Raising laughs with those bubbly sounds

By Vamanan

Sivaji Ganesan once asked 'Vennira Aadai' Murthy whether he would like to exchange his extensive knowledge for Ganesan's histrionics. Murthy replied appropriately in the negative. His knowledge could be acquired by some years of study, but Sivaji's acting skills would take many births to master!

Perhaps being perceived as well read and knowledgeable came in the way of Murthy making it to the top as a comedian - Tamil cinema has always been suspicious of learning - but it hasn't hindered him from starring in more than 800 films in 50 years. He might not have been the reigning comedian of any given period, but like a marathon runner he has shown the stamina to outlast the competition. For a man who bid goodbye to his law books and his touring job of selling typewriters, this is no mean achievement in an industry in which he has few godfathers.

All that Murthy had to keep him company during his unemployed days was a prediction of a latter-day Nostradamus of Saidapet, that he would don greasepaint and act before October 1964 ended. On October 23, Murthy started shooting for his first film. He had gone back to the astrologer and had been told that he would act to a ripe old age, though he would never make it to the top slot. And as 'it verily has been said', Murthy is still happily cracking his ribald double entendres, the devil take the hindmost if the censor's scissors catch up!

His long career may be credited to his contented personal life. Murthy has steered clear of many of the foibles of erstwhile comedians, like alcoholism and a wayward life. Though he penned a film script ('Maalai Sooda Vaa' 1975), he has not wavered from acting as his goal and also cleverly given a wide berth to film production.

Murthy's debut role, however, was not a cakewalk for him as initially the director CV Sridhar had doubts about casting him in 'Vennira Aadai'. The smart and dapper man on the wrong side of his twenties had seemed of a serious disposition and Sridhar wondered whether he would be able to play the clown. But as it turned out, Murthy essayed the role, more of a clone of 'Kathalikka Neramillai's Chellappa portrayed by Nagesh, with extraordinary aplomb. Playing the eccentric son of a naive businessman, the seriousness with which Murthy peddled his chimerical fancies of extracting cotton from cashew had a vein of hilarity.

Though 'Vennira Aadai' showed the names of its five new faces - Jayalalithaa, Srikanth, Nirmala, Murthy and Asha - in a single card, it was only to Nirmala and Murthy that the film's name stuck. But in the case of Murthy, it was only in the mid-seventies that he was recognized widely as 'Vennira Aadai' Murthy. Later, the adjunct gave his name a hint of cinematic pedigree.

A successful comedian would have to take possession of any scene and have a no-holds-barred go at it, but Murthy was reticent to go for the kill as he was afraid that the directors might rein him in. In the heyday of Nagesh, Murthy realised after a few attempts at playing the blundering buffoon ('Kadhal Paduthum Paadu', for example), that he must settle down to playing second fiddle, but play it well. The rip-roaring 'Kasedhaan Kadavulada' saw him standing out as a hen-pecked husband despite being in the company of eye-poppers like Thengai Srinivasan and Manorama.

Just as the comedian in him was settling in, Murthy challenged himself with the new wave of cinema in the late seventies. The films during this period gave a hint that Murthy might mature into a character actor. In 'Mullum Malarum', Mahendran cast him fruitfully as a philandering grocer and in Balu Mahendra's 'Azhiyaadha Kolangal', he was the village postmaster with a roving eye.

By this time, Murthy had perfected his comic art of making bubbly sounds before delivering his punch lines giving an individual touch like no other. In general, his comedy persona of a salacious man licking his lips with imagined encounters of an exciting kind has stuck down the decades. Whether he's playing a husband ('Thangamana Purushan' 1989), school teacher ('Rajavin Paarvaiyile' 1995), marriage broker ('Purushan Pondatti' 1996), college principal ('Junction' 2002), hero's sidekick ('Tamizh Padam' 2010) or cop ('Vallakottai' 2010), he has always been quick on the draw on risque lines.

Murthy who has made a space for himself on the small screen too has acted in a comedy serial continuously for 11 years. Till now Murthy has not failed to find new means to make his presence felt and increase his popularity no matter how small his role.

(The writer is a film music historian and the author of many works on Tamil cinema)