Continued from part 5

Part 6

vaagardhaaviva sampruttou vaagardha pratipattayE
jagatahpitaram vandE paarvateeparamESwaram vandE
paarvateepa ramESwaram

The original verse of Kalidasa, which means just like the inseparable linking of the word and its meaning (vaakku, ardham), I beg to thee "aadi dampatulu", the inseparable couple (the slight modification of parvatee parvamaeSwaram to sound parvateepa (husband of Parvati) and ramaeSwaram (husband of Laskmi) was credited to Veturi Prabhakara Sastry, the renowned poet and scholar, Veturi's father), can very well be used to describe Viswanath's long and continued journey with the lyrical word. From "charaNa kinkiNulu ghallu ghallu mana" (chelleli kaapuram) to "nee chentae oka chechita naitae" (Swaraabhishaekam), Viswanath's association with the poetic structure can be characterized by his work with the two seminal poets of their respective generations - Sri Veturi Sundararama Murhty and Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry. With "swaati mutyam" providing the hand-off movie between Veturi and Sirivennla, Viswanath extracted some of the best works from these illustrious poets that were ever put on paper, the scope being telugu film lyrics. Sirivennla once commented that receiving an award under Viswanath's stewardship isn't all that satisfactory and rewarding and his jocular angst certainly has some merit and meaning. With the context that is just ripe to be interpreted lyrically, with the characters that definitely have a depth and a lot of conflict, the situation would automatically write itself into a beautiful poem and all that the poet had to do was offer it a little verbal help (maaTa saayam). The styles of Veturi and Sirivennela (the scope restricted to Viswanath's movies) can be juxtaposed to observe how each of them treated the situations and how each of them felt for the characters.

Though Veturi started his "pada prasthaanam" with "O seeta kadha" (also under Viswanath's direction), it wasn't until "siri siri muvva" that he became a regular mouthpiece until "swati mutyam" and later for a brief stint with "Subha Sankalpam" and "Swaraabhishaekam". Veturi's observation of the characters and the situations can arguably be termed as very distant and very macro-level (not be considered superficial, in the slightest bit). When dealing with as grave a subject as untouchability and casteism, Veturi turns very philosophical and puts the words

aeDu varNaalu kalisi indradhanasoutaadi
annee varNaalaku okaTae ihamu paramunTaadi

aadi nunchi aakaaSam moogadi
anaadigaa talli dharaNi moogadi
naDumavacchi urumutaayi mabbulu
ee naDamantrapu manushulakE maaTalu
inni maaTalu

into a simpleton's mouth, herding his cows. Passion about the topic and personal opinion do not get in the way of the context and subject and his observation of the situation can be termed as clinical at best, right in tune with a "gollavaaDu" who doesn't comprehend what the fuss regarding a man's caste and creed is all about. Even while envying God for all the good things that happen to him without any effort on HIS part, Veturi pens

raayaitae naemi raa daevuDu
haayigaa unTaaDu jeevuDu
unna chOtae gOpuram
usuru laeni kaapuram
anee unnaa mahaanubhaavuDu

There is just a hint of jealousy and a dash of envy in the words of a lazy bum who ponders over the simplicity of the life of God. Veturi does not go overboard, rising above the situation, and starts wondering about the bum could make the world better place, if he possesses the same magical powers as God. All that he is concerned with is some food at the right time, a nice shelter at the nighttime and no botheration with the world any time.

SankaraabharaNam - what made the words "Sankara gala nigaLamu, Sreehari pada kamalamu, raaga ratna maalikaa taraLamu SankaraabharaNamu" so immensely popular even with the illiterates, when the song is peppered with "samskruta bhooyisTa pada bandhaalu" and laden with such deep concepts as "advaita siddhiki amaratva labhdiki gaanamu sOpaanamu"? As is with the rest of his movies, the authority of the character and the amount of respect he deserves makes the audience understand and appreciate, even when the language spoken by the character is quite out of their reach. Veturi's prowess is quite evident here when he does not let the language dumb down (or brought down) to the level of the commoner and allows it to remain on the same plain as the character. And when Chandramohan comes into the picture, the tone of the pen softens quite a bit when he teasingly mouths "madhura laalasala madhupa laalaanala, pedavilOni madhuvu raali vratamu pooni jataku chaeraga" to Raajyalakshmi. The choice of the words chosen for the lyric oozes of "chilipitanamu" and "konTetanamu". The way the lyric segues from the Tyaagaraja's traditional lyric "sama nigamaja sudhaa maya gaana vichakshaNa gunaSeela dayaala vaala" (He who expounded the ambrosia-like (amrutamu laanTi) Samaa vedam with benevolent qualities, please take care of me) into "madhura laalasalu" and "madhupa laalanalu" remaining in the same nectar-like metaphor but applying to a different context, is absolutely brilliant of Veturi. Again, he takes no liberties with the character and remains in the same playing field.

Sagara Sangamam - "mOhanaala vaeNuvoodae mOhaanaanguDitaDae lae, pOtanna kaitalannee pOtapOsukunnaDae maa muvvaa gOpaaluDae maa mudddo gOvinduDae" - what better lyric to be debased and debauched by the rut of "steppulu"? With exception to the song "mouna maela nOyi ee marapu raani raeyi", Veturi remains completely unattached to the characters within the rest of the lyrics. Since the movie is about a man's admiration and adoration of his lady love that he is even willing to take on any indignation and any suffering, while passing on his art, the words written for the movie remain as much ethereal and platonic as the intangibility of his feeling. Sagara Sangamam and SankaraabharaNam remain some of the best works of Veturi where the day to day struggle that the artist undergoes, the regular rigor, the conflict of his with the rest of the world, is never treated (or is never reflected) in the words that come out. Instead they remain quite detached (bordering on stand-offishness), separating the art from the artist. Even when the character lost in the drunken stupor balancing on a thin rod on the top of deep well, Veturi's macro-mind does not get bogged down by Balu's struggles or conflicts nor get saddled with the ecstaty for having finally met the love of his love that the character lost sometime ago. Veturi's detached mind takes over and scribbles "naruDi bratuku naTana, eeSwaruDi talapu ghaTana, aa renDi naTTa naDuma neekendukintha tapana". Compare this to a similar situation when Hyma, the mute dancer, is taken away from her home by Sambayya, unable to bear her step-mother's atrocities. The situation begs for a heavy-handed, over the top lyric and Veturi remains non-committal and muses "evarikevaru ee lOkamlO evariki eruka, ae daareTu pOtundO, evarinee aDagaka".

When Viswanath phased off Veturi with "swati mutyam" (due to creative differences), he lost the voice of reason, the voice of fate and destiny and the voice of eventuality that Veturi so eloquently snuck into the character's words. As luck would have it, Viswanath found another voice, a voice of personality, a voice of philosphy and voice with deep-seated optimism with Sirivennela in Seetarama Sastry.

(Cont'd in the next part, Viswanath's poetry - 2)

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