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The medium is the message
When Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi recently inaugurated a film event, unveiling, at the start of the legendary film-maker's centenary year, a bust of Av. Meiyappan that will grace the new South Indian Film Chamber building when it comes up, he spoke of two AVM films, Oriravu and Parasakthi. In speaking of the former, he praised the contribution of his mentor, C.N. Annadurai, and downplayed his own part in the latter which made Sivaji Ganesan a star. Oriravu was made in 1951 by AVM with Pa. Neelakantan directing. The film was based on a short story written by Annadurai, who did the script for the film and got paid Rs.10,000 for his trouble. But its focus on the common man, the Dravidian ideology and rationalism was only a follow-up of what many think was Annadurai's best script, the script he wrote for the first of the message-bearing films, Velaikkari, made in 1949. But that was made by Jupiter Pictures. Parasakthi, on the other hand, was, like Oriravu, made by AVM, but more than revealing Sivaji Ganesan as a thespian extraordinary, it showed Mr. Karunanidhi as the master of meaningful screen dialogue that carried forceful messages to the masses. Mr. Karunanidhi built up his skills slowly, starting with a partial contribution to Rajakumari in 1947, scripting Abhimanyu in 1948, making his mark with Manthri Kumari and Maruthanattu Ilavarasi in 1950, and arousing audiences with dialogue in Parasakthi in 1952. As a film producer, he proved successful with Kanchi Thalaivan and Poompuhar, but he scored again as a rousing scriptwriter with Manohara in 1954. Mr. Karunanidhi might well have triggered memories of his significant contribution to Tamil cinema at that recent function, but he was happy to let the spotlight fall on AVM.
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