By Somasiri Munasinghe
With excerpts from my 2006 interview with the singer in Toronto
It is with a heavy heart we share the sad news of Sri Lankan pop icon Dr. A.E. Manoharan’s demise at the age of 73 in Chennai.
I had the rare privilege of interviewing the multi-talented star while he was in Toronto in 2006 on an invitation of the Canadian Tamil Chamber of Commerce to honour his 40 years of services to arts.
In a most candid chat Manoharan spoke of his life, his achievements, his heartaches and his inspirations in his career of 40 years up to 2006.
Singer, film and stage actor and the veteran broadcaster was also honoured by a honorary doctorate by Jaffna University to recognize his services to arts.
He mentioned his father, school principal Emmanuel Pillai Manoharan, as the greatest inspiration of his life.
“My father who is my greatest inspiration believed in peaceful co-existence and set some unique examples. While he was working as the principal of Bogawantalawa Maha Vidyalaya where I was born, he learnt Sinhala and Pali from Buddhist priests and taught them Tamil to return the favour”
Unfortunately, Sri Lankan cinema did not benefit from his fine acting skills. He was a recognized actor in South India with a record of acting around 260 films playing various characters, acting along in films starred by mega stars like Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan, Chirnanjeevi, Raj Kumar, Mammootty, late Prem Nasir and NT Rama Rao.
“My father was one of those old-style, tough Jaffna principals obsessed with discipline and giving a good education to children. He also believed in peaceful co-existence with other ethnic and religious communities and set some unique examples. While he was working as the principal of Bogawantalawa Maha Vidyalaya where I was born, he learnt Sinhala and Pali from Buddhist priests and taught them Tamil to return the favour,” added the singer who also appeared in a musical show while in Toronto in 2006.
From his very young age Manoharan displayed a rare talent for singing. He sang at the church choir while his father played the organ and his mother leading the choir.
Manoharan said his main inspiration in his music career was his Nawalapitiya schoolmate and singer C.T. Fernando. “I liked to hear CT on radio and stage and I was proud of him. He was few years senior to me in school. I decided that I should become a singer like him one day.”
On his way to achieve this aim he found that he possessed many other talents than singing. In the 60s while studying at Jaffna St. John’s College he got his first acting break. He was cast in a college drama called Idai Ossai. Film director Joe Dev Anand had been in the audience. After seeing Manoharan’s budding acting skills Joe invited him to act in his film Pasa Nilla which film critics rate as one of the best Tamil films made in Sri Lanka. After that he played a main role in another landmark Tamil movie called Vaddai Kattu.
After seeing Manoharan’s budding acting skills a film director Joe Dev Anand invited him to act in his film which critics rate as one of the best Tamil films made in Sri Lanka
In the mid-60s Manoharan entered St Joseph’s University in Trichi, South India, to study literature and had few unsuccessful attempts at acting in Tamil films. Back in Sri Lanka he tried to build a musical career but the first few years had been utterly frustrating because he had no right direction. He was frequently traveling to Colombo looking for singing opportunities. Once someone promised him to pay him Rs.15 to sing on stage but failed to pay.
When his father asked him how much money he earned by singing he borrowed Rs. 15 from his mother and showed as the money he earned from a stage show. In 1971 he was thrilled to earn Rs. 50 by singing at the St. Anthony’s Feast in Kotahena.”That was first time I earned money in my career,” said Manoharan.
In the meantime pressure was being exerted by his parents for him to get married. They found a girl through a proposal but he did not like her as she did not seem to respect his mother. His refusal to marry the girl angered his father who vowed never to look for girls for him again or to spend a cent on his marriage. Soon Manoharan found a prospective bride within his family circle. She was his mother’s brother’s daughter, Lima.
Reminiscing about how he began his married life as a broke singer, Manoharan said all he spent for his wedding was Rs. 130 which he earned from a musical show. He bought a ‘bale suit’ for Rs. 30 from the Maskeliya bazaar and spent some money for a ‘thali’ and got married on December 27, 1971 in the church. His father played the organ while his mother led the choir at the church wedding. At the end of the ceremony he had to borrow some money from a friend to take his bride home in a CTB bus. Despite these early hardships the marriage changed his life and he is blessed with four loving children, said the singer who was fondly known as Ceylon Manoharan in India.
In 1972 he found work as a producer in the drama section of the Radio Ceylon and decided to live in Colombo. Soon he was in high demand for stage shows and his Sinhala and Tamil pop hits became a rage. Manoharan described the 70s as the Golden Age of Sri Lankan music. “There was an explosion of local talent and the music industry, which was controlled by a few singers, threw open its doors to embrace new talent.” Manoharan was a contributor to this new awakening and also reaped benefits of the music revolution.
He is thankful to Gerald Wickramasooriya who owned Sooriya record label for his encouragement and decision to allow him to sing his most well-known hit Suranganie. Wickramsooriya owned the copyright for this Wally Bastian’s song. Cooranjaneetha Thurannai, one of his originals which he sang in Sinhala and Tamil also mentioning his wife’s name Lima, Kajatheepan, a number he sang as a tribute to northern city of Jaffna where he got his acting break and from where his family originated and Kanda Suriduni, the Tamil version of Sinhala song honouring God of Kataragama which he sang with heavy Tamil native musical influences remain some of his greatest hits.
Suranganie is the biggest hit in his career
With its catchy tune and Manoharan’s impromptu lyrics Suranganie became a evergreen party song in Sri Lanka and India and he sang the number in many Indian languages like Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam.
In 1990 Manoharan sang on stage in London in Sinhala, Tamil and English. His prolific, rich voice and mastery of three languages widely spoken in Sri Lanka attracted the attention of a BBC top brass who happened to be at the show. He met Manoharan at the end of the show and offered him a job in the Tamil service of the BBC. He served at the BBC until his father’s death in 1993.
Asked why he quit such a prestigious job, the singer said what he wanted was not money. “I wanted to act and sing and use the full potential of my God-given talent. And if I get little money to survive that way I will be the happiest person in the world.”
He credits his impeccable knowledge of Sinhala as one reason for his success. When he went for an audition to act in a Telugu film he was given a dialogue to read. He had never spoken or learnt Telugu and he asked someone to read the dialogues to him. Manoharn wrote them in Sinhala and memorized them and got the part.
“Sinhala is a dictionary of sounds with ability to write any imaginable sound under the sun,” he said adding that this versatility of the Sinhala language had been a considerable help in his career.
Asked whether he had any future plans at the time, the singer said “No. God has been kind enough to grant me what I deserve. I have always taken one day at a time and there will be no change to this attitude in my life.”
I did not have a chance to meet or speak to him again. He was not a great fan of social media and I did not know much about his movements except that he was still acting in South Indian films, in addition to appearing on stage in Sri Lanka, India and many other countries.
According to his family members, the cremation is to take place today, 24th January, in Chennai.
Rest in Peace maestro. There won’t be anyone like you again!
(This is partly based on an article I wrote to Sri Lanka Reporter’s March issue in 2006)
