MGR Devotee Tamilnesan

Sri MGR Year 95, 2nd July, Monday

MGR Devotee Tirupur Ravichandran forwarded the news of an article that have been published in Times of India Madurai Edition.

 

The article is about MGR Devotee Tamilnesan who have collected some 800 odd tickets of MGR movies that he had watched from 1990s. Below is the article that have appeared in Times of India dated 2nd July 2012.

 

MADURAI: For this 52-year-old BSNL employee in Madurai, movie tickets are not just an entry pass to the cinema hall, but memorabilia to showcase his love for legendary actor and former chief minister MG Ramachandran.

M Tamilnesan, from T Kunnathur near Perayur, has religiously collected tickets of all the MGR movies that he has watched in the last 20 years. While almost all theatres in Madurai are covered, he also has tickets of theatres from Coimbatore, Salem, Dindigul, Palani, Chennai and other towns. "I missed tickets from theatres in Hyderabad and Bangalore," says Tamilnesan, proudly displaying the tickets pasted in the order of date. Some of them he possesses are truly memorabilia as those theatres no longer exist now.

An SSLC holder, Tamilnesan recollects that he got introduced to MGR films when he was studying in the ninth standard. "I vividly remember the day. The film was Mugarasi, screened in a theatre in nearby Kallupatti village. There was a huge crowd that came in bullock carts from various villages. I was surprised to see that a large number of women had also come," says Tamilnesan. "But after watching the movie, I understood the reason for the huge crowd. It was the aura of MGR," he says. But he did not start collecting tickets from that time. "It occurred to me to collect tickets only much later, in the 1990s. Till date, I have 800 tickets costing from Rs 2 to Rs 50 bought from over 150 theatres," he says. Tamilnesan maintains a diary where he has pasted the tickets with notes of the film, theatre and the show timings. "Half of the theatres have been razed down now," he says.

A diehard fan of MGR, so much so that he offers prayers to the matinee idol's portrait in his house everyday, Tamilnesan claims he has not watched films of any other actor. "Even in television, I don't watch any other films or programmes except for news. But every Sunday, without fail, I watch an MGR movie. I have even watched movies like "Adimai Penn" 100 times," he says.

Tamilnesan has also founded Madurai District MGR Devotees Club that has 130 members. The main activity of the club is to visit various towns and watch MGR films. Tamilnesan has planned a library in Kunnathur with the 150-odd books about MGR he possesses. "MGR's life, like his films, is a messages to the masses. I want to spread them," he says.

 

 

The above image is from MGR’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration 2010.

Evergreen MGR Legacy

Sri MGR Year 94, 21st March, Monday

 

Times of India today written an article about our Beloved Leader Puratchi Thalaivar MGR’s movie re-release history in detailed manner. The same article in Tamil appeared in Nakkeran website. (Information from MGR Devotee K.P.Ramesh, Dubai)

 

The article and images are given below:

 

With the city in the grip of poll fever, MGR’s films are raking in the moolah...
Sreedhar Pillai

There is a belief in the Tamil film trade that those who own the rights to “evergreen MGR hits” will always have a perennial source of income.

Says Palanisamy, a veteran Madurai-based distributor, “MGR hits are pure gold. Their value increases every year in Tamil Nadu. No other actor in the world has had so many re-releases, especially when elections are held in the state.”

Palanisamy says that older films of today’s superstars have no resale value in the re-release market. Asks Palanisami, “How many times have you seen a Baasha or Ghilli on television? Some weeks back, both the films were rereleased but the response in theatres was lukewarm as compared to the response to re-releases of MGR’s popular hits of the 60s and 70s. Till very recently, most of MGR’s biggest hits were not shown on television due to problems arising over rights. MGR is an evergreen legend and part of the Dravidian movement.”

 

 

 

During election time, rundown single screens in rural or semi-urban areas screen MGR films. Some political parties are taking advantage of this craze and are providing free sops like towels, saris, dhotis and biryani packets for those who purchase tickets for an MGR film. Last week, the Election Commission cracked down on a theatre which was screening an MGR film (running to a packed house) in Thoothukudi suburbs for distributing free chicken biriyani along with the tickets.

 

Popular actor and chief of the Nadigar Sangam, Sarath Kumar, says, “First and foremost, I’m a theevira MGR rasigan (ardent fan of MGR). I have seen all his films at least half-a-dozen times since my school days. He is much more than a phenomenon and even today, you can get a houseful show for any of his blockbusters. Which other actor in the world has such recall value and audience response?”

 

No wonder ‘Captain’ Vijaykanth has styled himself as the ‘Karuppu MGR’ and is cashing in on the MGR charisma.

 

In all his poll posters, one can also find a picture of MGR along with the actor’s.

 

There are more cut-outs and posters of old MGR movies than new films in rural areas though nobody knows who has put it up. Last Saturday, a theatre in Chengalpet area showing an MGR film had better collections than an adjoining theatre screening a film which released the previous day.

 

Today, prints of MGR’s popular hits like Nadodi Mannan, Aayirathil Oruvan, Ulagam Sutrum Valiban, and Enga Veetu Pillai are more in demand among theatre owners in rural Tamil Nadu than any new Tamil film released in 2011!