V for Victory

I have long admired them and wanted to write about them. I had even made a promise to myself. Its high time I fulfill it. You can also call it as ‘A Tale of two V’s’. Here it goes.

Robert (or was it John)Kennedy was born in a small village in southern tamilnadu. His career for quite a long long time had always been devoid of that lady luck. Even the best of efforts from him will wither away because the team effort wouldn’t be just there to support him. It was a decade long fight to achieve that elusive success. He even tried mouthing out different languages though as a dummy or a mere assistant and he was making a living only through it since he saw some success in it. Finally after all the miseries, one fine day in December 1999, after umpteen number of tries, success finally smiled on him and there was no looking back from that point. His failures have taught him to be humble and down-to-earth and honed his skills to such an extent that, he is well on the lines to become the greatest of his trade. He never wanted to be the numero uno, he just wanted to be called a good professional and a good human by his peers as well as the people. Had it not been for his self-belief, zest and hardwork and most of all a mild hope that he will make it one day, he would never have been in the position he is now. A big salute to you Vikram, you deserve what you are today. Thandhuvitten ennai, Meera, Housefull, Ullaasam etc are mere blotches in your glorious career now and from the bottom of my heart am wishing you to deliver much more character oriented roles like Sethu (oh!!! what a wait man, you are really very patient) and Pithamagan with aplomb and bring many more laurels to the tamil tinsel world.

His story is quite similar. Though he started his career almost in the same period as A.R. Rehman (they both attended the same music classes too), recognition in industry came much much later. He had given those memorable melodies like ‘malarae mounama, udayaadha vennila, oru sedhi paarthaal, nee kaatru’ etc. Yet most of his films in the 90’s bombed and it seemed his career was on the slump. Yet he kept himself busy like Vikram by concentrating on the Malayalam film industry and taking home few state awards. In Tamil it was always a roller coaster ride, with his films always had good musical composition in it. Irrespective of all these facts, his perseverance and consistent good work paid off. It was a mere coincidence that it happened to be a Vikram film along with the comeback director Dharani and Dhil proved to be a turning point. Though he was versatile in his composition from beat numbers to rock and folk, I like him for his melodies. Though am a great fan of ARR, I believed this guy deserved an almost similar appraisal. His Run number ‘Poi Solla koodadhu kaadhali’ is a master piece and ‘kaadhal vandhaal solli anuppu’ is an awesome rendition. The latter’s music was composed after the lyrics had been written by vairamuthu. He still composes music for some of his songs the same way. It shows the talent in him. For him life is like music and he breathes it in his every aspect of life. May he treat us long by composing many more hummable songs.

Its ironical that inherent talent alone never pays off in a field one want to excel. Nothing succeeds like success. Diligence, Perseverance and most of all Patience is a requisite for success. These men were written off by many during those early days. Yet they had their hopes firm. Though fame came very late, they never lost it. Their hopes thrived, it made them stronger, smarter and brighter and most of all made them what they are today with humility and affability. Whenever I felt like lost and that I haven’t got my dues, I look at them. They are living role models and a source of inspiration. May they inspire the lives of fellow country men and give something back to the nation.