T. K. Shanmugam

T. K. Shanmugam

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Category: Art

T. K. Shanmugam Profile

  • Name:
  • T. K. Shanmugam
  • Born:
  • April 26, 1912
  • Died:
  • February 15, 1973
  • Father:
  • Kannusamy Pillai

T. K. Shanmugam Biography

Avvai T. K. Shanmugam was a theatre legend belonging to Tamil theater in the 20th century. He was also a stage actor, who worked in films too. When men used to portray female roles on stage, T.K. Shanmugam was unsurpassed for his portrayal of the poet saint Avvai and the title “Avvai” became inseparable from his name. That’s how the tag got added to his name. Shanmugam regularly portrayed female characters on stage. Veteran actor Kamal Haasan refers to him as his Guru and his 1996 film, Avvai Shanmukhi where he plays titular role is his tribute to his teacher and thespian. In fact his guru too starred as a woman in most of his plays during his glorious years.

 

T. K. Shanmugam was born in Thiruvananthapuram of Travancore Kingdom, present-day Kerala. he was born into a family of theatre artists. His father Kannusamy Pillai was part of the Madurai Thathuva Meenalosani Vithuva Bala Sabha. Shanmugham was his third son. He along with his brothers — T.K. Sankaran, T.K. Muthusamy and T.K. Bagavathy came to be known as T.K.S. Brothers. A great name is the field of Tamil theater, Shanmugham excelled as a stage actor.

 

During his younger days, female characters were mostly played by males, as ladies hesitated to come forward to do roles on stage. Shanmugam created a niche of his own, playing female roles on stage. His most popular role is saint Avvayar. He curved his lower lip inwardly to give a realistic image of an old woman without teeth. He also removed two teeth to give a realistic look to his role. Still now the actor is best remembered for the portrayal of this saint poet.

 

Facts didn’t end here. He had pain in his jaws for the rest of his life and holding the stick in the curved posture gave him constant back pain.

Published: September 02, 2018

Updated: September 02, 2018

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