Mirattal Nadigar Nambiyar aka Manjeri(மஞ்சேரி) Narayanan Nambiyar the King of Villains of the Silver Screen
When you hear ot talk about MGR the name that follows without saying is that of M.N.Nambiar, the dashing villain of Tamil cinema.
He was the man who re-defined the portrayal of Villain, Before his times there were villains potrayed by T.S.Baliah, S.A.Natarajan etc but the way he re-wrote villain’ism was never like before.
Nambiar born on March 7, 1919 in Kannur district in a Namboodhari family. His father died when Nambiar was 8 years old. His family moved to Ooty to live with his sister. He studied till third form in OOty municipal school. Nawab Rajamanickam pillai’s drama troupe was performing in OOty. Impressed by the stage presence and discipline Nambiar decided to join the troupe (he didn’t want to be a burden to his sister’s family). He travelled with the troupe to salem, mysore and was mainly given kitchen labor and finally in 1934 he was given a “Lady Judge” role in the drama “Nachu poigai” unfortunately drama was stopped by the then British government. In a way that paved a way for his Film entry
Nawab Rajamanickam’s “Ramdas” play was made into a film “Bhakta Ramadas” and filming was done at Bombay. Nambiar accompanied the troupe and he played the role of Madhanna in the comic pair Akkanna-Madhanna , Akkanna played by T.K.Sampangi. Nambiar was paid 40 rupees for his role. Nambiar continued to act in small roles in various dramas. The main comedian of the troupe K. Sarangapani left and that space was filled quickly by Nambiar and he became instant hit as well. His salary rose from Rs 3 to Rs 15. 1944 , Nambiar left Nawab’s troupe and joined T.K.Krishnaswamy’s troupe wherein he portrayed the role of “Rajaguru” in the drama “Kaviyin Kanavu” written by S.D.Sundaram which was a turning point in his acting career. This showcased his talent fully and brought in accolades for his acting. Audience thronged to witness the villainous performance of Nambiar and it was this performance which got 4 films from Jupiter Pictures. He portrayed comic roles in films like Vidyapathi, Rajakumari. He was cast as the leading man in the 1947 film “Kanjan”. He continued to do small roles in films like Abimanyu his break came in the name of “Velaikari” Aringar Anna’s Velaikari had powerful performances by K.R.Ramasamy, T.S.Baliah, S.V.Sahasranamam & Nambiar as moorthy (V.N.Janaki’s brother). Nambiar married his relative “Rukmani” in 1946 and marriage turned out to be lucky at least for him, yes he got the role of his life in the 1950 Modern Theatres Production, Kalaingar karunanidhi’s dialouges and Ellis.R.Dungan’s direction “Mandhiri Kumari”. The Evil look, Majestic walk and sarcastic dialogue delivery established Nambiar as the permanent Villain of Tamil films. This was also the time his friendship with MGR cemented became lifelong friendship. MGR was the best man at Nambiar’s wedding.
Behind the Villain mask there was a great actor and thus film maker T.R.Sundaram(Modern theatre) casted him in a comic thriller “digambara saamiyar” Novel by Vaduvoor K. Duraisamy Ayyangar wherein Nambiar played a role which had 12 different getups .Nambiar showcased his talent brilliantly slipping into various disguise roles with ease and fetched a great name for him. Slowly Nambiar started featuring as villain in every movie. Sarvadhirgari, Marmayogi and movies followed him. He also continued in small roles as well. He acted as a young lover boy in the movie Kanna thalli/Petra thaai which marked the debut of our Isayarasi Smt.Psusheela as a playback singer. Movies continued in the form of Mangalyam(APNagarajan and nambiar played best friends), Guna sundari, Pennarasi, Makkalai petra magarasi(Can we forget the brilliant song “Ondru serndha anbu maruma by PBS & Udutha sarojini featuring Nambiar & MNRajam written by Maruthakasi & composed by KVM) In 1952 Nambiar featured in an English film titled “Jungle” Nambiar was cast mostly in aged villain roles especially his role as Shakuni in Mayabazar and the cunning uncle Naganathan in Sivaji Ganesan Starrer “Uthama puthiran” Both these films had stellar performance of Nambiar.
Slowly Nambiar established himself as the prime villain especially in MGR films. Sword fight scenes between him & MGR are quite popular even now. No other actor-villain fights have impressed the audience as much as this duo.. Their Sword fight scenes were real and both the actors did it with ease and at times they did get hurt but never worried. It became in evitable that every movie Historical/Mythological movie both the actors featured had quite number of sword fight scenes making the audience’s money worth a watch. Almost every movie made in late 50’s and 60’s had Nambiar as the Villain. In spite tough competition from actors like P.S.Veerappa, Nambiar retained his spot as the main baddie. Even when youngster like Asokan started villain roles Nambiar also featured In those movies as the gang leader or the so called “BOSS”. His screen presence in every film he was part of is still a delight to watch. Nambiar was beyond camps. While he audience cursed him for whipping the innocent MGR in Enga Veetu pillai, they threw stones at the screen when he demeans the naïve Raman who is in love with Devaki in Raman ethanai ramanadi. Thus he was able to fit himself in any role and never bothered about the hero of the film. His movies with MGR gave him the “cult villain status” and when we say MGR’s name even today , Nambiar’s name follows automatically. The duo did films like NAdodi Mannan, Rajarajan, Arasilankumari, panathottam, thali bhagyam, Nadodi, naan anai ittal, kavalkaran,rahasiya police 115, kudiyirundha kovil,pudhiya bhoomi, pallandu vazhga, ninaithathai mudippavan,neethikku thalaivanangu and the evergreen “Ayirathil oruvan” . His role as the “Pirate leader” in Ayirathil oruvan is remembered still now. The way he cheats Manimaran and develops a liking for Poonkodi and tortures all the slaves speak volume for his acting ability.
He was equally comfortable with NAdigar thilagam as well. Thangamalai rahasiyam, uthamaputhiran ,Ambikapathy, bhaga pirivinai, pasamalar,thillana mohanambal, sivandha mann, Kulama gunama(I like his role in this movie a lot), thangaikkaga, ponoonjal and the brilliant baladevar in Raja raja chozhan. His role as a devoted friend in bhoolaka ramba alongside Gemini also fetched a good name for him. He was at ease with youngsters like Jaishankar, Ravichandran and many more. His best portrayal came in the form of C.V.Sridhar’s Nenjam Marapadhillai. His acting as the old man who awaits even after 2 generations to separate the lovers. His daring outlook sent chills down the spine for the audience. This was Nambiar’s role of his life and no one but Nambiar could do that role and also it was his favorite role as well. Nenjam Marapadhillai is for sure unforgettable. Having had physical training in the drama troupe, he practised yoga and played badminton regular classes in sword fighting and martial arts kept him fit and my friend Balaji(Ramanujam) son of actor Parthiban(Jackson durai) confirmed that his dad used to visit Nambiar’s house and often witnessed him in menace pose doing yoga. He was also the pioneer to introduce mannerism for main Villain with his various expressions and body language. Every film had a different mannerism. The bad guy of Tamil films was too good of a person in real life. Often we end up hearing stories for reel heroes becoming real life Villains Nambiar was quite opposite. He never had outside food and always had food cooked by his wife Rukmani. He practiced yoga and was so spiritual and above all a staunch Iyyappa swami follower and was the main reason for many film makers and actors to take up spirituality and practice pious observance and thus fondly called as “Guru swamy”
During 80’s when the film scene was changing, new film makers with new ideas were attempted and thus Villain Nambiar became character Nambiar. Playing character roles was not new to him. Many might not know that he did a fantastic cook role in B.Vittalacharya’s “Pen kulathin Pon Vilakku” which had humor and sarcasm and the way he brings Gemini to the household is hilarious to watch. He played a Brahmin pundit in subadinam alongside G.Shakuntala and his role was full of humor as well. He did character roles in movies like Ellorum innattu mannar, pasamalar, bhagapirivinai so essaying character roles was nothing new to him then but having established as an Evil villain the second innings should have an memorable start and that came in the name of K.Bhagyaraj who is known for his screenplay cast Nambiar as the Martial arts master in “Thooral Ninnu pochu” and Bhagyaraj gave a grand opening for Nambiar’s second innings , yes the movie opens with Nambiar chasing a goat to drink fresh goat milk was picturized very well and from then on Nambiar portrayed various roles in number of movies. His roles in movies like Dowry Kalyanam,Yejaman, Poove unakkaga, Managara kaval, Sethupathi IPS etc. His comedy with various generation of comedians is popular even now especially with Gowndamani & Senthil. In a career spanning 71 years Nambiar acted with almost 6 generation of actors including Starting with MGR ,sivaji,Gemini, jaishankar, ravichandran, kamal, rajinikanth, vijayakanth, satyaraj, sarathkumar , simbu, vikram etc. He also acted in television serials like Velan & Alaigal. The reel life villain whose scary image stands tall in our memory even now but lived a simple, clean life in real which is a rare phenomenon and that is Nambiar. His acting is unforgettable – yes “Nenjam Marapadhillai’
Will come back soon with another artiste - Rajesh Lavanya
