Kali N. Rathnam

Narayana Padaiyatchi Rathnam
Ratnam in the movie Sabapathy (1941)
Born	Ratnam c. 1897 Kumbakonam, British Raj
Died	August 1950 (age 52 or 53) Kumbakonam, India
Occupation(s)	stage and film actor, singer
Years active	1923–1950
Spouse(s)	Kunjammal, Pichaiammal, C. T. Rajakantham
Children	Meenalochani Rajaram, Lokanayaki, Shanmuga Sundaram

Narayana Padaiyatchi Ratnam (c. 1897 – August 1950), popularly known as "Kali" N. Ratnam, was a Tamil stage and film artist known for his roles as a comedian in Tamil movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Renowned Tamil actor and politician M. G. Ramachandran was a protege of Rathnam.^[1]

Early life

Rathnam was born at Malaiyappanallur near Kumbakonam in Tanjore District in the year 1897 to Narayana Padayatchi and Thangathammal. His parents were agriculturists and Rathanm was acquainted with rural songs and folk arts from a very early age. As a young boy, Rathnam learned to act from a stage actor named Parameswaran Iyer.^[2] Seeing Rathnam perform the role of Kali in a stage play, Iyer christened him "Kali" N. Rathnam.^[2]

Career

Rathnam joined the Madurai Original Boys Company in 1923 and acted in Pathi Bhakthi (1936), the first movie produced by the Company. Rathnam's second movie was Mannarswami (1936). But Rathnam's first hit was Chandrakantha (1936). Following the success, Rathnam acted in hit movies such as Uthama Puthiran, Sathi Murali (1940), Sabapathy (1941), Manonmani (1943), Burma Rani (1945), Chow Chow (1945), Paranjothi (1945), Sri Murugan (1946), Arthanari (1946), Aaravalli (1946), Sahada Yogam (1946), Udayanan Vasavadatta (1947), Kannika (1947), Sulochana (1947), Sri Aandal (1948), Adhithan Kanavu (1948), Devdasi (1948), Pizhaikum Vali (1948), and Bhojan (1948).^[3][4]

Personal life

While in a drama tour of Coimbatore, Rathnam was impressed by the histrionic skills of C. T. Rajakantham, daughter of the owner of the house in which they stayed and inducted her into his troupe. The two became a successful^{[weasel words]} comedy pair and acted together in a number of movies.

Prior to this, Rathnam had married twice. The first wife's name was Kunjammal who died at a young age. Rathnam and Kunjammal had two daughters Meenalochani and Lokanayaki(late). Then he married his second wife Pichaimmal(late). Rathnam and Pichaimmal had a son Shanmuga Sundaram (Retd PWD Superintendent Engineer).^[5] Rathnam died when his son was nine months old. Shanmuga Sundaram married Chandra, daughter of his sister Meenalochani RajaRam. Now(2020) Meenalochani RajaRam, Shanmuga Sundaram and Chandra are living in Kumbakonam.

Death

Rathnam died in August 1950 at the age of 52 or 53. His last completed film role was in the Ellis R. Dungan-directed Ponmudi.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

This is a partial filmography. You can expand it.

Year	Film	Language	Role
1936	Pathi Bhakti	Tamil	Detective (First film role)
1936	Mannarswami	Tamil
1936	Chandrakantha	Tamil	Thirukallur Bandaara Sannidhigal
1937	Raja Mohan	Tamil
1938	Punjab Kesari	Tamil
1938	Meenakshi Kalyanam	Tamil
1939	Mathru Bhoomi
1940	Uthama Puthiran
1940	Sathi Murali	Tamil
1941	Sabapathy	Tamil	Sabapathy
1941	Surya Puthri
1942	Manonmani	Tamil
1942	Sivalinga Satchi
1943	Dewan Bahadur
1945	Burma Rani	Tamil	Kunjitham
1945	Chow Chow
1945	Paranjothi
1946	Sri Murugan	Tamil
1946	Arthanari
1946	Aaravalli
1946	Sahada Yogam
1946	Valmiki	Tamil
1947	Kannika
1947	Udayanan Vasavadatta
1947	Sulochana
1947	Aayiram Thalai Vaangi Apoorva Chinthamani	Tamil	Kali
1948	Sri Aandal
1948	Adhithan Kanavu
1948	Devadasi
1948	Pizhaikum Vali
1948	Bhojan
1949	Mayavathi
1950	Ezhai Padum Padu
1950	Ponmudi	Tamil	Last film

References

1. "Kali N Rathnam". Antru Kanda Mugam. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
2. Guy, Randor (5 February 2015). "The Rathnam brand of comedy". The Hindu.
3. "Kollywood Comedian Kali N Rathnam Biography, News, Photos, Videos". nettv4u. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
4. "Kali N. Rathnam". Spicyonion.com. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
5. https://www.tn.gov.in/department/42. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• Kali N. Rathnam at IMDb