02:41The life and times of M. Karunanidhi

CHENNAI: Sharp dialogue, veiled metaphor, innuendo, rhyme and rhetoric — Karunanidhi employed every literary tool with aplomb through his decades as a scriptwriter and later as a politician known for fiery speeches. A master of the Tamil language, he championed the cause of regional pride, and inspired politicians in other southern states to speak up for their languages against the imposition of Hindi.Karunanidhi’s love for the language began as a child when he joined local theatre troupes, and wrote and acted in plays. Tamil pride took root in the state in the 1930s, and Karunanidhi learned at the knee, so to speak, of former chief minister and DMK founder CN Annadurai, whose command of the language won him a mass following.As a poet and a lyricist, Karunanidhi was able to take the lessons of his mentor further to win hearts and minds. His eulogy to Annadurai in 1969 was made into gramophone records and played across the state. In a career spanning seven decades, he scripted 77 films, and earned a name as one who could successfully push ideology into a commercial film. Kalaignar — or scholar of the arts as he was known — wove the Dravidian ideology of social transformation and anti-Brahminism into plots and lines.Dravidian writer historian ‘Sangoli’ K Thirunavukkarasu describes Karunanidhi’s ability to cloak political ideology in dialogue as nonpareil. “His scripts had coded messages to his potential votebank,” he says.While actors came and went, Karunanidhi continued to light up the screen and political scene, using the era’s superstars — MGR and Sivaji Ganesan — as the medium for his message. At age 92, he wrote dialogue for a TV serial on Hindu saint Ramanujar.“His oratory and use of Tamil mesmerised even his detractors,” says author R Kannan. “He emulated Anna but was more feisty.”Though critics say he at times eased back on Dravidian tenets, he always championed the Tamil language and was one of its strongest proponents.He replaced the traditional invocation song at state functions with a paean to the ‘Tamil Mother’. His government introduced Tamil pujas in temples, he created a separate ministry for Tamil, and revived the World Tamil Conferences.