Mahesh Music and "The Bucket List"

Ever since my friend Mahesh succumbed to Cancer , I have not had the inclination or should i say courage to watch a movie that has cancer as its central theme.....even Philadelphia kind of got me all soppy - that was not because of Tom hanks or Denzel.

I had the chance to facilitate and train in Ahmedabad yesterday and we passed the campus of the famed Indian Institute of Management , my memories went back to my interview for admission and the manner in which a Prof Meenakshi Mallya ( i think i have the name right? ) cornered me and of course thankfully refused me an admission. Thankfully because it gave me my life's loveliest two years .... listening to mahesh play and of course my friend T.T.Srinath sending me up on Stage for the first time ( I did get on stage in my school days though) to play a small sketch based on "the tea house of the August Moon".

I was also remembering how I cycled to Mahesh's house, in the lane next to ACM Rakeswari Kalyana Mandapam, when in my 8th standard with my new BSA Aristocrat bicycle , the coverage of the article in a Tamil magazine on Mahesh and his group "Versatiles" - called Kalyanaththil Come September ( Come September in a Marriage), the practice sessions in that house behind Nageswara Rao Park - they were trying to get Solitary Man going.....and friend ramaswami Subbiah was also going...his own way. Much to mahesh's chagrin. Great times.

Well we had even greater times in those wonderful musical evenings at my place and the memories as years rolled on and alcohol clouded were a bit dimmer than the school/college day memories.

In the seminar i had been exhorting people to unblock their minds, remove bias and prejudice, overcome irrational fears and face life square on. Hence, when I got back home past midnight - terribly long hopping flight from there to chennai - I decided to watch - "The Bucket List ".....

Boy what a film and what performance. That settled , self assured , dignified performance from Morgan freeman and that flamboyant , leery , devil may care one from jack Nicholson. No , I did not cry for I was just so enthralled at this display of histrionic brilliance that I did not feel anything else but a deep desire to applaud genius.

My friend mahesh too had a Bucket list of sorts...only this was to his friends after he kicked the proverbial bucket.....to do 'something' for the Cancer Hospital in Adayar. I am so proud that his friends have all done him proud - The Mahesh Memorial Paediatric Ward was inaugurated and is doing well - Kudos to Chithra and the other Trustees of the Mahesh memorial trust.........

For those who want to listen to what the Big B had to say about the Trust I give the link to my you tube posting of the "kaun banega Crorepathi" episode that Mani Ratnam , another friend , was able to get going for us to raise funds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqV6gL7zzYo

I have posted a few snaps we took during those great music sessions.........check out PICASA

http://picasaweb.google.com/mohanraman/MaheshAndMusicalEvenings?feat=directlink

Well mahesh....your Bucket is nicely full my friend...... while many of us dont seem to realise that we have to get our respective bucket list ready....and pray that we are able to inspire our friends the way you did with aplomb and ease.

Kishorekumar -Chandrababu

I had the pleasure of speaking to the members of the Madras Gymkhana Club on the life and work of two of Cinema's most eccentric geniuses - Kishore Kumar from Hindi Cinema and J.P.Chandrababu from tamil.

I called it 'A Tale of two eccentricities"....

This talk was so well received that although i say so myself by popular demand i delivered a second part , the next month, thus it became a 4 hour lecture. That is when they asked me to work on Nagesh as the next topic.....unfortunate that he passed away and it had to become a sort of eulogy.

PARASAKTHI - Special day Cover

Before I am asked how a film classic like Parasakthi was not honoured, while Veerapandiya Kattabomman was , I thought it wise to post what was done in the year 2002.

To mark the golden jubilee of the release of this cult classic we , again the Soviet Cultural centre and the Sivaji parabhu charities trust came together and brought out this special day cover.

Parasakthi not only launched the career of south, nay, Indian film's greatest actor but also sowed the seeds for the firm entrenchment of "dravidian" socio politico thought in Cinema and thereby paved the way for the DMK making steady in roads into the Politics of the State. It was around this time that the snap of my dad with MK etc was shot( please see my earlier blog).

P.A.Perumal , of National Pictures , one of the producers, the other being AVM, was a die hard follower of Periyar and indeed later went on to make Raththa Kaneer.......

Sivaji started working in the movie in 1950 - approximately July/August and was in the process of making the film for over 2 years.The film was released in October 1952. Sivaji had the highest regards for Mr.Krishnan ( of Krishnan-Panju) , the director , Mr.P.A.Perumal and Mrs.Rajeswari A.V.Meyyappan as they were the 3 people who stood by him steadfast on him doing this role while all others wanted to remove him and bring in M.K.Radha ( not M.R) for the role.

In fact he suffered so many humiliations and insults during the making of this film from all concerned that he once asked me......

If the trees in between the Floors were still there in AVM , I said yes.....his reply was they have all grown to this size not because of ....in Tamil.....Chettiar Vitta Thanneer illa da Mohan , indha ganesan vitta Kanneer da....(not the water that Chettiar poured but by my tears.......).

I must here mention the honour the studio has given him....Please see my earlier Blog on the Memorial they have erected to mark the spot where he began his career in AVM. A first if not only time that such an honour has been given to an actor.

My Talk on Nagesh

I had the pleasure of making a multimedia presentation on the genius of nagesh. This was at the Madras gymkhana Club and am happy to say that it was well received.The club magazine carried a report on the talk, that is shown above.
AS PART OF THE MADRAS WEEK CELEBRATIONS ...I am speaking again on Nagesh , with a slightly different twist , called MADRAS NALLA MADRAS. The material from his films remains the same, so too the stories and anecdotes but the slant is also towards the Madras that Nagesh saw.
This will be at THE PARK HOTEL , on the 20th of August , 7 PM.
ALL ARE WELCOME

Nagesh the genius

Here is an article I wrote for a Paper called madras musings on that wonderful person and brilliant actor called "Nagesh".
This was written more like an Obituary and came a few days after he passed away. I have been wanting to post it but the sudden attack of laziness kept me away.

Kattabomman

I have been remiss in not blogging for a while now, lest you think it is because of a tremendous amount of work let me correct you, it was just laziness.....

We had a lovely function to mark the 50th anniversary of the film Veerapandiya Kattabomman. This was jointly organised by the Soviet Cultural Centre and the Sivaji Family. I compered the event in addition to designing and bringing out the special day postal cover.

I am reproducing a small report made by Mr.Raghavendra , a die hard Sivaji Fan in an internet forum discussion.I stronglu urge anyone who is interested in the Cinema of Sivaji Ganesan to view the threads in this forum. In fact this thread on Nadigar Thilakam is the oldest and longest continuous one....The address for this page is - http://forumhub.mayyam.com/hub/viewtopic.php?t=12282&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=495

Needless to say you can go to the beginning, the index and navigate your way through the forum. I quote -

As you said, in spite of the odd nature of the Day ( The election results had just come out), there was substantially good crowd at the function. Mr. Marudu Mohan, who is doing research on Nadigar Thilagam, spoke in detail of the chronology of the legacy of Veerapandiya Kattabomman. Mr. Veeramani of Gem Granites, Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan of Russian Cultural Centre, Mr. Thangappan of Indo-Russian Chamber of Commerce were among the dignitaries who spoke. Mr. Thangappan presented the clipping of Nadigar Thilagam's speech during the Golden Jubilee of Indian Independence celebrated there in 1997. Mr. Parthiban (the actor who played JACKSON Durai) was very staunch in lauding Nadigar Thilagam and clearly underlined it was Nadigar Thilagam, who was the only actor who did not act in PUBLIC LIFE and POLITICS. Avar cinemavil mattum than nadippar, nija vazhkkaiyil nadikka theriyadu. The Post Master General released the Special Day cover received by the Director of Russian Cultural Centre. The event was preceded by an exhibition on Memorabilia of the film Veerapandiya Kattabomman. The exhibition contained display of paper cuttings, award certificates, etc. Ms. B.R. Vijayalakshmi (The daughter of the producer and director Mr.B.R.Panthulu)has also presented for display, the shields, the certificates, the sword and the soccer, and the photo album taken during the shooting of the film. Besides, the display contained among other cuttings, the achievements of the film at the Box Office as wrote here by our Murali Sir, and Telugu paper cuttings sent by another fellow hubber, A. Balakrishnan, 50-th Day, 100th Day, 25th week ads, NT's writing on his experiences at Cairo. -

Unquote.

Also honoured was Mrs.S.Ve Shekhar , who is also the grand daughter of the music director, G.Ramanathan. It is pertinent to point out that at the Afro Asian Film festival held in Cairo three awards were won by this film - Best Actor - Sivaji ganesan , Best Picture Kattabomman and Best Music - G.Ramanathan. Hence it was nice that all these three great film personalities were represented by members of their family. The surprise was the veteran actor Mr.Parthiban , an erudite Gentleman , who came for the function and requested that he be permitted to speak. His speech really came from the heart.

Dad ,Kalaignar ,E.V.K.Sampath

I found an old Photograph - mid -late 1950s of my father , Mr.V.P.Raman , Dr.Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi , CM of TN , Mr.E.V.K.Sampath and Mr.N.V.Natarajan ( I think) . This was during the time my father was an active party member - he quit and never got involved in active politics , though he remained connected with Leaders from all parties.

He left the Party and so too did Sivaji Ganesan , E.V.K.Sampath , Kannadasan probably not in that order.

He seemed to have a knack of attracting Politically sensitive cases for all politicians. He was MGR's advocate when he also used to advise Dr.Kalaignar , and some Congressmen , such was the faith they had in his integrity and of course his legal acumen. I remember his filing a case for Sri "Pollachi" N.Mahalingam against the Congress chief for criticising Sri NM throwing a dinner for "Anna" on his victory. This led to the first fissures in the congress and thereafter the split came as Indra congress and old congress nationally.

In fact it was well known that he along with Era Sezhiyan and Sampath drafted the final Constitution of the DMK. The AIADMK Constitution was based entirely on that ( those days - do not know its position now) except part president was replaced by General Seceretary. Knowing this , K.Rajaram , Nedunchezhiyan , Panrutti S.Ramachandran and Thirunavukkarasu came home after MGR's Death and wanted him to advice them against Rm.V and V.N.Janaki. They had decided to prop up J.Jayalalithaa. It was my father who adviced them upto the point of freezing the two Leaves symbol and they fighting under the Dove and Cock symbols. In retrospect Kalaignar must have felt so happy about his "old" friend totally bringing the AIADMK to a standstill. For a few months including JJ's maiden political speech ( post MGR) , the storming of the "thalamai seyalagam " in Lloyds Road - now avvai shanmugam salai , the petitions before the Election commission , parallel General Council meetings , were all under his advice.....when most people who had come to him initially left her , Panrutti, Navalar, Thirunavukkarasar,KKSSR , to name a few , my father too quietly moved away as by then she had her own set of advisors. It was during this period that I was closely involved in all the Political machinations. Spent several months steeped in it , including the electioneering etc.

We even went to New delhi to talk to Dorab Sopariwala and Prannoy Roy. They came down to start their work - but then i think madam had other ideas.......

He also fought the University Syndicate appointments of Durai Murugan and a few others who were "removed" by the MGR Government. Remember he was 'close' to MGR....despite that Kalaignar wanted him to fight the case. I guess he never had to do any balancing act for two especial reasons - Highest possible levels of Professional Integrity and Extreme Professional Competence. What a reputation ? Tough act to follow.

A great Guy in a great tour.

This blog is about 15 days of great fun and sight seeing my wife Padma, my daughter Vidyullekha and I had.We were part of a thomas group European Tour that left India on 15th April and we came back on the 30th. It was a defenite value for money tour. My wife and I are vegetarians and hence we wanted to travel in a group that promised us indian vegetarian food. may I add that they delivered on their promise we had Indian vegetarian food. I am not going to talk about the careful and meticulous planning , the arrangements etc but the person who stood by us and with us in our travel - The Senior travel manager of Thomas Cook Mr.Atul Chaudhary. Those who know Mumbai cricket will recognise him as a Ranji cricketeer of yore but I can tell you one thing , he is a superbly efficient , terribly affectionate human being. The way he looked after us at each and every place and time, the way he ensured all were there in time , but no one was rushed was simply magnificent. If at all there is a man who knows where every "free" Toilet is situated in Europe I think it must be Atul. He ensured that everyone of us had a place to sit at meal times , we had our free time and always stuck to his plan and schedule. That the schedule was hectic is an understatement - Imagine covering parts of Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria,Netherlands, France and England in all of two weeks. Almost every day started with a wake up call at 6 AM and ended with dinner at around 8.30 PM - travelling the better part of 350 Kms. But if at the end of the day there can be a man who is smiling and enquiring if all is well at 10 PM plus and literally serves you with the Paappad or pickle - then he truly deserves some praise. I do not care if he is well paid or ill paid but to do it with passion and relishing every moment takes some dedication. He managed to put up with 45 people with 45 tastes and timings and egos....without managing to hurt or ruffle anyone. He is a truly people loving person and packed with knowledge and information on the places we saw - If ever there is a group tour I undertake , then it will only be with this group -Thomas Cook.....Please not that I am not a paid advertising man for them.....Just a very very satisfied customer.....You may well ask if everything was so perfect that there are no areas to improve.....Guess there are .The Hotel in Paris - in comparison to the classy accomodation we were given elsewhere was a bit off.....purely relatively speaking . For those of us who are not terribly fit -physically , this was tightly packed - but that is what ensured that all of us got more than our money's worth. I did miss my south Indian cuisine - they did serve ONE south Indian meal - however when 35 of the 45 were from the South , maybe they could have given more southy meals.

There were a few days , may be just one, where we spent more time travelling in the bus then sight seeing....In such cases I was wondering why a night train could not be thought of....Just random thoughts - but I am sure experts have looked at the itenary with a magnifying glass and have arrived at this near perfect combination - what added to this perfection was the perfect Tour manager. More on this in my next Blog.

More Stamps on Cinema - S.D.Burman and Madhubala

The Indian Government has been busy.....at leasy busier than my scanner has been for I have been remiss.

There have been a few worthy releases that I have not reported here as I wanted to....Indeed that was the original intent of my blog.......my Stamps on Cinema. Everything else but that has happened here. In the unrelenting heat of the Chennai summer , I have today , been , fortunately left free - No shooting. Now for the stamps.....Real Beauties.....The Madhubala stamp is a Diamond Stamp....the image shown is the Miniature souvenir sheet that envelopes the stamp....

The S.D.Burman stamp though lacks any kind of decent design innovativeness....dull and drab ...the image however does indicate his "bengalee - Rabindra sangeeeth" influence. Nothing Dull or drab in his Music though......Thank God they have honoured him.

More to follow.

Sathya Sai Baba and Ayyappan.

Bhagwan Baba with my father and mother at our home Glen Gyle -Kodaikanal -1986

I wish to narrate a beautiful experience that I had of Bhagwan baba and Lord Aiyappa.

I had the fortune of undertaking the sabarmala pilgrimage from 1976 - eighteen continuous trips. In the year 1987 , Baba was in kodaikanal and I had the extremely good fortune of spending a lot of time with the MBA Boys who had accompanied him that year and therefore a lot of time in the presence of Swami. So many divine moments that at the rate of one blog a day I can go on for months.

That year Swami materialised a Silver ring with the words "SAI" in it. He put it on my ring finger and asked me to stop smoking and drinking ( I used to be a fairly heavy drinker and smoker then). He said that if i am "a good boy" he will give me a better ring later.

I had a dream later , of Swami sitting in a room and I was pressing his legs.He suddenly got up went to one side of the room and slowly proceeded to squat on the floor as he did that his form disappeared and a brilliantly glowing golden Aiyappan appeared and as a shadow I could make out the distinctive hairdo of our Swami. He then stood up , returning to his form , smiled and said "Poruma" (enough) ? It was truly an amazing experience. Thrills me to the core even now.

The next year , 1988 , again in kaodaikanal.....again very very blessed. Swami materialised a Green Stone ring ( you can see the same pattern worn by Sunil Gavaskar amongst others). As he gave it to me he said ....." if you are in trouble look inside the Stone and you will see me and your Aiyappan ".... I am thankful that he did not give me cause to see inside the stone......Several years later both the rings went missing ( or should I say back to the creator). I guess the protective purpose they were to serve was over.

We were extremely fortunate that Swami blessed each and every member of my family and even blessed our home in Kodaikanal - "Glen Gyle" with a visit and even had lunch with us.