Nagesh – The man who redefined comedy in Tamil Cinema

In a career across more than 1000 films, Nagesh acted with more than 3 generations of actors, including Sivaji Ganesan, MGR, Kamalhassan, Rajinikanth, Ajithkumar, Vijay, R Madhavan and Silambarasan. Apart from his thousands of Tamil films, Nagesh also acted in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films.

Nagesh went to Chennai in search of a job and found one as a clerk in the Indian Railways. His roommates were Vaali and Shrikanth. He began his acting career on stage and earned the praise of MGR with his first performance. After a slow start, Nagesh found fame with Shridhar’s 1962 film, Nenjil ohr Aalayam where he played a character called Peter. It was a name that stuck to him in South Africa as it marked his first film on a South African screen. Posters and advertisements credited him as Peter Nagesh and his fans referred to him as Peter.

Two years after Nenjil ohr Aalayam he played his first lead role in Server Sundharam which was written by K. Balachander and directed by Krishnan Panju. Nagesh later played the lead role in K. Balachander’s directorial debut, Edhir Neechal.

Nagesh’s fame catapulted and he was an essential presence in all major productions. He was often paired with Manorama and Sachu, but a difference of opinion with MGR and a misunderstanding with Manorama  saw his film offers plummet and he found himself in the wilderness for many years before resurrecting his career, thanks largely to Sivaji Ganesan and Kamalhassan. His relationship with Kamalhassan was a special one and saw him win the national award for his role as the principal in Kamalhassan’s Nammavar.

Although he had dabbled with negative shades in films like Savale Samali and Kai Niraya Kasu, it was Kamalhassan who persuaded him to play the main antagonist in Aboorva Sagodharargall. He continued to play a variety of roles until shortly before his death on 31 January 2009.