TMS had acted in a few films, which includeĪrunagirinathar, Pattinatthar, Kallum Kaniyagum and After listening to TMS’ singing, MGR sought him out as his playback singer, and thus another actor-singer combination was born after The two later proved to be a terrific combination,” said Vamanan, a historian of Tamil film music and biographer of TMS. TMS did record the songs, and when Sivaji listened to the takes, he was immensely pleased with the result. A crestfallen TMS said he would render the songs to the best of his ability, but if Sivaji Ganesan did not like them he would not press further. Parasakthi, his first film, and could not imagine anyone else in his place. Jayaraman, who was his playback singer in Thooku Thooki for a salary of Rs.2,000, Sivaji Ganesan is said to have objected to the introduction of a new singer. When TMS was signed up by Aruna Films to render the songs for the Sivaji starrer Initially, Sivaji Ganesan was said to be averse to the idea of TMS as his playback singer. On the other hand, Sivaji Ganesan, known for method acting and experimenting with new roles, could not succeed in politics even though he raised the art of lip-sync in song sequences to a new level. Lyricists penned songs packed with political messages for MGR’s films and TMS lent his voice to capture the imagination of the masses. MGR was meticulously building an image through his films for a future political launch, and TMS’ voice effectively supported the actor’s ambition.

He was a thorough professional, never once letting his deep faith in religion come in the way of singing for MGR, who sought to articulate the ideas of the rationalist Dravidian movement in his films. However, it was Viswanathan-Ramamurthy who evolved a middle path and exploited TMS’ talent to the maximum,” said film director Suka.Ī versatile singer, TMS modulated his voice so that a listener could easily identify the star, whether it was MGR or Sivaji, from the songs without even watching the movie. TMS arrived at that period and soon became indispensable to any music director. Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar, both actors-cum-singers, the remnants of the past continued to hang heavy on the generation that succeeded them. “Though the film world had travelled a great distance from the days of P.U. Ramachandran, or MGR, and Sivaji Ganesan.

He had a robust voice, and his full-throated singing perfectly suited the two mega stars of yesteryear, M.G. Soundararajan, popularly known as TMS, died in Chennai at the age of 90.Īlthough singers and music directors have enriched Tamil film music with their immense contributions, TMS alone can be described as the quintessential Tamil playback singer. Viswanthan to give numerous hit songs died three days later and on May 25, T.M. Sreenivas passed away on April 13 music director T.K. THE Tamil film music industry lost three outstanding personalities in less than two months-playback singer P.B.

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