His Tamil theatre group — the United Amateur Artists, is one of the few in Chennai that has been running for over 60 years. It was a launch pad for a number of budding actors at the time, including Nagesh, Jayalalithaa, Mouli, Radha Ravi and Y Gee Mahendra (YGM) himself.
His crowning achievement in theatre was playing seven roles in the play Andha Ezhu Aatkal. Later, he delved into cinema and acted with three generations of actors, from his hero, Sivaji Ganesan, to Atharwa in Kanithan, which was released this week. Apart from exhibiting his skill as an actor par excellence in theatre, TV and cinema, few know that YGM is a talented drummer and also plays an integral part in running Bharat Kalachar, a popular sabha that plays host to the best of talents during the annual Marghazi season. He takes time out of his busy schedule and walks City Express through his life.
His Theatre Family
For YGM, Pattu, the co-founder of UAA is his role model. “UAA began as an avenue to bring to light the ingenious writing of Pattu, who served as an inspiration to the many writers who came after me,” he says. YGM’s parents too were both actively involved in nurturing UAA. “My father, YG Parthasarathy, the other founder of UAA, treated the troupe as his own family. It was his organisation skills that I adopted with great success,” he adds.
His mother, YG Rajalakshmi, or Mrs YGP, as she is fondly called, has contributed to stories and scripts. “She would ask needling and pertinent questions. Writer Mouli was once struggling to write the second half of the drama Kurukshetram, and he sat down with my mom to finish the script!” he says.
33 Films with Sivaji Ganesan
YGM calls the stage as his birthplace. He climbed atop the stage when he was in Class 9 for a small role in Petraldhan Pillaya, which his idol Sivaji decided to bring to celluloid. Elated that he would share screen space with the legend, he jumped the gun by informing his friends and teachers in school about the movie, which was to be named Paaru Magale Paaru. “In the end though, the writer decided to cast a woman in my role. I cried all day after that,” he recalls.
But little did he know that he would go on to act in 33 films with his idol! The first of those movies was the trendsetter Gowravam (1973), in which Sivaji plays the role of a veteran lawyer. YGM describes Sivaji as an observant man, who watched Govinda Swamy, a popular and stylish yesteryear lawyer, to play that role. Though YGM played only a small role in the movie, he was asked by the legend to attend shooting every day. “Sivaji wanted to know if he was doing justice to the play. That highlights his humility and his openness to receive suggestions from others,” he says.
At the same time, Sivaji gave some well thought out advice to YGM. “When I was preparing to do Andha Ezhu Aatkal, I went to Sivaji to talk to him about make-up. Since the story is about seven doppelgangers, he asked me why I should have any make up at all? He advised me to change the gait for each character and asked me to work on voice modulation, which I did.” One of YGM’s deepest regrets is that his idol didn’t live to see the play.
‘Nagesh Shared His AC Room With Me’
Though people might now see YGM play roles in cinema and in TV, he was initially slotted as a comedian. He credits two active participants of UAA — Nagesh and Cho Ramaswamy — for teaching him the intricacies of comedy. “By observing Nagesh, I learnt timing. From Cho, I learnt satire. Nagesh had great respect for my father. During the shooting of Navagraham (1971), (my debut in Tamil cinema) Nagesh personally pulled me out of my ordinary make-up room and invited me to share his AC room,” he says. YGM was not in town when his father passed away in 1991. “Nagesh, along with Madhan Babu and Radha Ravi, were beside the body all night. Such was the love he had for him.”
‘No musician beyond MSV’
“My wife tells me I should have been a musician. I’ve played drums for Ilayaraja sir and even now, he refers to me as a drummer!” says a beaming YGM. Another musical skill that YGM picked up is whistling. One of his fondest memories of M S Viswanathan is when he called YGM to his studio during a rehersal. “He had forgotten a tune and he asked me to whistle the tune to him.” He loves MSV’s tunes so much that as a tribute to Mellisai Mannargal, Viswanathan and Ramamoorthy, he whistled their popular tracks for an album called Whistle Away Your Worries.
A Tribute to Legends
YGM’s next theatre venture will be a remake of the classical Tamil movie, Kasethan Kadavulada (1972). He will reprise the role of Thengai Srinivasan. He says that the play is a tribute to the writer Chitralaya Gopu, actors Muthuraman, Manorama and Thengai Srinivasan.
A Meal to Remember
When YGM was a child, Mohammed Rafi once visited his house, and YGM played the tabla for him. Feeling homesick and fed up of idlis and dosas, Mohammed Rafi decided to take matters into his hands and cooked chappatis and a sabji. YGM’s aunt later said that more ingredients were used for that meal than the family would have consumed in a month
Fun Working With Manorama’
YGM quotes ‘Aachi’ Manorama, who passed away in October last year, as one of the most ‘fun’ actors to be on sets with. “Manorama and I had a whale of a time acting in Simla Special (1982). We joke around all the time. She had a very good relationship with Kamal Haasan too.”