Sitting with his music assistants at the Vauhini Studios composing room, veteran music director Saluri Rajeswara Rao was mulling over a tune for a lyric written by Pingali Nagendra Rao. By then he had composed tunes for all the other lyrics by Pingali for Vijaya Productions, Missamma (1955), produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani. Rajeswara Rao came up with many tunes for the lyric Brindavanamadi Andaridi, but Chakrapani was not satisfied. After months, a fed up Saluri, who was also known for his sarcasm, asked Chakrapani in mock humility, Saar, meere yedo oka tune cheppandi (Sir, you suggest a tune). Chakrapani then recalled a folk song he had heard during his younger days and hummed the tune to him. The master melody-maker listened to it with a wry smile and then gave him the present tune which Chakrapani approved. One is not sure whether the maestro followed the folk tune or if Chakrapani bothered to check it.
Brindavanamadi Andaridi/ Govindudu Andarivaadele/ Yenduke Radha Eesunasuyalu/ Andamulandari Anandamule
Scene
M.T. Rao (played by N.T. Ramarao) playing the piano is teaching the song to Sita (Jamuna) who, besides singing, is also dancing. The onlookers, Mary (Savitri) watches them in jealous fury as she is fond of M.T. Rao. Meanwhile the self-styled detective Raju (ANR), a cousin of Sita, looks at them with disapproval. The patriarchs of the family (S.V. Rangarao and Rushyendramani), seated on a sofa, enjoy the song. There is also comedian Balakrishna, acting as an errand boy, in the scene. The lyrical romanticist in Pingali plays with simple prose to create an allegory by bringing in Krishna and Radha to say that Lord Krishna does not belong to Radha alone, but to every devotee . Pingali borrows from Keats’ A thing of beauty is a joy forever to to say Andamulandari Aanandamule (Beauty gives joy to all). Through the song M.T. Rao conveys a subtle message to Mary that he is doing his duty as a guru to Sita and it is not fair for Mary to feel jealous.
The song was shot in a single room. Simple choreography (Pasumarthi Krishnamurthy), and aesthetically shot (Marcus Bartley), the credit goes to director L.V. Prasad for his brilliant conception and execution.
Behind the scene
Pingali’s lyric and Saluri’s melodious score breathed life into the voices of P. Susheela and A.M. Raja. Not to forget the excellent on- screen presentation by N.T. Ramarao who had no movements other than facial expressions to give, and Jamuna as a learner of dance and vocal music. Though he used A.M. Raja’s voice for A. Nageswara Rao in Vipranarayana, Rajeswara Rao wanted to know the opinion of NTR before recording the songs for Missamma . NTR replied, ‘I am a performer and will perform to whatever voice that Rajeswara Rao garu thinks suits me.’ Incidentally, this was the only song that P. Susheela sang in the film and it turned out to be one of the biggest hits. The song became so popular that it is part of music lessons even today and is hummed by film music lovers not only in Telugu but in its Tamil version too. Missamma was simultaneously made in Tamil titled, Missisamma. Rajeswara Rao composed music for the Tamil version too and the well known Tamil lyricist, Thanjai Ramaiah Das wrote the lyrics. The song Brindavanamum Nandakumaranum became so popular that a Malaysia -based Chinese singer-dancer with her troupe sang and choreographed it and presented it on stage and in video format which went viral and has garnered nearly a million views till date.
The film was remade by L.V. Prasad in Hindi for A.V.M. Productions as Ms. Mary. Overwhelmed by Rajeswara Rao’s tune for Brindavanamadi… Hemant Kumar retained it for the Hindi version while composing original tunes for the rest of the songs. Lata Mangeshkar who sang along with Md. Rafi the super hit song Brindavan kaa Krishna Kanhaiya, mentioned it as one of her favourites.
Interestingly, Rajeswara Rao’s eldest son and an accomplished musician Ramalingeswara Rao shares an anecdote that his father did not like the music he had composed for Missamma for the simple reason that he was only catering to the tastes of Chakrapani, who had his own commercial view of cinema. Rajeswara Rao felt that no one would book him for music direction after Missamma ’s release;he might have to go back to Vizianagaram from where he came. However, for once, the maestro was proved wrong as the film and its music became super duper hits not only in Telugu but also in Tamil and Raje ‘swara’ Rao enthralled film music lovers for the next three decades with his melodious score.
Legacy continues
A digitally colourised version of ‘Brindavanamadi Andaridi Govindudu Andarivadele’ was used in the opening credits of the NTR(Jr)-starrer Brindavanam (2010)
