Ace director Bhim Singh with the three superstars of Tamil cinema – Sivaji, Gemini, MGR.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
There is a scene in the film Pasamalar and its Hindi version Rakhi, where the hero buys gifts for both his wife and sister. Both cost the same, but the wife feels her gift isn’t as good as the sister’s. S.S. Devadoss, assistant director under A. Bhim Singh, recalls that after seeing this scene, actor Mehmood said, “This is exactly what happened in my family.”
Petty family quarrels escalate and tears a family asunder (film Bhagappirivinai, which won a Presidential award), a mischievous aunt drives a wedge between the members of a family (Gnanam in Pasamalar), an egoistic husband vents his spleen on his long-suffering wife (film Paar Magale Paar) — we all come across situations and characters like these in life? Bhim Singh’s films are about the hopes, dreams, fears and joys of ordinary people. But his magic touch transmutes the commonplace into riveting drama.
Sivaji Ganesan and Savitri in Pasamalar
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives
Bhim Singh made films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada. His adaptation of Jayakanthan’s Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal was critically acclaimed. He was unobtrusive on the sets and yet managed to get what he wanted from the actors, whether it was six-year-old Kamal in Kalathur Kannamma or seasoned actors. Pava Mannippu had many scenes featuring M.R. Radha and Sivaji. “Bhim Singh would tell M.R. Radha that if he didn’t watch out, Sivaji would outshine him. He would tell Sivaji that Radha would steal the scene from him, if he wasn’t careful. The result was that both actors vied with each other for acting honours,” says Devadoss.
The scenes Bhim Singh envisioned also lent themselves to memorable songs — with Kannadasan at his philosophical best and M.S. Viswanathan/T.K. Ramamurthy capturing the mood of the scene with their music. Kannadasan’s ‘Vandha naal mudhal’ was inspired by ‘Dekh tere sansaar ki haalat’ written and sung by Pradip. The Tamil refrain ‘Manidhan maarivittan’ (man has changed) was exactly the same as in Hindi — ‘badal gaya insaan’.
Six-year-old Kamal Hassan with Bhim Singh during the shooting of Kalathur Kannamma
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives
As the song ‘Ponaal pogattum poda’ ends, animals and birds are shown on screen. Surprise inclusions here are the proboscis monkey and American woodcock, which are not Indian fauna. These couldn’t have been deliberate inclusions. Or were they? But they don’t seem out of place, because the aching heart is not unique to us. It is universal. That is the key word when it comes to Bhim Singh’s films — universality. The stories may be set here. But they are about the interplay of emotions, and human beings everywhere are a bundle of emotions.
‘Ponaal pogattum poda’ gives us the impression that the hero has learnt to accept his loss with equanimity. But subsequent scenes show that Sivaji has not come to terms with the loss of his wife, despite his earlier philosophical grandstanding. The mind may tell us to let go, but the heart refuses.
From Pava Mannippu
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives
Pathi Bhakti (produced by Bhim Singh’s production house — Buddha pictures) has a lively song sung by Chandrababu and V.N. Sundaram, with the latter singing snatches of raga Atana, while Chandrababu sings Rock n roll, an adaptation of ‘Rock around the clock’ of Bill Haley and His Comets. Bhim Singh seems to have liked Bill Haley’s tune, for in the comedy Madras to Pondicherry, he uses it when a bunch of musicians travel in a vintage car.
“MGR was very impressed with the novelty of ‘Penn ondru kanden’ — a duet with two male voices. He asked Bhim Singh to direct a film featuring him. But Bhim Singh refused saying he would not be comfortable making the kind of films MGR was known for,” recalls Devadoss.
Kannadasan often used to compose verses on a whim, not necessarily for any particular film. ‘Athaan yennathaan’ was one such, which remained unused for six years, until Bhim Singh chose it for Pava Mannippu. MSV/TKR who set it to tune in 15 minutes, joked that the song had a gestation period of six years and 15 minutes!
Whenever Bhim Singh faced financial losses due to the duplicity of those he had trusted, he turned an accusatory finger towards himself, and said, “I should have been careful. Gullibility will not go unpunished.”
Waheeda Rahman and Ameeta in Rakhi, a Hindi remake of the Tamil hit Pasamalar.
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives
In 1938, a five-acre property in Kilpauk was leased to Newtone Studio for 99 years, for 900 rupees a year. But after many successful films were shot there, the partners of Newtone transferred the lease to Bhim Singh’s Venkateswara Cine Tone. The credits in Bhim Singh’s Sadhu Mirandal (1966) mention this. At one point, the owner V. Pattabhiraman offered to sell the property to Bhim Singh for nine lakhs, but Bhim Singh preferred to continue with the lease.
Pattabhiraman wanted the land to go to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, when the lease ended. However, in the 1970s, Mrs. Munshi of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan requested Bhim Singh to terminate the lease, because Bhavan was planning a school on the land. Bhim Singh agreed gladly. When well-wishers suggested that Bhim Singh should at least buy the three grounds on which the editing room was located, he replied that to ask for three grounds of such a vast property was beggarly. Besides, who knew how long studios would exist? But a school would live on. In an article in Bhavan’s journal, the editor Ramakrishnan acknowledged Bhim Singh’s magnanimity.
