Actors - N. S. Krishnan

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	Actors - N. S. Krishnan

N. S. Krishnan, popularly known as Kalaivanar and also as 'NSK' was a leading Tamil film comedian, drama artist, playback singer and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry - in the 1940s and 1950s.

Born in Nagercoil, in the state of Tamilnadu, India on 29 November, 1908, his stage and cine-screen comedy performances were unique and always carried a message for the people. The modern day Tamil cine comedian Vivek, who follows a similar style is dubbed 'Chinna (a similar and little type of) Kalaivanar'.

N S Krishnan started his career as a Villupaatu artist (the Tamil way of reciting stories in songs) and later became involved in Tamil drama and stage shows, as were so many film artistes in his days, and at one-time owned his own touring drama company ; and when cinema gradually became popular in South India, he entered the Tamil film world to become one of the leading Tamil film comedians ever, with a unique style.

He generally wrote his own comedy dialogues and expressed them in his drama and films in such a way that the message was carried across, but the subject to whom it was intended was not offended.

Though he was more popular among the Tamil populace as a film comedian (and even in the modern day he is remembered for that), Kalaivanar was instrumental in bringing a number of leading Tamil stage and film personalities of his days to the fore ; he was also a Gandhian, patriot and philanthropist, yet a very controversial figure - with his name linked to a murder and also some marital controversies.

He acted in nearly 150 Tamil films and the matinee-duo of N S krishnan and T A Maduram (later his better half) in Tamil films was very popular in his days ; he also did roles along with leading stage and cine artists of his time like T. S. Durairaj , 'Pulimootai 'Ramasami, C. S. Pandian and writers like Udumalai Narayana Kavi and Subbu Armugham and gave a number of hits in those days. He was also a talented singer and hits include Sivakavi, Raja Rani, and Manamagal.

The leading Tamilnadu politician and ex-Chief Minister 'Kalaignar' Karunanidhi, when asked once by a journalist (of the Tamil magazine Kumudham) about who the non-political hero in his life was, answered it was Kalaivanar. The ex-Chief Minister knew him well and also worked in some of his film projects.

The Tamilnadu Government erected a memorial-building in 1979, called 'Kalaivanar Kalai Arangam' (or Kalaivanar Arts Centre) in honour of Kalaivanar's contribution to the Arts, and the building is one of the leading landmarks in the city of Chennai, the capital of Tamilnadu.

'Kalaivanar' N. S. Krishnan passed away at the age of 49, on 30th August, 1957.

Filmography (Reference: IMDB)

Actor - filmography 1. Madurai Veeran (1956) .... Cobbler 2. Rangoon Radha (1956) .... Naidu

3. Nallathambi (1949) .... Nallathambi 4. Ashok Kumar (1941)

5. Ambikapathy (1937)

Director - filmography

1. Panam (1952) 2. Manamagal (1951) 3. Pelli Koothuru (1951)

Listen to some of NSK's songs here http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/catlist.php?catid=13

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for N. S. Krishnan ]

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