Makkal thilagam mgr part 4

[Richardsof]

courtesy - the hindu

STAR STRUCK: (Top) The Capitol theatre and (below) the front page of ‘Tamil Murasu’ with a film ad.
Tamil films have a global audience today, thanks to superstar Rajnikant. He even has a fan club, in Japan. In today’s electronic world, it is no surprise that films have a global presence, fast and easy, as the times are.

But there was a time when India by itself had a global presence, being part of the British Empire. Singapore, Ceylon, Burma and the Far East were but an extension of our land, with culture getting priority. Our Tamil movies and Carnatic music were a craze in these colonies, and the local Tamil newspapers would carry reports of all things filmy.

During a recent trip to Singapore, I visited the Tamil Murasu office there. The newspaper has digitalised its records, going way back to the 1930s . I discovered that the earliest Tamil movies were screened in Singapore with full page ads taken by the theatres, often on the front page.


The role of theatres
The 1950s saw the beginning of a grand rivalry in Singapore, and Malaysia — between the two Tamil heroes, Sivaji Ganesan and MGR. Two theatres especially played a big role in this rivalry — Royal and Diamond, in Singapore. They would take turns to screen the two heroes’ movies. If one showed an MGR film, the other would show Sivaji’s. The Shaw Brothers, who owned cinema rights, would screen the movies at these two theatres, and at Capitol and State. In fact, MGR once attended a premiere at Odeon Theatre.

Rapturous applause
When Sivaji visited Singapore around 1958-60, he gave a speech at the Jalan Besar stadium, to rapturous applause, and also was to shoot for a Malay film. What’s more, N. Karuppiah, the city councillor bought a new Ford car just for Sivaji’s use! Such was the star power even then!



Hindi movies too were popular, but not as much as Tamil cinema. Every piece of news concerning the two Tamil heroes made news. If MGR invited a heroine home to dinner, so did Sivaji. And this hit the headlines. Similarly, when MGR made a contribution to the war fund, it was international news. The shooting of new films was reported every week in the Malay and Singapore papers.

Going to watch a Tamil movie was itself an event here. Fiery fan clubs mushroomed in Singapore. And the fans went to extremes. They would dress up like their heroes, when they went to watch the movie. A Chinese tailor was chosen to to stitch outfits similar to the ones worn by Sivaji or MGR in their movies! Sometimes, the rivalry got to such an extent that the fans would indulge in fisticuffs! Finally, the law intervened and decided to shut down the theatres. Old timers recall the great time they used to have going to a Tamil movie, sitting on those cheap wooden benches, be bitten by bugs and still come out euphoric. A Chinese gentleman remembers how he started seeing Tamil films during the war, and how he enjoyed the hero’s antics, the fights with the villains, conquering them single-handed, while romancing the heroine! That was our MGR, for sure.

Every Tamil film made in India was shown in Singapore, and papers carried the radio columns from Delhi and Madras. Music and cinema were ever so popular, making the distant shores seem like home.

[Richardsof]

WELCOMR MR. SUNDARAPANDIYAN TO OUR MAKKAL THILAGAM MGR PART 4.

WITH CHEERS
esvee

[Scottkaz]

பெற்றால் தான் பிள்ளையா படத்திலிருந்து ஒரு உணர்ச்சிகரமான காட்சி

arputhamana pathivu jai sir thanks

[Scottkaz]

என் வணக்கம் .

மக்கள் திலகம் mgr -இந்த பகுதியில் நீண்ட நாட்களாக படித்து வருகிறேன் . இன்றுதான் உள்ளே வர அனுமதி கிடைத்தது .
மக்கள் திலகம் புகழ் பரப்பும் எல்லா நண்பர்களுக்கும் எனது நன்றி .
நான் இதுவரை பார்க்காத மக்கள் திலகத்தின் படங்கள் , செய்திகள் , அருமையாக உள்ளது .
உங்கள் அனைவருக்கும் மீண்டும் என் வணக்கம்

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