One of the most renowned screenwriters in the Tamil cinema business was Muthuvel Karunanidhi.
One of the most esteemed scriptwriters in the Tamil cinema industry was Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the emblem of the Dravidian movement and five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
This was mostly because the scenarios in his real-life screenplays resonated most strongly with the struggles of common workers and laborers, who had always had a special place in his heart.
The seasoned DMK leader previously claimed in an interview that he avoided portraying his characters in exaggerated ways and preferred to advocate for logic and equality in his films.
He had claimed that most of his characters came from modest upbringings and led hard lives. Ordinary men and women were often affected by Kalaignar’s stories, and they looked up to Karunanidhi as a saviour who would take away their troubles and anxieties.
M. Karunanidhi wrote the scripts for 75 films, his first being the MGR starred “Rajakumari,” earning him the moniker “Kalaignar” or artist.
In any case, Sivaji Ganesan, another celebrity of the Tamil cinema industry, made his debut in the veteran leader’s film “Parasakthi.”
‘Ponnar Shankar’ in 2011 was the final film for which Karunanidhi penned the script. After “Rajakumari,” Karunanidhi authored the screenplay for the films “Abhimanyu (1948),” “Marudhanattu Ilavarasi (1950),” and “Rajakumari.” MGR played the role of the hero in both films.
The majority of his films had strong female protagonists who stood up to sexism, prejudice, and inequity, and there was a strong feeling of socialism and rationalism throughout. The lower strata of Tamil society’s poverty was also depicted in the scripts.
He once commented that he had continued the work of his master, Dravidian veteran and the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, C.N. Annadurai, who was also well-liked and recognized as a scriptwriter in the Tamil film industry.
Kalaignar wrote the script for the movie “Naam,” which focused on the struggles of the working class. In a different interview, the former CM claimed that the movie revealed his ardent support for both the communist cause and the principle of equality.
His film “Thai Illa Pillai,” which dealt with caste, was followed by “Kanchi Thalaivan,” which focused on C.N. Annadurai’s beliefs.
His primary political competitors in Tamil Nadu, MG Ramachandran, and J. Jayalalithaa, were both from the film business, which dominated his life.
Karunanidhi attempted to use his older son, M.K. Muthu, to compete with MGR when he was at his most powerful, but he was unsuccessful. In addition to being adored and revered in Tamil Nadu and beyond, MGR had gained enormous popularity.
An interesting fact about Kalaignar is that he also produced plays like “Ore Ratham,” “Palainappan,” “Manimagudam,” “Naane Arivali,” and “Udhayasooryan.” These plays, which were shown all around the state, focused mostly on equality and the underprivileged.
Through these plays and writings by Kalaignar Karunanidhi, Dravidian ideology was ingrained in the minds of the people and altered the direction of politics in Tamil Nadu.
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