Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials M.G.R., was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987. He was the founder and first general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. On 19 March 1988, Ramachandran was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. Ramachandran is regarded as one of the most influential politicians of post-independence India. Apart from politics, as a film personality he won the National Film Award, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and two Filmfare Award South.
Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ganesan is acknowledged as one of the greatest Indian actors of all time and among the most imitated one by other actors. He was known for his versatility and the variety of roles he depicted on screen, which also gave him the Tamil nickname Nadigar Thilagam. In a career that spanned close to five decades, he had acted in 288 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. Sivaji Ganesan is the only actor in Tamil cinema to have played the lead role in over 250 films.
P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the first female director of Telugu cinema with her debut directorial Chandirani (1953). Bhanumathi appeared in over 100 films predominantly in Telugu and Tamil languages. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001 for her contribution to the Indian cinema. She was honored among "women in cinema" at the 30th International Film Festival of India.
Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Naidu, better known as M. R. Radha, was an Indian actor and politician active in Tamil plays and films. He was given the title "Nadigavel" by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. He mostly played villain roles, but had also acted in several films as comedian.
Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan, popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.
Parasakthi is a 1952 Indian Tamil-language satirical drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju and written by M. Karunanidhi. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, S. V. Sahasranamam, S. S. Rajendran, Sriranjani Jr., and Pandari Bai. It is the cinematic acting debut of Ganesan and Rajendran. Based on Pavalar Balasundaram's play of the same name, Parasakthi narrates the misfortunes that befall the members of a Tamil family during World War II.
Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR, was an Indian actor, film director, film producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema.
Paava Mannippu is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and edited by A. Bhimsingh, who co-produced it under his banner Buddha Pictures, with AVM Productions. The film features an ensemble cast of Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Savitri, Devika and M. R. Radha. M. V. Rajamma, V. Nagayya, S. V. Subbaiah and T. S. Balaiah play supporting roles. It revolves around four children who are separated from their parents in childhood, then found and raised by foster parents of different religious backgrounds.
Kalvanin Kadhali is a 1955 Indian Tamil-language romantic crime film directed by V. S. Raghavan and written by S. D. Sundharam. Starring Sivaji Ganesan and P. Bhanumathi, it is based on the novel of the same name by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The film was released on 13 November 1955 and completed a theatrical run of 80 days.
Makkalai Petra Magarasi is a 1957 Indian Tamil-language film directed by K. Somu and written by A. P. Nagarajan, who produced it with V. K. Ramasamy. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and P. Bhanumathi. It was remade in Kannada as Anna Thangi.
Manamagan Thevai is a 1957 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film produced and directed by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Bhanumathi. Based on the American film The Fabulous Senorita (1952), it was simultaneously produced in Telugu as Varudu Kaavaali with Jaggayya replacing Ganesan. Manamagan Thevai was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.
Rani Lalithangi is a 1957 Indian Tamil-language historical drama film directed by T. R. Raghunath, starring Sivaji Ganesan and P. Bhanumathi. The film, a remake of the 1935 film Lalithangi, was released on 21 September 1957.
Raja Bakthi is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language historical drama film, written by V. C. Gopal Rathnam and directed by K. Vembu. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala and P. Bhanumathi, with T. S. Balaiah, Padmini, Pandari Bai, M. N. Nambiar, E. V. Saroja and Stunt Somu as the ensemble cast, and was produced by P. Rajamanickam Chettiar of Nandhi Pictures. The film's music was composed by G. Govindarajulu Naidu and was filmed by R. Sampath. The film, released on 27 May 1960, was a box office failure.
Thillana Mohanambal is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language romantic musical dance film written, directed and produced by A. P. Nagarajan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini and T. S. Balaiah, with A. V. M. Rajan, Nagesh and Manorama in supporting roles. It tells the story of Shanmugasundaram, a nadaswaram player who falls in love with Mohanambal, a Bharatanatyam dancer who reciprocates his feelings, but unfortunate circumstances and their egoistic nature prevents them from confessing their love for one another. How they overcome their self-created obstacles and those created by the people around them forms the rest of the story.
Kuravanji is a 1960 Indian Tamil language film directed by A. Kasilingam. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Savitri. The film, produced by M. Karunanidhi, R. M. Veerappan, and A. Kasilingam, was released on 4 March 1960, and was not a commercial success.
Thirumbi Paar is a 1953 Indian Tamil-language film starring Sivaji Ganesan, P. V. Narasimha Bharathi, Pandari Bai, Krishna Kumari and Girija. Produced and directed by T. R. Sundaram of Modern Theatres, the film was written by M. Karunanidhi, who would later become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Thirumbi Paar was one of the earliest Tamil films whose dialogues were known to be a political satire on the Indian National Congress, the ruling party then. Sivaji Ganesan played a negative role in the film and received wide acclaim.
Madurai Narasimha Achary Rajam is an Indian actress, who works mainly in Tamil cinema. She made her stage acting debut at the age of seven, and film acting debut as a child artist in 1949. Rajam played the vamp role in the Tamil classic Ratha Kanneer (1954), opposite M. R. Radha. Since then Rajam had acted with several leading actors including MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, M. R. Radha, S.S. Rajendran, M. N. Nambiar and N. S. Krishnan. She married popular Tamil playback singer A. L. Raghavan on 2 May 1960. Her performances in films like, Rathak Kaneer, Pennin Perumai, Pudhayal, Thanga Padumai, "Nadodi Mannan", "Pasa Malar", Thaali Bhagyam and "Arangetram" were critically acclaimed. She played supporting roles in films since 1970 to 1990. She started working in TV serials from 1995 and continues to work in films till 2014. In 1958 Rajam was booked by M. G. Ramachandran for his second directorial venture Ponniyin Selvan. One of the first screen adaptations of Kalki Krishnamurthy's Ponniyin Selvan, the film had a huge ensemble cast consisting of Vyjayanthimala, Savitri, Gemini Ganesan, Padmini, Saroja Devi and Nagesh.. In the film, she was given the role of Nandhini, the wife of Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar. However, in mid-1958 the film was shelved for unknown reasons.
Pudhaiyal (transl. Treasure) is a 1957 Indian Tamil-language film starring Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini. The film was released on 10 May 1957.
Deivapiravi is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by Krishnan–Panju. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini, S. S. Rajendran, K. A. Thangavelu and M. N. Rajam. The film was dubbed and released in Telugu as Anumanam and released on 24 June 1961. At the 8th National Film Awards, the film won the All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film. It was remade the same year in Hindi as Bindya.
Iruvar Ullam is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language romance film, directed by L. V. Prasad and written by M. Karunanidhi. Based on Lakshmi's novel Pen Manam, the film stars Sivaji Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi, while M. R. Radha, S. V. Ranga Rao, T. R. Ramachandran, T. P. Muthulakshmi, Sandhya and Padmini Priyadarshini play supporting roles.
