Remembering Tamil cinema legend MGR on his 104th birth anniversary
American filmmaker, Ellis R. Dungan (Ponmudi), known for his work in Tamil language films between 1936 and 1950 and widely credited for revolutionising Indian cinema by applying western innovations, introduced a 19-year-old actor Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran as the male lead of his feature film directorial debut “Sathi Leelavathi” in 1936. The actor, referred to by his moniker M.G.R., eventually went on to become one of the most successful actors of Tamil cinema and followed it up with a stellar political career, ruling the state of Tamil Nadu as the Chief Minister from 1977 until his death in 1987.
Born in a poor Malayalam-speaking family in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1917, Ramachandran lost his father to illness when he was just two years old. Following his father’s demise, Ramachandran and his elder brother M. G. Chakrapani were taken to Chennai by their mother Sathyabhama. She worked as a housemaid and enrolled her children, who dropped out of school, as child actors in Boys Company drama troupe where Ramachandran honed his acting skills.
As a teenager, Ramachandran travelled to Rangoon, Myanmar with his theatre company and portrayed female roles in stage plays.
Following his feature film debut in “Sathi Leelavathi” in 1936, Ramachandran starred in a number of romantic dramas and action films. His first big breakthrough came in the form of 1950’s period-drama “Manthiri Kumari”, written by M. Karunanidhi (who later goes on to become Ramachandran’s main political rival) and directed by Ellis R. Dungan in his last Tamil film before the filmmaker moved back to the United States.
“Manthiri Kumari” propelled Ramachandran to stardom, gaining him more recognition among the masses and the actor followed that up with a slew of successful films like Malaikkallan (1954), Madurai Veeran (1956) and Mannadhi Mannan (1960).
The actor made his directorial debut with period-action-drama Nadodi Mannan (1958) that he also co-produced and starred in. It is said that Ramachandran faced financial hardship during the making of this film and was advised by many people including his close family members to shelve the production, however Ramachandran persisted with his plans and the film turned out to be an extremely successful venture grossing 1.1 crore Indian Rupees against its original budget of 18 lakhs Indian Rupees – over six times its production costs.
One of Ramachandran’s biggest supporters was Tamil producer Chinnappa Devar, who cast the actor in several films bankrolled by his production company Devar Films (Haathi Mere Saathi). Most Devar Films’ projects starring Ramachandran were very successful at the box office and increased the actor’s popularity not just in the state of Tamil Nadu but also across the Tamil diaspora in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. These films fetched Ramachandran the moniker “Puratchi Nadigar” (Revolutionary Actor) and catapulted the actor to the pinnacle of fame in his acting career.
Ramachandran was a devout Hindu in his early days and endorsed the Indian National Congress (INC) party until 1953. The actor, in his mid-thirties, joined the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party and drifted towards a rationalist ideology in line with the party’s principles of “rationalism, self-respect, social justice and equality”.
In 1967, Ramachandran was shot in his left ear by his colleague and actor M. R. Radha, known for his antagonist roles in Ramachandran’s films, during a discussion over a future film project. The actor survived the shooting after being treated at a hospital and going through a surgery, however the incident left him with hearing problems and a different voice for the rest of his life.
Ramachandran campaigned for the 1967 state legislative elections from his hospital bed and won his first election, amassing twice the number of votes polled by his rival candidate from the Indian Nation Congress party. The shooting incident is believed to have aroused a wave of sympathy for Ramachandran and his party DMK, which won the state legislative elections by a landslide, defeating the incumbent Indian Nation Congress party.
The actor was appointed as the Treasurer of the DMK party in 1969, however he developed differences with the new party leader and his colleague from the film industry M. Karunanidhi, leading to Ramachandran being expelled from DMK in 1972.
Ramachandran formed a new political outfit titled Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) and contested the 1977 state legislative elections which he won by a landslide and remained as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu until his death in 1987, a month before his 71st birthday, due to illness.
Although Ramachandran, the politician, was immensely popular among the masses for his social welfare initiatives, his administration was not without criticism. Political analysts say the state witnessed an increase in corruption, lackluster economic growth when compared to the national average, autocratic rule and stifling of press freedom during Ramachandran’s reign.
In 1988, Ramachandran was posthumously awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.
Fans and politicians still revere Ramachandran in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu where he is credited with the moniker “Puratchi Thalaivar” (Revolutionary Leader).
Read below some tributes to Ramachandran by politicians and actors on the occasion of his 104th birth anniversary on 17 January.