MGR: A Life, a 360-degree view of the humanist and wily politician

MGR: A Life, has a super large, multi-dimensional colossus as the subject and hence offers a fascinating theme and R Kannan has yet again proved to be an adept biographer through his diligent research and simple, truthful style of writing. This work following his ANNA: The Life and Times of CN Annadurai, is yet another proof to the writer’s capability and skill. 

Starting from the very beginning, MGR’s life and travails and tribulations starting with the theatre group Boys Company, are captured in a very objective manner. The numerous anecdotes and quotations presented add to the pleasure of reading and also enables the reader to journey through the life of a man who rose from humble beginnings to become a heartthrob, a matinee idol, the vathiyar, the politician and an icon who continues to influence the astute politician and the ordinary man, decades after his death.

There are very interesting facts which might surprise many who thought they knew their MGR. Like his first ‘calf love’ and his inner turmoil when he was pushed into his first marriage. His nascent arrogance as an adolescent stage actor. His desire to outperform NS Krishnan, resulting in MGR repeatedly challenging NSK to a wrestling match, only to lose out many times. Kannan beautifully captures the many sides of MGR, including his natural sense of charity. He once gave away his shawl to a shivering old woman on a road, when he was not even a speck in the film industry. MGR’s natural desire for doing good and to work towards social justice are very well brought out through various events and episodes — like the time he presented Rs 75,000 after Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s call for donations due to Chinese incursion in 1962.

MGRs great influence in cinema and then politics and the events that led to his leveraging his reel image into a real role in society have been the subject of many earlier works. The author presents the events in a coherent way, without adding his own views and opinions that make it a very pleasurable read for the discerning. 

There is a quite a bit that one did not know about his mentee J Jayalalithaa. For example, the time she fell ill and her aunts fought over the keys to the property, and his inflexible attitude in safeguarding another’s property is an example of how well aware he was, of human nature. Kannan succeeds in presenting an all-round view of the humanist and the wily politician who had not studied beyond Class 3, but went to wield complete control over the state polity and also found a place in the hearts of the masses.