A day in 1939 at Newtone Studio, Madras. A song recording was
scheduled but developed problems of the human kind. The song to be
sung by a boy from a noted Telugu theatrical family could not be
recorded because the boy lost his voice due to sheer `mike-fright!'
The orchestra was ready and so was the recording unit, and the
director making his debut was understandably shattered. Then came-
for that day -a stunning suggestion from his scriptwriter and
intimate associate that all was not lost. He told the astonished
director that the background music for the song could be recorded
separately without the boy's voice, and some other boy could sing
later and both the tracks `married' `to produce the song! The idea
seemed incredible but left with no option than to go home incurring
loss the director gave his friend and guide the go-ahead signal. The
orchestra played the background music which was recorded. Later
another boy sang and the results were excellent, with the song
becoming a hit! The brilliant technician who suggested the method
that was used for the first time in South Indian Cinema was the
unsung genius, K. Ramnoth. The recordist was another genius equally
unsung was A. K. Sekhar. The director who later became an icon of
Telugu Cinema was B. N. Reddi, and the film classic " Vande Matharam"
(1939).
Another film…another strokes of his genius… a young woman is tied-up
on railway tracks to be run over by the on rushing train. A train was
hired and the engine driver lost his nerve and pulled to a stop
almost half furlong away from the intended victim! How to shoot the
suspenseful scene? Ramnoth had the answer. He had the engine -search -
light in front of the dismounted and put it up on an inspection -
trolley with the height suitably adjusted. A crew pushed the trolley
and he shot close-ups of the light in many angles, as it moved fast
towards the intended victim! Afterwards he shot the train that was
stopped at the woman. Ramnoth, also an expert film editor exploited
the footage to produce the necessary impact and some more. The scene
was so realistic that actress who played the intended victim screamed
and jumped up seeing the movie on screen! Ramnoth modesty personified
later remarked, `` Cinema is mere illusion. Actually nothing moves!"
"Dasi Aparanji" (1944), a Gemini production has an opening shot of
temple in which the presiding deity is not a god but a devadasi,
Aparanji. Ramnoth who was then the Controller of Productions at
Gemini Studios took shots of the interior of the temple ceiling in
extreme low angle. Excepting for the legend about Aparanji no one
knew where the temple was and the temple set in miniature was created
by the Gemini Studios Art Department led by A. K. Sekhar. How did he
shoot the ceiling in the miniature set? Many years later Ramnoth told
this writer that "the miniature was made big enough for a small made
man like me to lie down inside and take the shot! Simple, is it not?"
That was Ramnoth.
In the Thyagaraja Bhagavathar-hit movie "Ashok Kumar"(1941), a song-
dance sequence, a major feature, `Vunai kandu mayangatha pergal
vundo…' sung by Bhagavathar for which Pasupuleti Kannamba danced. She
was no dancer but had rehearsed it for over a month. Even though
Ramnoth was not the cameramen on board, on special request by the
producers Ramnoth shot the sequence during the course of a single
night at Newtone Studio. The song sequence seen today still
enthralls. It's amazing to think that such song-dance sequence with
so many shots and camera angles could have filmed in the course of a
mere night! Well, that was Ramnoth!
Undoubtedly Ramnoth was a genius, one-man institution,
cinematographer, film editor, screenwriter, director and producer,
and more!
However contrary to popular belief, he did not shoot the
internationally renowned ' Drum Dance' sequence in " Chandralekha" .
He had conceived the idea and Sekhar came up with the production
design but he left the studio before shooting began. The famous dance
was shot by the totally forgotten lawyer-turned- filmmaker T. G.
Raghavachari (screen name, ' Acharya') who shot the sequence using
four cameras kept at four different points of view and vantage !)
Anyway Ramnoth worked on the circus segment of "Chandralekha"
including the `flying trapeze' scenes with T. R .Rajakumari and also
the thrilling shots of the lions and tigers misbehaving and refusing
to return to their cages!
Born in Pujapura, Trivandrum in 1912, Ramnoth came to Madras after
taking his B. A. Degree for a living and joined the Kodak Company as
apprentice.. He was contributing articles about photography when few
people wrote about it, and one such article he submitted to `Sound
and Shadow' run by Muthuswami Iyer ( `Murugadasa') and A. K. Sekhar
resulted in him joining the magazine.! Thus was born the soon to be
famous trio `Murugadasa-Ramnoth-Sekhar'.
The Muthuswami Iyer- Ramnoth- Sekhar trio worked round-the-clock to
make `Sound and Shadow' interesting and viable, not an easy task in
the early 1930s. A rich impresario, lover of fine arts, talent scout
of Mylapore, G. K. Seshagiri, financially backed the magazine. One
morning in 1933 a letter from what was then distant Kolhapur, a
princely state then, arrived at the magazine office. The letter,
which was to change the lives of the trio, and that of many others,
was signed, `V. Shantaram', Partner, `Prabhat Films'. Shantaram, one
of the greatest filmmakers of India, wrote to `Sound and
Shadow `seeking help to make a Tamil film using the sets and props of
his Hindi film, "Sairandhri'' (1933, India's first colour film). The
film had not done well and the company was trying to cut its losses
by launching ``Seetha Kalyanam''(1933) in Tamil.
Seshagiri, Mylapore lawyer V. Sundaram Iyer, his children, S. Rajam,
Jayalakshmi and seven-year-old prodigy, S. Balachandar, and members
of an amateur drama troupe, boarded a train at Madras to Miraj (a
railway junction) en route to Kolhapur. Also travelling with them was
a lean, ascetic-looking but brilliant musician who had recently
relocated in the city in search of greener pastures. He stayed with
the lawyer and taught Carnatic music to Rajam and Jayalakshmi. He was
to help them compose the music for the film. As the train chugged-
chugged on to its destination, he was blissfully unaware that he was
on his way to fame and fortune! He was Papanasam Sivan!
Interestingly the so-called Tamil film historians in their blissful
ignorance have been writing and speaking in Tamil and also English
spreading misinformation about the making of " Seetha Kalyanam".
According to them, Muthuswami Iyer directed the film, Ramnoth handled
the camera and Sekhar was the Art Director. None of it is true!
Baburao Pendharkar was the director of "Seetha Kalyanam". V.
Avadhoot, Shantaram"s brother was the cinematographer, and the Art
Director was one of the main architects of Prabhat, Syed Fattelal.
Out of the Madras trio, only Ramnoth was involved as assistant
director. His name appeared in the film credits and songbook as "K.
Ramanathan."
(" We were mainly observers watching and trying to learn the craft of
filmmaking. Shantaram and his partners were very much impressed by
Ramnoth and his knowledge of cinema and they took him as the
assistant director. Muthuswami Iyer coached actors and actresses in
the delivery of dialogue. I watched and of course learnt a lot! It
was our first experience with picture making. We were all overawed by
being, eating, talking and working with the legends of Marati and
Hindi cinema of that period, Shantaram... the Pendharkar Brothers-
Baburao and Balji-… A. V. Damle and Syed Fattelal. It was like a
dream coming true!" Sekhar told this writer during early 1980's in a
long chat.)
Soon after trio was in charge of the technical side of Vel Pictures
Studio then situated at the Pitapuram Raja's bungalow on Eldams Road
in Teynampet. Here they made both Tamil and Telugu films of great
technical gloss and values like " Markandeya" and " Paduka
Pattbishekham".
Not many are aware that there was a movie studio on Greenways Road,
in Adayar, in late 1930-early 1940's named "Karthikeya Studios"
promoted by Murugadasa, Ramnoth and Sekhar but it did not survive
long due to financial crunch. It was located near the Jiddu
Krishnamurthy Estate in what is now known as `Bishop's Gardens'. A
modest enterprise it did not have even the barest of technical
equipment such as a 35 mm movie camera. It was indeed a lucky break
when the well-to-do auditor-turned-filmmaker, Bommireddi Narasimha
Reddi, soon to create Telugu Cinema history as B. N. Reddi, drove
into the studio to meet the enterprising threesome. He had just
incorporated his film production company under the name `Rohini
Pictures' in association with the sadly neglected Grand Old Man of
South Indian Cinema, H. M. Reddi. The two had planned their maiden
movie and were looking for a studio. Even at the first meeting BN (as
he was familiarly known) was more than impressed by Ramnoth and
Sekhar. The meeting had far reaching consequences not only in the
lives of BN, Ramnoth and Sekhar but also in the history of South
Indian cinema. BN hired the studio for a sum of Rs. 16,000. With
disarming honesty and transparency, Ramnoth told BN that he needed
the money in advance! BN's admiration and regard for that creative
genius rose and he at once paid the full amount.
The Telugu film that was produced at Karthikeya Studio by Rohini
Pictures was the classic of the 1930s, "Grihalakshmi''(1938). The
film had the brilliant actress Pasupuleti Kannamba in the title role.
The multi-faceted film personality, Chittoor V. Nagaiah, took his bow
in cinema in a minor role in this movie. "Grihalakshmi'' was a hit
all over the South, even in areas where none spoke or understood a
word of Telugu. Nagaiah attracted the attention of crowds and critics
and stepped firmly on the rungs of the ladder of success...
In " Bhakthi" '(1938), also shot at Karthikeya Studio, Ramnoth
created film history with a scene that stunned and thrilled
moviegoers. In what was truly a miracle, a torrent of paddy fell over
the parched, famine-stricken land! The audiences cheered wildly in
the movie houses and many burnt camphor as an offering to the gods!
Some marvelled at how the scene was done! Ramnoth shot the scene with
miniatures. It was the first time miniature photography was used in
Tamil cinema.
Ramnoth-Sekhar worked with "BN" during 1939-1942 and contributed in
large measure to the creation of the Telugu Film Classics, " Vande
Matharam "(1939)… " Sumangali" (1940)… "Devatha" (1941)… and "Bhaktha
Pothana" (1942). Indeed BN had a line in his film credits, `a Reddi-
Ramnoth-Sekhar Production'…)
Ramnoth scripted and photographed the above Vauhini movies. "Bhaktha
Pothana" , a box-office bonanza marked the debut of the successful
mega-hit maker K.V. Reddi. With the Second World War knocking on the
doors of Madras City, film production was upset with city studios
closing down temporarily in Madras during 1942. Ramnoth and Sekhar
bade goodbye to BN and joined t Gemini Studios with Ramnoth soon
taking over as Controller of Productions. He worked as producer on
films like " "Kannamma En Kaathali" and "Miss Malini" .
For many reasons Ramnoth and Sekhar left Gemini in 1947-1948 and
joined Jupiter Pictures and later Pakshiraja Films in Coimbatore.
Ramnoth-Sekhar made " Kanniyin Kaathali"(1949, adapted from lactate
from the Shakespearean play `Twelfth Night') for Jupiter Pictures.
For Pakshiraja he directed the Tamil classic '' Ezhai Padum Paadu"
(1950 adapted from Victor Hugo's `Les Miserables' with Chittoor
Nagaiah and `Javert' Sitaraman in main roles.. It was the first film
of late lamented Padmini in an acting role.
In this film Ramnoth showed his genius by shooting the popular song
sequence ' Vidhiyin vilaivaal anaathaiyaanen ….' on Kumari N.Rajam in
a single shot without a cut and with the camera moving all the time
from beginning to the end. A technical marvel even today.
Not many are aware that M.G. Ramachandran engaged Ramnoth at first to
direct "Nadodi Mannan" but he could not work on that movie. He was
MGR's favorite director after the successful Jupiter production ''
Marmayogi '' which launched MGR on his meteoric rise to superstardom
and iconic status.
He also made films T. R. Sundaram and Modern Theaters like '' Sugam
Engey" and " Kathanayaki".
Regrettably Ramnoth launched his own production for which he was not
mentally suited and adapted the John Galsworthy play ' First an the
Last" as "Viduthalai" ("Rihayee" in Hindi).It landed him in deep
financial crisis and also broke him emotionally. indeed problems
connected with this film were largely responsible for his early
demise at the age of forty-four in 1956.
Ramnoth was a man of high principles which are not always welcome in
the Indian movie business! It's fifty years since his premature
demise but his classic movies like " Marmayogi "... "Ezhai Padum
Paadu" shall live for ever as standing monuments of his cinematic
genius...
scheduled but developed problems of the human kind. The song to be
sung by a boy from a noted Telugu theatrical family could not be
recorded because the boy lost his voice due to sheer `mike-fright!'
The orchestra was ready and so was the recording unit, and the
director making his debut was understandably shattered. Then came-
for that day -a stunning suggestion from his scriptwriter and
intimate associate that all was not lost. He told the astonished
director that the background music for the song could be recorded
separately without the boy's voice, and some other boy could sing
later and both the tracks `married' `to produce the song! The idea
seemed incredible but left with no option than to go home incurring
loss the director gave his friend and guide the go-ahead signal. The
orchestra played the background music which was recorded. Later
another boy sang and the results were excellent, with the song
becoming a hit! The brilliant technician who suggested the method
that was used for the first time in South Indian Cinema was the
unsung genius, K. Ramnoth. The recordist was another genius equally
unsung was A. K. Sekhar. The director who later became an icon of
Telugu Cinema was B. N. Reddi, and the film classic " Vande Matharam"
(1939).
Another film…another strokes of his genius… a young woman is tied-up
on railway tracks to be run over by the on rushing train. A train was
hired and the engine driver lost his nerve and pulled to a stop
almost half furlong away from the intended victim! How to shoot the
suspenseful scene? Ramnoth had the answer. He had the engine -search -
light in front of the dismounted and put it up on an inspection -
trolley with the height suitably adjusted. A crew pushed the trolley
and he shot close-ups of the light in many angles, as it moved fast
towards the intended victim! Afterwards he shot the train that was
stopped at the woman. Ramnoth, also an expert film editor exploited
the footage to produce the necessary impact and some more. The scene
was so realistic that actress who played the intended victim screamed
and jumped up seeing the movie on screen! Ramnoth modesty personified
later remarked, `` Cinema is mere illusion. Actually nothing moves!"
"Dasi Aparanji" (1944), a Gemini production has an opening shot of
temple in which the presiding deity is not a god but a devadasi,
Aparanji. Ramnoth who was then the Controller of Productions at
Gemini Studios took shots of the interior of the temple ceiling in
extreme low angle. Excepting for the legend about Aparanji no one
knew where the temple was and the temple set in miniature was created
by the Gemini Studios Art Department led by A. K. Sekhar. How did he
shoot the ceiling in the miniature set? Many years later Ramnoth told
this writer that "the miniature was made big enough for a small made
man like me to lie down inside and take the shot! Simple, is it not?"
That was Ramnoth.
In the Thyagaraja Bhagavathar-hit movie "Ashok Kumar"(1941), a song-
dance sequence, a major feature, `Vunai kandu mayangatha pergal
vundo…' sung by Bhagavathar for which Pasupuleti Kannamba danced. She
was no dancer but had rehearsed it for over a month. Even though
Ramnoth was not the cameramen on board, on special request by the
producers Ramnoth shot the sequence during the course of a single
night at Newtone Studio. The song sequence seen today still
enthralls. It's amazing to think that such song-dance sequence with
so many shots and camera angles could have filmed in the course of a
mere night! Well, that was Ramnoth!
Undoubtedly Ramnoth was a genius, one-man institution,
cinematographer, film editor, screenwriter, director and producer,
and more!
However contrary to popular belief, he did not shoot the
internationally renowned ' Drum Dance' sequence in " Chandralekha" .
He had conceived the idea and Sekhar came up with the production
design but he left the studio before shooting began. The famous dance
was shot by the totally forgotten lawyer-turned- filmmaker T. G.
Raghavachari (screen name, ' Acharya') who shot the sequence using
four cameras kept at four different points of view and vantage !)
Anyway Ramnoth worked on the circus segment of "Chandralekha"
including the `flying trapeze' scenes with T. R .Rajakumari and also
the thrilling shots of the lions and tigers misbehaving and refusing
to return to their cages!
Born in Pujapura, Trivandrum in 1912, Ramnoth came to Madras after
taking his B. A. Degree for a living and joined the Kodak Company as
apprentice.. He was contributing articles about photography when few
people wrote about it, and one such article he submitted to `Sound
and Shadow' run by Muthuswami Iyer ( `Murugadasa') and A. K. Sekhar
resulted in him joining the magazine.! Thus was born the soon to be
famous trio `Murugadasa-Ramnoth-Sekhar'.
The Muthuswami Iyer- Ramnoth- Sekhar trio worked round-the-clock to
make `Sound and Shadow' interesting and viable, not an easy task in
the early 1930s. A rich impresario, lover of fine arts, talent scout
of Mylapore, G. K. Seshagiri, financially backed the magazine. One
morning in 1933 a letter from what was then distant Kolhapur, a
princely state then, arrived at the magazine office. The letter,
which was to change the lives of the trio, and that of many others,
was signed, `V. Shantaram', Partner, `Prabhat Films'. Shantaram, one
of the greatest filmmakers of India, wrote to `Sound and
Shadow `seeking help to make a Tamil film using the sets and props of
his Hindi film, "Sairandhri'' (1933, India's first colour film). The
film had not done well and the company was trying to cut its losses
by launching ``Seetha Kalyanam''(1933) in Tamil.
Seshagiri, Mylapore lawyer V. Sundaram Iyer, his children, S. Rajam,
Jayalakshmi and seven-year-old prodigy, S. Balachandar, and members
of an amateur drama troupe, boarded a train at Madras to Miraj (a
railway junction) en route to Kolhapur. Also travelling with them was
a lean, ascetic-looking but brilliant musician who had recently
relocated in the city in search of greener pastures. He stayed with
the lawyer and taught Carnatic music to Rajam and Jayalakshmi. He was
to help them compose the music for the film. As the train chugged-
chugged on to its destination, he was blissfully unaware that he was
on his way to fame and fortune! He was Papanasam Sivan!
Interestingly the so-called Tamil film historians in their blissful
ignorance have been writing and speaking in Tamil and also English
spreading misinformation about the making of " Seetha Kalyanam".
According to them, Muthuswami Iyer directed the film, Ramnoth handled
the camera and Sekhar was the Art Director. None of it is true!
Baburao Pendharkar was the director of "Seetha Kalyanam". V.
Avadhoot, Shantaram"s brother was the cinematographer, and the Art
Director was one of the main architects of Prabhat, Syed Fattelal.
Out of the Madras trio, only Ramnoth was involved as assistant
director. His name appeared in the film credits and songbook as "K.
Ramanathan."
(" We were mainly observers watching and trying to learn the craft of
filmmaking. Shantaram and his partners were very much impressed by
Ramnoth and his knowledge of cinema and they took him as the
assistant director. Muthuswami Iyer coached actors and actresses in
the delivery of dialogue. I watched and of course learnt a lot! It
was our first experience with picture making. We were all overawed by
being, eating, talking and working with the legends of Marati and
Hindi cinema of that period, Shantaram... the Pendharkar Brothers-
Baburao and Balji-… A. V. Damle and Syed Fattelal. It was like a
dream coming true!" Sekhar told this writer during early 1980's in a
long chat.)
Soon after trio was in charge of the technical side of Vel Pictures
Studio then situated at the Pitapuram Raja's bungalow on Eldams Road
in Teynampet. Here they made both Tamil and Telugu films of great
technical gloss and values like " Markandeya" and " Paduka
Pattbishekham".
Not many are aware that there was a movie studio on Greenways Road,
in Adayar, in late 1930-early 1940's named "Karthikeya Studios"
promoted by Murugadasa, Ramnoth and Sekhar but it did not survive
long due to financial crunch. It was located near the Jiddu
Krishnamurthy Estate in what is now known as `Bishop's Gardens'. A
modest enterprise it did not have even the barest of technical
equipment such as a 35 mm movie camera. It was indeed a lucky break
when the well-to-do auditor-turned-filmmaker, Bommireddi Narasimha
Reddi, soon to create Telugu Cinema history as B. N. Reddi, drove
into the studio to meet the enterprising threesome. He had just
incorporated his film production company under the name `Rohini
Pictures' in association with the sadly neglected Grand Old Man of
South Indian Cinema, H. M. Reddi. The two had planned their maiden
movie and were looking for a studio. Even at the first meeting BN (as
he was familiarly known) was more than impressed by Ramnoth and
Sekhar. The meeting had far reaching consequences not only in the
lives of BN, Ramnoth and Sekhar but also in the history of South
Indian cinema. BN hired the studio for a sum of Rs. 16,000. With
disarming honesty and transparency, Ramnoth told BN that he needed
the money in advance! BN's admiration and regard for that creative
genius rose and he at once paid the full amount.
The Telugu film that was produced at Karthikeya Studio by Rohini
Pictures was the classic of the 1930s, "Grihalakshmi''(1938). The
film had the brilliant actress Pasupuleti Kannamba in the title role.
The multi-faceted film personality, Chittoor V. Nagaiah, took his bow
in cinema in a minor role in this movie. "Grihalakshmi'' was a hit
all over the South, even in areas where none spoke or understood a
word of Telugu. Nagaiah attracted the attention of crowds and critics
and stepped firmly on the rungs of the ladder of success...
In " Bhakthi" '(1938), also shot at Karthikeya Studio, Ramnoth
created film history with a scene that stunned and thrilled
moviegoers. In what was truly a miracle, a torrent of paddy fell over
the parched, famine-stricken land! The audiences cheered wildly in
the movie houses and many burnt camphor as an offering to the gods!
Some marvelled at how the scene was done! Ramnoth shot the scene with
miniatures. It was the first time miniature photography was used in
Tamil cinema.
Ramnoth-Sekhar worked with "BN" during 1939-1942 and contributed in
large measure to the creation of the Telugu Film Classics, " Vande
Matharam "(1939)… " Sumangali" (1940)… "Devatha" (1941)… and "Bhaktha
Pothana" (1942). Indeed BN had a line in his film credits, `a Reddi-
Ramnoth-Sekhar Production'…)
Ramnoth scripted and photographed the above Vauhini movies. "Bhaktha
Pothana" , a box-office bonanza marked the debut of the successful
mega-hit maker K.V. Reddi. With the Second World War knocking on the
doors of Madras City, film production was upset with city studios
closing down temporarily in Madras during 1942. Ramnoth and Sekhar
bade goodbye to BN and joined t Gemini Studios with Ramnoth soon
taking over as Controller of Productions. He worked as producer on
films like " "Kannamma En Kaathali" and "Miss Malini" .
For many reasons Ramnoth and Sekhar left Gemini in 1947-1948 and
joined Jupiter Pictures and later Pakshiraja Films in Coimbatore.
Ramnoth-Sekhar made " Kanniyin Kaathali"(1949, adapted from lactate
from the Shakespearean play `Twelfth Night') for Jupiter Pictures.
For Pakshiraja he directed the Tamil classic '' Ezhai Padum Paadu"
(1950 adapted from Victor Hugo's `Les Miserables' with Chittoor
Nagaiah and `Javert' Sitaraman in main roles.. It was the first film
of late lamented Padmini in an acting role.
In this film Ramnoth showed his genius by shooting the popular song
sequence ' Vidhiyin vilaivaal anaathaiyaanen ….' on Kumari N.Rajam in
a single shot without a cut and with the camera moving all the time
from beginning to the end. A technical marvel even today.
Not many are aware that M.G. Ramachandran engaged Ramnoth at first to
direct "Nadodi Mannan" but he could not work on that movie. He was
MGR's favorite director after the successful Jupiter production ''
Marmayogi '' which launched MGR on his meteoric rise to superstardom
and iconic status.
He also made films T. R. Sundaram and Modern Theaters like '' Sugam
Engey" and " Kathanayaki".
Regrettably Ramnoth launched his own production for which he was not
mentally suited and adapted the John Galsworthy play ' First an the
Last" as "Viduthalai" ("Rihayee" in Hindi).It landed him in deep
financial crisis and also broke him emotionally. indeed problems
connected with this film were largely responsible for his early
demise at the age of forty-four in 1956.
Ramnoth was a man of high principles which are not always welcome in
the Indian movie business! It's fifty years since his premature
demise but his classic movies like " Marmayogi "... "Ezhai Padum
Paadu" shall live for ever as standing monuments of his cinematic
genius...
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