Narayana Padaiyatchi Ratnam (c. 1897 – August 1950), popularly known as "Kali" N. Ratnam, was a Tamil stage and film artist known for his roles as a comedian in Tamil movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Renowned Tamil actor and politician

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

was a protege of Rathnam.

Early life

Rathnam was born at Malaiyappanallur near

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the hea ...

Tanjore District Thanjavur District is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur (Tanjore) . The district is located in the delta of the Cauvery River and is mostly agrarian. Geography The dis ...

in the year 1897 to Narayana Padayatchi and Thangathammal. His parents were agriculturists and Rathanm was acquainted with rural songs and folk arts from a very early age. As a young boy, Rathnam learned to act from a stage actor named Parameswaran Iyer. Seeing Rathnam perform the role of Kali in a stage play, Iyer christened him "Kali" N. Rathnam.

Career

Rathnam joined the Madurai Original Boys Company in 1923 and acted in ''Pathi Bhakthi'' (1936), the first movie produced by the Company. Rathnam's second movie was ''Mannarswami'' (1936). But Rathnam's first hit was ''

Chandrakantha ''Chandrakantha'' is a 1936 Indian, Tamil-language film directed by P. K. Raja Sandow. Cast The following list was adapted from the book ''Thamizh Cinema Ulagam Part-1''. ;Male cast * Kali N. Rathnam Thirukallur Bandaara Sannidhigal *T ...

'' (1936). Following the success, Rathnam acted in hit movies such as '' Uthama Puthiran'', '' Sathi Murali'' (1940), ''

Sabapathy ''Sabapathy'' is a 1941 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by A. V. Meiyappan and A. T. Krishnaswamy, and produced by Meiyappan. An adaptation of Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar's farce play of the same name, the film stars T. R. Ramachand ...

'' (1941), '' Manonmani'' (1943), '' Burma Rani'' (1945), ''Chow Chow'' (1945), ''Paranjothi'' (1945), ''

Sri Murugan ''Sri Murugan'' is a 1946 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language film produced by Jupiter Pictures and directed by M. Somasundaram and V. S. Narayanan. The film featured Honnappa Bhagavathar in the lead role. M. G. Ramachandran performed a dance ...

'' (1946), ''Arthanari'' (1946), ''

Aaravalli ''Aravalli'' () is 1957 Indian Tamil-language fantasy action film directed by Krishna Rao and written by V. N. Sambantham. Produced by Modern Theatres, the film stars G. Varalakshmi, S. Mohana, S. G. Eshwar, Mynavathi and Kaka Radhakrishnan pla ...

'' (1946), ''Sahada Yogam'' (1946), '' Udayanan Vasavadatta'' (1947), '' Kannika'' (1947), ''Sulochana'' (1947), '' Sri Aandal'' (1948), '' Adhithan Kanavu'' (1948), ''

Devdasi In India, a devadasi is a female artist who is dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication takes place in a ceremony that is somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

'' (1948), Pizhaikum Vali (1948), and ''Bhojan'' (1948).

Personal life

While in a drama tour of

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

, Rathnam was impressed by the histrionic skills of C. T. Rajakantham, daughter of the owner of the house in which they stayed and inducted her into his troupe. The two became a successful comedy pair and acted together in a number of movies. Prior to this, Rathnam had married twice. The first wife's name was Kunjammal who died at a young age. Rathnam and Kunjammal had two daughters Meenalochani and Lokanayaki(late). Then he married his second wife Pichaimmal(late). Rathnam and Pichaimmal had a son Shanmuga Sundaram (Retd PWD Superintendent Engineer). Rathnam died when his son was nine months old. Shanmuga Sundaram married Chandra, daughter of his sister Meenalochani RajaRam. Now(2020) Meenalochani RajaRam, Shanmuga Sundaram and Chandra are living in Kumbakonam.

Death

Rathnam died in August 1950 at the age of 52 or 53. His last completed film role was in the

Ellis R. Dungan Ellis Roderick Dungan (May 11, 1909 – December 1, 2001) was an American film director, who was well known for working in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil cinema, from 1936 to 1950. He was an alumnus of the University of Southern Californi ...

-directed ''

Ponmudi Ponmudi (the Golden Peak) is a hill station in the Peringamala gramapanchayath of Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala in India. It is located 22km west of Vithura town, 53 km north-east of Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram City, ...

''.

Filmography

This is a partial filmography. You can expand it.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rathnam, Kali N. 1890s births 1950 deaths Tamil actors Tamil comedians 20th-century Indian comedians Indian male actors Tamil male actors