Srikanth – Versatility personified
Venkatraman was born on 19 March 1940. After starting a job at the American Consulate in Chennai, he moved there where he found himself sharing lodging with Nagesh, Vaali, Vennirai Aadai Moorthy and Vietnam Veedu Sundaram. He then joined various drama groups to perform stage plays, the most famous of which was K. Balachander’s play […]
KV Mahadevan – Everyone’s mama
KV Mahadevan, the maternal uncle of MS Viswanathan was born on 14 March 1918 in Nagercoil in the Kanyakumarie district. He made his debut as a music composer in the 1942 film, Manonmani and slowly worked his way to the top, helped by his humility and simplicity. Although he was Mama to MS Viswanathan, he […]
CV Rajendran – The people’s director
Writer, director and producer CV Rajendran was born on 12 March 1937 in a rural area close to Madurantakam. His first cousin was maverick producer and director CV Sridhar, the director of hit films like Kalyana Parisu, Kaadhalikka Neramillai and Vennira Aadai. He made his film debut as an assistant director in the Hindi remake […]
Madhan Karky – More than just a lyricist
Lyricist Madhan Karky is yet to complete his 15th year in the film industry, but has already written hundreds of songs, scripted numerous films and continues to push the boundaries of the Tamil language in poetry and lyrics. The son of multi-award winning lyricist, Vairamuthu, Madhan Karky was born on 10 March 1980. Although not […]
M N Nambiar – the legend behind Tamil cinema’s most famous “villain”
The face of villainy in Tamil cinema was, for several decades, M.N. Nambiar. With over eight decades in the film industry, M.N. Nambiar was an institution who stood alongside greats like Sivaji Ganesan and MG Ramachandran. He was born in Kerala on 07 March 1919 and made his debut in 1935 at the age of […]
Some surprising facts about Charlie who turns 65 today
Velmurugan Thangasany Manohar is better known to audiences as Charlie, a name given to him by K.Balachander, the director who introduced him to films through the 1982 film, Poikaal Kuthirai. Balachander told him that he would have a remarkable career like Charlie Chaplin and, out of respect to K. Balachander, he retains the name to […]
Nassar: A talented actor and director with a nose for quality roles
Muhamed Hanif, better known by his screen name, Nassar, was introduced to the screen by K.Balachander in the 1985 film Kalyana Agathigal. Although the film failed at the box-office, audiences and critics appreciated th performance by Nassar, albeit in a minor role. After playing negative roles in Rajinikanth’s Velaikaaran and Karthik’s Vanna Kanavugal, he played […]
Selvaraghavan Birthday Special
Selvaraghavan is the elder brother of actor Dhanush. He made his unofficial debut as a director through Dhanush’s debut movie, Thulluvadho Illamai where their father, Kasthuriraja was credited as the director. His official debut came with Kaadhal Konndain in 2003 – probably his best work to date. He then made his foray into other themes […]
Sripriya – Versatile and talented actress
Actress Sripriya starred in more than 300 films in various languages, with approximately 200 of them in Tamil. She has also directed films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu, including the 2014 Telugu remake of Drishyam. She made her debut in the semi-religious film Murugan Kaatiya Vazhi directed by P.Madhavan and soon found herself sharing the […]
How South Africans were robbed of celebrating Illaiyaraja’s genius
With the countdown on for the official launch of Illaiyaraja’s Symphony Number 1, the first symphony ever by an Indian composer, it is important to reflect on the way Illaiyaraja is seen by South African- Tamilians of all ages and, more importantly, on how this perception of Illaiyaraja and his music came about. Illaiyaraja made […]