Potpourri of titbits about cinema - M. K. Radha

Mr. Handsome of Tamil cinema

M. K. Radha was the son of playwright M. Kandasamy. Born in the year 1910, Radha studied at the Hindu Biological Higher Secondary School at Thangasalai, Chennai. Never interested in studies, he started acting in stage plays at the tender age of nine, with the help of his father. In the year 1935, he was introduced to Tamil cinema through his first film “Sati Leelavathy”. He played the hero in his first film itself. The story was written by Gemini S. S. Vasan while the dialogues were written by Radha’s father Kandasamy. Radha fell in love with M. S. Gnanambal, the heroine of the film and married her. The film introduced MGR, M. G. Chakrapani and T. S. Baliah also.

Radha signed a contract with the Gemini Productions for the period 1941 – 1954 for a monthly salary of Rs. 300 and acted in many of the films produced by the company. Then, he acted in many other movies produced by other companies too. In the film “Apoorva sagotharargal’, he did a duel role and proved his histrionic talents as a versatile actor. His acting in “Chandralekha” in which he paired with T. R. Rajakumari was another feather in his cap. And, he paired with Sandhya, the mother of Jayalalithaa in the film “Anbe deivam”, directed by R. N. Rajendra Rao.

Radha had six sons and two daughters. Radha was considered the handsomest man of the industry and earned the name “Sundara purushan”. An award, instituted in his name is being awarded to an artiste every year by the cinema technicians’ association. It was a great honor for Radha to have been conferred ‘Padmasree’ title by the Indian Government.