An all-time favourite

Saturday, 17 March 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Why is the song ‘Master Sir’ continuing to be so popular? When I noticed that the rendition by Bathiya and Santush at a concert (now on YouTube) has recorded 1,103,654 views, I began to wonder how a song first heard in the mid-1970s can continue to attract so many listeners.

The song is from the film ‘Kalu Diya Dahara’ directed by Manik Sandrasagara, revolving round estate life where the workers were getting a raw deal.

I recalled seeing the film at the Majestic, Bambalapitiya and enjoying the maiden performance of Ravindra Randeniya playing opposite Indira Jonklass, who, I just read, is back in Sri Lanka. Ravindra has had training as a stage actor but this was the first time he was picked to act in a film. It was obviously a lucky start for him considering his meteoric rise since then.

While the film was being talked about, the music score by Nimal Mendis drew everyone’s attention with ‘Master Sir’ scoring high marks. The words were simple and meaningful, the theme was one which drew everyone’s sympathy towards the estate workers, and the tune was catchy.

Sung by Neville Fernando of Los Cabellero’s fame with much feeling, listeners quickly picked up the tune and words. Veteran lyricist Karunaratne Abeysekera had done a fine job in translating the original English song written by Nimal M.

Though the song begins with the words ‘Panam aten mata vedikara dunna – Hekivunath bath mitak daruvata kavanna’ about the pittance of a wage increase which was just enough to feed a handful of rice, the plea by the estate worker comes in the subsequent words: ‘Master sir mata himithena denavado – Ane sir anukampa nosithedo’ about the dignity of the employee asking the master to give him his due place.

In an interview given to the ‘Silumina’ a few years back, Nimal M spoke about how he was prompted to write the song.

Having spent a good part of his life in England, he had noticed the colour bar in that era decades back. After coming back to Sri Lanka he decided to buy a block of land around Norton Bridge and start a farm. There he saw how the labourers in the nearby tea estates were being treated. Not much has changed from what he had experienced. That was how he wrote ‘Master Sir’ where the employee told the master ‘There is a long, long way for us to go’ and questioned as to when the tug-of-war would end.

The English song written by Nimal M was sung by himself with Sandra Edma. He had mentioned in the interview referred to earlier that he thought a female voice should be added to the Sinhala version too. Neela Wickremasinghe, who was just 16 years old, was chosen. She remembers recording the song at the GFU studio in July 1973.

After Neville Fernando’s death, it was Neela who kept on entertaining the audiences by the song at concerts. In fact, her own single person concert she held not so long ago, was titled ‘Master Sir’.

I was quite surprised to hear De Lanerolle Brothers singing ‘Master Sir’ in one of their concerts in Colombo. It was quite an inspiring rendition.

The song can be presented in either in a slow or fast beat. The fast beat helps to excite the crowd when sung before a large audience and get their participation too. This is exactly what B&S troupe does. They are so listener-friendly and clever in attracting the crowds to respond to them.