Coimbatore had a long association with the late Chief Minister M.G.Ramachandran. One A.N.Marudachalam Chettiar of Coimbatore gave the first movie oppourtunity to MGR by giving him a role in the movie Sathy Leelavathi which was produced during the year 1936. The nineteen year old star was paid a princely sum of Rs.100 for his role as a Sub Inspector. MGR was quite close to Sama Naidu of Peelamedu and he used to spend a lot of time at his residence. The legendary Coimbatore District based Jupiter Pictures were responsible for taking Tamil cinema to great heights and it was S.K.Moideen and Somasundaram who made MGR a hero for the first time.
The Movie Moghul Of India S.M.Sriramulu Naidu produced the Super Dooper hit Malai Kallan starring MGR and Bhanumathi at Pakshiraja Studios in Coimbatore during the year 1954. The movie was made in six languages and was a run away hit which grossed over Rs.1.80 crores those days. It was Malai Kallan which catapulted MGR to Super Stardom and S.M.Sriramulu Naidu received an award from the President of India Dr.Rajendra Prasad . This relationship was to continue well into the seventies of the last century when MGR used the infrastructure of Chamundeshwari Studios belonging to S.M.Sriramulu Naidu at Bengaluru Subsequently MGR did a number of movies, however Nadodi Mannan ( 1958 ) was yet another movie which defined his lustrous career. The movie was released at the Raja theatres in Coimbatore and it was the highest grosser of the times. The management of the theatre was vested with the family of P.A.Raju Chettiar and a grand felicitation was held under the leadership of P.A.R.Viswanathan at the theatre. MGR walked all the way to Raja Theatre along with the other stars on N.H.Road and was given a grand reception. The youthful MGR interacted with the audience at Raja Theatre along with his co stars B.Saroja Devi, M.N.Nambiar,P.S.Veerappa etc., All the stars were given huge silver koojas as momentos and MGR was given a huge silver cup as a special gesture.The silver gifts received by him on this occasion are showcased at Chennai in the MGR memorial.Raja Theatres released the maximum number of MGR movies and Chandra Prabha Pictures managed by P.A.R.Viswanathan distributed most of the movies done by the Superstar. In fact MGR had attended the marriage of Rathna Bai and Vummidi Audisesh at the Vysial Street residence of P.A.Raju Chettiar. A cute looking silver veena was gifted by him to the couple.
M.M.A.Chinnappa Devar was perhaps the most important Coimbatorean who was associated with MGR in a big way. Devar produced several movies of MGR and all of them did exceedingly well. MGR was pretty close to Devar all his life. He inaugurated the lighting system for the Marudamalai Murugan Temple on the request of Devar.The family of Royal Theatres and RHR were also pretty close to MGR and he used to visit them often during his sojourns to Coimbatore.
MGR was loved by the people of Coimbatore and he payed special attention by personally visiting the city when it was at struck by floods during the monsoons of 1977. People used to rush towards his van and clamour for the garlands that were flung by him during his visits to the old town area. MGR as Chief Minister took a major step which provided relief to trade and industry due to the representation made by the President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, G.K.Sundaram ( Lakshmi Mills ). He was also quite friendly with G.Varadaraj ( Rotary Governor, Managing Trustee of P.S.G & Sons Charities and Member of Parliament ). MGR attended the marriage of the L.Gopalakrishnan ( Managing Trustee P.S.G & Sons Charities ) and Padmini during the eighties of the twentieth century.
Coimbatore and M.G.Ramachandran, the Chief Minister of the masses who continues to be loved by all had an association spanning a little over five decades.The people of Coimbatore will forever cherish their relationship with the Peoples' Chief Minister M.G.Ramachandran for eternity.
