A museum in memory of MGR

by T.K. Srinivasa Chari

Are you (a) an MGR fan? (b) curious about movie memorabilia? (c) care about politics? (d) a history buff? (e) All or none of the above but have time on your hands? If you answer (e), then head for Arcot Road in T’Nagar to the MGR Memorial House.

There are a number of personal effects of the actor-political leader that you can see. Primly parked in the centre of the ground floor hall is a green Ambassador TMX 4777. Also on display in the 17-room house are his distinct dark glasses, fez cap, a set of his dhoti and shirt along with the robe he wore when he was awarded a doctorate. Among other personal belongings are his wrist watch with a metal band, weights and karalakattais he lifted for body-building, English and Tamil books on a dozen shelves, a pair of his slippers and shoes, a visiting card and the bat presented by Kris Srikkanth. There’s even the admission card issued to him by Apollo Hospitals in October 1986, mentioning the name of Dr B.R. Subramanian. And the cast and bandage that he wore around his neck after he was shot in 1967.

It is common knowledge that he had the highest regard for his mother because his father had died young. So it’s a revelation to see a picture of MGR’s father Maruthur Gopalan.

In a room under lock and key are copies of the Tamil papers Kudiyarasu, Nam Nadu, Dravida Nadu, Mandram and, in English, The Hindu and Homeland dating back to the 1930s.

Among the movie memorabilia are a camera trolley and a picture of MGR wielding it, the monocular we saw in the blockbuster Aayarathil Oruvan used by MGR, M.N. Nambiar and Nagesh who played seafarers, the movie that also made Jayalalithaa famous, a couple of his fencing swords and, what is startling, is the stuffed lion that appeared in the 1968 movie Adimai Pen. Any number of film mementos among the 136 MGR films (1936-77) that ran for 100 days and a whole lot of pictures of his movie scenes are to be seen here.

There are enough exhibits for students of political history too. MGR’s Tamil Nadu Assembly ID card in his first tenure as an MLA (1967-71), representing the DMK from the St. Thomas’ Mount constituency, his Bharat Ratna citation, 1-1000 rupee notes bearing his date of birth, pictures of him without specs along with Periyar E.V.R., with Kamaraj, having a hearty laugh with his one-time associate M. Karunanidhi, the mammoth crowds at his meetings, swearing-in as Chief Minister three times, holding the hand of a little boy at the inauguration of the noon meal scheme, with Mother Teresa and Farooq Abdullah, garlanding Pope John Paul, with the first Indian cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, Prince Charles, and with his associate K.K. Selvam, the sitting DMK MLA representing the Thousand Lights constituency, with doctors after his kidney transplant in the U.S. and many more.

Open from 9 am to 5 pm on all days except Tuesdays, the house is nondescript but for the signage outside and a bust of MGR under a mandapam within the compound alongside the road. It was bought by the matinee idol in 1970 and served as his political office, MGR Productions office, and, later, as an official residence of the Chief Minister. After his passing away in 1987, more built-up area was added and the house became a memorial. It was opened in 1990. Managed for a long time by MGR Charities, first headed by N.C. Raghavachari and later M. Rajendran, a High Court Judge now administers it. There are ten well-informed staff working there on a daily basis. Entry is free.

The auditorium and the multi-purpose hall are about 12,000 square feet each and the two mini-halls together account for 6,000 square feet. Thus, the core usage area is 30,000 square feet out of the total floor space of the entire structure of 2,00,000 square feet. The core-to-total area is only 15 per cent, which leaves you with the impression that overall space usage efficiency and balance could have been better. Vast areas available in the lobbies give a bare impression; parts of them could be usefully converted for office and back-up facilities like computers, printers, copying machines to support conferences. At present, users have no support facilities other than the bare auditorium and hall space and related equipment like microphones and projection-ware. The absence of free wi-fi is also another negative feature for a conference facility of this size and prestige.

The magnificent Corinthian columns on the frontage and the imposing sheet glass covering the combined height of three floors form a graceful totality that adorns this part of Chennai. There is flood lighting of the elevation but is not used except on special occasions. The writer requested the authorities to consider illumination for about three hours in the evenings to highlight this grand new showpiece. But he also expressed his concern that this beautiful facility should not go the way of Valluvar Kottam because of the divided responsibility for upkeep and maintenance.

Please follow and like us: