Thiruthuraipoondi Radhakrishnan Sivasankaran (T. R. Pappa) (3 July 1922 – 15 October 2004) was an Indian music director of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

and Sinhalese films. He was born in 1923 at

Thiruthuraipoondi Thiruthuraipoondi is a municipality in Tiruvarur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thiruthuraipoondi is an agricultural town located south of Thiruvarur district. The town is located at a distance of 28 km (17 mi) from the dis ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

, British India. With music till the last
/ref>

Early life

Papa's real name is Sivasankaran, who is from a lineage of musical family in Thruthuraipoondi. He started training on the violin from early childhood. His father, Radhakrishnan, had inability to pay tuition fees his education was stopped in middle. He was trained by Siva Vadivelu Pillai who joined in National movie tone cinema company, as fiddle player to some movies Seemanthini 1936 Parvathi Kalyanam 1936 and this life of carrying instruments ended in 1938. After he joined as a helper to S.G. Kasi Iyer, elder brother of great Kittappa. In 1941 most of the citizens was flying to other towns due to fear of Japanese Bombing Jupiter Pictures was shifted to Coimbatore, M.S.Viswanathan went with S.V.Venkatraman who is famous music director on those days. Kalki's daughter Ananthi, Sadasivam's daughter Radha were dancers, jointly made dance Programmes, M.S.Viswanathan as Playback Singer along with Papa Violin.

Career

Papa started playing the violin in '' Manonmani'' (

Modern Theatres Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English ...

) and ''

Kannagi Kannagi (), sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic '' Cilappatikāram''. Kannagi is described as a chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his adultery, their attempt to re ...

'', '' Kubera Kuchela'' and '' Mahamaya'' (

Jupiter Pictures Jupiter Pictures () was an Indian feature film production company founded in Coimbatore in 1934 by M. Somasundaram (popularly known as "Jupiter Somu") and S.K. Mohideen. Jupiter Pictures was a major production house with 46 releases with 36 fil ...

). In the late 40s, Papa and T. K. Ramamoorthy were the highest paid violinists for the movies and were always in demand. He was the Director of Music Colleges Papa became music director for Malayalam film ''

Aathmasanthi ''Aathmasanthi'' is a 1952 Indian Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mah� ...

'' in 1952. The chance was given to him by Joseph Thaliath Jr. of Citadel Film Corporation. This film is dubbed in Tamil under the same title. Then onwards, Papa went on to compose for many of Citadel films such as '' Mallika'', '' Vijayapuri Veeran'', ''Vilakketriyaval'', ''

Iravum Pagalum ''Iravum Pagalum'' () is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film directed by Joseph Thaliath Jr. The film stars then newcomers Jaishankar and C. Vasantha, while S. A. Ashokan, Nagesh, Gandhimathi and Pandari Bai play supporting rol ...

'' and ''

Kathal Paduthum Padu ''Kathal Paduthum Padu'' () is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Joseph Thaliath Jr and produced under Citadel Studios. The film stars Jaishankar and Vanisri, the latter's debut in Tamil cinema. It was released on 7 October ...

''. Papa also composed music for many Sinhalese films. The song ''Siriyame Sara'', sung by

H. R. Jothipala Hettiarachchige Reginald Jothipala (; 12 February 1936 – 7 July 1987), popularly as H. R. Jothipala, was a Sri Lankan playback singer in the Sinhalese language, Sinhala cinema as well as a film actor and producer. Considered as the best playb ...

is one of the popular hits in Sinhalese. He worked with singers like T. M. Soundararajan,

A. M. Rajah Aemala Manmadharaju Rajah, popularly known as A. M. Rajah (1929–1989), was an Indian playback singer and music director. Early life A. M. Rajah was born on 1 July 1929 in Ramapuram village, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His father die ...

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

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

, C. S. Jayaraman, S. C. Krishnan, A. L. Raghavan, M. L. Vasanthakumari, P. Leela,

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, Sinhalese, and Hindi lan ...

, T. V. Rathnam, A. P. Komala,

P. B. Sreenivas Prathivadhi Bhayankara Sreenivas (22 September 1930 – 14 April 2013) widely known as P. B. S. was an Indian playback singer, composer, harmonium player, Lyricist and poet known for his works in South cinema, and Bollywood. His major chunk of ...

, K. Jamuna Rani, P. Susheela,

A. G. Rathnamala A. G. Rathnamala () (1931 – 3 July 2007) was an Indian stage drama artist and playback singer who has recorded over 500 songs in Tamil language, Tamil, Telugu language, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films. Career life Stage Drama Whe ...

, T. S. Bagavathi, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, A. Nithyakala,

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely referred to as Janaki Amma and Nightingale of India(nightingale of South) . She is one of the greatest playback singers in the history ...

L. R. Eswari Lourde-Mary Rajeswari, better known as L. R. Eswari, is an Indian playback singer who has sung many songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Tulu and English. She was awarded with the Kalaimamani, an award for arts and culture in ...

, S. P. Balasubrahmaniam, B. S. Sasirekha and

S. P. Sailaja Sripathi Panditaradhyula Sailaja is an Indian singer, voice artist and actress who had sung 10,000 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. She had sung most of the songs for Illayaraja, K. Chakravarthy, Ramesh Naidu, ...

. The singing actors

K. R. Ramasamy K. R. Ramasamy (or Ramaswamy; ) may refer to: * K. R. Ramasamy (politician), Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Indian National Congress (INC) Party * K. R. Ramasamy (actor), Indian actor and founding member of DMK Party * K. R. Ramaswamy, ...

, T. R. Rajakumari,

P. Bhanumathi P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (7 September 1925 – 24 December 2005) was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the ...

, N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Madhuram and J. P. Chandrababu also sang memorable songs under his compositions. As a Nilaya Vidwan of AIR from 1946, Papa accompanied the violin for many great classical vocalists. He composed music for many wonderful devotional albums with

where the song ''Chinnanjiru Penn Pole'' dedicated to the Goddess Abirami is notable. Papa scored music for the album ''Abirami Andhaadhi''. Papa has served as the Principal of Madras Music College. T. R. Ramanna and Papa were classmates in Thanjavur. T. R. Ramanna was in the midst of the making of ''Arunagirinathar'' when the music director

G. Ramanathan Gopalan Ramanathan was an Indian music composer for Tamil movies. He is also known as ''Isai Methai'' (Genius of Music) or ''Sangeetha Chakravarthy'' (Emperor of Music) and is considered to be one of the influential Tamil music composers to ...

fell ill. Papa was called upon to complete the rest of the songs. T. R. Ramana again engaged Papa for his movies in the early 1970s.

Tamil Isai Sangam Isai Mandram is a music association started to promote pure form of ancient Tamil music popularly known as the tamizh Isai throughout Tamil Nadu. The current president of the association is Judge P.R.Gopalakrishnan. The main premises are located ...

conferred the title ''Isai Perarignar'' (Great Scholar of Music) on him.

Works

Some of the notable music compositions: *''Enna Enna Inbame'' for Anbu by

and

*''Samarasam Ulaavum Idame'' for Rambaiyin Kaadhal by

*''Bagavane Mounam Eno'' for Rambaiyin Kaadhal by

*''Varuven Naan Unadhu'' for Mallika by

and P. Susheela *''Chinnanjiru Vayathu Mudhal'' for

Thaai Magalukku Kattiya Thaali ''Thaai Magalukku Kattiya Thaali'' () is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language film produced, directed and photographed by R. R. Chandiran. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, N. Jamuna and P. Kannamba. It was released on 31 December 1959 and became a ...

by T. M. Soundararajan and

*''Yaar Solluvaar Nilave'' for

Kuravanji ''Kuravanji'' is a 1960 Indian Tamil language film directed by A. Kasilingam. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Savitri. The film, produced by M. Karunanidhi, R. M. Veerappan, and A. Kasilingam, was released on 4 March 1960, and was not a comm ...

by C. S. Jayaraman * ''Sirikkindraal Indru Sirikkindraal'' for

Nallavan Vazhvan ''Nallavan Vazhvan'' () is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film produced and directed by P. Neelakantan. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and Rajasulochana. It revolves around a man who is sentenced to death on false charges, and e ...

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

and P. Susheela *''Ullam Thedaathe Endru Solluthe'' for Ethaiyum Thangum Idhayam by K. R. Ramasamy and

*''Unakkum Enakkum Veguthooram Illai'' for Ethaiyum Thangum Idhayam by Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi *''Muththaitharu Paththithala'' for Arunagirinathar by T. M. Soundararajan *''Onnume puriyale ulagathile'' for Kumara Raja by J. P. Chandrababu *''Ullathin Kadhavugal Kanngalada'' for Iravum Pagalum by T. M. Soundararajan *''Muththama Asai Muththama'' for Vilakketriyaval by P. Susheela *''Asai Ponggum Azhagu Roobam'' for Asai by

and

*''Soodi Koduthaval Naan Thozhi'' for Teacheramma by P. Susheela *''Thalai Vaari poochoodi Unnai'' for

Rangoon Radha ''Rangoon Radha'' is a 1956 Indian Tamil-language film directed by A. Kasilingam and written by M. Karunanidhi from a story by C. N. Annadurai. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and P. Bhanumathi. Based on the 1944 American film '' Gaslight'', it i ...

*''Iraivan Endroru Kavignan'' for Yen by S. P. Balasubrahmaniam *''Ullathile Uram Vendumada'' for Vijayapuri Veeran by

*''Vennila Nerathile Venugaanam'' for Avasara Kalyanam by P. Susheela

Filmography

References

External links

Myriad Music Composers of the Last Century in My Movie Minutes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pappa, T. R Tamil film score composers Tamil musicians 1922 births 2004 deaths People from Tiruvarur district 20th-century Indian composers Indian male film score composers 20th-century Indian male musicians