Music for the Masses: Film Songs of Tamil Nadu

S Theodore Baskaran While the nexus between politics and films especially in Tamil Nadu has attracted scholarly attention in recent years, the film song, which has been used for propagating social and political ideas and a significant phenomenon on the cultural scene has not been so studied. What are the historical, cultural and sociological factors which have led the development of the modern film song? How has the film song affected the development of the cinema and the ideological content of the film?
ONE of the most striking features of the cultural history of Tamil Nadu in the past few decades is the growth and dominance of film music. It is all pervasive and enjoys a popularity that has only a few parallels in the history of music "Life is not what it used to be thirty years ago and one of the factors that has changed it is Him music".1 This is in fact another dimension of the hold cinema has on the social and political life in Tamil Nadu. 2 This aspect the nexus between politics and films, has attracted scholarly attention in recent years.3 But film songs, which have been used for propagating social and political ideas and a significant phenomenon on the cultural scene, have not been studied. Music has always been conceived in terms of human voice in India and film music is mostly in the form of songs.4 Backed by a mammoth industry, it is in the air constantly. Transistors and tape-recorders have aided the spread of this music. In television programmes, clips of song sequences from films are among the most popular features. In festivals and fairs, loudspeakers blare out film songs. Even in remote villages, an amplifier and a box of discs can be hired by the hour. What are the historical, cultural and sociological factors that have led up to this? What are the divergent roots out of which this film music has grown? How was the power of the ancient art of music synthesised with the new art of cinema? What is its effect on the development of cinema? How do these songs affect the ideological content of a film?
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

training. In all the traditional theatre forms of Tamil Nadu, like 'therukoothu' (street drama) song has been a major component. While these music forms were subaltern in character and appeal, the upper classes had their own music. Nurtured in palaces and temple courtyards, carnatic music, the classical music of Tamil Nadu, is basically religious in content. It calls for prolonged learning and discipline. Even to be able to respond to it, training is necessary which only the privileged can afford. So kings and landlords patronised carnatic music while the others had their folk music which to a great extent was secular in content. By the beginning of this century the situation changed with the arrival of the gramophone. When music came to be mechanically multiplied, through the medium of discs, the division between upper and lower class tastes began to blur and music was able to transcend the barriers of; social strata. Classical music came to be recorded and for the first time the common man had an opportunity to listen to it. 6 Another entertainment form which had emerged by the end of the 19th century as mass entertainment and which contributed to the basic fabric of film music, was the company drama. Though the tradition of theatre goes back more than a thousand years in Tamil Nadu, drama as we know it today, with divisions of acts, scenes and concealed orchestra, appeared only by the middle of the last century. These were called company dramas as they were run on commercial lines, with professional actors. This was in contrast to classical drama which had been in dance form, exclusive to courts and temples and had not been organised commercially. The repertoire of these companies was limited to a few mythological, written as musicals. The stories were standardised in a series of songs. The playwright, in these companies, called Vathiyar' (teacher), wrote the songs, composed the music and also directed the plays. A l l the actors had to be singers, including the clown. And there was the pit orchestra, with a harmonium and a tabla. The emphasis was on singing, not on drama. When a character died on the stage after singing a song, he would get up without any hesitation to respond to cries of 'once more' and start singing all over again. These songs of the drama companies were

based on carnatic music. In addition they introduced a new strain of music into Tamil Nadu, 'natya sangeeth' (drama music), the kind of H i n d u s t a n i music as it came from Marathi and Parsi drama companies that had toured Tamil Nadu in the beginning of the century. Through this strain, Hindusthani ' ragas' were absorbed and the synthesis became quite popular. Folk music also featured in these dramas and was usually sung by the comedian. 7 Silent cinema appeared in Madras in 1912.8 However it was only by the middle of the 1920s that it grew into a mass entertainment form. Even then the company dramas were, with their music, attracting large crowds. Silent cinema did not affect the company dramas and the two were able to co-exist without any problem. In the absence of sound, silent cinema in south India specialised in stunt sequences and it needed men who could impress the viewers by per' forming stunts. So the singers and musicians stayed on with the drama companies where they were assured of a steadier income than in the spasmadic production of silent movies. But the impact of sound films' talkies as they were referred to, was quite different. The talkies that were produced in the first few years were all film versions of successful plays staged by the drama companies. The practice was to hire a whole drama company and shoot the film in one stretch. So the stage-actors, who were not classical musi' cians, but singers familiar with classical music found themselves in the tinsel world of cinema. 9 The first talkie was a four-reeler in Tamil, just a series of semi-classical and folk songs and dances. Jt is significant that the very first talkie made in Madras should have been a string of songs. The first feature film in south India, Kalidas (Tamil, 1931) had 50 songs. It was understandable that an audience used to music in all the entertainment forms expected the new fangled cinema also to be similar. In fact, it is this aspect of Indian cinema, the song sequences, which gave it a distinct character. In a few years the films produced in Madras in regional languages, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu, proved to be commercially successful. Talking pictures carved out a safe market for themselves, in the respective regional language areas, thus
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There has been a rich and powerful tradition of folk music in Tamil Nadu. There is a song for every situation. Workers transplanting paddy seedlings sang 'transplanting songs'. When devotees trekked to temples, in fulfilment of vows, they walked to the rythm of 'chindhu' a kind of quick-step song that enabled them to keep the pace of the walk. 5 Mothers sang long and elaborate lullabies. Even the lamentations in a griefstricken home were in song form. There was also a tradition of ballads that told the legendary stories in songs. Because they came through an aural tradition, as all folk music does, all these songs were simple and could be sung without any accompaniment or

Economic and Political Weekly Annual Number March 1991

countering the competition of films from America and England. During the silent era, films made in Madras could not compete with these foreign films and production had languished. But once sound came, the Madras-made films distinguished themselves from imported films by their language.10 The first sound studio in south India, Srinivasa Cinetone, was set up in Madras in 1934. By 1937 there were nine studios and there was a stampede to get into the glittering world of cinema. Song-writers, musicians and instrumentalists, all from the stage, rushed to get a position in these studios that were springing up in Madras,11 And they brought with them the company drama. Movie business came to mean big money and this did not fail to catch the attention of classical musicians who had hitherto,been ignoring cinema as a plebian entertainment. There were other reasons also for the attraction. Cinema had become somewhat respectable because of the money it was making. It had grown and was not capable of providing the facilities demanded by the classical musicians who had independent status as vocalists. When any art form is in an experimental stage, the established artistes are hesitant to get into it. In the early days of gramophone also, classical musicians were reluctant to record. Musicians like Papanasam Sivan, who wrote and composed more than 500 film songs, entered films and seduced the other classical musicians also into cinema. Musical luminaries of the late 1930s and late 1940s like G N Balasubramatuan, Dandabani Desigar, Musiri Subramanya Ayyer and V V Sadagopan, all had their stint in films. Some of their films became memorable only because of the songs in them, like Baktha Meera (Tamil, 1938) in which M S Subbalakshrni was the heroine. Classical music pieces had to be modified when adapted in films. Only the essential features of the 'ragas' were used. So the songs were reduced in time, without the embellishments. This had been done earlier when classical songs were recorded in 78 rpm, 10" discs that lasted only for three or four minutes. Here was a process of popularising classical music, making it acceptable to a wider audience.12 The compulsions of sound technology also acted as a shaping force of the emerging film music The musicians responded to the challenges and utilised the new opportunities offered. The stage-singers, used to singing at the top of their voices in the absence of an amplifier, had to adjust their voice to suit the microphone and a characteristic style of singing in film, a mellifluous and subdued crooning in contrast to the full-throated expression on the stage, was born. As long as recording was done through a single microphone, there could be only one or two instrumentalists to accompany the singer. Filming and recording had to be done simultaneously and a trolley with the instrumentalists would follow the camera, to be within the ear-shot of the microphone and the actor-singer. Often it was difficult for the ac-

tor to move about and sing and so in song sequences the camera had to be static. W i t h better recording techniques it was possible to use more than one microphone and therefore more instrumentalists. Film music grew more complex. When the facility for pre-recording music for films became available, it was possible to separate recording and picturisation. This had an interesting repercussion on cinema. As long as sound was recorded even as the film was being shot, only those who could sing were hired for acting. But once songs could be recorded independently and then synchronised with the lip-movements of the actors, there was no need for actors to be singers. Artistes with good looks and acting ability came to be preferred and a separate group of artistes known as play-back singers who lent their voice to non-musical heroes and heroines, appeared. Film music developed into an industry in its own right and another strain found its way into this already mixed stream, western music In the first few years, many Tamil talkies were made in the studios of Calcutta. The music directors of Calcutta were much influenced by western music and these tunes found their way into Tamil and Telugu films. Later, in Madras many sound studios acquired western musical instruments and used them in films. But the use of these instruments that are alien to Indian musical tradition, even in period movies, made it difficult for music to integrate with cinema. 13
THE F I L M SONG

By 1944 film song as we know it today, with its distinct characteristics had emerged. Within ten seconds of playing, it could be identified as a film song. It was a synthesis of various strains of music, carnatic, Hindusthani, folk and western pop. Film songs acquired an importance independent of cinema. Haridas (Tamil, 1944) which had a number of songs that proved popular, created a box office record with a continuous run of 133 weeks in Madras, This gave the music director star status. Even now many films turn out to be commercial successes only because of the songs. A few years back, the Centre for Social Research in Madras conducted an audience survey and found that 77 per cent of those who watch films do so for the sake of the songs.l4 Now, it is a ritual to begin work on a new film with the recording of a song. The songs endow a film with extra-regional appeal.15 The successful run of the Telugu f i l m Sankarabharanam (1981) in Tamil Nadu and the popularity in south India of Hindi films with good musical scores prove this point. The gramophone industry has been closely allied with the development of film music in India. Since 1902, when gramophone first made its appearance in South India, both classical and folk music were recorded and released as discs. The arrival of talkies coincided with massive import of cheap (Rs 10 to 15) gramophone machines made in Japan,

Film songs were released as discs, To begin with songs were recorded separately, often by singers other than those who had acted and sung in the film. Later, the songs from the sound track came to be reproduced. They could be heard independently even when not viewing the film and by those who could not see the film. 1 6 Right from the beginning film songs were composed w i t h an eye on the gramophone market. The songs usually lasted for three or four minutes, the duration of a 78 rpm disc, a practice that persists to this day. Recent developments in sound technology, audio cassettes and the 'walkman' have completed the picture. Now film songs constitute a multi-million rupee industry. Though there are only three recording companies in India, all film songs are released as cassettes.17 A massive thrust to the soaring popularity of film songs was provided by a development in neighbouring Sri Lanka. In 1949, a commercial broadcasting outfit called Radio Ceylon began beaming film song programmes across the sea for nearly six hours a day. The sale of radio sets accelerated and film music was brought to into the drawing room. In a large number of homes, film songs came to form the background music for all household chores. The state-owned A l l India Radio, the only broadcasting service in India, later opened a commercial wing and began to air film songs. The content of these has been for most part, socially superficial and politically irrelevant. The songs are featured set in situations in the films, such as, after the hero and the heroine have met for the first time, when he is travelling alone or when she is worshipping. Most of the films have one or two song sequences of the hero and the heroine frolicking, singing a duet. Such songs could be written in isolation without any reference to the dramatic context and this is the reason why all these songs sound alike, their content superficial. The flow of the film is not affected if the song sequences are excised. But there have been occasions when the songs were used as instruments of propaganda. A l l major political movements in Tamil Nadu used film songs for this purpose During the freedom struggle, when the British government was muzzling all mass media, film songs came in handy for the nationalists. Songs like the following one were used to whip up patriotic feeling. 'Let us vow to achieve freedom This is the time to act chanting the verses taught by Gandhi We can realise our dream (Mathru Dharmam, 1939) Though the British government banned nationalistic films or excised certain sequences, the songs were released as discs and it was difficult to control their circulation. In the-post-independence period, writers from the rationalistic movements entered films and songs with anti-religious appeal came out. There are lots of cheats in the country who exploit in the name of god

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just for the sake of an empty stomach they would mess about god's name In songs
also.

A l l those flaunting a beard, a stick, a jug or matted hair are 'swamis' all idlers, without the will to work, but with a begging bowl are 'swamis'
(Rajarajan 1957)

Some song-writers with leftist leanings who worked in films used songs for political comment and thereby added some substance to them. In a film titled Kalam Mari Pochu (Times Have Changed, 1956) this song is addressed to the farmer. Those who sell their farms and leave the village Those who build bungalows in the cities Those who hoard their money in banks They do hot understand your strength. Those who get excited over positions of power And those who forget you after the polls They'll all come to you, seeking your help, come Times have changed, times have changed. Often these songs reinforced existing beliefs and value systems of the audience also and one could get an insight into contemporary attitudes by analysing these songs.I8 Here is an example that typifies the attitude to women. Man: A woman must be like this even if she learns English Woman: Tell me and 1 will do as you say you could change me the way you wish Man: Her chastity and modesty are the cloths of women So women must be like this She mustn't show her body for public admirationand she mustn't dress in such a way as to expose her midriff she mustn't paint her lips red. (Vivasayi 1967) But bulk of the songs were merely titilatory in nature, often double entendres, tike the following from a very popular film. For desire there is no restriction we have little else to do now Here on the river bank when no one is looking Let us discover that closeness.
(Mundhanai Mudichu, 1983)

The song-writer from the drama company, who was also the composer and music teacher there, gained complete control of music when he came to work in early sound films. Later, when music and recording became complex, a separate professional, the music director, appeared. By the end of the first decade of talkies, some poets of repute wrote songs for films. 19 Bhaskaradas, a nationalist and Bharathidasan, who was a radical and a rationalist wrote songs for films. In the 1950s, Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram from the communist movement and in the 60s and 70s Kannadasan from the Dravidian movement dominated the scene. While the songs of the former carried on the folk tradition of Tamil Nadu, Kannadasan's songs were literary in flavour.

t h e availability of other channels, like the radio, discs, audio-cassettes, amplifiers and television endowed film songs with the strength of an independent aural medium. So to these poets, with their ideological convictions, film songs came in as a handy instrument of propaganda. A l l of them wrote songs tailored to suit the needs of films but managed to pack their ideas in them. The method is to compose the tune first and the song-writer has to supply the words to suit the tune. For the first few years all the talkies produced were only mythological and even later, there were only a very few of the other genre. In India music has been used all along to establish contact with the supernatural, in worship and in trances. The wandering minstrels who narrated puranic stories to the villagers did so through songs. It was through songs that religious episodes were told in temple courtyards. So it was only logical that the sound films which started of as mythological were mere vehicles for songs. Film songs have taken the place of folk music with a much stronger hold on the people. Both have a simplicity that does not presuppose any knowledge of music To react to film songs even familiarity with the language in which it is sung is not necessary. The association of sound with images, of songs with certain filmic scenes and actors is certainly another factor. Most of the songs are on the boy-meets-girl theme and every film has a duet or two, with much caressing and hugging. Much of the content of these songs is erotic. These scenes charge the songs with undertones of sex, thus increasing their appeal. Film music rises above the prejudices against the other schools of music and is catholic in its approach, in adapting from other styles. That this attempt at adaptation at times degenerates into plagiarism does not reduce its appeal. This liberal attitude, in addition to making this music acceptable to a wider public, gives it a vitality and dynamism. This is one area of the Indian musical scene where there is constant experimentation and innovation. Technological developments like synthesisers, microgroove and stereo revolution, have further boosted the spread of film songs. This omnipresent nature of film music has an interesting effect on the cultural scene. While in many other parts of the world the change in musical taste affects the kind of music that goes into films, here the position is reversed. It is film music which sets the trend and moulds musical tastes. The cultural niche occupied by pop music in the west, is filled by film music here. This hold of film music has thwarted the scope for any popular music outside cinema. The little non-film music that there is, is patterned after film music. Songs in praise of political leaders or on gods that are played through the loudspeakers are churned out in hundreds, all patterned after and sounding like film songs. This is so because only

the play-back singers and musicians of the film industry, the culture-heroes of the masses are hired to produce these songs. Symptomatic of the influence of film music in rural areas is a performance known a ' record dance', a kind of a poor man's cabaret put up at village fairs. An erotic film song, full of puns, is played on the recordplayer and a scantily clad girl gyrates to the music. Gate money is collected. The dance often degenerates into a strip-tease much to the delight of the eager patrons. Songs and dances have formed an important ingredient in Indian films right from the beginning of talkies.21 Often songs are of greater importance than all the other cinematic elements in a film. One anthropologist has suggested that this feature relates directly to the semiotic function of music in Indian cultural tradition. 22 It is this character, the predominance of songs in a film, which sets apart Indian cinematic tradition from the others. But the effect of songs in a film, on the cinematic character of a film and its aesthetic implications have not been looked into. The song-writers and music-composers of the early years had all been trained for the stage. When they entered films they did not learn the new discipline, of the new relation of music to film drama. Film music is basically an applied art. 23 But in Tamil Nadu there was very little attempt at application. The music was not adapted for cinema but was merely transferred as it was, from the stage to the screen. The film song has acquired independent value and has emerged as a complete, selfsufficient product. It is written and composed irrespective of the filmic context in which it is to appear, so that each song can be an entertainment by itself and can be enjoyed as such. The expansion of the gramophone industry has acted as a check against any possible meaningful integration between music and cinema and has made film music a saleable product in itself.24 This is the biggest hurdle in the way of music integrating cinema. There have been quite a few factors, historical and cultural, that have retarded the growth of cinema in its infancy in India and film song has certainly been one. The early south Indian film was just a series of songs. Cinematic elements that differentiate a film from a photographed drama were missing. Even when playback singing came into vogue, the newly gained freedom of camera movement was not exploited. The song sequences, that called for stylised acting and interruptions for song time, militate against a strict definition of cinema. This greatly reduces the main thrust of a film. And this is one reason why most south Indian films have remained at the level of photographed variety entertainment. Music is not integrated into films cinematically and to this extent it is not film music, in the strict sense, but a joint presentation of film and music. When poets carrying on literary tradition 757

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came to write songs for films, these songs remained further removed from cinema; the songs stand out as literary and musical diversion from cinema. When the audience is actively involved with the songs, the content of the film becomes superfluous or is ignored. Many films succeed only by the strength of their songs. So much so, that the visual element, the basic quality of cinema, is neglected. This has thwarted the growth of cinema grammar and has hindered the blossoming of the properties that are unique to cinematic art. It is significant that those films that have won critical acclaim, both in India and in foreign film festivals, are films without songs. To cite only two examples, Unnaipol Oruvan (One Like You 1965) by Jayakanthan and Veedu (House, 1988) by Balu Mahendra did not feature any long. And in these films there is a discernible attempt at integrating music with cinema. There is a sociological dimension to this hold of songs in films. By curbing the characteristics that are specific to the medium of the cinema, songs keep films at a level of escapist entertainment which has an ideology of its own. It restricts the chances of a truly political cinema emerging. Even in films containing an ideology this has been diluted by the importance given to songs. The audience do not receive the message due to the diversion of attention by songs and dances. The possibility of moviegoing public developing a sense of cinema is severely circumscribed by this practice. Though the overwhelming popularity of film songs as contemporary music and its impact are so evident, there has been a continuous battle between film music on the one hand and classical music on the other, Classical musicians who sneered at films first, came into it in a big way, lured by money and fame. But eventually they had to vacate their place for more innovative and populist composers. Ever since film music has been subjected to hostile criticism by the classicists. In seminars on music or culture, film music is not so much as mentioned; scholarly books and articles on Indian culture ignore it. But the fact remains that this music of the masses is a significant phenomenon in the social and cultural history of Tamil Nadu.

Nadu', Souvenir of II World Tamil Conference, Madras (1968). 6 For a history of the gramophone industry in India, see Joshi, G N, 'Phonograph Comes to India', Journal of The National Centre for Performing Arts, Vol V I , No 3, 7 Ranga Rao, A V K, musicologist, Interview, September 28, 1984, Madras. 8 Theodore Baskaran, S, The Message Bearers: The Nationalistic Politics and the Entertainment Media in South India (Madras, 1981) p 67-94. 9 The difference between classical musicians and stage-singers familiar with classical music has to be made clear. The former were basically classical musicians and gave concerts. The latter only acted on the stage, though some of them, after gaining fame through dramas, gave solo concerts, such as S G Kittappa and Devudu Ayyer. Ranga Rao, Interview. 10 Barnouw, Eric and Krishnaswamy S, Indian Film (New York, 1963) p 69. 11 Theodore Baskaran, S, op cit, p 99. 12 However, these classical musicians did not always sing classical songs in films. For example M S Subbulakshmi in the film Shakunthala (Tamil, 1940). 13 In the film Chenchulakshmi (Telugu, 1944) Latin American music was incorporated as tribal music in a dance sequence. 14 The Impact of Film on Society (A Study of Tamil Nadu) Centre for Social Research, (Madras 1974). 15 Ashoke Ranade, The Extraordinary Importance of Indian Film Song,' Cinema Vision India, Vol I, No 4.

16 Chandavarkar, The Great Film Song Controversy' Cinema Vision India' Vol I, No 4. 17 For details of on recording industry today see, Asha Rani Mathur, 'Marketing Music'. Swagat (inflight magazine of Indian Airlines) March-April 1982. 18 I am grateful to C Manee of Salem for the translations. 19 The song-book of a film, a low-priced publication, was an important adjunct of film culture. From the earliest days of talkies, these books sold in cinema houses, contained the songs, a gist of the story of the film and the credits. 20 Technology has adversely affected folk music also. The oral and aural richness of folk songs and the scope for improvisation have been neutralised by mechanical multiplication of music 21 Dance was introduced in films the same time as songs and without any regard to forms. Each actress was left to create her own style based on the type of dance she knew. So a new genre of dance, often referred to as 'oriental dance' an arbitrary mixture of all schools, came into being. 22 Beeman, William O, The Use of Music in Popular Film: East and West' India International Centre Quarterly, Vol 8, No 1. 23 John Huntley and Roger Manvell, The Technique of Film Music (Focal Press, London, 1957) p 197. 24 Sixty-five per cent of the discs released are of film songs, 15 per cent non-film music, 15 per cent western pop and 5 per cent Indian classical music Asha Rani Mathur, note 17,

Sharp Fall in Commodity Prices

IN 1990, non-fuel commodity prices fell to their lowest level since 1987, according to the Commodities Division of the IMF's Research Department. Dollar prices for non-fuel commodities in 1990 averaged 8 per cent less than in 1989, while prices in SDR terms fell 13 per cent. The sharper fall in SDR terms reflected the depreciation of the US dollar against other major currencies, Most non-fuel commodity prices fell in d o l l a r terms in 1990. C o m p a r i n g December 1990 with December 1989, the sharpest declines were for wheat (31 per cent), sugar on the free market (27 per cent), wool (24 per cent), coconut oil (20 per cent), tin (17 per cent), rice (14 per cent), tea (14 per cent), zinc (13 per cent) and lead (12 per cent). Some commodities saw very large price increase, including cocoa (34 per cent), palm oil (30 per cent) and groundnut oil (18 per cent). Mainly reflecting these trends for in dividual commodities, the IMF's index saw price declines in its sub-indexes for food (12 per cent), agricultural raw materials (3.5 per cent), and metals and minerals (3 per cent). Beverage prices rose 13 per cent. Crude petroleum prices in 1990 averaged 28 per cent above their level in 1989. In December 1990, the average crude petroleum price calculated by the I M F was $ 25.42 a barrel, or 35 per cent above its year-earlier level. The average petroleum price changed markedly throughout the year, however It rose in late 1989 and early 1990, reaching $ 19.68 a barrel in January. Average monthly prices for petroleum then fell for several consecutive months, reaching a trough at $ 14.10 a barrel in June. Prices began to rebound in July, surging in August and reaching its peak for the year of $ 33.23 a barrel in October.

Notes 1 Bhaskar Chandavarkar, 'Film Music and the Classical Indian Tradition' Film Miscellany, Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, (1976) p 108-12. 2 The chief ministers of two States, Andhra and Tamil Nadu, have been actors. In Tamil Nadu, the earlier two chief ministers had been script-writers for many films and took active interest in films. J Hardgrave, Robert L, 'Politics and Film in Tamil Nadu: the Stars and the DMK' Asian Review Vol X I I I . (March 1973). 4 Chandavarkar, op cit, p 109. 5 Somasundaram M P, 'Folk Songs in Tamil

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