Kalaignar did the impossible…..tune composed overnight – Nostalgic memories

Karunanidhi died 5 years ago after working tirelessly for 80 years in the political field of Tamil Nadu. He innovatively used drama, literature and theatre to further his political causes. The credit for changing Tamil cinema from a superstitious one to a rational political one goes to Karunanidhi. The Parasakthi movie released with his dialogue writing created a ripple effect in Indian cinema. The movie produced by AVM Studios and National pictures gave a marvellous actor and artist Sivaji Ganesan to kollywood cinema.

During the release of AV Meiyappan postal stamps function in 2006, Karunanidhi said, "When AVM studio was made of sheds, AV Meiyappan sat in 10th shed and completed writing the entire story of 'Iravu' movie which is awe-inspiring." During the diamond jubilee function of AVM studios Karunanidhi said, "AVM means a studio which gives out quality and patriotic films to public." This shows the unshakable connection between former CM Karunanidhi and AVM studios.

M. Saravanan said, "I have seen Kalaignar since my childhood days and admired his dialogues. I have spoken Karunanidhi's dialogues in so many elocution competitions and won prizes. The year was 1950 when Karunanidhi came to the studio to work in the Parasakthi movie made by the combined production of AVM studios and National pictures. Since then, the relationship between AVM studio and Karunanidhi has evolved beyond business."

He continued, "AVM studio is the most primitive studio which has been functioning for around 80 years. The success of AVM lied in the work of many people, one such person is Kalaignar Karunanidhi. His humble nature even after reaching high positions astonishes others. Once I met with an accident and got admitted into a hospital, hearing the news Karunanidhi, who was the CM at that time, rushed to hospital after speaking with my family over phone. He could have conveyed his regards over the phone but he came all the way to the hospital in his wheelchair. This shows Karunanidhi's compassion and empathy."

Saravanan also said, "One of the songs' tune in the Parasakthi movie was taken from a Hindi song. The contemporary lyricists found it difficult to write lyrics for this Hindi tune. Owing to the difficulty, the plan was to change the tune but Karunanidhi asked not to change the tune and he wrote the lyrics overnight. This shows the skill and command Karunanidhi has over literature. You cannot see anyone in India other than Kalaignar with such multitasking capabilities and multiple skills in different fields such as journalism, drama, dialogue writing, novel, short stories, speech etc."

Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligence effort.