The title, Nambiarswami: the good, the bad & the holy, encapsulates the personality of M.N. Nambiar, on and off the screen. He played the villain in films, but was a good man off it, leading a spiritual life as a staunch devotee of Lord Ayyappa and making a pilgrimage to Sabarimala more than 200 times over a 70-year period.

The book, by the late actor’s grandson M.N. Dipak Nambiar, will be released on March 7, on the occasion of his birth centenary. Late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who starred with Nambiar in a number of films, had written the foreword, describing him as ‘pure-hearted’.

The book will also be released in Tamil in a couple of months. The publisher is Harper Collins.

“The inspiration for the title came from the western classic: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and I have slightly altered it,” said Mr. Dipak, a software professional who started writing the book in 2004 when Nambiar was alive.

He prefers to address his grandfather as Nambiarswami, as he first took him to Sabarimala when he was seven. He continues to make the pilgrimage regularly — 42 times to date and counting — despite losing his left leg in an accident four years ago in the U.S.

Mr. Dipak, the son of Nambiar’s daughter Sneha, had the opportunity to see the life of a great person up-close, since he grew up in his grandfather’s house. Nambiar would reminisce about his early childhood, his struggle during the drama days, his entry into films, his best friend MGR, and the person who was the most important to him and whom he loved the most — his wife Rugmini. “She truly was the epitome of the proverb ‘Behind every successful man there stands a woman’,” Mr. Dipak said.

Besides capturing the vignettes of Nambiar’s life and the funny anecdotes that he recalled from his 71 years in Tamil films, the author has interviewed industry stalwarts to know their experiences with him.

Friendship with MGR

While MGR and Nambiar were known for the intense hatred they had for each other in films, they cherished an envious friendship in real life. It was MGR, who accompanied Nambiar to “see” his bride Rugmini.

“She walked in, escorted by her sisters. I had learned to control my emotions as an actor, but I leaned over and whispered to MGR that though I liked the girl, I thought one of her sisters looked prettier,” Mr. Dipak quotes Nambiar as saying.

Another incident explains the bond between MGR and Nambiar. “MGR was the best man for the wedding and he could not make it on time because it was raining heavily and the transport was running late. The muhurtham time was elapsing fast but I refused to tie the thaali till I saw MGR. Luckily, a completely drenched MGR ran into the hall with a few seconds to go, gesticulating with an upward motion of his hands to say go ahead,” Nambiar said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by B. Kolappan / Chennai – February 24th, 2019