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 lent his voice to actors and thespians in the South Indian film industry such as M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, N. T. Rama Rao, Gemini Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran, Jaishankar, Ravichandran, A. V. M. Rajan, R. Muthuraman, Nagesh, Sivakumar, Kantha Rao, Rajkumar,Prem Nazir and A. Nageswara Rao. He also gave his voice to many new generation actors like Kamalahasan, Rajinikanth, Vijayakanth, Satyaraj, Rajesh, Prabhu, and Vijaya Kumar, in addition to other known and unknown heroes and supporting actors like M.R. Radha, K R Ramaswami, T. Rajendar, V.K. Ramaswami, Thengai Sreenivasan, M.N. Nambiar, Thangavelu, Y.G. Mahendran, R.S. Manohar, S.V. Ashokan, Ranjan, Narasimha Bharathi, Sahasra Namam, T S Balayya, Jagayya, Nagayya,Thyagarajan, Sreenath, Shankar etc. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.
Rickshawkaran is a 1971 Indian Tamil-language vigilante film directed by M. Krishnan Nair and produced by R. M. Veerappan, who doubled as screenwriter. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Padmini and Manjula. It revolves around Selvam, a rickshaw puller who witnesses the murder of another rickshaw puller, and decides to unearth the mystery behind this murder.
Anbe Vaa is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and B. Saroja Devi, with S. A. Ashokan, Nagesh, Manorama, T. R. Ramachandran, and P. D. Sambandam in supporting roles. Based on the 1961 American film Come September, it follows JB, a wealthy industrialist who goes on vacation to his bungalow in Shimla, only to discover that his caretaker and his wife have left for Kasi after renting the bungalow to a family. The rest of the film revolves around JB's response to this situation.
Dharmam Thalai Kaakkum is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by M. A. Thirumugam. The film features M. G. Ramachandran, B. Saroja Devi and M. R. Radha in lead roles, while S. A. Ashokan was villain. The film, produced by Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar, had musical score by K. V. Mahadevan and was released on 22 February 1963. The film was a blockbuster at the box office and one of highest-grossing films of the year, running more than 100 days.
Dheiva Thaai is a 1964 Indian Tamil-language drama film, starring M. G. Ramachandran in the lead role. The film was released in 1964 and it was one of the biggest hits in that year. The film was remade in Telugu as C.I.D., with NTR in MGR's role.
Savaale Samali is a 1971 Tamil language film, starring Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role of a protagonist and it is his 150th movie. The film was remade in Telugu as Manchi Rojulu Vachchaayi (1972), starring Nageswara Rao, in Malayalam as Randu Lokam (1977), in Kannada as Siritanakke Savaal (1978), starring Vishnuvardhan and in Hindi as Charnon Ki Saugandh (1988), with Mithun Chakraborty.
Ulagam Sutrum Valiban is a 1973 Indian Tamil-language science fiction film, directed and produced by M. G. Ramachandran and co-produced by R. M. Veerappan. The film stars MGR in the lead role, along with Manjula, Latha, Chandrakala, Thai actress Metta Roongrat, M. N. Nambiar, R. S. Manohar and S. A. Ashokan, Nagesh play supporting roles. The film score and soundtrack were composed by M. S. Viswanathan.
Vivasayee, is a 1967 Indian Tamil film, directed by M. A. Thirumugam, starring M. G. Ramachandran in the lead role, with K. R. Vijaya, M. N. Nambiar, S. A. Asokan, Nagesh and Manorama, among others, enacting supporting roles.
Ragasiya Police 115, is a 1968 Indian Tamil film, directed by B. R. Panthulu, starring M. G. Ramachandran in the lead role, with Jayalalithaa, M. N. Nambiar, S. A. Ashokan and Nagesh among others, enacting supporting roles. There was grand opening and record collection within 10 days and the film ran more than 100 days in Tamil Nadu.
Oli Vilakku is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language action film, directed by Tapi Chanakya and produced by S. S. Vasan. It is a remake of the Hindi-language film Phool Aur Patthar (1966). The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Jayalalitha and Sowcar Janaki, with S. A. Ashokan, Manohar, Cho and V. S. Raghavan in supporting roles. It was released on 20 September 1968.
S. A. Ashokan, born as Antony and often spelt Asokan, was an Indian theatre and film actor, who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was popular mainly for playing negative roles, but was also a successful character actor.
Kaavalkaaran, is a 1967 Indian Tamil-language spy film, directed by P. Neelakantan, starring M. G. Ramachandran in the lead role and Jayalalithaa, M. N. Nambiar, S. A. Ashokan, Sivakumar and Nagesh among others. It was the first film released after the shooting in his neck took place in 1967 and there was a rumour that MGR had no scope to continue in films in view of his voice. It ran 164 days in Ceylon and over 100 days in Chennai and other major cities and became the top grosser of the year. Thus it proved MGR could continue in films as well and thus next year MGR acted in 8 films. Thereafter continuously, his films ran box office hits of the years, consecutively. The film was remade in Hindi as Rakhwala, starring Dharmendra and Leena Chandavarkar.
Raman Thediya Seethai is a 1972 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by P. Neelakantan, starring M. G. Ramachandran in the lead role, with Jayalalithaa, S. A. Ashokan, and others. The movie is a remake of 1969 Kannada movie Gandondu Hennaru starring Rajkumar.
En Annan, is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language thriller film, directed by Pa. Neelakandhan, starring M. G. Ramachandran in the lead role, with Jayalalithaa, M. N. Nambiar, S. A. Ashokan, Cho Ramaswamy among others. In the year 1970, it was one of the super hit movies of MGR and ran 100 days in Chennai, Madurai and Trichy.
Major Chandrakanth is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language drama film produced by A. V. Meiyappan and directed by K. Balachander. It is based on his play of the same name. The film stars Major Sundarrajan, Nagesh, R. Muthuraman, A. V. M. Rajan and Jayalalithaa. It tells the story of a retired and blind major who gives asylum to a fugitive wanted for committing murder, unaware that the victim was his younger son.
Thaai Sollai Thattadhe is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by M. A. Thirumugam. The film features M. G. Ramachandran and B. Saroja Devi in lead roles. The film, produced by Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar, had a musical score by K. V. Mahadevan in which the background sound effects for fighting scenes were effectively composed. The film was released on the occasion of Diwali 1961 and was a commercial success, running for 140 days in theatres.
Kadhal Vaaganam is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by M. A. Thirumugham. The film features M. G. Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa and S. A. Ashokan in lead roles.
Uyarndha Manithan is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language drama film written by Javar Seetharaman and directed by Krishnan–Panju. The film was produced by A. V. Meiyappan, M. Saravanan, M. Kumaran and M. Murugan under AVM Productions. It stars Sivaji Ganesan and Sowcar Janaki, while S. A. Ashokan, Major Sundarrajan, Vanisri and Sivakumar play pivotal roles. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by M. S. Viswanathan, while the lyrics for the songs were written by Vaali.
Naanum Oru Penn is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. The film stars S. S. Rajendran and R. Vijayakumari, with S. V. Ranga Rao, M. R. Radha, S. V. Subbaiah, C. K. Nagesh, Rajan and C. S. Pushpalatha in supporting roles. It revolves around a dark complexioned and uneducated girl and how she convinces everyone that more than appearance and education, it is the character which is important for a woman.
Kaakum Karangal is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language Indian drama film, directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. Inspired by British writer Somerset Maugham's novel The Painted Veil, it was produced by AVM Productions. The film stars S. S. Rajendran and C. R. Vijayakumari, with Nagesh, L. Vijayalakshmi, S. V. Subbaiah, Sivakumar and Revathi playing supporting roles.
