Kambadasan

Kambadasan is an Indian writer, poet and film lyricist who worked mainly in Tamil-language films.

Kambadasan
Born	Appaavu a.k.a. Rajappa 15 September 1916 Ulagapuram Tindivanam South Arcot District (Madras Presidency)
Died	23 May 1973 (aged 56) Chennai
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Writer, Poet
Known for	Film Lyricist
Parent(s)	Father: Subbarayar Mother: Balammal

Early life

Kambadasan born as Appaavu a.k.a. Rajappa at Ulagapuram, a village near Tindivanam in the then South Arcot District (Madras Presidency) on 15 September 1916. His father Subbarayar was a potter and his mother is Balammal. He was the only son to his parents whose other 5 children were all girls. The family migrated to Purasaivakkam in Chennai when he was a child. The school education came to an end with 6th standard.

He was interested in stage plays. With his fine voice, singing talents and ability to play the harmonium, he soon established a place for himself in stage dramas. Rajappa was devoted to poet Kambar and took his pen-name as Kambadasan that meant fanatic of Kambar.

Career

As a writer he has written short stories, poems and plays. A list of his published works can be seen in the Tamil Wiki article Kambadasan.

With his talents, it was an easy entry for him into the Tamil cinema. He started as an actor and then developed into script writer and lyricist. His debut as a lyricist was in Vaamana Avatharam (1940) in which he was credited as C. S. Rajappa.[1] He wrote the dialogues for Saalivaahanan (1945)[2] and as a popular lyricist with the hit song Arul Thaarum Deva Mathaave in Citadel's Gnana Soundari (1948). Another song Parthal pasi theerum sung by the erstwhile P. U. Chinnappa for the film Mangayarkarasi (1949) also was a hit. He also featured as the court poet in this film.[3]

He was adept at writing for dubbed films. Many of the films dubbed from Hindi and Telugu went success at box office in Tamil mainly due to his dialogues and lyrics. The challenge for writing for dubbed films is to write lyrics with the tune already set and to suit the lip movements. A case in point for his success in such films is Vaanaratham (1956). Lata Mangeshkar who sang the original Hindi songs rendered the Tamil versions written by Kambadasan.[4]

Family life and death

He first married Chitralekha, a dancer and daughter of Malayalam poet Vallathol. The marriage did not last long and they separated soon. Then he married a poetess, Susheela who was a school teacher. That marriage also failed. He married again a dancer Anusuya.

Kambadasan was admitted to Royapettah hospital due to failing health condition related to alcoholism, and he died on 23 May 1973.

Filmography

As Actor

Year	Film	Role	Director	Banner	Remarks
1934	Draupadi Vastrapaharanam		R. Prakash	Sreenivas Cinetone
1934	Srinivasa Kalyanam		A. Narayanan	Sreenivasa Cinetone
1949	Mangayarkarasi[5]	Court Poet	Jiten Bannerjee	Bhagya Films

As Script and Dialogues writer

Year	Film	Director	Banner	Remarks
1944	Poompaavai	Krishnan-Panju	Leo Films	Story
1945	Saalivaahanan	B. N. Rao	Bhaskar Pictures	Dialogues
1949	Mangayarkarasi	Jiten Bannerjee	Bhagya Pictures	Screenplay
1949	Naattiya Rani	B. N. Rao	Baskar Pictures	Story & Dialogues
1952	Thanthai	M. R. S. Mani	Excel Productions	Dialogues Dubbed from Malayalam
1953	Avan Yaar	Antony Mitradas	Neela	Dialogues Dubbed from Malayalam

As Lyricist

Year	Film	Music Director	Director	Banner	Remarks
1940	Vaamana Avatharam	N. B. S. Mani	Prem Chethna	Lakshmi Films	Credited as C. S. Rajappa
1942	Aaraichimani	Srinivasa Rao Shinde	P. K. Raja Sandow	Kandhan Studio
1944	Mahamaya	S. V. Venkatraman Kunnakkudi Venkatrama Iyer	T. R. Raghunath	Jupiter Pictures
1948	Gnana Soundari	S. V. Venkatraman	F. Nagoor, Joseph Thaliath Jr.	Citadel Film Corporation
1950	Ithaya Geetham	S. V. Venkatraman	Joseph Thaliath Jr.	Citadel Film Corporation
1950	Laila Majnu	S. V. Venkatraman	F. Nagoor	Balaji Pictures
1950	Parijatham	C. R. Subburaman S. V. Venkatraman	K. S. Gopalakrishnan	Lavanya Pictures
1951	Vanasundari	S. V. Venkatraman C. R. Subburaman	T. R. Raghunath	Krishna Pictures
1951	Mayakkari	P. Adinarayana Rao	P. Sridhar	Aswini Pictures	Film made in Tamil and Telugu simultaneously
1952	Aan or Murattu Adiyal	Naushad	Mehboob Khan		Dubbed from Hindi
1952	Pasiyin Kodumai	P. S. Diwakar	K. J. Mohan Rao	K & K Combines	Dubbed from Malayalam
1952	Priyasakhi	Br Lakshmanan	G. R. Rao	Neela Productions	Dubbed from Malayalam
1952	Shyamala	G. Ramanathan T. V. Rajee Dinakar Rao	P. A. Subba Rao	Yuva Pictures
1953	Anbu	T. R. Pappa	M. Natesan	Natesh Art Pictures
1953	Avan	Shankar Jaikishan	Raja Nawathe	R. K. Films	Dubbed from Hindi
1953	Avan Yaar	Brother Lakshmanan	Antony Mitradas	Neela	Dubbed from Malayalam
1953	Poongodhai	P. Adinarayana Rao	L. V. Prasad	Anjali Pictures	Film made in Tamil and Telugu simultaneously
1953	Thanthai	P. S. Diwakar	M. R. S. Mani	Excel Productions	Dubbed from Malayalam
1955	Kangal	S. V. Venkatraman G. Ramanathan	Krishnan-Panju	Motion Picture Team
1955	Maaman Magal	S. V. Venkatraman	R. S. Mani	Mani Productions
1956	Kannin Manigal	S. V. Venkatraman	T. Janakiraman	Maheswari Pictures
1956	Kudumba Villakku	T. R. Pappa	F. Nagoor	Nagoor Cine Productions
1956	Marma Veeran	S. Vedha	T. R. Raghunath	Mehboob Studio
1956	Moondru Pengal	C. N. Pandurangan	R. S. Prakash	Jayasri Lakshmi Pictures
1956	Nannambikkai	S. V. Venkatraman	K. Vembu Charlie	Film Centre
1956	Vaanaratham	Naushad	S. U. Sunny	Sunny Art Productions	Dubbed from Hindi
1957	Magadala Nattu Mary	R. Parthasarathy	S. S. Rajan	Jaikumar Pictures
1958	Avan Amaran	T. M. Ibrahim	S. Balachandar	Beaubills Films
1959	Kalaivaanan	Pendyala Nageswara Rao	P. Pullaiah	Sharadha Films
1959	Manimekalai	G. Ramanathan	V. S. Raghavan	Sekar Art Film Enterprises
1959	Odi Vilaiyaadu Paapa	V. Krishnamoorthi	Muktha Srinivasan	Jagajothi Films
1959	Yaanai Valartha Vaanambadi	Br Lakshmanan	P. Subramaniam	Neela	Dubbed from Malayalam
1961	Akbar	Naushad	K. Asif	Sterling Investment Corporation	Dubbed from Hindi
1962	Mahaveera Bheeman	M. S. Gnanamani	S. A. Subbaraman	Jaikumar Pictures
1963	Kubera Theevu	C. N. Pandurangan	G. Viswanathan	Nithyakalyani Films

References

1. Film News Anandan (23 October 2004). Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru [History of Landmark Tamil Films] (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivakami Publishers. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017.
2. Guy, Randor (26 June 2011). "Saalivaahanan 1945". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
3. Guy, Randor (4 April 2008). "Mangayarkarasi 1949". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
4. Nitya Menon (5 October 2014). "When the south got a taste of her music". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
5. Film News Anandan (23 October 2004). Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru [History of Landmark Tamil Films] (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivakami Publishers. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017.

Bibliography

• "பிறவிக் கவிஞர்களுள் ஒருவர் கம்பதாசன்" [Kambadasan, One of the born poets]. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017., Dinamani
• "காலம் மறந்து விட்ட காதலும் கண்ணீரும் தந்த கவிஞர் கம்பதாசன்" [Forgotten poet Kambadasan who gave love and tears]. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
• G. Neelamegam. Thiraikalanjiyam — Part 1 (in Tamil). Manivasagar Publishers, Chennai 108 (Ph:044 25361039). First edition December 2014.
• G. Neelamegam. Thiraikalanjiyam — Part 2 (in Tamil). Manivasagar Publishers, Chennai 108 (Ph:044 25361039). First edition November 2016.

External links

• Kambadasan songs