Evergreen voice: M Thankamani

M Thankamani, who won accolades for her unique voice as a presenter and drama artiste at All India Radio (Akashvani), India’s national broadcaster, and as a film dubbing artiste, talks to KK Moidu during her first visit to Dubai

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award winner M Thankamani’s voice is familiar to listeners of the radio for more than three decades now. She is the presenter at Akashvani and those who have heard her voice once cannot forget the attractive and enticing tone. She has secured a place in the hearts of millions of listeners through the roles of numerous characters on radio dramas like Sooryakanthiye Snehicha Penkutty, Moodhevi, Theyyam, Indulekha etc. Her special talent for the vocalisation of people of all ages like old women, young ladies, college students or little girls, endeared her to audiences.
M Thankamani was born in Shoranur in Palghat district, Kerala, in a Namboothiri family. She is the third daughter of the great social reformer Mullamangalath Raman Bhattathirippadu aka MRB and Umadevi Antharjanam. Her father MRB was a playwright, poet and author of many books and made history by marrying a widow in the Namboothiri community.

M Thankamani completed her matriculation from the famous Victoria Government Girl’s High School in Thrissur. “I wanted to be a Hindi teacher and passed Hindi Praveen (equal to BA), but my introduction to All India Radio as a child artiste became a turning point in my career,” she recalled about her childhood ambitions and ultimate entry into the world of sound.
She said: “I debuted into the world of sound in 1964 at the Kozhikode station and after passing the audition, I was selected as a casual announcer in 1967 at Thrissur station. I had to take over occasionally when any one of the three staff members Padmarajan, S Venu or Radhalakshmi were absent.”

  Thankamani got the opportunity to sharpen her skills from Padmarajan and other regular visitors to the stations like veteran theatre personalities PJ Antony, Balan K Nair, MS Namboothiri etc.

She was promoted as a permanent announcer on Dec. 23, 1973, when Thrissur station started airing independent programmes of the kacheris (concerts) of Chempai Swamy. She also worked right from the inception to retirement last year as a senior announcer at the Thrissur station.
She performed the role of Mariam in Vishachumpanam, the first production from Thrissur station on Christmas day in 1973 and later performed in many other plays. Thankamani, who lent her voice for numerous elder characters at young age and vice versa could not recall the number of roles she portrayed so far. She said: “I had lent my voice for a 10-year-old mentally retarded girl in radio play Prahelika, which was a strain. It was a challenge and most memorable. I was 22 years old at that time and it was one of the best roles of my four-decades long career. The listeners also remembered the character for a long time.”

She had the luck to be a permanent presenter for 17 years of Chempai Sangeetholsavam. Thankamani said that “women were not allowed to participate in concerts like Chempai Sangeetholsavam during that time and I was assigned for that duty continuously for 17 years upto my retirement last year.”
Thankamani’s unmatched vocal virtuosity earned her opportunities as a dubbing artiste in films. She made her debut as a dubbing artiste by lending her voice to Supriya in Theerthayathra directed by Vincent. Thankamani says that “dubbing artiste's were rarely recognised by the audience at that time. Few people like Anandavally, KPAC Lalitha etc. were in the profession. I couldn’t accept many dubbing offers for films because of the difficulties in going to Madras.”
However, she dubbed for Suhasini in Shaji N Karun’s Vanaprastham, for Mini Nair in Niyogam and Desadanam, for Archana in Piravi, for Aswathi in Swam, for Nirmala in Oru Cheru Punchiri and for Sharada in Kamal’s Rappakal.
Thankamani also lent her voice for Sridevi in Thulavarsham based on C Radhakrishnan’s story and directed by N Sukumaran Nair. Thankamani was the choice for novelist C Radhakrishnan for the audio cassette record of his award-winning novel Nizhalpaadukal.
Another highlight of Thankamani’s career was rendering the voice for Kasthurba played by Rohini Hattangadi in Richard Attenborough’s Malayalam version of Gandhi. “Dubbing for Kasthurba was the most difficult and challenging in my career,” says Thankamani.” She has dubbed her voice for an out of the state actress in the forthcoming Mammootty starrer Kuttyshranku directed by Shaji N Karun.
Although she has worked as a presenter, actress and dubbing artiste, her favourite medium is radio plays. She said: “The development of technology has made the presenter’s job easy and during that time it was very difficult, especially for live phone-in programmes.”
Thankamani, who likes ice cream as much as a baby does, avoids cold drinks and food for keeping the purity of voice. She said that “allergic foods are also harmful for the voice and I was not using tamarind because of allergy.”
“Dubbing for various ages is a stressful job but possible through voice control. I always try to present the programmes in simple language for understanding the audience and gained their acceptance.”

Her singular warmth of voice has fetched the State award for best film dubbing artiste in 2001 for lending her voice to Suhasini in Theerthdanam. She also won National level Akashvani award in 89, 92 and 94 for Mounam Meettunna Thampuru, Sooryayanam and Karmanye Vaadhikarasya respectively.
In 2001, she won the Doordarshan’s best Telefilm presenter award for a Telefilm based on the life of Gandhian and freedom fighter late Padmashri Kumaran Nair.

Photograph: Nisham A Manaf

Return to Grace?: Sharbani Mukherjee

Sharbani Mukherjee returns to the Malayalam film industry with Soofi Paranja Katha directed by Priyanandan, after a hiatus of eight years, writes KK Moidu

Despite being born into the family of well-known film-personalities Sharbani Mukherjee failed to make an impact in Bollywood unlike her cousins Rani Mukherjee and Kajol.
Sharbani is trying her luck in South Indian films once again. She made her debut a couple of years ago in Malayalam film Raakkilippaattu, directed by veteran Priyadarsan.
Raakkilippaattu had also featured two other leading ladies Jyothika and Tabu in important roles. The film was dubbed into other South Indian languages including Tamil as Snegithiye. The film bombed at the box-office but some how managed to get some attention because of the women-centric subject and all female cast.

The suspense-thriller revolved around a women’s college and its hostel life. The film had colourful song like Devathai Vamsam Neeye and Kallori Malare and dance sequences also. But all these factors couldn’t save the film from a box-office flop.
Like many others, Sharbani was hoping to return to Bollywood through south Indian films but the failure of her debut venture stopped her for journey to Bollywood.
Sharbani Mukherjee, of Bengali-Marathi descent, made her film debut long back in a blockbuster movie Border. J P Dutta’s Border was released in 1992. The film was based on Indo-Pak war of 1971. She shared screen space with Sunil Shetty as his wife.
Her debut venture was a critically and commercially hit. But the success of the film didn’t make any impact on her career and she remains a lesser-known face in the industry, even after a decade.

The actress with her trademark light brown eyes that runs in the Mukherjee family failed miserably at the box-office and could not left any impact on the sliver screen.
She has also been unfortunate in a sense that she was never paired opposite big stars and not had the luck to work with the big banners and reputed directors. Though she has acted in a dozen films in ten years of her career. But none of them helped her to sail her ship.
In the new film, Sharbani is playing the central character Karthi aka Beevi in the female-oriented Malayalam film Soofi Paranja Katha directed by Priyanandan, who won national acclaim for Pulijanmam. Soofi Paranja Katha is based on a famous novel by the same title authored by KP Ramanunni nearly two decades ago. He himself writes the screenplay and has made the necessary changes to suit the demand of today’s audience.
Sharbani’s character Karthi aka Beevi in the film is entirely different from her eatlier films and it is a real luck for her as an actress to get such role. Karthi, who has shown unaccustomed intelligence and precocity from her childhood itself, grows up in Melepullaaratharavadu.
She even puts the ancestral goddess under the shade of the house. The deep respect shown by other family members like her mother, uncle makes her isolated in the house.
But the story turns when a young Muslim from Ponnani, Maamutty enters in the house for buying coconuts and arecanut, brought a change in her life.

Karthi, who for the first time sees a human being looking at her without any fear, elopes with him without knowing where he is taking her. She embraces Islam and Maamutty marries her and lives happily. But Karthi is haunted by her childhood culture and customs. Maamutty builds a temple for her in the surroundings of their house but he got killed by villagers in the violence following this act.
Karthi becomes Beevi in the latter part of the film. Sharbani’s role as Karthi aka Beevi is a singular and unique character played by her, but also a milestone in Malayalam and Indian cinema.
Although talented actress are not short in Malayalam cinema the director must have thought that a well-known face can’t portray the role of Karthi powerfully.
Sharbani had done enough preparations for the role by reading the English version of the novel. According to a report, she said, "She was very attracted to her character."
Newcomer Prakash Bhare and Beyond The Ball fame Thambi Anthony plays important roles as Maamutty and Sanku Menon respectively. Prakash Bhare, a successful IT businessman in California is new to the film world but has proved his mettle as an actor in theatre. Thambi Antony, who plays the challenging role of Sanku Menon is a poet who wants to be valued more for his poems than his showbiz performance.

Mohan Sitara tunes music for the lyrics of Rafeeq Ahmed. KG Jayan is the cinematographer and make-ups are done by Pattanam Shah and Pattanam Rasheed. Gokuldas does the art direction, while costume design is by Kumar Edappal.
Soofi Paranja Katha is a teamwork of sensitive and culturally talented people. The bold attempt of the team is expected to become another classic of the new times. The film is made without any commercial elements like mind-blowing fighting sequences or glamorous dances, which are the staple of new Malayalam cinema. That the film challenges this scenario by telling a female oriented story is another specialty.
Soofi Paranja Katha is the third film directed by Priyanandan after Neythukaaran and Pulijanmam. Neythukaaran won the best actor National Award for Murali and Pulijanmam won the National Award for best feature film. Will the third film of Priyanandan fetch a best actress National Award for Sharbani Mukherjee?

On the road to fame: Akash Kingston

Lies on the Prize, directed by Dubai-based Akash Kingston, won the first prize at the 15th Slamdance Film Festival 2009. He shares his winning experience with KK Moidu

Akash Kingston was chosen by the Real Ideas Studio Student Filmmaking programme in 2009 for Slamdance Film Festival held in January in Park City, Utah, USA. Eight documentaries made by thirty-two students from different backgrounds from all over the world were screened at the festival.
Akash’s team got the story idea for the winning documentary from colleagues. He was the head of one of the eight teams selected through an interview and skills assessment by the board members of the Real Ideas Studio. Twenty-year-old Akash, son of Kingston Gilbert and Usha Kingston, is a graduate in film production from SAE Institute, Dubai.
Born in Calicut, Kerala, India, Akash has been living in Dubai for the last 13 years. Akash was the only one to be selected from the Middle East and the Asian region for this prestigious event. The participants had been given a short period of 10 days to write the script, shoot and edit a five-minute short film. Akash’s film was selected by the jury as the best film from the entries submitted by more than 30 students from around the world.
Excited Akash shares his achievements and thoughts with the Time Out readers.

Excerpts:

Tell us how did your prize winning documentary Lies on the Prize come about?
Lies on the Prize came out purely with a team effort. We had pitched about eight ideas and Lies on the Prize was the most risky one to do because it involved candid camera takes and it was a mockumentary purely based on people’s reaction.

What did you learn from Real Ideas Studio?
I have learnt a lot of technical aspects from the masters who gave us classes on Adobe software, script writing, editing and motion graphics. Real Ideas gave us a lot in terms of technical knowledge as well as network resources.

What was the criterion for participating in the festival? You have to be above 18 and should have a strong portfolio as well as communication skills.

Did anybody help you while preparing for your participation?
My parents were extremely supportive all the way through this, and it really helped me focus on the task at hand.

How did the festival strike you? What are your expectations about your career? I have always known about the Sundance and the Slamdance festival, but this competition as such held by Real Ideas was brought to my attention by my lecturer Markus Rosentreter at SAE Institute. I applied online and went through a series of interviews and portfolio assessments.
I wish to make films that may bring hope, changes and inspiration to my audiences. My films should also entertains.

Did you watch other documentaries at the Slamdance festival? What do you think about your documentary winning the first prize?
I watched a couple of short films and they were all individual pieces of art expressed by different individuals with different perspectives, and it was a pleasure to see how art has progressed over the years. I watched other short films too from the competition and felt all of them were really good.
Our movie won the prize because it was unique, creative and totally different from the rest and that must have caught the jury’s attention.

Why did you choose a career of filmmaking?
I always love art expressed in different media and different forms. From a very young age I have been exposed to films and art. My father was a theatre person and we used to do plays together and I think all of that played a role in making me fall in love with films over the years. Moreover, it is my passion.

Do you have plan to enter the film industry? If so, what kind of films will you be making?
I would love to make films that would inspire changes in the world. I love all genres of films so I would definitely try my hands on all.
I love music being a major part of a film and hence most of my styles would relate to that. I love photography and long shots excite me. There are many things I would like to incorporate into films and every film should reveal something new.

When will you be making a feature film and in which language?
I am not sure when will I make my first feature film, but it will be pretty soon. The language will most probably be English.

How does your experience as a student help your career in the film industry?
Well, my experience as a student at SAE was really a great help, it provided me with hands on experience and more practical usage of my theory and it really helped me learn faster and in a better way. Markus, my teacher was also a source of inspiration for me.

Who are your favourite director(s) and actor(s)?
My favourite directors are Ridley Scott, Darren Aronofsky, Steven Spielberg, Rob Zombie, Mani Ratnam, Ed Zwick and Farhan Akhtar. For actors I don’t have any personal favorites but I am a fan of all great performers.

Can you tell us something about your previous works?
I have worked on a couple of short films and documentaries, but my most recent one was an 11-minute short film Entropy. It was about a retired soldier and whose his alter ego developed through the trauma he faced when he was at war.

How do you like cinema to be?
I love cinema for the way it’s now and it is all perfect. But it would be greater if it was more artistic and less commercial.

Venturing into new arenas: Geethu Mohandas

Award-winning actress Geethu Mohandas makes her debut as a director with a short film, Kelkunnundo, writes KK Moidu

Critically acclaimed actress Geethu Mohandas, who proved her mettle as a actress by playing meaningful roles in films like Oridam, Akale, Rappakal, Thakarchenda, Naalu Pennungal etc. sits in the director’s chair for a 30 minute short film. Her maiden directorial venture with a group of newcomers will be a take on urbanisation and development. The film shooting will start in Aluva this month. According to reports, Geethu’s fiancée and popular cameraman Rajeev Ravi is the cinematographer. The film will utilise the latest technologies and live sound recording. The makers are planning to do the post production at Mumbai. After the short film Kelkkunnundo, her next will be in Hindi canned in North India.
Geethu has played heroine and second heroine roles in more than 20 films. Her well-known role as a committed film maker in acclaimed director TK Rajeev Kumar’s laudable venture Sesham released in 2002 is an added advantage for her new project.

Child artiste turned heroine, Gayathri, popularly known as Geethu completed her primary education in famous Chinmaya Vidyalaya and later moved to Canada with her family. A good painter, she won many prizes in her school days and studied acting at Toronto University.
Geethu Mohandas started her film career as a child artiste two decades before in Onnu Mudhal Poojyam Vare directed by Reghunath Paleri. The wide eyed little girl not only won the hearts of audience in her debut film but also fetched the Kerala State Award for Best Child Artiste. Mohanlal played the lead role in the film, which has also won the State Awards for best cinematography (Shaji N Karun), best debut director (Reghunath Paleri) and TR Sekhar (best editing).
Baby Geethu played a fatherless child’s role in the film and later find out a father in an anonymous telephone caller. Her marvellous performance in the film earned her a couple of roles as a child artiste in films like Veendum, Rareeram etc.
Baby Geethu also made her Tamil debut as a child artiste in En Bommakutty Ammavukku directed by Fazil. The film was a remake of Malayalam superhit Ente Maamattikuttiyammaku and she played the role of Baby Shalini in the original. En Bommakutty Ammavukku repeated the success of the original and it was a top grosser at the Tamil box office.

Ace director Fazil relaunched her as a matured artiste after one-and-a-half decade  in Mohanlal starrer Life is Beautiful during her vacation in Kerala. Although the film didn’t perform well at the box office like other Fazil films, her role as an innocent helpless girl Sangeetha as one of the heroine in Thenkasippattanam was a turning point in her career. Director duo Rafi-Mecartin’s comedy entertainer Thenkasippattanam was one of the biggest hits of the year.
The beautiful actress with an impressive smile and expressive eyes have all the features of a commercial heroine but the talented and ambitious Geethu never appeared as just another beautiful female lead. She always avoided glamour roles in commercial entertainers and preferred meaty roles without an image fear which other young female artistes dare to accept.
Her challenging and out-of-ordinary roles in offbeat ventures like Thakarachenda, Valkannadi, Kannaki etc. are only few examples. Her performance as a slum woman Latha, a mother of two, who survived by working as a house maid in Thakarachenda was natural. The sentimental performance as a leading lady of Kalabhavan Mani in Valkannadi as Devu and her role in Kannaki as Kumudam, who admires the hero Manickan were noticed by the superior performance of the actress. She also shined in an impressive writer’s role as Malavika Varma in Mammootty starrer Rappakal.

 

Thakarachenda

 Sreenivasan and Geethu Mohandas in Thakarachenda

In her long spanning career of nearly two decades, Geethu Mohandas had the luck to act in the films of veteran directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shyamaprasad, TK Rajeev Kumar, Jayaraj, Kamal etc. and also paired opposite heroes like Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Mukesh, Prithviraj, Jayaram, Biju Menon, Kalabhavan Mani etc.
Geethu shared the Kerala State Film Award for best actress for her performance in Shyamaprasad’s Akale and Pradeep Nair’s Oridam along with Kavya Madhavan for the film Perumazhakkalam. Geethu played a mentally retarded but an affectionate girl Rose, with depth and range, in the award winning film Akale.

Like other Malayalam heroines Geethu also tried her luck in Tamil industry as a heroine in Nala Damayanthi opposite Madhavan. She also played a second heroine as the heroine Vimala Raman’s sister Ramya in Poi directed by K. Balachander.
Although Geethu has acted in more than half-a-dozen films in 2002, she was rarely seen on screens in the last couple of years. Most film-makers are not interested in making female oriented films, so heroines are limited to a few glamorous appearances and a couple of song sequences in commercial potboilers.
Leading heroines are doing four or five films in a year, but Geethu has only one film Akashagopuram to her credit. Although she acted only in a few films in recent years, they were crafted by famous directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, KP Kumaran etc.

New image: Sanjana Galrani

Sanjana, tagged as a voluptuous actress after her performance in Ganda Hendathi, plays a deglamorised role in Ee Sanje, writes KK Moidu

Sanjana

Sanjana plays a traditional tailor-made role of a homely middle-class girl in the forthcoming Kannada film Ee Sanje. She hopes the film, directed by youngster Sree of Orata I Love You fame, will not only change her image but also make her a favourite with the audience. She appears without revealing costumes in a girl next-door image in the film. Ee Sanje is different from her earlier Kannada films and she expects her role as a homely heroine opposite Aarya will be the beginning of a new career.
Aarya, second hero of No. 73, Shanthi Nivasa, dons the hero's role in the film with three shades. One of them is mass oriented, one is a silent victim of injustice and third shade is suspense.
Balaji Singh produces Ee Sanje and the highlight of the film is suspense and music. Jai Shivu is making his debut as music director.
Although Sanjana made her film debut in Sree Shailendra productions Kannada film Autograph Please, her second film Ganda Hendathi released earlier.
Ganda Hendathi directed by Ravi Srivatsa released with an 'A' certificate was a remake of Hindi film Murder. The family audience turned down the film because of its overdose of adult content. Mallika Sherawat enacted Sanjana’s role in the original.
However, her debut in a small role in the Telugu film Bujjigadu changed the fortune of the model-turned-actress. She played a minor role as the heroine's sister in Bujjigadu directed by Puri Jagannath. The box office success of the film made her noticeable in the Telugu film industry and she was flooded with offers.
Her recently released Telugu film Sathyameva Jayathe was also a hit at the box office. She played a homely role in the film with pure innocence as the wife of Dr Rajasekhar. Sathyameva Jayathe is a remake of Hindi film Khakee. Sanjana's character is an addition to the Telugu version and does not feature in the Hindi original.
Dr Rajasekhar, who excelled in cop roles in films like Ankusham, Magadu and Aagraham once again dons a vigilant cop's role in the commercial entertainer. The film delves deep into the present scenario of terrorism and selfless thinking of an honest police officer, who fights against lawlessness.
Sathyameva Jayathe is directed by Jeevitha, the wife of Dr Rajasekhar and he himself penned the story and screenplay.
Sanjana is the love interest of young hero Raja in the forthcoming Telugu film Samardhudu. Raja dons the role of a notorious criminal and Krishnamraju is a politician in the action thriller. The film is directed by debutante Arjun and he himself writes the story and screenplay. Samardhudu will be produced by Suresh Reddy and M Venkatrami Reddy. Rajasekhar Valluri is the music director.

Sanjana and Raja in Samarthudu

After romancing a criminal in Samardhudu, the pretty Sanjana becomes the love interest of a cop in the bilingual film Police Police. Srikanth and Prithviraj don police officer's roles in the film, while Kamilini Mukherjee is the other heroine. Manmohan is the director, producers are Bhasker and Chandu and Chakri scores the music.
Sanjana Galrani aka Archana Galrani was born and brought up in India's garden city Bangalore and completed her schooling at St Marys. She was born on Oct 10 and she is the elder daughter of Manohar Galrani and Reshma M Galrani. Her father is a businessman and mother is a housewife. She started her career as a model and appeared in the ads of Sudarshan Silks and Sarees, Sri Krishna Diamond and Jewellers, Alukkas Diamond and Jewellers — Cochin, Garuda Mall, President Shoppers Shop, Majestic etc.

Sanjana

Sanjana succeeded in winning the hearts of the Telugu audience by playing deglamorised roles. Will her homely girl image in the Kannada film Ee Sanje change her image and make her a favourite of the Kannada film industry?

Hard to forget: Nagesh

Nagesh will be remembered as one of the most talented comedians in Tamil Cinema, says KK Moidu
Cyril K Nagesh, popularly known as Nagesh, has left a void in the Tamil cinema industry. The death of the septuagenarian on Jan. 31 due to complications related to diabetes and heart ailment put an end to an era. The 76-year-old actor is survived by three sons, including actor Anand Babu.
Nagesh, who carved a niche for himself, was most often casted as the man who stands next to the hero. He had enough luck to share screen space with three generations of actors like MGR-Sivaji, Rajinikanth-Kamal Hassan and the latest Tamil heartthrobs Ilayathalapathi Vijay and Ajith Kumar.
Most of the people today remember Nagesh as a funny man but many don't know yesteryear's front-line heroes like MGR and Sivaji Ganesan were waiting for his arrival on the sets.
For producers, his presence in films was necessary for commercial success. He was not able to find enough time and worked on an hourly basis on each film per day.
For the last couple of years, Nagesh was rarely seen on screen and his last film was Dasavatharam, where Kamal Hassan played ten different roles.
He was one of the leading comedians of the 60s and 70s during the reign of MGR-Shivaji and was a regular in their films. Nagesh, a good dancer, was praised for his pairing opposite Manorama in several films.
CK Nagesh was born as Gundu Rao in a Brahmin community to Kannada speaking Brahmin Madhwa parents in 1933. He left his home as a teenager, telling his parents that he would return only after establishing himself. He travelled to Chennai and started his career as an employee of the Indian Railways.
After watching a Tamil play Kamba Ramayanam presented by his colleagues, he felt that he could do a better job. His role in a play as a man suffering from stomach pain staged at the Railways Cultural Association won him appreciation from MGR, the chief guest of the programme.
Nagesh began his career as a theatre artiste by playing minor roles and finally reached stardom.
He has given life to many memorable characters in his long career spanning more than four-and-a-half decades. Films like Thiruvilayadal, Kadhalikka Neramillai, Thillana Mohanambal, Server Sundaram, Neer Kumizhi, Yarukkaga Azhuthan, Edhir Neechal etc. are only a few examples of his brilliant performance.
His outstanding performance as a waiter, who later becomes a successful film actor in the blockbuster Server Sundaram and a poverty stricken Dharumi, who struggles to meet both ends finally meet face to face with Hindu Lord Shiva in Thiruvilayadal brought him recognition.
Another brilliant performance as an intrepid story teller/film maker Chellappa in Kadhalikka Neramillai and a villainous comic pimp Vaithy in Sivaji-Padmini starrer Thillana Mohanambal were his career's best.
He proved his mettle as an actor not only by playing humorous characters but also gained the audience attention in serious roles in films like Neer Kumuzhi, Ethir Neechal etc. Nagesh played the lead role in Ethir Neechal as an orphan who does odd jobs for a living. Nagesh-Balachander partnership turned out to be a blockbuster hit at the box office. He played a bright but poor student dependent on others for a livelihood and that of a cancer patient in Neer Kumizhi which was well accepted by the audience.
His role as a drunkard in super star Rajinikanth's debut film and Kamal Hassan's first major hit Apoorva Raagangal not only earned good collections at theatres but also doubled the cleaning works of the staffs. His role in the film was an inspiration for other actors, who performed similar roles later.
Nagesh played a drunkard's role in the film, who talks to his own shadow and finishes the dialogue by saying cheers and throwing the cup on the wall. The audience started imitating Nagesh in the theatres by throwing their tea cup on the wall of the lobby during the interval.
His true friendship and professional relations with Kamal Hassan gave him an opportunity to exhibit his immense talents in various styles. Surprisingly Nagesh played characters with negative shades with the same elan. His role as one of the four villains, Dharmaraj, in Apoorva Sahodarangal, where Kamal played a triple role, was illustrative of this. Nagesh excelled in a funny role in Michael Madhana Kamarajan, where Kamal played four different characters. Kamal Hassan produced Magalir Mattum, in which Nagesh played a cadaver.
He was lucky to be a regular in films made by notable directors of the time like K Balachander, CV Sridhar etc. and they were known for exploiting the talent of the gifted actor.
Nagesh trained in acting by watching life and its characters. He would often sit in his car on busy roadsides to watch mannerisms of people from different walks of life and he enacted that on screen.
National recognition came through well known director KS Sethumadhavan's Nammavar along with Ashish Vidhyarthi for Droh Kaal. Nagesh fetched the Silver Lotus Best Supporting actor Award for his father's role in the Kamal-Gauthami starrer Nammavar. The Tamilnadu government recognised Nagesh by presenting him the Kalaimamani Award.
He became popular in neighbouring states by acting in Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and his mother tongue Kannada films. As an actor, his greatest strength was his effortless dialogue delivery and body language that guaranteed him people's heart — and laughs.