Those were the days: PU Chinnappa — Early fan wars in Tamil cinema were fought in his honour

For long Tamil cinema used to be divided in loyalty between two superstars. The fans would celebrate the film releases of their chosen hero like Deepavali or Pongal. They would not even be seen near the theatre which screened the other hero’s films. And they would clash on the streets to prove their allegiance to the hero who they treated like a demi-god. The phenomenon still goes on but the pair of actors who were responsible for starting this culture were MK Thyagaraja Bagavathar and PU Chinnappa.

A superhero, when the cinema was in a cusp stage between musicals and socials, Chinnappa was well positioned with a good voice as well as martial skills. Not just was he concentrating in his voice, Chinnappa was also interested in stunt performances and was trained in wrestling, boxing and the stick fight silambam. This would differentiate him from many only singing superstars of the ’40s and get him privileged entry into several movies where the leads also had to be action heroes. He was number two to the numero uno Thyagaraja Bagavathar. When Bagavathar was trapped in a blackmail-murder scandal, the cinema field was open to Chinnappa. Many of the 10 films MKT had booked were routed to him.

Chinnasamy was born in the kingdom of Pudukkottai to a stage artist and while other actors battled their family traditions to get on stage, Chinnasamy faced no such trouble. Chinnasamy made a debut on stage at a tender age of five. He was popular amongst bhajan troupes where his age and voice increased audiences substantially. However, his family experienced financial troubles and neither school nor poorly-paying acting were the options to offer succour. So Chinnasamy was sent to a coir rope manufacturing unit to work. But soon his father realised he would be better off on stage.

Chinnasamy, starting in drama doyen Sankardas’s troupe, was just given supporting roles. The small boy could see no progress in his career without singing roles and jumped ships to Madurai Original Boys Company. There, with the same type of roles drowning him, he struck on a brain wave. Knowing that the drama company owner Satchinanandam Pillai was in the same residential building, Chinnasamy would sing the songs of their most popular drama Sathi Kausalya in his loudest tone and best voice ever. It worked. The boss enquired who the singer was and gave him a lead role with a chance to sing. His salary jumped to a princely 75 rupees. Those were the days when many women chose not to act in plays and men chose to do the heroine role as well. Chinnasamy’s first heroine was a fair actor called MG Ramachandran dressed up as a damsel.

His best-known song was Bakthi kondaduvom which with all his musical embellishments could run into half an hour. And then there would be encores with loud demands for once mores, with coins and currency notes flying to the stage. Chinnasamy was at the top of his stage career, but it crashed. Adolescence set in and his voice started deteriorating. Back home, professional tutoring in singing helped restore his confidence and he resumed acting in plays. Also, he widened his skill portfolio mastering several martial arts. He was able to display his prowess in sword fighting and other martial arts on stage. He was an avid learner and his interests even stretched to Mandrika — the magical skills. When his stage play Chandrakantha was filmed by Jupiter Films, he was the natural choice for hero. The title card read Pudukkottai U Chinnappa.

His first few films were moderate successes and his voice started troubling him again. He would become a recluse and went on strict fasts for a month. Luckily, Modern Theatres had a script ready for a double role in a rehash of The man in the iron mask. They would approach Chinnappa. Two milestones Chinnappa achieved in the Uthama Puthiran movie. A first-time double role for a Tamil hero, and also singing Bharathiyar songs perhaps for the first time. So confident was he that he would do a triple role in another movie and Jagathalapratapan there was one song sequence where he would appear as eight different musicians.

Soon Chinnappa was standing apart. There was no other hero who could talk lucid dialogue, sing in a great voice and perform sword fight and stunt scenes. He was acting in more movies than MKT but still, the top place eluded him though he had a steadily growing fan following.

A village boy being in the cinematic world of make-believe ruined many careers. Chinnappa was no exception. Vices held him in a grip and he put on weight. Critics like Kalki warned him with humour. “Chinnappa looks like PU Periyappa,” he would say. But then he was also very balanced. When blackmailer Lakshmikanthan slandered him, he would remain calm without reacting. A reason why he was left alone in the investigation when the former was disembowelled.

Tragedy struck unexpectedly and Chinnapa would collapse while returning after watching a talkie and was declared dead on arrival in the hospital when he was only 35. A promising career had been rudely cut short. The one consolation was when he died, he was in the peak of his career and not battling poverty or oblivion like the rest.