C. R. Subbaraman
| C. R. Subbaraman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Born | 18 May 1924 |
| Origin | Chintamani, Thirunelveli, Madras Presidency, British India |
| Died | 27 June 1952 (aged 28) Chennai, Madras State, India. |
| Occupation(s) | Film score composer, Music Director, Film Producer |
| Instruments | keyboard/harmonium/piano |
| Years active | 1943 to 1952 |
| Notable instruments | |
| Harmonium | |
C. R. Subbaraman also known as C. S. Ram (1910–1952) was a famous South Indian film music composer and producer. He was born to Ramasamy at Chintamani village in Thirunelveli, in present-day Tamil Nadu. Music director Shankar of Shankar Ganesh duo is his younger brother. His ancestors were from the Krishna district of present day Andhra Pradesh and due to this, his family spoke Telugu well.
During his short lifespan of about 42 years and cinema life of 10 years, he made lasting fame with films like Devadas, Ratnamala, Chenchu Lakshmi, Balaraju, Laila Majnu and others.
Little is known about the music teachers of Subbaraman. Initially he had learned music from a Nadhaswaram player in Kumbakonam. He was a remarkable learner where whatever that he practised during the morning, could be able to delivered in the evening. He was well versed in harmonium at the age of 14.
At the age of 16 under the recommendation of G. Ramanathan's brother Sundara Bagavathar, Subbaraman joined the HMV as Harmonist. HMV is a gramophone production and distribution company, under which there was a permanent orchestra led by R. Chinnaiah. S. Rajeswara Rao also was with HMV. At that time, Ramasamy Iyer and Subbaraman were residing in Mylapore. Accompanied by his father, he would walk all the way to learn piano from a piano teacher in Triplicane (Thiruvallikkeni). Owing to his talent and passion towards music, he became the assistant music director in HMV very quickly.
Subbaraman would sing keerthanas in the nights after work. He would be accompanied by a young violinist who had been a temporary worker in HMV. Sensing the talent, Subbaraman had not only recommended the young chap to be hired permanently in HMV but also appointed him as his assistant. The talented young violinist was no other than T. K. Ramamoorthy.
When HMV was offered to compose music for cinema under the banner Tamil Nadu Talkies for the Telugu film Chenchu Lakshmi (1943), R. Chinnaiah had the opportunity as the music director.
When R. Chinnaiah suddenly fell ill after completion of 1 or 2 songs the task was taken up by S. Rajeswara Rao. Due to some unavoidable reasons Rajeswara Rao was not able to complete the songs and the chance rolled over to Subbaraman. Subbaraman completed the rest of the songs with the assistance of Samudrala Raghavacharya. He had boldly introduced some changes in the music field of those days by introducing Latin American music along with carnatic music and won accolades of the viewers. Chenchu Lakshmi was a success which hoisted Subbaraman as a music director for cinema.
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