Plea For ‘S M Sriramulu Naidu Award’ To Keep His Memory Alive
Not many are aware of the fact that Manchester of the South was a hotspot for film making between 1935 and 1972. Thanks to multi-talented S M Sriramulu Naidu, known as Movie Moghul of South India to establish three studios during the golden days of cinema.
Years have rolled on, but the memories still linger in the minds of Kovaiites mostly oldtimers about films made in the city. Here octogenarian Dr.S.Srihari, the first neurologist from Coimbatore and son of S M Sriramulu Naidu recalls the heydeys of film making in Coimbatore.
Interestingly, Dr.S.M.Sriramulu Naidu was a talented person who showed his prowess in different vocations of making bakery items, work on furniture, make movies among other things. He believed that every asset had to be revenue yielding. In fact he put up a commercial building long ago in order to ensure a steady income. It may be noted that grandfather of Dr.Srihari was Munuswamy Naidu and he had amassed a lot of resources which included a number of houses.
The grand movie director and producer had been the energy behind Central Studios, Pakshiraja Studios and Chamundeshwari Studios (Bengaluru). Dr.Srihari shared a number of old facts, incidents concerned with his father, the studios and movie making. He recalled the halcyon days. “Our studio, Pakshiraja was located in Puliyakulam. We had 30 rooms (furnished fully) with attached toilets in the premises. A hair cutting saloon, beauty parlour and a canteen functioned within. The beauty parlour would have a good stock of make up items always. A number of people from Puliyakulam were employed by us. We had carpenters, masons etc., who were part of the team. The movie shoots would be during the day time and used to go on until 7 PM. My father would see the rushes and take part in editing everyday. He used to advise the cameraman, correct the dialogues, work on the songs and music with the concerned people all the time. Father was always in touch with hundreds of people connected with the movie industry. He used to file all the communications efficiently. The studio had its own recording facility and laboratory in the same compound. The nights were kept free for the entire team. One schedule would be about 20 days and my father was very punctual about time. He had worked on six languages and it was a rarity. Father would not spare any efforts to get the best out of the artists or other technicians. Father was also good administrator and he was a stickler for hygiene. We had many cars and log books were maintained for each car. Those were fabulous times.”
Dr. S.Srihari remembers being picked up by B.Rangaswamy Naidu (BR) of Rajalakshmi Mills in his horse drawn vehicle during the weekends. It was when he used to spend time at the residence of BR and have a good time during his days as a young kid. The movie ‘Malai Kallan’ was made in six languages and the Hindi version ‘Azad’ had cost Rs.500000. Dilip Kumar, Meenakumari and others had stayed in Pakshiraja Studios for the shoot. The food was provided by the studio and it was made as per the choice of the artists The Tamil and Telugu versions had been shot simultaneously. M.G.Ramachandran, N.T.Rama Rao and Bhanumathi had done the movie together. The actress Bhanumathi had been a successful artist by then. “MGR was paid Rs.20000 (if I remember) and Bhanumathi was given Rs.25000 ! The dialogue writer was M.Karunanidhi and he was paid Rs.10000, and it was a princely sum those days. The total cost of the Tamil version was just a little over Rs.250000. The other language versions were a little lesser. However the movie was a big hit and grossed a big sum. It was an extremely profitable venture and the movie catapulted MGR to Super Stardom in one stroke. All the stars stayed in the studio. MGR used to love ‘karuvattu kuzhambhu’ and it was brought by Sundaravel of RHR (Royal Hindu Restaurant). The star used to like the cooking of Chinnathayammal the wife of the hotel founder Guruswamy Nadar. All the stars used to travel by car those days for they could avoid the crowds at the railway platforms while also travelling in their own pace, “shared the good doctor.
The movie ‘Sivakavi’ starring M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar (MKT) was done in 1943 and a part of the movie had been shot at the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple Theppakulam. The team had stayed at the Udupi Lodge and women had thronged the railway stations enroute in order to get a glance of MKT and if possible get a feel of the handsome man through a handshake. MKT had been blessed with a golden complexion, fabulous voice and a nice personality. The entire movie ‘Aryamala’ had been produced for Rs.80000. Movie artists who played the leading role had been paid Rs.5000 and the song writers used to get Rs.1000. These were huge sums then.
Dr.S.Srihari shared some more snippets about the movie shoots and the artists, “MGR used to get his make up done well. He protected his image. Sivaji Ganesan was more reserved and would attend to his work in a prompt manner. The poori and masal from C.S Hotel used to be a favourite with both of them. Of course, food was also got from Ranjitha Vilas or Bombay Anand Bhavan. Both MGR and Sivaji used to give a lot of respect to my father. Those days, the director was the king and he was like an emperor. MGR was a kind hearted person. He was humble to the core and would never show off. Many people benefitted because of his helpful nature. No wonder people prayed for his health when he fell ill during the year 1984. A number of people with a political background used to visit the studio and meet MGR. He concentrated a lot on the development of the DMK those days. MGR was like a magnet in the party and public meetings. The great C.N.Annadurai used to address the gathering in the presence of MGR on a number of occasions.”
Sivaji Ganesan had done a couple of movies with S.M.Sriramulu Naidu – Maragatham (1959) and Kalyaniyin Kanavan (1962). Srihari remembers the making of Maragatham, “It was holiday time for me and I went with the team to Valparai. The ropeway shot was done there. Cochin harbor was another location for the movie. We stayed at the Bolgatty Palace for my father had hired it fully for the movie. More than 30 of us stayed at the palace for a week. Both MGR and Sivaji used to address my father as ‘Naidu Sir’ while M.Karunanidhi (MK) used to address him as ‘Naina’. MGR was very particular to develop his image on screen while also making sure that his movie roles were attractive, imaginative and successful at the box office. Good messages and morals were important for him. MK was a great speaker and was a really talented person. My father used to meet up with MK as Chief Minister along with V.M.Kailasa Gounder between the years 1970 and 1975. They used to relax themselves by playing cards. The call used to come by 4 PM and everyone used to assemble at the place belonging to V.M.Kailasa Gounder. I also remember visiting Ramavaram Gardens (the residence of MGR) along with my father. He received us well. Sivaji Ganesan liked his friends and good food. His friends V.A.Muthumanickkam and Dentist Dr. K.Veluswamy used to visit him often and spend time with him. Non vegetarian biriyani was made for Sivaji Ganesan and he used to feel really entertained in the company of his friends.”
Dr.S.Srihari talked about the song ‘Ethanai Kaalam thaan Yemaattruvaar indha naattilae’ which was rendered by M.Karunanidhi in Malai Kallan. The movie had grossed Rs.9000000 (ninety lakhs) those days and this was the revenue for the Tamil version alone. The returns had been fabulous and M.G.Ramachandran became the Super Star of his times.
S.M.Sriramulu Naidu used to get up from his sleep and note down his ideas promptly even if it was in the middle of the night. The Movie Moghul of South India had friends from all quarters of the society. Perhaps an award on innovation and creativity could be created in his name and conferred to talented Coimbatoreans on an annual basis. The ‘S.M.Sriramulu Naidu Citation’ for ‘Creativity and Innovation’ will be most welcome in Coimbatore.
—Rajesh Govindarajulu
