|
LAKSHMIKANTHAN MURDER CASE
When MKT was flying very high in fame in drama, cinema and concerts, fate came in his way in the form of Lakshmikanthan. Lakshmikanthan, a notorious criminal with a perverted mind edited a yellow magazine called 'Hindu Nesan'. Lakshmikanthan's target was not only the small fry in the society but also the movie people, business magnates, prosperous lawyers, doctors, famed musicians, landlords, zamindars, Rajahs, press barons, religious heads, politicians etc. He wrote salacious and scandelous sex stories about them purely on the basis of gossips and hearsay. Majority of them were unauthenticated and filthy news. Being afraid of ill fame, some of those on whom Lakshmikantan wrote tried to silence him with hush money. Encouraged by this sort of income he continued to write all sorts of nonsense about them regularly and with the result had numerous enemies from all walks of life.
On November 8th 1944, he was attacked by some people with a knife in purasawalkam, Madras. He was admitted in the General Hospital, Madras but only as an outpatient, for the wound was not serious enough. Even in his statement to the police he did not name any particular person as the accused but only stated that someone had attacked him. He was found very jovial at the police station as he was in the hospital. During his treatment it was reported that he wanted to expose the murderers involved in the Boat Mail murder (In those days a train named Boat mail used to run between Madras and Dhanushkoti station which is not in existence now). A rich banker from Devakottai was murdered in the moving train between Chingleput and Madras. The truth about the real killers was buried under the carpet as the killers saw to it that the case should not come to the court for trial.
But suddenly, the next day i.e. on 9th Nov 1944, Lakshmikanthan died mysteriously in the hospital. He was murdered. The police, without any evidential basis, arrested eight persons as accused for the murder. Among them were MKT and N.S.Krishnan. This came as a rude shock to their fans and the cine world.
After usual committal proceedings before the Presidency Magistrate, the case came up for hearing at the Madras High court before Justice Vera Mockett. A group of brilliant lawyers namely Mr.V.T.Rangasamy Iyengar, Sri Rajagopalachariar, Mr.Braddel, Mr.B.T.Sundararajan, Sri Govind Swaminathan, Mr.Srinivasagopal and Mr.K.M.Munshi argued the case for the accused. After prolonged trial, the Jury, much to the dismay of many, found MKT and NSK guilty alongwith four others.
Appeals were heard by a bench of the High Court consisting of Sir Linel Leach, Chief Justice of Madras, Justice K.P. Lakshmana Rao and Advocate General K.Rajah Iyer. The appeals was filed by the then leading members of the Bar, V.V.Srinivasa Iyengar and Sri V.C.Gopalarathnam. However, the appeals were dismissed.
MKT and NSK filed an appeal in the Privy Council, London which was then the highest court of appeal. The internationally famous british Barrister, D.N.Pritt appeared for them. Privy Council then referred the case back to India for a fresh appraisal.
|
| WITH N S K AND ETHIRAJ |
The appeal came up before a bench of two judges namely Mr. Justice Happel and Mr.Justice Sahabuddin(who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and retired as Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court). Mr V.L.Ethiraj, a successful Barister appeared for MKT and NSK and argued that the Judges had not properly directed the Jury and the evidences of doubtful nature have not been properly assessed. Mr.Ethiraj convinced the Judges by his powerful arguments that all the witnesses produced against MKT and NSK were tutored and coached and there were a lot of inconsistencies in their evidence and statements and the case had many loopholes. The Judges agreed with Mr.Ethiraj's arguments and acquitted MKT and NSK. One of the judges who heard the remanded appeal remarked in the Court that the knife produced as evidence cannot even kill a rat !! The judgment was given a few months before India became free.
|
| JUST OUT OF PRISON |
When the man was in jail, his movie 'Haridas' had created history in Broadway cinema by running through three deepavalis. 'Manmatha leelai' and other songs were reverberating in the air all over the place. 'You can cage the singer but not the song' ( a famous quote by Harry Belafonte, also a famous singer-actor and a civil rights activist and co-incidentally was also born on the 1st of March).
MKT, NSK and four others came out of prison after thirty months' imprisonment. Experts and even laymen felt that the truth about the real killers of Lakshmikanthan has not come out and MKT, NSK and others were the unfortunate victims of the game of power politics.
The real killers were never pinned down and the truth lies buried somewhere to this day. Indian legal history will record this case as one of the most tragic miscarriages of justice. It ruined the life and career of an astonishingly gifted musician. Bhagavathar never regained his lost fame. By the time he was released, India had seen many changes politically. Tamil cinema too was undergoing a rapid change from historical and mythological movies to social movies, a scenario in which MKT had very little role to play.
RELEASE AND AFTER
MKT Bhagavathar was quite a different man after the thirty dark months in prison. The trechery of destiny had robbed him of his happiness and self-confidence. He turned more inwards and became very philosophical. He fully realised the inherent danger in the 'ugly thing called popularity'.
|
| N S KRISHNAN |
Immediately after his release MKT went straight to the Vadapalani Temple, Madras and offered his prayers. Although MKT and NSK were very good friends their views were diagonally opposite. MKT was a staunch believer in God and fate. But NSK was attracted towards the Self Respect movement promoted by the Dravida Kazhagam. MKT was not interested in the Self Respect movement and never changed his views to suit the changing needs of the society.
MKT returned to Trichy amidst a thunderous welcome. Many producers including two of the most successful of them were waiting for his arrival at Trichy with fabulous amounts in their purses to book for pictures. MKT refused to sign the contract for two reasons. Firstly he wanted to quit the film field to concentrate more on classical music concerts. Secondly, he had a feeling of regret towards these producers as they had earlier created a financial crisis for him by demanding back the advance money for the incomplete films booked before his imprisonment. They had also openly stated that escaping from a life sentence or from the exile to the Andaman jail would be next to impossibility for MKT and NSK. MKT produced his own film, Rajamukthi.
After his release MKT wanted to give as many classical music concerts as possible. But except Tamil Isai Sangam, he did not receive much encouragement from the other sabhas. The reason for their reluctance could be due to the fact that a particular section of the society which dominated the sabhas, was jealous of MKT's unimaginable fame and popularity. It made the lame excuse that he used to sing a few popular cine songs in the concerts which was held as against traditional concert practises. There was then stiff orthodoxy in the world of carnatic music. Even after so many years, tamil songs are not treated at par with telugu or sanskrit songs. Most of the tamil songs sung by MKT in his concerts are no more heard even remotely. The songs composed by Papanasam Sivan for films were set in pure classical ragas with devotional content. Today it is to be said to their credit, many young carnatic musicians sing MKT songs in their concerts.
MKT was forced to make films. He did produce Rajamukthi and Puduvazhvu and acted in Amarakavi, Shyamala and Sivakami (few scenes only). Even though songs in these films attracted the masses, the films had only an average run and failed in the box office collection, one of the factors being the drastic change in the trend of films. (For information about each of these five films, please visit the Filmography-Page 2 section)
ADHERENCE TO PRINCIPLES
Athiestic propoganda and social reform themes produced by a particular group had by then assumed significance and the good old devotional elements were pushed to the back seat. MKT could never fit into the prevailing trend. MKT bowed low in salutations only to the Almighty, his gurus in classical music and saints with whom he had acquaintance. He never compromised on principles for the sake of making big money. His life was dedicated to music and God from his childhood. Although he lost money heavily due to the Lakshmikanthan murder case and the repeated failure of his movies, he refused to accept the offer of Rs.One Lakh to act in a picture titled 'Sorgavasal' which had an athiestic theme.
|
| WITH CHINNA ANNAMALAI AND RAJAJI |
MKT had acquaintance with well known politicians such as Rajaji, Kamaraj, Annadurai, Chinna Annamalai and others. But he never used their acquaintance for his personal glory. Kamaraj himself asked him to contest the election in a congress ticket. But he sternly refused to accept it.
When Ambikapathy (starring Sivaji Ganesan) was produced in 1957, he was asked to act as Kambar by accepting Rs 10,000/-more fees than Sivaji Ganesan. He politely turned down the offer. Having acted as Ambikapathy which had secured a unique place in the hearts of his fans, he was unwilling to play a different role in the same story. Sivaji Ganesan's Ambikapathy failed at the box office in direct contrast to MKT's film which was a superhit. At that time, in one of the tamil magazines, under the question-answer section, a reader posted a question 'Who deserves praise for Sivaji's Ambikapathy' and the answer given was 'MKT' ! The failure of Sivaji's movie had added more lustre to MKT's movie.
MKT'S BENEVOLENCE
|
| IN THE LATE 1940'S |
During World War II the British government requested him to collect money for Red Cross. He immediately agreed and collected a fabulous sum of money by staging plays and giving concerts. The British Government, as a mark of gratitude, offered to Knight him which he refused to accept. Instead, when he was offered the entire locality of Tiruvarambur village near Trichy (where the BHEL now stands) he refused to accept it either stating that he had collected the money only on humanitarian grounds and not for reward. Mr.Sathyamurthy, the great congress leader, without knowing the real intentions of MKT got wild and remarked that MKT was helping the British. But subsequently he changed his views about Bhagavathar when he came to know of his unblemished generosity. When Mr.Sathyamurthy attended the Golden Jubilee function of 'Thiruneelakantar' he appreciated MKT's music and heartily praised his benevolence.
Suratha,who wrote the songs in Amarakavi, was struggling hard to make an entry in films and establish himself as a good poet. He approached MKT at his Trichy residence and requested him to help him in getting a breakthrough in films. MKT, well known for his hospitality, asked Suratha to have lunch with him first. MKT had always made it a point to feed whoever came to see him. He would start the conversation only after the visitors had taken food. Even on this occasion he asked the cook to serve food. MKT used to take food only in a gold plate which weighed 110 sovereigns ! The cook placed the gold plate to MKT and a banana leaf to Suratha. MKT placed the gold plate in front of Suratha and pulled the banana leaf towards his side and asked Suratha to take food in the gold plate. Some are still of the opinion that after the lunch MKT gave the gold plate to Suratha as a token of his admiration towards his ability to write songs. MKT had a couple of gold plates weighing 110 sovereigns. He gave the other one to V.L.Ethiraj immediately after his release and requested Ethiraj to have food daily from it. Ethiraj obliged his request and used that plate till his last breath. The value of the plates given to Suratha and Ethiraj was Rs 15,000 each in those days. To the present day value each plate will cost about Rs 3.75 lakhs. MKT also helped Suratha in getting a chance to write songs in Amarakavi and paved way for Suratha in establishing his name in the film field.
|
| T R MAHALINGAM |
T.R.Mahalingam celeberated the Ayushya homam of his son Sukumar at his house 'Sukumara Bhavanam' at Royapettah, Madras. MKT gave a classical music kutchery on that day. After the performance, T.R.Mahalingam presented a silver plate and Rs 1000 to MKT. MKT immediately called Sukumar and added one rupee to the amount given by T.R.Mahalingam, gave the silver plate and money to Sukumar as his Aseervatham to the young boy and left the house much to the surprise of every one present there. Sukumar's son, who owns a photo studio at Mylapore today, recollects that his father would always mention this incident and also adds that MKT gave, in addition, a gold pen and wished his father good luck in studies !
Immediately after his concert for the welfare of a school building at Purasawalkam, MKT was offered money for the concert. He politely refused to accept it stating that he would not accept any money from educational institutions. The school authorities wanted to honour him by presenting a silver plate. MKT turned down that as well and said that he had seen tons and tons of silver and gold in his life but lost everything when he was the 'guest of the government authorities' for thirty months and now he has lost interest in everything. "Naan arasanga virundaliyaga 30 maadam irundapodu ellavatraiyum izhanduvitten. Enakku ippodu idan meedellaam aasai illai" he said referring to his jail term and left the scene immediately.
Kapali Talkies was owned by Sambanda Mudaliar who lived in New street, Mylapore. Kapali Talkies was declared open by MKT in the year 1939. The proprietor presented him a tiny silver hammer as a memento. Some people in the crowd commented that by presenting the silver hammer to MKT, the proprietor has insulted him in an indirect way by informing the gathering that MKT belongs to the caste of people who make jewels by using the hammer. MKT being a magnanimous person did not take this incident seriously.
|
| WITH NSK AND HARIRAM SETH |
MKT was a very kind hearted person and had helped many people without personal advertisement. He never used to charge money for concerts in temples, marriages and educational institutions.
Nor did he die as a destitute as it is made out to be. There was Hariram Seth (manufacturer of Chokkalal Beedi), an ardent fan, who spared no efforts to see that MKT led a comfortable life till his last breath.
THE LAST DAYS
|
| TAKING FOOD |
MKT became more spiritual towards the end of his life and undertook journeys to many pilgrimage centres. He lost interest in wealth and popularity. His lack of affluence was to a large extent voluntary but not many of them understood this. MKT refused a lot of money for concerts which had a charitable nature. He also refused movie offers which had athiestic themes. MKT himself stated once 'ennai pol vaazhnthavarum illai, thaazhnthavarum illai'.
From 1955 onwards he visited many temples in south India including Dharmapura Adheenam and other places such as Pandharpur etc., with one of his best friends, Mr.A.Nagarathnam, a school teacher from Erode and who also learnt carnatic music from Alathur Brothers alongwith MKT. He visited Ramakrishna Tapovanam near Trichy and stayed there for well over a month. He visited Tiruvannamalai and another place called Tirumoolaranyam near Tiruvannamalai and stayed in an ashram for a few days. He used to do 'Go puja' (cow worship) daily in the morning till the end of his stay at Tirumoolaranyam and used to sing songs in praise of the Almighty. He visited Puttaparthy and Kanchi mutt and had darshan of Sathya Sai Baba and the Kanchi Acharya.
|
| WITH MGR AND T.C.SUNDARAMURTHY, A DANCE ARTISTE, AT THE TIME OF THEIR VISIT TO THE LATTER'S HOUSE |
When he had some problems with his eyesight he stayed at Samayapuram for 45 days and prayed to Goddess Durga. He used to sing there every evening and one song in particular which attracted the visitors to the temple was 'Kan paaramma Mariamma'.
MKT used to visit Samayapuram quite often and his stay in the temple would be for a minimum of one month and more. S.S.Rajendran who was then holding a post in the Thennindiya Nadigar sangam happened to meet MKT in this temple once and requested him to come over to Madras with him for treatment. He also said that he would arrange for a Swarnaabishekam (gold abhisekham) to MKT and organise a grand function by all artistes to honour MKT for his services to the film world. But MKT politely refused to accept this fine gesture by SSR and informed him that he has great faith in Goddess Mariamma and that she would take care of his health. SSR left the scene admiring MKT's faith in God and his stubbornness in refusing to accept any help from others even at the time of his declining health, wealth and fame. His deep faith in God even prevented him from taking extra care for his health and he was not regular in visiting the doctor. He used take the insulin injection himself.
Though he never performed in any concert hall after 1954 he gave concerts in many temples, Tiruchendur temple in particular, exhibitions, Kandasashti festival at madras, Tiruchendur etc, Ramanavami festival at Bangalore, Mayavaram Vedanayakam pillai's and Sankaradas swamigal's birthday functions at Trichy and marriage functions of his very close friends without taking any amount as his fees. He used to get the fees only for his accompanists.
During the closing days of his life, Bhagavathar suffered from high blood pressure and acute diabetes. Just 10 days before his demise he gave a concert in Pollachi. Those who heard that concert still say that it was a very good performance. At the end of the concert one gentleman came and offered him some Ayurvedic tonic to cure the diabetis. But instead of controlling the diabetis the tonic aggrevated the ailment.
MKT was asked to proceed to Madras for treatment at the General Hospital. A strange occurance took place when he came to the Pollachi railway station. All the lights in the station went off. His friends told him that this was a bad omen. But MKT, like a saint, replied that fate always wins the race and by staying at Pollachi it would not be possible for him to prevent death if that was the wish of God. He proceeded to Madras for treatment.
On October 22, 1959, he was admitted in the General Hospital, Madras. He passed away peacefully on 1.11.1959 at about 6.20 p.m. His body was taken to Trichy and was burried in Sangiliyandapuram, a small village in the outskirts of Trichy. His funeral procession started in the cantonment from his house at about 4.30 p.m. and took about 4 hours to reach the burial ground due to the gathering of an overwhelming crowd.
|
| MKT'S SAMADHI AT SANGILIYANDAPURAM |
|
| HIS FINAL PROCESSION FROM TRICHY TO SANGILIYANDAPURAM |
The films that were made after he came out of jail did not do well. He could not withstand the mental agony. Sorrow came in great waves in his life. MKT died a dejected man. He died young and his golden voice died with him never to return to the world.
No one, however gentle and harmless he might be, is allowed by destiny to taste only happiness in life, and fate cannot endure to see a man only in one phase of life.
When MKT passed away, Seergazhi Govindarajan sang two songs each in honour of MKT and NSK(who had passed away two years earlier). Both the songs were released as one gramaphone record. His song on MKT, 'Ezhisai Mannaa, engu nee sendraayo' is a very touching piece. The words aptly describe MKT's personality and contribution to the field of fine arts. 'Kann izhanthaal enna, ganniyam athai un kaalam ulla varai kadai pidithaai' (Does it matter if you lost your eye sight, you preserved your dignity till the end of your time) are words of worthy tribute to MKT's sterling good character.
CONCLUSION
The multisphered personality of MKT was a gift of God to music lovers. In drama, he matched the skills of S.G. Kittappa. In cinema, he dominated the field over many doyens of classical music who failed to create a similar impact as he did. In concert halls, despite his robust skills, he was grossly neglected and sadly forgotten.
It is unfortunate that this great musician is not known so much as a carnatic vidwan as a film actor despite the extent of his knowledge in carnatic music and participation in Pannisai research work in Thevaram for Tamil Isai Sangam. It is also equally unfortunate that MKT never had the idea of giving any classical kritis in the form of gramaphone records which would have gone a long way today in securing him a permanent name in the world of Sastriya Sangeetham.
The beautiful and gentle personality and the exceptionally sweet honeydew voice that is beyond description will surely linger in the minds of his fans forever. The legend MKT continues to live in the hearts of many who mourn his death silently. With MKT passed away a glorious personality. The services of this artist ought to be remembered forever.
|
