Songs for 60 years

TM Soundararajan, the famous Tamil playback singer in films responsible for giving his voice to thousands of songs from the 1940s to the 1990s, was born today in 1922.

A postage stamp decorating TMS; Source: Public Domain

TMS, they called him. Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan. Born on the 24th of March, 1922, he would become one of the most famed singers of Carnatic music and Tamil playback singing for movies. He had a long struggle for it too - learning Carnatic was not an easy task, and he had been taught since age 7.

He was initially rejected by composers as his voice cracked and was not consistent in high pitches. But he was stubborn, and would take to working in the house of Nadkarni, a director in the Central Studios, who recommended him to SM Subbaiah Naidu. Naidu offered him the chance to sing 5 songs in a film, which became hits, and Soundararajan started climbing the ladder to fame.

He would do both devotional and film music at the same time, perhaps a bit odd, but he could manage both well. By 1955, in movies like Chella Pillai, he was able to break free from the problems his voice had created, and was able to sing better and better.

He would also sing songs out to free - such as those in Thookku Thookki, and would ask the composers to judge his voice for themselves. He impressed these directors and even some actors as well - giving TMS solos to sing in their movies. Ethanai Kaalamthaan Ematruvaar Indha Naattile would herald TMS’ arrival on the great stage of Tamil cinema, and he would retain his preeminent position for long.

In fact, from the 1950s to the 1990s, he spanned a 6 decades long career, filled with music, devotional songs, movie themes, and much more, earning  him the title of the ‘Uncrowned’ King of the Tamil Film Industry’s playback singing.

As he passed away in 2013, his memory can be revived by one of the hundreds of songs he composed along the way.