Veturi Sundararama Murthy - Personality and Style

Personality and Style

Veturi had great respect for his seniors. He was quoted as saying:

గతమంతా శ్రుతం నాది, ప్రస్తుతానికి అది పునాది
gatamantaa Srutam naadi, prastutaaniki adi punaadi

which translates to "I heard (and learned) a lot of things from great people in the past, and I use them as my present base". He had great respect for the lyricist Acharya Atreya, whom he considered his mentor and guru. In an interview with Gemini Television he said, "Atreya is a much greater lyricist than me. You may find beauty of words and phrases in my lyrics, but Atreya's lyrics have 'life' in them. And this comes only from real experiences and Atreya had much more 'life experience' than me. He was more passionate about tradition and Telugu literature". His relation with veteran composer Ilayaraja is described in his book komma kommakO sannaayi (Telugu: కొమ్మ కొమ్మకో సన్నాయి).

Veturi had a unique style, which only a few have been able to emulate. His style was romantic, imbued with deep emotions.

His turns of phrase are sometimes as delightful as mystifying. To quote an example:

గసగసాల కౌగిలింత gasagasala kougilinta

which literally means "embrace of the poppy seeds". However, it is more meaningful as "your hug is as intoxicating as opium". Later in an article written by Sekhar Kammula on his relation with Veturi, revealed that those above lines were a prayogam (experiment), he used words "sagam sagam" and reversed them to "gasam gasam" together became "gasagasala" that was his brilliance in word play .

He conveys the most inexplicable feelings in simple words. To quote an example, from the film Saptapadi:

అనగల రాగమై తొలుత వీనులలరించి అనలేని రాగమై మరలా వినిపించి anagala raagamai toluta veenulalarinchi, analEni raagamai maralaa vinipinchi

which translates to " pleased my ears once as a hummable tune, later it resounded in my heart as an inexpressible feeling".

His knowledge in classical Telugu poetry is evident from the figures of speech (alankaaraalu). Here are three verses from the same song as above:

అచ్చెరువున అచ్చెరువున విచ్చిన కన్నుల చూడ accheruvuna accheruvuna vicchina kannula chUDa

( in the Lake, watched in wonder),

ఆబాలగోపాలం ఆబాల గోపాలుని aabaala gopaalam aabaalagopaaluni

(everyone young Krishna),

ఆ రాధ ఆరాధనాగీతి పలికించి aa raadha aaradhanaageeti palikinchi

(Radha sang a song of admiration). In the above song, it can be observed that the same word is juxtaposed with different meanings. This is a figure of speech in Telugu known as yamakam (Telugu: యమకం)).

He was known to use a lot of classical objects in fresh similes. Objects like ponnacheTTu (Telugu: పొన్నచెట్టు), tyaagaraaja keertana (Telugu: త్యాగరాజ కీర్తన) (Tyagaraja's song), Rutuvulu (seasons), raagaalu (raaga-s) have all been used extensively in his songs. One such song from the film Sundarakanda uses all the grammatical rules of Telugu in a romantic conversation between lovers. To quote an example:

మత్తుగా మల్లెలు అత్తరు చిందే వేళ చంపకమాలలు సొంపులకిస్తావా, నీ లయలు హృదయమున యమునలైన సమయమున mattuga mallelu attaru chindE vELa champakamaalalu sompulakistaavaa, nee layalu hRdayamuna yamunalaina samayamuna

Such songs stand as proof of his knowledge in various subjects.

His imagination ranges from highly creative similes like

భూదారిలో నీలాంబరి, మా సీమకే చీనాంబరి bhoodaarilO neelaambari, maa seemakE cheenaambari

to rather base comparisons like

ముడి తీస్తే మూపురం, పరువాల గోపురం muDi teestE moopuram, paruvaala gopuram

His prowess has been proved a number of times, when it came particularly to writing lyrics like those found in SankaraabharaNam (Telugu: శంకరాభరణం).

To quote a few examples from SankaraabharaNam (Telugu: శంకరాభరణం) where he expresses the mind of a devotee singing in rain:

మెరిసే మెరుపులు మురిసే పెదవుల చిరు చిరు నవ్వులు కాబోలు, ఉరిమే ఉరుములు సరి సరి నటనల సిరి సిరి మువ్వలు కాబోలు పరవశాన శిరసూగంగా ధరకు జారెనా శివగంగ నా గానలహరి నువు మునుగంగ, ఆనందవృష్టి నే తడవంగ! merise merupulu murise pedavula chiru chiru navvulu kaabOlu, urime urumulu sari sari natanala siri siri muvvalu kaabOlu paravaSaana SirasUgangaa dharaku jaarenaa Sivaganga naa gaanalahari nuvu munuganga, aanandavRshTi nE taDavanga!

which translates to:

"Oh Lord Shiva, perhaps these lightnings are your smiles, and these thunderbolts are the anklets that ring while you dance. As you dance with pleasure and your head bobs, the Ganga seems to be falling to the earth, as you are drenched in the waves of my singing and I in the rain of eventual joy!" (Notice also the yamakam with the word ganga.)

To describe the parting words of a mother (who knows that she would live only for a few days) with her children:

అనుబంధమంటేనే అప్పులే కరిగే బంధాలన్ని మబ్బులే, హేమంత రాగాల చేమంతులే వాడిపోయే, తన రంగు మార్చింది తనతో రాలేనంది పాశమే anubandhamanTEnE appulE karigE bandhaalanni mabbulE, hEmanta raagaala chEmantulE vaaDi pOyE, tana rangu maarchindi raktamE tanatO raalEnandi paaSamE

which translates to:

"Relations are just debts, all these relations will melt like clouds, all those beautiful flowers of spring colors will vanish some day, your nature was changed by relation, yet it would not follow you after a point". This touches the essence of Bhagavad Gita in simple words.

He described Lord Krishna in many songs. To quote one such song:

చందన చర్చిత నీల దేహ గగనాల సొగసుకు గొబ్బిళ్ళో, ఉసురు గాలులను వెదురు పాటలుగా పలుకు వేణువుకు గొబ్బిళ్ళో, ఏటి మీద యెన్నెల్లో, ఎన్నెలంటి కన్నెల్లో, కన్నె కంటి సన్నల్లో, సన్నజాజీ గిన్నెల్లో, వేదమంతా వెన్నలాగా కరిగేవేళల్లో, ఏ గీత మాకిస్తావో ఎవ్వరి గీత మారుస్తావో ఆరారే chandana charchita neela dEha gaganaalasogasuku gobbiLLO, usuru gaalulanu veduru paataluga paluku vENuvuku gobbiLLO, yETi meeda yennellO, yennelanTi kannellO, kanneganTi sannallO sannajaaji ginnellO, vEdamantaa vennalaagaa karigEvELallO, yE geeta maakistaavO yevvari geeta maarustaavO aaraarE

which translates to: "We dance on seeing the sky-colored body scented with sandal, we dance for the Divine Flute which converts purposeless breezes (also means the breezes of life) into melodious music of your flute (meaningful lives). When moonlight reflects on the water of Yamuna, among the gOpikas who dominate the moonlight, within the sight of gOpikas, in the bushes of jasmines; When vEdas melts like the creamy butter, only you can decide which lines to change, and which lines (Gita) to teach (Bhagavad Gita)"

He uses prAsa(Telugu: ప్రాస) (rhymes) to a very good extent. Despite that, he keeps the feel of the song simple and clear. An example among the many thousands that he wrote includes this:

నరుడి బ్రతుకు నటన, ఈశ్వరుడి తలపు ఘటన, ఆ రెంటి నట్టనడుమ నీకెందుకింత తపన naruDi bratuku naTana, eeSwaruDi talapu ghaTana, aA renTi naTTanaDuma neekendukinta tapana

which translates to "Man's life is but an act, God's thought is the action. Knowing this, why do you get so anxious?"

He is known for his experiments in writing lyrics. One such example is using a rule from Telugu prosody or Chandassu(Telugu: ఛందస్సు) for the spell of a demon in his song (from Geethanjali):

ఓ బాలా, మసజసతతగ శార్దూలా O baalaa, masajasatataga Saarduulaa.

Sometimes, one needs very keen ears to understand his experiments. An example which many people probably would not know is:

కాస్తందుకో, దరఖాస్తందుకో, ప్రేమ దరఖాస్తందుకో kaastandukO, dharkhaastandukO, prema dhaarakhaastandukO

In this song, the beautiful alliteration is such that each word is a part of the next word. Yet, they have totally different meanings. None of them is out of context.

He is known for his naughty lyrics. His fans call him chilipi vETUri(Telugu: చిలిపి వేటూరి) for the same reason. A few examples include:

నగుమోము నగుమ nagumOmu naguma

(referring to actress Nagma in her movie).

గగన ఝగన gagana jhagana

which rhymes with traditional,

ఇందు వదన, కుంద రదన, మంద గమన, మధుర వచన, and సొగసు లలన indu vadana, kunda radana, manda gamana, madhura vachana, sogasu lalana

Sometimes, they are thinly veiled suggestive references too.

To quote an example:

కొండకోనల్లో మాటుగా ఎత్తుపల్లాలు తెలిసెలే konDakOnallO maaTugaa ettupallaalu teliselE

He uses creativity for all sorts of songs ranging from an obscene song (example follows)

ఆ అంటే అమలాపురం aa anTE Amalapuram

to a mundane duet (example follows)

పక్కా Gentleman ని, చుట్టాపక్కాలే లేనోణ్ణి pakka gentlemanni, chuTTapakkaalE lEnONNi

to a serious emotion (example follows)

తార తారకి నడుమ ఆకాశం ఎందుకో taara taaraki naDuma aakaaSam endukO

to devotional songs (example follows)

ఓం నమశ్శివాయ Om namaSSivaaya

Every word he uses has a well defined, concrete purpose.

Usually, the lead stanzas of his songs (pallavi) (Telugu: పల్లవి) are catchy and keep dancing on the listener's tongue. Many such verses/phrases are used quite frequently in even normal discussions (Example: abba nee tiyyanii debba) (Telugu: అబ్బ నీ తియ్యనీ దెబ్బ).