Kambadasan

Kambadasan (1916–1973) was an Indian writer, poet and film lyricist who worked mainly in Tamil-language films.

Early life Kambadasan was 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 five 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 which means fanatic of Kambar.

Career As a writer, he has written short stories, poems and plays.

With his talents, it was an easy entry for him into the Tamil cinema. He started as an actor and then developed into scriptwriter and lyricist. His debut as a lyricist was in Vaamana Avatharam (1940) in which he was credited as C. S. Rajappa. He wrote the dialogues for Saalivaahanan (1945) 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 was also featured as the court poet in this film.

He was adept at writing for dubbed films. Many of the films dubbed from Hindi and Telugu were successful at the 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.

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 poet and school teacher Susheela. 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 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 DialoguesDubbed from Malayalam 1953 Avan Yaar Antony Mitradas Neela DialoguesDubbed 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. VenkatramanKunnakkudi 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. SubburamanS. V. Venkatraman K. S. Gopalakrishnan Lavanya Pictures 1951 Vanasundari S. V. VenkatramanC. 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. RamanathanT. V. RajuDinakar 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. VenkatramanG. 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 Vilakku T. R. Pappa F. Nagoor Nagoor Cine Productions 1956 Marma Veeran Vedha T. R. Raghunath Mehboob Studio 1956 Moondru Pengal C. N. Pandurangan R. S. Prakash Jayasri Lakshmi Pictures 1956 Nannambikkai S. V. Venkatraman K. VembuCharlie Film Centre 1956 Vaanaratham Naushad S. U. Sunny Sunny Art Productions Dubbed from Hindi 1957 Magathala Nattu Mary R. Parthasarathy S. S. Rajan Jaikumar Pictures 1958 Avan Amaran T. M. Ibrahim S. Balachander 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