# V. V. Sadagopan

Veeravanallur Vedantam Sadagopan (born 29 January 1915, disappeared 11 April 1980, date of death unknown) was an Indian university rank-holder, ICS aspirant, film actor, music teacher, performer, and composer.

## Personal life

Born in Veeravanallur, a small town in Tirunelveli district, on 29 January 1915, Sadagopan, son of an insurance agent, Vedantam Iyengar, stood first in English, Maths, and Sanskrit in 1934 and came to Chennai to prepare for the Indian Civil Service examinations. His wife Ranganayaki Sadagopan used to accompany him on tanpura on occasion. The couple had 4 children. His sister Jayalakshmi Santhanam (1933-2018) was also a musician, known as Andhra's D K Pattammal, and a children's music teacher. His sister-in-law Ananthalakshmi Sadagopan (1928-2013), and her daughter Sujatha Vijayaraghavan and granddaughter Sumitra Nitin, are also noted musicians.

## Writer

In Chennai, Sadagopan became associated with Tamil writer V. Ramasamy, better known by his pen-name VaRaa, and entered journalism. He wrote for the popular weekly Tamil publication Ananda Vikatan.
He wrote in English and Tamil. Apart from articles on music, he wrote poetry, lyrics and even a number of stories in Tamil, that were published in Ananda Vikatan.

## Film actor

Sadagopan acted as the main actor in the Tamil film Nava Yuvan (Modern Youth) that had an alternate title Geethasaram (Essence of Gita). (It was customary for Tamil films at that time to have two names as titles). The film was shot in London. It is the first ever Tamil film to be shot in a foreign country and V. V. Sadagopan became the first to have acted in such a film. Sadagopan was also the first university graduate to have acted in Tamil films. The coronation ceremony of King George VI was also shown along with this film.
His second film Adhirstam (Luck) was released in 1939. Gemini Studios started their film production in the year 1941 and produced the Tamil film Madanakamarajan. K. L. V. Vasantha played the female lead while Sadagopan was the hero. The fourth film he acted was Venuganam released in 1941. The musician N. C. Vasanthakokilam acted in the lead role with Sadagopan. The fifth and final film he featured in was Jeevan Mukthi, a Telugu film produced by S. S. Vasan. He appeared as Lord Vishnu in the film. Afterwards, he decided not to continue the film career and went into the music field.

## Music performer

Sadagopan had his musical training under Namakkal Sesha Iyengar and Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar. He was both a musician and a musicologist. He delved into Vaishnavite literature and had given concerts comprising verses from the Kamba Ramayanam. He was a member of the audition panel of All India Radio (AIR) and also of the experts committee of the Madras Music Academy. He travelled all over India and abroad for his lecture-cum-music concerts. He represented Indian Music in the Centenary celebrations of the Moscow Conservatoire 1966.

## Music teacher

Teaching music to children was a subject important to Sadagopan, and he launched the Tyaga Bharathi, a movement to carry out his mission. The term Tyagabharathi was coined by him to epitomise the ideals of Saint Tyagaraja and Subramania Bharati.
When Soundaram Ramachandaran, a Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet, launched the Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI), she appointed Sadagopan as the Director of Music Studies.
When Nehru visited the institution in 1959, he got a chance to watch the Kuravanji dance-drama of Sadagopan. So impressed was Nehru with Sadagopan’s talents that he appointed him as Professor of Music in Delhi University. He continued in the job till 1975. He served two terms as professor at the University of Delhi. He was also a member of the board of studies in several universities.

## Religious contributions

Sadagopan, a Vaishnava, was deeply involved in religion, and has done extensive research on Naalayira Divya Prabhandham, a compilation of verses, and he mentored disciples who continued his research. Srirama Bharathi is one of his disciples with whom he brought out a book called Spirals and Circles that explains the concept of carnatic music and thought processes associated with it.
Srirama Bharathi continued the works of the guru. A trust called Sri Sadagopan Thirunarayanaswami Divya Prabhanda Patasala started in the singer's name. Srirama Bharathi and his wife Sowbhagyalakshmi propagated Thyaga Bharathi songs through the trust and went on to compose tunes for Nalayira Divya Prabhandam. After the death of her husband, Sowbhagyalakshmi continued the practice along with family and close associates. Targeting children, whom she felt would be the perfect audience, she began conducting summer camps in schools and composed songs for mentally-challenged children in special schools.

## Unique compositions

Sadagopan composed music in several languages.
His compositions include kritis, keerthanas, ragamaligais, padams, kili kanni and a series of Tirukkuṛaḷ keerthanais, wherein the Kural forms the Pallavi and is elaborated in the Anupallavi and Charanam.
He set to music for the famous "Gana Mazhai Pozhigindraan", a song from Ambujam Krishna's first volume.
He was the first to render a whole music concert of Kamba Ramayanam verses at the Karaikudi Kamban vizha. The music was set by him.
He also set to music several Pasurams of Divya Prabandham.
He composed several songs using the mudra (signature) Seshadasan.

## Disappearance

"He got off the train at Gudur in Andhra Pradesh on 11 April 1980, on his way from Delhi to Chennai. Afterwards there was no information about his whereabouts. His family still believes that he lives somewhere," said T.K. Venkatasubramanaian, retired Professor of History of the Delhi University.
Rumours of sighting him in Varanasi and in the Himalayas and consequent searches have yielded no results.

## Centenary remembrance

A birth centenary remembrance program was organised by Chandlian Memorial Trust and Lakshmi Kuppusamy Trust at Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore in Chennai on 8 February 2015.