S. V. Subbaiah (1920-1980) was an Indian actor who featured mainly in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

-language plays and films. He featured mostly in

character roles A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to ...

that communicated emotional feelings.

Early life

Subbaiah hails from

Sengottai Sengottai (also known as Shencottah, Chenkotta or Shenkottai) is a town in the Tenkasi district, of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the gateway to southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Spread over an area of 2.68 km2 with a population of over 26,823, ...

in Tirunelveli district of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

, India. Spurning academic pursuits, he joined a drama troupe called ‘Senkottai Ananda Sakthivel Paramananda Boys Company’ when he was 11 years old. Later, he was part of drama troupes such as Balashanmukhananda Sabha and Sakthi Nataka Sabha. Subbaiah's performance as Kavi Anandar in S. D. Sundharam's play ''Kaviyin Kanavu'' staged by Sakthi Nataka Sabha in 1945 fetched rave reviews. This paved the way for him to enter Tamil films.

Film career

His first film was

Vijayalakshmi Vijaya lakshmi is a Hindu Indian feminine given name or surname, which means "goddess of victory". The name may refer to: People First name *Vijayalakshmi Atluri, Indian computer scientist * Vijayalakshmi (Kannada actress), Indian actress * Vijay ...

(1946) produced by Pragathi Pictures, the forerunner of

AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappan. It is the final oldest survived studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...

. Next he featured in ''

Kanjan ''Kanjan'' () is a 1947 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Covai A. Aiyamuthu and T. R. Gopu. The film stars S. V. Subbaiah, R. Malathi and T. G. Kamala Devi. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film. Plot The film ...

'' (1947) produced by

Jupiter Pictures Jupiter Pictures ( ta, ஜுபிடர் பிக்ச்சர்ஸ்) was an Indian feature film production company founded in Coimbatore in 1934 by M. Somasundaram (popularly known as "Jupiter Somu") and S.K. Mohideen. Jupiter Pictu ...

and directed by Kovai Ayyamuthu and T. R. Gopu. Then, he featured as Sakuni in '' Abhimanyu'' in which

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 ...

donned the role of

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Pand ...

. Subbaiah's breakthrough came with the film '' Kaalam Maari Pochu'' (1956) in which he featured in a character role. This set the tone for his type of role in future films. Though there are many films that his role remains ever-green among Tamil film lovers, the role he played in the historical film

Kappalottiya Thamizhan ''Kappalottiya Thamizhan'' () is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language historical drama film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and Savitri. It is based on the 1944 book of the same name by M. P. Si ...

(1961) will lie deep down in their minds. He featured as

Subramania Bharati C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...

in this film. His style as Bharati was followed by many artistes, right from

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Gan ...

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

, in the role of Bharati, in future films. Subbaiah produced a film

Kaaval Dheivam ''Kaaval Dheivam'' () is a 1969 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by K. Vijayan and produced by S. V. Subbaiah. An adaptation of the novel ''Kai Vilangu'' by Jayakanthan, the film stars Sivakumar, Sowcar Janaki, Lakshmi and Nagesh in l ...

under his own banner ''Ambal Productions''. The film featured big-time stars like

R. Muthuraman Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as ''Navarasa Thilagam''. He had paired w ...

T. S. Balaiah Thirunelveli Subramaniyan Balaiah (23 August 1914 – 22 July 1972) was an Indian actor. He is best known for playing supporting roles in Tamil films. Born in Sundankottai, near Udankudi in Thoothukudi, Balaiah was introduced to the cine fi ...

M. N. Nambiar Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar (7 March 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema, known mostly for his villain roles in an eight decade long career. He has also appeared in a few Malayalam films. ...

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 Cine ...

and V. K. Ramasamy in well defined roles. Most of them appeared as guest artistes.Nadigar Thilagam Filmography
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Sivakumar Palaniswamy, better known by his stage name Sivakumar (born 27 October 1941), is an Indian visual artist and former actor who has portrayed a wide range of leading and supporting roles onscreen in Tamil cinema and television. He made his actin ...

and

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

starred in this film. Sivaji Ganesan refused to receive any payment for his role. A sentimental Subbaiah said "In my next birth I will become a dog and serve Sivaji Ganesan". Such was his humble persona.

Personal life

Subbaiah was interested in agriculture. He bought lands in Karanodai near Sengundram (Red Hills) and developed it into a farm. When he was not occupied with film shooting, he worked on his farm. He was deeply religious and lived his life with certain principles, such as not working after 9 p.m. He was a voracious reader and a fan of

Jayakanthan D. Jayakanthan (24 April 1934 – 8 April 2015), popularly known as JK, was an Indian writer, journalist, orator, filmmaker, critic and activist. Born in Cuddalore, he dropped out of school at the age of 9 and went to Madras, where he joi ...

. He died on 29 January 1980 due to ill health. It was a strange coincidence that the man born at Sengottai, which means Red Fort, died at his farm in Sengundram which means Red Hills.

Filmography

References

Bibliography

S. V. Subbaiah
(in Tamil) (in Tamil)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Subbaiah, S. V. 1980 deaths People from Tirunelveli district Male actors in Tamil cinema 20th-century Indian male actors Indian male film actors Male actors from Tamil Nadu 1920 births