Nagercoil Sudalaimuthu Krishnan

Born: 29 November 1908

Died: 30 August 1957

• He popularly known as Kalaivanar and also as NSK was an Indian film actor-comedian, theatre artist, playback singer, and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry – in the 1940s and 1950s.
• He is considered as the “Charlie Chaplin of India.”
• Born in Ozhuginachery, Nagercoil, in the princely state of Travancore, India on 29 November 1908, his stage and cine-screen comedy performances were unique and always carried a message for the people.
• He died at the age of 49, on 30 August 1957.
• He started his career as a Villu Paatu artist (the Tamil way of reciting stories while singing songs and playing a musical instrument in the form of a bow called “Villu”), He later became involved in Tamil drama and stage shows, as were many film artistes.
• At one time, he owned a touring drama company.
• When cinema gradually became popular in South India, he entered the Tamil film world to become one of the most leading Tamil comedians ever, with a unique style.
• He generally wrote his own comedy dialogues and expressed them in his drama and films so that the message came across, but the subject was not offended.

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