Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar
"Sandow" M.M.A.Chinnappa Devar (Marudur Marudachalamurthy Ayyavoo Chinnappa Devar) was born on the June 28, 1915, he was a producer of Tamil films in the middle 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and he died on the 8 th of September 1978 .
He is best known for his films featuring animals, and has produced numerous movies with M. G. Ramachandran as lead actor (16 movies with under his famous banner : Devar Films .
He launched all his movies under the Devar Films banner, which also produced the Rajesh Khanna's Bollywood hit Haathi Mere Saathi (1971).
The title of "Sandow" was given to Chinnappa Devar in tribute (to the father of the modern body-building, Eugen Sandow) and because of its impressive muscle structure.
Early Years
M. M. A. Chinnapa Devar was born to in Ramanathapuram locality in Coimbatore.
From a very young age he was interested in gymnasium. During his youth in 1930's he was working in a textile mill in Singanallur and midway to his home was the then famous movie studio Central Studios was located.
He showed interest in movies and was roped in by Jupiter Pictures for villain role in the 1947 movie Rajakumari with then-a-relatively unknown lead actor M. G. Ramachandran.
Producer
He later during the 50s moved to Chennai, which by then became the South Indian Cinema Hub.
He launched his production company " Devar Films" and used the facilities of Vijaya Vauhini Studios for indoor shooting and post production activities.
He is best known for various M. G. Ramachandran movies and introduced Saroja Devi to Tamil Movies who became a celluloid queen.
Devar is also known for using animals as a supporting theme in his movies, and at times as the lead character.
His brother M. A. Thiramugam was also a successful director was worked predominantly for "Devar Films" production company.
Together the duo gave Rajesh Khanna's biggest blockbuster hit Haathi Mere Saathi, which also introduced the Salim-Javed duo as script writers to Bollywood.
In Tamil film industry he was one of the most successful movie producers and his two recurring subjects were his animals and devotional movies, as he was an ardent devotee of Lord Murugan.
Partial filmography
- Thaaikkuppin Thaaram (1956), (1/16) with MGR & P. Bhanumathi
- Vaalavaitha Theivam (1958), with Gemini Ganesan & B.Saroja Devi
- Thaai Sollai Thattadhe (1961), (2/16) with MGR & B.Saroja Devi
- Thaayai Kaatha Thanayan (1962), (3/16) with MGR & B.Saroja Devi
- Kudumba Thalaivan (1962), (4/16) with MGR & B.Saroja Devi
- Dharmam Thalai Kaakkum (1963), (5/16) with MGR & B.Saroja Devi
- Needhikkuppin Paasam (1963), (6/16) with MGR & B.Saroja Devi
- Thozhilali (1964), (7/16) with MGR & Rathna
- Vettaikaran (1964), (8/16) with MGR & Savitri
- Kanni Thaai (1965), (9/16) with MGR & Jayalalitha
- Mugaraasi (1966), (10/16) with MGR & Jayalalitha
- Thanipiravi (1966), (11/16) with MGR & Jayalalitha
- Thaikku Thalaimagan (1967), (12/16) with MGR & Jayalalitha
- Vivasayee (1967), (13/16) with MGR & K. R. Vijaya
- Thaer Thiruvizha (1968), (14/16) with MGR & Jayalalitha
- Kadhal Vaaganam (1968), (15/16) with MGR & Jayalalitha
- Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), with Rajesh Khanna & Tanuja
- Nalla Neram (1972), (16/16) with MGR & K. R. Vijaya
References
- Randoor Guys article in -The Hindu
- Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar at the Internet Movie Database
- Mohan V Raman article in -The Hindu
External links
- Article on Sandow M. M. A. chinnappa Thevar in Kalyana Malai
- Sandow M. M. A. chinnappa Thevar in My Movie Minutes
- sandow-and-superstars