R. M. Veerappan (also referred to as RMV or Rama Veerappan) is an Indian politician, an early Dravidian Leader, and a movie producer and screenwriter from the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. He is the founder and leader of the MGR Kazhagam party. He served as a Cabinet Minister in five governments from 1977 to 1996, is a three-time Member of Legislative Council and a two-time member of the Legislative Assembly. He was the Leader of the House for Legislative Assembly and Leader of ADMK party of the Legislative Council. He was the architect behind the ADMK organization, unified the MGR fan clubs for the party formation. He was called as the 'Chanakya' of AIADMK politics in the 70's and 80's.

Political and entertainment career

RMV was introduced to

Periyar Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...

Karaikudi Karaikudi is a Greater municipality in Sivaganga district, Sivagangai district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 21st largest urban agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of t ...

by Rama Subbaiah. He soon began to follow his Dravidian ideologies. He moved to Erode with Periyar and was there with him for some time. He met many other Dravidian leaders. He subsequently joined K R Ramaswamy's Krishnan Drama Company as supervisor. During this period, he became an admirer of

Arignar Anna Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...

and also friends with Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan. The company was closed in 1950 and R. M. V. went to Madras. In 1953 he met MGR through the advice of his mentor C N Annadurai and joined his drama company as Manager, later becoming an executive director of the Company Em.Gee.Yar Pictures. ''Nadodi Mannan'' was the first film under this banner which was released on 22 August 1958. The company later filmed ''Adimai Penn'' and ''Ulagam sutrum Valiban''. RMV later started his own production house and the banner's debut movie titled "Deiva Thai," with MGR in the lead role, was released in 1964. Director K Balachander made his debut into the Tamil film industry by writing the dialogues for this movie. Following that, MGR and RMV appeared together in many movies under this banner, such as ''Naan Anayittal'', ''Kaavalkaran'', ''Kannan En Kadhalan'' and ''Idhaya Kani''. ''Rickshawkaran'', produced by Sathya Movies, helped MGR achieve the National award for his performance. In addition to this, the production house made films including ''Kadhal Parisu'', ''Kakki Chattai'', ''Ranuva Veeran'', ''Moondru Mugam'', ''Thanga Magan'', ''Oor Kavalan'', ''Panakaran'', ''Baasha'', ''Mandhira Punnagai'', and ''Puthiya Vaanam''. Among his movies, ''Basha'', was remarkable and set box office records in all major South Indian languages. RMV was using the super star status of MGR to propagate the DMK ideologies in his films and Rickshawkaran was a prime example where the movie was used to propagate Arignar Anna's DMK ideology during 1971 elections. When MGR moved out of the DMK following differences with M. Karunanidhi in 1972, RMV organised the fan clubs and helped him in starting the AIADMK party. In 1984, while MGR was ill, K. RMV, oversaw the party proceedings and election campaigning. Following the death of MGR in 1987, the party broke up into two factions where the larger faction was headed by him. He garnered support of 98 MLA's to instill V.N. Janaki as the Chief Minister and then later reconciled with

J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

's faction and was the Joint General Secretary of the party. He has been elected to the legislative assembly two times and to the legislative council three times. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly in the Tirunelveli constituency as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate in the Tamil Nadu state assembly bye-election in 1986 and in the

Kangayam Kangeyam () is a town and municipality in Kangeyam taluk, Kangeyam Taluk of Tiruppur district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is situated on National Highway 81 (India), National Highway 81. Kangeyam is an ...

constituency of Tamil Nadu state assembly bye-election in 1991

MGR Kazhagam

MGR Kazhagam (MGR Federation), a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

. The president of MGR Kazhagam is R. M. Veerappan, a former

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mini ...

(AIADMK) founder and leader of the House. MGR Kazhagam supported the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

(DMK)-led

Democratic Progressive Alliance Secular Progressive Alliance, formerly known as Democratic Progressive Alliance, is an alliance of Indian political parties formed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). History The alliance was known as the ''Democratic Progressive Allian ...

in the 2004

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

elections.

Literary and social service activities

He is the founder and President of Kamban Kazhagam and Azhvargal Aaiyvu Maiyam. He also runs an education trust which funds the education of the oppressed.

Family life

R.M.V married Thirumathi Rajammal on 12 March 1956, in Thiruparangundram. The wedding was conducted in the Tamil tradition under Arignar Anna. They have 3 daughters and 3 sons. The eldest daughter, Thirumathi Selvi, married

T. G. Thyagarajan T. G. Thyagarajan (Thyagarajan Govindarajan) is an Indian film producer. He made his debut as film producer with critically acclaimed film ''Moondram Pirai''. He is the founder of the production and distribution company Sathya Jyothi Films. He ...

of Sathya Jyothi Films, son of Thiru. Venus Govindarajan of Venus Pictures.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veerappan, R. M. Tamil Nadu politicians Tamil Nadu ministers All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Living people 1926 births Tamil film producers Film producers from Tamil Nadu People from Pudukkottai district Tamil screenwriters 20th-century Indian politicians 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu