Madirimangalam Natesa Iyer was a well known singer who had trained under Tiruppayanam Panchapakesa Sastrigal (1866 - 1943), the Harikatha exponent and Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer, the eminent 'musician's musician' who was Guru to such greats as Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.
He accompanied Soolamangalam Vaidyanatha Bagavatar in Concerts - Source Jagadguru Divya Charitram - Maha Periyaval Biography
Natesa Iyer also holds the honour of acting as Tyagaraja in the first talking film made on the composer's life in the 1930s.
Movies in which Natesa Iyer played a major role include: Sri Thyagaraja 1937, Bharat Kesari - 1939, Valibar Sangam 1938 and Desamunnetram 1938.
In this video - The Janaki Ramana song set to Ragam Sudda Seemantini composed by Thyagaraja Swami.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=NG&feat ... aD2tnXJBVU
Madirimangalam Natesa Iyer
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classicallover
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Re: Madirimangalam Natesa Iyer
Shri Natesa Iyer was adamantly forced to act in the other films in 1938 by the producers after watching his film " Thyagaraja ". He may have acted in a few more films if he did not die childless in 1940 ( not 1943 ). He was born in 1988.
For the film Thyagaraja, Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer, Mayavaram VV Krishna Iyer and Natesa Iyer were on the short list for playing the lead role. Vishwanatha Iyer was not taken because of his excessive body language and lack of facial expression while Krishna Iyer was disqualified due to his stout physique.
The salient features of Natesa Iyer's singing which were the basis for his selection were : Strong unwavering voice of consistent recordable frequency at high pitch, commensurate expressions & lack of body language, ability to sing the kritis short & sweet with the complete essence of bhava . Even if he was sitting in the midst of twenty people, it was not possible to make out who was singing. All the brighas, rava & gamakas were sung very effortlessly with absolutely stiff body - such was his flexible but strong ringing voice.
In fact, Semmangudi went to Natesa Iyer very frequently to learn to sing the alapana, kriti, neraval & swaram, all at one go in under three minutes for making the short gramophone records in those days. Semmangudi went to Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer at the fag end of his life and was told to look upon Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer & Natesa Iyer as his gurus.
Natesa Iyer used to sing in the background for all the harikathas while Panchapakesa Sastrigal & Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar rendered the story telling. Natesa Iyer was the crowd puller for the harikathas and if he was absent, the crowd would reduce to less than half. The harikatha exponents would always engage two background singers of which Natesa Iyer was mandatory. The other two were Kunju Bhagavatar and Nemam Vishwanatha Iyer who were left high & dry without any source of income after the demise of Panckapakesa Sastrigal. They were ekeing out their livelihood by taking tutions. Then, TP Kalyanarama Sastri, son of Panchapakesa Sastrigal and advocate by profession, came to their rescue. He produced the film Usha Parinayam in which Natesa Iyer was given the role of Parvata Rishi & Nemam Vishwanatha Iyerr acted as Narada. This was the maiden film for both TP Kalyanarama Sastri and Madirimangalam Natesa Iyer. "Thyagaraja" film came later.
Natesa Iyer's eldest sister's grandsons were TS Balakrishna Sastrigal and TS Valleesan while the third elder sister's grandson was Tanjavur S Kalyanaraman. GNB was also a nephew of Natesa Iyer who was originally from Gudalur but later settled in Madirimangalam.
For the film Thyagaraja, Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer, Mayavaram VV Krishna Iyer and Natesa Iyer were on the short list for playing the lead role. Vishwanatha Iyer was not taken because of his excessive body language and lack of facial expression while Krishna Iyer was disqualified due to his stout physique.
The salient features of Natesa Iyer's singing which were the basis for his selection were : Strong unwavering voice of consistent recordable frequency at high pitch, commensurate expressions & lack of body language, ability to sing the kritis short & sweet with the complete essence of bhava . Even if he was sitting in the midst of twenty people, it was not possible to make out who was singing. All the brighas, rava & gamakas were sung very effortlessly with absolutely stiff body - such was his flexible but strong ringing voice.
In fact, Semmangudi went to Natesa Iyer very frequently to learn to sing the alapana, kriti, neraval & swaram, all at one go in under three minutes for making the short gramophone records in those days. Semmangudi went to Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer at the fag end of his life and was told to look upon Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer & Natesa Iyer as his gurus.
Natesa Iyer used to sing in the background for all the harikathas while Panchapakesa Sastrigal & Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar rendered the story telling. Natesa Iyer was the crowd puller for the harikathas and if he was absent, the crowd would reduce to less than half. The harikatha exponents would always engage two background singers of which Natesa Iyer was mandatory. The other two were Kunju Bhagavatar and Nemam Vishwanatha Iyer who were left high & dry without any source of income after the demise of Panckapakesa Sastrigal. They were ekeing out their livelihood by taking tutions. Then, TP Kalyanarama Sastri, son of Panchapakesa Sastrigal and advocate by profession, came to their rescue. He produced the film Usha Parinayam in which Natesa Iyer was given the role of Parvata Rishi & Nemam Vishwanatha Iyerr acted as Narada. This was the maiden film for both TP Kalyanarama Sastri and Madirimangalam Natesa Iyer. "Thyagaraja" film came later.
Natesa Iyer's eldest sister's grandsons were TS Balakrishna Sastrigal and TS Valleesan while the third elder sister's grandson was Tanjavur S Kalyanaraman. GNB was also a nephew of Natesa Iyer who was originally from Gudalur but later settled in Madirimangalam.