Actor, singer and politician, M. K. Muthu has passed away at the age of 77.
Muthu was born on 14 January 1948 as the eldest son of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi. His mother was Karunanidhi’s first wife, Padmathi, the sister of actor-singer C.S. Jayaraman, She passed away shortly after Muthu was born.
In 1972, MG Ramachandran was ousted from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) after publicly opposing corruption within the party following the death of C.N. Annadurai.
Prior to this incident, Muthu was being groomed as the political heir to Karunanidhi, but when MGR was ousted from the DMK, Karunanidhi decided to launch Muthu as an actor to rival M.G. Ramachandran.
Using MGR’s style of dressing, screen mannerisms and screen image, Muthu was launched as a lead actor in the film, Pillaiyo Pillai as Mu.Ka. Muthu or M.K. Muthu. The film was written by M. Karunanidhi and produced by Muthu’s first cousin, Murasoli Maaran and directed by the popular duo, Krishnan-Panju. The film was a major hit and some section of the press predicted a looming end to MGR’s career.
Krishnan-Panju also directed Muthu’s second film – Pookaari – where he starred opposite Manjulla. The film, however, bombed at the box-office.
Despite major publicity drives, M.K. Muthu’s successive films – Samayalkaaran and Annaitaa Villakku also failed at the box-office. Muthu also sang playback for all songs from Annaiyaa Villakku.After increased efforts to promote Nambikkai Natchathiram, Ingeyum Manithargal and Ellam Avalle, it was decided to end his film career, a move that left Muthu out of politics and now also out of films.
Disillusioned with what had happened in the family after his mother’s death, Muthu turned against his family and joined the opposition party AIADMK under Jayalalitha.
In 2008, after falling seriously ill, he reconciled with his father and with most of the family.
Muthu passed away this morning after a prolonged illness.
His son, Arulnidhi, is now a well-established actor in Kodambakkam.
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