P. U. Chinnappa
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Pudukkottai Ulaganathan Pillai Chinnappa (5 May 1916 – 23 September 1951) was an Indian singer and film actor during the 30s era from
Pudukottai Pudukkottai is the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a large city located on the banks of the Vellar River. It has been ruled, at different times, by the mutharaiyar dynasty , Cholas, ...
,
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 ...
. He is also credited as one of the first major influential actors of South Cinema. His notable movies include '' Uthama Puthiran'', ''
Aryamala ''Aryamala'' is a 1941 Indian Tamil-language film starring P. U. Chinnappa, M. S. Sarojini, M. R. Santhanalakshmi and T. S. Balaiah in the lead roles. Aryamala was a major box office success and established Chinnappa as a box office hero. The ...
'', ''
Kannagi Kannagi ( ta, கண்ணகி) sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic '' Cilappatikaram''. Kannagi is described as the chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his unfa ...
'', ''Manonmani'', ''Kubera Kuchela'' and '' Jagathalaprathapan''. He attained the superstar status in his career, but it didn't last long because of his sudden demise.


Early life

P. U. Chinnappa was born to Ulaganathapillai and Meenakshi Ammal on 5 May 1916. He had two sisters. His father was a stage artist and hence he made his way easily into stage acting. Chinnappa had completed his education only till 4th grade, he was not much involved in academics, he was rather interested in acting. As a kid too he acted in several stage shows. Chinnappa's acting as a thief in ''Sadaram'' stage play as a kid won applause from audiences. Not just acting, Chinnappa was interested in wrestling and
Silambam Silambam is an Indian martial art originating in South India in the Indian subcontinent. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silambam. Origin References in ...
too. Since his family was poor, at the age of 5 he went to rope production work for 5 rupees per month. However, he didn't work there for a long time. By seeing his son's interest in acting, his father decided to pursue a career in acting for him. At the age of 8, Chinnappa joined in Meenalokshani Vidvabala Sabha (Under Sankaradnas Swamy, this sabha was run by Palaniyapillai). At that time T.K.S brothers were acting under this company and were very famous at that time. Chinnappa didn't last long there too, as he was not given significant roles. At that time
Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
Original Boys company were conducting stage play in
Pudukkotai Pudukkottai is the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai district, Pudukkottai District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a large city located on the banks of the Vellar River (Southern Tamil Nadu), Vellar River. It has been ruled, ...
, Chinnappa was recruited for a salary of Rs.15 with a 3-year contract.


Career

Even though Chinnappa was offered small roles in
Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
Original Boys company, he used to perform other characters during his free time. One day in the company's house he was singing ''Sathi Anusaya'' stage play songs, his songs were heard by Sachidanantha Pillai, who was staying on the top floor of the company's house. Pillai started inquiring who has sung the songs and Chinnappa was asked to perform in front of him again. Pillai was very happy and instantly increased his salary from Rs.15 to Rs.75 at that moment and promoted Chinnappa as a hero. When Chinnappa acted as hero,
M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...
, P. G. Venkatesan, Ponnusamy and Alagesan were acting as female lead with him. Kali N. Ratnam and M. G. Chakrapani were acting in supporting roles. ''Pathuga Pattabishekam'' was one of the very popular stage shows that generated good revenue for the
Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
Original Boys company. His performance as Bharathan character received rave reviews. Not only in historical stage acts, Chinnappa performed well in social stage acts like ''Chandrakantha Rajendran''. Chinnappa was very prolific in singing too.


Switch from stage play to movies

In those days,
Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
Original Boys company used to celebrate boys with good talent, and once done they used to throw them away. Chinnappa has criticized this several times since he was singing for a long time, Chinnappa's voice was not as good as before. Knowing the fact that the company might throw him in future, Chinnappa quit the company secretly and came back to his native place, Pudukkotai. After quitting he acted in fewer stage plays, having an interest in singing and classical music, he practiced with the help of Sundaresa Nayakkanar and Vedachala Baghavadar. He mastered all ragas and he almost became a Sangeetha Vidwan. However he didn't earn much from it, so he dropped the idea of becoming more affiliated to classical music. On the other side he also focused on sword fighting and
Silambam Silambam is an Indian martial art originating in South India in the Indian subcontinent. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silambam. Origin References in ...
under the guidance of Ramanatha Aasari. He also practiced wrestling under the guidance of Sando Somasundaram Chettiar. In addition to that, Chinnappa also did weight lifting, it was said that he lifted about 190 pounds in weight lifting and won various prizes in competitions. So Chinnapa tried various things, like acting in stage plays, participating in competitions like wrestling and
Silambam Silambam is an Indian martial art originating in South India in the Indian subcontinent. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silambam. Origin References in ...
. He also started his own gym as well as his own drama company. Whatever the field he was in, he dived deep in it and mastered. Chinnappa was still doing his stage plays, at that time he did a stage play under a company called Star theaters. He went to Rangoon and played several stage plays aside
M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...
, M. G. Chakrapani and several other actors at that time. He also went to Sri Lanka with M. R. Janaki and conducted several stage play's under Chinnappa Puliyampatti Company. Jupiter Pictures after seeing the Chandrakantha stage play and the performance of Chinnappa as Sundur prince, produced the movie with the same name and released in 1936 thus making Chinnappa debuting in mainstream movies.


Rise and Superstardom

After the debut, Chinnappa acted in 5 films, ''Punjab Kesari'', ''Raja Mohan'', ''Anadhai Penn'', ''Yayathi'' and ''Mathruboomi''. All those movies were moderately successful, because of which Chinnappa stayed away from movies for a while and lost opportunities in several movies. During this time, Chinnappa's voice also was not as before, he also stayed fasting for 40 days which made him lose weight. At that time T. R. Sundaram, who provided chances for unsuccessful actors and introducing new faces to Tamil cinema gave an opportunity for Chinnappa in '' Uthama Puthiran'' became a block buster, thus reviving the career of Chinnappa. Later he acted in several movies like ''Dhayalan'', ''Dharmaveeran'', ''Pruthivirajan'' and ''Manonmani'', which ran very successfully. It was during this time, the competition between
M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Mayavaram Krishnasamy Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar (1 March 1910 – 1 November 1959), also known by his initials as M. K. T., was an Indian actor, producer and Carnatic singer. He is considered to be one of the most successful actors in Tamil cine ...
and Chinnappa intensified and their respective fans clashed. Chinnappa acted in several movies for the next few years, notably ''
Aryamala ''Aryamala'' is a 1941 Indian Tamil-language film starring P. U. Chinnappa, M. S. Sarojini, M. R. Santhanalakshmi and T. S. Balaiah in the lead roles. Aryamala was a major box office success and established Chinnappa as a box office hero. The ...
'' and ''
Kannagi Kannagi ( ta, கண்ணகி) sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic '' Cilappatikaram''. Kannagi is described as the chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his unfa ...
'', which made him as a box office hero. ''Vanasundari'', ''Ratnakumar'' and ''Sudarshan'' were the movies that Chinnappa acted in last. ''Sudharsan'' was released after his death, failing at the box office.


Personal life

Chinnappa fell in love with A. Sakunthala when they acted together in the movie ''Prithvirajan''. Chinnapa married Sakunthala on 5 July 1944. They both had one son, P. U. C. Raja Bahadur. Chinnappa spent his life being economical and invested a lot in buying houses. He brought about 30 houses in his home town Pudukkottai. At one time the Raja of Pudukkotai banned him from buying further houses in Pudukkotai and hence Chinnappa started buying houses in Madras (Present Chennai). However, when he died, his wife Sakunthala and son P.U.C. Rajabhadhur were left virtually penniless. To this day no one knows how his houses and other assets vanished. His son debuted as an actor in ''Kovil Pura'', which didn't run well, he later took up negative roles in few movies, then earned a modest living as a dubbing artist, and has worked with writer on dubbing projects.


Death

Chinnappa and his friends went to see the movie ''
Manamagal ''Manamagal'' () is a 1951 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed and produced by N. S. Krishnan. The film stars Padmini, Lalitha, S. V. Sahasranamam and T. S. Balaiah in lead roles. The film had musical score by C. R. Subburaman. It is ba ...
'' on 23 September 1951 which was produced and directed by
N. S. Krishnan 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 conside ...
. After seeing the movie he came to his house by 10 p.m. While talking to his friends he fainted suddenly, vomited blood and died within few minutes. Chinnappa had the habit of smoking beedi and liquor, however he remained healthy and was not hospitalized for it. Chinnappa's funeral was held the next day, he was laid to rest in one of his farms. Thousands of people gathered and paid their last respects. Chinnappa's sudden death came as a shock to everyone in the Tamil film industry....


Legacy

Chinnappa was one of the top celebrities in Tamil cinema between the late 1930s and 1940s. He was ranked next to the first superstar,
M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Mayavaram Krishnasamy Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar (1 March 1910 – 1 November 1959), also known by his initials as M. K. T., was an Indian actor, producer and Carnatic singer. He is considered to be one of the most successful actors in Tamil cine ...
. The dual domination of cinematic celebrities who attained demigod status in Tamil Nadu started with this pair. Chinnappa's films are still in demand in the DVD format and some of them are also frequently aired on television.


Filmography


References


External links


Tamil Cinema History I

Tamil Cinema History I

Biography in Tamil






* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chinnappa, P. U. Indian male film actors Indian Tamil people Tamil male actors Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers 1951 deaths 1916 births People from Pudukkottai district 20th-century Indian male actors 20th-century Indian male classical singers Male actors from Tamil Nadu Indian male playback singers Singers from Tamil Nadu