A single-storey building stands tall amid greenery off the 60-Feet Road at Ramanathapuram in Coimbatore. A signboard announces the building’s name as ‘Sri Veeramaruthi Thegapayirchi Saalai’, a gym started in the 1930s that offers fitness classes even today. Inside, the first floor is stacked with gleaming karla kattais (wooden club bells), a traditional fitness training tool, and other tools of self-defence like swords, surul swords (spring swords), and silambam sticks. A number of black and white photographs that grace the walls turn the spotlight on a popular film personality from Coimbatore whose beginnings in the film industry started at this very gym, which he founded in 1935. He was ‘Sandow’ M.M.A. Chinnappa Devar.
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While Devar excelled in silambam, weightlifting, sword fight, wrestling and surulkathi fight that earned him the title ‘Sandow’, he also taught kushthi to a young boy from Kerala. This young boy was M.G. Ramachandran, who later became a dashing and revered hero in Tamil films. MGR and Devar forged a lifelong bond of friendship, later made films in Chennai, and shot to fame. After MGR started playing significant roles in films, he recommended Devar for the films he worked like Madurai Veeran where the sword fight sequences between the two became a big hit.
An unwritten pact
“It was the beginning of a deep friendship, an unwritten pact in which they supported each other’s career out of love and affection. MGR acted in 16 films in the 1960s produced by Chinnappa Devar under his banner Devar Films,” says S. Venkatraman, whose uncle Krishnamurthy was a partner at Anandha Films, the sole distributor of Devar Films in Coimbatore. “He produced nearly 60 films. His first film Thaikkupin Tharam, directed by his brother M.A. Thirumugam in which MGR played the hero, launched Devar as a film-maker. A bull fight scene in which MGR tames a bull became a highlight,” he explains.
Marudur Marudachalamurthy Ayyavoo Chinnappa Devar (1915-1978) was born in a farming community. When film-making flourished around Central Studios in the 1930s, Devar worked at Pankaja Mills at Ramanathapuram, Coimbatore, for ₹9 a month. He also supplied aerated drinks to Central Studios and got interested in cinema. In 1935, he started Veeramaruthi Gym to master martial arts and improve his physique to try his luck in films.
While a part of the gym, maintained now by Sri Veeramaruthi Thegapayirchi Saalai Trust, is being rented out for weddings, in another section silambam and sword-fighting classes continue under the guidance of S. Kumaresan, a silambam master with over five decades of experience, and an assistant secretary of the trust.
“The trust members include his relatives and family members,” says T. Easwaran, another assistant secretary, who remembers his childhood days when Devar held three-day Pongal festivities at the gym with much fanfare. “Children would give demos of self-defence techniques, followed by performances of traditional art forms like karagaatam, and one day dedicated to theatre where plays will be performed. Now, we use the income from the building to hold medical camps and give away scholarships to the needy students,” says Mr. Easwaran. He recalls that MGR took part in Devar’s funeral procession and walked the two-km distance from the gym.
Reuniting with MGR
After their first film, Devar and MGR reunited in 1960 with Thaai Sollai Thattathey. When MGR heard the songs like ‘Sirithu Sirithu’ and ‘Poyum Poyum’ and the story narration from veteran scriptwriter Aroor Das, he made an unwritten agreement that resulted in Devar making 16 films with MGR. The last one was Nalla Neram in 1972, the Tamil remake of Haathi Mere Saathi. a money spinner in the 1970s that earned a whopping ₹8 crore in profit in Hindi.
“When superstar Rajesh Khanna found it difficult to bear the heat while shooting for Haathi Mere Saathi, Devar is believed to have smeared sandalwood paste on his body that gave the star instant relief,” says city chronicler and historian Rajesh Govindarajulu.
He adds that Devar’s trademark appearance included a silk jippa (kurta) and dhoti, gold-rimmed specs, and three strands of vibhuti on his forehead.
Lighting up Marudhamalai
“A devotee of Lord Muruga, he carried out commendable development works at the Murugan temples in Tiruchendur, Palani and Marudhamalai. He built roads and resting mandapams and lit up Marudhamalai, laying electricity lines for four kilometres from Kalveerampalayam. Madurai Somu’s opening song ‘Marudhamalai Mamaniye’ in his film Deivam, where Thirumuruga Kirupanandha Variyar himself played the role of the spiritual narrator, put the temple in spotlight,” says Mr. Venkatraman.
A meticulous planner, Devar made mass films leaning on social themes, and made 100% payment to artistes in advance. Explains Venkatraman, “He had great financial acumen, carried cash, and worked out micro-economics like an analyst, avoiding outside financiers and instead taking money from his faithful network of distributors. It brought in transparency and assured returns in no time. A disciplined man, he was always punctual. The clock at his office was set 40 minutes ahead and late comers were taken to task. Even MGR toed the line.”
Most Devar films featured elephants, lion, tiger, wolf, snake, and dogs, which he maintained at a mini zoo in Chennai. “Aattukara Alamelu, starring Sripriya and Sivakumar and shot entirely in Mettupalayam, was an all-time hit that ran for 175 days. He made blockbusters with Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth too at a later stage,” says Mr. Venkatraman.
Quick production, action-packed stunt sequences, and memorable songs were the highlights of his films. Adds Mr. Rajesh Govindarajulu, “In MGR’s filmography, Sathi Leelavathi was his first film, then came Rajakumari, where he played hero. Later, films like Malai Kallan and Naadodi Mannan brought him fame. Of his 130-odd films, every single film with Devar turned out to be milestone.”
Over two decades, Devar made memorable films such as Thaaiku Thalaimagan, Needhikku Pin Pasam, and Vettaikaran. While filming the Rajinikanth-starrer Thai Meedhu Sathiyam in 1978 in Udhagamandalam, Devar fell ill and was rushed to a hospital in Coimbatore, where he died, bringing the curtains down on a glorious innings in Tamil cinema.
