End of an era – The expertise of M. N. Nambair

M. N. Nambiar - The man who earned Tamilnadu's wrath when he went about whipping MGR mercilessly in the film 'Enga Veetu Pillai' was so realistic as a villain that a majority in the State hated his very demeanor.

The highly talented actor traversed an era when reel life attitudes were taken as real life habits. But then his charisma in front of the camera never waned. An MGR film would never be complete without the villainy of Nambiar.

Click to see the last respects offered to M. N. Nambiar….

Shaking his head with evil intent, clasped hands with drooping cheeks while delivering vicious dialogues has been his trademark over the years.

Cinema has come to understand that if a protagonist is lauded big time, it is mainly because of the antagonist's make-believe performance with intensity. James Bond films have proved this time and again. Bond villains were so spectacular that the audience believes that 007 has really been spectacular to win over such a powerful villain. In the same vein, Nambiar's excellence comes with MGR's popularity. And that popularity was phenomenal.

Nambiar featured in Karunanithi's 'Mandhira Kumari' as Rajaguru and the tone was set for him to excel in playing the baddie. Scores of movies followed and the masses came to identify the actor as the 'original villain'. Apart from just playing hardcore villain roles, Nambiar also excelled in villainy with a tinge of comedy attached to it as was evident in the film Lakshmi Kalyanam. The character 'Suruttu' Sundarampillai went on to be admired a lot.

'Nenjam Marapathillai' saw Nambiar play villain to two generations tactfully and won rave reviews. Despite having proved himself as a powerful performer time and again, his association with MGR in films is something that has gone on to break all kinds of barriers. It has become legendary stuff and will always live on with a touch of gold and silver attached to it.

After the heydays of MGR and Sivaji had ended Nambiar continued to act and has been part of many movies that featured him in character roles….even playing the good man. He has been seen with Rajinikanth in 'Ejamaan' and 'Baba', with Karthik in 'Rojavanam' with Vijay in 'Poove Unnakaga' etc.

Click to see the last respects offered to M. N. Nambiar….

Seven generations had passed and Nambiar was still there as passionate as ever doing what he does well….acting. His demise comes across as an irreplaceable loss to Tamil filmdom. It might take many years for someone to fill into his shoes …. if at all.

Nambiar in real life was known to be a gentleman sans bad habits and as one who was deeply religious. He made many pilgrimages to Sabharimala and is known to acquaint spirituality to fellow artists. Nambair was the 'guru swamy' to Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan when they undertook pilgrimages to Sabharimala.

With Nambiar's passing away an era has ended. But then he will always live on in his movies introducing himself to generations to come….even terrifying them sometimes.

May his soul rest in peace!