Memories of matinee idol MGR and the two lions and a bear cub that he maintained

Memories of matinee idol MGR and the two lions and a bear cub that he maintained

1 of 2 Unravished by death: The taxidermied Raja which has been kept at the MGR Memorial House at T. Nagar in Chennai. MGR Pictures had bought Raja and a female cub in Calcutta for ₹15,000 and trained them for some scenes in a film. R. RAGUprevnext

Among the belongings of the actor-turned politician displayed at his memorial house at T. Nagar in Chennai is a taxidermied lion, named Raja. It was bought, along with another cub Rani, in Calcutta by MGR Pictures for some scenes in Nadodi Mannan. Raja died unexpectedly, and Rani was donated to the Chennai Corporation Zoo

B. Kolappan

This March, visuals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi feeding a lion cub at the inauguration of ‘Vantara’, an animal rescue centre, cave, conservation and rehabilitation centre, established by the Reliance Industries along with the Reliance Foundation, had gone viral on social media. It brought back memories of pet animals, including two lions and a bear cub, kept by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR.

Among the belongings of the actor-turned politician on display at his memorial house at T. Nagar in Chennai is a taxidermied lion. Death and passage of time do not seem to have deprived Raja, the male lion, of its majestic look. It was bought in Calcutta (Kolkata) by MGR Pictures for some scenes in the hit-film Nadodi Mannan. According to the December 1957 edition of the film magazine Nadigan Kural, MGR Pictures had bought two lion cubs — Raja and Rani — in Calcutta for ₹15,000 and trained them. They were one-and-a-half-foot tall and kept in a cage on Lloyds Road at Royapettah. “As Raja died unexpectedly, the female was donated to the Chennai Corporation Zoo near the Central Railway Station [where the zoo was located then],” says the magazine. A copy of the issue is still kept by MGR Pradeep, a grand-nephew of MGR. Interestingly, MGR was the publisher of the magazine. Actor and theatre personality T.K. Shanmugam, known as Avvai T.K. Shanmugam, was the editor. Though many still believe that Raja was featured in a fight scene with MGR in Adimai Penn, MGR himself had said in an interview that he bought the lion cubs for a scene in Nadodi Mannan. Anyway, the very fact that the interview was carried in 1957 itself shows the lion could not have been featured in Adimai Penn, as it was released only in 1969.

Buffalo attacked

M.C.C. Chandran, son of MGR’s elder brother M.G. Chakrapani, had recalled in an interview how the lioness once escaped and attacked a buffalo on Lloyds Road. “Fortunately, nothing happened since the nail of the lion had been clipped. Mani, the caretaker of the lions, struggled to control the lioness and brought it to the cage,” he had said. He had also made it clear that the lions were used for some scenes in Nadodi Mannan.

Kumar Rajendran, advocate and a grand-nephew of MGR’s wife Janaki Ramachandran, said both animals were siblings and the male was taxidermied after its death. First, it was kept on Lloyds Road, then taken to Ramapuram Gardens, where MGR lived, before being shifted to T. Nagar.

MGR had said in his interview that he made the film (Nadodi Mannan) with a lot of ideas and messages relevant to society. “I wanted to have a fighting scene with a lion in the film, and for that purpose, I bought a male cub and a female cub, and reared them,” MGR had said. He had been inspired by scenes in an English movie in which the hero would fight with three lions. But he could not succeed in his plans as the male died of renal failure. “I donated the female to the Corporation Zoo. Subsequently, I changed the climactic scene of Nadodi Mannan and it was a grand success. Though the lion died, it ensured a roaring success for the film,” MGR had recalled. MGR’s eagerness to shoot a film with a lion-fighting scene remained unquenched; he used a lion for a fighting scene in Adimai Penn.

“Animal welfare activists came to know about my plans to have a lion fighting scene and they issued a notice, saying that I should send the animal to the zoo. Fortunately, the animal survived. We took a lot of pain to shoot the scenes. In short, I risked my life to shoot them,” MGR had said.

Bear cub at home

MGR’s love for animals had been explained by IAS officer T. Pichandi who worked as his secretary. “He had kept a bear cub and dogs at his residence. He had even appointed a veterinarian and caretakers for the animals,” Mr. Pichandi writes in his recent book, Yenakkul Manakkum MGR Ninaivugal (Memories of MGR Within Me). Mr. Pichandi also reveals that the present day Arignar Anna Zoological Park at Vandalur itself was the result of MGR’s concern for the welfare of the animals dying of pollution at the Corporation Zoo. “He held discussions with Forest Department officials, who suggested that the forest area at Vandalur would be an ideal place. He accepted the proposal and the orders were issued in 1978. Vandalur was gradually developed from 1979. Animals from the zoo were shifted. Rare animals and animals from other zoological parks were brought to Vandalur,” Mr. Pichandi writes. The inauguration of the Vandalur zoo in July 1985 was the first official function MGR attended as the Chief Minister after his return from treatment in the U.S.