Padma awards and individual states
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Tamil cinema: 1954- 2020
Neeraja Ramesh, January 31, 2020: The Times of India
From: Neeraja Ramesh, January 31, 2020: The Times of India
Several luminaries of Tamil cinema are missing from the list of Padma awardees this year, giving credence to the view that political affiliations, not talent or achievements, matter when it comes to the honour.
This isn't the first time the state's artistes have felt snubbed by the Centre. In 2012, Jayalalithaa recommended music director duo M S Viswanathan and T K Ramamurthy for an award for their pioneering contribution to south Indian film music. They have still to receive the honour. This year, posthumous awards were conferred upon former ministers Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and George Fernandes, yet despite significant contributions to cinema and the arts, greats such as M S Viswanathan, Nagesh, R S Manohar, M N Nambiar and P S Veerappa have not yet received the coveted award.
Tamil Nadu, which used to record more than 10 winners a year on average, bagged seven awards in 2020 from a total of 141. Minister for Tamil official language, Tamil culture and archaeology K Pandiarajan, however, maintained that the system is transparent on nominations and expressed confidence that the state would bag more awards in future. “We have recommended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that our former chief minister J Jayalalithaa be conferred with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour,” said the minister, adding that most of the nine recommendations he made for Padma awards this year were recognised. "The fact that the work of people like Krishnammal Jagannathan, whose NGO works for the uplift of women belonging to the scheduled castes in the Thanjavur region, has been recognised proves hard-work is rewarded," he stated.
Experts and artists, however, disagreed. According to observers, many of the recipients this year, though well-deserving, seemed to have got the awards after making their affiliation to political parties clear, adding that after a string of ‘award wapsi’ episodes, the government decided to exercise caution in their choice of candidates.
A producer-director, on condition of anonymity, felt there was a definite lack of transparency in selection of recipients. “Either the person is affiliated to a political party or is lending support from outside. Take for instance, actor Vivek who got the award. No doubt he is skilled and deserving, but why has the king of comedy — the late actor Nagesh — not been acknowledged? Nagesh contributed much more to cinema. His comic brilliance in ‘Thiruvilayadal’ is an example of spectacular acting.”
Even younger Tamil filmmakers and actors with a significant body of work such as Vetriman, Shankar, Dhanush and Vijay Sethupathy, who are mostly apolitical, were not considered. Instead, their contemporaries from the Hindi film industry — Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut — were conferred with the honour. Srinivasan Shivpprasadh, nephew of veteran Tamil actor and doyen of Tamil stage R S Manohar, put the onus on the Tamil Nadu government to recommend deserving candidates. He felt Padma awards for dramatists was almost unattainable. “It looks like we have been blacklisted for reasons unknown.”
Shivpprasadh said his uncle and P S Veerappa had worked with three TN chief ministers — M G Ramachandran, M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa — an achievement few can boast of. “These are not actors, they are institutions. There seems to be no understanding or a merit-based process for selection,” he said. He acknowledged that a national presence was an advantage.
But these artistes were determined not to give up. Anand Babu, comedian Nagesh’s son and an actor himself, said he would strive for recognition for his father. Seconding Babu's opinion, his son Bijesh Nagesh said, “Though we have not raised this issue in the past, my upcoming film ‘Server Sundaram’ will bring in memories about my granddad who has been a doyen of Tamil cinema.” "He deserves the award," he said.
Legends who missed out on a Padma award
Nagesh
Remembered most for his comedy roles during the 1960s, he could play hero, villain or comic character with equal panache. One of the most prolific artists, he has more than 1,000 films to his credit. Since his style was inspired by Hollywood actor Jerry Lewis, he earned the sobriquet ‘Jerry Lewis of India’
M S Viswanathan
MSV scored music for more than 600 films in Tamil. Together with T K Ramamurthy, he belted out several memorable songs. He was called ‘Mellisai Mannar’ (Monarch of light music). MSV paved the way for film music that was different from traditional Carnatic and Hindustani classical music forms, that were used in Tamil films until then
M N Nambiar
The true blue bad boy of Tamil cinema, he perfected the character of the antagonist. For nearly 50 years he played the villain in more than 1,000 films. A cruel, charming villain on screen and a pious man off it, his transformation in front of the camera left everyone spellbound
P S Veerappa
The actor-producer was known for his iconic evil laughter that became synonymous with villainy. Apart from acting with four generations of heroes, starting from MGR to Vijayakanth, he also produced several films
R S Manohar
One of the few Tamil actors who dominated on screen and stage, he was known as Nadaga Kavalar. His versatility helped him play a hero, villain or comic character. He acted in more than 200 films. On stage, he passionately pursued his love for mythological stories
