Cuddalore Nagarathinam Pandurangan (1912 – 1975) was a noted music director who had scored music for Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Sinhala movies. C. N. Pandurangan was an Indian music director who worked mainly in South Indian films.

Early life

Cuddalore Nagarathinam Pandurangan (CNP) was born in 1912. His father was holding a Government post, conducted religious discourses and was also an exponent of Harikatha. CNP commenced his music lessons under his father and accompanied him on the stage. He was later put under the tutelage of

Chittoor Subramaniam Pillai Chittoor Subramanyam (22 June 1898 – 18 Oct 1975) was an Indian carnatic musician.Madurai Somu).

Career

CNP became a veena exponent and was spotted by K. Subramaniam who engaged CNP for his productions. CNP's first assignment as a music composer was the 1948 Sinhalese movie '' Kapati Arakshakaya'' directed by K. Subramaniam. The movie was a runaway hit and CNP's compositions sung by the famous Eddie Jayamane and Rukmani Devi became very popular. This led to CNP composing the songs for a few more Sinhalese movies in later years such as ''Veradunu Kurumanama'', ''Amma'', ''Sihinaya'' and ''Devasundari''. Vembathur Krishnan mentioned working with CNP in reverential terms. The first Tamil movie which had songs composed by CNP was '' Kamavalli'' (1948). Despite some good classical songs written by

Papanasam Sivan Paapanaasam Raamayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1971. He was also a film score composer in Kannada cinema ...

and rendered by Nagercoil Mahadevan and

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

. Even though CNP was not flooded with offers, he carried on in Tamil movies till 1978. He also composed music for Telugu movies where most of them are Tamil-Telugu bilingual movies. He worked in Kannada movie too such as ''Bhakta Mallikarjuna'' (1955), ''Kacha Devayani'' (1956), ''Devasundari'' (1962). Later ''Sri Purandaradasaru'' (1967) based on the legendary saint-composer which had singers such as M. L. Vasanthakumari, M. Balamuralikrishna, P. B. Srinivas and S. Janaki. Composer

Vedha ‌ ''Vedha'' is a 2008 Indian Tamil language action drama film, directed by R. Nithyakumar starring Arun Vijay and Sheela. The music is composed by Srikanth Deva. The film opened to negative reviews. Plot Vijay (Arun Vijay) is crazy about hi ...

worked as his associate for some years and learned the nuances of music composition before branching off on his own.

Pukazhenthi T. K. Velappan Nair (27 September 1929 – 27 February 2005), popularly known as Pukazhenthi, was an Indian music director of Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. Biography Pukazhenthi was born on 27 September 1929, in Thiruvananthapuram, to K ...

worked under him for a few years, before teaming up with K. V. Mahadevan. Shyam commenced his film career as a violinist under him. B. A. Chidambaranath was part of his troupe. Shyam mentioned that unlike the other composers who would compose playing the harmonium, CNP would play the notes on the veena and sing the tune. He could come up with 5 to 6 tunes for every song and the directors would sit mesmerized, spoilt for choice. His assistant Munuswamy would then play each segment on the harmonium to the instrumentalists. CNP shared a very good rapport with all the great lyricists and singers of the time. He used to encourage the lyricists to come out with appropriate, poetic lines and would not hesitate to amend the tune to accentuate the beauty of the lyrics. CNP was also very particular about the choice of singers, Shyam recalled, and each song would go the singer who CNP thought could do it the best justice. CNP would escort all his troupe members to Harrisons and treat them to a sumptuous meal at his own expense. Sham recalls CNP as ''A great artiste'' and ''A great human being''. CNP worked with G. Ramanathan in Pudhu Vazhvu and with

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were an Indian music composing duo composed of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy. They worked together on over 100 films, from 1952's '' Panam'' to 1965's '' Aayirathil Oruvan''. After their split, Ramamoorthy wo ...

in Pona Machaan Thirumbi Vandhan. He also collaborated with Meenakshi Subramaniam in Kacha Devayani (Kannada) and Pandithevan (Tamil). He worked with singers like T. M. Soundararajan,

A. M. Rajah Aemala Manmadharaju Rajah, popularly known as A. M. Rajah, was an Indian playback singer and music director. Early life A. M. Rajah was born on 1 July 1929 in Cchamanchipuram, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His father died when he was thr ...

Seerkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was an Indian Tamil Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in present day M ...

Thiruchi Loganathan Thiruchi Loganathan (24 July 1924 – 17 November 1989) was a playback singer of the Tamil film industry. He is known for his work in movies such as ''Manthiri Kumari'' (1950) and '' Parasakthi'' (1952). He was married to Rajalakshmi, daughter ...

C. S. Jayaraman Chidambaram Sundaram Jayaraman or C. S. Jayaraman (Tamil: சி. எஸ். ஜெயராமன்) (January 6, 1917 – January 29, 1995) was a noted actor, music director and a successful playback singer, whose numerous songs were feat ...

, V. N. Sundharam, P. B. Sreenivas, S. C. Krishnan, T. A. Mothi, K. R Chellamuthu,

A. L. Raghavan A. L. Raghavan (1933 – 19 June 2020) was an Indian playback singer, who sang many songs in Tamil-language films. Biography Raghavan was born to a Saurashtra Brahmin family in Ayyampettai near Thanjavur to Lakshmana Bhagavathar, Raghavan ...

, M. Balamuralikrishna, S. V. Ponnusamy, K. M. Mani Rajan, M. L. Vasanthakumari,

P. A. Periyanayaki P. A. Periyanayaki (14 April 1927 – 1990) was an Indian playback singer and actress who worked mainly in Tamil-language films. She also performed stage concerts as a Carnatic singer. Early life She hails from Thiruvadhigai near Panruti. ...

P. Leela Porayathu Leela (19 May 1934 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, ...

Jikki Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni (3 November 1935 – 16 August 2004), more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhalese langua ...

T. V. Rathnam Tenkasi Vallinayagam Rathnam ( ta, தென்காசி வள்ளிநாயகம் (டி.வி.) ரத்தினம்) (1930 - 17 October 1984) hailed from Tenkasi, Madras Presidency, British India. She was a playback singe ...

, A. P. Komala,

K. Jamuna Rani K. Jamuna Rani (born 17 May 1938 in Andhra Pradesh, India) is an Indian playback singer who has sung over 6,000 songs in Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam lnguages. Life and career Rani was born to K. Varadarajulu and violinist ...

, P. Suseela,

Radha Jayalakshmi Radha (born 1932) and Jayalakshmi (1932 - 2014), popularly known as Radha Jayalakshmi ( ta, ராதா ஜெயலட்சுமி), were an Indian Carnatic music vocalist duo as well as playback singers in films in the 1940s and 1950s. Th ...

, A. G. Rathnamala, Soolamangalam Jeyalakshmi,

Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ஜெயலட்சுமி) and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ராஜலட்சுமி), popularly known as Soolamangalam Sisters ( ta, � ...

, K. V. Janaki, K. Rani, G. Kasthoori,

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

, and L. R. Eswari. The singing actors T. R. Mahalingam, K. R. Ramasamy,

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...

, B. Jayamma,

N. S. Krishnan Nagercoil Sudalaimuthu Krishnan, popularly known as Kalaivanar () and also as NSK, was an Indian actor-comedian, theatre artist, playback singer and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry – in the 1940s and 1950s. He is conside ...

, T. A. Madhuram, P. S. Govindhan, C. S. Pandiyan and J. P. Chandrababu also sang memorable songs under his compositions.

Style

CNP only composed music for less than 40 movies spread over a period of 30 years. Many of them are collaboration with other composers where he had only a handful of songs to compose himself. Even though many of the movies were commercial failures, yet CNP shows his erudite classical roots, technical finesse, inventive arrangements, uncanny grasp of the mood and sequence and astute pick of a variety of singers.

Works

Some compositions of C. N. Pandurangan, include: * ''Manmohanadass Gandhi'' from

Geetha Gandhi ''Geetha Gandhi'' () is a 1949 Indian, Tamil-language film produced and directed by Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam. The film stars T. R. Ramachandran and B. S. Saroja. Plot Subbaiyer is an old man whose granddaughter, Girija is studying in Annama ...

* ''Good Luck! Good Luck'' from En Thangai by C.S. Pandiyan & A. G. Rathnamala * ''Aadum Oonjalai Pole'' from En Thangai by

T. A. Mothi T is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet. (For the same letterform in the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, see Te and Tau respectively). T may also refer to: Codes and units * T, Tera- as in one trillion * T, the symbol for "True" in lo ...

* ''Aasai Roja Paaru'' from Ragasiya Penn 117 by

* ''Sirpi Sedhukkaadha Porchilaiye'' from

Edhir Paradhathu ''Edhir Paradhathu'' () is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Ch. Narayana Moorthy and written by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini, with V. Nagayya, S. V. Sahasranamam, S. Varalakshmi and F ...

* ''Sirpi Sedhukkaadha Porchilaiye'' from

* ''Singara Roopa Karunaa'' from Mamiyar by

* ''Dance Baby Dance'' from Gumastha by M. L. Vasanthakumari * ''Jeeva Gaana Veena Naan'' from Bhoologa Rambai by P. Suseela * ''Naanaada Nee Paadu Kannaa'' from

Mala Oru Mangala Vilakku ''Mala Oru Mangala Vilakku'' () is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language film directed by S. Mukherjee. The film stars V. Nagayya, N. N. Kannappa and Madhuri Devi. Plot Cast List adapted from the database of Film News Anandan and from ''Thiraikala ...

by Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi * ''Naan Paada Nee Aadu Kanne'' from

P. B. Srinivas Prathivadhi Bhayankara Sreenivas (22 September 1930 – 14 April 2013) widely known as P. B. Sreenivas was an Indian playback singer, composer, harmonium player, lyricist, littérateur, and poet known for his works in South cinema, and Bollyw ...

* ''Chandi Miranda Kaadu Kollaadhu'' from Pandithevan by

* ''Nee Aadinaal Oor Aadidum'' from Pandithevan by J. P. Chandrababu &

* ''Inbama Kondadum'' from Indira En Selvam by P. B. Srinivas & K. Rani * ''Kanni Paruvam Aval'' from Indira En Selvam by P. B. Srinivas & Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi CNP has worked with Radha Jayalakshmi in almost all of his compositions which brings the best out of her . Some of the songs are: * ''Jegam Ezhum Neeye'' from

, solo * ''Kannalar Ingu Varuvaar'' from Bhoologa Rambai, solo * ''Aasai Nenjame'' from Bhoologa Rambai with

* ''Kanavu Ninaivaagum'' from Menaka, solo * ''Thellathelindha Thenamudhe'' from Indira En Selvam, solo * ''Anbaana Mozhi Pesum'' from Solaimalai Raani with

* ''Annai Nee En Vaazhvile'' from

, solo * ''Kannum Karuthum'' from Pandithevan with S. Janaki & K. Rani * ''Aadhaaram Nin Paadham Ambigaiye'' from Pona Machaan Thirumbi Vandhan, solo * ''Kottu Melam Kovililm'' from Pudhu Vazhvu, solo

Personal life

CNP and his wife Tarabai had 6 children. One of his sons, Mohanarangan was a famed flautist. CNP passed away in 1975 at the age of 63.

Filmography

References

{{Authority control Tamil film score composers Telugu film score composers Indian male film score composers