M K Muthu, eldest son of late DMK patriarch M K Karunanidhi from his first wife, thrust into politics and filmdom by his ambitious father to counter his rival and iconic actor MG Ramachandran (MGR), passed away at his residence in Injambakkam in suburban Chennai on Saturday.
He was 77 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. According to family sources, he was unwell for some years and passed away at around 8 am.
He was born in 1948 and after the untimely death of his mother, Padmavathi. He married Dayalu Ammal, the mother of M K Alagiri, Chief Minister M K Stalin, MK Tamilarasu, now deceased, Selvi. Kanimozhi, MP, is the daughter of Rajathi Ammal.
With the rise of MGR in the ranks of the Dravidian movement and particularly in the DMK, Karunanidhi pushed Muthu into politics and films, grooming him as his heir. He acted in a few films opposite the reigning heroines of that time, sporting a hairstyle and mannerism akin to that of MGR. But the look-alike couldn’t succeed.
Neither could he last in films nor in the 1970s politics, and fell out with his father, leaving Karunanidhi to opt for options from the sons of his second wife Dayalu, Alagiri and Stalin, with the latter emerging to head the political estate of the patriarch.
In an emotional post on ‘X’, condoling the death, Stalin wrote on X, “He always showered on me love and affection like that of a parent, considering my growth as his own and encouraged me. The news of his demise has struck me as a thunderbolt. Whenever we met, he used to share the evergreen memories of the past.
Though he had passed away due to old age, the eldest in the family of Kalaignar Karunanidhi, will continue to live in our hearts and in the hearts of the masses as an artist besides the movie songs he had immortalised.”
“Named as Muthu after his grandfather, Muthuvelar, he acted in a double role in his very first film, ‘Pillaiyo Pillai’, after starting his career in theatre. Gifted with a majestic voice, his song on Nagore Dargah, is an evergreen one,” the Chief Minister added.
He also paid floral tributes to Muthu’s body at Injambakkam. The Chief Minister’s engagements for the day stand cancelled. His ministerial colleagues and DMK leaders too paid homage to the departed soul.
The body of Muthu is being taken to the Gopalapuram residence of Karunanidhi, where it will be kept in state for the public to pay homage. The last rites will be held in the evening.