Mgr: A Life

by R. Kannan

Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran, or MGR-founder of the AIADMK founder and three-time chief minister, Bharat Ratna recipient-dominated Tamil Nadu's stratosphere for four decades.
In this richly detailed biography of the man often called vathiyar or teacher, R. Kannan traces MGR's life from his early poverty-ridden years-a Class Three dropout-to his rise as a matinee idol, before becoming a politician of repute. He examines MGR's lifelong association with mentor Annadurai and other Dravidian cultural icons, and his tumultuous political friendship with Kalaignar Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, his cine heroine and political protégé.
The book dissects MGR's years in His early administration, the legendary midday meal scheme launched in 1982 that fed 92 lakh schoolchildren, his well-intentioned farm subsidies and freebies that strained the exchequer, his largesse to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as well as his unabashed sponsorship of liquor barons and private medical and engineering colleges that aided the transformation of the state, but also fuelled corruption.
Honest and insightful, MGR provides a portrait of a warm larger-than-life figure, whose legacy has left an indelible stamp on Dravidian politics.

Genres: India, Biography, Nonfiction, History

512 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

R. Kannan is a child of the Dravidian movement and has long been a commentator on Dravidian politics. Raised and educated at Chennai, Kannan completed his LLM from the University of Georgia and PhD in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He has served in various capacities with the United Nations in two continents for nearly a quarter of a century. He presently heads the Basra office of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. Kannan is married and has two children.

Reviews

[Dinesh Krithivasan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fascinating life shortchanged by a narrative that lacked coherence and flow. There are many interesting factoids here but no overarching theme to guide us through the book. The narrative often jumps time (not in a fancy post-modern way but in a "should have been edited better" way) and contains many throwaway lines that serve no purpose ("MGR signed a joint venture between Tuticorin Alkali Chemicals and a Japanese Chemical Farm" - so?). On the positive side, the book is largely neutral in its stance (though occasionally leaning towards Kalaignar's side) which in itself is an achievement considering the feverish hagiographies that are the norm for such efforts. What MGR (and the Dravidian movement with its many larger-than-life persona and dramatic history) needs is a Tamil Boswell. Failing that, I wouldn't mind a Tamil Marlon James spinning a yarn around M.R. Radha's attempted assassination of the Actor.

[Dr Naveen · Rating 1 out of 5]

YOU CANNOT cONSIDER THEM AS LEADERS. iF YOU LOOK AT INDEPDENDENCE OF INDIA. MILLION HAVE DIED.
therefore independence has nothing to do with attaining development. It is greed of a few criminals who then put these stooges Nehru as leaders.
This kind of police intel has lead to many more criminals with no morals into celebrity status especially in South india -MGR, jayalalitha -a immorla lowllife women same like indira gandhi, Super star rajini, Kalaignar karunanidhi , kamaraj, NSc bose.

All such corrupt people have become leaders, stars due to rowdies in the police force.
i.e. encouraged by the idea of 'being independent
to do immoral things -Republic.
If India is truly independent and we had great ethical leaders(educated) then there is no need for American Bankers -IMF, to decide on how much and whom to lend and their totally scruball idea of monetary policy. . Yet that is precisely happening.
All this must end. The rogues police must alll be sh 0t dead.
one police DGP, a criminal by name Mohandas, has gone on to write book about MGR titled man and the myth.
this murderer MGR should have been hanged to death in the70s itself.

[Prasad GR · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very badly written book for many reasons. The narrative lacks any coherence whatsoever. The attempt at a chronological retelling suffers from frequent hops across the timeline, that both mars the pace as well as plays spoilsport. Editorial errors abound. While it is understandable, the extreme reliance on personal anecdotes and hearsay to construct a life story, makes this book, at best, a fodder for curiosity.

I’m not sure if it’s due to these shortcomings, but the image of MGR I had in mind took a mighty beating by the time I reached the end (to my utter relief). He comes across as a man without convictions, solely relying on his on-screen charisma to covet the votes of the masses. The regrettable role played by MGR and his peers in stripping politics out of its ideological moorings - thus setting the course for a sad future - is what stands out in this narrative, and comprehensively overshadows the underlying rags to riches story.

[Partha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute brilliant read of one of if not the most charismatic political/movie idol of our recent times. Book covers everything about MGR childhood, early movies , superstardom , political entry, policies till his death in 1987 with just enough details to keep it interesting but at the same time an insight into his mind. It also covers his relationships with other major personalities not the least his very famous protege . It helps the book was written in 2017 to give enough time to not be too politically correct

[Ananth Krishna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written and thoroughly researched biography of a poltical personality who captured the minds of millions of people in the 20th century. The book remains impartial and highlights both the positive and negative attributes of MGR, Makal Thiligam. The writers attraction and obvious commitment to Dravidianism notwithstanding, it is a must read.

[Karthick · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is rich with facts, but too many journalistic cliches. And there are other critical sources the author could have referred to bring out a better narrative on MGR.

[Praveen Srinivasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got to know about the early life of MGR and more about him...

[Satish Dubey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A relatively impartial book. It helped me a lot to understand the Dravidian politics. But it could have been written in a more interesting way.

[Kavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great insight into the life of the most prolific political maverick of the country. A superstar who used his stardom to help the people. shows light on both his good aspects and bad aspects.

[Srikkanth Dhasarathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underwhelming

[Mithraa Sriraman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Petered into just recording just one event after another, could have a done a lot better job in exploring some themes - understand however the constraints the author was working with. Very well researched though, uncovered a lot of new things about MGR'S early life ; context likely to be appreciated only by people from TN who are already told stories about his legend.