Poet Mu Metha and playback singer P Susheela chosen for Kalaignar Vithagar award
The award was constituted in the memory of DMK patriarch and late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kalaignar M Karunanidhi in 2022 to honour film personalities who contributed immensely to Tamil cinema.
Playback singer P Susheela and Poet Mu Metha
CHENNAI: Eminent Tamil scholar, writer and poet Muhammed Metha aka Mu Metha and legendary playback singer P Susheela were shortlisted for the Kalaignar Ninaivu Kalaithurai Vithagar Award 2023 (Kalaignar Memorial Art Personality award) distributed by the state government to honour lifetime achievers in Tamil cinema.
Chief Minister M K Stalin issued orders to distribute the award for the year 2023 to poet Mu Metha and singer Susheela who were selected by a committee headed by director S P Muthuraman and comprising actor Nassar, the president of the South Indian Film Artistes' Association, and director Karu Palaniappan.
The award was constituted in the memory of DMK patriarch and late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kalaignar M Karunanidhi in 2022 to honour film personalities who contributed immensely to Tamil cinema. Carrying a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh and a memento, the award is given to recipients on Kalaignar’s birth anniversary on June 3 every year.
This year, the Kalaignar Ninaivu Kalaithurai Vithagar Award will be given on September 30, a release issued by the state government said.
Born in Periyakulam on September 5, 1945, Poet Muhammed Metha served as a Tamil professor at the Presidency College for decades and has authored several poems, short stories, novels and essays besides writing lyrics for over 70 movies.
Metha won his first award for the book 'Oorvalam'. He has won many laurels including the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his work 'Agayathukku Adutha Veedu' in 2006.
Playback singer P Susheela was born in Vizianagaram on November 13, 1935. She has sung over 25,000 songs for Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films, and holds a Guinness Book of World Records for singing most songs in Indian languages. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2009.
In 2022, the Kalaignar Ninaivu Kalaithurai Vithagar Award was presented to acclaimed screenplay writer Aaroor Dass aka ‘Tiruvarur’ Dass who wrote the screenplay and dialogues for over 1,000 Tamil films including Pasamalar and Anbe Va. He passed away at 91 later that year.
