But TMS could quickly rise up to the challenge and gave such a brilliant account of himself that he became the single most influential voice of the sixties. TMS’s resonant voice, his facility in the upper octave and his capacity to powerfully articulate both lyric and feeling stood out in song after song.Ī whole new dimension of lighter melodies with greater emphasis on orchestral colours arose in the early sixties. But lovely Carnatic ragas shone in TMS’s rendering of a hit parade (Vasantha Mullai in Chaarukesi, Mullai Malar Mele in Kaanada, Naan Petra Selvam in Jonpuri and so on). This was the decade when TMS was only one of the pre-eminent playbacks of Tamil cinema. Sounderarajan’s capacity to mimic Thyagaraja Bhagavathar’s voice brought him his break (Krishna Vijayam,1950), but soon he had not only begun singing successfully for MGR (Malaikallan, 1954) and Sivaji (Thookku Thookki, 1954), but was also being honed by the auteur music composer, G. His musical tutelage under Karaikkudi Rajamani Ayyangar, a nephew and disciple of the legendary Carnatic musician, Poochi Srinivasa Ayyangar was short but definitive. The reigning star Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and others like V.A. Son of a lowly Sourashtrian temple priest in the city of Madurai, Sounderarajan’s teenage enthusiasm for music began with Tamil film songs of the thirties. And it is an astonishing fact of Tamil popular history that he had almost no godfathers in the cinema world to help him win. Thoguluva (T) Meenakshi Ayyangar (M) Sounderarajan (1922-2013), did not reach that pinnacle in a day, and not without a tough, extended competition from other singers.
The final send-off left no doubt about whom the Tamil people considered as the people’s singer. And if it was one of the hottest days in Chennai’s summer calendar, nobody was even aware to complain. There was in their song the feeling of elation and exhilaration that TMS’s songs like ‘Adho Andha Paravai Poala Vaazha Vendum’ and ‘Pudhiya Vaanam, Pudhiya Bhoomi’ give his fans. When the final journey began, the flower-bedecked carriage slowly wending its away amidst thronging admirers and bystanders, a band of diehard fans again broke out into blissful TMS song – it might as well have been the standard that they were fluttering in the evening breeze for the whole world to see. ‘Ulagam Pirandhadhu Enakkaaga’, ‘Idho Endhan Deivam Munnale’, and a host of TMS hits mingled seamlessly in the air.
As his profusely garlanded body lay in the courtyard of his bungalow on Chennai’s West Circular Road lined with avenue trees, the road facing his balcony was spontaneously transformed into an impromptu stage and enthusiasts of his music belted out his hits all through the day. Let us not worry about the soul that goes away.It was a sight that T.M.Sounderarajan should have been alive to see. Who had lived permenantly on this earth - No one. "Let us not worry about the soul that goes away, I still remember his best song "Ponal pogattum poda, Intha boomiyil nilaiyay vaazhnthavar yaarada, Ponal pogattum poda" from Paalum pazhamum enacted by late Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganeshan Unfortunately, I too tried my best to sing like Mr.
May the great TMS take birth again and serve the music lovers again. He was also a devotee of Lord Kaarthikeya and sang many songs on Him. No one can pronounce and sing Tamil songs like Mr. As rightly said, he had the ability to control his pitch and modulation to suit the great Sivaji Ganesan and MG Ramachandran the then heros of Tamil cinema. Even if one is not interested in listening music, his music will draw them near and make them music listeners. TM Sounderrajan was a great playback singer who lives in the heart of every Tamil music lovers.