Episode 2 – THE HISTORIC DAY
October 15, 1764: Muhammed Yusuf Khan, the Governor of the erstwhile Madurai and Tirunelveli kingdoms, was averred as an insurgent and hanged as a rebel in front of the British camp before Madurai. It was ordered by the British and Muhammad Ali, the Nawab of Arcot.
233 Years Later.
October 16, 1997: It was a historic day in Indian cinema. The day marked a memorable rendezvous of political kingpins and celluloid bigwigs. Queen Elizabeth – the monarch head of the United Kingdom, M. Karunanidhi – the then real political head of Tamil Nadu, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy, Senior Congress Leader GK Mooppanar, maverick journalist Cho. Ramasamy, Sivaji Ganesan – the doyen of Tamil cinema, Kamal Haasan’s best companion Rajinikanth, vintage Bollywood protagonist Amrish Puri and a bevy of stars were present in the MGR Film City, Madras for the inaugural day shoot of the film which would never get made.
Contrary to the popular myth, Queen Elizabeth did not arrive India exclusively to attend the shooting of Marudhanayagam. It was merely a coincidence. In fact, her husband Prince Phillip was visiting Bombay the same day. Queen expressed her willingness to witness a film shooting involving any of India’s top stars and Kamal Haasan managed to hit the jackpot.
The first shot of the film was an epoch-making event in every sense.
Karunanidhi – *ROLLING*
Mooppanar – *CLAPS*
Kamal Haasan – *ACTION*
That was the momentous first shot of Marudhanayagam for you all. Then, Kamal Haasan showed the trailer of the film to the Queen. It is the only available footage of Marudhanayagam till date. Two cute things happened on the dais later on. Karunanidhi called Kamal Haasan, “Thamizh cinemavin perumai” (the pride of Tamil cinema) and friend Rajinikanth acknowledged with a warm smile. Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan, whom Kamal considers as one of his mentors, called Kamal his kanmani.
October 16th was also the day Veerapandiya Kattabomman was hanged in Kayathaaru. Thus, Kamal Haasan has provided reasons more than one to choose this fateful day.
Muhammed Yusuf Khan was born a Hindu (Marudhanayagam Pillai), grew up as a peasant, acquired knowledge from a Christian (Captain Brunton, a European) and died as a Muslim. To put his life in a nutshell, he started his life as a supplier to the French Army and got trained by them as a soldier. The British picked out his talent and gave him recognition by elevating his position to the Governor only to hang him for his disrespect to the British a year later. “It is this stunning elevation from the lowest level and again touching the nadir, this graph of Marudha Naayagam’s life, interested Kamal to make it into a film,” said Sujatha in an interview.
October 15, 2014 marks the 250th death anniversary of Marudhanayagam. Is Kamal Haasan aware of it?
Written by Surendhar MK, Design Courtesy: Akilan Nagaraj