Is a renowned journalist, whose interviews have been published nearly in all Tamil dailies, weeklies and monthlies. Vijayan grew famous through his popular biography series on public icons such as MGR, Sivaji, Rajinikanth, LITE leader Prabhakaran, Kirupanandha Variyar and Bruce Lee. Of these, his writings on MGR have been adapted to all forms of multimedia, something that has never been done before for such work. It was also published as a monthly magazine, Ithayakkani. It is now in its 23rd year, having been started in 2000, a remarkable le achievement publishing. Through Ithayakkani, Vijayan has organized MGR's birth anniversary celebrations - without government's support - not only in Tamil Nadu, but also in Mumbai, New Delhi, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and France, in collaboration with the local Tamil Associations in each place. The Tamil Nadu Government marked MGR's birth centenary in 2018 by formally honoring those closely associated with him. Vijayan was one among the select few. The events organized by him have helped thousands of beneficiaries get medical aid worth crores of rupees. Vijayan came to be fondly known as Ithayakkani Vijayan, after his publications. He takes pride in following MGR's footsteps. His book MGR Kathai has now taken another step forward in its English avatar, translated by Varsha Venugopal. It contains key edits and additions to the original Tamil edition and has been made suitable to entertain the English reader.
I have already read "Nan Yen Piranthen" the autobi ography of MGR which was given to me by MGR himself. I was engrossed by the book, which left me greatly impressed. The English translation of Mr. Ithayakkani Vijayan's book, The MGR Kathai, evokes that very same feeling when I read it. Mr. Ithayakani Vijayan has taken Himalayan efforts to collect nitty-gritty details of MGR's early life by personally travelling to the various places in Kerala as well as in Tamil Nadu associated with MGR. It is quite appreciable to note that Mr. Vijayan has given details of various incidents depicting MGR's great qualities as well as his shortcomings. When I was reading The MGR Kathai, I felt as if I were travelling along with MGR on his life's journey, experiencing the same emotions that he would have felt, too. While we think of the MGR's songs we cannot forget the famous song namely "Moondrezhithil en Moochirukum, athu mudintha pinnalum pechirukum" (மூன்றெழுத்தில் என் மூச்சிருக்கும் அது முடிந்த பின்னாலும் பேச்சி Begin). Through this song, MGR refers to 'three simple letters, remarking that "even after my end, these three letters will be talk of the town." What are these three letters? They stand for none other than DMK. Even after he was sent out of the DMK party, he continued the run the party as ADMK (Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) without forgetting his leader Anna. These powerful lines have actually resulted in reality in his own life story. The Number 3 is a significant number in MGR's life. The name MGR has three letters. He married three times. He became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu three times. These three letters actually refer to his three great qualities - M for Magnanimity, G for Generosity and R known for Respectability. With these qualities, be rose to gain name and fame from the film industry as well as the entire population of Tamil Nadu. MGR's film and public career spanned over four decades. Even after his death, he still seems to be politically and socially relevant. His great Leader is Arignar Anna was his much-admired leader while his mentor was Kalaivanar N.S. Krishnan, the comedy actor popularly known as the Charlie Chaplin of Tamil Nadu.
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