Originally Posted by S.Balaji
Murali Anna
We used to call PNS as Sundaram uncle & it came spontaneously to me :)
Another mind blowing coverage as usual ! thanks a lot for your sincere efforts to share with us . 6 pages ! Now the total pages have already crossed 20 !
Let me tell you emphatically that the future generation will benefit a lot by reading all your posts as they contain so many information , both on the political front ( covering the regional / national political scenario ) & also the events that happened in tamil cinema with the 2 giants of yesteryears.
Dear Balaji,
My posting of events was to tell people what exactly happened and when? Even yesterday in Dinmalar Vaaramalar, in the serial of MGR, it is mentioned that Nedu joined ADMK after Dindigul By- election in 1973. Though it may not be intentional, it will confuse people.
Wish to add my share of thoughts :
1.1976- the year is very significant for tamil film music as it signaled the grand arrival of another genius from Pannaipuram who rose to the level of Isaignyani / Raga devan , Maestro & ruled for 25 years !
2.I believe Paraa, much against the wishes of his partymen, gifted the Satyamurthy bhavan ( which is worth several crores ) to Congress
PaaRaa parted with Sathyamoorthy Bhavan in early 80's when he joined Congress(I).
3.What I could observe is that Makkal thilagam had made some many remake movies ! why ? Is it that he didn’t have good stories or he was very particular about successful movies & hence the winning formulae
Yes. He was concerned about hits and his sustenance as maas hero.
4.For Unnai vida maaten , I remember some ADMK education minister shouting loudly that our Thalaivar mudindhaal Srideviyudan nadipaar viraivil !! . I think its Raghavanandham ?
Possible because he was the person who wanted Defence(!) portfolio from MGR.
5.I remember the immediate Kumudham issue ( after the 77 elections which the congress lost ) …. Showing Indira doing some sculpturing work of India & some blood was coming out of her hands . …. A comment saying : Kavalai padaadheergal…… ungal muyarchi nichyam vetri adaiyum ( I am not able to reproduce the whole thing )…. I think Kumudham was a staunch Indira supporter . Am I right ?
Yes.Kumudam(or rather SAP) was a staunch supporter of Indira.
6.Chikmagalur election – yes I fondly remember this incident…. My uncles ( they were all staunch Indira loyalists ) rejoicing the resounding victory & it was a moral booster for Indira. Always South was supporting Indira. One reason could be that the negative side of emergency impacted North , while the positve sides like office discipline , no strikes etc benefited South. I also remember Veerendra Patil saying in a very sportive manner…. That this election is a friendly one only !
7.DMK always have been very strong in Chennai right from day 1….. I can say that chennai is DMK’s stronghold ….the grass roots have done many services to common man & a relationship built over a period of time….. Its surprising to note that ADMK won many seats this time !
I don't think it is service to common man but it was a relation built over a period of time. ADMK if it had stretched a little bit would have captured 3 more seats. (Harbour, Perambur & Thousand Lights).
8.Moopanar – NT relationship….. Awaiting your next phase for the events which led to the rift
9.Though the entire Janata party was against Indira, one man Charan singh was hell bent on arresting her & this only enhanced her fame & public were more sympathetic soon
10. 77 assembly elections - Mukaa stood in Anna nagar & HV Hande was his opponent from ADMK… I think Mukaa won by a slender margin ! pls correct if I am wrong ? He won by around 500 + margin only ? is it this election or the next one ?
It was in 1980.
11.For MGR – RMV , SDS , KAK , KKSSR , SSR , Aranganayagam , Raghavanandham, Banrutti Ramachandran, Nedu , Musiri Buthan , Sulochana Sampath were his favourites . Sulochana Sampath is still an ADMK loyalist !
12.Why you didn’t mention anything about RMV ? probably in the next phase after MGR was in Brooklyn , he played more significant role
If at all there was one person who gained from MGR without losing or sacrificing for the party it was RMV. This old kanakku pillai ADMK-virku oru thrumbai kooda asaikkavillai. When KAK and SDS lost so much money during DMK rule in 72-76, by publishing Thennagam and Anna respectively, this man infact was the only person who monetarily gained by producing Idhyakani. He did not even join ADMK in 1972. He didn't contest elections but still became minister by being an MLC.
13. I still remember the day when MGR appeared in Mount road , after the victory in 77 , huge crowds throng to see their mass hero in his customary cooling glasses with his famous fur cap … I think the venue was very close to the statue of Mukaa in MtRoad……
You are correct. Crowds came all over from TN to Chennai.
14. When All India radio announced the news of Ray bareili debacle ….
Srimathi Indira Gandhi , avarudan pottiyitta Thiru Rajnarayananai vida 49,000 vakkugal vidhyashathil THOLVI ADAINDHAAR. We were shell shocked to hear this … remember , Radio was still ruling despite the arrival of Doordharshan
Only chennai had DD at that time. AIR was ruling.
15.Chennai Dhoordharshan , for the first time covered election results ! I think Sashikumar ( who later started Asianet ) covered the scenario along with Shobana Ravi !
16.One man who dared to oppose MGR was Madurai Muthu …who later moved to ADMK !
17. Ennai Pol oruvan – True, probably the one movie which took the longest time to complete ! but the songs were released long back : Thangangale naalai thalaivargale , Velale vizigal ingu naal thorum isaikkum were super hits & unfortunately by the time the movie was released the songs lost their freshness
18.General Chakravarthy - I thought the movie was not that successful because we used to compare with Thanga padhakkam & for NT fans, it was disappointing to see the same pair of NT- KRV , not with the same impact . Kavitha was the daughter I think
19.Thacholi ambu was a hit movie in Kerala . You are right . I recollect NT & Prem nazir appearing in typical traditional kerala style hair dressing
20.I heard that but for Nedumaran , Indira would have lost her life that day when she was brutally attacked in TN… Sad that later Nedumaran came out of Congress & his ideals also diluted a lot
Yes.The sad part is Nedumaran a strong nationalist groomed by PT (though he started his life in DMK) went astray.
21.The talk of Chennai was that Isari Velan won that assembly election ! Such was Makkal thilagam’s mass appeal ! Wonder why he didn’t chose Nagesh ? Somehow, MG used Isari velan for movies ( like Idayakani ) who closely imitated Nagesh’s style
22. Paraa played a very significant role during the Janata period & was one of the highly respected leaders….
23.Mukaa’s ever famous pet theme to Chennai college students was : Naangal aatchikku vandhaal, Bus pass ilavasam….. Helmetai ozippom. We will not make Helmet wearing compulsory but optional ! Believe me, we found the helmet wearing so uncomfortable those days & even pillion rider was not spared ..this was one of MGR’s schemes which Chennai Public hated despite the seriousness of the scheme !
Balaji, the Helmet problem came much later. After 1985.
24.Pilot Premnath – It was a stage play by ARS ……I think Kanna neeyum naanuma was the starter of the series of high pitch songs for NT …. This movie had that – Who is the black sheep adhu yaar … Malini ponseka was the heroene
25.Justice Gopinath – Again , like Thanga padhakkam, we used to compare with Gauravam & obviously were disappointed…. Those days, NT’s own earlier movies became benchmarks for comparison which also dented his image in the late 70s.
26.You haven’t covered NAAN VAZA VAIPEN – NT & Rajini …. Endhan pon vanname & Thirutheril varum silayo, along with Ellorum paadungal were super hits…This movie ran well
It was released on 10.08.1979. We are yet to reach there.
27. 3soolam – was a super hit in Shanti , crown & Bhuvaneswari - NT’s fort !! I think it ran for more than 300 days in Shanti or may be more than that… but for true Shivaji fans, this movie was like Yannai pasikku sola pori ….. the 3rd Shivaji role could have been given to someone ….IMO, this movie ran only because it was a milestone for NT’s career
We cannot simply say just because it happened to be a landmark movie, it became a hit. It was an entertainer aimed at a cross section of people and it hit the bulls eye. Balaji, another unbeaten BO record of Tirusoolam was in Shanthi, Crown & Bhuvaneswari, the first 1000 shows( all three combined) were House Full.
28.There is another school of thought that NT- KRV also was one of the best pairs apart from NT- Padmini & NT-Devika ! in the mid & late 70s, it was KRV who paired in most of the movies . For sometime Sujatha was there.. Somehow I am fascinated by NT- Sowcar combination though they did few numbers only
29.What about Deepam , Ratha pasam , Patta kathi Bhairavan , Vetrikku oruvan – except Ratha pasam, others were composed by IR & most of the songs were super hits
Deepam we saw in the last post(though songs were not discussed) and others are coming in the next post.
NOW LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR NEXT PHASE . I THINK , FROM NOW , NT’S POLITICAL LIFE ASSUMES GREATER SIGNIFICANCE….PROBABLY THE REVERSAL OF FORTUNES START FROM THE NEXT PHASE
With this level of indepth knowledge & memory you have, I suggest you write a book about NT or probably we all can host a portal for NT. Already Raghu has this plans . :D
