(Continued from Part 2)

Part - III (final part)

If different songs are lined up for an identification parade, what makes Veturi's creation stand out? How does one distinctly and deliberately pick his tone, which indeed is an amalgamation of every renowned writer's tone from the past? What is that one distinguishable trait that runs through Veturi's song strand? Does he allow the language to dictate the situation or does he let the context to command the expression? How does Veturi measure up to his predecessors, counterparts and his successors? What is the yardstick or the touchstone to size up or assess the quality of somebody his caliber?

Most of the poets, in some generalized way or other, go after the situation simplify it, glorify it, abstract it and then apply the language to it. By the time the situation assumes a lyrical expression, the application of the context is usually shifted - either elevated or downgraded. But most of Veturi's songs tend to remain on the same playing field as the situation. To abstract SankaraabharaNam, he stands up to the task and uses "Omkaara naadaanu sandhaanamau gaanamae SankaraabhraNamu", to describe the celestial princess' first visit to earth, he ethereally phrases "andaalalO ahO mahO dayam, bhoolOkamae navOdayam", to put words into a cave-dweller praises of his Lord, he innocently prays "Siva Siva Sankara, bhakta vaSankara... gangamma meccina jangamayya vanE, ganganu taenaa nee saevaku", to tease a village belle he pranks around "raamaa (it is not raaMMaa, as was sung) cilakamma, praema molakamma radhammaa, paalae telupanna neeLLae nalupanna gOpemma". The way he adjusts his tone according to the situation, target audience and the prime requirement whether the lyric has to dominate the tune (as is the case with K.V.Mahadevan's songs who always set tunes to lyrics) or whether the lyric can afford to be over-shadowed (as is the case with most of Illayaraja's fast beat tunes), talks about his adaptability and in the process earned him his fair share of criticisms.

We know of many poets who have used language as a tool, as a platform to evoke an expression while expressing their intentions. A poet like is Devulapalli is revered more for his "bhaava laalityam" than "Sabda soundaryam". cinAre is known for hisexpressions of "gambheeryata". Sri Sri used words torouse the emotions. Aatraeya is famous for his sparing and stingy attitude towards words disbursement (padaala pandaeram). Not since Samudraala Sr., Pingali Nagendra Rao have poets have take up the cause of language and made language dicate the terms to the situation until Veturi vocalized his expression. And in that aspect Veturi's baNee is akin to Pingali's in the way they moulded the language (coining a few along the way) to suit the requirements than look for elsewhere. Branching away from Pingali's style, Veturi took it one step further and started an amusing trend of "noun"ing an adjective, a style much in vogue even in this day and age.

No article about Veturi is complete without discussing about his uncanny ability of setting words to a commercial tune. Starting from the period when the notion that stardom accounted for box-office openings during the mid 80s germinated, Veturi has written some thousands of commercial lyrics till date, some that stood out, some that brought a smile to the lips, some that were weird, some that were seriously frowned upon. Amidst the numerous limitations, in regard to tune and accessibility, braving the restrictions, in relation to tone and meaning, gulping down the suggestions, in the form of language and content, Veturi steered his career's course carefully, side-stepping the obvious mines and the dangerous pitfalls. These dry songs that didn't offer him any sort of creative assistance or imaginative spark, made him to further tone down his approach, in a way increasing his longevity in the industry thus helping him grab those occasional rare opportunities to show a glimpse of his creative prowess ("veNuvai vaccaanu bhuvanaaniki, gaalinai pOtaanu gaganaaniki"; "raali pOyae poovaa neeku raagaalendukae" - both from maatrudaevObhava, the latter earning him the much eluded best lyricist award at the national level).

What is a dry song? A song that was inserted only as a relief measure, a song that needs to be sung to advance the progress of an event (be it cementing a relationship, conveying the impact of a tragedy and the like), a song that has no realistic reason to explain its presence are some of features of a dry song. The poet has to latch on to some important characteristic that needs to be elaborated on and then build his thread around it. Case in point, the second heroine has to dance to the tunes with the hero in a dream sequence. The only thing that the poet can go by is the only fact that they both met and live in Bombay. There is no other reason why they need to sing a song, but to advance the plot. So the poet chooses the only salient point in their relationship - that they live in Bombay - and writes "naariman lO naDicindi modalu, lovvu graanT lO pilicindi pagalu, chowpaTi lO chaudvi kaa chaand vO...". (movie. Ashoka Charkravarthy Music. Illayaraja) And when one realizes that Veturi spent more than a decade in his career writing nothing but these dry songs, does one really understand his immense potential in identifying that single strand. ("ee ajaai beach lO elaakilaa andamanta aaravaesukO", "sembawaangu rambha tOTi saatunna raasa leelalO", "singapooru sOkulanni dongilincukunna haelalO" - the only lead for the song being the characters sing a song in Singapore and Malayasia (movie.Rudra Netra. Music. Illayaraja). The frailty of the plot line coupled with the frivolous nature of the indiscriminately using the lyrical narrative had a far-reaching impact on telugu lyrics and Veturi, in the process, suffered his share of misfortune, lending his tone to an unfortunate tune.

gunTari nakkaa dokkala cokkaa ammO anipistaa...
gopaalaa masajasa tatagaa Sardoolaa
nandi konDa vaagullOnaa - geetaanjali. Music. Illayaraja

SukaalatO pikaalatO dhwanincina madhoodayam
divi bhuvi kalaa nijam spRuSincinaa mahOdayam...
ee vaaDi pOyina ugaadi vaeLalO
gatinci pOni gaadha naenani
aamani paaDavae haayigaa - geetaanjali. Music Illayaraja

modaTi giccuLLu ninnae giccaa
mogga siggantaa naenae tuncaa
eeDu vaccaaka iTTaa vaccaa
nuvvu naccaaka naekae icaa
acca accaa - raakshasuDu. Music Illayaraja

daehamunna laevu praaNaalae, neevu kaadaa naaku praaNam
kaLLamundu neeli swapnaalae mOyalaeni vinta mOham
dooramunna raayabaaraalae ceppabOtae maaTa mounam
caeruvaina vinta gaanaalae paaDabOtae bhaava geetam
maLLi maLLi idi raani rOju - raakshasuDu. Music Illayaraja

koTTanDi tiTTanDi gillanDi giccanDi
koyyanDi campanDi piccanDi nammanDi praema
maha kasigunTadi balae ruci gunTadi
okae gili anTadi tanae oDi anTadi - maraNa mRudangam. Music Illayaraja

karigi pOyaanu karpoora veeNa laa
kurisi pOyindi O sande vennelaa
nee teega vaNiki pOtunnaa
raagaalu dOcukunTunnaa - maraNa mRudangam. Music Illayaraja

The duality of his penmanship got the better out of him for commercial ventures and best of him for creative enterprises. His double-edged pen slashed the most for regular fares and wielded the best for rigorous fares. His double-speak served him materialistically better for monetary ventures and aesthetically the best for artistic endeavors. From K.V.Mahadevan to Keeravani, from Rahman to Raj-Koti, from Illayaraja to Chakravarthi, here is an institution that aided life with breath, added wit to charm, guided tune in his path - a MAN of his word, a MAN of many words - Sri Veturi Sundara Rama Murthy.

Though he never intended this bit to be a self-referential piece, it is quite amusing that nothing better eulogizes his career than

kRushi unTae manushulu rushulavutaaru
mahaa purushulavutaaru
tara taraalaki taragani velugavutaaru
ila vaelupulavutaaru - aDavi raamuDu. Music. K.V.Mahadevan

The End

P.S. Spatial and time restrictions, the sheer enormity of the scope, the range of his repertoire are some of the reasons that a comprehensive compendium of Veturi's career could not be presented. For one article to present the different facets of Veturi's word is like looking up the sky at the sun and calling it nothing more than a glowing ball.

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