain at a young age.  As a corollary, it is relevant to recall here that, during recording of the song ‘muththaana muththallavo [Nenjil or aalayam] , Ganesh used to get close to microphone to record the kissing sound as a part of the song. For that he got too close to the microphone and kissed at the back of his fist ‘simulating’ the noise of a kiss. Singer Susheela [singer standing at the microphone] felt nearly embarrassed at his casual approach. She was so shy and Ganesh was quite casual about whatever he did.

The message is a pointer to the frugal arrangements in song-recording studios even for microphones.  All said and done, Ganesh was quite innovative in generating typical sound effects. In that ‘magnum opus’ of a song ‘Pattaththu Raani’ [SIVANDHA MANN], it was Ganesh who devised a strategy to bring off the ‘whip cracking’ effect. After several efforts he pitched on to the use of Deepavali amorces popular as ‘cape’ among boys. Piling up 6-7 amorces in a stack, smashing the heap with a hammer would give off the noise effect of cracking the whip. He [G] has also acted in a few movies and he is friendly with many personalities of South Indian film industry. Shankar had donned the role of ‘Krishnagiri Kittappa’ in that all too popular hilarious movie ‘KAADHALIKKA NERAMILLAI’.

 Kavignar Kannadasan gave them the place of MDs for his own project ‘Nagaraththil thirudargal’; it turned abortive. So, Kavignar helped S-G by persuading Sandow MM Chinnappa Devar to give them movies for song composing. Chinnappa Devar obliged and SG’s career began as MDs in ‘MAHARAASI’. To date, their [S-G] gesture is sustained as ‘Kavignar vazhangiya Devarin – SANKAR GANESH in movie titles .

S-G have scored music for several films and had in the process been successful with even major stars like Sivaji Ganesan, MGR and Jayalalithaa. These include ‘MAHARAASI’, AKKAA THANGAI, SINIMAA PAITHTHIYAM, AATTUKKAARA ALAMELU, PAALAABISHEKAM, NAAN YEN PIRANDHEN, IDHAYAVEENAI,NEEYAA, VANDICHCHAKKARAM just to name a few.

It so happened that Shankar passed away at an early age. But, Ganesh retains Shankar’s name on all movie titles, though only Ganesh has completed all the work. Ganesh recalls his friend’s name only as Sankar Raman and not the abbreviation ‘SANKAR’, in any interview. Such has been their intimacy.

My respects to SG as composers

Prof. K. Raman