Nonagenarian V.Janaki and Octogenarian N.Rajamani continue to cherish their childhood in Singanallur. Coimbatore had a number of movie studios once upon a time and they included Kandhan Studio, Premier Cinetone, Central Studios and Pakshiraja Studios. These studios had provided employment and opportunity to a number of Coimbatoreans. The studio owners in Chennai would not allow outsiders to make movies with the aid of their infrastructure and therefore producers used to gather themselves to Kolkatta or Mumbai in order to make their movies. The studios of Coimbatore were a welcome break and therefore a number of cinepreneurs made many historic blockbusters in the textile city.
Nonagenarian V.Janaki and Octogenarian N.Rajamani continue to cherish their childhood in Singanallur. Coimbatore had a number of movie studios once upon a time and they included Kandhan Studio, Premier Cinetone, Central Studios and Pakshiraja Studios. These studios had provided employment and opportunity to a number of Coimbatoreans. The studio owners in Chennai would not allow outsiders to make movies with the aid of their infrastructure and therefore producers used to gather themselves to Kolkatta or Mumbai in order to make their movies. The studios of Coimbatore were a welcome break and therefore a number of cinepreneurs made many historic blockbusters in the textile city.
The singing sisters Janaki and Rajamani had really enjoyed growing up in this ' dream atmosphere '. Their father Papaiyya Naidu was a policeman and mother Muniamma had been an enterprising lady who had indulged in a number of activities for the purpose of augmenting the income of the family. She used to manage a few cows and sell milk during the ' Police ' days of her husband. Muniamma had installed the icon of Muniappaswamy at the Police Quarters long ago. The couple had been blessed with five sons and five daughters who were born in two year intervals. Famous Cinematographer P.Ramaswamy was their son and he had cut his teeth at the Central Studios.
V.Janaki lives in Coimbatore and she narrated stories connected with life in the neighbourhood of Central Studios along with her younger sibling Coimbatorean Rajamani, "I remember watching the dramas of Nawab Rajamanickkam and silent movies those days. It was a nice experience in Variety Hall. I used to sing well from my childhood. My father used to earn Rs.22 per month and we moved around Coimbatore for some years before settling down in the vicinity of Trichy Road in our own house. My enterprising mother used to handle a horse drawn cart all by herself. I remember seeing a number of freedom fighters those days and the four sons of my aunt - Guruswamy, Rangaswamy, Ranganathan and Boo Boo Ramaswamy went to jail for having been part of the freedom struggle. My father was on the look out for a job because he had retired from service and he was employed as the security person at Central Studios by S.M.Sriramulu Naidu. Thanks to the support of B.Rangaswamy Naidu of Rajalakshmi Mills, it was possible to get a house for a monthly rent of Rs.3 at the mill lines. The houses were available for a monthly rent of Rs.7 , Rs.5 and Rs.2 also. My brother P. Ramaswamy was employed as an assistant initially. He became an assistant cameraman and later on donned the mantle as a leading cameraman."
Enterprising Muniamma was permitted to set up a ' Petty Shop ' in the studio premises and she was known in Telugu as ' Pettangadiamma '. The studio had an in house mess which was fondly known as ' Pillaival Mess '. "Mother had a flourishing business in her shop. She used to sell beedis, cigarettes, match boxes, tobacco, snuff, kadalai urundai, betelnut leaves, betelnuts, bananas kind of items. All the leading actors and movie people were her customers. I am just recalling a few names now - R.Balasubramaniam, T.S.Baliah, T.R.Mahalingam D.Balasubramaniam, MGR, Thangavelu, Pulimoottai Ramaswamy, Karunanidhi, S.A.Natarajan, V.N.Janaki, P.U.Chinnappa, T.R.Rajakumari, A.P.Nagarajan, Sivaji, M.R.Radha, Kannadasan, M.S.Viswanathan etc., I remember eating kolaputtu in the mess while C.N.Annadurai was having his tiffin once. Pillaival had two golden teeth in the front," stated V.Janaki, the elder of the two sisters.
The younger sister N.Rajamani remembers the construction of the huge bungalow belonging to the owner of Central Studios B.Rangaswamy Naidu. "Huge drums used to contain the egg yellow and white separately and it was used for the building. Hundreds of mill workers took part in the task. It was a marvelous project those days. BR Bungalow has been the biggest in Coimbatore for a long time now."
The sisters were lovers of music and used to movie hop regularly, "We used to go and wait at the Koniamman Temple with our ' kattu soru ' ( packed food ) and wait for the movie shows to begin at Carnatic Theatre. They remember watching 'Miss Malini' in Royal Theatre and 'Swarga Seema' at Light House. We had a gramophone at home and both of us used to sing along in order to practice the movie songs with the help of movie song book until we got it well. I was asked to dub for one of the parrots in ' Bhooloka Rambai ' and M.S.Subbulakshmi asked me be with her so that I could pursue singing. I have sung in a number of Congress Mahanadus. The kolus at the residence of B.Rangaswamy Naidu are evergreen in my mind. It used to be a pleasure to watch M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, K.B.Sundarambal, N.C.Vasanthagokilam sing on successive days and I used to sing in his house, have tiffin and run back home, " recalled N.Rajamani.
The sisters remember N.S.Krishnan, T.A.Madhuram and all her sisters for they had lived in the studio lines for sometime. " N.S.Krishnan was a very helpful person. He used to have a silver vetrilai set and kooja near him all the time. We used to go along with Madhuram's sister to the bungalow of G.D.Naidu, pluck flowers and bring them back home. Travelling with M.M.A. Chinnappa Thevar on a cart to Vellalore was ever interesting. A kutcheri was performed by N.C.Vasanthagokilam at the time of a wedding in the family of N.S.Krishnan in the studio. Make up man Shankar Rao and Directors like Nadkarni lived in the studio itself. R.Bhima Naidu ( father of B.Rangaswamy Naidu ) was a hard working person. There were more than 100 mill houses. We never missed a movie those days. Brother P.Ramaswamy used to bring the flowers from the sets after the ' movie weddings ' were shot. We used to share the flowers with all our neighbours. My brother did not want me to sing in the movies, " added N.Rajamani who was married to Nanjaiyan of Ganapathy Auto Service ( formerly Kulandaiammal Petrol Bunk ) on Trichy Road.
Janaki was married to G.K.Venkataswamy who had served as the Manager of Assembly Rooms in Ooty. He was a popular person and was a member of the Lawley Institute and the Ootacamund Cricket Club. Muniamma used to board the morning MCS bus, go to Ooty and drop off items like curds, kolammaavu, Indian veggies etc., at her daughter's residence and board the bus in order to be home by night ! The marriages had taken place in the Rajalakshmi Mill quarters itself. They remember the pedal harmonium that was used by the music director S.M.Subbiah Naidu. " The majestic statue of A.T.Thiruvengaswami Mudaliar used to be near the clock tower those days. We used to pass the statue while visiting the town. We moved with Kumudhini, K.L.V. Vasantha, Gnanam , U.R. Jeevaratham and others during our halcyon days. Brother P.Ramaswamy was protective and he made sure that we did not enter the movie world. Even now, I sing and hoist our National Flag on every independence day, " smiled V.Janaki.
" The great MGR used to love the Sandhigai and thengapal made my mother. He used to send a car to pick it up from our brother's house in Chennai. We have been to the residence of Sivaji Ganesan and also seen a movie shoot of Sivaji along with Padmini at Neptune Studios. Watched our brother P.Ramaswamy on the camera on a number of occasions, " recalled both the sisters.
The younger sister N.Rajamani rendered the song ' Kaatrinile Varum Geetham ' by M.S.Subbulakshmi and a song from the movie ' Nandanar ' effortlessly. Anyone who meets the two of them are sure to get enthralled. The movie songs have been an elixir for them. They believed in hosting people at home on a regular basis. " We used to have the water on the boil in the wood fired stove at home .No sooner we see a guest entering, we would put rice into it so that we serve a hot meal, " said V.Janaki.
V.Jayakumar, the son of V.Janaki recalled the happy childhood and his family, " We used to spend our half yearly holidays in Chennai, quarterly in Coimbatore and annual holidays at Ooty. All of us were close to each other. This was possible because of my mother and aunt."
The sisters , V.Janaki and N.Rajamani represent the good natured women of the Coimbatore region which has always been known for hospitality, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. The life at Central Studios and its environs belong to a ' Silver Era ' when Coimbatore was a major movie producing centre in India.