M G R - the name itself has got some charisma there. Even after many years of his death his legacy lives and rules. Okay, happy being an MGR fan but at the same time very much frustrated when everyone uses his name as their self-rewarded 'adaimozhi'. In Mylapore, i see the walls near RK Mutt painted a picture of some moron with the letters "Chinna MGR". And near Royapettah - a 10 min drive from Mylapore, I see a famous actor-turned-politician being called as Vaazhum Karuppu MGR (Enna kodumai sir idhu!).
It all started with Bhagyaraj being proclaimed as MGR's filmdom heir (God knows on what basis!). Can any of these guys compete with MGR in beauty, talent, statecraft, screen presence and mass appeal. I know, some sick perverts will tend to see only his affinity, at a later stage of his career, towards his heroines. Leave that. Compare that "bewitched, enigmatic" (as described by ex-DGP Mohnadas in his book MGR-nijamum nizhalum), bunny-teethed smile with the 'asadu vazhiyum' sirippu of these guys. Look at the mass appeal the man had and still has! Still his re-released films run to packed houses and he still lives in many huts.
Even in statecraft he is second to none. He efficiently tackled the Naxals issue in Dharmapuri during the 80s (to tell in his 'dosth' MK's tone - andai maanilangalana Andhravai paarungal, pongu maangkadal ulla vangathai paarungal, oyindhu poi vitta orissavai parungal :-P ). and when the teachers threatened to go on strike demanding salary hike (as always) during the public exam time, he handled with great ease and put them in place. He has never acted in smoking/drinking scenes barring Thirudathey and Oli Vilakku.
PS: For these morons, one small piece of advice - y stop wid Chinna mgr or karuppu mgr? Go on, silly fellas - kutty mgr, kuttiyoondu mgr, dhammathoondu mgr, ithunoondu mgr, thakkanoondu mgr.......
If my memory serves right, it was sometime in 1978 that transport workers struck work in support of their demands. It looked as if whole of Tamil Nadu will come to a standstill. But MGR came up with a brilliant counter strategy. He brought back retired drivers and the strike just petered out. Unfortunately, after his Government was dismissed in 1980, he was never the same leader.
ReplyDelete'gud work though short
ReplyDeleteif possible read vairamuthu on mgr sometime
baskar
The reason for the MGR Magic is that despite his philandering ways, he was a philanthropist at heart. He was a nice guy; got nice gals ;)
ReplyDeletetks baskar sir. will read surely.
ReplyDeleteand MRS, i completely agree wid u.
Mr Suganth, did u read the third line in second para? there is a saying in south TN - 'Mayiru irukkara seemaati kondai alli mudinjukkara, mottai thalaichi ku yaen eriyudhu?'Y do u tend 2 see only his weakness, u eternal pessimist? I don't think anyone can equal him in his hospitality. My dad (a gr8 MGR fan) used to visit him and every time he used to serve 'kesaribhhat' and used 2 ask evry visitor - saptingala/ sappdaama pogakudathu...
even dis 35007 actor u celebrate has his philandering ways. Y r u not mentioning that? Even he gets "nice gals" at the age of 61 wid his dark skin, bald head and ugly looks. But u play chamcha to dis jackass?!
ReplyDeleteWho's dis 35007 actor? D one from u kno where? :P
ReplyDeleteenuf mr suganth. its only about "getting nice gals" as u commented...
ReplyDelete