Debuted Alongside MGR! Sivaji's Role Model! One of the Greatest Actors of Tamil Cinema!

The movie Sathi Leelavathi Directed by Ellis R Duncan was released in the year 1936. This movie was the debut movie for two great legends of Tamil Cinema. One was MGR and the other was T S Balaiah. Incidentally this movie was also the debut movie for the film maker Ellis R Duncan. Apparently Balaiah left home at a very early age and joined a circus initially! From there he moved on to the stage and was an established stage artist before he got his first break into movies in the year 1936. Initially he started off his career doing negative roles and went to establish himself as one of the greatest character artists of Tamil Cinema. He went on to act in 100s of movies with all the leading actors of the 50s and 60s. During the later stages of his career he excelled in several comic roles matching the comic genius of Nagesh and other comic actors who were his contemporaries. His comic performance in the movie Kaadhalikka Neramillai as Nagesh's father is part of the history of Tamil cinema. His performance as Hemanatha Baghavathar in the movie Thiruvilayaadal is of similar standing. The natural choice of song to pay tribute this legendary actor is obviously Oru Naal Podhumaa from Thiruvilayaadal. But the song featured here is a tribute to his ability to do comic roles and is from the comedy movie Bhaamaa Vijayam directed by K Balachander starring Major Sundarrajan, Muthuraman, Nagesh, Rajashree, Sowcar Janaki, Kanchana, Jeyanthi and Balaiah. This movie is a hilarious comedy and this song is an apt representation of what one can expect from the movie. The music for the movie was composed by MSV, sung by TMS, P Susheela and L R Easwari and written by the great Kannadasan.