Marudur Gopala Ramachandran (MGR) was a famous cine star turned Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu. He was born on January 17th in Kandy, Sri Lanka as the son of Marudhar Gopalan and Satyabhama. After his father's death the family settled at
Kumbakonam.
He entered into the film world with the film 'Sati Leelavathi' in 1936. In 1947 he attained great place amoung film enthusiasts for his role in the film 'Rajakumari'. Ramachandran reached the stardom by playing characters that portrayed him as the savior of the poor. For the next twenty-five years he remained as the super star. In 1972 he was selected as the best actor for his performance in 'Rickshakaran' by the Government of India.
In 1953 MGR joined politics through Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a prominent political party and became a member of the state legislative council in 1962. In 1967 MGR was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for the first time. MGR added glamour to the Dravidian movement which was sweeping across Tamil Nadu as a storm. After the death of his mentor, Anna Durai in 1972, he joined All India Anna Dravidian Progressive Federation and became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 1977 and continued so till death. He was the first Chief Minister in India from the film field. MGR passed away on 24th December 1987.
He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna by the Government of India. MGR achieved demi-god status and a temple has been built in Chennai for him.
