MG Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan continue to be the biggest superstars of Tamil cinema. This holds true despite the fact that there was a Thyagaraja Bhagavathar before them, and a Rajinikanth after.
But MGR and Sivaji wouldn’t have had such a steep rise and the indelible place in the history of cinema that they did, if not for M Karunanidhi, the first and arguably greatest superstar screenwriter.
Parasakthi, the Beginning
The mythological silent film based on the Mahabharata, Keechaka Vadham (1916), set the ball rolling for Tamil cinema. The introduction of sound didn’t derail the one-track train of mythological films. Aimed specifically at the illiterate, each film would feature more than 40 songs, and he, who could sing them all in chaste Carnatic vocals, was the superstar.
All this changed in 1952, with a single monologue from the film Parasakthi. Featuring story and screenplay by M Karunanidhi, it paved the way for two phenomena that are both unique to Tamil cinema, and continue to hold sway over it:
The use of cinema as a medium to broadcast political ideology
The birth of dialogue/monologue-oriented entertainment
Even if you do not know the language, it is impossible to be blind (or deaf) to the sheer power of the monologue and Sivaji’s intensity as he delivers it in one take.
