Song: Then Sinthuthey Vaanam
Music: GK Venkatesh
Singer: SP Balasubrahmanyam, S Janaki
Lyricist: Kannadasan
Actors: Sivakumar, Jayachitra
Movie: Ponnuku Thanga Manasu
Veteran tabla player Kannaiah passed away this morning. He worked on many Tamil film songs and was associated with composer Ilaiyaraaja for over 40 years. The tabla portion in ‘Kanne Kalaimaane’ from Moondram Pirai was played by him.
One of his other evergreen songs was ‘Thaen Sinthuthey Vaanam’ from Ponnuku Thanga Manasu (1973), composed by GK Venkatesh. It begins with Kanniah’s solo and has tabla portions throughout. He said in an interview that GK Venkatesh, Kannadasan and the rest of the team waited for weeks for P Madhavan, the director, to call them for the songs. When they finally sat down to create music, the composition was spontaneous, and the song went on to become a big hit.