The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : A movie Karunanidhi saw five times

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

A movie Karunanidhi saw five times

S.R. Ashok Kumar

Sathyaraj and Kushboo in `Periyar'

CHENNAI: For a man who made significant contributions to the Tamil cinema as screenplay and dialogue writer, it takes something special to get Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, to watch a screening these days.

But in last month or so, the Chief Minister saw a film five times; and he also had a word or two to improve the film. The film we are talking about is "Periyar" produced by Liberty Creations and directed by Gnana Rajasekaran.

It must have been a rare thrill for Sathyaraj, playing the revolutionary leader in the movie, to gauge the Chief Minister's viewing experience five times over. "Every time he saw the film, we were able to see a different reaction.

He himself said that the film had come out very well and each time it rekindled his past memories with the legendary leader, the actor said.

Mr. Karunanidhi, we are told, had been keenly following the progress of the film at various stages of its production. In fact, he had seen the film in the double positive stage itself and suggested that the director add the real-life footage of the last journey of "Periyar" towards the end of the film.

According to Sathyaraj, the film seemed to move a lot of people. Actor Sivakumar is reported to have described the lead role as the `role of a lifetime', while his son Surya lauded it as a classic.

The State Government had sanctioned Rs.95 lakh for the film.

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