Nagercoil Sudalaimuthu Krishnan, popularly known as Kalaivanar () and also as NSK, was an Indian actor-comedian, theatre artist, playback singer and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry – in the 1940s and 1950s. He is considered as the "Charlie Chaplin of India." Born in Ozhuginachery,

Nagercoil Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil ("Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula, it lies on ...

, in the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. A ...

, India on 29 November 1908, his stage and cine-screen comedy performances were unique and always carried a message for the people. "Kalaivanar" N. S. Krishnan died at the age of 48, on 30 August 1957.

Personal life

He was married to actress

T. A. Madhuram T. A. Mathuram (14 October 1918 – 23 May 1974) was an Indian stage and film actress and singer. Biography and career Mathuram was born in Srirangam on 14 October 1918 in a family of artists. Her first Tamil film was Rathnaavali released i ...

. His grandson NSK Rajan has acted in the film ''Nagareega Komaali'' (2006). His granddaughters Anu Vardhan and

Ramya NSK Ramya NSK is an Indian playback singer, who has predominantly sung for Tamil language and films. Apart from her work as a singer, she is recognised for being the granddaughter of comedian N. S. Krishnan, actor K. R. Ramaswamy and actress T. A. ...

are working as costume designer and playback singer in the film industry respectively.

Death

N.S. Krishnan had been undergoing treatment for hepatitis since 12 August 1957. He died at the General Hospital, Madras on 30 August 1957 following complications of the disease.

Legacy

* The leading Tamil Nadu politician and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu 'Kalaignar'

Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

, when asked once by a journalist (of the Tamil magazine ''Kumudham'') about who the non-political hero in his life was, answered it was Kalaivanar. Karunanidhi knew him well and worked in some of his film projects. * Kalaivanar was an active member of the Dravidian Movement.

Kalaivanar Arangam Kalaivanar Arangam is an auditorium situated at Wallajah Road in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Named after N. S. Krishnan, The completely air-conditioned auditorium has seats for 1,100 persons on the first and second floors and about 1,300 pers ...

(or Kalaivanar Arts Centre) was named after him. The building is one of the leading landmarks in the city of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, the capital of Tamil Nadu. It now houses the

Tamil Nadu Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post system. The presiding officer of the Assembl ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnan, N. S. People from Nagercoil People from Kanyakumari district Tamil comedians Tamil film directors Dravidian movement Anti-Brahminism 1957 deaths 1908 births 20th-century Indian film directors 20th-century Indian male actors Tamil screenwriters Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu Indian male comedians Male actors from Tamil Nadu Indian male stage actors Male actors in Telugu cinema 20th-century comedians 20th-century Indian screenwriters